Kakuzu had joined Akatsuki after Nagato defeated him. Back then, Nagato had sent more than just the Deva Path Pain. The other Paths had been there too.
Kakuzu knew Pain was not just one Deva Path. There were six of them, and every one had a Rinnegan.
Each had abilities of his own.
As far as Kakuzu knew, the Rinnegan belonged exclusively to Akatsuki's leader.
If someone else had a Rinnegan, they could only have taken it from Pain.
Orochimaru walked over and stood beside Snow Leopard. He smiled at Kabuto. "This is the Summoning Beast of Dusk's leader, one of the Six Ninja Cats, and my animal friend—Snow Leopard!"
Orochimaru was not acting alone.
Dusk had copied Akatsuki's approach wholesale: its members operated in pairs.
Liao Wu's Ninja Cat was there to keep an eye on them.
Of course, he was more than capable of helping out.
Orochimaru knew what Snow Leopard could do. His Rinnegan was used entirely to gather intelligence, but he had plenty of other powerful abilities.
He had the Mayfly Technique, which let him move at high speed underground and conceal his presence completely.
Even with Orochimaru's white-snake senses, he could not detect Snow Leopard approaching.
Snow Leopard had nearly clipped his heels.
Snow Leopard said to Orochimaru, "Can't you handle your own subordinate?"
Orochimaru pointed at Kabuto and smiled. "This subordinate of mine is determined to surpass me. He's even imitating my personality."
Snow Leopard turned and looked at Orochimaru with his Sharingan. "You mean your personality is that of a backstabber who would never be loyal to anyone?"
Orochimaru stiffened, then hurried to put on a smile. "No. Our leader brought me back to life himself. I'm a grateful man. How could I ever betray Dusk?"
Kabuto was stunned to see Orochimaru smiling