Chapter 106: Meeting Orochimaru Again
"Still can't do it?"
Under the night sky, cracks appeared on the surface of the feather in Uchiha Ren's hand after too much chakra was infused into it. Its hardness was not what it used to be.
"A group of bloodthirsty ants, attracted by rotten flesh~"
Killer B's rapping interrupted Uchiha Ren's research. He got up helplessly. "B, can you be a little quieter?"
"Oh yeah! Genius rhymes, second to none!"
Facing Killer B, who was immersed in his own world, Uchiha Ren was helpless.
He stood up, flapped his feathered wings, and flew into the sky.
About half a month had passed since his last encounter with Kakuzu.
Uchiha Ren was still somewhat uneasy about Kakashi's situation.
Although he had stitched Kakuzu's Earth Grudge Fear into his own body, meaning Kakuzu would prioritize coming after him, there was no guarantee Kakuzu wouldn't be foolish enough to relentlessly pursue Kakashi.
Uchiha Ren figured the best-case scenario was that Kakuzu would come after him.
Then, Kakuzu would be ambushed and eliminated by the Hidden Cloud Village, led by Killer B, removing this future threat.
Of course, that was the best-case scenario. Half a month had passed, and Kakuzu seemed to have vanished into thin air, which made Uchiha Ren consider actively going out to look around.
If the opportunity arose, he planned to return to Konoha first.
After all, no matter how you put it, staying outside was a very dangerous thing.
Being targeted by the Akatsuki's treasurer, it was debatable whether the Hidden Cloud could even protect him.
He also had to consider whether the Hidden Cloud would gouge out his eyes and dissect him to study how he grew his tail and feathers.
This was what Uchiha Ren had to prioritize.
Place his hopes on Killer B?
He couldn't afford that gamble.
Before the night of the clan massacre, for an Uchiha with an awakened Sharingan...
...Konoha was always the safest place.
After all, out there was still a masked Obito, harvesting Sharingan.
Uchiha Ren flew for a while. The towering mountains that pierced the clouds gradually became fewer, replaced by vast stretches of lush, green trees.
Distinguishing the borders of the Five Great Shinobi Nations was simple. Many mountains meant the Hidden Cloud; desert meant the Hidden Sand; water and mist meant the Hidden Mist; and a land of nothing but earth, small houses, and dirt mounds was the Land of Earth.
And forests marked the border of the Land of Fire.
Uchiha Ren flew down to the ground. The high-intensity flight had consumed his stamina rapidly, so to conserve energy, he chose to walk.
After walking for a long time, the sky gradually darkened and visibility dropped. Uchiha Ren prepared to find a place to rest for the night and continue his journey in the morning.
In the dimness, he saw a faint point of light appear in the distance.
Was that a building complex?
Sleeping in a bed was definitely better than sleeping in a tree. Curious, he walked toward it.
A kilometer was a distance he could cover in mere seconds, and he soon arrived not far from the complex.
The moment he saw the symbol on the outskirts of the buildings, he turned and ran!
A musical note symbol was uniformly carved onto the buildings.
The musical note represented the Hidden Sound Village.
This was Orochimaru's village, the village where he was Kage.
For Uchiha Ren, seeing these symbols on the buildings was no different from stumbling upon a wedding procession with someone playing a suona in a deserted forest in the dead of night.
He had only run a few steps when a figure appeared around a corner in front of him!
A man with two red dots on his forehead, white hair, looking half-dead and sickly.
Upon seeing this person, Uchiha Ren immediately began to form hand seals, as if facing a formidable enemy.
The leader of the Sound Five—Kimimaro!
"You actually came on your own."
Kimimaro's first words made Uchiha Ren lose his composure, and he hastily stopped forming hand seals.
"Hmph, I don't know what Lord Orochimaru sees in you. Cough, cough!"
Uchiha Ren complained internally, 'Actually, Orochimaru values you too, but every time you pull out your bones, you stick them back into your body without disinfecting them, leaving you riddled with diseases. How could he dare take your body?'
Kimimaro, coughing like he had tuberculosis, steadied himself and gestured toward the hidden entrance to an underground passage. "Please!"
Uchiha Ren didn't move.
He was calculating his chances of winning if he were to fight Kimimaro right now.
But on second thought, even if he could barely defeat Kimimaro, the moment the fight began, Orochimaru would instantly arrive.
Even if he took flight with his feathered wings, flying through a forest of towering trees he could use as footholds, there was still a high chance Orochimaru would catch up to him.
Thinking of the Curse Mark of Heaven and Orochimaru's other tricks, Uchiha Ren gritted his teeth and willingly walked into the bottomless passage.
Orochimaru's base was much drier and brighter than Uchiha Ren had imagined.
It wasn't dark and terrifying like in the anime. On the contrary, taking the underground humidity into account, many ventilation ducts and a central air conditioning system blowing warm air had been specially installed.
After leading Uchiha Ren into the passage, Kimimaro handed over the welcoming duty to another member of the Sound Five, the only female ninja in the group—Tayuya.
Tayuya sized up Uchiha Ren, the corners of her mouth curling into a smile. "Weren't you quite resistant at first? Finally couldn't resist the charm of Lord Orochimaru?"
Uchiha Ren gave an awkward laugh. "Um... what do you call these things here?" he asked, pointing to a device that was beeping.
Tayuya looked at Uchiha Ren as if he were a country bumpkin. "It's a computer! Have people from Konoha never seen one before?"
The corner of Uchiha Ren's eye twitched.
He hadn't been mistaken. Those things were computers, and laptops at that.
While Konoha was still using primitive abacuses to calculate data, Orochimaru was already using computers.
It was a good thing those guys in Konoha weren't internet addicts.
Otherwise, they would have all defected to Orochimaru's side.
Rows of sophisticated instruments, and jars containing strange organs and bodies soaking in formaldehyde.
Looking at it now, if Orochimaru had become the Fourth Hokage instead of Minato...
...Konoha might have used advanced technology to crush the other four great shinobi villages long ago.
Before even seeing Orochimaru, for some unknown reason, a trace of respect for the scientist appeared on Uchiha Ren's face.
This was probably one of the reasons why the people of the Hidden Sound Village were so loyal to Orochimaru.
Tayuya walked to an unremarkable room and stopped, knocking gently on the door twice.
The voice from inside the room was extremely weak and hoarse. It quietly called out, "Come in."
Tayuya gave Uchiha Ren a meaningful look, and he pushed the door open and entered.
In the dim room, only a faint yellow desk lamp allowed one to vaguely see the edge of a bed and the outline of the person on it.
Of course, even if Uchiha Ren could see the person's face, he wouldn't recognize him as Orochimaru.
"Cough, cough." Having just changed bodies, Orochimaru was very weak. He leaned against the headboard, his pair of cold, serpentine eyes sizing up the young boy before him.
"Ren-kun, I didn't expect to see you so soon."
Uchiha Ren's eyebrow twitched, and he felt a little nervous. "Orochimaru... uhm... Lord Orochimaru, there is something I want to tell you."
(end of chapter)