"Orochimaru, our continued presence in the Land of Waves will affect you, won't it?"
Uzumaki Chigusa looked at Orochimaru with concern. Personally, she would rather rebuild the Village on the ruins of Whirlpool Hidden Village than join Konoha. Konoha was involved in too many things.
Most importantly, they would be outsiders in Konoha... Integrating into Konoha would take time, and for the people of Konoha to accept them would also take time.
Going to Konoha would ultimately mean being dependent on others, and it might not even be better than living in the Land of Waves.
This is the clan head of Whirlpool Hidden Village... the Uzumaki Clan... Hyuga Mio stood expressionlessly behind the sofa, like an exquisite doll, her Byakugan eyes looking at Uzumaki Chigusa with a hint of curiosity.
"No, the Four Great Shinobi Villages are mutually suspicious. They no longer have a chance to cooperate again, and even less a chance to act against you again."
Orochimaru said with certainty. The Mask Storage Temple of Whirlpool Hidden Village was now next to the central plaza of the company building, and the library was below it. All the most important books and scrolls related to Sealing Technique of the Uzumaki Clan were secretly sent to the library when the Village was attacked.
This was also why the various Various Ninja Villages did not find the Uzumaki Clan's Sealing Technique in Whirlpool Hidden Village, only finding some basic books and scrolls.
"Chigusa, not long ago, Hanzō, the leader of the Land of Rain, visited the company. You should have heard that the frictions between the Various Ninja Villages of various countries are escalating. He is concerned that once war breaks out between the countries, it will affect the Land of Rain, and thus came to the company for help."
Orochimaru used "Various Ninja Villages of various countries" here, rather than "Four Great Shinobi Villages," because once war is launched, the Various Ninja Villages represent the countries, whereas their previous actions represented the Various Ninja Villages.
"In other words, the Four Great Shinobi Villages only had that one chance to jointly attack Whirlpool Hidden Village. Now they can no longer trust each other."
Orochimaru hadn't expected such a thing to happen after she killed all the Ninja from the various Villages that attacked Whirlpool Hidden Village.
At the time, she didn't think much of it, just figuring since they came, they might as well all stay.
Who would have thought that an unintentional act would lead to such consequences? This was equivalent to her actions lighting the fuse of the Second Shinobi World War, and the actions of the Various Ninja Villages of various countries were like blowing on the fuse, accelerating its burning.
"Now you are under the protection of White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company. If they dare to send Ninja privately, that would be equivalent to destroying their cooperation with White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company. Once they lose White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company's medicines, that Shinobi Village will be at a disadvantage before the war even begins. Anyone with a brain wouldn't fail to understand what's more important."
Orochimaru slightly raised his head, a confident smile appearing on his face beneath the hood.
White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company had already demonstrated its strength to the Various Ninja Villages; the weapons equipped on the small trucks were enough to show that White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company was not to be trifled with.
Anyone wishing to act against White Snake Pharmaceutical Technology Company should be prepared to face the consequences.
Uzumaki Chigusa saw Orochimaru's confident demeanor, and the worry in her heart vanished without a trace.
Orochimaru took off her hood; it would be too impolite to speak to Uzumaki Chigusa while wearing it.
"Ah..."
Uzumaki Chigusa looked at the porcelain-white horns on both sides of Orochimaru's head, unable to suppress her curiosity, and reached out to touch them.
What did they feel like?
Everyone, including Kakuzu, was curious about the texture of those horns, which only appeared when she was in Sage Mode.
"Chigusa, that's enough!"
Orochimaru raised her hand to push away Uzumaki Chigusa's endlessly touching hand, and said seriously, "There's one thing I want to know your and Uzushiogakure's survivors' thoughts on."
"What is it?"
Uzumaki Chigusa saw Orochimaru's seriousness and put away her playful thoughts.
"In the future, do you plan to rebuild your home in the ruins of Uzushiogakure, or join Konoha? Or... stay in the Land of Waves?"
Orochimaru didn't care about the whereabouts of Uzushiogakure's survivors; she had already cultivated cells from many Uzumaki Clan members, so she wouldn't lack test subjects in the future.
Furthermore, with Zero-Tails Cells, she no longer needed the Uzumaki Clan to assist her research.
She cared even less about their whereabouts. The reason she asked was to prepare in advance and pave the way for their future.
As the saying goes, if you save someone, save them all the way; if you send a Buddha, send him to the West.
Since she had gotten involved in this mess, no matter what decision Uzushiogakure's survivors made, Orochimaru would help them to the end, and she had the ability to do so.
"I'm not sure, but I respect their wishes."
Uzumaki Chigusa wanted to know the villagers' thoughts. Perhaps some wanted to join Konoha, some wanted to rebuild their home in the ruins of Uzushiogakure, or perhaps... some wanted to stay in the Land of Waves.
In any case, with Uzushiogakure already destroyed, she would not make decisions for them.
"Are you sure you want to do that?"
Orochimaru's eyes showed a hint of surprise. Uzumaki Chigusa's actions were equivalent to actively giving up the idea of rebuilding Uzushiogakure; otherwise, she wouldn't have said such a thing.
If Uzumaki Chigusa had raised her arms and shouted about rebuilding Uzushiogakure, wouldn't the Uzushiogakure survivors have eagerly followed her to rebuild a new Uzushiogakure?
"People change, and I've thought a lot during this time."
Uzumaki Chigusa smiled and said, "Only by asking the survivors of the Village will we know what they think."
"Is that so... Let me know once you've made a decision."
Orochimaru was too lazy to interfere much with the Uzushiogakure survivors' affairs. She looked at Aokawa, Setsuryu, and Kakuzu and asked, "How are things in the Land of Rain?"
"Lady Orochimaru, regarding the Land of Rain, destroying Rain Mountain in the Land of Rain might require a large amount of Chakra explosives."
Setsuryu placed the document containing various data on Rain Mountain on the coffee table, pushed it in front of Orochimaru, and respectfully said, "Lady Orochimaru, please take a look."
"Mm."
Orochimaru picked up the document and looked at the data on Rain Mountain. As she had previously guessed, the Land of Rain had constant rain precisely because of this mountain.
Using Chakra explosives to blow up the mountain was a last resort. For her, who could already skillfully use Sage Art, there was another way to prevent Rain Mountain from blocking airflow and change the climate of the Land of Rain.
That was Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, bestowing life upon Rain Mountain, transforming it from a towering mountain into a mountain range composed of multiple connected peaks.
However, doing so would consume a large amount of Sage Chakra, and she couldn't do it alone; she would need outside assistance.
The only question was, was the Land of Rain worth seeking outside help for?
From the current perspective, the Land of Rain was already on the same boat as the Company, but who could say what would happen in the future?
Hanzo in his middle age was so spirited, but looking at old Hanzo, he was obsessed with power and was even used by Danzo Shimura, directly leading to the birth of Pain of the Six Paths, and the Akatsuki Organization's ideals of bringing peace to the Ninja World were distorted.
People tend to do foolish things when they get old, and this applies to everyone.
Not just Hanzo, but the Konoha Higher-Ups were the same. Look at how spirited her dear teacher Hiruzen was now. When the Sky Ninja attacked Konoha, he immediately rushed forward with Danzo Shimura and the two Advisors.
He even contributed to the famous scene, still talked about by the villagers, where he used the adamantine staff to push the Sky Ninja's Air Fortress out of Konoha.
The Ninja of the Sarutobi Clan regarded Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen as an idol.
Enma also became an idol for the monkeys of Monkey Mountain; they all wanted to possess a powerful, indestructible body like his.
Of course, people did not forget Lord Danzo, Konoha's Midnight Guardian, who assisted with Wind Release from the side. There were even rumors that his Wind Release was so long-lasting because he had been drinking shimura herbal tea.
This rumor led to a surge in sales of shimura herbal tea.
Danzo Shimura, as the person involved, was both angry and helpless. What could he do when rumors had spread that far?
He earned the money with tears in his eyes!
As a result, the largest purchasers of shimura herbal tea turned out to be members of the Shimura Clan.
Some even specifically sought out Danzo Shimura, asking him if drinking shimura herbal tea would help them learn Wind Release faster.
This left Danzo Shimura speechless; he didn't know how to answer.
The most unfortunate were the two Assistant Hokage, who had made significant contributions but were easily overlooked by the people.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura had performed so brilliantly, attracting everyone's attention, while they, as human batteries providing Chakra, were ignored. Not many people even saw the battle that took place outside the Village.
When Orochimaru learned about these things, she really couldn't hold back. The rumor-mongers were also talented, able to connect Ninjutsu with shimura herbal tea.
Looking back at the Konoha Higher-Ups in their twilight years in the original work, they made one foolish decision after another, except for the Nine-Tails Riot, after which they were nowhere to be found, as if they didn't exist.
In any case, the Land of Rain was currently united with the Company. If Hanzo were to make a foolish decision in the future, then the Land of Rain would simply get a new leader.
Orochimaru placed the document on the coffee table, having made her decision in her heart. The immediate task was to replenish Naino's vitality, which had been consumed by the Forbidden Technique.
"Aokawa, prepare a room. Chigusa, call Naino over."
"Orochimaru, you succeeded?"
Uzumaki Chigusa looked at Orochimaru in surprise. Not long after she had read the Uzumaki Clan's Forbidden Technique scrolls, she already had a way to replenish Naino's vitality?
"I developed the Reverse Cursed Seal Blood Imprint based on the Uzumaki Clan's Forbidden Technique, Cursed Seal Blood Imprint, and Sky Ninja leader Shinno's Forbidden Technique, Body Rebirth."
Orochimaru took out a prepared scroll, placed it on the coffee table, and smiled mysteriously, "You'll see the effects of the Reverse Cursed Seal Blood Imprint soon. Since it's the first time it's being used, Hyuga Mio, who has the Byakugan and extensive knowledge, also needs to be present."
As Orochimaru spoke, she pointed to Hyuga Mio behind the sofa.
Hyuga Mio's expression subtly changed when Orochimaru mentioned her. She nodded slightly to everyone, still maintaining that aloof attitude, practically with "Don't come near me, don't talk to me" written on her face.
Forbidden Technique... Kakuzu's ears twitched. His Jiongu, though a secret technique, was also a type of Forbidden Technique.
Reverse Cursed Seal Blood Imprint... Just the word "Reverse" alone was enough to make Uzumaki Chigusa's imagination run wild, and she became even more curious about how Orochimaru would replenish Naino's vitality.
After all, it was vitality consumed by performing a Forbidden Technique. The vitality of the Uzumaki Clan members was most directly reflected in their hair color; the brighter the hair color, the stronger the vitality.
"Orochimaru, it won't affect you, will it? If it does, Naino and I won't agree."
The vitality replenished for Naino couldn't appear out of thin air. Uzumaki Chigusa didn't want Orochimaru to do anything to harm herself for Naino's sake.
"Don't worry, it won't harm anyone."
Orochimaru said with certainty, adding in her mind: "It will only harm the flesh that has vitality."
"Hurry up and find Naino. I'm very busy, unlike you, this terrible adult, who has so much free time to drink."
Orochimaru impatiently urged Uzumaki Chigusa to go find Uzumaki Naino.
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