"Lord Cold-Blooded, you seem to know this place quite well?"
Orochimaru, who had been concentrating on searching for something, turned around. His golden snake pupils contracted almost imperceptibly for an instant before he spoke as though nothing had happened:
"Oh, it's you, Naoki-kun. Did you need something?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just taking a stroll."
Orochimaru gave Naoki Senju a somewhat suspicious look but said nothing more.
Ten minutes later, listening to the footsteps that had followed right behind him the entire time, Orochimaru stopped helplessly. The footsteps behind him stopped at the same time.
"Naoki-kun, if you have something to say, just say it."
You should've done that from the start. After muttering this inwardly, Naoki Senju said with a smile:
"Lord Cold-Blooded, I think we should be a little more open with each other about Rōran. For instance, just what kind of power could have reduced this place to this state?"
"Oh? You think I know, Naoki-kun?"
Without Tsunade there to keep things in check, and with no one else present, Naoki Senju faced the pressure of Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, alone for the first time. Unlike Tsunade's overwhelming, heavy pressure, Orochimaru's presence was cold, dangerous, and deadly.
Like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, ready to strike a fatal blow at any moment.
The sense of danger Orochimaru gave Naoki Senju this time even surpassed their last fight. Naoki Senju estimated that Orochimaru had only used half his strength last time, perhaps even less.
But his own strength was also far beyond what it had once been. His Wood Release ninjutsu, in particular, had advanced by leaps and bounds. To put it modestly, he was at least the equivalent of six or seven Yamatos, which naturally gave him more confidence when facing Orochimaru.
"Surely there's nothing about a mere Rōran that you don't know, Lord Cold-Blooded?"
"Hahaha."
As Orochimaru's unrestrained laughter rang out, the tense, murderous atmosphere vanished completely.
"I admire your courage, Naoki-kun. Knowing Tsunade, she must have warned you not to get too close to me."
"You really do know Sister Tsunade well, Lord Cold-Blooded."
"That's all in the past. Didn't you want to know Rōran's secret, Naoki-kun? Follow me."
Orochimaru took out a scroll, unfurled it completely, and extracted a wisp of deep blue energy from a crack. The mark bearing the character for "seal" gradually turned into an arrow.
"It seems we're in luck."
Orochimaru smiled in satisfaction. The two followed the direction indicated by the scroll along a winding route for over ten minutes, finally coming upon an enormous sealing array.
"Just as I thought!"
Orochimaru approached the sealing array excitedly and could not resist reaching out to touch its intricate sealing inscriptions, only to be forcibly repelled by the seal's power.
Naoki Senju also approached to examine it. Unfortunately, Tsunade had done little research into sealing jutsu, which left him unable to understand the enormous sealing array on the ground either.
Fortunately, Orochimaru was practically the Doraemon of the Shinobi World. Whatever the problem, going to Orochimaru was always a safe bet.
"What's this?"
After examining it for a while, Orochimaru answered with complete certainty:
"A compound sealing jutsu combining the Uzumaki Clan's sealing jutsu with Konoha's Eight Trigrams Sealing Style and Five Elements Seal."
"Can you undo it?"
"For now... no."
Naoki Senju inwardly lamented the missed opportunity. If even Orochimaru could not undo it, there really were very few people in the Shinobi World who could, unless they forcibly broke the seal like Mukade. But the price would be far too devastating. He might very well fail to obtain the Ryūmyaku's energy and lose his own life in the process.
"Can you tell me what's sealed down there now, Lord Cold-Blooded?"
Only after confirming that he could not undo the seal did the excitement in Orochimaru's eyes gradually fade. Staring greedily at the sealing array, he said:
"What's sealed here is the Ryūmyaku, a power that exists only in legends. The Ryūmyaku represents chakra even more powerful than that of the tailed beasts, but at the same time, this power is even more uncontrollable than the tailed beasts."
So that's it... It seems Orochimaru and the others don't know that the Ryūmyaku can even allow travel through time, Naoki Senju thought, while outwardly appearing engrossed in Orochimaru's information.
"And the person who sealed this power was Konoha's Fourth Hokage, though it was before he became Hokage. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to read the mission file."
Orochimaru looked reflective. He had never expected a mission file he had once casually leafed through to play such an important role. It had been during the Third Shinobi World War, and as one of the highest-ranking leaders, he had naturally been free to browse Konoha's records. He could even borrow portions of the Scroll of Seals...
"Since we can't undo the seal, let's leave for now," Orochimaru suggested very "reasonably."
As Naoki Senju turned around, Orochimaru bit his fingertip and summoned a small, pure white snake. After appearing, the little white snake hid somewhere out of sight.
But all of this remained within Naoki Senju's perception. By his reckoning, this was probably a means Orochimaru had left behind to locate the place. As a proper "ally," Naoki naturally could not let Orochimaru do all the work without complaint. He likewise made no ceremony of growing trees underground as markers, so he could return later to undo the seal and claim the Ryūmyaku for himself.
The old fox and the young fox exchanged smiles, leaving everything unspoken. With the seal impossible to undo at present, fighting was meaningless. Only after the seal was undone would it be time to see who came out on top.
"Orochimaru, let's go. Sister Tsunade must be getting impatient."
Naoki Senju's sudden change in address caught Orochimaru off guard. A moment ago, every other word had been "Lord Cold-Blooded," and now it was just Orochimaru?
Still, Orochimaru had never cared much about such superficial things. After all, he was a man who could even abandon his own body and willingly become "Aunt Snake"!
Naoki Senju and Orochimaru retraced their steps and soon found Tsunade and the others wandering around. They knew nothing about Rōran and had no ability to trace the Ryūmyaku's chakra back to its source, so all they could do was wander.
"Sister Tsunade!"
"Naoki, are you all right?"
Tsunade looked at Naoki Senju with concern. Naoki gave her a reassuring look, and the two drew close together before Tsunade asked quietly:
"Just what is the power here? Did Orochimaru really find it?"
Naoki Senju instead looked up at Kabuto Yakushi, who appeared perfectly casual but was actually inching closer all the while.
"It's not convenient to talk here. I'll tell you when we get back," Naoki Senju whispered in Tsunade's ear.
There was no problem telling Tsunade, Shizune, or even Guren about the Ryūmyaku's power, but Kabuto Yakushi was the one person he could not tell. That white-haired fellow was far too good at stirring up trouble.
With the Impure World Reincarnation Jutsu alone, he had expanded the scale of the Fourth Shinobi World War several times over, turning it into an outright family reunion. He had even brought out Madara Uchiha and nearly wrecked the entire Shinobi World.
If he obtained some of the Ryūmyaku's power, heaven knew how much trouble he could cause. Nuclear peace in the Shinobi World?
No, I'll have to speak to Orochimaru alone in a bit, too. Nothing about the Ryūmyaku's power can be allowed to leak.