Uchiha Itachi carried Kitahara as he led a string of little children around the entire base once more. Kitahara had to admit that getting lost here was perfectly normal.
Even though Itachi had carved marks along the way with a kunai and passed through many different places, he still could not find the exit... This base was far too large. It must have been important to Orochimaru's plan to defect.
Besides, the exit was too well hidden—so well hidden that even Uchiha Itachi could not find it with his Sharingan activated... If the little boy had only looked up, he would not have been so troubled over the exit.
"Caw!"
Kitahara stopped the little boy and raised his head toward a ventilation shaft leading outside... At the crow's crimson-eyed signal, Uchiha Itachi nodded helplessly!
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Dragon-headed flames blasted through the vent, tearing a huge hole through the base from the inside out. The crow flew through the opening, and the lights of a distant town could vaguely be seen.
"Caw!"
After the crow confirmed that it was safe, Uchiha Itachi grabbed a child and leaped out. One by one, he brought the little children outside... He would probably have to take each of them home later.
The genius Uchiha had practically turned into a kindergarten class monitor...
After carrying out the last child, Uchiha Itachi looked down at the base through the hole. "Kitahara, let's blow this base up..."
"Caw?"
What had Orochimaru ever done to you?
The base below covered such a huge area that even digging it up with Earth Release ninjutsu would not have been easy. Besides, while circling around earlier, Kitahara had spotted a pile of large instruments that had yet to be installed.
"His experiments are too evil. If we don't destroy it..." Uchiha Itachi glanced at the rescued children, casually tossed dozens of explosive tags into the underground opening, then raised his hands to form seals.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
Boom!
Crash, crash!
Boom!
After the Uchiha-style triple barrage of Fire Release techniques detonated, thunderous sounds of collapse echoed from the underground base as the earth trembled...
The violent blast of flames even surged out through the opening, painting the darkness red...
"Caw?"
Kitahara looked at the little boy enviously. After personally receiving such an artistic cleansing, didn't he feel much more refreshed? Too bad it still had no way to learn Fire Release...
It could only drool...
Uchiha Itachi awkwardly pressed his fingers together. Seeing the children gathered in the distance, he smiled with an unexpectedly sweet, doting expression. "Let's go..."
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Hiss hiss hiss hiss...
Just as they were about to leave, dozens of vicious pythons suddenly struck at Itachi's neck! Saliva dripped from their sharp fangs...
At the same moment, Kitahara gripped Uchiha Itachi's shoulder collar tightly, narrowly avoiding the snakes' attack. Their forked tongues were even clearly visible...
"Caw!"
The crow was nearly scared into a cold sweat. Whether from disgust or fear, a bird being afraid of snakes was simply... the most natural instinct imaginable... After all, it was only a little crow!
After escaping disaster, Kitahara followed the direction of the snakes and saw someone it really did not want to see... The standard Konoha jonin uniform suited Orochimaru quite well.
Yet that uniform was the only thing left to show that he had once been a Konoha ninja... Without a forehead protector, Orochimaru somehow carried an evil... sort of handsome air...
When describing Orochimaru, words like sinister and cunning seemed impossible to avoid. Like a real snake, he possessed every characteristic of one.
Moreover, like the snakes of myth, he had the audacity to steal from heaven itself. Nearly every famous figure in the ninja world had been connected to him somehow; even an indescribable god like the Reaper had been played with by him...
Clearly a scientist who had mastered core technologies, he would at least have swept up awards in biology and medicine if placed in the modern world... Yet he was also an immensely powerful ninja.
Perhaps Orochimaru was simply too good at causing trouble, so the Sage of Six Paths had been a little afraid of getting involved with him... That was why no bloodline limit had appeared on him. Everything he knew had been acquired through his own efforts.
If not for the heart-stopping snake swarm just now, Kitahara would actually have had quite a favorable impression of Orochimaru. After all, it had once also...
Better not think too deeply about it. Once it did, Kitahara realized it could not compare. Orochimaru was an exceptional genius proficient in every field, while it was merely an ordinary exemplary student. The distance between them was probably as vast as that between a Nobel Prize and an end-of-term scholarship...
Every scientist possessed great refinement and cultivation, and Orochimaru was naturally no exception. Upon seeing Uchiha Itachi, he wore a somewhat amiable smile. "Hehehehehe... Itachi!"
"Caw?"
The crow curiously looked at Orochimaru, then at Uchiha Itachi... He was still my kid! Were they really that close?
"It really is Orochimaru..."
Uchiha Itachi came back to his senses and stared at the man whom Konoha's people had once unanimously respected, a man he himself had once trusted in his youthful ignorance.
Kitahara: "..."
You already blew up his base, so stop thinking about all that... It could not really understand Konoha ninja's feelings. Orochimaru's achievements were simply too distant from it.
But Uchiha Itachi had followed his father and witnessed the cruelty of the ninja wars. He had also seen Orochimaru command Konoha's ninjas to victory in his glory days...
"Hahaha... Itachi, you came at just the right time! Would you like to join me?" His strange long tongue slid out as Orochimaru licked his lips. The sight of the Uchiha clan's greatest genius thrilled him immensely.
He pointed at the opening still glowing with fire and said generously, "If you are willing to join me, I can overlook the destruction of this base. I will let bygones be bygones..."
The destruction of such a large base was indeed a painful loss for Orochimaru. Because Danzo had leaked the secret, he had been forced to flee Konoha in haste, and he currently possessed almost nothing...
This experimental base was what he had painstakingly built up over the past few days... He went out during the day to take odd jobs and earn some money, then had to renovate the base himself at night.
Since he had not prepared for his defection from Konoha over the past few years, he did not even have many capable subordinates now... He had resorted to using those lousy kidnappers. His misery was plain to see...
If he could recruit Uchiha Itachi, he would immediately gain a highly gifted subordinate. Some bloodline limit experiments, and even certain unspeakable experiments, might have a chance to get launched...
"Sorry, I don't..." Uchiha Itachi had a happy family, a seemingly bright future, and an easygoing life training with Jiraiya...
"Now, don't be so quick to refuse..." Orochimaru gently wagged a finger. "I can tell you..."
"Itachi! Don't listen to his nonsense!"
A tall figure suddenly leaped out from the shadows. The moment Jiraiya saw his disciple, he could no longer hold himself back.
These days, anyone with children had to guard against Orochimaru. His talent for abducting and raising children was practically on par with Mister Naruto's Talk no Jutsu... By comparison, Jiraiya was clearly far inferior.
His Talk no Jutsu had never succeeded... He could barely make a living by writing books and pretending to be Mister Lu, letting people deeply interpret the meanings behind his writing.
Jiraiya and Orochimaru had actually met earlier, but unfortunately, he had not persuaded his old friend to return to Konoha and accept punishment... It really did not sound like something a friend would do...
Yet Orochimaru had listened to such a damnable proposal for quite a while, which showed that he truly... truly cared about Jiraiya.
But hands still needed to be thrown...
After two ninja wars, both sides knew each other's methods inside out, so they could only retreat separately... Then Jiraiya saw the firelight and could not help chasing after it, only to find someone sweet-talking his disciple...
Facing Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi, who truly lacked confidence, said in delight, "Teacher Jiraiya!"
"...Teacher Jiraiya..." Hearing Itachi's form of address, Orochimaru felt that he had suddenly understood everything that had happened tonight. The corner of his mouth twisted into an ugly angle. "Hehehehe..."
His expression darkened as though water might drip from it. Since he had not received Konoha's latest intelligence, he had not known about Uchiha Itachi's relationship with Jiraiya...
But... now he knew.
"Jiraiya..." A pair of snake eyes fixed themselves on the white-haired older man. It was impossible to tell whether Orochimaru's tone held anger or exhaustion. "You truly are no longer the person you once were..."
"You used words to stall me while sending your own disciple to destroy my base. Were you planning for master and disciple to join forces... and see whether you could take my life..."
"Hehehe... This is... far too interesting!"
Orochimaru's current state of mind was exactly that of an ignorant young man who had been cheated out of his feelings... and his money.
Jiraiya: "..."
Uchiha Itachi: "..."
Kitahara: "... Caw..."
Would he believe the explanation of two people and a crow?
Ugh...
I still have a match to watch tonight, so I'll update at midnight... Is that okay?
Before you continue