Orochimaru's Escape—I Was Already Waiting for You at the Valley of the End

Jiraiya had barely kicked the office door to pieces before storming out of the village, cursing all the way.

Right after that, Danzō—that persistent old dog—slithered out from the underground Root base.

Leaf Village's current situation was like a powder keg with a lit fuse, ready to explode at any moment.

They needed a sufficiently large scapegoat to divert the rage of the civilians and major clans, which was practically spewing fire.

"Hiruzen, look at the fine work your good disciple has done."

Danzō slammed a stack of top-secret files stained with dried blood onto the battered office desk.

"Using ninjas and civilians from the same village for human experiments—if we can't keep this covered up, we're all finished."

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the horrifying data, the hand holding his pipe trembling nonstop.

He knew Danzō far too well.

Whenever Orochimaru handled this sort of dirty work, Danzō not only knew about it—he had even secretly provided funds and materials.

Exposing it now clearly meant sacrificing the pawn to save the king, using Orochimaru as the offering!

"Go handle it."

It was as though all strength had been drained from the old monkey in an instant. He closed his eyes in dejection.

For the position beneath his ass, today, he could only steel himself and strike.

Late at night, in Leaf Village's hidden underground laboratory.

Bang!

Several explosive tags violently blasted open the heavy iron doors, sending thick smoke billowing out.

Dressed in black combat gear, Hiruzen Sarutobi stood surrounded by a group of elite Anbu, blocking the laboratory's only exit.

"Orochimaru, you have disappointed me greatly."

The old man raised the Adamantine Staff in grief and indignation, wearing the sorrowful expression of someone forced to destroy his own kin for righteousness.

At the dissection table, the pale-skinned man stopped the bloodstained scalpel in his hand.

Orochimaru turned around, his golden vertical pupils filled with undisguised mockery.

"Sensei, the village is already in a complete mess because of the Uchiha."

He extended his long tongue and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, smiling in a way that sent chills down the spine.

"Are you in such a hurry to use my head to silence those people outside?"

"Take him down!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face darkened as he roared sharply.

"I've had more than enough of this hypocritical village."

Orochimaru formed hand seals at blinding speed. After several thunderous crashes, a massive python smashed through the basement ceiling.

He endured a direct blow from the old man's staff, breaking three ribs, and forcibly carved a bloody path out.

Without the slightest attachment, he slipped into the vast night like a slick venomous snake.

The fierce wind howled.

Dark clouds covered the moon as a cold, freezing drizzle began to fall.

The massive waterfall in the Valley of the End roared deafeningly, mist filling the air.

A blood-covered, bedraggled figure suddenly shot out of the dense forest and landed on the water with a splash.

Orochimaru gasped for breath, his pale face utterly bloodless from excessive blood loss.

A bone-deep wound ran along his left arm, oozing horrifying black blood.

Yet his snake-like eyes held an uncontainable fervor and excitement.

"Finally... I've escaped this rotten quagmire."

He tipped his head back and let the freezing rain wash over his face, cleansing away the stench of blood.

He would go to the Land of Rice Fields and establish Sound Village.

There, he would be free of all moral constraints, able to pursue immortality without restraint and explore every truth in the world!

Orochimaru sneered and forcefully tapped the water's surface with the tip of his foot.

His body shot upward, and he landed lightly atop the head of Madara Uchiha's massive statue.

He intended to bandage his wounds here briefly before continuing his journey through the night.

However.

The instant he steadied himself and looked up.

The blood throughout his body seemed to freeze solid in a single instant.

At the statue's highest point.

A tall figure in a black coat stood with his back to him, quietly watching the rushing waterfall below.

The night wind whipped the man's coat tails wildly.

Orochimaru's pupils abruptly narrowed to slits, and his scalp tingled.

Someone was there!

And when had this person arrived? His Kage-level senses had detected nothing at all!

"Who?!"

Orochimaru let out a low growl, his right hand instantly producing three poison-coated kunai.

More than a dozen highly venomous black snakes hissed from within his wide sleeve, poised to strike.

Hearing the movement.

The man in black slowly turned around.

The dark clouds happened to part, and ghastly white moonlight fell across his face like a spotlight.

It was a young, handsome face, but one that radiated unbridled, arrogant pride.

Most deadly of all were those eyes, gleaming with an eerie crimson light in the darkness.

Three tomoe spun rapidly within his pupils before finally joining into a strange cross-shaped star pattern!

"Mangekyo Sharingan?!"

Orochimaru sucked in a sharp breath and instinctively took half a step back, crushing a weathered stone beneath his foot.

At a time like this, there was only one Uchiha in the entire ninja world with eyes of that level!

The monster rumored to have turned Leaf Village upside down and crushed Danzō's arm before everyone's eyes!

Uchiha Yoru!

"How are you here?"

As though facing a great enemy, Orochimaru's muscles tightened to the limit.

Countless conspiracy theories flashed through his mind in an instant.

Could Hiruzen Sarutobi have made some filthy deal with the Hidden Stone Village in order to silence him, hiring this assassin to clean house?

"Don't be so nervous, Senior Orochimaru."

Yoru stood with both hands in his pockets, a casual smile curling his lips.

He glanced at Orochimaru's bleeding left arm and took a leisurely step forward.

"Hiss—!"

The venomous snakes in Orochimaru's sleeve shot out instantly like black lightning, lunging straight for Yoru's face!

Striking first was an instinct forged through years of slaughter.

Bang!

No hand seals. He did not even take his hands out of his pockets.

Yoru merely glared at them.

Those snakes exploded in midair into a disgusting cloud of blood mist, as if struck by an invisible sledgehammer!

"Pure chakra pressure? He didn't even use a jutsu?!"

Orochimaru's heart shook violently. This kid's strength was even more bizarre than those outrageous rumors!

He bit his finger, preparing to forcibly summon Manda and fight for his life.

Even if he died, Orochimaru would tear a piece of flesh from his opponent!

"I told you not to be nervous. Why can't you understand human speech?"

Yoru sighed helplessly and casually pulled a black scroll from his robes.

With a whoosh.

The scroll traced an arc through the air and landed steadily at Orochimaru's feet.

Orochimaru's hand froze halfway through a seal as he watched the scroll on the ground warily.

"What do you mean by this?"

His voice was hoarse and guarded, like a venomous snake coiled in the grass, ready to spring out and hurt someone at any moment.

"You think this little trick will distract me?"

Yoru walked to the edge of Madara's statue, planted one foot atop its head, and looked down at Orochimaru from above.

"Your methods of experimenting on living people are far too crude, and your efficiency is pathetically low."

Yoru turned his head. His dark Mangekyo Sharingan gleamed with a light that seemed to see through everything.

Looking at Orochimaru's face, filled with shock and suspicion, he gave a soft laugh.

"Don't be nervous, Orochimaru. I'm not here to kill you. I'm here to bring you truth."