After the battle

Orochimaru was the Third Hokage's student. Why would he fear a report from an Anbu squad captain? At most, he would be summoned to give an account of what had happened today. He had already thought it through.

Ye Feng went over to Might Duy and examined his condition, his heart sinking. Sure enough, opening the Seventh Gate of the Eight Gates Released Formation had been too much for Might Duy. His body was on the verge of collapse, his cells had turned gray throughout, and after that final punch, cracks had even appeared all over his body.

Ye Feng fetched Orochimaru, who discreetly passed him the scroll before crouching down to examine Might Duy.

Orochimaru's understanding of the body was undoubtedly top-notch. This was his first time examining Might Duy's body, and his expression grew grave. He discovered that Might Duy's muscles, chakra pathways, and skeleton were all far stronger than those of an ordinary Jonin. If even a body like this could not withstand the impact of the forbidden technique and had broken down so badly, then this technique was truly extraordinary-not something just anyone could use.

"Mr. Might Duy's body is in terrible shape. There are multiple cracks in his arm bones, which will require a long period of rest. The main problem is that his muscles, cells, and chakra pathways throughout his body are showing signs of atrophy. This was caused by forcibly wringing power out of his own body. There's no good solution for that. We can only leave it to his luck. Oh, don't you have a medicinal bath, Ye Feng? That should help." Out of respect for Might Duy's strength, Orochimaru had even begun addressing him with an honorific.

Since even Orochimaru said there was no good solution, they could only rely on the medicinal bath.

Might Duy's home was no longer habitable. The battle had left it riddled with holes. Ye Feng thought, I'll put Might Duy up at my place for now. He should be better off with me looking after him. At least I'll do a better job than Might Guy.

Speaking of Might Guy, Ye Feng asked Orochimaru to find him and have him stay at Ye Feng's house for the time being.

By then, the Anbu squad captain had arrived before the Third Hokage and reported the situation. Standing beside the Hokage were Konoha's three Advisors, who had already been disturbed by the commotion of the battle and come to ask about it. The Anbu squad captain particularly emphasized that Orochimaru had still delivered a killing blow after hearing him call for a halt, and had even destroyed the head, making it impossible for the Analysis Team to search the memories.

After hearing the Anbu squad captain's report, the Third Hokage immediately sent someone to summon Orochimaru to the Hokage Office.

Once the Anbu squad captain left, Utatane Koharu was once again the first to speak up. "Orochimaru is becoming more and more brazen. He didn't even notify the village before such a major battle, and he caused considerable damage to the surrounding area." Mitokado Homura echoed her complaints.

Shimura Danzō said nothing, but he was happy to see Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu leveling their accusations.

"Let's wait until Orochimaru arrives before discussing it," the Third Hokage said, cutting Utatane Koharu off.

Before long, Orochimaru arrived. He had known the Third would summon him, so after instructing his subordinates to handle the remaining matters, he had gone nowhere else and strolled toward the Hokage Building. Along the way, he had seen the Anbu squad captain coming to relay the Third's orders. Orochimaru had ignored him and continued toward the Hokage Building.

"Teacher, it seems today's incident caused quite a stir. Even all three Advisors are here." Orochimaru had always taken issue with the Advisors interfering in the Hokage's affairs, so he was not polite to them.

"Orochimaru, what kind of attitude is that? Is that how you treat your superiors and elders?" Sure enough, Utatane Koharu was the first to criticize him again.

Orochimaru ignored him entirely and simply looked at the Third Hokage.

"Tell us what happened today." The Third Hokage did not want them to keep arguing, so he asked the question.

"I merely intended to arrest a spy today. I just didn't expect the spy to be so powerful, which was why it caused such a commotion," Orochimaru explained, playing down the incident.

"A spy? A spy from where?" Both the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō were particularly concerned about this, since dealing with spies had always been the work of the Anbu and Root.

"A remnant from the Second War. The leader of the Sky Ninja-Shinnō."

"Weren't the Sky Ninja completely wiped out? How could there still be a Sky Ninja spy? Where did you get this information?" Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu had lived through the Second War and were very familiar with the Sky Ninja.

"Yesterday, Uchiha Yefeng discovered that someone was asking around about him, so he asked me to help investigate. Only after investigating did I discover that Shinnō's reputation as a miraculous physician was merely a facade. My intelligence agents found traces of his previous contact with the Sky Ninja, and Shinnō himself possessed an astonishing amount of chakra. None of this was normal, so I planned to take some men to apprehend Shinnō today, confirm his identity, and then deal with him." This was a story Orochimaru had fabricated based on Ye Feng's information.

"Then how did you know he was the leader of the Sky Ninja?" Hearing this, Orochimaru knew that the intelligence the Anbu had given the Third covered only the latter part of the battle. They knew nothing about what had happened earlier; he simply was not certain how much the Third already knew.

"He had contact with the Sky Ninja and possessed powerful chakra, so I already suspected he was either a senior figure among them or their leader. During our initial clash, Shinnō's own words confirmed that he was their leader."

The Third did not question Orochimaru's account and went on to ask, "According to the Anbu's report, this Shinnō seemed to be extremely powerful."

"Yes. Shinnō's strength should have surpassed that of an Elite Jonin and approached Kage Level. Even I might not have been a match for him. Moreover, his body was exceptionally tough. If he had been determined to escape, I wouldn't have been able to stop him."

The Third Hokage and the three Advisors were startled by this. If such a powerful ninja infiltrated Konoha, and if he had a plot against Konoha, the village could suffer tremendous losses. Moreover, the Sky Ninja specialized in aerial attacks. If those were coordinated with a ninja of such strength operating inside the village, the Third did not dare imagine the outcome.

"The Sky Ninja lurking in the shadows will remain a menace," Mitokado Homura said.

"We were the reason the Sky Ninja suffered such devastating losses during the Second War. We cannot allow them to hide in the Land of Fire," Shimura Danzō said at the same time.

"Assign personnel to search along Shinnō's previous trail and check whether any Sky Ninja have been active nearby! If necessary, leave none alive."

Upon hearing that Shinnō was the leader of the Sky Ninja and possessed strength approaching Kage Level, the Third could no longer sit still either. He directly ordered their elimination and instructed the Anbu to assign personnel to investigate the remaining Sky Ninja.

Shinnō had spent a long time near Konoha, which was why he was so well known in the area. Although Shinnō was dead, they could not rule out the possibility that other Sky Ninja were still hiding and meant Konoha harm. After all, the Sky Ninja and Konoha were mortal enemies. Neither side would show the other mercy.