Genjutsu: Golden Wheel Nine Rotations!

The forest was filled with the stench of death and decay. One dried corpse after another crawled out of the soil, their faces bluish-black and their hollow eyes devoid of life.

Some of the corpses even had fatal weapons lodged in their bodies, while numerous wounds were exposed through their tattered clothes.

Clearly, Orochimaru had stolen this group of corpses from the battlefield.

Hearing Tōka's words, Orochimaru paused slightly before a trace of disdain flashed through his eyes.

"Zombies? This is the latest Forbidden Jutsu I successfully developed—Impure World Reincarnation!!"

"Impure World Reincarnation?" Tōka's eyelid twitched. This was the official, premium cheat code!

Impure World Reincarnation was an otherworldly summoning Forbidden Jutsu developed by the Second Hokage. It could summon the souls of the long-dead back into the world and revive them in physical form.

Orochimaru could already use it? But judging by the look of things, it seemed to be only the most primitive experimental version.

The shock in Tōka's eyes gradually faded. Rather than Impure World Reincarnation, these things before him looked more like a group of controlled zombies.

"Uncle Snake, you're underestimating me too much. What use are these living dead?" Tōka sneered, glancing at the corpses that could barely even walk properly.

"Hehe... don't be careless, Tōka-kun. Although Impure World Reincarnation has yet to be completed, it is still an otherworldly summoning Forbidden Jutsu developed by the Second Hokage." This was also Orochimaru's first time using this immature Forbidden Jutsu.

Under normal circumstances, he would never use an incomplete technique.

But today, having encountered Tōka and with some time to spare, Orochimaru grew interested and decided to test this Forbidden Jutsu.

"Hmph, being looked down on is really unpleasant!"

Beneath the fox mask, Tōka's black eyes glimmered with an indescribable light. He was growing eager to try it himself.

But... how was he supposed to defeat these corpses?

"Should I use ninjutsu? Other than All-Killing Ash Bones, I don't know any other elemental techniques!"

Tōka hesitated. His All-Killing Ash Bones was still far from Kaguya's terrifying level. Even those revived by Impure World Reincarnation could be killed by it.

At present, Tōka's All-Killing Ash Bones could only retain its special one-hit-kill ability when dealing with living beings.

It had no effect on lifeless objects, including stones, kunai, and the like.

"Genjutsu?" Tōka glanced at the creatures with hollow, vacant eyes, like walking corpses, and frowned slightly. "Genjutsu probably won't work."

"Do I have to fight them with taijutsu?"

Several thoughts flashed through his mind. Tōka's little face immediately darkened. The sight of those things, covered in corpse worms from head to toe, made his scalp crawl.

Even from more than ten meters away, he could smell the overpowering stench.

Tōka tightened his grip on the kunai in his hand. He glanced at the corpses slowly shuffling toward him, then lowered his head to look at the brand-new kunai in his hand.

A trace of reluctance flashed through his eyes. As a sharp weapon made to kill and draw blood, a kunai was meant to pierce flesh and hunt enemies.

But these things before him...

No matter what, Tōka simply could not bring himself to strike.

"I can't take it, they're too disgusting!" Tōka's figure flickered and vanished. He plunged straight into the depths of the forest and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Huh? He ran away?!" Orochimaru, who had been standing with his arms folded and preparing to enjoy the show, froze.

His neck stretched long, his face turning dark purple, as though he had swallowed a mouthful of flies.

Orochimaru's eyes turned cold as he instinctively glanced at the Impure World Reincarnation army...

At once, he understood why Tōka had chosen to flee rather than fight.

"They are a little disgusting..."

Looks like they still needed more improvements. Orochimaru sighed softly as his figure slowly sank into the earth. The nearby Impure World Reincarnation army gradually merged back into the soil as well.

Beneath the ink-black night sky, a shadow sped through the forest toward the south.

Tōka's four-man squad had been stationed in the northernmost area. In other words, once Orochimaru passed through the defense zone where Tōka was stationed, he could be considered to have safely escaped Konoha.

Afterward, following the inertia of history, Orochimaru would establish Otogakure in the Land of Rice.

But none of that was Tōka's concern. Right now, he only wanted to go home and sleep.

The "snake" in the snake-catching operation had already escaped. There was no point in staying any longer.

But just as Tōka jumped down from the treetops and landed in front of Konoha's gates...

In an instant!

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

More than a dozen shadows suddenly appeared, as if they had been lying in ambush here all along.

"Anbu?" Beneath the fox mask, Tōka raised a brow, suspicion flashing through his heart. If he had not known that the Anbu's deployment tonight was aimed at Orochimaru...

He would have thought these people had been deliberately waiting for him!

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

A burst of footsteps sounded. The crowd split into two and moved to either side.

It was none other than the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, dressed in battle armor. He held the Adamantine Staff upside down in one hand and stared solemnly at Tōka.

"You encountered Orochimaru?" the Third Hokage asked in a low voice.

Though it was a question, his tone was exceedingly certain.

Ever since seeing Tōka's All-Killing Ash Bones in Orochimaru's laboratory, the Third Hokage had suspected that there was some unspoken secret between Tōka and Orochimaru.

And it just so happened that Tōka's defense zone lay directly along Orochimaru's escape route.

That made it impossible for the Third Hokage not to let his imagination run wild.

"Yes, Lord Hokage." After a brief moment of thought, Tōka admitted it directly.

Rather than lie, it was better to be honest with each other. Since the Third Hokage had led a group of people here to wait for him, he must have known something.

Still, Tōka was not worried. Though he knew about Orochimaru's human experiments, he had never participated in them.

"How about it, Hiruzen? I told you so!" At that moment, a hoarse voice rang out from the darkness. A gloomy figure shuffled out.

Danzo? Tōka's eyelid twitched. Nothing good ever happened when this guy showed up!

Tōka had long heard of Shimura Danzō, the Darkness of the Ninja World!

In Konoha, one could disrespect the Hokage, but one should never let Danzo set his sights on them.

He was more terrifying than a venomous snake and more vicious than a scorpion. He would stop at nothing to achieve his goals. In short, Tōka wanted nothing more than to stay as far away from Danzo as possible.

At least for now...

The night wind was somewhat chilly. Dark clouds pressed overhead, obscuring the already dim moonlight.

A layer of shadow blanketed Konoha's gates, and only the dim yellow streetlamps illuminated the surroundings.

Faced with the Third Hokage's silence, Danzo pressed forward aggressively.

"Hiruzen, I told you long ago to hand him over to me! Otherwise, Orochimaru would never have escaped!" Danzo accused righteously.

The Third Hokage's face darkened, but he still said nothing. He did not even spare Danzo a glance.

He stared fixedly into Tōka's eyes. Behind the fox mask, those black eyes were calm and steady, with only a fleeting trace of surprise—yet not the slightest hint of panic.

The eyes were the windows to the soul. Through Tōka's eyes, the Third Hokage could clearly read his state of mind.

"Was he confident he would not be discovered? Or was there simply nothing there at all?" Two thoughts flashed through the Third Hokage's mind. "Why could he remain so calm and composed?"

Just as Tōka and the Third Hokage were gazing deeply at one another, an untimely voice rang out.

"Hiruzen, shouldn't you hand him over to me now?!" Having been ignored twice in a row, Danzo roared in fury.

Though Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage praised by the world as the Professor, had gradually grown old, the current Third Hokage had lost none of his former bearing.

Even Orochimaru, a Kage-level powerhouse and one of the Legendary Sannin, had been thoroughly beaten by the Third Hokage and forced to flee in panic. Had Hiruzen Sarutobi not intentionally gone easy on him, it was uncertain whether Orochimaru could have escaped at all.

Shimura Danzō? The Darkness of the Ninja World?

Before such a formidable Third Hokage, Danzo had no choice but to lower his head. As long as the Third Hokage did not agree, he absolutely would not dare make any moves in secret.

"Hand him over to the Anbu first. Have Inoichi Yamanaka come personally." The silent Third Hokage finally made the final decision.

Danzo's face alternated between red and white. Gritting his teeth, he viciously left behind one last threat. "Hiruzen, you will regret this!"

With that, Danzo turned and disappeared into the darkness.

Only absolute darkness suited him, and only darkness suited the growth of Root.

Tōka shrugged, showing that he had no pressure at all, and allowed two Anbu members to take him away.

Inoichi Yamanaka? It was not as if he had never met him. That guy's spiritual power seemed weaker than his own!~

Might as well give it a try...

That newly conceived genjutsu?

Beneath the fox mask, Tōka's lips curled slightly, his bright eyes blinking.

Anbu Interrogation Department.

Tōka's hands were tied behind his back. His fox mask had long since been removed and placed at the corner of a table.

The room remained brightly lit throughout the night. Tōka was in terrible condition, and his calm heart gradually became restless.

He was the type who could not sleep with light in front of his eyes. Missing a night of sleep was nothing, but being blasted by a room full of one-hundred-watt bulbs all night was unbearable!

Tōka forcibly suppressed the urge to break free and rush out. Having his hands bound was no obstacle to him at all.

Other than his ultimate move, most of All-Killing Ash Bones' techniques did not require hand seals.

As for whether he could escape Konoha after leaving the room, Tōka was quite confident.

For one thing, the Interrogation Department was not watching him very closely. After all, Tōka's ninja file only listed him as a Chunin, while All-Killing Ash Bones was classified information.

Aside from the Hokage and a few other important figures who knew the detailed intelligence, even Danzo only knew its name and the characteristics of All-Killing Ash Bones.

Even the Hokage did not know much, because All-Killing Ash Bones was a Kekkei Mōra that even Orochimaru had yet to fully understand!

For another, Tōka's genjutsu was powerful. Though it could not compare to Itachi, who could freely manipulate time and space, or Body Flicker Shisui, who possessed the strongest genjutsu.

He needed no hand seals. Relying on his body's innate talent, he could freely manipulate the five senses, making enemies fall under genjutsu without even realizing it.

Tōka's genjutsu was also... effortless!

Putting the Anbu guards outside under genjutsu for a few seconds would be enough for Tōka to escape without a sound.

"This is... really infuriating!" Cold sweat covered Tōka's face, yet his voice was incomparably cool.

After struggling repeatedly throughout the night, he ultimately chose to endure.

The Third Ninja War was still ongoing. Leaving the village as a Konoha Rogue Ninja at a time like this would be no different from courting death.

Tōka knew his limits. He did not possess Orochimaru's terrifying strength.

He could not, like Orochimaru, not only walk through the Ninja World unscathed, but also establish a ninja village in the Land of Rice as a place to settle.

So, even though his mood was utterly terrible, Tōka forced himself to endure.

He just did not know how much longer he could hold it in.

Creak!~

Just as the veins at Tōka's temples were throbbing, the room's iron door was pushed open and a tall figure walked in.

The lights in the room dimmed at the same time, returning to their normal yellow glow.

"Heh, you finally came." Tōka curled his lips coldly. The anger in his chest gradually subsided, and his black eyes became bottomlessly deep, like a secluded pool.

But only Tōka himself knew just how furious he was right now!

His handsome little face was utterly calm, more frightening than the stillness before a storm.

"You actually made me wait this long? Get ready to spend a month in the hospital!" Tōka silently changed his mind about merely testing his new technique.

He had decided to let Inoichi Yamanaka experience the horror of being unable to close his eyes and sleep for one hundred hours!

"Sorry, sorry, I came late." Inoichi Yamanaka laughed casually, but there was not the slightest trace of amusement in his eyes.

He had done it deliberately. When someone was mentally exhausted, they were most vulnerable to having their mental defenses broken and their secrets extracted.

Since Tōka had been locked up in the Interrogation Department, Inoichi Yamanaka had to fulfill his duties.

"Heh... you're not late." There was not the slightest ripple in Tōka's gaze. A wicked smile appeared on his somewhat pale face.

Staring into those deep black eyes, Inoichi Yamanaka's mind suddenly went blank, as though he had fallen straight into them.

When he regained awareness, Inoichi Yamanaka only heard a cold, utterly emotionless voice enter his ears.

"Try my new technique. It's an improved version developed through this sleepless night."

A gust of wind swept away all coolness, and the world instantly became desolate. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but boundless yellow earth and sand.

Nine golden suns hung high in the sky...

Genjutsu: Golden Wheel Nine Rotations!

An ancient wilderness stretched beneath nine golden suns hanging in the sky.

Golden radiance spilled across the land, too blinding for the naked eye to face directly. Above the endless desert, blistering heat scorched the skin and continually drained moisture from the body.

In the time it took to speak a single sentence, Inoichi Yamanaka's mouth had already become dry and parched, while his vision blurred.

It felt as though he would black out and collapse the very next moment.

"This... is genjutsu?" Inoichi Yamanaka still retained a sliver of clarity. A feeling rose within him—he absolutely could not fall asleep.

If he fell asleep, he would never wake up again.

Fear, unease, and reluctance to part with his family.

Countless chaotic thoughts filled his chest, crushing him until he could barely breathe...

"What powerful genjutsu!!" Inoichi Yamanaka's body hit the ground with a thud. Before completely falling into the illusion, he uttered his final words.

Crack—a crisp sound rang out.

Tōka expressionlessly snapped the restraints and slowly rose from the chair.

He looked down at Inoichi Yamanaka, who lay there like a corpse. If not for the adorable little girl Ino, he would have slaughtered this guy!

"You dared to mess with me? Hmph!"

Tōka's gaze turned icy as his anger surged again, murderous intent filling his eyes.

In the end, he did not do anything to Inoichi Yamanaka. Instead, he sat back down...

As though waiting for something.

...To be continued.