Evil Konoha

Orochimaru and Fei Yun both turned to look toward the gate. Through the morning mist, three spies with chains piercing their collarbones staggered toward them.

The other ends of the chains were held by the Sound Four. The youngest boy suddenly raised his head, revealing the eyes of a dying beast. Those are some fine eyes.

Orochimaru's tongue swept across his lips, and a little snake shot out from his sleeve, affectionately coiling around the boy's bloodied neck.

In an instant, all four knelt and saluted.

"Lord Orochimaru!"

An explosion suddenly rang out in the distance. Black smoke rose from the newly built smelting plant. Several workers screamed and fled, only to be swiftly pinned into the mud by patrolmen.

"The third act of deliberate sabotage." Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "It seems the surrounding forces have noticed us. No matter."

Orochimaru headed toward a building in the village without sparing the distant commotion a glance.

"Sakon, go have some fun. Remember to leave one alive and send them back. Just don't expose my identity."

For quite some time to come, Fei Yun intended to stay with Orochimaru. He had chosen to follow Orochimaru for one reason: he could find a path to becoming stronger. As for the second reason?

Orochimaru was about to launch the Konoha Crush Plan.

Bounties were satisfying, sure. He could get revenge without lifting a finger. But bounties could not compare to charging straight into Konoha and killing them himself. When that time came, he would make them taste the thrill of slaughter.

On the third day, Fei Yun took time to visit the new Bounty Exchange and retrieve the corpse of the former Konohamaru.

As for Orochimaru, he constantly traveled among the villages of various nations. In his words, one had to seek out new things; only paths tangled with talent could keep progressing.

However, Fei Yun knew that Orochimaru was mostly trying to protect Shadow Village. If people learned that Orochimaru was in Shadow Village, the village would likely be in danger. Orochimaru had too many enemies, and they were too powerful. To say nothing else, if Akatsuki came knocking, Shadow Village might not be able to withstand it.

Therefore, Orochimaru had to appear in different places to draw the attention of every faction and buy time for Shadow Village's development.

With the support of Arita Tomokuni of Shadow Village and Matsuki Saburo of the Ming Empire, Shadow Village was also developing rapidly, and its number of ninjas continued to grow.

In Shadow Village, Fei Yun's status was second only to Orochimaru's. After he had defeated the hundred-thousand-strong military horse brigade, those unruly subordinates no longer dared to act recklessly.

Now, whenever they saw him, even the proud Uchiha Feiyun had to worry that they would kneel and respectfully address him as Lord Fei Yun.

It had to be said that Orochimaru truly suited being a teacher. Not only had he taught a group of powerful fighters, but many Kage-level figures had emerged afterward as well: the Uchiha Clan, Sasuke, Yakushi Kabuto, and others.

Sure enough, not long after following him here, Fei Yun had learned how to use chakra blades and Orochimaru's Snake Summoning Technique. Even a genius like Orochimaru could not help but marvel that the Uchiha Clan produced so many prodigies!

Several months later, Fei Yun had just returned to Shadow Village after hunting down a ninja from a supreme clan when Orochimaru came looking for him.

Orochimaru, with a thick rope tied around his waist, smiled and said, "Fei Yun-kun, come out with me."

Fei Yun pointed at the corpse of a Shimura Clan man hanging from his back. "No time. I need to practice ninjutsu, and I still have to collect the bounty later."

Orochimaru crossed his arms. "Don't say that. You're a member of Shadow Village now, after all."

Orochimaru glanced at the corpse behind Fei Yun and continued, "Not that I should say this, but Fei Yun-kun, you can leave such trivial matters to your subordinates. Doing everything yourself wastes too much time that could be spent cultivating."

Fei Yun's lips twitched. "You really have the nerve to say that. Aren't these all your subordinates?"

"When have I ever had subordinates? Is someone being disobedient?"

"I'll go deal with them."

"Fine, fine. I'm scared of you already."

Fei Yun waved his hand and tossed the Shimura Clan man's corpse at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru did not catch it. Instead, he slightly turned aside and gracefully dodged the incoming corpse.

"Yo!"

Orochimaru turned and called out to the girl standing guard not far away.

Tayuya hurriedly leaped over and respectfully bowed.

"Lord Orochimaru, what are your orders?"

"Take this Shimura Clan corpse to the Bounty Exchange and collect the reward."

"Yes."

Fei Yun and Orochimaru hurried along until they arrived at an underground casino in the Land of Fire.

Fei Yun looked thoroughly disgusted. "You have this kind of hobby too?"

"To be honest, I hate this sort of thing most."

"Gambling feels good for a moment, then the whole family ends up at the crematorium."

Orochimaru stretched out his long tongue and licked his lips.

"No, I'm only here to stock up. My supply of experimental subjects has been insufficient lately."

Dim gas lamps swayed beneath the low ceiling, twisting human shadows into clawing monsters.

The murky air reeked of cheap tobacco, alcohol, and sour sweat, with the occasional rust-like scent of blood mixed in.

The casino had no windows. Time had lost all meaning here. Money, desire, despair—everything here had a clearly marked price.

A roulette wheel spun before a disguised Manchurian.

Beside the gambling table, an emaciated man tremblingly placed down his final chip.

It was the deed selling his daughter into servitude.

The dealer grinned, his gold teeth glinting coldly beneath the lights.

"Place your bets! No more bets!"

"Ah!"

The roulette wheel spun, its ivory ball bouncing across the numbers with a death-knell clatter.

The man's pupils shrank with the ball. His Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed a silent prayer.

The ball stopped on the bell, and all color drained from the man's face.

Two enforcers wearing leather masks silently approached and hauled up his limp body.

A middle-aged man with clouded eyes full of desire had lost his final borrowed chip and tried to slip away, but the enforcers stopped him. Amid his pleas for mercy, he was dragged away.

The time he had been given to call someone to bring money had already run out.

"The usual rules."

The minor boss waved a hand carelessly. "His right hand pays the interest. His left eye settles the principal."

Dull thuds of blunt objects striking bone came from the secret room in the back, quickly drowned out by the gamblers' laughter.

Fei Yun followed Orochimaru around, taking in every bit of it.

The two soon reached the second floor.

Scarlet velvet curtains hung over the second-floor private rooms, where even filthier games were underway.

In the shadows, a man pushed a test tube across the gambling table. It was filled with pale green liquid.

"Lord Orochimaru, the newest batch of experimental medicine. The starting bid is thirty million ryo."

Fei Yun and Orochimaru stood by the doorway without letting those inside notice them.

"Isn't that ninja your subordinate?"

Fei Yun recognized the ninja selling the poison.

A sinister curve lifted at Orochimaru's lips.

"Just a traitor. No one here can be spared today. After all, my intelligence cannot be allowed to leak."

Fei Yun looked at him disdainfully. "You're just making excuses to capture experimental subjects."

Orochimaru shrugged. "Does Fei Yun-kun think the people in a place like this deserve pity?"

Fei Yun smiled. "No. I merely want to kill every one of these maggots in human skin."

A noble wearing a fox mask tapped the table with gem-studded nails.

"I want to inspect the goods first."

Han sneered. Suddenly, he seized the girl beside him by the neck and poured the liquid from the test tube into her mouth.

The girl's scream turned into a gurgle in her throat. Snake-scale patterns immediately emerged beneath her skin, and the pupil in her right eye split apart. Her scream became an inhuman hiss as her spine twisted and tore through her dress. Yet the nobles leaned forward excitedly, like imperial aristocrats watching beasts fight.

Several corpse bags were pushed out through the casino's back door every day. Today's haul was quite good.

The enforcers counted the goods inside the bags.

One corpse still retaining body heat, two usable organs, and three tubes of fresh spinal fluid.

In this fallen paradise, even death was not the end.

Just then, more than a dozen people wearing forehead protectors engraved with eighth notes flashed into view. Cold light streaked out, and one enforcer had his throat slit at once.

The other enforcers were terrified. Seeing that they were ninjas, all of them fell to their knees and begged for mercy.

A tall Sound ninja rebuked the person who had just attacked.

"Hey, Lord Orochimaru instructed us to capture them alive whenever possible."

At the same time, even more Sound ninjas appeared and surrounded the place.

Orochimaru sensed the disturbance outside and turned to Uchiha Feiyun.

"Fei Yun-kun, I'll leave the maggots downstairs to you."

"You really know how to order people around."

Fei Yun played with a chip at his fingertips, then stepped to the edge of the floor and looked down at the main hall below.

He circulated his chakra and roared, "Exterminators!"

The thunderous roar stunned the entire casino. Everyone raised their heads toward the source of the voice on the second floor.

Fei Yun's Sharingan spun wildly, and its ocular power poured forth. The entire casino instantly fell into a blood-red illusion.

The gamblers discovered in horror that the chips in their hands had become rotting fingers, their liquor had turned into viscous blood, and they themselves had transformed into terrifying monsters.

Amid terrified cries, most of them suffered mental breakdowns and collapsed. However, quite a few endured it and shouted as they formed hand seals.

Fei Yun sneered and formed hand seals. "Earth Release: Silver Spear Dance!"

The ground suddenly erupted with numerous sharp earth spikes, skewering the remaining standing ninjas into bloody kebabs.

Orochimaru softly said, "Fei Yun-kun, please show some mercy to my experimental subjects."

At this point, everyone in the second-floor private rooms had already been bound by Orochimaru's snakes. Seeing Fei Yun ignore him, Orochimaru hurriedly used ninjutsu. A mass of pythons poured out and restrained those struggling below, afraid that the brat would kill them all.

Just then, a large number of Sound ninjas charged in and completely took control of the situation.

Orochimaru looked heartbrokenly at the dozen or so people who had been struck down and slowly said, "Fei Yun-kun, what a waste. Those were all precious data."

Fei Yun spread his hands helplessly. "My power isn't refined enough. It's hard to control my strength. If Orochimaru-kun would transplant Hashirama Cells into me, would this still have happened?"

"And if I obtained Hashirama Cells, I would definitely serve you with even greater sincerity, wouldn't I?"

Hearing Fei Yun's words, Orochimaru paused slightly before saying, "So Fei Yun-kun still hasn't let go of the matter of Hashirama Cells."

Fei Yun smiled. "How could I possibly forget?"

Orochimaru's expression turned serious. "Fei Yun-kun, the reason I refuse to transplant Hashirama Cells into you is actually for your own good. After all, no one has successfully undergone the transplant so far."

"Hashirama Cells are powerful, but precisely because they are too powerful, no one can withstand their erosion."

"I have experimented countless times. Everyone who received Hashirama Cells died."

Orochimaru slightly raised his head, a nostalgic expression appearing on his face as he continued, "Research into Hashirama Cell transplants had continued in Konoha for decades. It began with the Senju Clan, but every Senju participant in the experiments died."

"Those people refused to give up and continued experimenting until the Senju Clan was nearly exterminated. When the Senju Clan was on the verge of destruction, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, finally stepped forward to play the good guy and halted the research."

"Later, I began researching it as well, and so I became a traitor."

"Heh." Fei Yun looked surprised.

"At the time, Konoha's strongest should have been the perfect Jinchuriki, Uzumaki Mito, right?"

"She was Hashirama Senju's wife. Would she really allow Konoha to persecute the Senju Clan?"

"Hahaha." Orochimaru let out a strange laugh.

His wet, long snake tongue flicked out and licked his lips.

"Do you think Uzumaki Mito, whose Uzumaki Clan had been destroyed and whose homeland had fallen, truly had no objections toward Konoha?"

"She had probably long since lost faith in Konoha. Why would she still care about Konoha's rotten affairs?"

Fei Yun nodded. "That makes sense. Konoha really has done no shortage of inhuman things."

"The Land of Whirlpools and Nest Village were the Uzumaki Clan's home. They were Konoha's most steadfast allies. Many direct-line princesses married into Konoha, and they even taught all their sealing techniques to Konoha. Most of Konoha's sealing techniques today originated from the Uzumaki Clan."