After saying that, Kai didn't wait for any response.
He simply looked at the allied shinobi hanging in the air like livestock and raised his right hand again.
Clatter.
Clatter.
The chains began to tremble once more.
Especially the upper ends—they seemed to come alive, writhing and contracting until they locked tightly around each ninja's bones and chakra nodes.
At the same time, the black chakra at the lower ends twisted violently.
In the end, it formed into two heavy, ancient-looking shackles.
Since the Spore Heavenly Descent had not fully taken effect yet, some external restraint was still necessary.
Click.
Click.
Click.
One shackle after another appeared, firmly locking onto every ninja's ankles.
The moment the shackles formed, the black chains that had pierced through their bodies suddenly receded like a retreating tide.
Rustle… rustle…
In seconds, they vanished as if they had never existed.
All that remained were the cold shackles around their ankles—
And the bleeding holes left behind by the chains.
THUD.
Without the chains holding them up, the shackled shinobi dropped to the ground like dumplings falling into a pot.
They crashed onto the scorched ash-covered battlefield.
Their bodies curled in agony.
They tried to scream—
But only muffled sounds escaped.
"Mmm…! Ahh…!"
Some still refused to accept it.
One ninja reached down to pull off the shackle.
But the instant his fingers touched the metal—
A violent numbness surged through his entire body.
Sealing chakra flooded his nerves.
Like being struck by lightning, he froze and immediately passed out.
"Tsk tsk…"
Kai grinned as he counted.
"Slave number one, number two, number three… four hundred eighty-six…"
While counting, he casually drove them out of the barrier.
"Konoha reconstruction is about to begin. The schedule is tight."
"I hope everyone can overcome the inconvenience during this period…"
His smile widened.
"Of course—unless you'd prefer your soul to be completely erased and lose even the chance of being revived with Edo Tensei."
"In that case…"
"Work hard."
Meanwhile—
The high-ranking officials of Iwagakure still had no idea.
The two thousand elite shinobi they had placed all their hopes on—
Along with their genius demolition expert—
Were now shackled prisoners.
Standing on scorched ruins.
Digging their first shovel of dirt.
And no one knew that the Konoha they believed to be "the weakest in decades"…
Was being transformed by a wildly laughing Uchiha youth into—
A black-labor assembly line.
Efficient.
Extremely efficient.
So efficient that even ruthless underworld bosses would be stunned.
—
"Father, Shikaku."
Kai turned and calmly began assigning tasks.
"Please arrange these people properly. Konoha must be rebuilt as quickly as possible."
Once everything had mostly been organized, he finally looked toward the corner.
A familiar figure stood there.
Kai smiled.
"Uncle Snake."
"Fufufu… Kai-kun."
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes narrowed slightly.
"Did you see the nearly thousand corpses lying over there?" Kai asked casually.
"…Oh?"
Orochimaru's pupils shrank instantly.
He seemed to realize something.
But he didn't dare confirm it.
Inside his heart, a storm began brewing.
Growing stronger and stronger—
Until it became a raging sea.
"These bodies," Kai said lightly, "should be useful for your experiments with Edo Tensei and the Shinigami arm."
Exactly.
Orochimaru froze.
The storm inside him turned into towering waves.
"Hehehe…"
His long tongue slid across his pale lips.
"You mean… these thousand elite corpses…"
"All belong to me?"
He had never imagined that someone could be even more twisted than himself.
Kai simply nodded.
Orochimaru burst into laughter.
A hoarse, eerie laugh.
But filled with uncontrollable excitement.
A thousand elite corpses.
And one third of them were the physically powerful shinobi of Kumogakure.
The weakest among them were chunin.
Many were elite jōnin.
Some were even close to Kage-level.
Elite jōnin!
In every village, those were titled warriors.
And now—
They were simply handed to him.
Orochimaru felt dizzy.
Dizzy from happiness.
When had he ever fought such a luxurious battle?
Back in Konoha he could only secretly steal a few corpses for experiments.
Later, after joining the Akatsuki, he could only pick up scraps between missions.
And after defecting and founding Otogakure—
It was even worse.
He had to collect battlefield leftovers.
But now?
It felt like heaven.
He looked at Kai with an increasingly strange expression.
Almost… emotional.
"Right!"
Kai suddenly seemed to remember something.
He casually dragged over Hashirama Senju's Edo Tensei body and shoved it toward Orochimaru.
"See if you can attach the Shinigami body to this guy."
Then he dug into his clothes and pulled out several white spores.
"And take these."
"What are these?" Orochimaru frowned slightly.
They looked like mushrooms.
What were they for?
"White Zetsu spores," Kai said.
"They were attached to me, but I sealed them."
"They can use Wood Release."
"Maybe they'll help your research."
As he spoke, Kai removed the seal and tossed the spores over.
But the moment those words landed—
Orochimaru's pupils contracted violently.
"White Zetsu…"
How could he not know who that was?
He quickly asked:
"You mean that strange fellow who lives inside the pitcher plant… always talking nonsense?"
"Yes."
Kai nodded casually.
Orochimaru's breathing quickened.
"So…"
"You've already been to the Akatsuki?"
"Yes."
"And…"
Orochimaru stared intensely.
"Did you see those eyes?"
Now the legendary Sannin looked almost like a believer gazing at a god.
Even though he stood taller—
His gaze carried unmistakable awe.
Kai nodded again.
Orochimaru suddenly burst into laughter.
"Hahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahahahaha!!!"
The laughter carried a strange sense of revenge fulfilled.
He bent over, holding his forehead as he laughed wildly.
If Kai had seen those eyes and still returned unharmed—
Then Akatsuki must have suffered greatly.
After laughing for a long time, Orochimaru finally turned back.
His gaze burned hotter than ever.
"Kai-kun."
"Could you do me a favor?"
His voice dropped.
"Help me capture someone."
"My enemy."
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