"Orochimaru and me?" Tsunade did not seem surprised. "Is this about the Chakra surge from a while ago?"
"It is. I was the one who released that Chakra. The fighting at Iwagakure is nearly over, and Ōnoki has been captured. As for the Sunagakure front, if they won't behave, we can take the fight to them. The village can spare the forces to deal with them now," Uchiha Yi said with a slight nod.
"You released it?!" All three were stunned. Nearly an entire country had separated them from that Chakra, yet they had felt it clearly. Even a Tailed Beast fell far short of that presence.
And it had come from Uchiha Yi. Who on earth had he been fighting? How strong had he become?
"Yes. I ran into some enemies and learned a few secrets." Uchiha Yi turned to Orochimaru. "Interested in researching something? It concerns the origins of Chakra and the so-called Deities. It's far more interesting than the Wood Release Experiment."
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply, then a grin spread across his face. "Since you're inviting me, Yi, I have no reason to refuse. Besides, I'm quite interested in these so-called Deities."
For someone like Orochimaru, strength was not what mattered most. He wanted to uncover the truth of the Shinobi World. Now that Uchiha Yi had brought it up, he saw no reason to refuse.
And Yi had said it was far more interesting than Wood Release. That only piqued Orochimaru's curiosity further.
"Hey, wait! Are you two planning some shady experiment?" Jiraiya asked at once, as though he had caught on to something.
"What's shady about it? It depends on whom you experiment on. The Second Hokage conducted more human experiments than anyone. And setting that aside, do you think Medical Ninjutsu could have advanced