On the endless grasslands of the Land of Grass, Rinjin and Sakumo moved quickly.
Orochimaru lived up to his name - no different from a snake. To find this guy, they could only slowly search for hideouts.
Fortunately, Rinjin came with built-in Sage Mode radar, so checking underground caves was still feasible.
Heading north all the way...
Until they encountered a diplomatic team from the Sand Village of the Land of Wind.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, leading a group of elite ninja subordinates, blocked Rinjin and Sakumo's path. The moment he saw Rasa, Rinjin sensed something was off.
This guy's eyes not only lacked suppressed anger, but actually carried a kind of amusement.
Subconsciously, Rinjin's mind suddenly flashed to how Rasa died in the original story:
Killed by Orochimaru, after which Orochimaru launched the Konoha Crush Plan and killed Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Thinking of this, Rinjin immediately became interested in what was about to happen in Konoha.
On the other side, the Fourth Kazekage Rasa waved away his guards and walked alone to face Rinjin and Sakumo. His gaze subtly swept over the black robes with red clouds on both men, then he spoke with a sinister smile.
"Rinjin, I never expected you'd also join Akatsuki."
Right off the bat, classic passive-aggressive behavior.
"Of course! Konan even sent Sakumo and me to hunt you down~"
Rinjin greeted him familiarly.
Beside him, the masked Sakumo frowned slightly, instinctively looking at Orochimaru wearing Rasa's face.
No wonder this guy gave him a cold feeling - turns out it was Orochimaru in disguise!
Faced with Sakumo's knife-like gaze, Orochimaru didn't care at all, staring at Rinjin intently.
"A man like you joining the Akatsuki organization must have your own purpose. Let me guess... hmm... you want those eyes?"
Hearing this, Rinjin shook his head with an innocent expression, reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a glass bottle containing Rinnegan, casually tossing it up and down.
"I've got this thing too. Generally speaking, it's pretty useless. Do you have anything good? I can trade with you."
As soon as the words fell, Orochimaru's breathing became slightly rapid, his vertical pupils following the glass bottle's up-and-down movement.
The next second, a gentle smile slowly appeared at the corner of this guy's mouth.
"Rinjin, we've known each other for so many years - I think I understand you pretty well. You probably aren't interested in bloodline limits, but I do know quite a few secret techniques... Speak up, what do you want?"
Hearing this, Rinjin's eyes lit up. He grabbed the falling glass bottle and lowered his voice.
"Living Corpse Reincarnation... would that work?"
Hearing this, the smile on Orochimaru's face instantly froze, his vertical pupils narrowing suspiciously.
He suspected there was a spy of Rinjin's among his people - otherwise how would this guy know about the secret technique he developed?!
After a long silence, Orochimaru's gaze reluctantly moved away from the Rinnegan, hesitating:
"I... I need... to consider it for a while!"
"Sure, no problem!" Rinjin nodded cheerfully. "No rush, take your time thinking about it. When you've decided, come find me at Hidden Rain Village."
With that, he hooked Sakumo's neck and left without looking back.
Only after Rinjin and Sakumo's figures disappeared at the edge of the grassland did Orochimaru reluctantly withdraw his gaze.
If possible, he really wanted to snatch that eye.
But!
Rinjin wasn't Nagato. Orochimaru and Rinjin were of the same generation - he knew exactly how terrifying this guy was.
If Nagato was a lion on the grassland, then Rinjin was a meat-eating mammoth.
Orochimaru still couldn't forget the scene of this guy casually grinding the Third Mizukage into the ground back in the day.
They weren't even in the same weight class!
Most crucially, Orochimaru had studied Rinjin's cells and knew this guy simply couldn't be killed.
On the other side, at the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Fire, Sakumo leaned against a tree trunk, carefully wiping his short blade.
"Rinjin, why didn't we attack Orochimaru!"
"No need," Rinjin said carelessly while cracking sunflower seeds. "Orochimaru is disguised as the Fourth Kazekage. If we attacked him, wouldn't that expose our dear Akatsuki organization?"
"What's wrong with that? We could take down Akatsuki while we're at it, then conveniently kid... invite Konan back to focus on writing books..."
Glancing at Dog-bro who almost let something slip, Rinjin smacked his lips speechlessly.
Truly worthy of the great talent who hides under his blanket at night secretly reading "Forbidden Affairs of Middle Age" - little brother admires you~
Thinking of this, Rinjin, full of mischief, suddenly grinned.
"Dog-bro, do you know what that secret technique I asked Orochimaru for does?"
"Don't know, don't want to know." Sakumo's back instantly straightened, instinctively becoming alert.
Rinjin didn't care about that, nodding and speaking to himself.
"Since you're so curious, I'll tell you~ Actually, this Living Corpse Reincarnation! It can make your soul corporeal, then transfer it to another young body! Do you know what this means?"
"I don't want to know!" Sakumo stubbornly shook his head.
"Good, since you're so curious, I'll be merciful and tell you!"
Looking at Rinjin who wouldn't stop talking, Sakumo instantly put on a pained expression.
This damn thing - can he even understand human speech anymore?!
Protests were useless. Rinjin mysteriously opened the door to a new world for Dog-bro.
"Actually, this secret technique can give you a woman's delicate body~"
Hearing this, Sakumo's scalp instantly went numb!
You can say what you want, but why are you staring at me so eagerly?!
In the past, this kind of secret technique would have seemed like pure evil sorcery to Sakumo. But Hidden Rain Village had too many evil techniques - Earth Grudge Fear technique, cloning techniques, cell transplant techniques...
Having seen so much, his threshold had greatly increased.
However, turning into a woman was something Sakumo was hearing about for the first time.
Trembling, Sakumo suddenly stood up:
"Well... since Orochimaru won't make a move, I'll report the mission results! How about this! Let's split up! You keep tracking Orochimaru, I'll go to Takigakure to report."
With that, he fled like smoke.
Watching Dog-bro disappear on the horizon like he was running for his life, Rinjin shook his head speechlessly and muttered under his breath:
"What's there to be afraid of We're all brothers from the same dorm room - what could I possibly do to you?! At most... I'd just have you help me get a grilled meat rice from the cafeteria"
Muttering to himself, Rinjin slowly stood up, patted the dust off his butt, crossed the Fire Country border, and headed east.
Next, time to see Hiruzen Sarutobi off on his final journey~
This kind of thing - better not let Sakumo, who'd devoted half his life to Konoha, participate.
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