"Two sages, I just remembered I have something else to take care of, so I won't stay any longer."
At the thought of a table full of bugs, Jiraiya nearly leaped out of his seat. He immediately left Mount Myōboku.
A secret base in the Land of Fields.
Guren pushed open the laboratory door and said respectfully, "Lord Orochimaru, we've found Senior Tsunade's whereabouts."
"Oh?"
Orochimaru drew his gaze back from the specimen jars and hurriedly asked, "Where is she?"
"The Land of Lightning!"
"The Land of Lightning?!"
Orochimaru ran his tongue over his lips, unable to help thinking of Hyuga Neji.
Orochimaru took his convenient partner, Hyuga Neji, very seriously.
That was why he knew all about the changes in Kumogakure lately, including Neji's appointment as the Raikage's Assistant.
The Raikage's Assistant was nominally the second-in-command of the Raikage's village.
But since the Fourth Raikage had deliberately relinquished some authority, Neji could be said to hold all the power. The entire Kumogakure was under his control.
This only strengthened Orochimaru's resolve to make use of Neji.
As it happened, Konoha's forces had made peace with Kumogakure only after Hiruzen Sarutobi's death.
In other words, his Konoha Crush Plan had indirectly helped Kumogakure.
Orochimaru figured he couldn't let Kumogakure benefit for nothing.
Research funding was running short, so he had a good excuse to ask Neji for money.
Orochimaru turned to Guren and smiled. "Go make the preparations. We're going to the Land of Lightning."
Day by day, time passed. Yugito returned to Kumogakure after completing her mission.
After an in-depth exchange from every angle, Neji learned that Yugito had needed less than two weeks to wipe out every pirate in the eastern waters of the Land of Lightning.
Against a Kage Level fighter, the pirates—most of whom were ordinary