Orochimaru's gaze lingered on Zou Hyuga and Oto Uchiha, his expression thoughtful.
He had crossed paths with these two many times, and each encounter revealed considerable improvement. Leaving aside whether Zou Hyuga had mastered Sage Mode, Oto Uchiha's eyes alone were growing ever more dazzling.
After completing his research into Wood Release, Orochimaru had become obsessed with dojutsu kekkei genkai.
Pain's Rinnegan was part of the reason he remained in the Akatsuki. But he was nowhere near a match for Pain, so he could only set his sights on the Sharingan.
Thinking of Pain, however, reminded Orochimaru of that familiar face.
What expression would Jiraiya make if he saw Pain's face?
Over by Zou Hyuga, Jiraiya did not dwell on why the two had appeared. Perhaps they had happened to pass through on a mission. In any case, they were a tremendous help, sparing him from fighting outnumbered.
Jiraiya was fully confident he could deal with Orochimaru alone.
But with Sasori of the Red Sand added to the mix, his strength an unknown quantity, the outcome was harder to predict. After all, he was a missing-nin who had killed the previous Kazekage.
Perhaps only Sage Mode would allow him to face both at once, but his Sage Mode required the Summoning Technique to bring forth the two sages and considerable preparation time.
With a poof, Sasori used the Summoning Technique to summon the Third Kazekage Human Puppet. He had originally intended to enjoy the show, but he no longer planned to stand by. His objective was clear: he wanted two more kekkei genkai human puppets.
The Kazekage Human Puppet immediately caught Jiraiya's attention.
Seeing was believing. Once Jiraiya saw the Kazekage Human Puppet, his wariness deepened.
The iron sand floating around the Kazekage Human Puppet was undoubtedly being drawn by