Ahhh!
In an instant, the forest echoed with a cacophony of screams.
The stone spears that shot up from the ground were not only lightning-fast but also carried no discernible chakra fluctuations, making them nearly impossible to defend against. In mere moments, many were pierced through like bloodied gourds!
Only a few managed to evade the onslaught.
Furious yet fearful of Kabuto Yakushi's power, they didn't dare retaliate easily, shouting in rage, "Kabuto Yakushi, have you lost your mind?!"
Guren, who had activated Crystal Release to shield herself completely, stared at Kabuto with a grave expression.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a light chuckle. "I finally understand why Lord Orochimaru never thought much of you useless lot!"
"You bastard!"
"How arrogant!"
"Do you really think we're afraid of you?"
The surviving few roared with false bravado, their eyes darting nervously as they scanned their surroundings for an escape.
Swish.
Suddenly, Kabuto's figure flickered, launching an attack.
Amid the piercing sound of slicing wind, he moved through the forest like a phantom. In just a few passes, the remaining survivors—each with considerable strength—were all cut down.
Guren witnessed it all, her guard now at its peak.
In her memory, Kabuto didn't possess this level of power, so she wasn't even sure if the person before her was truly Kabuto Yakushi.
Kabuto flicked the blood off his kunai and said to Guren, "The nuisances are dealt with. Now we can properly discuss the plan to rescue Lord Orochimaru."
Swish.
A ninja, whose throat had just been slit by Kabuto, suddenly sprang up from the ground and fled toward the forest's edge without looking back.
Guren was taken aback. "Feigning death?!"
Kabuto, however, only smirked, making no move to pursue.
Guren couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you worried he'll escape to Hidden Leaf and snitch?"
Before Kabuto could respond, Jugo appeared, dragging the fleeing ninja back by the head.
Crack.
After snapping the ninja's neck, Jugo said slowly, "He won't make it."
Guren's expression darkened.
"Alright, everyone's here!" Kabuto paused, then turned to Guren. "You've been to Hidden Leaf, right? Share the intel you gathered."
Looking at the corpses littering the ground and Kabuto's confident demeanor, Guren chose not to resist and recounted everything she had seen and heard in Hidden Leaf.
"Takamagahara?!"
Kabuto's brow furrowed slightly, the smile on his face finally fading.
Guren nodded. "Yes, they say Uchiha Shinji's Mangekyo dojutsu can simulate any environment and opponent, even manipulating the flow of time to provide near-real combat experience. Right now, the entire Hidden Leaf is buzzing about it. If you don't believe me, you can investigate yourselves."
"That's incredible!"
Jugo let out a sigh of amazement.
Kabuto's focus, however, was on Guren's mention of Hidden Leaf's heightened state of alert.
Due to Takamagahara, Hidden Leaf, wary of an Akatsuki ambush, remained on high alert. In such conditions, even Kabuto, now wielding Sage Mode, wasn't entirely confident he could rescue Orochimaru.
Indeed.
Having ventured into the Ryuchi Cave, Kabuto had mastered its lineage of Sage Mode, becoming one of the few shinobi in the world capable of harnessing natural energy.
Unlike the original timeline, where Kabuto, devastated by Orochimaru's death, lost his sense of purpose and descended into madness, injecting himself with the cells of Orochimaru, Kimimaro, the Sound Four, and others, becoming a grotesque hybrid, the current Kabuto was different. Orochimaru was merely imprisoned, so Kabuto hadn't fallen into an identity crisis or recklessly infused himself with others' cells. As a result, his appearance remained largely unchanged.
This had its pros and cons.
The advantage was that his body wasn't polluted by foreign cells, making it more natural and harmonious. This allowed him to absorb natural energy faster and wield more powerful Sage Mode techniques than in the original timeline.
The downside was that, without absorbing the cells of Orochimaru, Kimimaro, or the Sound Four, he couldn't use their Bloodline Limits or secret techniques as he had in the original timeline.
Due to these trade-offs, it was unclear whether the current Kabuto was stronger or weaker than his original-timeline counterpart.
Perhaps only a test in Takamagahara could reveal the answer.
However, even Shinji would likely struggle to perfectly simulate the original timeline's Sage Mode Kabuto.
After weighing his options, Kabuto said, "Looks like we'll have to wait for the right moment."
Seeing Kabuto refrain from reckless action, Guren let out a sigh of relief. "Yes, as soon as Hidden Leaf and the Akatsuki go to war, our chance will come!"
Jugo suddenly asked, "Did you hear anything about Kimimaro?"
"Kimimaro?!" Guren was surprised but quickly realized, "Kimimaro is Lord Orochimaru's spy planted in Hidden Leaf?"
Unlike the original timeline, where Kimimaro was placed in Hidden Leaf much earlier by Orochimaru, only Jugo, who had interacted with Kimimaro, knew his true identity among Orochimaru's subordinates.
"Yes."
Since Kimimaro's identity was no longer critical compared to rescuing Orochimaru, Kabuto nodded, confirming Guren's guess.
Guren was shocked by Orochimaru's cunning.
She hadn't expected a genius nurtured by Hidden Leaf's ninja academy to be Orochimaru's planted spy.
But she quickly shook her head. "Even with Kimimaro's help, our chances are slim. I heard that because of his ties to Lord Orochimaru, one of Hidden Leaf's advisor elders was even removed from their post."
Kabuto's expression grew cold.
He had heard about Danzo's imprisonment and his own wanted status in Hidden Leaf, which was why he hadn't rashly infiltrated the village to gather intel.
Guren continued, "We don't even know where Lord Orochimaru is being held. Acting recklessly would be no different from suicide!"
"I know the location, but now isn't the right time to act."
Kabuto's eyes glinted as he formulated a rescue plan.
With Kimimaro in Hidden Leaf, the four of them together formed a formidable force. If they chose the right moment, rescuing Orochimaru from Hidden Leaf didn't seem impossible in his view.