Cherry Ink was just about to make an elegant "after you" gesture to Orochimaru when he caught sight of a rat scurrying toward them out of the corner of his eye.
The rat spoke in a string of squeaks.
Cherry Ink's smiling expression abruptly turned cold. He suddenly raised a hand, stopping Orochimaru as he was about to open his umbrella.
"Wait..."
Cherry Ink's childish voice made the temperature around them plummet.
Orochimaru could not tell whether the chill came from the rain or from the former old rat before him.
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and asked quietly, "What? Are you going back on your word?"
A perfected Living Corpse Reincarnation was extremely important to Orochimaru, especially since Cherry Ink had tested this forbidden technique countless times and proven it absolutely reliable.
Orochimaru could not help tensing up, too.
Cherry Ink looked up at Orochimaru and said earnestly, "No, Orochimaru. Yanbai has instructions for you, but it isn't convenient for him to tell you face-to-face, so he asked me to pass them on. Sorry for the trouble, but come back with me. A few words won't explain it. I need to write everything down for you."
Cherry Ink put away his earlier composed smile, replacing it with a dark expression and slightly gritted teeth.
Knowing that something must be wrong, Orochimaru readily complied and followed Cherry Ink back into the rats' kingdom.
As it turned out, Orochimaru's guess was correct.
They returned to the depths of the underground kingdom.
Cherry Ink did not speak to him in Japanese, the "common language of the Shinobi World," at all.
Instead, Cherry Ink opened his mouth and spoke in Thai from the Dōjutsu World. "I remember you understand Thai."
Orochimaru's brow twitched. He replied somewhat awkwardly in the same language, "Yes."
With his