Orochimaru's Trail

Land of Grass

"Wouldn't it be better to say hello first...?"

In a forest in the Land of Grass, Orochimaru greeted the two men blocking his path with a calm and gentle expression, dressed in black robes embroidered with red clouds.

"No need for greetings, I've investigated your case extensively."

Of the two men blocking the way, the hunched-over man coldly answered Orochimaru's question. He was hunched over and had an ugly face. The other man beside him had Orange-haired Man, wore an Amegakure Forehead Protector with a horizontal stripe, and had a cold, icy expression.

"Oh, really?"

Orochimaru knew the identities of the two people in front of him, and even though he was cornered, he remained very calm.

"I know you're trying to find out about Xiao."

The hunchbacked man spoke coldly and sternly, his voice as sharp as a machine.

"So that's why you've come to kill me."

Orochimaru's expression was calm and composed. After a slight pause, he continued:

"However, I know your situation very well, Sasori of the Red Sands. Although you are currently hiding in this puppet, your true weapon should be the Third Kazekage."

The hunched, ugly man was none other than Sasori of the Red Sands, a rogue ninja from Sunagakure.

"The investigation is very thorough; the matter of the Kazekage should not have been exposed to anyone else."

Sasori of the Red Sands was somewhat surprised, and his words were filled with even more killing intent. His Hiruko puppet's steel tail swung up and swayed like a scorpion's tail, as if it were about to launch an attack at any moment.

"I'm the kind of person who will thoroughly investigate anything that interests me."

Orochimaru, seeing Sasori of the Red Sands's tail swaying, nonchalantly put his hands on his hips, and halfway through his speech, he began to swing his arms, explaining his personality as if giving a speech.

"I never imagined that such eyes actually existed in the world. The Akatsuki, how interesting..."

Orochimaru's attention was drawn to the orange-haired young man next to Sasori of the Red Sands, especially his wavy eyes. Orochimaru recognized those eyes, and a surge of greed welled up inside him.

Orochimaru couldn't help but stick out his tongue and lick his lips, a sickly smile spreading across his face:

"Hehehe... Right now, I'm most interested in Xiao, and I want to investigate her more, more thoroughly."

Orochimaru's expression grew increasingly grotesque. As he finished speaking, he took a step to the side with his right leg, slightly bending his knee. With Orochimaru's movement, a powerful aura emanated, stirring up a gust of wind that made the leaves of the forest rustle.

Pain and Sasori of the Red Sands's robes were also fluttering in the wind. Despite Orochimaru's powerful aura, the two remained as indifferent as ever, not even flinching.

Sasori of the Red Sands Hiruko Puppet Tail swayed, its eyes displaying a slightly ferocious cruelty as it spoke:

"It doesn't matter what you're interested in. In any case, Destiny has decreed that you will disappear here."

Orochimaru stared at the two people opposite him, his greed undisguised, and said calmly:

"That's hard to say. On the contrary, it's also possible that I could capture you and uncover information about Akatsuki."

"Isn't that perfect?"

The two exchanged sharp words. After Sasori of the Red Sands finished speaking his harsh threat, he turned to the orange-haired man, Pain, and instructed him:

"I'll handle this, don't interfere."

"Can"

The orange-haired man's voice was as cold and unwavering as if it had sprung from a stone. He then took two steps back, letting Sasori of the Red Sands perform.

Sasori of the Red Sands turned his head and stared at Orochimaru.

"So..."

Bang!

A cloud of smoke rose up, obscuring the figures of the orange-haired man and Sasori of the Red Sands.

Orochimaru remained unmoved, completely calm, and quietly observed the smoke before him.

Soon, the smoke dissipated and thinned, revealing a handsome young man with red hair inside.

"How exciting! Which form will you use to fight me?"

Orochimaru looked at Sasori of the Red Sands had revealed his true form, with a hint of mockery in his tone.

"Using Hiruko would have been fine, but I just wanted to show you what utter failure really means!"

Sasori of the Red Sands's voice changed, from that of a cruel old man to that of a handsome young man.

Sasori of the Red Sands pulled a scroll from his waist. The scroll was opened, revealing many patterns inside. In the center, within a circle, was written the number three.

Sasori of the Red Sands pressed his hand on the number "three," and with a bang, a strange puppet with blue hair and wearing a gray robe appeared in the smoke and stood in front of Sasori.

"What does utter failure really feel like?"

Orochimaru remained unmoved by Sasori of the Red Sands's actions. Not to mention a dead Third Kazekage Puppet, even if the Third Kazekage were alive, Orochimaru would not be afraid in the slightest.

"You'll find out soon enough, just experience it for yourself!"

Sasori of the Red Sands's handsome face contorted with grotesque features, his pupils constricting. With a flick of his left hand, the Third Kazekage Puppet soared into the air, flying towards Orochimaru.

Land of Fire

Konoha

On a secluded high-rise building in Konoha, a monocular telescope about 1.5 meters long was mounted, and an Anbu was monitoring a certain mansion in Konoha from one end of the telescope.

"What's the relationship between Shisui and Danzo? Why does he keep going to Danzo's residence? Doesn't he know that the Lord Hokage hates Danzo?"

The person using the telescope to monitor Danzo was Uchiha Dōmoto of the Anbu.

Previously, members of the Anbu and Special Police Division were lurking around Danzo's residence, essentially monitoring him Danzo.

Danzo into seclusion, lying low and spending his days tending to flowers and plants, drinking tea and reading books, living a very leisurely life, seemingly just like a retired senior official.

It wasn't until Naraku removed the Anbu monitoring Danzo and switched to covert surveillance that Danzo's residence began to see frequent nighttime visits from shadowy figures.

Danzo's subordinates mostly visited at night, but Uchiha Shisui didn't discriminate between times; he would frequently visit Danzo's residence, both day and night.

It's unclear what kind of relationship he had with Danzo, but he visited him frequently.

"Just keep a close watch on things and record who has been to Danzo's residence. The rest is not our responsibility. As for Shisui's whereabouts, just keep a close watch on him as usual."

Uchiha Tekka, one of the captains of the Anbu, was assigned a covert surveillance mission by the Fourth Hokage, Naraku. His squadron of seventeen men worked in shifts around the clock, and the location was frequently changed.

Theoretically speaking, this squadron should be the least likely to have any Root spies. All members were personally selected by Naraku, and half of them were Uchiha clan members. It was the squadron that Naraku trusted most after becoming Hokage.

"Hi..."

Uchiha Dōmoto was a squad leader, and under the personal supervision of the company commander, Tekka, Dōmoto dutifully took on the monitoring duties.

"It's just that the clan chief has always admired Shisui. Shisui's actions are rather out of touch with reality. I really can't understand it. Isn't he worried that the clan chief will distance himself from him because of this?"

After all, Danzo's Anbu was the most ruthless and cruel, and the most brutal in oppressing the Konoha ninja clans.

Uchiha Dōmoto was quite talkative; he kept an eye on things while muttering to himself about Tekka.

"If you want to understand Shisui, you can interact with Shisui more, or capture him and interrogate him, if you have the ability."

Uchiha Tekka was somewhat speechless at Dōmoto's excessive attention to Shisui.

"Ahem, we've sparred, and our strengths are evenly matched. However, Shisui is, after all, the number one genius of the Uchiha, second only to the clan leader."

Uchiha Dōmoto coughed lightly twice. His reason for paying attention to Shisui was very simple: he had sparred with Shisui before and was easily defeated by Shisui.

"Keep a close watch on them!"

Tekka had also sparred with Shisui, but was no match for Shisui. As for Dōmoto, even Tekka couldn't beat him, yet he was evenly matched with Shisui. Tekka was too lazy to expose Dōmoto's lie.