If Kōki still didn't realize at this point that Orochimaru had already begun probing his identity, then he had lived for over twenty years in vain (his past and present lives).
However, Kōki didn't acknowledge Orochimaru's words, instead feigning ignorance and asking, "Who is it? Why would Lord Orochimaru ask me?"
Faced with Kōki's feigned ignorance, Orochimaru was taken aback. He wasn't sure if Kōki truly didn't understand or was pretending. He carefully observed Kōki's blank expression, but perhaps Kōki was hiding it too well. After a while, he still couldn't detect anything unusual in Kōki's expression, so he continued to ask, " Kōki- kun, do you really not know who that person is?"
"I'm sorry, Lord Orochimaru, I really don't know," Kōki replied firmly once again. He certainly wouldn't admit it; who knew what would happen if he did?
Unfortunately, Kōki's supposedly confident answer was riddled with flaws in front of Orochimaru. Most people would be curious even if they didn't know the Orochimaru, but Kōki wasn't at all, which confirmed Orochimaru's suspicions about Kōki's identity.
However, seeing that Kōki still wouldn't admit it, Orochimaru didn't press him further. He simply continued, "Since Kōki- kun doesn't know, then forget it. I feel that Kōki- kun resembles someone I remember, so if there's a chance, I hope Kōki- kun can pass on a message for me, saying that I want to meet him after the war ends and talk about the power of his bloodline."
Upon hearing this, Kōki remained silent for a moment, neither nodding nor shaking his head.
Orochimaru didn't say anything more after that, and gestured for Kōki to leave.
Back in his room, Kōki pondered Orochimaru's words. He didn't quite understand what Orochimaru meant. Bloodline power? Was there something wrong with the bloodline power within him? A sense of unease flashed through Kōki's mind. Could there be some hidden danger in the human experiments they conducted back then?
Or perhaps Orochimaru wanted to know how he had successfully fused with the Hashirama Cells and awakened Wood Release. After all, when he was an experimental subject under Orochimaru, Orochimaru was already considered a failed experiment. Now that Orochimaru had discovered that his former failure had suddenly transformed into a perfect body, he would definitely be curious and want to understand why his body had undergone such a drastic change.
Should he cooperate with Orochimaru? Several thoughts flashed through Kōki's mind.
The advantage of cooperating with Orochimaru is that it allows for in-depth exploration of the secrets of bloodlines, and sometimes one can even learn from Orochimaru's research experience on the human body, which can be of great help on one's path to godhood.
There are also many downsides. As we all know, Orochimaru is very greedy for those with excellent bloodlines, and he is likely to use underhanded tactics against them during cooperation. Moreover, Orochimaru is going to defect from Konoha in the future. If Orochimaru exposes his cooperation with him when he defectes from Konoha, it will cause him a lot of trouble.
Another problem is that Orochimaru is quite close to Danzo, and he might reveal Orochimaru's physical information to Danzo, which could cause complications in Danzo's future dealings with Danzo.
Therefore, Kōki hesitated about whether to cooperate with Orochimaru. There were both advantages and disadvantages, but from a long-term perspective, the benefits of cooperating with Orochimaru outweighed the disadvantages.
So, is it really a collaboration with Orochimaru?
This question lingered in Kōki's mind for a long time until Rin Takakura came over and asked for his help in treating the injured, which made him temporarily put the thought aside.
Let's talk about everything after the war is over.
After helping Rin Takakura, Kōki met up with his former Anbu teammates Nara Yūsuke and the other two and chatted for a few minutes. Seeing that they were all safe and sound, he returned to his residence, washed up, and went to sleep.
The next day, Konoha and Sunagakure clashed again. This time, Konoha's attack was even more intense, with Orochimaru and Kōki appearing on the battlefield to directly confront Chiyo and Rasa of Sunagakure.
Faced with the attacks of Kōki and Orochimaru, Rasa and Chiyo tried their best to stop them, but unfortunately, their lack of strength could not be compensated for by their attitude.
In the battle against Orochimaru, Chiyo, whose strength was greatly diminished because the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets had not yet recovered, was initially able to fight Orochimaru to a standstill thanks to her rich experience and poison. However, as time went on, it became increasingly difficult for her to resist, and eventually, she was overwhelmed by the situation. During one of her dodges, Chiyo failed to notice that Orochimaru's attack was hidden beneath her feet. Caught off guard, she was ambushed by Orochimaru and suffered a severe injury.
Chiyo's injury triggered a chain reaction. Rasa was distracted by Chiyo's injury, and Yuki, who was on the offensive, seized the opportunity to strike him with a Kōki Wood Release, breaking several of his ribs. This resulted in a reduction in Rasa's fighting strength.
It was precisely because two Kage Level ninjas from Sunagakure were injured one after another that the morale of the Sunagakure forces plummeted, and they were forced to retreat in disarray by Konoha, ultimately having to flee back to their positions in a sorry state.
Orochimaru originally planned to drive Sunagakure back to the Land of Wind in one fell swoop, but information from the village interrupted his pursuit.
" Lord Orochimaru, what's wrong?" Kōki asked Orochimaru, who had stopped in his Orochimaru, standing beside him. Wasn't this the perfect time to completely resolve the Sunagakure problem? Why had he suddenly stopped?
The many ninjas below also looked at Orochimaru with puzzled expressions, wanting to know why Orochimaru had stopped.
" The Lord Hokage sent a message that the One-Tail Jinchuriki of Sunagakure is on his way to support Sunagakure. If we continue our pursuit, we will encounter him head-on. At that time, we will face the Sunagakure forces aided by the Tailed Beast." Orochimaru explained calmly to the puzzled looks on everyone's faces.
He then continued, "You all know how powerful the Tailed Beast are. If we encounter the Sunagakure forces, who are supported by the Tailed Beast, we are likely to suffer heavy losses."
Everyone present had some understanding of the Tailed Beast ' power, or at least heard of their Tailed Beast reputation. The appearance of such war machines on the battlefield would undoubtedly inflict enormous damage. Therefore, upon hearing that the Tailed Beast would appear on the battlefield, a look of understanding flashed in everyone's eyes, and they felt fortunate that they had stopped in time. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to end the confrontation with the Jinchūriki.
"Alright, let's go back. Let's let Sunagakure off the hook for now. As for the Sunagakure Jinchūriki, we'll have a way to deal with him when he shows up. Don't forget, our Wood Release is the bane of Tailed Beast."
Due to the new developments, the Konoha troops quickly withdrew from the battlefield and returned to their camp to prepare for their next move.