Output All Depends on a Single Mouth

At that moment, in Konoha's Hokage's Office.

Getting old was exhausting. Working for so long really took it out of him. It was time to relax a little.

Thinking this, Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi familiarly took out a crystal ball, preparing to begin his volunteer work of caring for the physical health of Konoha's women.

Just then, ripples suddenly appeared on the floor in front of the Hokage's desk. Before long, a huge toad suddenly leaped out of them. As he emerged, he opened his mouth and spat out a red-haired little girl.

The Third Hokage took a closer look. It was Tahm, whom he had sent out on a mission a few days ago.

"Why did you suddenly appear here? Where's Kakashi?" Although he had complete faith in Kakashi's strength, the Third Hokage still sensed that something was wrong from Tahm's frantic movements.

"Lord Hokage!" Tahm delivered some shocking news. "Please, you must come with me! Kakashi is trapped by a Kage-level expert!"

"What!?" The Third Hokage found it hard to believe. He knew Kakashi's strength. Even if he took action himself, he might not be able to stop Kakashi from escaping. That was why he had felt comfortable sending only Kakashi and Tahm to earn that billion ryo.

"There's no time to think! Kakashi could die with every second we waste! Please believe me! I possess a special space-time ability that can teleport us over long distances. If you come with me now, Kakashi might still be saved." Tahm looked at the Third Hokage with sincere and anxious eyes.

The Third Hokage truly couldn't make up his mind for a moment. As one of Konoha's core figures, hastily teleporting outside the village into an unknown area based solely on Tahm's word was an extremely risky decision. Even if Tahm was telling the truth, it wasn't easy to decide to have a village leader hastily face another Kage-level expert.

The Third Hokage pondered for a long while without responding, and Tahm's gaze grew increasingly anxious.

"All right!" The Third Hokage finally decided to trust Tahm. If it had been another Kage, they might not have made such a decision so easily. But the Third Hokage was different. It wasn't only because he trusted Jiraiya, who had personally vouched for Tahm. More importantly, behind his identity as a veteran politician was a heart truly burning with the Will of Fire.

At last, he had secured reinforcements, and Tahm's two-minute skill cooldown was over as well. Without another word, Tahm activated Abyssal Dive, opened his huge mouth, and invited the Third Hokage to jump inside.

This space-time ninjutsu really is something new. The Third Hokage furrowed his brow, but still leaped in without hesitation.

Kakashi's situation was rather dire. Being targeted by a Kage-level expert was no pleasant experience. Although Orochimaru was inexplicably standing by and watching without taking action, the attacks from the masked weirdo and Sasori had already pushed him to the brink.

In just a few minutes, Kakashi was covered in wounds. Several savage gashes kept bleeding, and his Sharingan had shed bloody tears from excessive strain on his ocular power.

"Leave that eye for me," Orochimaru said languidly.

Kakashi merely smiled in relief. "Then I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, Senior Orochimaru." By then, he had completely resolved himself to die.

"This is a keepsake from my closest friends. I can't let it be lost like this." Kakashi gathered a ball of lightning in his hand with his remaining chakra. Even though his opponents were powerful, none of them could stop this Chidori from destroying his Sharingan and piercing through his own skull.

Looks like it's time for us to meet again, Obito, Rin.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred in front of Kakashi. Ripples spread through the air, and Tahm, who had just run off and abandoned his teammate, suddenly leaped out of the water once again.

What surprised Orochimaru and the others even more was that Tahm spat out another person from his mouth—a lean man with gray-white hair, a flame-patterned haori, and a face known to everyone in the Shinobi World. That toad had actually brought the Third Hokage here!

"Kakashi, you're still alive! That's great!" Tahm cheerfully greeted the horribly battered Kakashi. He immediately used Starcall, causing the wounds on Kakashi's body to vanish in an instant while restoring a considerable amount of his stamina and chakra.

Feeling the warm sensation of healing spread through his body and seeing the Third Hokage suddenly appear before him, Kakashi couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh. "What a waste of emotion."

The Third Hokage was also shocked. Tahm hadn't had time to tell him who the enemies were. The very next second after teleporting over with Tahm, the Third Hokage saw a familiar figure.

"Orochimaru! You've gone so far as to ambush Konoha's comrades!" The Third Hokage's words carried the weight of a lifetime's sorrow.

"Tahm, you certainly bring a lot of surprises. You even brought my teacher, Hiruzen, here." Orochimaru spoke with a hint of displeasure. He hated unexpected situations that fell outside his plans.

He then turned to the Third Hokage. "Teacher Hiruzen, I originally planned to stand before you again a few years from now. I never expected us to meet so soon."

"When you slaughtered innocents in Konoha and conducted human experiments, I should never have let you go! That only gave you the chance to commit even more mistakes." The Third Hokage spoke with grief and the sorrow of someone who had watched a promising student go astray.

Tahm, however, was secretly delighted. Their exchange of taunts was buying him time to wait for his ultimate skills' cooldowns. And besides his skills' cooldowns, he was waiting for something even more important.

Kakuzu suddenly came out to make his presence known, interrupting their reunion. "So what if you brought the Third Hokage? Our side has three Kage-level experts. It seems we might even collect the bounty on the Hokage's head this time. What an unexpected bonus."

Only then did the Third Hokage notice that two other enemies were present. One was Sasori of the Red Sands, a missing-nin from Sunagakure, though he had somehow retained his youthful appearance. He didn't recognize the masked man who had spoken, but at a glance, the man was clearly also Kage-level.

This will be difficult. There are actually three enemies. The Third Hokage felt a headache coming on. He almost wanted to fire a few Fusion Ninjutsu at Tahm for not explaining everything earlier.

"Kakuzu, don't get cocky!" Seeing that things were taking a turn for the worse, Tahm immediately came out to make his presence known as well, refusing to let the verbal battle end. "Stop bragging everywhere that you once assassinated the First Hokage. You only survived until now because Hashirama Senju didn't kill you."

"How do you know that?" Kakuzu was unavoidably shocked. He had always kept a low profile, yet this toad had exposed both his identity and his past in one sentence.

Heh! I was only worried you wouldn't ask. Since you did, I can keep talking and buy even more time.

"I know far more than that. You merely rely on Earth Grudge Fear to steal other people's hearts and extend your lifespan, while using that power to master all five nature transformations. Although your body is made entirely of tendrils and seems impossible to kill, your five hearts are your weak points. As long as all five are destroyed, you'll die!"

"You!" Kakuzu was furious. The toad had exposed all his vital weaknesses, giving Sasori beside him a faint feeling of shared misfortune.

Orochimaru's eyes lit up as he listened. This Tahm had completely exposed his two mysterious companions. Gazing at Tahm with fervent curiosity, he said, "It seems the seer Tahm mentioned earlier really is the genuine article. I'm becoming more and more interested in studying you."

Thank you for the assist, Orochimaru! Tahm praised this assist in his heart. The thing he feared most in a battle of words was having no one on the other side respond.

"Heh. You'd be better off perfecting your Living Corpse Reincarnation. Changing bodies every three years may seem capable of granting you immortality, but it greatly weakens your resistance to genjutsu. Ordinary genjutsu might not work, but you still want to scheme for the Uchiha's Sharingan? You're dreaming!"

Orochimaru's expression darkened. He joined Kakuzu and Sasori's ranks, his face turning livid as he fell silent.

Seeing that an earth-shaking battle involving multiple Kage-level experts was about to erupt, Tahm had no choice but to continue playing the role of the Iron-Mouthed Tahm the Immortal and throw out another bombshell.

"Your organization's leader possesses the Rinnegan, doesn't he?"

"Do you want to know how he obtained his Rinnegan?"

Tahm's words immediately drew the attention of the three Kage-level experts who had been preparing to fight. After all, this was gossip about their organization's leader, and it involved the secret of the legendary Rinnegan. How could they not be interested? These unruly people had been willing to gather in one organization largely because of the allure and deterrence of those eyes.

Seeing that all three had taken the bait, and that even the Third Hokage and Kakashi were watching Tahm curiously and awaiting what came next, Tahm unhurriedly adopted the manner of a storyteller and said, "Since we're going to talk about the Rinnegan, we have to start by discussing its abilities." Everyone pricked up their ears attentively, completely failing to notice that Tahm had dragged the topic even farther away.

"The Rinnegan can control six bodies simultaneously and grant each one different special abilities. They are respectively called the Deva Path, Naraka Path, Preta Path, Animal Path, Asura Path, and Human Path. The organization leader Pain whom you know is actually only the Deva Path among the Six Paths, not the true body."

That first sentence was explosive enough to give them considerable insight into their mysterious leader.

Tahm elaborated in detail. "Among them, the Deva Path has the strongest abilities and can control gravitational and repulsive forces over a wide area. The Human Path can read other people's memories and thoughts. The Asura Path has a powerful body and specializes in close combat. The Animal Path can easily summon large numbers of enormous summons. The Preta Path is the nemesis of ninjutsu and can absorb chakra attacks of every nature. But when dealing with the Six Paths of Pain, the one you need to be most wary of is the Naraka Path. He can collect the lives of the other five Paths after they're defeated and revive them at any time."

The explanation opened everyone's eyes, but the meticulous Orochimaru still seized on the key point from the beginning. "You've said so much, but how exactly is the Rinnegan awakened? Is it inherited through a special kekkei-genkai clan?"

Sasori and Kakuzu also expressed great interest. Knowing how incredibly powerful the Rinnegan was was certainly less useful than knowing how to obtain it.

This interrupted Tahm's plan to steer the topic elsewhere. He didn't want to reveal too much. If he went too far and caused Pain, Obito, and Zetsu—those major villains—to emerge early and come looking for him, it would be troublesome.

But forced by the circumstances, Tahm could only brace himself and continue. "Speaking of the Rinnegan's origins, we have to discuss the true identity of your organization's leader."

"Oh?" Orochimaru showed great interest.

Senior Disciple Nagato, I'm sorry. I'm giving away spoilers ahead of time, so please don't come to Konoha and chop me up!

"He is actually—"

Just as Tahm was about to reveal it, a small summoning array suddenly unfolded beside him. After a burst of smoke, a peculiar-looking little toad appeared. The little toad pulled a note from its mouth and handed it to Tahm. No one knew what message it had delivered before it reverse-summoned itself away. Tahm knew very well that this was the address of Jiraiya's current location, which he had obtained by contacting Sage Fukasaku.

Orochimaru recognized the little toad as a communication toad from Mount Myoboku at a glance, and immediately felt that something was wrong.

Tahm, however, looked completely relaxed. In a teasing tone, he said, "Who exactly is the leader of the mysterious rogue-ninja organization? What twists and turns lie behind the Rinnegan's origins? Is it the distortion of humanity, or the collapse of morality? Be sure to tune in next time for Tahm's Storytelling!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Tahm activated Abyssal Dive on the spot, sending ripples across the ground.

How could the three of them still not realize they had been played? This guy had clearly been waiting for some information, constantly using that "seer" nonsense to stall for time!

The three Kage-level experts were no fools. Enraged, they attacked. Kakuzu unleashed a powerful Lightning Release toward Tahm, Orochimaru raised his hand and released a giant serpent, while Sasori decisively expended a secret jutsu scroll. A genuine S-rank pillar of flame shot from his palm.

The assault was so fierce that even the Third Hokage had no time to stop it. He could only watch as the three terrifying attacks rushed toward Tahm.

Tahm had already been prepared. He used Divine Protection once more, condensing a golden orb of light around his body.

Whether it was the swift lightning, the molten-steel pillar of flame, or the sharp serpent fangs, everything that struck the dazzling orb seemed to vanish into a mud ox entering the sea, without making the slightest sound.

What terrifying defensive power! Even Orochimaru, who had seen this technique once before, felt his heart tremble.

In the blink of an eye, Tahm had fled the battlefield once again.

This time, however, everyone guessed what he intended to do. After all, the Third Hokage's appearance had been a living example.

Damn it! Kakuzu was furious. It seemed he wouldn't earn a single ryo today. Although he had immense confidence in the strength of the three of them, the Third Hokage was hardly someone who had earned his reputation for nothing.

At Tahm's speed of making one round trip every few minutes, they might not even have time to gang up on the Third Hokage before another Kage-level expert was dropped in and ganged up on them.

"Withdraw," Orochimaru said decisively.

If they wanted to leave, the Third Hokage couldn't stop them either. He could only look at his former student with complicated emotions and say, "Orochimaru, aren't you going to see your old companion again?"

After seeing the communication toad from Mount Myoboku, the Third Hokage also understood where Tahm had gone.

"That fool?" Orochimaru smiled wistfully. "There will be a chance in the future."

Two minutes later, Jiraiya hurriedly jumped out of Tahm's mouth, still wearing his hot-spring yukata because he hadn't had time to change. All he saw were Kakashi, his teacher Hiruzen, and the pockmarked battlefield.

"Huh? Where's Orochimaru?" Not seeing his best friend, he was deeply disappointed.

Another inseparable two-in-one chapter. I feel like my body has been hollowed out.