Orochimaru, Let Me Explain!

Uchiha Itachi held Beiyuan, and with a string of little turnip heads, they circled the entire base again. Beiyuan had to admit that getting lost here was normal.

Even though Itachi carved marks with his kunai along the way and passed through many different places, he still couldn't find the exit... This base was too large and must have been very important to Orochimaru's defection plan.

Also, it was because the exit was too well-hidden, so hidden that even Uchiha Itachi couldn't find it with his Sharingan activated... If the little boy had bothered to look up, he wouldn't have been so fixated on the exit.

"Caw!"

Beiyuan stopped the little boy in his tracks, tilting its head to look upwards. There was a ventilation shaft leading outside... With a signal from its crimson eyes, Uchiha Itachi nodded helplessly!

"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

Dragon-headed flames pierced through the ventilation shaft, blasting a large hole through the entire base from the inside out. Crows flew out of the opening, and the lights of a small town could be faintly seen in the distance.

"Caw!"

After the crows confirmed it was safe, Uchiha Itachi picked up a child and leaped into the air. One by one, he brought the group of little turnip heads out... He would probably have to take them home one by one 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: "Beiyuan, let's blow up this base..."

"Caw?"

What did Orochimaru do to offend you now?

The base below was so large that even excavating it with Earth Style ninjutsu wouldn't be easy, let alone the pile of large, uninstalled equipment Beiyuan had observed while circling earlier.

"His experiments are too evil. If this place isn't destroyed..." Uchiha Itachi glanced at the rescued little turnip heads and casually tossed dozens of explosive tags into the underground hole. He then formed a hand seal:

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

BOOM!

CRASH!

BOOM!

After the Uchiha series of three consecutive fire style ninjutsu, deafening collapses echoed from the underground base, and the earth trembled...

The intense explosive force of the flames even surged out of the hole, illuminating the darkness with a fiery red glow...

"Caw?"

Beiyuan looked enviously at the little boy. After performing an artistic cleansing with his own hands, did his body feel much better? It was a pity that it still couldn't learn fire style ninjutsu...

It could only drool...

Uchiha Itachi awkwardly fiddled with his fingers. Seeing the children gathered in the distance, his smile looked surprisingly sweet and doting: "Let's go..."

"Shadow Snake Hand!"

Hiss hiss hiss hiss...

Just as they were about to leave, dozens of ferocious pythons suddenly lunged towards Itachi's nape! Saliva dripped from their sharp fangs...

In the same instant, Beiyuan tightly gripped Uchiha Itachi's collar, narrowly dodging the snake swarm's attack. The forked tongues were even clearly visible...

"Caw!"

The crow was almost drenched in cold sweat, unsure if it was from disgust or fear. As a bird, being afraid of snakes was... the most normal instinct! After all, it was just a little crow!

After narrowly escaping, Beiyuan followed the direction of the snake swarm and saw a person it really didn't want to see. The standard Konoha Jonin uniform fit Orochimaru perfectly.

But it was only that uniform that represented his past as a Konoha ninja... Without a forehead protector, Orochimaru looked strangely, wickedly handsome...

When describing Orochimaru, words like sinister and cunning always seemed to be associated with him. Like a true snake, he possessed all the characteristics of one.

Moreover, this guy also had the audacity of a mythical serpent, essentially having connections with every well-known person in the ninja world, and even playing with the unknowable deity of death...

Despite being a scientist with core technology, who would at least win numerous awards in biology and medicine even in modern times, he was still a powerful ninja.

Perhaps it was because Orochimaru was too troublesome that the Sage of Six Paths was a little afraid of being associated with him... Therefore, he didn't inherit any kekkei genkai; all his abilities were acquired through his own endeavors.

If it weren't for the terrifying snake swarm just now, Beiyuan actually had a good impression of Orochimaru. After all, it used to be...

It couldn't dwell on it. Upon reflection, Beiyuan realized it couldn't compare. Orochimaru was an outstanding genius with all-around skills, while it was just an ordinary model student. The distance between them was probably as vast as the gap between a Nobel Prize and a semester scholarship...

Every scientist possesses high-quality cultivation, and Orochimaru was no exception. Upon seeing Uchiha Itachi, the smile on his face was somewhat amiable: "Hehehehehe... It's Itachi!"

"Caw?"

The crow curiously looked at Orochimaru, then at Uchiha Itachi... It's still my kid! Are their relationships really that good?

"It really is Orochimaru..."

Uchiha Itachi snapped back to his senses, gazing at the person once universally respected by the villagers of Konoha, even someone he himself had trusted in his naive youth.

Beiyuan: "..."

They'd already blown up his base, so don't think about those irrelevant things... It couldn't quite understand the feelings of Konoha ninjas; Orochimaru's achievements seemed too distant to it.

However, Uchiha Itachi had witnessed the brutality of the Ninja Wars with his father and had also seen Orochimaru skillfully command Konoha ninjas to victory...

"Hahaha... Itachi, what a coincidence! Want to join me?" His unnaturally long tongue flicked out as Orochimaru licked his lips. Seeing the foremost genius of the Uchiha made him incredibly excited.

He pointed to the cave entrance, still glowing with flames, and generously said, "If you're willing to join me, I can overlook the destruction of this base. I won't hold grudges..."

The destruction of such a large-scale base was indeed a blow to Orochimaru at this time. Due to Danzō's leak, he had been forced to defect from Konoha in a hurry, and now he had almost nothing...

This experimental base was something he had painstakingly accumulated over the past few days... earning money by doing odd jobs during the day and renovating the base himself at night.

Because he hadn't properly planned for his defection from Konoha over the past few years, he didn't even have any capable subordinates right now... he was even resorting to using clumsy kidnappers, a testament to his dire situation...

If he could recruit Uchiha Itachi, he would have a subordinate with exceptional talent, and some bloodline experiments, even certain unspeakable experiments, might have a chance to be initiated...

"Sorry, I don't..." Uchiha Itachi's family was happy and harmonious, his future looked bright, and his days training with Jiraiya were also leisurely...

"Hey, don't be so quick to refuse..." Orochimaru gently shook his finger, "I can reveal something to you..."

"Itachi! Don't listen to his nonsense!"

A tall figure suddenly leaped out from the shadows. The moment Jiraiya saw his student, he couldn't help but jump out.

Nowadays, anyone with children had to guard against Orochimaru; his talent for luring children and raising them was almost on par with Mr. Ming's talk no jutsu... In comparison, Jiraiya was clearly far inferior.

His talk no jutsu had never succeeded... except for writing books, and he could barely make a living by impersonating Mr. Lu and having people deeply interpret his writings.

Jiraiya and Orochimaru had actually met briefly just now, but he hadn't persuaded his old friend to return to the village to be punished... It really didn't sound like something a friend would do...

And to be able to listen to such ridiculous talk for a while, it showed that Orochimaru truly... truly cared for Jiraiya.

But when it was time to get physical, they still had to get physical...

After two Ninja World Wars, both sides knew each other's tricks inside and out, and could only retreat... until Jiraiya saw the flames and couldn't help but chase after them, only to see someone trying to trick his student...

Facing Orochimaru, Uchiha Itachi, who was truly uncertain, said with surprise, "Teacher Jiraiya!"

"...Jiraiya... Teacher..." Orochimaru heard Itachi's address, felt like he understood everything that had happened tonight, and his mouth twisted into an ugly angle: "Hehehehehe..."

His face was as dark as if water was about to drip from it. Because he hadn't received the latest intelligence from Konoha, he didn't know about the relationship between Uchiha Itachi and Jiraiya...

But... now he knew.

"Jiraiya..." A pair of snake-like eyes fixed intently on the white-haired old man. Orochimaru's tone was hard to tell if it was anger or exhaustion: "You're really not the person you used to be..."

"You used words to stall me, and sent your own student to destroy my base. Do you want to... try to take my life together as master and disciple..."

"Hehehe... This is... so interesting!"

Orochimaru's current psychological state was exactly like an ignorant young man who had been deceived in his feelings and... and his money.

Jiraiya: "..."

Uchiha Itachi: "..."

Beiyuan: "...Gah..."

He wondered if they would believe the explanation from the two of them and a crow.

o(︶︿︶)o ...

I still have to watch the match tonight, so I'll update at midnight. Is that okay?