"It seems that agreeing to your proposed deal was just a waste of time."
Naruto appeared to have lost his patience, with endless Haki spreading outward around him.
The surrounding guards almost all collapsed at the same moment, while the Sound Four instantly activated their Curse Mark Level 2 to barely maintain consciousness.
Seeing that negotiations had broken down and they were about to fight, Kidomaru and the Sakon-Ukon brothers from the Sound Four launched the first attack.
Tayuya, who needed more time to prepare her techniques, and the slower Jirobo were a step behind.
But it was precisely this delay that saved both of them.
Kidomaru, the strongest among the four, only had time to shoot one arrow before Naruto caught the "arrow shaft" and threw it back along the same path.
The arrow formed from hardened mucus instantly pierced through his body, pinning his entire form to the wall with his fate unknown.
Meanwhile, Sakon-Ukon completely separated into two people, attacking Naruto from both sides.
But these guys were still too slow.
A sword flash passed, and the two brothers fell straight to the ground.
Orochimaru's Sound Four had been reduced to a duo in just one exchange.
"Stand down!"
Orochimaru's voice came belatedly, but the two lucky survivors, Tayuya and Jirobo, still breathed sighs of relief and retreated to the side.
Right in front of Orochimaru, Naruto placed the Kusanagi Sword he had confiscated back into a sealing scroll.
Orochimaru's expression wasn't good.
Not only because of Naruto's disrespectful table-flipping behavior just now, but also because this clone body's duration was almost up.
He didn't know if it was related to being covered by Haki just now.
With skin on his face already beginning to peel off, Orochimaru silently stared at Naruto.
Just now, Naruto had used his strength to remind Orochimaru who really held the initiative in this so-called transaction.
It certainly couldn't be Orochimaru, who didn't even dare show his true form.
And Naruto seemed to have "cooled down" after this display of force, standing there waiting for Orochimaru's next words.
Of course he wanted to get the information he wanted from the other party.
But this didn't mean he had to be constrained by the opponent.
Just as he had said, without information provided by Orochimaru, he would at most extend the time for his revenge.
Naruto wasn't some hot-headed youngster who would throw caution to the wind over a few provocative words.
Those Orochimaru could easily manipulate were invariably people without support, lacking security, or powerless to resist.
Naruto fit none of these categories.
"It seems I was indeed too hasty."
After a long while, Orochimaru finally spoke slowly.
"Since Naruto-kun doesn't like this type of cooperation, we can change to another approach."
Saying this actually meant Orochimaru was temporarily backing down.
After discovering that the opponent wasn't the type of small fry he could usually easily manipulate, he immediately changed his tactical strategy.
Naturally, it would be great if he could directly corrupt and occupy Naruto's body through a curse mark.
Even if it didn't work, he wouldn't lose anything.
The worst result of this test would be Naruto going on a killing spree today and directly destroying this island.
But that would only be a branch base and a clone body.
For Orochimaru, these were all acceptable costs.
"If I remember correctly, Naruto-kun recently captured an 'immortal ninja,' right?"
It wasn't surprising that Orochimaru knew this information. Without exaggeration, he probably even knew about Naruto's encounter with Tsunade.
"That's correct."
Naruto took out sealing scrolls marked "Head" and "Body" from his traveling pack.
After the smoke cleared, Hidan appeared split between Naruto's left and right sides.
"Ahhh! Bastard! I'll kill you!"
After seeing daylight again, Hidan was still full of energy. It seemed that just over a day without food didn't affect him much.
Both Naruto and Orochimaru ignored the constantly screaming and raging Hidan, looking at each other.
"So, what new idea have you come up with?"
Naruto crossed his arms, seeming somewhat interested in what kind of solution Orochimaru could devise.
Orochimaru slowly approached Hidan on the ground, reaching out to examine the body that had lost vitality but was still under the opponent's control.
Amidst Hidan's impotent rage of "I'll kill you" and "I'll sacrifice you to the evil god," he picked up the other's head and examined it carefully like appraising a work of art.
"Hmph... a crude transformation product... though not without merit."
As a research-type ninja obsessed with pursuing immortality, Orochimaru easily discovered the true nature of Hidan's "immortal body."
Regarding this false "immortality," Orochimaru gave it a very "crude" evaluation from a scholar's perspective.
"Naruto-kun, since you're unwilling to accept a curse mark, taking along a scroll sealing this body shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Continue."
"Next, I'll need to trouble you to stay here a bit longer while I perform some minor modifications on this fellow."
With that, Orochimaru held up the still chattering Hidan's head to one side.
"He can become another of my clones, just like my current body, entering into a sealing scroll."
"And Naruto-kun, you need only 'swallow' my specially made miniaturized sealing scroll."
"This way, Naruto-kun, you'll have control over when to release me and won't need to worry about me doing anything to you from the shadows."
Orochimaru's fallback attitude seemed very sincere, and his suggestion was indeed feasible.
Before he mentioned this method, Naruto really hadn't thought of directly swallowing a sealing scroll.
Perhaps this was the kind of thinking a biological researcher should have.
But Naruto wouldn't completely trust the other party.
"Use my sealing scroll."
Orochimaru was stunned upon hearing this and then understood Naruto's distrust.
He was afraid Orochimaru would tamper with the scroll.
"Fine."
As for how Naruto would swallow such a large sealing scroll whole... did he think Life Return was practiced for nothing?
"Tayuya, take Naruto-kun to find a room to rest. My experiment might take some time."
As if completely unconcerned about Kidomaru and the Sakon-Ukon brothers who had died at Naruto's hands, Orochimaru's face once again bore a hideous yet "hospitable" smile after reaching an agreement.
"Orochimaru, don't keep me waiting too long."
"Don't worry, Naruto-kun."
Naruto treated Orochimaru's words like hot air but still allowed Tayuya to lead him away from the hall.
Only after Naruto's figure was completely out of sight did Jirobo come to Kidomaru's side and help him down.
Unlike the Sakon brothers, who had been killed with one sword strike, being pierced by his own mucus arrow wasn't fatal with the curse mark enhancement.
Of course, this was also related to Naruto not bothering to get serious with them.
Sakon-Ukon were purely unlucky. Their ability was too disgusting, and Naruto didn't want these two guys touching his body at all.
Just as things were settled on this side, another conversation had also ended elsewhere.
"Confirmed?"
"Yes, Naruto Uzumaki has left the island. We've sent summoned beasts to track him."
"Good, let's move out."
Similar words appeared in other places as well.
Southern Hideout was now in danger.