Chapter 601: 0-Layer Cake
Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, casting a cold gaze toward Orochimaru.
Sakura Uchiha, however, remained impassive.
The questioned young girl not only did not get angry, but instead wore a bright smile on her face, looking at Orochimaru with an indifferent gaze.
"Oh?" The female ninja's smile was playful and profound. "What makes you say that?"
Orochimaru also began to laugh. His cold smile, paired with those long, narrow snake eyes, made him appear even more gloomy and wicked.
"Your gaze, temperament, movements, and even the scent of your chakra are far too different from the real Haruno Sakura..." The man licked his pale lips and said flatly, "Also, do not underestimate my intelligence-gathering capabilities!"
Sasuke's expression tightened.
His hands, which naturally hung by his sides, subconsciously wanted to move to rapidly form hand seals, but in the next instant, a slender, jade-like finger pressed against the back of his hand, stopping his preemptive strike!
He froze slightly and turned to look, only to see Sakura Uchiha imperceptibly shaking her head.
Stay calm.
The warmth transmitting from the girl's fingertip seemed to be telling him this exact phrase.
The Sharingan youth finally realized that, facing Orochimaru, his reaction had been a bit too hasty.
Perhaps he was anxious to prove his new strength, perhaps it was because the other party had once been a shadow threatening to steal his body, or perhaps it was even simpler—Sasuke's personality was inherently a bit impulsive. Let alone comparing his composure to the original Haruno Sakura, even the newly born Sakura Uchiha was stronger than him in that regard.
Taking a deep breath, the expression on the youth's face slowly relaxed.
He looked at the young girl; the smile on her face had not diminished, as if she were completely unaffected by Orochimaru's words.
"This intelligence of yours," she said leisurely, "could it be... provided to you by certain individuals?"
Orochimaru's reaction was highly thought-provoking.
His expression remained steadfast and unmoving; he merely stayed silent for a moment.
He was probing Sakura Uchiha's identity, but Sakura Uchiha was also using his probe to test whether he had connected with certain factions.
The only person who clearly knew of the existence of two Haruno Sakuras was Pain from Akatsuki's side.
For Orochimaru to raise this question the moment he opened his mouth, in Sakura Uchiha's eyes, undoubtedly confirmed that he had recent intelligence exchanges with Akatsuki. So, what about deeper connections?
Could Orochimaru... have rejoined a certain organization?
That organization had fought with her original body several times over the past two years, suffering deaths and injuries, leaving them severely lacking in combat power. Right now, they should be eager to recruit new strength! So... they set their sights on recruiting Orochimaru?
Sakura Uchiha's mind raced as she quickly pondered this.
At the same time, Orochimaru was also rapidly thinking about the true identity of the young girl before him.
Although he spoke with absolute certainty, the subtle differences in temperament, gaze, and other outward expressions compared to the Haruno Sakura in his memory could not actually prove anything.
After all, the last time he dealt with Haruno Sakura was already a year ago.
With a year having passed, even he, Orochimaru, had changed a lot. There was no reason for Haruno Sakura to be exactly the same as she was a year ago.
Moreover, he did not believe that Konoha could cultivate a second young girl as outstanding as Haruno Sakura... No, even Haruno Sakura's growth did not have much to do with Konoha's cultivation. A genius like her would shine in any village!
Not to mention, she had sharply perceived the truth—
Indeed, not only had Kabuto been approached by certain individuals, but Orochimaru had also recently encountered the exact same group!
Of course, this flaw was also something Orochimaru deliberately exposed.
The young girl could use it to determine who Orochimaru had recently been in contact with, but with the exact same sentence, Sasuke only rushed to silence him, whereas Sakura Uchiha sharply detected what lay beneath. Was this not exactly what Orochimaru wanted to probe?
This astonishing sharpness seemed, once again, to be exclusive to Haruno Sakura.
That sharp-minded, stunningly brilliant, and spiritually graceful young girl, in Orochimaru's view, was like a lotus flower born in the filthy quagmire of the ninja world—pure, noble, tall, elegant, and rare in this world.
But a deeper layer of meaning was that Orochimaru deliberately wanted to pass the message to Konoha's side!
Sasuke was still on the ground floor, Sakura Uchiha had thought up to the second floor, but Orochimaru was already on the fifth floor.
A true master of multi-layered schemes.
As for Orochimaru's goal...
Naturally, it was because he did not want to join Akatsuki again!
Although very confident in himself, Orochimaru was well aware that his successful defection from that organization back then was only because Akatsuki couldn't be bothered to get truly serious with him—the effort required to catch this slippery white snake was disproportionate to the gain, so they simply let him go. But now it was different. From the words of that pitch-black plant-man, Orochimaru could hear that Akatsuki was genuinely getting anxious recently! Knowing he could not fight against this monstrously powerful organization alone, he might as well drag another behemoth into the game!
At the very least... Konoha would absolutely not pass up an opportunity to thwart Akatsuki's plans.
By muddying the waters, Orochimaru could fish in troubled waters!
Pondering to this point, Orochimaru smiled faintly: "Hehe. What if it is?"
"What if... it isn't?"
"Then it is. I imagine..." the female ninja spoke quietly, "you wouldn't be unwise enough to have agreed to anything, right?"
The man continued to smile faintly, but his eyes gradually lost their warmth: "Don't you think you two are meddling a bit too much?"
Sakura's expression slowly darkened: "You had better answer that it isn't... Or do you want to experience the answer to the question of whether I am Haruno Sakura right now?"
A murderous aura flowed out from between the female ninja's lips and teeth.
The tit-for-tat conversation made the atmosphere instantly tense and explosive.
Orochimaru stared quietly at Sakura Uchiha. After a long while, he suddenly burst out laughing, breaking the murderous atmosphere. He licked his lips and unexpectedly confessed without concealment: "Indeed, some people suddenly came looking for me recently and said some baffling things... Why? Does Princess Tsunade have some guidance to offer?"
Sakura Uchiha's gaze hardened, and she turned to quickly exchange a look with Sasuke.
"Did you agree to their terms?" she asked swiftly.
Orochimaru looked at her deeply with his muddy yellow snake eyes, the corners of his mouth splitting even wider: "That would depend on which side offers the better chips, wouldn't it?"
Sakura Uchiha froze slightly, then immediately understood, a flash of anger crossing her face.
"Don't think too highly of yourself... Orochimaru." She glared dangerously at Orochimaru, her dense killing intent spilling out undisguised. "Konoha is different from Akatsuki. We have no interest in offering amnesty to or forgiving a traitor. Akatsuki might need your strength, but we do not! If you think that just relying on those underhanded Edo Tensei tricks can serve as a bargaining chip to wait for the highest bidder, then it means you have chosen a path that leads to your death!"
"Lastly, let me give you a piece of advice: use whatever tricks you have as soon as possible. You escaped a calamity last year, but this time, you won't have any chance!"
The chakra around the young girl's body began to condense into a substantive light that was almost visible to the naked eye.
Her imposing aura gradually built up, like a perilous peak towering straight into the clouds, and like a blazing thunderbolt cleaving open the firmament, striking awe into those around her.
Orochimaru finally withdrew the smile from his face, his expression turning solemn.
Bearing the brunt of the female ninja's vast, heaven-like aura, he said in a deep voice, "Truly exaggerated... To think that your strength, having already reached this level, can still be enhanced by such a massive margin. No wonder you have such confidence!"
"However, over this past year, I haven't been standing still either..."
Boom—!
Yet right as Orochimaru was speaking, a massive, semi-transparent hand suddenly crashed over!
This strike was without any warning, fierce and ruthless. It smashed rocks to pieces, cracked the soil layer, and caused the entire earth to shake violently several times, as if a small earthquake had occurred!
"Too much nonsense."
The youth's voice came from above Sakura's head.
Turning to look, she saw that at some unknown moment, Sasuke had astonishingly activated Susanoo!
He stood high up on the purple giant's forehead, looking down indifferently toward the direction Susanoo had bombarded.
Dust billowed, and thick smoke filled the air; for a moment, even the Sharingan could not see the scene beneath the dense fog clearly.
But whether it was Sasuke or Sakura Uchiha, both could clearly sense Orochimaru's undisguised chakra fluctuations beneath the thick fog.
It was still distinct, ice-cold, and filled with oppressive force.
It seemed that Sasuke's sneak attack had not caused him the slightest bit of harm!
"Hehe... Sasuke," Orochimaru's voice transmitted clearly from beneath the thick smoke. "The biggest surprise you've given me is that you've finally learned to launch a sneak attack like a true ninja!"
The smoke and dust slowly dispersed. Amidst the hazy shadows, a massive, gray figure gradually surfaced before the two of them.