By volunteering an account of Otogakure's destruction, Orochimaru had undoubtedly made a concession to his juniors.
Part of it stemmed from his wariness of Zou Hyuga and Oto's strength, but he was more worried that being exposed would bring all Five Kage down on him. Even the reincarnated First and Second would struggle to protect him then.
After sharing some of his information, however, Orochimaru studied the two with interest.
Rather than telling the old man about his presence, they had secretly met with him to pry out information about the Akatsuki. Could they have ulterior motives of their own?
Were they trying to defeat the Masked Man and defend the Uchiha's honor?
Or were they like him, unable to forget the Rinnegan and eager to obtain the sage's eye?
Flicking his long, forked tongue, Orochimaru cleared the stray thoughts from his mind. He remained alert to any sudden attack from the two before him, ready to flee at a moment's notice.
After all, the combination of sealing jutsu, senjutsu, and the Mangekyo Sharingan was already close to perfect.
Even the perfect vessel he sought would amount to little more than that.
After hearing Orochimaru's account, Zou Hyuga fell into thought. He had originally assumed Orochimaru had joined Sunagakure's forces to carry out his unrealistic Collapse Plan, never expecting that the Sound Ninja had come under attack.
In that case, the Five-Tails had probably fallen into the organization's hands as well, leaving only three tailed beasts free.
As for the whereabouts of the Akatsuki's other members, he had no idea whether they were even still in Amegakure.
Suddenly, Zou Hyuga looked toward a corner of Amegakure. A laser beam was shooting straight toward him. He instinctively tried to dodge, but half his shoulder was erased.
The sudden turn of events