Before launching his attack on Nagato, Orochimaru spent several days preparing.
Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, was one of the most powerful shinobi in the world. Orochimaru's purpose this time, besides completing the task given by Byakuya, was also to try and obtain the eyes once said to belong to the Sage of Six Paths.
After splitting his soul into several fragments and sealing them into different "Curse Marks of Heaven," Orochimaru left Otogakure and set off toward the Land of Hot Water.
According to the intelligence provided by Byakuya, Nagato was currently in a rural area of the Land of Hot Water, helping construct reservoirs and irrigation canals. Despite being such a rare powerhouse in the shinobi world, Nagato disliked bustling cities and preferred working in the countryside to help ordinary civilians.
After several days of tracking, Orochimaru finally located Nagato.
Watching from afar as Nagato mingled with earth-style ninjas, working on construction, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking about how best to approach him.
During his time in Akatsuki, he encountered Nagato several times.
As for Nagato's personality, Orochimaru couldn't say he disliked it, but he didn't particularly like it either. Nagato had no arrogance and carried none of the so-called pride of the strong. During their interactions, they had even spoken of the past.
They had met once when Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko were still war orphans.
At the time, Tsunade and Jiraiya were also present. After seeing the children's pitiful state, Orochimaru suggested killing them on the spot.
Doing so would prevent any leaks of information and end their suffering quickly.
After all, for children like Nagato, born in an age of war, the best outcome was to become a regular Ame-nin. But on the battlefield of a great ninja war, even jōnin couldn't guarantee survival. Rather than die tragically after experiencing fleeting hope, it might have been better for them to never know what hope felt like in the first place.
But Jiraiya had stopped him and chose to stay in Amegakure to teach Yahiko and the others for three years.
After receiving Jiraiya's careful guidance, Yahiko and the others formed Akatsuki, and through recruiting talented individuals, expanded the organization until it surpassed the scale of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
Sometimes, Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder if he had stayed behind to teach the three of them, or if he had ignored Jiraiya and killed them outright, he would have already obtained the Rinnegan and unlocked the secrets of ninjutsu.
Stepping out of the shadows, Orochimaru slowly walked toward Nagato. To ensure the success of his ambush, he didn't bring the reanimated First and Second Hokage, nor did he carry any weapons.
Nagato noticed Orochimaru's arrival and immediately stopped working, smiling as he asked, "Orochimaru-senpai, what brings you out here today? Is Byakuya planning to build another lab?"
Though puzzled by Orochimaru's appearance, Nagato didn't think too much of it.
Orochimaru was Jiraiya-sensei's friend. Though he had defected from Konohagakure, it was only due to differing ideals with the Third Hokage.
During his time in Akatsuki, Orochimaru strictly followed the rules and never did anything outrageous.
Orochimaru shook his head, half-jokingly, "It's not about building a lab, but it does relate to Byakuya. The Akatsuki leader gave us a mission that requires the two of us to complete it together."
"A mission from Byakuya?" Nagato frowned, then asked, "Orochimaru-senpai, from your tone, it sounds serious. What's the task?"
Orochimaru didn't beat around the bush, "Byakuya-sama wants me to kill you and take your Rinnegan."
"The Rinnegan?!"
Nagato's expression instantly changed. He looked at Orochimaru with deep seriousness. "Orochimaru-senpai, are you saying Byakuya wants to take my Rinnegan? That's not something you joke about!"
Orochimaru looked a bit helpless; this was the order he had received from Byakuya.
He spread his hands and said, "Nagato, I have no reason to lie. That was the order. If you hand over the Rinnegan voluntarily, maybe Byakuya-sama will spare you."
Nagato stepped back and stared at Orochimaru. "That's not funny. If you keep joking like this, I'll treat you as an enemy."
"Alright, alright, it was a joke…"
Orochimaru gave a wry smile and said, "What Byakuya-sama really wanted me to tell you is this: that masked man has been moving again into the shinobi world. He may target you directly this time. Only by obtaining the Rinnegan can he defeat Byakuya-sama."
Nagato's expression softened, and he patted his chest. "Orochimaru-senpai, that scared me. I really thought we'd become enemies."
"I was scared too. I don't want to fight the Rinnegan. But this is just the sort of stunt Byakuya would pull."
As Orochimaru casually mocked Byakuya, he inched closer to Nagato.
Nagato nodded, agreeing. The idea that Byakuya would use a surprise attack to improve his readiness made sense. He might even be watching nearby.
Just as Nagato relaxed his guard, Orochimaru suddenly vanished from his spot, appearing right in front of Nagato, aiming a vicious strike at his Rinnegan with his right hand.
Nagato sensed the ambush and quickly pulled back, but because he had dropped his guard, a cut appeared across his face. He now stared at Orochimaru with unrelenting focus.
"Orochimaru-senpai… so you really do want to take my Rinnegan?!"
Orochimaru didn't waste time talking. He pulled the Kusanagi Sword from his mouth and continued his assault.
He needed to exploit Nagato's lack of combat experience to defeat him quickly. If Nagato's Six Paths puppets arrived, he'd lose all chance of victory.
In the face of Orochimaru's fierce offensive, Nagato drew a kunai, but against the Kusanagi Sword, it shattered into fragments almost instantly.
Just as Orochimaru's sword is about to strike his body, Nagato grits his teeth and shouts, "Shinra Tensei!"
With a low roar, a powerful repulsive force burst outward from Nagato, sending everything around him flying, Orochimaru included.
This was Orochimaru's first time witnessing Shinra Tensei, and he licked his lips with excitement.
He had never seen a technique like this before. Since Nagato had no other Bloodline Limit, this had to be an innate ability of the Rinnegan.
A technique that touched upon the very rules of the shinobi world, that was exactly the kind of power Orochimaru dreamed of studying.
After knocking Orochimaru back, Nagato didn't immediately counterattack. Instead, he looked toward the nearby construction site. Orochimaru's strength was at the pinnacle of the shinobi world.
A fight between them would inevitably affect the surrounding innocents.
That's why Nagato deliberately restrained the force of his technique; otherwise, the Shinra Tensei would have had a far greater range than just ten meters.
Controlling the Six Paths of Pain remotely, he had already begun evacuating civilians. Once that was done, he turned his full attention back to Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's use of Byakuya as a ruse had ignited his anger. He would capture Orochimaru alive and find out who was behind all this.
Licking his lips, Orochimaru formed hand seals and summoned Manda.
In Orochimaru's view, although Nagato's Shinra Tensei was powerful, it must have its limits. Manda's massive body should be able to withstand it, giving Orochimaru a chance to get close.
As the white smoke in the air dispersed, Manda lowered his head and looked down at Orochimaru with dissatisfaction.
"Orochimaru, what do you want this time? Don't tell me you're fighting those geezers from Mount Myōboku again. Gamabunta and the others are too strong. If you're dragging me into this, the price goes up."
Manda emphasized the word "price."
Orochimaru said to Manda, "Relax, this time the enemy isn't one of the Mount Myōboku toads. Just a single Akatsuki shinobi in front of us. All we need to do is defeat him."
"An Akatsuki shinobi?"
Manda frowned, then seemed to recall something. "Aren't you in Akatsuki yourself? Are you betraying them again? Have you forgotten the lesson from attacking Byakuya last time?"
Orochimaru's expression shifted briefly, but he quickly returned to his usual calm. "This time, the target isn't Byakuya. Just attack. We'll definitely win."
"Naturally…"
Manda had already sensed Nagato's chakra and knew he wasn't that terrifying figure who had once made even Orochimaru feel fear. How many monsters could really be in the ninja world, anyway? No way they kept running into them like this.
But the very next second, Manda felt the pressure of a blade wielded by one of the top shinobi in the ninja world.
"Shinra Tensei!"
As the words rang out, Manda felt the air ahead compress rapidly. Even with his massive body and the solid ground beneath him, both were violently flung away.
Watching Manda be blasted hundreds of meters away, Nagato wiped the sweat from his forehead.
That was his first time unleashing Shinra Tensei without holding back, and the effect was even stronger than he'd expected. But the cost was steep. The effort he'd put into his recent two weeks of construction work had basically been wiped out.
Crashing down from the sky, Manda glared at Nagato in the distance, then looked up at Orochimaru standing on his head and growled, "Orochimaru, this is your idea of a regular shinobi?"
Orochimaru gave a slight nod. He also looked toward Nagato, and within his sensory range, six figures were rapidly approaching Nagato's location, his Six Paths of Pain, no doubt.
He hadn't managed to defeat Nagato earlier, and now the chance was gone for good.
It seemed he'd missed his opportunity to obtain the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan after all. How irritating.
Still, it hadn't been a complete loss. He'd managed to injure Nagato and even acquired some of his flesh and blood. That alone was a major gain.
Nagato, as a wielder of the Rinnegan, surely had some unique qualities in his cells.
But now Orochimaru had to go back to life on the run. The question was whether to keep wandering the ninja world waiting for new orders or return to Konohagakure and await instructions there.
After a moment of thought, he chose the latter.
Right now, Konoha had listed him as a wanted criminal, and no one in the ninja world would expect him to hide in the village itself. Even if he were captured there, Jiraiya and Tsunade wouldn't do anything too harsh to him.
Most importantly, as the heart of the ninja world, Konoha was bound to be the stage for whatever came next.
---
Land of Lightning, the Kumogakure Canyon.
Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu stood atop the highest peak, observing the battle between Obito and Killer Bee below on the mountainside.
Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails jinchūriki from Kumogakure, was the strongest among all current jinchūriki.
After locating Bee with his Sharingan, Madara hadn't gone to confront him personally. Instead, he left the task of capturing him to Obito.
That was how this battle on the mountainside began.
From their abilities, the two were evenly matched. Obito had the Mangekyō Sharingan and the deadly surprise of Kamui, while Killer Bee was a perfect jinchūriki in harmony with his tailed beast, wielding powerful ninjutsu and kenjutsu.
At the start, Obito tried to end the fight instantly with Kamui.
But word of the masked man's space-time ability had long since spread throughout the ninja world. The moment Bee sensed something was off, he put distance between them, ensuring Obito couldn't use his intangibility effectively.
Obito looked furious. Once his ability had been deciphered, he had lost much of his deterrent power.
He blamed it all on Byakuya. If it weren't for Byakuya forcing him to fight openly, the entire world wouldn't know his power. Now, his effectiveness in real combat had taken a serious hit.
With Kamui no longer a guaranteed kill, Obito switched tactics and used Wood Style in battle.
He summoned a forest to restrict Killer Bee's movement, but the moment he unleashed Deep Forest Emergence, Bee obliterated it with a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Obito was shaken. He even glanced up toward where Madara and Black Zetsu were standing.
Madara paid him no mind and let him continue the tug-of-war with Bee. After a drawn-out, exhausting battle, Obito finally managed to capture Killer Bee.
Dragging the unconscious Bee, Obito approached Madara in an unfriendly tone, "Old man, I've got the Eight-Tails. Isn't it time we moved on to the next part of the plan?"
Madara glanced at "Killer Bee," then said, "Yes, we're ready to move on. But you didn't actually capture the Eight-Tails. This is only a part of it."
Before Obito could respond, Madara dispelled the transformation, revealing just one of the Eight-Tails' tentacles.
The moment he saw the tentacle, Obito's expression turned sour. "If you knew Bee escaped, why didn't you tell me or go after him yourself?"
"That was your mission. I had no obligation to help."
Madara looked Obito in the eye and said, "Besides, letting him escape might serve our next plan better."