Orochimaru, who had long since devised the Konoha Crush Plan and intended to send his teacher to his grave, had been extremely irritable lately.
There was only one reason: tailed beasts were indispensable strategic resources if he wanted to bring about Konoha's collapse.
Orochimaru's plan was also based on Jing Xiu's all-out battle against the Four-Tails Jinchūriki, which had nearly destroyed all of Iwagakure.
Orochimaru had originally wanted to draw Sunagakure into the scheme and use the One-Tail's power to inflict destruction over a certain area of Konoha.
As the weakest nation among the Five Great Nations, Sunagakure's overall strength was little different from Amegakure's at its peak.
Otogakure in the Land of Fields alone could hold its own against it to some extent.
Orochimaru's only target was his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The moment he left Konoha, he had already understood perfectly well that a towering tree began rotting at its roots.
And the root of the great tree that was Konoha was none other than his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When the time came to actually put the plan into motion, Orochimaru suddenly discovered that Sunagakure had lost its tailed beast.
In other words, if Nagato was willing to act openly, the Land of Rain could completely overpower the Land of Wind militarily.
It could become one of the new Five Great Shinobi Nations.
"Uchiha Jing Xiu, you've certainly kept your secrets well!"
Orochimaru gritted his teeth as he looked toward the Land of Waves.
When he arrived in the Land of Waves in person, however, he found that everyone had already cleared out.
Guren, who had managed the Land of Waves' daily affairs, had also vanished, and the entire Land of Waves was in utter chaos, like a headless fly.
Villagers and merchants attacked one another, with arson, murder,