High in the sky, Sora maintained his Azure Dragon form, flying swiftly towards the direction of the Land of Whirlpools laboratory.
This time, Sora was careless and did not dodge, or rather, he became overconfident.
Having experienced the infiltration missions in the Land of Wind, Land of Water, and Land of Earth, and with his strength growing stronger over time, the initial caution in his heart gradually faded.
This led to the situation where, upon realizing he was nearly surrounded by Kumo-nin, Sora did not immediately choose to fly away. Instead, he wanted to first understand how the Kumo-nin were tracking him.
But unfortunately, Sora underestimated the Kumo-nin too much, especially Killer B.
Killer B's speed was extremely fast. Over short distances, it could be said to be not far off from Namikaze Minato's Flying Thunder God. This made it impossible for Sora to quickly take flight and escape during the subsequent battle.
Moreover, the other Jonin Kumo-nin were also a factor. Although Sora could kill them casually, if he tried to fly away without finding an opening, he would definitely be bombarded by various ninjutsu. Following closely would be Killer B's direct containment.
The meridians in his body throbbed with pain from forcibly opening the 'Gate of View'. The internal injuries left from fighting the Kumo-nin also ached faintly. But these physical discomforts were far less intense than the turmoil in Sora's heart at this moment.
'Orochimaru.'
This name flickered repeatedly in Sora's mind like a snake's tongue, bringing a cold chill and blazing anger.
He had still ultimately underestimated this serpent's lack of bottom line and his madness.
Originally, Sora thought that even if Orochimaru coveted his body and secrets, he would choose to keep it to himself, slowly making plans and looking for opportunities.
But Sora's face was metaphorically 'slapped' by Orochimaru in no time.
After all, sharing such important 'treasure' information with Kumogakure carried immense risks and variables for Orochimaru himself.
And the action was so fast, so decisive.
So soon after their transaction, he unhesitatingly sold Sora's blood sample and infiltration intelligence to Kumogakure, setting up this nearly certain death trap.
Kill with a borrowed knife. Drive the tiger to swallow the wolf.
Regardless of success or failure, Orochimaru sat securely fishing, remaining invincible.
This level of scheming. This ruthlessness.
'He must have obtained information about my mission to infiltrate the Land of Lightning from Sarutobi Hiruzen.'
Sora's thoughts raced, instantly understanding the key point.
Orochimaru, as the frontline commander and a disciple of the Third Hokage, had sufficient authority and reason to access Anbu files, even those of his 'Special Operations Group'.
With Orochimaru's methods, it wouldn't be difficult to indirectly probe or directly request the information from Sarutobi Hiruzen.
'That old man. Although he's suspicious of me, he probably wouldn't go so far as to use Kumogakure to kill me. It's more likely he was used by Orochimaru.'
Sora's feelings towards Sarutobi Hiruzen were complex. He wasn't loyal, but he knew the other party still needed his sharp blade for now and wouldn't use such a brutally direct method to eliminate him.
It was more likely that Sarutobi Hiruzen, under circumstances of information asymmetry, was tricked by Orochimaru into giving up the intelligence for various reasons.
But regardless of the circumstances under which Sarutobi Hiruzen handed Sora's mission information to Orochimaru, this move by Sarutobi Hiruzen could be said to have sold Sora out.
This also caused Sora's already scant sense of belonging to Konoha, after this incident, to drop to freezing point.
This place might be his temporary refuge, but it was definitely not a harbor where he could entrust his trust.
"And the Third Raikage."
Thinking of that violent figure like thunder, Sora also sighed inwardly.
But according to the original plot he remembered, at this point in time, the Third Raikage should be leading the main force of Kumogakure in a fierce battle against tens of thousands of Iwa nin on the border, eventually dying from exhaustion, achieving his famed reputation as the Strongest Spear and Shield.
Yet now, this Raikage who should have been busy dealing with Iwa nin personally appeared on the battlefield to hunt him down.
"Is it because of me?"
Sora frowned tightly, realizing that the wings flapped by him, this butterfly, might have already stirred up a significant storm.
The trajectory of history had already shifted.
And this shift.
"Wait. If the Third Raikage did not die on the battlefield against Iwagakure, then."
A more urgent thought, suppressed by the previous series of tense events, exploded in Sora's mind like a thunderclap.
Might Duy.
In the original Third Shinobi World War, shortly after the Third Raikage's death, on the battlefield between Konoha and Kirigakure, Might Duy, in order to save his son Might Guy and his companions who were surrounded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, resolutely opened the Gate of Death. At the cost of his life, he almost completely annihilated the famed Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"There have been too many things lately. I almost forgot about this."
A strong sense of self blame and anxiety surged in Sora's heart.
He quickly estimated the time.
According to the original, the event of Might Duy opening the Gate of Death was supposed to happen in the next few days.
"I must go faster."
Sora's eyes sharpened. Ignoring the protests from his body, he once again extracted the chakra and stamina that had recovered slightly, pushing his flying speed up another notch.
The mountains, rivers, and forests below rapidly retreated.
As he flew, he recalled the fragmentary information from the original about this battle.
The location should be in a border area where the Land of Fire meets the Land of Water, a forest near the coast.
The opponents were the long famous Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Kirigakure, a terrifying team of seven experts wielding legendary swords, each with strength at least at the Elite Jonin level.
The outcome. Might Duy opened the Eight Gates Released Formation. At the cost of burning his life, he kicked four to death and scared three away, establishing the legend of the Blue Beast, while he himself burned out his life and died.
"The Gate of Death. Once opened, death is certain."
Sora's heart sank.
Even if he rushed there now, facing a Might Duy who had already opened the Gate of Death, what could he do?
Reverse life and death? He currently had no such ability.
But to just watch Might Duy walk towards his predetermined ending?
No.
Absolutely not.
"There's still time. There must still be time. As long as I arrive before Duy senpai opens the Gate of Death, stop him, or let me take care of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen."
A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Sora's eyes.
Although his current condition was poor, with chakra and stamina greatly depleted and some internal injuries.
With his recovery ability and various methods, he could definitely put up a fight against the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
The most crucial point was to seize the moment before the tragedy happened.
"Duy senpai, hold on. Wait for me."
Sora took a deep breath, his gaze firmly fixed on the coastline of the Land of Lightning gradually appearing ahead, pushing his speed to his current limit.
...
East of the Land of Lightning, on a barren small island near the coastline.
Orochimaru stood alone at the edge of a cliff, his golden snake like eyes gazing distantly towards the direction of the Land of Lightning mainland.
He had been waiting here for several days.
Ever since learning through special channels that Sora had landed in the Land of Lightning and that Kumogakure had launched a hunt for him, he had quietly come here.
To ensure nothing went wrong, he had even, several days prior, used summoning jutsu to disperse a large number of tiny snakes along the nearby lengthy coastline.
These snakes were like extended senses for him. As long as Sora returned from the sea, it was absolutely impossible to avoid his surveillance.
However, several days passed.
His snake swarm did not transmit any information about Sora, as if that youth had never set foot on the return journey.
"Hehehe."
"It seems. I still overestimated you, Sora kun."
Orochimaru extended his long tongue, licking his lips. A hint of disappointment, difficult to perceive, flashed in his golden snake pupils, but more so was a kind of as expected cold indifference.
Ten Kumo nin Jonin, plus the perfect Jinchuriki Killer B, and even. Based on his subtle hints and Kumogakure's level of importance placed on this matter, that irritable Third Raikage might have been alerted.
Such a luxurious lineup, one that could be called a guaranteed kill formation.
A twelve year old youth, even with many secrets, was ultimately still too immature before absolute power and carefully laid traps.
"The game is over, Sora-kun."
"I hope your body can bring me. A final bit of fun."
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━