Orochimaru Applies for the Job
Land of Grass
Dust filled the air in a certain jungle.
Orochimaru lay motionless on the ground, now a corpse.
Sasori of the Red Sands, his right hand held out horizontally, maintaining the posture of controlling the puppet, coldly pronounced his verdict:
"The End."
Bang!
A plume of white smoke rose, Third Kazekage Puppet disappeared, collected by Sasori of the Red Sands.
"No, it's not over yet..."
The orange-haired man looked at Orochimaru's corpse lying on the ground, but did not show the same contempt for Orochimaru as Sasori of the Red Sands did.
As the orange-haired man had expected, Orochimaru's corpse, which was lying on the ground, strangely raised its head, its mouth opening into an arc that no human could achieve.
From the gaping maw of Orochimaru's corpse, a vibrant Orochimaru shot out. This Orochimaru had the lower half of a snake's body and charged towards the orange-haired man at incredible speed.
The extremely high speed caused smoke and dust to billow out, stirring up waves.
Sasori of the Red Sands, caught off guard by the gusts of wind generated by Orochimaru's high-speed dash, used his hands to block the wind in front of him.
"I'll take your Rinnegan first!"
Orochimaru was incredibly fast; he covered a distance of tens of meters in about a second and arrived in front of the orange-haired man.
Orochimaru's lips curled into a smug smile as he reached out with his left hand and gouged at the orange-haired man's eyes.
The orange-haired man's face remained unchanged throughout, his expression calm and composed.
Orochimaru's left hand was a few centimeters from his eyes. When Orochimaru finally succeeded, his fingers seemed to be gripping a wall and could not go any further. The next second, the invisible wall burst out with tremendous power, and Orochimaru's pupils widened, his expression somewhat astonished.
The orange-haired man's expression remained unchanged, cold and indifferent. He extended his right hand forward and uttered a soft shout:
"Shinra Tensei!"
The resistance that Orochimaru initially felt from the wall turned into an extremely strong impact force.
With the orange-haired man's gestures, the shockwave's force was concentrated into a single beam, unleashing terrifying power. It knocked down countless large trees in the jungle directly in front of the orange-haired man, the impact stretching for hundreds of meters and raising a cloud of dust.
"Ugh!"
Orochimaru let out a scream, unable to move in the shockwave. His left hand was almost touching the Rinnegan, but he was blasted away by the shockwave to a distance of tens of meters from the orange-haired man.
Orochimaru's strength was indeed extraordinary. After crashing into more than a dozen large trees, he finally managed to stabilize himself amidst the shockwave, his feet touching the ground as he glided backward.
"What was that just now!?"
After Orochimaru stabilized his body, his previously calm mindset changed, and he developed doubts and fears about the unknown.
"Orochimaru, have you had enough fun?"
The orange-haired man, his face indifferent, asked in a cold voice. After lowering his right hand, he continued:
"We should probably get down to business."
"Hmph, that's true. I was just about to try my luck, but it seems it won't be that easy."
Orochimaru's heart trembled slightly, but he feigned nonchalance and answered calmly. He stood up, dusted himself off, and continued:
"Now let's get down to business. How about trying to get me into Akatsuki?"
"This guy..."
Sasori of the Red Sands, who had been lurking in the aftershocks of the orange-haired man's Ninjutsu, overheard their conversation and slowly revealed himself, walking behind the orange-haired man. Sasori felt a sense of apprehension towards Orochimaru's confident arrogance.
"As I just mentioned, I'm very interested in the Akatsuki organization now, so joining it would be like a fish in water."
You all know that I'm not bad in terms of combat strength, right?
Orochimaru stretched out his hands, as if making a request, or giving a speech, recounting his interests and strengths.
Sasori of the Red Sands stood behind the orange-haired man, and upon hearing Orochimaru's sarcastic words:
"You've already lost to me, what are you still talking about?"
"You should be able to tell, right? I haven't actually gotten serious yet."
Orochimaru ignored Sasori of the Red Sands's sarcasm and praised his own strengths, as if he were applying for a job.
"Whispering sound"
Sasori of the Red Sands curled his lip, his face full of disdain.
Orochimaru continued his statement:
"I won't let you suffer any losses; I will contribute to your cause."
As Orochimaru spoke, he stretched out his hands, appearing extremely reliable and dedicated. Seeing that the orange-haired man did not answer, he loudly assured him:
"And it definitely will!"
Seeing Orochimaru's state, the orange-haired man closed his eyes and pondered.
Seeing that Pain remained silent and seemed to be considering something, Sasori of the Red Sands asked with some surprise:
"Hey, you're not really going to drag him into this, are you? This guy just wants to steal our information."
"I would never do anything sneaky or dishonest; I'm just very interested."
Orochimaru, with his excellent hearing, overheard Sasori of the Red Sands's words and quickly tried to explain and deny them.
The orange-haired man opened his eyes, made his decision, and said coldly without expression:
"Alright, I'll bring you in."
Sasori of the Red Sands behind the orange-haired man was very surprised and asked:
"Are we really going to do this?"
"It's better to keep this kind of person by our side than to let him run wild outside."
The orange-haired man explained softly, his icy face making it difficult to fathom his thoughts. After a slight pause, he continued:
"And he should also understand that as long as I am here, no one can act recklessly."
The orange-haired man's indifferent face exuded an invincible confidence.
"Hey! I understand perfectly well!"
Orochimaru quickly replied with obedience, but as soon as he finished expressing it, he thought to himself:
"It seems we can't act rashly for now."
"Hmph, that's fine then."
The orange-haired man snorted coldly, indifferent to Orochimaru's loyalty. After speaking, he turned and coldly said to Sasori of the Red Sands beside him:
"Let's go back."
After saying that, he strode away.
Sasori of the Red Sands gave Orochimaru a deep look before turning and following the orange-haired man.
Orochimaru watched the two leave, a sense of relief washing over him. His expression shifted from playful and ingratiating to serious.
"This face... I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."
Orochimaru pondered, carefully observing the departing figures of the two.
"Hmph, isn't Destiny a fascinating thing, Jiraiya..."
Land of Rain
In the central steel building.
"How's Orochimaru doing? Has he caused any trouble?"
The Black and White Zetsu figure with the aloe vera head respectfully inquired of Pain, who was standing to the side.
"There's nothing seriously wrong with him. Compared to others, he's relatively honest."
The orange-haired man Pain, gazed at the raindrops outside the window and answered coldly.
"Heh, even Orochimaru Sannin, would find it difficult to cause trouble under Pain's watchful eye."
Black and White Zetsu flattering.
"On another note, the organization is currently short-handed and needs more extraordinary individuals."
Konan, standing to the side, had a very low opinion of Jue, and her voice was cold and aloof.
Since the Yahiko incident, Nagato and Konan have maintained essentially the same facial expression, like perpetual icebergs.
"I've found traces of Uchiha Zensui. He's currently in the Land of Water, and I think he'll be a valuable asset to the organization."
Since Obito lost contact, Black Zetsu has shown much more respect for Pain and Konan, especially Nagato, whom Black Zetsu considers indispensable.
Secondly, there's Uchiha Zensui, whom we contacted some time ago Uchiha Zensui had been missing for a long time, hiding in the Land of Water to evade Konoha's pursuit.
Furthermore, it seems that Uchiha Zensui accomplished the same thing as Uchiha Madara before him, controlling the Mizukage of Kirigakure in the Land of Water.
Uchiha Zensui is currently the only Uchiha Clan member that Black Zetsu can contact. Furthermore, Uchiha Zensui incredibly powerful, possessing extremely strong Mangekyō Sharingan and unpredictable Dōjutsu, making him Black Zetsu's ideal candidate to replace Uchiha Obito.
However, Black Zetsu was Black Zetsu worried because he couldn't leave any way to control Uchiha Zensui.
"Uchiha Zensui isn't dead? That's good. In the organization, there are seven people: me, Konan, you, Kakuzu, Sasori of the Red Sands, Uchiha Orochimaru, and Uchiha Zensui. We still need three more members."
Pain was also keen to recruit powerful ninjas with vast Chakra reserves who could unleash the Illusionary Dragon Nine Consuming Seals seal the Tailed Beast. This required Zetsu to gather intelligence and find outstanding individuals.