Coffins

A ramen shop on the outskirts of the Land of Fields.

"Hermit Purple!"

Lin Qing slapped the instant camera.

A photograph slowly slid out.

Orochimaru was sitting in a chair, holding a teacup. He seemed to sense Lin Qing watching him, and raised the cup slightly in greeting.

He wasn't running anymore.

There was no need for Star Platinum to fill in the details. In the photograph, Orochimaru sat in the middle of a street lined with empty shops. Behind him stood more than a dozen shinobi wearing Forehead Protectors marked with musical notes.

Otogakure.

Lin Qing understood. This was why Orochimaru had fled all the way to the Land of Fields.

For seven days, Orochimaru had run, and Lin Qing had chased him. There was nowhere left for him to escape.

Lin Qing and Orochimaru had barely stopped for a moment.

Thanks to Hermit Purple, no matter where Orochimaru hid, Lin Qing could always track him down by following the slightest clues.

Until now, when Orochimaru had finally stopped running.

He was waiting for Lin Qing to show up in plain sight.

Jiraiya had once said:

"If I ran into Orochimaru, I could beat him senseless"—though he was probably boasting a little—"but if you give him enough time to prepare and scheme, his threat level rises exponentially."

Orochimaru's eyes in the photograph seemed to say, I'm right here, Lin Qing. Do you really dare come?

"What kind of Batman setup is this?"

Lin Qing chuckled. "Shopkeeper, how far is it from here to Otogakure?"

The ramen shop owner glanced at Lin Qing's greatsword. "At a normal person's pace, it's five days on foot if you head northwest. By carriage, it'll take two. But if you're a shinobi, sir, and go whoosh-whoosh through the trees, you might get there in a day."

Lin Qing had a rough idea of the distance and nodded. He stood up and took a banknote from his pocket, placing it on the table.

"Keep the change."

The shopkeeper wiped his hands on a towel and came over. When he saw the amount, he hurriedly grabbed the money, lifted the curtain, and chased after Lin Qing.

"Sir! One bowl of noodles doesn't cost that much. You gave me far too—"

He stopped mid-sentence, stunned.

Lin Qing was standing on the Blade of Ruin, as if an invisible giant had flung him and the blade into the sky. He shot straight northwest.

The shopkeeper fell back onto the ground and yelled, "Honey!"

"What?"

"Come out... and see a god!"

Inside Otogakure.

Though it was broad daylight, not a soul could be seen in the streets. Only Orochimaru sat in a chair, cradling a cup of hot tea as he quietly sipped it and basked in the sun.

Looking only at Orochimaru, one might have thought he'd turned over a new leaf and left the Ninja World's grudges behind.

But shift your gaze just a little farther back, and you'd see more than a dozen Otogakure shinobi with murderous expressions, as well as...

Two solid-wood coffins.

In the Naruto World, where productivity was low, a carefully crafted solid-wood coffin counted as a lavish burial.

Ordinary families couldn't afford one. When someone died, they were wrapped in a straw mat, and that was considered enough.

Most people were simply buried in a hole.

Only wealthy landowners, merchants, and powerful shinobi could afford solid-wood coffins.

As mentioned earlier, the hidden villages of various countries had been infiltrating one another. Otogakure was no exception. Spies from different villages, each with their own methods, lurked in the corners, watching Orochimaru and his group from afar.

Quite a few people had privately suspected that Orochimaru was the shadow leader of Otogakure, but seeing it exposed so openly still shocked many of them.

Spies naturally had access to all kinds of information.

They'd heard about the pursuit between Lin Qing and Orochimaru long ago. Now it seemed the battle would end in Otogakure, right before their eyes.

"But what do these two coffins marked 'One' and 'Two' mean?"

"How do you not get it? Who is Orochimaru?

"One of the legendary Sannin. A new-generation shinobi like Lin Qing chased him all this way. You think he wouldn't be furious?

"These two coffins are a declaration of his resolve.

"Lin Qing—if he doesn't come, fine. But if he does..."

"If he does?"

"The coffins are already prepared. What do you think? They'll settle the score and decide who lives or dies. Looks like Lin Qing really drove Orochimaru over the edge. He's even ready to take them both down."

The spies whispered among themselves.

Kabuto Yakushi walked over to pour Orochimaru some tea. "Lord Orochimaru, do you really think Lin Qing will come?"

Kabuto couldn't imagine how Kimimaro, Jugo, and Orochimaru had been defeated by Lin Qing. It must have been a brutal, evenly matched fight.

From Lord Orochimaru's caution, Kabuto could tell that Lin Qing was a powerful shinobi.

But...

With Lord Orochimaru fully prepared, would Lin Qing really come?

Alone, to challenge an entire hidden village?

That went beyond recklessness or impulsiveness.

It was stupidity.

Kabuto wasn't the only one who thought so.

Konan and Deidara, concealed in the sky, thought the same thing.

"Looks like we came all this way for nothing."

Deidara yawned. Their targets were Lin Qing and Orochimaru, but compared with Orochimaru, who was like a rat in a gutter, Lin Qing's "arrogant and overbearing" nature was much more to Deidara's liking.

Konan nodded slightly.

Just then.

"He'll come."

Itachi Uchiha in the sky.

Orochimaru on the ground.

Though a thousand meters apart, the two spoke the same words at the same time.

"Why?"

Kabuto and Deidara asked simultaneously.

Faced with the question, Orochimaru and Itachi Uchiha—two men of exceptional intelligence—couldn't give a precise answer. All they could offer was a vague word:

"A feeling."

It was an elusive certainty, difficult to put into words and impossible for ordinary people to understand.

Only someone who had truly clashed with Lin Qing could feel it.

After hearing Itachi's explanation, Konan raised a hand, wanting to say something, then hesitated.

Deidara, on the other hand, had no filter. He slapped his thigh and laughed.

"A feeling beaten into you... Itachi, are you sure you're not talking about some kind of special fetish?"

Itachi Uchiha: "..."

They waited another two full hours. Their original plan was to wait until Lin Qing showed up and got locked in a fierce fight with Orochimaru, then strike in the confusion and capture them both.

Konan checked the time.

The sun hung high in the sky, directly overhead.

Noon had arrived.

"Deidara, have your Clay Scout Bug picked up anything?"

Deidara had set up a clay surveillance zone with a radius of twenty kilometers around Otogakure. The moment Lin Qing entered its range, it would trigger a small explosion.

"No," Deidara replied.

Konan said, "Itachi, it looks like your 'feeling' was wrong. We can't wait any longer. The news that Orochimaru is in Otogakure has already gotten out. It won't be long before forces from all over come rushing here. We need to act before then."

Konan finished speaking, but Itachi didn't respond.

He remained with his eyes closed, as if meditating.

"Itachi?"

"Listen carefully."

Itachi Uchiha suddenly spoke.

Listen?

Konan listened closely. She heard the wind rushing toward them, and—

It was getting closer!

"Look!"

The midday sun shone on Lin Qing as he flew toward them atop his blade.

"He's here!"

"He really came!"

No infiltration, no assassination, no army assembled.

All alone, under the blazing midday sun, he swaggered right into the enemy's lair!

It was madness.

"Holy shit!"

Deidara's eyes lit up. He stared with his mouth half open. "Itachi, I take back what I said. I get what you meant by 'feeling' now. Lin Qing... this guy's pretty interesting!"

"And he's actually flying?!"

Everyone in the sky and on the ground saw Lin Qing speeding toward them.

They channeled chakra into their eyes and saw Star Platinum appear behind the Blade of Ruin, seize its hilt, and aim toward Orochimaru—

"Ora!"

Lin Qing accelerated once more. A white, cone-shaped cloud formed behind him.

In an instant, roaring thunder filled the sky like divine punishment, crashing down on Orochimaru!

Boom!

The Blade of Ruin pierced Orochimaru's body and pinned him firmly to the ground.

The shock wave spread outward. The earth cracked and caved in.

With a single strike, every building within a hundred meters of Lin Qing collapsed. All the Otogakure shinobi lying in ambush nearby were buried beneath the rubble.

Dust billowed, obscuring their vision.

A hand reached out of the dust and waved gently, as if drawing back a curtain.

A gale howled.

Lin Qing stood in the middle of the ruins and pulled out the Blade of Ruin. At the same time—

Thud! Thud!

Two coffin lids hit the ground.

Lin Qing watched two figures emerge and furrowed his brow.

"Why are there two more 'giant rice dumplings'?"