Kusanagi Sword

As mentioned before, this team could hold its own against Orochimaru if they worked together—but that was without factoring in his summoned beasts.

In the Shinobi World, summoned beasts were usually there to assist in battle. The Uchiha Clan contracted Ninja Cats, Kakashi contracted ninja dogs, and Guy contracted a turtle, for example.

These summoned beasts had little combat power and could only help with delivering messages and gathering intelligence.

But top-tier shinobi often possessed far more powerful summoned beasts.

Take Hanzō of the Rain Ninja, for instance. His summoned beast was a gigantic salamander. At the height of his power, he had beaten the three Konoha shinobi so badly that they could not fight back. Half the credit went to that enormous salamander.

Then there was Hiruzen Sarutobi's summoned beast, Enma. Not only did he possess human intelligence, but he could transform into all kinds of forms at will, providing weapon support or fighting directly. His strength was comparable to that of an Elite Jonin.

At an even higher level were the summoned beasts of the Three Great Sage Regions. What stood out about those creatures was their sheer size. Their intelligence was no different from that of ordinary humans.

Not to mention that the higher-ranking sage creatures could use all kinds of innate ninjutsu. In truth, their size alone was enough to leave ninety-nine percent of the Shinobi World's shinobi helpless.

The appearance of the snake-playing creature instantly shattered the pursuing team's resolve. Against a super-sized summoned beast like that, they needed large-scale ninjutsu of a corresponding level.

But they could not forget that Orochimaru was still standing atop it. There were people in the Shinobi World who could deal with that combination, but this team was not among them.

"Run... run..."

Aoba's shout from the distance jolted the frozen crowd awake. Even the Root shinobi turned and fled without hesitation.

They were baffled as well. This had originally been nothing more than a performance put on by Root and Orochimaru. Why did it look like Orochimaru had gotten serious now?

"Wood Release, Deep Forest Emergence."

The Root captain at the front unleashed a Wood Release technique toward the snake-playing creature.

Dozens of massive trees burst from the ground, trapping the creature and Orochimaru within them. Then, without lingering for even a moment, the Root captain turned and ran.

Seeing this from not far away, Aoba immediately realized who the man was. Wasn't this the future Yamato? Wood Release was simply too conspicuous.

As for the man's level of Wood Release...

Hashirama's Wood Release conquered the world; Yamato's Wood Release handled landscaping. Looking at it now, that saying could not have been more fitting.

After only one exchange, Orochimaru completely crushed the pursuing team. Then, rather than stopping, he charged straight after the Root squad.

Before long, the entire valley fell silent.

At dawn, movement appeared in the valley once more. Aoba leaped through the ruins several times before arriving at the deepest part of the valley.

Orochimaru was already waiting there. Two youths stood beside him. Judging by their appearances, they should have been Kimimaro and Jugo. At this point, Suigetsu and Karin had yet to follow him.

"Long time no see, Lord Orochimaru."

"Hehe, Aoba. So it really was you. You truly exceeded my expectations."

Orochimaru licked the blood from his face with his tongue as he studied Aoba with a strange look.

His feelings toward this former subordinate were complicated.

Aoba had been one of the few assistants whose thinking and ability to act could keep up with his pace. Before leaving, he had even asked whether Aoba was willing to leave with him.

But Aoba had chosen to remain in Konoha. That had greatly disappointed Orochimaru. What interested him even more, however, was that Aoba had actually escaped the Interrogation Department's interrogation and had merely been exiled.

"Aoba, you told me in your letter that you knew information about Akatsuki. You want to make a deal with me?"

"That's right. If my intelligence is correct, Lord Orochimaru, you joined Akatsuki two years ago and later left it. Am I right?"

This matter was extremely secretive to ordinary people, but quite a few people actually knew about it. Konoha's higher-ups certainly did.

"It seems Aoba truly knows something. Now I'm beginning to look forward to our deal. But before that, I still need to confirm one thing."

The moment Orochimaru said that, Aoba began secretly gathering chakra. He had been mentally prepared for this. Making a deal with someone as dangerous as Orochimaru generally required showing that one was qualified first.

Simply put, he needed to demonstrate the strength to deal with him as an equal.

But to his surprise, after Orochimaru looked him over several times, he actually said—

"Hehe, don't be nervous, Aoba. For the sake of our past relationship, we'll skip the test. Let's begin directly. Tell me, what do you want?"

Orochimaru had far too many good things. Aoba wanted to say, I want all of them. But he knew that was impossible. Deals had to proceed step by step.

"That depends on what information Lord Orochimaru wants. According to my intelligence, the people you are most interested in should be Itachi Uchiha and Akatsuki's leader, the one with the Rinnegan. Am I right?"

"It seems Aoba is quite confident in his intelligence. In that case, the first thing I want to know is the detailed abilities of Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan."

At this time, Orochimaru was obsessed with Itachi Uchiha. Mainly because the arrogant and self-assured Orochimaru had been instantly defeated by a single glance from him.

That made Orochimaru, who had already been interested in the Sharingan, even more obsessed with Itachi Uchiha. But because of his last encounter, he would not make a move against Itachi Uchiha until he was absolutely certain of victory.

"I know that information. In exchange, I need a Kusanagi Sword."

There were actually many Kusanagi Swords in the Naruto World. Orochimaru possessed more than one himself.

Aoba was skilled with a sword, but as a commoner, he did not own a weapon made from Chakra Metal.

So he had set his sights on the Kusanagi Sword long ago. Most of them were in Orochimaru's hands, so he planned to use this opportunity to get one from him.

"Hehe." Orochimaru chuckled, then performed his trademark move.

He opened his mouth and spat out a white snake. The white snake opened its jaws, spat a Kusanagi Sword out from its body, and dropped it directly in front of Aoba.

Aoba looked helplessly at the Kusanagi Sword covered in slime. After thinking for a moment, he took out a sealing scroll and sealed the sword inside it.

"You have obtained what you wanted. Now tell me what I want, Aoba." There was a dangerous edge to Orochimaru's tone. Aoba Kamikawa had no doubt that if he dared to run away with the sword, Orochimaru would pursue him to the death.

"Of course."