The Land of Rice Fields.
Inside a cold, desolate mountain cave—this was one of Orochimaru's hidden bases.
Snakes prefer cool, shaded places, and Orochimaru was no different.
Choosing such a remote location was primarily for one reason: remote = chaos = do whatever you want.
Orochimaru's experiments required a lot of 'materials,' and in such isolated places, throwing away one or two people wouldn't even be questioned, and certainly no one would dare to intervene.
Furthermore, Orochimaru's various experiments were heavily condemned by the 'righteous' forces of the Shinobi world, which is why he chose such remote locations to build his bases.
At this moment, Orochimaru was inside his base.
He was sunk deep into a soft sofa, his brow tightly furrowed, contemplating an ultimate question.
Among all his subordinates, who was the traitor?
Orochimaru had been sifting through this question ever since his period of enlightenment in the Hidden Leaf Village prison.
Why had such a thought suddenly arisen?
Everything stemmed from the failure of the Leaf Destruction Plan!
Since escaping, Orochimaru had spent these days wondering why the Leaf Destruction Plan had failed.
The sudden appearance and rise of Naruto Uzumaki was undoubtedly the primary cause!
Orochimaru had been utterly shocked at the time.
Where did this brat come from? How was he so strong?
He had even defeated the gift he had meticulously prepared for the Third Hokage?
Although he hadn't been present for the battle, the fight between Naruto Uzumaki and the First and Second Hokage was incredibly intense; Orochimaru could feel the terror of it even from a distance.
Before initiating the plan, Orochimaru had personally tested the strength of the First and Second Hokage.
He had believed that the power of the First and Second Hokage made the Leaf Destruction Plan foolproof, but who was this sudden brat, Naruto Uzumaki, a retainer of?
Orochimaru did not know.
So, this was the primary cause of failure—an unexpected factor.
If that was the main cause, the secondary cause of failure was the loss of control over the First and Second Hokage!
Yes.
During the battle, Orochimaru noticed the anomaly: the Impure World Reincarnation of the First and Second Hokage was not under his control!
This realization instantly sent a cold sweat down Orochimaru's back!
Everything had been tested beforehand, so why did they suddenly disobey his control?
Orochimaru thought about this problem for a long time!
Finally, he came to a conclusion: someone had tampered with the First and Second Hokage.
If they hadn't been tampered with, even if he couldn't defeat the Leaf Village or Naruto Uzumaki, Orochimaru knew that escaping with him would have been no problem at all.
The Second Hokage's Flying Thunder God Technique was the retreat plan he had left for himself, purely out of caution, even with a seemingly one-hundred-percent success rate.
Sure enough, the plan went awry!
This escape route should have been used, but when Orochimaru prepared to flee, he found that the Second Hokage was refusing to obey!
For the past few days, Orochimaru had been reviewing his research on the Impure World Reincarnation. The entire process was handled by him personally, with no apparent loopholes.
He racked his brain but could not figure out where the loophole had occurred.
Yet, the facts proved that there must have been one.
A traitor had emerged in the 'Snake Pit'!
This traitor was close by, making him restless!
Thus, after parting ways with Obito Uchiha, Orochimaru returned to his base and launched a 'Great Purge,' meticulously investigating everyone around him!
The result was that even after searching the entire base—Kimimaro, Jugo, and other test subjects—Orochimaru still hadn't found the traitor.
Even Kabuto, whom he had trusted most, was investigated, but only suspicion arose; no evidence was found!
"If it's not Kabuto, then who is it?"
Orochimaru was baffled; this question was becoming an unsolvable mystery.
Finally, Orochimaru turned his attention to the two 'test subjects.'
He recalled that these two test subjects were two high-level Jonin who had suddenly appeared in the vicinity. They were quite powerful Jonin, and it took him some time and effort to capture them.
From his conversations with them before they died, they had heard about the missing people in the area and came here out of a sense of justice.
They subsequently became the materials for his Impure World Reincarnation of the First and Second Hokage.
After much thought, Orochimaru fell silent again for three minutes.
Although the origins of the two were strange, there was still nothing definitively wrong with them.
At this point, Orochimaru was starting to doubt his own judgment!
He wanted to continue the search, but this purge had resulted in the deaths of many of his subordinates, forcing Orochimaru to temporarily halt the investigation.
While the traitor needed to be found, his 'dream' could not stop.
So, he was ultimately left alone to think in the dark chamber.
Creak—
The door opened, and the dark room instantly became much brighter. Looking again, it was the light reflecting off the bald head of the person who entered.
"Black Mamba?"
Orochimaru's slightly hoarse voice sounded. He frowned, looking at this 'partner' who was monitoring him.
"You can also call me 'Cell Boss.'"
Black Mamba replied in a booming voice. He glanced around to confirm Orochimaru was still there, then turned and immediately left!
Bang!
The door closed, and the room once again fell into darkness.
This was not the first time this had happened.
Since this 'Black Mamba' arrived, this had occurred many times. Black Mamba's goal was to briefly check, ensure Orochimaru was present, and thus fulfill his surveillance purpose.
This behavior was bizarre and mechanical.
Orochimaru was already accustomed to his strange actions, but that did not prevent him from harboring murderous intent towards him.
It was just that he couldn't afford to provoke the person behind him.
Thinking of the masked man, Orochimaru gave a dark smile, "Obito Uchiha."
Over the past few days, Orochimaru had managed to learn about 'Obito Uchiha's' recent "great achievements" through news and newspapers.
Fighting the Hidden Cloud Village one-on-one, eliminating the Fourth Raikage, A, kidnapping the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and so on.
These past formidable feats made Orochimaru realize that his current strength was likely insufficient to take down Obito Uchiha.
Not to mention that he was a member of the Uchiha clan, possessing that difficult-to-deal-with Mangekyō Sharingan.
Thinking of those eyes, Orochimaru's PTSD flared up again!
If only he could obtain a pair of eyes like that.
Orochimaru did have a target in mind—Sasuke Uchiha!
But.
Thinking of that blonde-haired guy in the Leaf Village, Orochimaru knew that no matter how much he craved it, as long as that person existed, he had no choice but to drop the idea.
"Naruto Uzumaki!"
The hoarse voice sounded low. If he could, Orochimaru would want Naruto Uzumaki's body even more.
Unfortunately.
He lowered his head and began examining himself.
Although this current body was good, just as Obito Uchiha said, it was completely immortal; even the most severe wounds could heal naturally.
However, while such a body was decent, compared to the potential of the Uchiha clan, it fell far short!
Orochimaru couldn't help but lick his lips.
Sasuke-kun, I want to possess you again!
Sussuru~~
A small snake crawled from the corner, reaching his feet and opening its mouth to spit out a newspaper.
Since being released from prison, Orochimaru had developed the good habit of reading the newspaper.
He casually picked up the newspaper, and just one look made his eyes instinctively widen.
The joy and boundless greed in his eyes could no longer be hidden.
His goal finally had a hope of being realized!
The headline read: [Itachi Uchiha — The Man Who Slayed a God!]
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