Orochimaru

Tsunade had sent people to tail Uchiha Sasuke.

On the other side.

"Lord Orochimaru, it seems the Fifth Hokage has discovered us."

"Heh, and what if she has? I never cared for those Sharingan eyes anyway; they are all inferior to Itachi's. They are no different from trash—I even installed them for Danzo myself."

"Then what is your intention? Do you want that child?"

"Hahaha, Kabuto, being seen through by you so often makes me feel a bit irritated.

That child shares the same bloodline as Itachi; he certainly won't disappoint.

He can serve as my next vessel.

Observe him for now, then I shall personally influence him and cultivate him into the most perfect vessel."

Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto followed Uchiha Sasuke together.

Kabuto created a Shadow Clone, used the Transformation Technique to intentionally reveal himself, and lured away the Anbu protecting Sasuke.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru appeared before Sasuke with a look of keen interest.

"Who are you? What do you want? Ah!"

A vigilant Sasuke drew a kunai, but a single glance from Orochimaru terrified him so much that he collapsed to the ground on the spot.

After falling, he began to retch uncontrollably.

"Oh my, truly pitifully weak, aren't you? Let me give you a helping hand."

As he spoke, Orochimaru extended his snake-like tongue, intending to plant a Cursed Seal on Sasuke.

Suddenly, several kunai were fired from the side, which Orochimaru dodged with ease.

"Tsunade?"

"Orochimaru! You bastard, how dare you return here?"

"Haha, Tsunade, if even someone like you can become Hokage, why shouldn't I be able to return?"

Orochimaru mocked Tsunade for her position as Hokage while dodging another one of her strikes.

Immediately, more and more Anbu arrived on the scene.

"Lord Orochimaru, we should retreat."

"Damn it, retreat!"

Orochimaru cast an unwilling glance at Tsunade, then he and Kabuto released a smoke bomb and fled directly.

"Ha-hey!"

Tsunade reacted, using a Heavenly Pain Kick to disperse the smoke bomb the two had released.

But it was too late; they had already escaped.

"Damn it! These two bastards, what do they think Konoha is? A place they can come and go as they please? Search for them with everything you've got! If you spot them, signal immediately, and I will arrive at once!"

"Yes!"

In an instant, the core districts of Konoha were filled with the figures of Anbu, searching frantically for Orochimaru and Kabuto.

The two being hunted were forced into the outskirts, intending to slip away from there.

However, they discovered something strange.

Inside a pig farm on the outskirts.

A group of Anbu medical ninja were actually treating a sow; once it was healed, they grabbed the sow and locked it into a pigpen.

Although the sow struggled desperately to escape.

Its limbs had been injured, and its vocal cords had been removed, making it completely unable to make a sound.

Following this, the group of medical ninja fed aphrodisiacs to the boars in the pen.

Then, the group of medical ninja watched as the boars raped the sow until it fainted from exhaustion.

They then revived the sow and threw it into another pen.

"Baka, how could there be such bored medical ninja?"

Kabuto watched with a bewildered expression. When he first discovered this group of Anbu, he thought they were pursuers and was just about to ambush and eliminate them.

Yet he saw them enter the pig farm with a sow, followed by the scene unfolding before his eyes.

"That is not the case."

"What?"

"That is not a pig. Interesting! Hahaha, what an evil genius! That is a person! A person who has been turned into a sow by someone else!"

"What? A person?"

"That's right. Look at that pig's eyes; those are human eyes. Truly a genius to be able to accomplish such a thing. How does he ensure that the person doesn't die?"

As the two stood on the roof conversing, Kabuto spoke in a low voice.

Orochimaru, watching the scene before him, burst into loud laughter, showing no fear of being discovered.

The members of the Spark Society below immediately spotted Orochimaru on the roof.

"Who goes there?"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

The kunai thrown by the group missed their mark, and they prepared to leap up to apprehend the intruder.

Unexpectedly, Kabuto had already descended a step ahead, taking advantage of the fact that Orochimaru had drawn their attention.

With a flurry of Chakra Scalpel strikes, he laid everyone present out on the ground.

Orochimaru also appeared inside the pigsty, his gaze sending a shockwave that knocked all the rutting boars unconscious.

He then ordered Kabuto to use medical ninjutsu to treat the sow, which had endured yet another round of suffering, and incidentally restored its vocal cords.

The sow, awakened by the medical ninjutsu, still had a strange, flushed look in its eyes.

Kabuto was left speechless; the sow's nervous system had actually been tampered with, its sensory perception significantly amplified!

To the point that even his medical ninjutsu caused it to cry out.

Kabuto was utterly exasperated; while adjusting the sow's sensory system, he complained to Orochimaru beside him.

"Baka, pervert, this is too perverted! What kind of person did this pig-man offend? They actually increased its sensory sensitivity by at least tenfold. It reacts like this even when receiving medical treatment. Ugh!"

"Hahaha, an evil genius—I like that person!"

Finally, the sow was healed by Kabuto.

The moment the pig was cured, it charged toward the wall, intent on bashing its head in to end its life.

However, Orochimaru grabbed it by the scruff.

"Orochimaru? Let me go, let me die. Just let me die!"

"Danzo???"

Hearing that familiar voice, Orochimaru stood frozen in shock, unable to believe his ears.

But he had seen with his own eyes that Danzo had died in the Hokage's office.

Who was this person?

The voice was so similar, and it could even recognize him.

"Are you Danzo? Then who is the one who died in the Hokage's office?"

Under Orochimaru's persistent questioning, Danzo began to recount his humiliating ordeal at the hands of Kimura Takuya, telling Orochimaru everything he had witnessed within the Root.

"A resurrection technique? A jutsu that can revive a human body by consuming flesh and blood, and he can perform it right after graduation? A genius! Hahaha, such a genius is truly too tempting."

After hearing what Danzo had to say, Orochimaru couldn't help but extend his long tongue to lick his lips.

"I wonder if such a genius could withstand the power of the Cursed Seal? I really want to test it out."

Suddenly, Orochimaru grew alert, scanning his surroundings.

"Well now, when did you arrive? I've actually been surrounded."

Orochimaru looked around; at some point, the area had been swarmed by Anbu, though these Anbu had somewhat strange physiques.

They were exceptionally muscular, and the skin exposed on their arms looked like tiger hide.

The individuals Kabuto had just taken down were among them as well, having recovered at some point, their bodies now transformed and robust.

Though they had originally only possessed the aura of Chunin, after their transformation, they all radiated the aura of Jonin.

The only person in the crowd who hadn't transformed spoke up.

"Orochimaru, put down that pig, or I'll be having snake soup for dinner tonight!"

"Hahaha, an arrogant junior, are you? I hope your strength can match your words."

Orochimaru raised his hand, launching a Hidden Shadow Snake Hands attack as a sneak strike.

Kimura Takuya had been guarding against him all along, so he naturally didn't fall for it.

His figure flashed as he unleashed a burst of extreme speed.

His velocity was in no way inferior to the beast-man forms of the Spark Society members present.

Having dodged the sneak attack, Kimura Takuya raised his hand and retaliated with a Long-range Spiral Cannon!

"BOOM!"