About to Depart!

Hyuga Shin had an in-depth exchange with Orochimaru and briefly outlined his plan.

That heart-to-heart conversation brought Orochimaru and Hyuga Shin infinitely closer.

It also filled Orochimaru with deep admiration for Hyuga Shin's grand ideals!

A man in his eighties, steeped in darkness, yet still yearning for the light!

Trapped in a cage, yet still wanting to bring change to this twisted world.

Hyuga Shin's unwavering conviction moved Orochimaru.

He knew he couldn't do the same himself.

Orochimaru's joining pushed Hyuga Shin's plan one step further.

It hadn't been easy!

Nearly a month of effort had finally paid off.

This was also the longest Hyuga Shin had ever spent spreading his teachings.

But it was well worth it!

From his conversation with Orochimaru, he learned that Orochimaru had already lost interest in this war, which had long been scripted.

He even dismissed narrow-minded notions like protecting one's village or clan as beneath him.

Orochimaru had leaped out of the well and seen a broader sky.

He had also glimpsed the deeper darkness lurking within the Shinobi World!

At the same time, he felt pity for those shinobi who remained shrouded in darkness, lacking self-awareness, yet utterly oblivious to it.

Orochimaru even expressed a desire to leave Konohagakure and follow Hyuga Shin to sow seeds of hope across the Shinobi World, but Hyuga Shin refused.

Hyuga Shin stated that he was already a decaying body, and becoming fertilizer for the seeds was his mission.

The hidden hands of the Shinobi World would never allow their nursery to be destroyed; they would surely face a storm of obstruction and pursuit!

These seedlings still needed a better environment to grow.

Without sufficient strength, it was better to develop steadily for a while.

Hyuga Shin's selfless dedication elevated Orochimaru's respect and admiration to the highest level!

Hyuga Shin had gradually achieved his initial plan of becoming Orochimaru's soul mentor, life beacon, and guide to ideals.

But time was about up.

Hyuga Shin still needed to continue traveling the Shinobi World, walking the path of the Great Teacher of Virtue, sowing seeds of hope.

Orochimaru had already set foot on the ideals and journey Hyuga Shin had mapped out for him, and the lingering troubles on his person had been cleared away.

A few more days of fertilizing, feeding some toxic chicken soup, refining the core concepts, and stabilizing things would suffice.

It was almost time to leave.

Under the Sage of Six Paths' script, the Shinobi World had never ceased its conflicts, and it was no different now.

Years of war had left countless families bereaved, countless children orphaned.

Sasori was the same—a pitiful child. The death of his parents at a young age had inflicted deep psychological trauma on him.

As a genius of the Puppet Technique, he had even crafted puppets of his father and mother to keep him company.

Though Chiyo was by his side, his childhood had lost its luster.

Longing for his parents' love, his heart gradually twisted, and he poured all his focus into the study of puppets.

Only puppets would never die; they could accompany him eternally and unchangingly.

At the same time, he harbored a deep hatred for the Third Kazekage, who had caused his parents' deaths!

He blamed the Third Kazekage for his parents' demise.

Sasori believed that as the Kazekage of Sunagakure, protecting the village's comrades was his duty.

Yet his parents had died on a mission assigned by the Third Kazekage.

In Sasori's eyes, as the village's Kage, he was unqualified.

Thus, besides studying the Puppet Technique, he also delved deeply into the art of poison-making.

His goal was to one day kill the Third Kazekage and avenge his dead parents!

And to put an end to what he saw as an unqualified Kage.

To that end, Sasori worked hard and gradually revealed his talent.

He was then noticed by the Third Kazekage and taken in as a member of his guard.

This brought him one step closer to his goal!

Finally! During a secret mission, Sasori found his chance!

He secretly poisoned the Third Kazekage in advance and successfully killed him while he was still in his prime.

He then prepared to turn his body into a puppet, making it his trump card.

After all, the Third Kazekage was still very strong. As the owner of the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai, his Iron Sand jutsu left few opponents capable of standing against him.

This act of Sasori's also became the fuse for the Third Shinobi World War, igniting the great conflict across the Shinobi World.

After killing the Third Kazekage, Sasori defected and never returned to the village.

In his eyes, there was nothing left there worth holding onto.

Next, he would pursue his own path to the eternity of puppets.

But Sasori didn't know that someone had already set their sights on him.

And the vanguard, the Immortal Duo, had already entered the Land of Wind, beginning their search for his whereabouts.

"Hey! Kakuzu! How are we supposed to find someone with just a name? At least let the leader give us more info! I still need to preach and offer sacrifices to Lord Jashin!"

The young Hidan complained endlessly to Kakuzu.

He was genuinely getting anxious. Running around like this every day, accomplishing nothing—even the Lord Jashin he believed in was starting to have objections.

"Shut up, Hidan! You've been complaining all day! Can't you be quiet for a bit?"

Kakuzu was getting annoyed himself. Searching like this really wasn't working.

Sasori was different from Hidan. Aside from being a puppeteer, he had no obvious distinguishing marks, and as a ninja, he knew better how to conceal his identity.

Though Kakuzu had scolded Hidan, he still took his opinion into consideration and prepared to seek some help from Hyuga Shin, to see if he could provide any useful information.

He immediately used a secret technique to activate the Ring and send a transmission.

After a moment, a figure projected out from the Ring—it was Hyuga Shin.

"Kakuzu, are you having difficulties that you're contacting me? Has Hidan joined?" Hyuga Shin asked as soon as his projection appeared.

"With my strong invitation, Hidan has joined. Now we're searching for the other reserve member you mentioned, Sasori."

"But this person has too little information, and he's no longer in the Sand Village. He's very hard to find. I wanted to ask if you have any relevant intel."

Kakuzu laid out both their progress and their difficulties.

"Kakuzu, your speed is indeed beyond my expectations. To have gotten Hidan to join so quickly."

"As for Sasori, wait a few days. Once I finish handling matters here, I'll come personally to help you."

"In the meantime, you can also go do some things you want to do."

Hyuga Shin first praised Kakuzu's work efficiency, then gave his answer to Kakuzu's problem.

Hyuga Shin also knew that Sasori would be hard to find. That guy had pulled off such a big stunt—of course he'd hide to let the heat die down!

"Alright then, we'll wait for you in the Land of Wind for a few days. We can take this time to rest." Kakuzu didn't ask any more questions and cut off the connection without even stating their location.

He knew Hyuga Shin could find them, because the Ring had a real-time positioning function.

"Hey, Kakuzu-san, this means I can take the opportunity to preach and offer sacrifices to Lord Jashin, right?"

"The leader said we can do what we want."

Hidan could no longer suppress his urge to spread his faith.

Given any chance, he would really climb right up the pole.

"Fine, but don't go around indiscriminately killing civilians. The organization doesn't allow that kind of behavior."

"Go find a Black Market and take some bandit-clearing missions. That way you can earn money and offer sacrifices to your Lord Jashin at the same time."

Kakuzu had a head for economics. Not only did he solve Hidan's problem, but they could also collect payment—a win-win!

The two then headed toward the nearest Black Market.

On Hyuga Shin's end, upon receiving Kakuzu's transmission and learning that Hidan had already joined and was searching for Sasori in the Land of Wind, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly: "This worker Kakuzu really gets things done! No need to push at all!"

But he also needed to quickly cleanse the Will of the Six Paths from them. Otherwise, if the Six Paths discovered them and he couldn't make it in time, all would be for nothing.

Right now, his research on cleansing the Will of the Six Paths had hit a bottleneck. Although he very much wanted to give these seeds a chance to discover things on their own.

For safety's sake, Hyuga Shin still decided to first clean up the Six Paths' contingency measures.

That was also the reason he needed to go personally.

The overall situation was developing in a good direction. Though the research had minor flaws, it wasn't a big problem.

Hyuga Shin believed he would eventually find a way.

Another day passed, and Orochimaru came to visit again, chatting freely with Hyuga Shin. He was starting to neglect his proper work.

But then again, he already had a worldview completely different from those Caged Bird-like ninjas. They couldn't see eye to eye anymore.

Only with Hyuga Shin could he speak his mind freely and dig deeper into the true face of the ninja world.

Of course, Hyuga Shin was also happy. Every day he watered and fertilized, fed him poisonous chicken soup, established ideals and beliefs, and instilled the idea of creating a great harmony in the ninja world.

Still, Hyuga Shin informed Orochimaru that he would be leaving.

To this, though Orochimaru expressed reluctance, he still said he supported Hyuga Shin's decision.