Snake and Sasori (1)

In a dim room, four individuals clad in black cloaks with red clouds were engaged in conversation.

The four people talking were Obito, Black Zetsu, Konan, and Nagato; these four were the true core members of the Akatsuki organization.

Since the death of Yahiko, the Akatsuki had been completely reorganized, not only changing the members' uniforms but also undergoing a radical transformation in the organization's entire guiding principles.

At this moment, Nagato was not present in his true body; instead, after transforming Yahiko's corpse into the Deva Path Pain, he was attending in the identity of Pain.

Due to the ambush by Hanzo and Danzo in Amegakure previously, Nagato's legs had been crippled. Furthermore, because of the excessive overdraft of chakra caused by summoning the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Nagato now needed to rely on special equipment to sustain his life, having almost completely lost the ability to move, and all his external actions were carried out by manipulating the Six Paths of Pain.

Although Obito could use Hashirama Cells and White Zetsu tissue to repair Nagato's legs and restore his depleted vitality, doing so would also allow Nagato's strength to return to its peak or even advance further, which was not conducive to his control; therefore, Obito had not done so.

"How is the member recruitment going?" asked Obito, wearing a red spiral-patterned mask. Obito was still acting in the name of Uchiha Madara, so Nagato and Konan had always believed that the masked person before them was Uchiha Madara.

"We have already found a few skilled individuals. Kakuzu, a rogue ninja from Takigakure; Biwa Juzo, a rogue ninja from Kirigakure; and Sasori of the Red Sands, who was just recruited," Konan said, expressionless.

Ever since Yahiko died, Konan's personality had changed completely. Once gentle to everyone, she had now become aloof, always wearing an icy expression as if she had lost all emotion.

Hearing Konan's words, Obito's brows furrowed slightly beneath the mask: "The progress is a bit slow. This many people is far from enough; we need to gather at least ten official members."

"We also hope to find suitable candidates to advance the organization's plans as soon as possible, but there are not many experts wandering outside the various ninja villages. The information on the previous members was all provided by you; I wonder if you have any new candidates?" At this point, Pain asked Obito in a cold voice.

In the Akatsuki's plan, besides collecting the nine Tailed Beasts, they needed to amass a large amount of funds beforehand, all of which required sufficient manpower to prepare. Currently, Pain was already arranging for members to accept high-bounty missions on the market to raise capital.

"Some time ago, Orochimaru, one of the Sannin of Konoha, defected, and we recently discovered his hiding place. Orochimaru is a man of unfathomable motives, and we are worried that seeking him out might carry some risks. However, since you are the leader, you should decide whether to recruit him into the organization," Black Zetsu, who was to the side, said.

"Orochimaru is not easy to deal with; among the Sannin, he should currently be the strongest," Obito added.

Regarding the words of Black Zetsu and Obito, Pain was dismissive, saying coldly: "Under these Rinnegan, Orochimaru cannot stir up any trouble."

"Give me the information on his location, and I will personally take Sasori with me. If Orochimaru agrees to join, arrange for him to be Sasori's partner; if he refuses, I will simply dispose of him."

Several days later, in a gloomy cave, Orochimaru had just sealed the Yin Release Chakra of the one-tailed Shukaku into the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Cursed Seal' within his body.

"Too perfect. At this moment, I feel stronger than ever before." A look of excitement appeared on Orochimaru's pale face.

If someone familiar with Orochimaru were here, they would notice that Orochimaru's height was several inches shorter than before. The reason for this phenomenon was that Orochimaru had successfully completed his first 'Living Corpse Reincarnation'!

In order to seal the Yin Release Chakra of Shukaku into the new body after the reincarnation, Orochimaru had not started the sealing process immediately after obtaining Shukaku, but had dragged it out until just now.

Because of the existence of his academic friend Yusuke, Orochimaru's technical capabilities had improved significantly compared to the original work. The 'Living Corpse Reincarnation' technique, which should have only appeared years later, was not only completed ahead of schedule, but he had also found the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Cursed Seal' method, which could temporarily compensate for the massive defect of weakened spiritual power after reincarnation.

Looking at the Shukaku in front of him, which had shrunk by half and only possessed Yang Release Chakra, Orochimaru found himself in a dilemma.

Currently, he did not have a suitable vessel to seal Shukaku. If he were to seal Shukaku into another ninja as a jinchuriki, it would not only require a ninja with a suitable constitution but also the corresponding sealing technique.

The sealing technique to create a jinchuriki by sealing Shukaku into a ninja was currently only researched in Sunagakure, and Orochimaru did not yet have the sufficient conditions to create a one-tailed jinchuriki.

Keeping this Shukaku meant Orochimaru had to guard it personally, and Shukaku had a grumpy temper and was overly talkative, which annoyed Orochimaru to no end; yet, letting Shukaku go was truly a waste.

Therefore, the remaining half of Shukaku had become a completely useless burden in Orochimaru's hands.

After pondering for a moment, Orochimaru decided to kill the half-Shukaku directly. Although it was a pity, he did not have the extra energy to guard this Shukaku now.

Of course, even if Shukaku were killed by Orochimaru, it would not truly die and would revive in the Nara Desert before long.

"I wonder if Yusuke-kun has found the materials for the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Seal' capable of sealing Yang Release Chakra."

Orochimaru couldn't help but think of Yusuke. If he could complete the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Seal' now, the other half of the Yang Release Chakra of this Shukaku would not be wasted in vain.

When Yusuke first proposed the 'Yin-Yang Cursed Seal', it was by using the extremely powerful Yang Release of Hashirama Cells to seal Yin Release Chakra, achieving the effect of using Yang to control Yin, thus forming the Yin-Yang Cursed Seal.

The principle of the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Cursed Seal' was actually identical to the Yin-Yang Cursed Seal: using some kind of material containing powerful Yin Release power to use Yin to control Yang to form a cursed seal, thereby being able to seal massive amounts of Yang Release Chakra.

"The Sharingan should be able to serve as the material for the cursed seal representing Yin Release power, but an ordinary Sharingan is definitely not enough; at the very least, it would have to be the kind of special Sharingan that Uchiha Shisui used when he fought Yusuke-kun."

"But to use such a pair of eyes as material for a cursed seal is simply too much of a pity."

"The loss outweighs the gain, it truly outweighs the gain!"

Temporarily putting aside the idea of the 'Reverse Yin-Yang Cursed Seal', a cold murderous intent flashed in Orochimaru's eyes as he walked slowly toward Shukaku.

At this very moment, two people wearing black cloaks with red clouds were approaching the cave where Orochimaru was located.

"It looks like this is the place." Looking at the cave entrance that resembled a beast's maw ahead, Sasori said slowly. At this time, Sasori was hidden inside his puppet Hiruko, the entire puppet body crawling on the ground, and his voice had been specially processed, sounding very hoarse.

"It seems so. We didn't hide our tracks, so Orochimaru must have discovered us by now," Pain said.

As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru slowly walked out of the cave.

Orochimaru had just strangled the Shukaku that only had Yang Release Chakra left when he discovered the arrival of Pain and Sasori.

Seeming to sense that the visitors were not well-intentioned, Orochimaru took the initiative to come to the cave entrance to greet them. He also wanted to test what kind of power his body could exert after just reincarnating and planting the 'Yin-Yang Cursed Seal'.

In the original work, Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki relatively late, and with Kabuto acting as a mole under Sasori, Orochimaru already knew many of the Akatsuki's secrets when they came knocking.

But now that Kabuto had been snatched away by Yusuke, and the Akatsuki had noticed Orochimaru earlier, Orochimaru at this stage was still very unfamiliar with the Akatsuki.

Looking at the Deva Path Pain in front of him, Orochimaru did not recognize that this was one of the three orphans he had once encountered with Jiraiya and Tsunade in Amegakure.

To him, he had seen too many such war orphans and had not taken them to heart. At this moment, his attention was entirely focused on the ripple-patterned Rinnegan in Pain's eyes.

"These eyes are a very special ocular Kekkei Genkai!" Orochimaru extended his tongue, which was like a snake's, and licked his lips, thinking to himself.

Although he saw the unusual eyes of the Deva Path Pain at a glance, Orochimaru did not recognize that these were the legendary Rinnegan.

However, instinctively, he felt that the pair of eyes before him were extremely powerful. When stared at by these eyes, Orochimaru felt as if he were a prey with nowhere to hide, being firmly locked onto by a hunter!

"Orochimaru, long time no see." At this moment, Sasori, who was beside Pain, took the initiative to greet Orochimaru.

Shifting his gaze from Pain to the Hiruko beside him, Orochimaru frowned and observed it carefully, asking in an uncertain tone, "Are you Sasori of the Red Sands?"

Orochimaru had met Sasori once before; at that time, Sasori had not yet joined the Akatsuki, nor had he hidden his body inside the puppet Hiruko.

However, with Orochimaru's keen eye, he had managed to spot some clues through this puppet, though he could not be entirely certain.

"Correct," Sasori replied.

Orochimaru's signature sinister smile slowly emerged: "I wonder what purpose you have, Sasori, visiting me dressed in such a bizarre fashion?"

Sasori snorted coldly: "Talking about bizarre, you should take a look at yourself; that Shimenawa doesn't suit you at all!"

Hearing Sasori's words, Orochimaru's smile faltered, and he couldn't help but think back to the night he traded Shukaku with Yusuke, when Yusuke had also suggested he change his outfit.

Is this outfit really that bad? Orochimaru couldn't help but begin to doubt himself.

At this moment, Orochimaru was still wearing his signature outfit, with a hemp rope tied around his waist and a large bow knotted at the back. In Japan, this rope is known as a Shimenawa.

Pain let out a cold snort: "Enough, Sasori. Stop talking about these irrelevant things and get to the point." He hadn't expected Sasori and Orochimaru to drift so far off-topic, actually arguing about fashion sense.

For the powerful Pain, Sasori still maintained a certain level of reverence. He said to Orochimaru: "Our organization is currently recruiting powerful ninjas as members, and your strength meets the requirements."

"Now, you have two choices before you: join or die!"

Routine thanks to everyone for your support!!!

(●●)(●●)

In the dim room, readers, please imagine Pain's BGM—Girei; in the eerie underground cavern, readers, please imagine Orochimaru's BGM—Orochimaru~Battle.