"Orochimaru?!"
The Root ninja drew his sword. One of Root's rules was to memorize the intelligence on missing-nin.
Orochimaru was undoubtedly a very unusual case among Konoha's missing-nin. In terms of danger alone, he ranked second among them all, surpassed only by the Forbidden Name recorded in the archives.
With only the strength of a Special Jōnin, he had no hope of resisting Orochimaru.
But he still had an important mission: to report the intelligence he had gathered from what he had witnessed to Lord Danzo.
The Uchiha whom Lord Danzo feared had actually awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan?
Then what position had the Uchiha Clan really taken during the Nine-Tails' Rampage?
Orochimaru regarded the Root ninja before him with interest. He had doubled back on a whim, only to catch a little tail.
Having once been one of Root's leaders, he quickly identified the ninja's affiliation and guessed something of his mission.
"Danzo still distrusts the village's ninja as much as ever," Orochimaru remarked, considering getting in touch with Danzo.
Though Danzo was unreliable, he was still a good partner when their interests aligned.
After a moment's thought, Orochimaru used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside the Root ninja. He left a mark on the still-terrified ninja, flicked out his tongue, and said, "Pass this on to Danzo. He'll understand what it means."
The Root ninja stood frozen in place. By the time he recovered his senses, Orochimaru had vanished without a trace.
What exactly does Orochimaru want to tell Lord Danzo?
The Root ninja grumbled inwardly as he left the area and hurried toward the nearby town.
Orochimaru had left. Whatever his reasons, the ninja had escaped death and could still deliver the news to Lord Danzo. That was undoubtedly fortunate.
He raced through the forest at high