Unleashing the Unrivaled (Seeking Collection and Recommendations)

Outside the Land of Fire's border.

The Land of Hot Water.

In a room of an inn in some small town, Lord Orochimaru was tinkering with a set of precision instruments and unknown liquids before him.

Recently, Kirigakure had been restless. To ensure the safety of personnel within the Land of Fire, Hiruzen Sarutobi had specifically sent Orochimaru, along with some Konoha Ninja and even Anbu, to hold the line here.

Any Mist Ninja who came to probe Konoha was met with merciless retaliation—no quarter given, all slain.

This displayed Konoha's overwhelming power.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and lightly licked his lips. "At this rate, war could break out at any moment. All that's missing is a spark and someone to stick their neck out first."

Boom!

The glass container before him exploded, destroying most of the things on the table.

Orochimaru wasn't the least bit angry about it.

Science always came with accidents like this. The process didn't matter—as long as the results were achieved in the end, everything was worth it.

"Teacher Sarutobi is still too conservative. At a time like this, he should pick a soft target, crush it with lightning speed, and make an example of them. The other villages wouldn't dare to act up then."

With Konoha's power near its peak, concentrating all its strength to crush a single ninja village would be no problem. But if someone took the lead and the Great Hidden Villages all chimed in, even Konoha would sink into the quagmire of war, with an uncertain outcome.

Still, Orochimaru was used to Hiruzen Sarutobi's caution. If he weren't so conservative, he wouldn't be his teacher.

Stationing him here was already one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's bolder moves. Someone else—say, Jiraiya or Tsunade—wouldn't have been as decisive.

Whoosh!

Just as Orochimaru was about to restart his experiment, an Anbu Ninja appeared silently in the room.

"Lord Orochimaru, something's off with the Mist Ninja."

Orochimaru didn't look up, just kept fiddling with his instruments.

"Oh? Did Suikazan Fuguki make a move?"

"No, it's not Suikazan Fuguki. According to our Scout's observations, a Jonin from the Kaguya Clan forced his way through our blockade and entered that area."

"The Kaguya Clan? Those lunatics..."

For Orochimaru to call them lunatics showed just how infamous the Kaguya Clan's "madness" was.

"The Corpse Collection Team might be in danger. Should we—for the sake of intelligence?" the Anbu Ninja hesitated.

Orochimaru finally looked up, his tongue slipping out instinctively.

"So Kirigakure can't sit still. They want to truly test Konoha's limits. Sending a fool from the Kaguya Clan kills two birds with one stone."

On the surface, it was about gathering intel, but Orochimaru read the deeper meaning.

The Mist Ninja wanted to see how resolute Konoha was. If the Kaguya member made it back, it meant Konoha's main focus was still on Sunagakure and Iwagakure to the west. Even if he didn't return safely, the Mist higher-ups would lose someone with opposing views—still a good deal.

The Anbu Ninja stood still, waiting for Orochimaru's orders.

"Send a squad of Anbu," Orochimaru said, waving his hand.

He couldn't leave—that would directly tell Kirigakure that Konoha was short-handed here. Suikazan Fuguki wasn't someone to underestimate and might seize the chance to strike.

"Yes!"

Receiving the order, the Anbu Ninja flickered and slowly vanished.

"The Kaguya Clan—without even a single person who's awakened Shikotsumyaku, they still hold that much influence in Kirigakure. If one did awaken, they'd make excellent research material."

Thinking of the legends about the Kaguya Clan's bone bloodline, Orochimaru felt every cell in his body tremble with excitement.

"I'm just a corpse collector. I'm just a corpse collector..."

Qifeng carried Imai Kuriyama as he hurried along, hypnotizing himself not to think about what would happen to Kakashi and the other two behind him.

With Kakashi's strength, he'd probably be fine.

Leaping from treetop to treetop, riding the wind, humming a tune, carrying a girl—living the dream.

But life's highs and lows came too fast. Before he could enjoy it long, Qifeng suddenly stopped in his tracks.

His smile turned bitter.

"It shouldn't be. It really shouldn't..."

He just wanted to quietly collect corpses—he shouldn't have to face so many trials.

A blurry figure stood on a tree not far away, wearing a very old-fashioned and ugly topknot, with two even uglier red dots on either side of his forehead, and a mocking grin on his lips.

Seeing who it was, Qifeng's headache only got worse.

That look—the Kaguya Clan.

"I'm just a Genin, you know."

He knew that the Kaguya Clan currently had no one who'd awakened the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai, but every single one of them was a physically and mentally twisted lunatic—a real pain to deal with.

If Uchiha Obito hadn't later reignited the "Bloody Mist Village," nearly wiping out the Kaguya Clan, Kirigakure probably wouldn't have been called the "weakest" Great Hidden Village during the Fourth Great Ninja War.

Carefully, he set Imai Kuriyama down by a nearby tree.

"Konoha brats, where are your strong ones?" Kaguya Senjin's eyes burned with fervor, his whole body itching for a fight.

Qifeng put on his most honest and sincere face, pointing toward the town where Orochimaru and the other Konoha Ninja were stationed.

"No need to thank me. It's about an hour's walk from here."

"Good."

Kaguya Senjin nodded and started walking in that direction.

Qifeng stayed put, silently turning to face his back, on guard against any sudden outburst.

They said the Kaguya Clan had no brains, but what if?

Only when Kaguya Senjin passed him and was about to disappear into the forest did he finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.

His back was already soaked with sweat.

"That actually worked? I'm a damn genius!" He couldn't help feeling a little smug.

But just as Kaguya Senjin was about to leave, his steps suddenly halted, making Qifeng's heart skip a beat.

He forced a dry laugh. "Wh-What's wrong?"

Kaguya Senjin turned his head, grinning wide. "Just remembered—my mission was to take out every Konoha Ninja I see."

Right now, that smile in Qifeng's eyes was the smile of a demon.

"I'm just a Genin. Not worth wasting your time on me." Qifeng waved a hand.

"So... I'll make it quick."

The moment the words left his mouth, the ground beneath Kaguya Senjin's feet shattered, and his body shot forward like a speeding car, barreling straight at Qifeng in the blink of an eye.

Fast!

Qifeng's expression shifted. He knew he couldn't dodge in time, so he barely managed to cross his arms in front of his chest.

Bam!

A small fist slammed into Qifeng's arms.

In his past life, he'd never known what it felt like to be hit by a car. But in this life, he found out—and he felt it hard.

The sour thrill of it was obvious from how fast he flew backward.

Both feet left the ground as he crashed into a tree behind him. The thick trunk snapped clean from the sheer force of the impact.

Pfft—

His face went pale. Unable to hold back the churning in his organs, he spat out a mouthful of blood. His arms swelled up in an instant, nearly breaking outright.

"Huh?" Kaguya Senjin looked a little surprised.

Then he straightened up, a flicker of interest in his eyes. That punch just now—no Genin should have been able to block it. That meant the kid was at least a Chunin.

To him, Genin were boring. Chunin could at least pique his interest a little.

Qifeng shook his head, took a moment to recover, then forced himself to his feet, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"Feeling better? Then let's go again!" Kaguya Senjin beckoned him with a taunting wave.

Qifeng licked his gums and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

He flipped open his palm and pulled out a card that no one else could see.

Just trying to quietly loot a corpse—why is it so damn hard?

He glanced at the unconscious Imai Kuriyama beside him.

Damn humanity.

He didn't want to.

But there was no choice. Time to go all out!

Activate Iwagakure Quasi-Kage Akagi Shi Experience Card (Rare). Stat matching in progress.

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