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[— Manga Scene —]
"Sa… Sasuke-kun… Hang in there, Sasuke-kun!!"
In front of Sakura, Sasuke was trembling and screaming after Orochimaru bit him and departed.
"Ahhh!!"
"Gaaaaaaah!!"
Seeing Sasuke in this state, Sakura began searching for Naruto while weeping.
"Naruto!!" Only to see that he was still pinned to the tree by the kunai she had thrown earlier, completely unconscious.
'What should I do?!!'
…
'It's almost nightfall… I must find him quickly… Once it gets totally dark, I will be at a further disadvantage…' At that moment, Anko was rushing toward the depths of the Forest of Death in search of Orochimaru.
'But why is he… at a time like this… What is his purpose?'
'Well, it makes no difference… You have come to this village, then we will settle things now.' While searching for the "enemy," her thoughts escalated.
'You are now a handbook-level dangerous person. I must stop you even if it costs me my life… and if that's not possible… I must slow you down until the Anbu arrives.'
'I learned everything from you… I was one of your team… and thus…'
"That is my job, right, Orochimaru?" It seemed she had found him.
Orochimaru emerged from a tree in front of her, saying, "That's impossible."
[— End Scene —]
In Konoha, everything was still new for Orochimaru, who saw himself, or rather, saw his future counterpart, placing the Curse Mark on Sasuke, then clashing with the second examiner of the Chunin Exams, Mitarashi Anko.
"Hoho~ To think this woman has such a complex relationship with me… How strange, this is interesting."
In the next moment, the battle began between Anko and his counterpart.
"It seems she really hates me to this extent… Haha! My counterpart is truly despised… Hmm? Why does this woman think I want to assassinate the Hokage?"
Orochimaru's eyes widened, completely intoxicated by the events, ignoring the gazes hovering around him.
He even ignored the friendly conversations others tried to start with him. He was entirely occupied with the manga's events; who would have thought that the "villain" of this volume would be none other than himself?
"This seal… Ninpou!! Double Snake Assassination?"
"Heh~ I wonder what I did to this woman to make her want to commit suicide with me… But well, it seems she wants to die with my Shadow Clone… fascinating."
In the next moment, Orochimaru was surprised to see his counterpart remove the remnants of the human mask, revealing his true face.
"Heh~ even after two decades or more in the future, I am still very young."
'It seems my future counterpart is much more powerful, bold, and skilled than I expected… How did Uzumaki Rubiro know all this… this man grows more mysterious in my eyes, he is very dangerous…'
'When he looks at me, I feel as if he sees all my secrets, my past, my present, and my future. All my secrets are exposed to this man. The strange thing is that this is the case for almost everyone…'
Orochimaru did not want to lift his head and lock eyes with Rob again. He did not like the feeling of being on the "weak side," and that was the case now.
Regardless of the difference in strength, the gap in intelligence and information between them was so vast that it could not be compared at all.
Orochimaru knew nothing about Rubiro, except that he was a remnant of the Uzumaki and that he used to be a medical ninja before establishing his first Art Store…
On the other hand, it seemed Uzumaki Rubiro knew everything about him… even what he didn't know about himself… his future!
"What the hell-!"
Only now did Orochimaru realize he was dealing with something far larger than himself, especially when he saw that Mitarashi Anko was also branded with the Curse Mark.
…
Orochimaru's face from the manga page was reflected in Tsunade's stunned eyes at this moment.
"Orochimaru… really… you… What is going on?"
Seeing Orochimaru's true face, two decades into the future, she finally realized she wasn't dealing with a fictional reality anymore, but a tangible future.
That was how she felt while watching the confrontation between Anko and Orochimaru and all its details.
"To think that Anko-chan was this scoundrel's student, and he even branded her with the Curse Mark! Well, those are definitely his actions…"
On the other hand, Jiraiya was cursing the manga version of Orochimaru, who appeared villainous and utterly loathsome.
"Orochimaru-san…"
Nawaki appeared shocked as he saw all these events on the page.
…
"The chance of surviving from the curse seal is 1/10…?"
"In other words, you just want to kill him…"
Seeing Orochimaru point to the slim possibility of Sasuke surviving the Curse Mark, both Sakumo and Kakashi felt a surge of anger.
To think the Chunin Exams were proceeding peacefully amidst a competitive atmosphere with the talents of other villages, only for Orochimaru, of all people, to intervene personally to ruin the exam and crush the spirit of Team 7.
Naturally, young Kakashi felt angry; Team 7 was his counterpart's team! In other words, they were his students…
"Where are you in the middle of all this, Kakashi…?" the young Kakashi wondered with a nervous expression.
He hoped to see his counterpart come to the rescue, but even Anko seemed unable to do anything to stop him.
"It's Orochimaru after all. No one knows the true depths of his power after two decades… It seems even Anko was a victim of his experiments in the past," Sakumo said.
Father and son were sitting together as usual, but today, arriving late, they could only sit in the remaining vacant spots.
…
"A perfect vessel to be your successor…? What do you mean by that?"
Danzo felt the mystery behind those words, but he understood the meaning of "vessel" from Orochimaru's vocabulary.
"Heh~ quite ambitious… perhaps even more ambitious than me…"
"Who would have expected this scoundrel to be on the pages of the manga? Now it seems everything is exposed, not just to Konoha but to the whole world…"
Danzo whispered in a low voice only he could hear… but in that moment, his voice rose clearly:
"Heh? What do you mean that Konoha will end if Anko tries to end 'your enjoyment'?"
"This is truly funny… Will Konoha in the future really become so weak that you can end it as you please, Orochimaru?"
"Danzo… let's not forget that this man's manga is unreliable at its core, so don't try to establish what cannot be proven…!"
At this moment, Hiruzen spoke with a deep voice. The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, still remembered his discussion with Uzumaki Rubiro just a few minutes ago, which ended with him losing his words.
…
A few moments ago:
"Uzumaki Rubiro… is this future of yours reliable?"
"Why are you using Orochimaru, one of the shinobi we are proud of in our village, as a shinobi from an outside village? Isn't the headband he revealed on his forehead from the recently established Otogakure? And he described the people of that village as his subordinates… isn't this just deception?"
"It's impossible for Orochimaru to establish another village! Doesn't that mean he will turn against Konoha in the future?"
"Everyone in the five villages and even the small shinobi villages now knows that Orochimaru is a traitor to Konoha in the future… Tell me, are you forcing one of the Legendary Sannin into betraying Konoha against his will?"
Rob looked calmly at the Hokage, who was tense under the pressure… Of course, he would be extremely tense; as the Hokage, he bore responsibility for all errors and incidents that occurred during his tenure, including the betrayal of one of the Legendary Sannin, who was also his student.
Rob smiled and replied, "Hokage-san, what leads you to believe my manga is unreliable? Is it because I consider it art? Or because you consider it a prophecy?"
"Your lack of trust in it is, in itself, an admission of how much it truly affects you…"
Hearing that, Hiruzen's expression twitched.
"Look closely around you, Hokage. Everyone comes here to read the manga. Do you know why? Because they believe in it in their depths…"
Rob took a deep breath before saying, "I won't tell you the truth of the manga; it remains my personal art. Whether you believe it is reliable or unreliable is your problem. As for me, I don't really care…"
"Whether Orochimaru rebels against Konoha or not, what does that have to do with me? Drawing him as such in the manga does not mean with certainty that he will do the same in reality."
Rob shrugged as he said that. Whether the Hokage understood his words and good intentions or not, it all came back to him.
…
"Sigh~ I really don't want to believe this…"
Hiruzen sighed, returning to the present, though Rob's words still echoed in his ears.
"Hiruzen… it seems Orochimaru is truly terrified… he is afraid of Uzumaki Rubiro. He has finally realized the terror of this man…"
Danzo pointed to Orochimaru, who was sweating at that moment.
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Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 137: The Beautiful Green Beast of Konohagakure!
Chapter 138: Reactions of the Konoha Clans… One Against Three.
Chapter 139: The Moment a True Ninja is Born.
Chapter 140: Reactions from the Great Villages. The End of Volume Six.
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