Bang!
From the rising white smoke, a black-haired beauty in a light green dress slowly emerged.
Under the cold moonlight, her skin was as white as ice and snow, her hair was tied high, and she was dressed in grand attire as she slowly made her entrance.
It was Tagorihime.
For a moment, the Sunagakure ninjas instinctively held their breath.
This was not because of her appearance; ninjas are generally bad at recognizing faces. Apart from those who use eye techniques, they don't rely on their eyes to perceive people.
In their senses, the opponent's Chakra was immense, almost comparable to a Tailed Beast. That chilling, icy aura was exactly like Orochimaru's.
It was clear that if she were an opponent, this person would be terrifying.
Granny Chiyo and the others' eyes narrowed slightly, understanding that this was Orochimaru's response to their previous question.
But…
"This must be the Snake Princess from Ryuuchi Cave."
Granny Chiyo turned her gaze to Orochimaru and taunted, "Is this the 'confidence that comes from yourself' you mentioned?"
She remembered Orochimaru wasn't like this before. After a few years, where had that arrogant demeanor from before gone?
Orochimaru smiled without speaking, not even bothering to retort, "Summoned beasts are part of one's strength."
Tagorihime looked around and pursed her lips slightly. "Orochimaru, it's been so long, are you calling me out to fight for you again?"
"Just to witness, we might not even have to fight."
Orochimaru glanced at Tagorihime and smiled.
"I invited you here simply to remind these Sand Ninjas that if they decide to attack, they will have to face the Great Snakes of the entire Ryuuchi Cave."
In fact, ever since signing the contract with Ryuuchi Cave, Orochimaru rarely had the three Snake Princesses fight for him. If a fight was unavoidable, he would more often have Manda handle it.
Fear stems from the unknown. Revealing even a fraction will diminish it. If other ninja villages were to learn that the three Snake Princesses possessed great power but lacked combat experience, it would be much harder to subdue them without a fight in the future.
Hearing Orochimaru say this, Tagorihime showed some regret. "What a shame. I thought I might get some new collectibles this time."
As she spoke, she took off the magatama pendant from her chest.
With a flick of her finger, the pendant emitted a shimmering green light in mid-air, gradually taking on a human form.
His face was that of an ordinary young man, but more effeminate and with a hint of malice, making one feel repulsed.
After appearing, he began making hand signs and gathered fine sand to create a chair for Tagorihime.
Although his technique was not overly skilled, it was fundamentally similar to Sage Paths.
"This person… seems to be the rogue ninja Suigetsu from Takigakure Village?"
Kazekage Rasa observed him carefully for a moment, his tone uncertain.
As the Kazekage of Sunagakure, he had paid close attention to the great battle that occurred in Takigakure Village and had collected a lot of information. He naturally recognized this former temporary leader of Takigakure Village.
He had heard that Suigetsu died at Orochimaru's hands, but he never expected to meet him in this form.
"You scoundrel, who gave you permission to mention my name?"
When Suigetsu heard his name, he turned his head and glared fiercely at Rasa, completely disregarding the Kazekage at all.
He clearly knew that Rasa wouldn't dare to attack him, acting like a dog relying on its master's power.
The Sunagakure ninjas looked indignant, but Kazekage Rasa waved his hand. It was obvious that Suigetsu was beyond saving and was now no different from a rabid dog. Why should he argue with such a thing?
Orochimaru, however, looked at Suigetsu thoughtfully and smiled, "It seems your research on sealing jutsu has yielded some results."
If Tagorihime wanted a place to sit, she could have conjured one with a wave of her hand, without such trouble.
Doing this now was clearly a deliberate show-off.
Like a child, this Snake Princess must have been bored stiff in Ryuuchi Cave.
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Suigetsu lowered his head, his body trembling slightly, his eyes filled with both anger and fear.
It was clear that those experiments were not a pleasant experience for him, the subject himself.
"I told you I would surprise you," Tagorihime said with a graceful smile.
Orochimaru then knew that this was probably something the White Snake Sage had created. However, he had no intention of delving deeply into such matters and naturally wouldn't expose her lie at this moment.
Turning his gaze to the Sunagakure side, Orochimaru asked playfully, "I'm about to begin separating the Tailed Beast, or would you like to fight first?"
Granny Chiyo stated directly, "If you intend to do it, then do it. Sunagakure is not a place that goes back on its word."
Sunagakure Village had always wanted to regain the initiative and had made several attempts, but Orochimaru had been airtight.
A person with great power and abundant resources, who didn't seek to dominate through sheer force but instead meticulously laid out schemes, was a despairing thing.
"Since that is the case, then you shall all wait patiently."
Orochimaru chuckled and turned his gaze to Shisui, giving him a nod.
Shisui nodded slightly, a red light flashing in his eyes. Beside him, Gaara suddenly opened his eyes, and waves of Tailed Beast Chakra surged out, soon forming a colossal figure that forced the surrounding ninjas to retreat.
Kazekage Rasa stood firm on the golden sand, gazing upwards. Seeing Shukaku's obedient appearance now, his heart was filled with complex emotions.
The village had paid countless prices and failed, but in Orochimaru's hands, a 'perfect Jinchuriki' was easily achieved.
Orochimaru was unaware of Rasa's thoughts, otherwise, he would likely have mocked him.
Perfect Jinchuriki were rare. They almost entirely depended on the Jinchuriki and the Tailed Beast achieving mutual understanding and spiritual connection. Even Shisui's Kotoamatsukami couldn't achieve this.
After all, this ninjutsu was designed for humans, permanently altering the human brain physically. However, Tailed Beasts are composed of Chakra; even the Rinnegan could only control them.
Although Shukaku was under Shisui's control now, this state could easily be broken. It was just that no one present now had the desire for Shukaku to lose control.
Mangekyou Sharingan was at best a useful tool.
After Gaara fully transformed into his Tailed Beast form, Shisui controlled Gaara and emerged from the body of the One-Tail.
Orochimaru glanced at the ground, a smile on his lips. He placed a finger on Gaara's forehead, projecting his consciousness inside.
…
Dozens of miles away, Zetsu opened his eyes and relayed the recent conversation between Sunagakure and Konoha, stating grimly, "Orochimaru has already discovered the clone I sent, but I don't know how many he found."
Between here and Orochimaru's location, there were over a dozen White Zetsu underground, used to relay messages back and forth.
"Orochimaru is currently separating Shukaku, and it won't be finished anytime soon. This is a good opportunity. What should we do?" Zetsu asked. In a sense, he was the happiest to learn that Nagato had finally begun collecting Tailed Beasts.
Obito pondered in silence, unable to make up his mind.
Leaving aside the established Jinchuriki of other villages, the one from Sunagakure was a child not even six years old. He had thought it would be an easy task, but unexpectedly, Orochimaru had interfered.
"Let's wait and see. Orochimaru can't stay in Sunagakure Village forever."
Obito would rather face a more mature Jinchuriki than confront Orochimaru directly.
Just as Orochimaru was no match for Nagato now, he was also no match for Orochimaru, even with Kamui.
…
Whoosh whoosh whoosh…
Orochimaru stood in Gaara's mental world. A gust of wind, carrying yellow sand, swept towards him.
Just like Mangekyou is to Uchiha, the mental world is a reflection of a ninja's soul. Darkness and oppression filled his vision. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, only able to see about two to three meters around him.
However, this was not the outside world, and his eyes were not the tools needed for "seeing" here.
Following the Chakra reaction, Orochimaru soon arrived at the location of the One-Tail Shukaku. The sandy space brightened slightly.
There, Shukaku lay motionless, engaged in a one-sided shouting match with Gaara.
Shisui's control in this mental world was slightly weaker, failing to muzzle Shukaku.
"Orochimaru, you scoundrel, make that Uchiha brat let me go, or I'll settle this with you later!"
As a Tailed Beast, Shukaku had never feared anyone. What if powerful figures like Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara were great? In time, they too would turn to dust.
It was merely the life of an ant; why should Shukaku bow down to such insects?
"Tsk… such a short temper. But there's no need for such foolish talk,"
Orochimaru said mockingly and then examined Shukaku with interest.
At this point in time, Shukaku's Tailed Beast Chakra, which originally belonged to it, had already been drawn out by Shisui to maintain its form. So, what was left in Gaara's mental space now?
Was it another part of its Chakra, or something else?
In other words, were Tailed Beasts simply Chakra?
Orochimaru was very curious about this question, but with his own eyesight alone, he couldn't find the answer.
So he turned to the Genie, hoping for a different perspective.
"In myths, Tailed Beasts are Chakra that the Sage of Six Paths extracted from Ootsuki Kaguya and separated into nine using Yin-Yang Release,"
The Genie stroked his chin. "According to your ninja theories, Yin Release governs spiritual energy and creates form from nothing, which could explain the origin of Tailed Beasts' consciousness. Then Yang Release gives life to form, so Tailed Beasts having a physical body also makes sense."
Normally, Chakra is a mass or a flow, not shaped like a raccoon or a fox.
It was unknown how the Sage of Six Paths achieved this, but currently, it was far beyond Orochimaru's cognition.
His application of Yin-Yang Release was merely using his life force to accelerate cell healing or soul transference in the 'Spiritual Transformation Technique'. He could barely achieve the latter now.
Orochimaru sighed lightly. "The Sage of Six Paths truly is an incredible being."
"How do you know about the old man?" Shukaku, the One-Tail, exclaimed upon hearing Orochimaru's words. "Orochimaru, answer me quickly!"
Orochimaru ignored him and turned his gaze to the other master of this mental space—Gaara.
Ever since Orochimaru entered, this child had been squatting on the ground, hugging his legs, saying nothing.
His eyes were vacant and lifeless, controlled by Shisui, but his expression was deathly still. He didn't react to Shukaku's taunts and insults.
"Interesting."
Orochimaru licked his lips.
He had mentioned before that Shisui hadn't completely controlled him through genjutsu. In other words, both Shukaku and Gaara had actually heard the conversation in the inn.
A child's world at five or six years old is not complicated; in fact, it's remarkably small.
But through Yashamaru's 'lies,' Gaara had already been disowned by his family. Now, if the Tailed Beast on him were also taken away, his very existence and meaning in the village's society would disappear along with it.
Suffering two blows in a short period, even resilient adults would feel a sense of nihilism and fall into self-abandonment. Let alone a child.
A child…
Orochimaru's lips curved slightly.
Why had he gone to such great lengths to save Gaara's life? It was precisely because Gaara was just a child.
Death had no meaning, unless it could be utilized. Letting Gaara die with Shukaku's extraction would clearly yield no profit.
On the contrary, if he were to give him a new meaning in life, this seed might blossom into a remarkable flower, becoming the key to controlling Sunagakure in his stead.
After all, while children are fragile, they also represent hope.
Gaara, who had endured so much torment and had not completely broken down, was clearly someone he could place some hope in.
With this thought, Orochimaru pointed a finger at Gaara's spirit, intending to communicate with him on a deeper, more hidden level.
However, when he touched Gaara's spirit, a strange repulsion surged out.
The next moment, Chakra from an unknown source gathered in this mental world, forming a semi-transparent human-shaped cloak around Gaara. Vaguely, it looked like an embrace.
"What is this thing?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. This change was somewhat beyond his expectations.
One-Tail Shukaku's eyes were glazed over, and it couldn't move. However, it seemed to sense something and gave a low hum, "Ga Karura..."
The Genie also appeared. "This is probably Gaara's mother."
In the original timeline, there was already debate about Gaara's sand control abilities. Some said it originated from the One-Tail Shukaku, while others insisted it was due to Karura's spirit, otherwise, it couldn't explain why Gaara's abilities didn't decrease after losing Shukaku.
Now, it seemed this theory was not groundless.
"Gaara's mother?"
This was not very good news.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and carefully observed the spirit he had attracted, suddenly discovering a fact.
"This spirit… seems to have no consciousness?"
Even its instinctive gathering earlier seemed to be triggered by his actions, activating some mechanism?
"Hmph, mortal souls are not strong enough. To be able to do what it is doing now is already the limit. Do you expect it to retain consciousness?"
One-Tail Shukaku's tone was blunt, but it was clearly speaking up for the woman.
"This is quite troublesome."
Orochimaru sighed, but a smile appeared on his face. "However, it's just a little more effort."
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