Sweating profusely, aren't you, Orochimaru

Orochimaru saw Jiraiya's hesitation and gave a cold laugh. "Jiraiya, you're still the same as ever. Soft-hearted."

With that, Orochimaru passed Jiraiya and sped toward the place he had locked onto earlier.

Jiraiya stood there in silence for a few breaths. Just as he was about to chase after him, an old toad in a cloak, with gray-white hair, suddenly appeared on Jiraiya's shoulder.

Jiraiya was startled. "Sage Fukasaku!"

This toad was one of Mount Myōboku's Two Great Sages—Sage Fukasaku!

Sage Fukasaku said to Jiraiya, "Little Jiraiya, no matter what you're doing right now, stop at once. The Great Lord is looking for you. He has a new prophecy."

"Ah—"

Jiraiya was startled.

The Great Lord Sage Fukasaku spoke of was the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, the great sage who had once taught the Six Paths Sage Sage Mode.

If such a figure wanted to see him, Jiraiya could not afford to be delayed.

Right now, even if his parents had died, he would have to put it aside.

Orochimaru's matter had to be set aside. He had to teleport to Mount Myōboku as quickly as possible and listen to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.

Orochimaru and Hiruko found an inconspicuous small mountain. This was the place where Orochimaru's summoning snakes had died in batches.

Hiruko looked at the inconspicuous place. "That kid Ryobu is hiding here?"

Orochimaru gave a cold laugh. "He's definitely here. Wait while I go down and take a look at him."

Orochimaru sat cross-legged on the ground, and a white snake split off from his body and burrowed deep underground.

The white snake Orochimaru had transformed into was more elite than ordinary snakes, and it easily broke through the base outside the small hill.

Orochimaru entered and noticed swathes of pale blue-white humanoid creatures. They attacked him.

Orochimaru quickly dodged them and went deeper inside.

He felt that the greatest secret of the Ninja World was being unveiled before him.

Finally, Orochimaru passed through layer upon layer of obstacles and entered the very center of the base, where he saw a Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that looked like Hell Yama.

One White Zetsu after another hung from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, like lives wailing in agony.

"This is—"

Orochimaru's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils almost bursting from their sockets.

Beneath the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the aged old man opened his eyes. The moment his vermilion-jade Sharingan opened, it was as if the whole world had paused.

"Get out—"

Outside, Orochimaru suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

Hiruko was somewhat shocked. They had not even fought yet, and Orochimaru was already injured. Just what kind of divine being was inside?

Through the image transmitted by his clone, Orochimaru had caught sight of the old man's Sharingan.

Orochimaru coughed up blood, and lingering fear could not be suppressed in his eyes. With just one look from that old man, he truly felt as if he had fallen into the eighteenth layer of hell.

That killing intent, Orochimaru felt, was the best description of a sea of corpses and blood.

"Sharingan. It's the Sharingan. It's one of the Uchiha people!"

The strongest Uchiha was "Fierce Eye Fugaku," who had made his name in the Third Shinobi War, but that sort of reputation was not worth mentioning before the Sannin.

Among the Uchiha's existing ninja, even if one searched the entire clan from top to bottom, there was no one who could injure Orochimaru with a single glance.

Then there was only one possibility—

Orochimaru and Hiruko looked at each other and said in unison the name that the Leaf Village regarded as taboo.

"Madara Uchiha—"

Madara Uchiha, one of the founders of the Leaf Village, was known alongside Hashirama Senju as a legendary ninja.

During the Warring States Period, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju were the ceiling of all ninja.

He was not revered by the world as the God of Ninja like Hashirama Senju, but even someone like Orochimaru would tremble at the mention of Madara Uchiha's name.

"Run. Run first, talk later!"

Orochimaru took Hiruko and turned to flee. Once they had fled far enough, they found a place to rest, watching that direction from earlier and ready to fight at any moment.

But after a long time, there was still no movement. Madara Uchiha seemed not to have paid attention to them from beginning to end.

Would you notice an ant that suddenly broke into your home?

Was this the arrogance that belonged to the Uchiha?

Hiruko noticed Orochimaru's forehead. "Orochimaru, you're drenched in sweat!"

Orochimaru wiped the sweat from his forehead, while quietly using his foot to erase the traces of urine beside it.

How could crossing paths with such a terrifying ninja only make me sweat?

So that day, when Ryobu shouted for Ancestor to save him, he had not been praying for his ancestors' blessing. He had really been asking Ancestor to come out.

The Uchiha Clan's ancestor—Madara Uchiha.

How could Orochimaru fail to figure out such a simple question?

Hiruko swallowed saliva. "Orochimaru, aren't you mistaken? Madara Uchiha was killed by First Hokage-sama before we were even born."

Orochimaru slowly calmed down and analyzed, "Do I know what Madara Uchiha looks like? No. But that old man's aura clearly belonged to someone who had fought his way out of a sea of corpses and blood in the Warring States Period."

"He is definitely Madara Uchiha! My guess is that back then, he used some secret art to feign death and escape."

Hiruko urged him, "Orochimaru, we should run! That's Madara Uchiha. In an era without First Hokage-sama, he's invincible."

"No—"

Orochimaru refused.

Hiruko shouted, "Have you gone mad, Orochimaru? That's Madara Uchiha! If I were still alive, I would've been scared to urinate just now."

Orochimaru said with absolute certainty, "No. For the sake of eternal life, even if it's Madara Uchiha, I still have to fight for it. Besides, Madara Uchiha's current condition isn't good."

"When I saw him, all his hair was white, his face was covered in wrinkles, and there was even a bio-tube connected to his back keeping him alive."

"I understand now. Madara Uchiha is already on his last legs, so he needs Liao Wu's Forbidden Technique to extend his life. He needs to seize Grass Village's Life Secret Art."

"Hiruko, do you know? This is an opportunity. A heaven-sent opportunity."

"Madara Uchiha went to such lengths to feign death. He must be hiding some enormous secret. As long as I obtain that secret... hehe!"

Hiruko looked at the crazed Orochimaru and felt that the man had already gone completely off the deep end.

Madara Uchiha! Even if Hiruko perfected the Chimera Technique and became the perfect ninja, he still would not dare to tug at that man's whiskers.

Yet Orochimaru actually wanted to seize his secret.

This was simply too insane!

Orochimaru was indeed insane, but he was not stupid. To deal with Madara Uchiha, relying on himself alone would not be enough.

He needed helpers—preferably Jiraiya and Tsunade, who were also Sannin.

"Hiruko, go find Jiraiya. He's probably in the forest. Tell him about Madara Uchiha."

"With Jiraiya's nature, I think he definitely won't leave someone as dangerous as Madara Uchiha alone."

"Good!"

Orochimaru immediately bit his finger, summoned a small snake, wrote some words, had the snake bite them into its belly, then sent it back to Leaf Village to deliver the message to Tsunade.

The ones who most wanted Madara Uchiha dead were the Senju Clan. Orochimaru did not believe Tsunade would remain calm after seeing the news that Madara Uchiha was still alive.

After finishing all this, Orochimaru still felt uneasy, so he called over the Grass Village Ninja.

He said to Hagi Chiho, "I've already found your village's Kekkei Genkai. It's right below here. It's just that there are some things down there that are difficult to deal with."

"Hurry and send a signal to the Grass Village People, have them come here. When the time comes, we'll attack together and deal with the monster below."

Hagi Chiho subconsciously glanced at Wu Wei.

Wu Wei was somewhat unsure. An enemy that even Orochimaru found troublesome—could their Grass Village People really handle it?

Wu Wei felt there was a trick.

But in the blink of an eye, Orochimaru released a snake and swallowed one of their chunin. "Hurry up. Do you think I'm joking around with you? If you're any later, every last one of you will die."

Wu Wei's expression was terrifyingly dark, but he could only signal for Hagi Chiho to send a message to the village.

There was too little time. Otherwise, Orochimaru truly would have wanted to call over the ninja army from Leaf Village's Mist Village frontline.

To deal with Madara Uchiha, this was exactly the level of exaggeration required.