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"Danzo's gaze remained steady, unfazed, he said 'Poison' as was merely another tool in his vast arsenal."
"Poison? Where did you get poison from?" Orochimaru sneered.
"The poison your subordinates came up with? Tsunade wouldn't even need to lift a finger—Shizune alone could neutralize it."
Tsunade might have suffered from hemophobia and avoided treating people for a long time, but her medical skills hadn't declined.
Even without using Medical Ninjutsu like the Mystical Palm Technique, she could still treat injuries and illnesses using only medicinal herbs.
The so-called poison made by Danzo's useless subordinates? It wasn't even as potent as the venom of Orochimaru's snakes. With such low-level skills, they dared to call it poison?
Honestly, the weakest venom from his snakes—diluted antiseptic, even—was more effective than their so-called deadly poison.
Danzo ignored Orochimaru's disdain and instead spoke in a low voice: "What if the poison was made by Chiyo?"
"Who? Chiyo? She made poison for you?" Orochimaru paused, looking at him with an odd expression.
"Don't tell me the rumors are true… You and Chiyo have something going on?"
Danzo's mouth twitched, his face darkened, and for a moment, he almost lost control of his expression. Angrily, he glared at Orochimaru.
"I'll contact you when it's time to act. Also, I'll find a way to get the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki involved. That's all. Now, get lost!"
"The Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?" Orochimaru flicked his tongue, a strange smile on his face.
Seeing that Orochimaru wasn't leaving, Danzo's face turned even darker. He snorted coldly: "Hiruzen is too naive. The Nine-Tails is an evil beast—it should be under my control!"
"When the time comes, I'll turn the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki into a weapon, completely under Konoha's command!"
Under Konoha's command? Or under your command?
Seals, barriers, poison that even Tsunade might find tricky to deal with…
Are you planning to deal with Ronn Stark, or are you trying to take out Tsunade as well?
Orochimaru smirked coldly in his heart. Looks like Danzo was feeling threatened by Ronn Stark's Wood Release.
His expression remained unreadable.
Orochimaru knew exactly what kind of man Danzo was.
He spoke all the right words, but everything he did in the shadows was another story.
Even though they were technically partners, Orochimaru had never really respected him.
If Danzo hadn't made things more convenient for his experiments, Orochimaru would have kicked him aside long ago.
Danzo noticed Orochimaru's strange expression and shouted angrily: "What's with that look? Everything I do is for Konoha!"
"Yeah, yeah, sure." Orochimaru couldn't be bothered to argue. He turned and left.
Anyway, that old man wouldn't dare to harm Tsunade directly. At most, he'd capture and imprison her.
That just meant more experimental material for him. It was the perfect opportunity to study the direct bloodline of the Senju clan and see what kind of changes had occurred.
As Orochimaru walked away, Danzo's expression twisted with barely contained fury.
Damn it! Who the hell spread that rumor about him and Chiyo?!
If he found out who started it, he'd drag them into Root and make them endure every form of torture!
Suddenly, Danzo's face changed. No way…
Even a lab rat like Orochimaru, who barely paid attention to anything outside his experiments, had heard about it?
Didn't that mean… almost everyone in Konoha knew about it?!
Damn it! This needs to be silenced! Immediately!
He had to have Root monitor the entire village. If anyone dared to gossip about this, they were to be eliminated on the spot!
Danzo was on the verge of losing his mind. This was about his reputation!
After sending out his men to monitor the village, he suppressed his rage and focused on assigning tasks.
The main priority was practicing Sealing Barrier Jutsu—that was the key to trapping Ronn Stark.
Poison alone wasn't enough. If they couldn't trap their target, having a weapon but no hands to wield it was meaningless.
As for Ronn Stark's current whereabouts, they were still uncertain.
But that didn't matter. As long as they kept an eye on Tsunade, he was bound to show up sooner or later.
On the other side, Orochimaru quickly left Root's underground base.
However, as he passed by a small two-story building, his steps briefly paused.
This was where the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kushina, lived.
It was said that she and Namikaze Minato were deeply in love. Once this war was over, they planned to get married.
To Orochimaru, it didn't matter. He wasn't one to fight for power, and it was almost certain that Namikaze Minato would become the Fourth Hokage.
That meant, just like the First Hokage's Jinchūriki, this generation's Nine-Tails Jinchūriki would also be the Hokage's wife.
Danzo was actually plotting against her?
…As expected of the darkness of the Shinobi World.
Orochimaru shook his head, flicking out his tongue.
"Not my problem. She's Jiraiya's student's girlfriend. If anyone should be concerned, it's Jiraiya."
"If Danzo really manages to capture the Jinchūriki, who knows? I might even get some fresh experimental material. My research could make some real progress."
Meanwhile, Ronn, who had crossed over into the Shinobi World, checked Tsunade's location. She wasn't far, but he didn't head straight for her.
Women would only slow down his path to power.
Instead, he arrived at the Kannabi Bridge battlefield and effortlessly killed two enemy ninjas who attacked him.
After absorbing them into his space, he realized that several days had passed since Namikaze Minato's battle against the Iwa ninja.
"That means… Uchiha Obito has already been taken by Madara, hasn't he?"
"I wonder if Nohara Rin is dead yet. If she is, then I might as well get rid of Uchiha Obito too."
"After all, Kamui is a pretty broken ability. It would be useful for me in some way."
Uchiha Obito awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan after the Kannabi Bridge incident.
Right now, as a teenager with no real combat experience, he only had the power but no mastery over it.
This was the perfect time to kill him.
If he waited a year or two until Obito fully grasped his abilities, taking him down would be much harder."
No need to go out of my way to target him—Madara Uchiha is the real threat here. Obito Uchiha? He's just a side quest. If there's a chance to kill him, sure, but if not, whatever.
After all, once the Rinnegan is activated, Kamui becomes almost irrelevant.
Kamui is useful for keeping opponents guessing and adding a bit of mystery and intimidation. But at the end of the day, it's just another trick—only effective in the Naruto world.
In the Marvel Universe? Thinking you can rely on Kamui to act all high and mighty? That's a one-way ticket to getting yourself killed.
Forget about anything else—someone could literally crush you with their bare hands.
Hiding in a pocket dimension? Hell, even if you hid between the cracks of time, it wouldn't save you.
At most, Kamui would be good for bullying someone like the Hulk—strong but not exactly a genius.
After confirming the timeline and seeing that everything matched my calculations, I deployed my Iron Man armor.
The suit began scanning the approximate location where I suspected Madara Uchiha's underground base was hidden.
Based on my intel, the base should be somewhere north of Konoha, near Ryūgakure, not far from the Kuen Hidden Pillars.
Once the location was pinned down, searching with the armor's sensors became much easier.
In just two days, I had the exact coordinates.
Deep underground, with several humanoid heat signatures. Finding it was laughably easy.
I just had to check out a few spots, and sure enough—I found it.
What's this called? This is called technology, baby!
With an Earth Release jutsu, I sank into the ground.
Say what you will, but these underground infiltration techniques are pretty damn useful.
If I didn't know this jutsu, I'd have to blast my way in with the Iron Man suit, which would be a bit much.
Speaking of jutsu, there's also that Water Release technique from Kirigakure that lets you turn into liquid. That was a Kekkei Genkai from the Hōzuki Clan, right?
Might as well take some time to hunt a couple of them down and absorb their abilities. Can't favor some villages over others—I've already got techniques from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Konoha. I'm planning to get Pakura from Sunagakure, so I can't leave Kirigakure out. Gotta keep things balanced.
"Who are you?!"
A dark, sludgy mass stared at me with wide eyes and bared teeth, looking extremely wary.
What the hell?!
Who took a dump here?!
That disgusting black goo suddenly appearing nearly gave me a heart attack. I almost stepped in it.
For a second, I really thought it was poop. Absolutely revolting.
But when it spoke, I immediately understood—ah, it's Black Zetsu, that sneaky old bastard.
I glanced around, nodding slightly.
For an underground hideout, this place was actually pretty well designed.
Madara Uchiha really lived up to his name—he had good taste.
After taking in my surroundings, I finally turned to Black Zetsu.
"Where's Madara Uchiha?"
Black Zetsu's eyes widened. "How do you… Who are you?!"
I smirked. "The guy who's here to collect Madara Uchiha's corpse."
"Corpse? Collect Madara's…?"
Wait a minute—he'd never heard of anything like this before!
Since when did Madara make such arrangements? Why didn't he know about this?
Hold on… something's off!
Madara might be on his last legs, but he's not dead yet! With the Gedo Statue sustaining him, he could live for at least two more years if he wanted to.
Only recently had he taken in Obito Uchiha as his successor, finally deciding to let himself die temporarily and be revived later.
Besides himself, no one should know about that plan.
So… who the hell was this guy in front of him?
"Stop wasting time and hurry up!" I snapped impatiently. "Didn't you guys just recruit Obito Uchiha to take Madara's place?"
"That means you don't need Madara's body anymore, right? Hand it over so I can pack it up and take it with me."
The way I said it, like it was the most natural thing in the world, actually made Black Zetsu hesitate for a second.
What's going on? Did Madara secretly contact someone else behind his back?
Does he not trust me anymore?
Black Zetsu grinned, trying to probe for information. "You seem to have arrived early. Lord Madara is still alive."
"I don't recall him ever instructing anyone to come collect his body. When exactly did he tell you to do this?"
I raised an eyebrow. "Instruct me? Who the hell could instruct me?"
"I just thought it'd be a real shame for an old man over a hundred years old to die alone, with no one even knowing about it."
"Not even a proper burial—that's just too sad."
"I mean, not to insult you, but… well, you're not even human."
After finishing my little speech, I waved my hand impatiently.
"I'm on a tight schedule. Get him to hurry up and die. If he's not dead yet, then tell him to drop dead right now. I need to collect the body ASAP."
"....."