Chapter 283: Those Pulling the Strings
"Lord... Lord Kazekage?! How... how is this possible?!"
Moments earlier, the final wildly shrieking snake head had been cleanly severed at its base by a wind blade, crashing heavily to the ground. Facing the eight-headed serpent attempting to regenerate its lost heads, Menma showed no hesitation. His hands flew through seals as powerful sealing jutsu instantly enveloped that massive headless snake body, completely imprisoning it.
As expected, just a disposable pawn to buy time. Menma sensed the hollow interior of the giant snake's remains, confirming that Orochimaru's true body had long since slipped away like a cicada shedding its shell.
Then, following his mental command, one of the Nine Masked Beasts tasked with guarding the sealed cocoons containing Rasa, Kushina, and Mito—Suzaku—landed steadily beside Menma while clutching a figure tightly bound by sealing runes. It casually tossed the figure to the ground, revealing none other than the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa! Or rather, his sealed Impure World Reincarnation body.
Menma raised his hand, temporarily unsealing a portion of the jutsu. When Rasa's pale, rigid, lifeless face was exposed, the captured Maki and the other Sand ninja witnessing this scene felt their pupils contract violently, all color draining from their faces as though the sky itself had fallen.
Maki understood everything in an instant. Why the Kazekage's recent decisions had been so abnormal, why he'd remained so determined to cooperate with the Sound Village in launching this seemingly reckless war even under threat from Ember... It turned out the "Kazekage" they'd been serving and obeying all this time had already been assassinated and replaced by Orochimaru!
Their entire Hidden Sand Village had been toyed with like puppets, turned into pawns and cannon fodder for Orochimaru's ambitions!
Menma's gaze swept across the Sand ninja plunged into tremendous shock and despair. His voice, processed through a voice changer and devoid of all emotion, reached everyone's ears.
"Dragging the Sand into this war seems not to have been your true intention. The Sand's actions and gullibility should warrant a price of annihilation."
"However, considering you are also victims... I'll give you one chance. Take your Kazekage's remains and crawl back to your desert. If you dare harbor any further intentions of war... the Hidden Sand Village will be completely erased from the shinobi world's map."
"Thud..."
Maki's legs gave out, unable to support him any longer. He collapsed straight to his knees, his face ashen. Immense humiliation, terror, and the relief of narrowly escaping death intertwined, robbing him of even the courage to lift his head.
The other Sand ninja were utterly cowed, trembling all over, not daring to breathe too loudly.
Having completed this show of force and successfully intimidated the Sand remnants, Menma's attention immediately returned to his true objective—that snake must be rooted out as quickly as possible. In his assessment, Orochimaru's final deployment of the Eight Branches Technique was definitely not a simple death struggle. That bastard certainly had another card to play and wouldn't give up easily.
He had to completely resolve this before Orochimaru could cause even greater chaos... or at minimum imprison or seal him to eliminate future threats.
"Please... please wait!"
That aged yet urgent voice rang out again. Seeing the chakra around Menma stir as he prepared to leave, Hiruzen Sarutobi called out to him once more. Despite the mask, the Third could sense a trace of impatience radiating from the other party... but he had no choice. That question stuck in his throat like a fishbone—he had to ask it.
"Menma-dono! Could we perhaps... speak privately? This old man has a question... I beg you, it absolutely won't take too much of your time!"
A question? Menma felt a flicker of confusion. At a time like this, what question required asking him privately? Judging by this attitude, it seemed to be classified information that couldn't be heard by other Konoha ninja?
He rapidly considered this, unable to guess the Third's purpose. As for his true body... the battle had basically subsided. Even if Orochimaru tried to run, his true body would pursue him—he couldn't escape the Land of Fire's borders in such a short time anyway.
Menma finally gave a slight nod, tacitly agreeing.
The two figures flashed, returning once more to that devastated Chunin Exam venue rooftop covered in battle scars. Below, the ANBU gazed up nervously. Though filled with worry, under the Third Hokage's stern commanding glare, no one dared advance a single step. They could only watch helplessly as the Hokage and that unfathomable individual met alone once again.
Atop the rooftop, after a brief silence, the Third Hokage seemed to gather all his remaining strength. He took a deep breath, those weathered eyes staring fixedly at the holes in the mask. Finally, he voiced the question that had been circling endlessly, nearly exhausting his spirit completely.
"You... are you... Minato?"
"...???"
What is this guy talking about?
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"Wait wait wait wait!! Okay, okay, the fight's over! This is just our first meeting—no need to go this far with the whole life-or-death thing, right!"
An extremely erratic, comical voice echoed across the battlefield. The masked man calling himself "Tobi" was dodging attacks from all directions in an utterly disheveled, tumbling manner.
The ground around him had long since become a devastated landscape, covered in deep furrows and scorched craters. Several patches of ominous black flames still burned stubbornly, reducing everything they touched to ash.
"Seriously, I shouldn't have agreed to help Orochimaru-senpai! But senpai lost completely himself, you know!"
Tobi frantically dodged while complaining loudly in a grumbling tone. "How about we both take a step back and call it quits? Peace and prosperity for all!"
However, Uchiha Shisui standing opposite him showed absolutely no sign of relaxing due to the other's exaggerated performance and words. Those crimson Mangekyou Sharingan eyes calmly observed everything.
Able to control Tailed Beasts, and still completely at ease under that earlier offensive... Shisui felt certain this guy's performance, just like the mask on his face, was carefully designed camouflage.
During their previous exchanges, Tobi had indeed been startled to realize that Shisui seemed to have vaguely grasped certain patterns of his Kamui intangibility ability. Therefore, even though his power remained functional, he deliberately put on an act of being forced into desperate straits with danger at every turn.
Since the plan to destroy Konoha has failed again... Tobi thought to himself, but his main objective wasn't here anyway. Looks like it's time to withdraw.
"I really envy you for still having so much energy!" Tobi continued in that exaggerated tone. "But I'm already exhausted, and my stomach's growling with hunger... Do you like dango? Though I guess we haven't gotten close enough for that whole 'adversaries become friends' thing, huh? Haha!"
"Don't even think about escaping! Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
Shisui remained completely unmoved. His hands rapidly formed seals as chakra surged violently! Several fierce, blazing fire dragons instantly condensed, pouncing viciously toward Tobi!
"Waaah! Wait wait! I haven't decided what to name this jutsu yet!" Tobi let out a panicked shriek.
Just as the flame dragons were about to engulf him, his body sank into the ground without warning, as though melting into water, vanishing without a trace.
Scorching flames swept across the area, turning that patch into scorched earth once again. When the firelight faded, only an empty pit remained at the original spot—Tobi's trace had long disappeared.
"Phew... that was really dangerous~" Far outside Konoha Village, on the branch of a towering tree, space twisted slightly as Tobi's figure appeared from nowhere.
He patted his chest, muttering to himself in that signature erratic tone. "Why does a mere apprentice like me have to face monster-level opponents... Oh! I've got inspiration!"
He suddenly snapped his fingers. "That jutsu from just now—I'll call it Ninja Art: Whack-a-Mole Technique! Pretty fitting, right?"
Just then, beside him on the tree trunk, a strangely shaped humanoid creature resembling a giant Venus flytrap—half pitch-black, half pure white—emerged silently.
"Ember's leader has shown himself," Zetsu said. "Orochimaru summoned the previous two Nine-Tails jinchuriki and the Fourth Kazekage with Impure World Reincarnation, but within less than ten minutes, that 'Menma' defeated and sealed all of them."
"Wow! I can't believe it! Just kidding." Tobi immediately exclaimed in an exaggerated tone.
"Everything went exactly as I predicted."
But the next second, his voice changed abruptly, becoming low and cold, as though he'd instantly transformed into a different person.
He slowly turned his head, the single eye visible through the mask's hole looking toward Zetsu. "So, can we confirm it now? That organization leader's true identity... who exactly is he?"
"Yes," Zetsu answered affirmatively. "I saw it... though briefly, I clearly saw it—that guy's true face beneath the mask."
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