Hashirama Cells, Secured

Orochimaru sought out Tsunade to heal his hands, but in the end, he was outplayed by a Tsunade who had come to her senses, leading to a battle against Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Naruto.

Furthermore, quite unintentionally, he even helped Tsunade overcome her hemophobia—a classic case of losing the girl and the army to boot.

Orochimaru was utterly depressed at this moment, realizing that the words spoken by that Uchiha brat had truly come to pass: failure was inevitable.

He had indeed failed, and was beaten so badly he had to flee in a sorry state!

At the location where Orochimaru and Qiuyang had first met, the topographical changes caused by Jirobo's Earth Style could still be faintly seen.

As they fled to this area, another situation arose: a rhythmic, dull thumping sound suddenly emerged from ahead.

Thud... thud... thud...

It seemed as if something was hopping toward them.

Kabuto drew a kunai, stood in front of Orochimaru, and cautiously watched the direction from which the sound originated.

It was coming.

"Croak."

The sound arrived before the form.

A massive toad leaped directly above them, its enormous size blocking out the sunlight from this spot.

The toad's landing point was exactly where Orochimaru and Kabuto were standing.

Kabuto was startled; he lunged back, tackling Orochimaru and pulling him away from the area where the toad was descending.

Less than a second after they dodged, Gamakichi landed steadily right where they had been standing.

The gust of wind kicked up by the impact blew the two men, who were sprawled on the ground, another two or three meters away.

Kabuto was so terrified by the situation that cold sweat streamed down his face.

If they hadn't dodged in time just now, they would certainly have been injured.

And this thing was... a giant toad summon?

Kabuto looked up, shielding his eyes against the sunlight, and vaguely saw a dashing figure standing atop the toad's head.

"Damn it, is it the Sannin Jiraiya who has pursued us? How did he track us down?"

He was nearing despair; their chakra had bottomed out during the battle with Tsunade and Jiraiya, and now they were being hunted again.

If Jiraiya's sedatives had already worn off, then he and Lord Orochimaru... were likely doomed this time.

He absolutely could not let anything happen to Lord Orochimaru.

In this moment, Kabuto made up his mind, deciding to let the person behind him escape first:

"Lord Orochimaru, you go first. I will hold off Jiraiya."

"No need to be nervous, Kabuto."

Orochimaru had also initially assumed that Jiraiya had caught up to them, but his vertical pupils were different from those of an ordinary person.

Even with the blinding sunlight, he could clearly see who the person standing on the toad with his arms crossed and posing was.

Hmm, are you in such a rush to become my vessel?

Orochimaru licked his lips and pushed aside the Kabuto blocking his path:

"He is not Jiraiya, but rather that person you are so interested in."

Not Jiraiya?

Kabuto was puzzled. Who else could summon a toad?

Lord Orochimaru said it is someone I am interested in, so who could it be?? He suddenly realized, his pupils shrinking sharply:

"Uchiha... Qiuyang."

Qiuyang felt he had stood there long enough; he leaned over and patted Gamakichi's head. Gamakichi understood and lowered his head to let Qiuyang down.

Before being dispelled, Gamakichi did not forget to tell Qiuyang to bring some Caterpillar to Mount Myoboku next time.

"..."

Qiuyang's mouth twitched upon hearing this. He deeply regretted his decision to bring Gamakichi along to show off, just because he saw how much the toad had grown.

In such a serious situation, Gamakichi, you're actually making small talk with me?

"Ahem, Orochimaru, you really made me wait. Did you bring what I wanted?"

"Qiuyang-kun, you truly surprise me... every time, you manage to choose the moment when I am at my weakest to appear, and furthermore... how exactly do you see through the future?"

Regarding the fact that he would fail.

Judging by his contact with Tsunade over these past few days, Tsunade had no idea who this person named Qiuyang was.

Yet the final result was exactly as Qiuyang had said: he had failed.

Even after offering Tsunade such tempting conditions, he still failed.

So how did Qiuyang know this result? Surely he couldn't claim he had traveled to the future and seen it in advance?

Snake Auntie was a scientist with exactly that kind of personality; the less he understood something, the more interested he became.

Uchiha Qiu Yang didn't indulge Snake Auntie, reaching out his hand directly:

"Enough talk. I'm asking if you brought what I wanted, understand?"

Before Orochimaru could speak, Kabuto forcibly interjected:

"You are Uchiha Qiu Yang? Even if Lord Orochimaru values you, I will not allow you to speak to Lord Orochimaru in such a tone."

As Snake Auntie's little fanboy, Kabuto had been annoyed the moment Uchiha Qiu Yang spoke with such a condescending tone.

Seeing Uchiha Qiu Yang escalate his behavior, he couldn't help but cut in.

After coldly finishing that sentence, he raised his hand, already coated in a Chakra Blade, and charged toward Uchiha Qiu Yang.

Orochimaru opened his mouth to stop him, but after a second thought, he closed it again, choosing to observe the fight.

Heh heh... let's use Kabuto to test just how powerful this Uchiha Qiu Yang, who is about to become his new vessel, really is!

By now, Kabuto had already rushed in front of Uchiha Qiu Yang, aiming a palm strike directly at his neck.

If this Uchiha Qiu Yang didn't defend, Kabuto was ten-tenths certain he could sever all the meridians in his neck, turning him into a living corpse.

That way, Lord Orochimaru would turn his gaze back to him, Kabuto!

How could Uchiha Qiu Yang not know the lethality of Kabuto's Chakra Blade?

He quickly drew his short sword backhanded to protect his neck, perfectly blocking Kabuto's palm.

Clang.

The blade and the palm collided, producing an inconceivable metallic sound.

Seeing this, Kabuto's fighting spirit surged even higher. As he swung his hands, he didn't forget to provoke him:

"Hmph, are you sure you aren't going to activate your Sharingan? I will make you regret it."

Uchiha Qiu Yang fought while retreating. Seeing that Snake Auntie had no intention of stopping this, he grew angry as well.

Every time he came over specifically to talk business, he was never met with active cooperation. What kind of nonsense was this?

Well then: Since the benefactor is unwilling to cooperate, this humble monk also knows a thing or two about fisticuffs.

Uchiha Qiu Yang parried Kabuto's upward-striking Chakra hand-blade and took the opportunity to leap into mid-air, forming hand seals with one hand:

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique."

Kabuto was not yet the Sage Kabuto who had learned the Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode in the later stages; he was currently just a close-quarters fighter.

Seeing a fireball the size of half a basketball court surging toward him, he had no choice but to cover his hands in chakra to block it, as he couldn't dodge.

But after he finished blocking this fire technique, where was Uchiha Qiu Yang's figure?

As Kabuto was puzzled, he suddenly heard a faint voice from his left:

"Kabuto, since you want to see what a Sharingan is, I will grant your wish."

Uchiha Qiu Yang pressed one hand onto Kabuto's arm, his right eye's tomoe spinning rapidly, already firmly controlling Kabuto.

Following his observation, he took the glass bottle containing the Hashirama Cells from Kabuto's pocket.

"I knew Lord Orochimaru would definitely keep this important item on Kabuto."

Uchiha Qiu Yang saw clearly that the cells inside the glass bottle were constantly emitting terrifying energy; this was undoubtedly the Hashirama Cells.

He rarely revealed an expression of joy.

But Snake Auntie, the scientist, was even more excited than Uchiha Qiu Yang. His vertical pupils stared fixedly at Uchiha Qiu Yang's Yin-Yang Bagua-shaped eye, much like a young man seeing a peerless beauty.

"This is... the Mangekyo Sharingan?"

What a powerful vessel! He gave it a perfect score.