Orochimaru

Fugaku left with a look of deep frustration on his face.

Suifeng did not return with him. After exchanging a few words, he headed toward the distant coastline. He walked for about three or four miles before finally stopping. Squinting, he scanned his surroundings and spoke to the empty space behind him, "Are you not coming out yet? There is no one else around here!"

"Suifeng's sensory ninjutsu is truly unexpectedly formidable!" A figure emerged from the darkness, black hair draping over his shoulders, his vertical pupils a sickly yellow.

"Heh, did that old geezer Danzo tell you my sensory ninjutsu wasn't up to par? He is leading you to your doom, Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru, the serpent of the Konoha Sannin, the commander of the Suna front.

With the war on the Suna front already underway, the fact that he had run all the way to the Kirigakure front would surely shock anyone to their core.

"It seems you are not surprised by my arrival!" Orochimaru stared at Suifeng with keen interest. He had long heard of Suifeng's name, but this was their first meeting in person. A genius of the Uchiha clan, even touted by some as a talent not inferior to Madara Uchiha—he had heard it all. Of course, what interested him most was that this fellow had actually set a trap for Princess Tsunade and swindled her.

That was Princess Tsunade, his companion since childhood; no one understood that woman better than he did.

He could never have imagined that she would be outsmarted by a mere child.

This naturally sent his interest in Suifeng soaring!

He just hadn't expected to meet in such a place and at such a time, and Suifeng's performance surprised him even more.

"Danzo wants to deal with me, but he has run out of cards, so he had to play you!" Suifeng said with a smile. "His Root subordinates are a bunch of trash. Even colluding with Kirigakure to hire Juzo Biwa last time didn't work. Aside from you, the only wild card he has left is the Third Hokage. He couldn't possibly drag the Third here to kill me, could he?!"

In front of Orochimaru, Suifeng made no attempt to hide himself, nor was there any need to.

Trying to conceal one's true nature before a figure like Orochimaru was a fool's errand; there was no point in wasting the effort.

"Heh...!" A raspy laugh escaped Orochimaru's throat. In the next instant, countless venomous snakes lunged from his sleeves toward Suifeng.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands

"Orochimaru, there is no need for such laughable probing!" Suifeng's figure dissolved into a blur and vanished.

"Laughable probing? Tsk tsk, Suifeng, you are truly arrogant!"

"Isn't it?"

Suifeng's gaze swept across the area; countless snakes coiled and hissed, the sound like a rising tide.

Many Snake Array!

Whoosh.

His figure vanished, afterimages flowing, tearing through the air with faint sonic booms.

Bang!

As an afterimage flashed, Orochimaru's body burst into white mist.

A massive white-scaled serpent shot out from the mist, swiftly constricting around Suifeng.

"Suifeng, you are too careless. Since your intelligence has already been leaked, how could I not have made some preparations?!"

The snake tightened its grip, making breathing increasingly difficult. A massive, hideous snake head hovered overhead, dripping saliva that emitted a foul odor; where it landed on the ground, it hissed and melted holes of varying sizes.

"Orochimaru, I am truly curious—what kind of benefits did that scoundrel Danzo offer you to make a man of your stature let him pull your strings?"

"The dead do not need to know so many things!" Orochimaru's yellow eyes flashed, and the white-scaled snake head above let out a roar, lunging down to swallow Suifeng whole.

Bang! With a flash of smoke, Suifeng transformed into a wooden log.

Body Replacement Technique

"Danzo must have mentioned my speed to you, but it seems he didn't go into detail, Orochimaru!?"

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, and he retreated rapidly.

Bang!!

With a flicker of afterimages, Suifeng landed a heavy kick on Orochimaru's waist.

Compared to the people Suifeng had kicked before, the sensation of this blow was bizarre, as if he had struck rubber. The sound was muffled, and Orochimaru's body bent at the waist, a massive elastic force rebounding against him. In the next instant, Suifeng vanished again.

This guy is practically a Rubber Fruit user!

It had to be said, Orochimaru's body, modified by his soft-body techniques, was truly on par with the Rubber Fruit.

At the very least, his resistance to impact and his rebound capabilities were comparable.

Ordinary attacks were completely useless against him; to say nothing of anything else, even the Gentle Fist felt like nothing more than a tickle.

"I must admit, Suifeng, I underestimated your speed!"

"It is useless, Orochimaru!" Sensing the shift in Orochimaru's chakra, Suifeng's expression grew increasingly indifferent. "I have recently made a new breakthrough in speed. You are strong—stronger than me—but you cannot catch me, and you cannot do anything to me. Why don't we talk this over and see how things ended up in this situation? What do you say?!"

Orochimaru did not speak. He merely flicked his sleeve, and the countless giant snakes surrounding them vanished without a trace, the foul odor dissipating along with them.

Suifeng was right; his speed was too fast—far faster than the intelligence Danzo had provided. Or perhaps, the intelligence Danzo had obtained regarding Suifeng was entirely wrong; he had no grasp of just how fast Suifeng truly was.

Possessing such speed, it was no wonder he could be so fearless and speak so calmly while facing him. After two rounds of engagement, he realized that with this monstrous speed, catching him was nearly impossible.

You are an Uchiha—instead of thinking about how to improve and evolve your Sharingan, you focus entirely on speed and have pushed it to this unfathomable level. What are you trying to do? Ascend to the heavens?

"You are far more interesting than I anticipated, and completely different from what they described, Suifeng. Tell me, if I were to report your performance to the old man Third and Danzo, what do you think the result would be?"

"I can understand the Third, but why would you report to Danzo? Is he your superior? Are you affiliated with Root? Or is it that because he is the Hokage, you not only have to run errands and kill for him, but also report every trivial detail of what happens to him? Orochimaru, I am very curious—what exactly is Danzo?!"

"Danzo is the leader of Root, and also my collaborator. My relationship with him is one of cooperation!" Orochimaru's pupils constricted, and his expression turned grim.

Although he hated to admit it, Suifeng's words had truly made him uncomfortable.

What Suifeng said was not without reason; what was Danzo, anyway?

At best, he was merely an assistant to the Hokage and the leader of Root.

Root was just a department within Konoha, with no direct authority over him. When it came down to it, Danzo simply had more seniority and a close relationship with the Third Hokage. By what right did he have to command him?

No, that wasn't right. He wasn't commanding him. Their relationship was one of mutual benefit—a transaction. Damn it, he had almost let that guy lead him in circles!

"A cooperative relationship, you say? Why cooperate with him? What qualifications does he have to work with you? Is it because of those trash-like Root ninja under his command? Or is it because his intimate relationship with the Third Hokage can help you become the Fourth Hokage?!"

"You know more than I imagined."

Orochimaru naturally wouldn't reveal the details of the laboratories he and Danzo were collaborating on here, but for someone of Suifeng's young age to make a guess about the Fourth Hokage position was already beyond his expectations.

This was not something an eight-year-old child should be able to say.

The most laughable part was that both the Third Hokage and Danzo seemed to emphasize only his strength and combat prowess, remaining completely ignorant of his intellect and schemes. They treated him as a mere tool for the Uchiha, but judging by his words just now, was he truly just a tool for the Uchiha?

And that monstrous speed—Danzo, you've likely stirred up a massive problem this time.

From Suifeng's words, it wasn't hard to tell that this wasn't just a matter of Suifeng lacking affection for Danzo; it was a matter of deep-seated hostility. Every sentence sought to belittle Danzo, every word was an insinuation, a provocation, as if he couldn't wait for him to have a massive falling out with Danzo and strike that old cripple out of the game once and for all.

This was not something an ordinary child could pull off.