Fifty miles outside Konoha.
Orochimaru lay on a rock by a stream, listening to the birds singing deep in the forest as he gazed peacefully up at the starry sky.
His mind was empty, free of worries. He felt calm and serene, just like the young man who had trained under Hiruzen Sarutobi decades ago!
Alas, Jiraiya and Tsunade were no longer by his side.
Orochimaru furrowed his brow. His mind, which he had finally managed to clear, was clouded by worries again. Then, a rush of memories suddenly flooded in.
They belonged to the clone that had been beaten to death by the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Konoha Saburo!
Wait!
The Three-Tails...
In an instant, Orochimaru sprang off the rock like a startled rabbit.
A glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. That bastard Gekko Hayate had stolen the Three-Tails from him and, sure enough, taken it to Konoha!
Wouldn't the Abyss take issue with that?
Or was the Abyss's headquarters actually in Konoha, and its so-called leader really Namikaze Minato?
Following that line of thought, if Namikaze Minato had founded the Abyss, he must have wanted to do something unsavory. Judging by what had happened with the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Orochimaru guessed Minato intended to use the Abyss as a cover to collect the Nine Tailed Beasts and then unite the shinobi world!
So the Abyss had also kidnapped Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki?
If that was the case, his Konoha Crush Plan might fail.
The Three-Tails, the Eight-Tails, the Nine-Tails, which already belonged to Konoha, the Yellow Flash, the Third Hokage, Jiraiya, Gekko Hayate, Body Flicker Shisui... Wait, Body Flicker Shisui was tied up at the Hot Water and Fire border, so he could set him aside for now.
But even with him out of the picture, Orochimaru, Shennong, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, Sky