Standing on Tenchi Bridge, Orochimaru looked at Kakashi and the others surrounding him, a smile curling his lips. "Hehehe... I never expected Lord Sasori to cooperate with Konoha!"
Though Orochimaru sounded flippant, he truly hadn't expected a rogue ninja like Sasori to team up with Konoha to set him up!
But... he had a backup plan of his own. Sasori had teamed up with Konoha, but so had he! And his partners were right behind him.
With Orochimaru surrounded and Kabuto Yakushi under Sasori's control, Big Naruto demanded angrily, "Orochimaru, where's Sasuke?"
"You're that eager to see Sasuke? As far as I can tell, though, Sasuke doesn't want to see you!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya. "Jiraiya, you're here too! But your timing seems rather unfortunate, because... my partners are nearby as well!"
Orochimaru's words immediately put the Konoha ninja on their guard.
"If you want to cooperate, you need to show some commitment. I'm surrounded right now. Aren't you going to come out and help me?"
When nothing stirred around them, Orochimaru spoke as though talking to himself.
His absolute confidence made the others even more wary.
Just then, several figures wearing Konoha Anbu forehead protectors abruptly appeared on the beams above Tenchi Bridge.
The sudden appearance of more than a dozen Anbu ninja made Kakashi narrow his eyes.
"Are these... Root members?"
"So Orochimaru really does have ties to Root..."
That was right... Orochimaru's partner was none other than Danzo of Root.
Originally... Danzo had intended to cut ties with Orochimaru, but... the arrival of people from another world had changed his initial plans.
A scheming old bastard like Danzo, who preferred hiding behind the scenes, certainly wasn't going to deal with the otherworlders himself.
Besides, he wasn't certain he could win, so... he