In the distant Country of Rain,
drizzle continued to fall.
Kabuto Yakushi stood at the mouth of a cave, sheltering from the rain.
Inside the dimly lit cave, three figures stood aligned in a row.
At the center loomed an enormous object.
Though still skeletal in appearance, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path had nine half-open eyes across its body.
Over these past few years, Orochimaru had already infused it with chakra from all nine Tailed Beasts.
The chakra from One-Tail to Eight-Tails came from previous Jinchuriki revived through Impure World Reincarnation.
As for the Nine-Tails' chakra, since Minato Namikaze had been missing for so long, he ended up taking quite a lot from Naruto by force.
This level of chakra reserves wasn't sufficient to fully restore the Demonic Statue, but for Orochimaru's purposes, it was already enough.
Pain leapt onto the statue's body and manipulated it to open its massive mouth.
"By the way, has anyone come looking for you?" Orochimaru turned to Konan beside him while asking.
"What do you mean?" Konan asked, confused.
"Itachi still has a younger brother. Hasn't he come looking for Itachi?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary has happened." Konan shook her head after thinking briefly.
That's odd. It's been a while since Sasuke left — still hasn't found Itachi yet? Or maybe he gave up? Or perhaps he's already dead, killed by Itachi? Orochimaru muttered inwardly.
At that moment, a thin strand of chakra as thick as a finger shot forth from the statue's mouth.
Orochimaru held out a prepared container to catch it, a smile forming on his face—"So this is the chakra of the Ten-Tails..."
In an age where chakra was well understood, crafting tools to store it was no problem for him.
Tsunade had once inherited a necklace from Hashirama Senju containing crystallized chakra.
Kumogakure had even started using weapons infused with chakra.
Even a small village like Amanogakure managed to construct Angkor Fortress—a massive structure powered entirely by chakra energy.
After nodding farewell to Pain and Konan, Orochimaru stepped outside.
Pain leapt down from the statue, gazing upward at it murmured,
"We've waited long enough. The Hidden Villages seem inactive—perhaps we should make our move first…"
"Pain, have you decided?"
Pain nodded affirmatively.
Outside the cave, Kabuto accompanied Orochimaru away from the site.
Their figures were cloaked in invisible barriers, as if untouched by the falling rain.
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, Kabuto cast a sidelong glance at the item in Orochimaru's hand.
The once-transparent container had turned a deep shade of purple.
Orochimaru shot him a brief glance.
Meeting his gaze, Kabuto adjusted his glasses with feigned nonchalance.
"Lord Orochimaru, what exactly is that?"
"The Ten-Tails' chakra—the original chakra. You want some?" Orochimaru replied calmly.
Kabuto's face maintained a standard polite smile as he said, "You flatter me, Lord Orochimaru. Most people don't even qualify to be a jinchuriki, let alone possess Ten-Tails' chakra. I would never dare to desire such a thing…"
Orochimaru smiled faintly and said nothing further.
Back at the base, he casually called over a ninja, lifted the man's shirt, opened the container, and pressed the bottle's mouth against the ninja's body.
The Ten-Tails' chakra smoothly entered the man's body.
The ninja was confused for a moment, not understanding what Orochimaru was trying to do.
Then his expression suddenly changed.
It seemed something uncontrollable had happened. His body started trembling slowly.
After a few seconds, he helplessly collapsed onto the ground, and his muscles appeared to have shrunk slightly.
"Lord Orochimaru…"
He opened his mouth, but his lips were so stiff they barely moved — the sound he made was almost inaudible.
Orochimaru chuckled softly, eyes gleaming with curiosity, clearly showing no intention of responding.
Placing various monitoring patches on the fallen ninja's body and watching the fluctuating data from the instruments, Kabuto Yakushi calmly reported:
"Lord Orochimaru, his physical functions are continuously improving…"
"Accelerated heartbeat…"
"Chakra circulation is smooth…"
"Almost unbelievable…"
"Breathing has stopped… Huh? Everything has stopped?"
"He's dead."
Orochimaru's voice finally came, and only then did Kabuto turn to look at the man on the ground.
He didn't move a muscle. His face frozen in fear, skin like old, dried-out wood — completely lifeless.
Even his physique had greatly shrunk compared to before, looking almost mummified.
"As expected." Orochimaru suddenly laughed, clearly delighted. "So greedy it even drained the man's very life essence away."
"Is it the chakra absorbing one's vitality, or is extracting chakra consuming both body and spirit, pulling one closer to death… hehe…"
"Kabuto, go find someone outside who secretly practiced natural energy."
Meanwhile, to shake off Kaguya Moon, Kaguya frequently used [Otsutsuki Teleportation] within a short time span. As a result, Yugito's Matatabi and Gyuki felt emptiness inside, their chakra forcefully drawn away.
The two beasts complained to Yugito, "Yugito, what are you using our chakra for?"
"It doesn't make sense," Yugito muttered slightly puzzled. "I haven't done anything."
Mabui knocked on the door and entered the office, handing her a letter as she reported, "Lord Raikage, Tsuchikage has proposed holding a joint Chunin Exams in Konoha."
Stretching out her hand to accept the letter, Yugito slightly furrowed her brows.
"They should've informed Konoha first for something like this. These guys sure aren't subtle about trying to force our hand."
"Don't follow me — she found me because of *you*."
"My lord, I absolutely did not betray you," White Zetsu loudly proclaimed.
"Get lost."
Kaguya coldly snapped back.
Did he think she was someone else? That power belonged to her — she was the one who granted it to White Zetsu. No matter how perfectly he concealed himself, to her, it was crystal clear.
Dismissing the clueless White Zetsu, Kaguya boarded a train.
In the past couple of years, rail lines connecting the Land of Fire, the Country of Hot Springs, the Country of Frost, and the Land of Lightning had finally started running trains.
With Akira Hanaki disappearing midway through, the oversight duties once again fell onto Yugao Uzuki's shoulders — leaving her quite irritated.
Kaguya sat by the window, her head resting in her hands as she gazed outside.
She had placed a Genjutsu on herself, so not a single passerby gave her a second glance.
The train WHISTLED and lurched forward, belching thick clouds of black smoke.
Watching the ever-changing scenery outside, she softly called out, "Return, Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."
Country of Rain.
Pedestrians hurried along.
Suddenly, ripples spread across the surface of a puddle, forming concentric circles as if something stirred beneath.
Inside the Tower, Nagato suddenly turned pale and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Nagato, what's wrong with you?" Konan stepped forward to support him, her expression filled with concern.
"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—lost control," Nagato said weakly.
Shock flashed across Konan's face.
Before she could speak, an unexpected tremor struck.
RUMBLE~
BOOM! BOOM!
The rumbling beneath the ground grew louder. Villagers immediately froze in place, panic spreading across their faces as they looked around wildly.
They had never felt such violent shaking before.
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