The Land of Rain.
Inside a dim, frigid cave—
"Nagato finally couldn't hold back anymore… He's going to make a move on Konoha."
From beneath the ground, a fused mass of Black Zetsu and White Zetsu rose up like something crawling out of the earth itself. Water dripped from the cave ceiling, the sound sharp in the silence.
White Zetsu tilted his head, voice full of curiosity. "He finally snapped?"
At that, the man who had been resting with his eyes closed opened them sharply.
Uchiha Obito's gaze was cold beneath the shadow of his hood. He let out a low laugh that carried no warmth. "After defeating Edo Tensei Hashirama Senju, Uchiha Ren is the shinobi world's god in name and in truth."
He spoke as if stating an undeniable fact.
"His strength keeps growing," Obito continued, "and Nagato is starting to panic."
"Yes," Black Zetsu said icily. "The stronger the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, becomes, the greater the pressure on Akatsuki."
White Zetsu's tone turned uneasy. "And the more desperate Nagato gets…"
Obito's eyes narrowed. "Desperation makes people reckless."
The cave fell quiet for a moment. Even the damp chill seemed heavier.
"There's only one thing I didn't expect." Obito shook his head, frowning in confusion. "The Great Toad Sage actually used Edo Tensei to bring back the First, Second, and Third Hokage…"
His voice dipped slightly, as if the very idea annoyed him.
"Aren't the three sacred lands supposed to stay out of shinobi affairs?"
"The Great Toad Sage…" Black Zetsu's voice turned openly hostile, the words cutting. "That old, unkillable toad. Everything he says is just hot air."
Damn it.
Back then, if that old toad hadn't taught the Sage of Six Paths senjutsu—and hadn't used the Sage's talismans to revive Ōtsutsuki Hamura—then his mother, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, wouldn't have been sealed away.
His hatred for the Great Toad Sage ran deep.
"Hm?" Obito glanced at Black Zetsu, puzzled.
To be honest, it was the first time he'd seen such a strong emotional reaction from him.
Black Zetsu's tone steadied, as if he'd noticed his own slip. "I just can't stand the three sacred lands. They're not to be underestimated."
White Zetsu nodded along, muttering, "They always meddle when they shouldn't…"
"Oh." Obito didn't doubt him. He leaned back slightly, voice flat again. "If Nagato wants to move against Konoha, let him."
He paused, then added with calm certainty, "We only need to make sure the Rinnegan doesn't get lost."
White Zetsu blinked. "You mean… even if he fails?"
"Especially if he fails," Obito said. "Nagato may be useful, but he isn't irreplaceable."
Black Zetsu's eyes narrowed, understanding. "And he doesn't trust us anyway."
Obito's mouth curled faintly. "He doesn't."
"Understood," Black Zetsu replied.
"Understood," White Zetsu echoed quickly.
To them, Nagato and Akatsuki were nothing more than pieces on a board. If a piece died, so be it. It didn't matter.
Obito's gaze shifted, as if turning to a different matter entirely.
"Oh, right…"
His voice slowed, deliberate and heavy. "That forbidden technique—Edo Tensei—we have to get it."
White Zetsu's head snapped up. "Edo Tensei?"
Black Zetsu's tone was quiet, dangerous. "I know who has it. And I'm interested in that technique as well."
Obito's eyes sharpened. "Who?"
White Zetsu answered after a moment's thought, as if pulling a name from memory. "One of the Three Sannin—Orochimaru. He's done deep research on Edo Tensei."
He hesitated, then added, "And not long ago, he left Akatsuki."
"Good."
A chill surfaced beneath Obito's calm words.
"If Orochimaru has what we need," Obito said, "then we'll take it. One way or another."
Black Zetsu sank slightly, as if already preparing to slip back into the earth. "He's ambitious. He'll listen—if the bait is tempting enough."
Obito's gaze remained steady. "Then give him bait."
At the edge of the cave, the damp air seemed to twist—subtle, like a hint of space itself responding.
Then Obito's presence faded.
At the same time—
The Hidden Sound Village.
Deep beneath the village's central region lay an eerie, freezing laboratory.
The air was thick with the stench of chemicals and cold metal. Lamps cast pale light over scattered instruments, sealed tanks, and stained tables. The hum of machinery ran like a heartbeat beneath the silence.
"Orochimaru-sama… is this body acceptable?"
Kabuto Yakushi watched intently as Orochimaru emerged in a new body—a woman's—his tone careful, almost reverent.
"It will do."
Orochimaru stepped out of the container at an unhurried pace. Water slid down his skin, catching the light. His bare body was exposed without the slightest concern, as if modesty had never existed in his world.
He licked his lips and spoke softly, satisfied. "The compatibility between this body and my soul is extremely high."
His eyes narrowed with faint amusement.
"I can draw out my full strength."
Kabuto let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding and smiled. "That's good." He held out clothes he'd prepared in advance. "Then it looks like it worked."
Orochimaru took the clothes and draped them over himself with casual ease, every movement unhurried, controlled.
"Heh." His smile was thin. "This is only the beginning."
Kabuto's expression stayed attentive, but the tension in his posture didn't fade. He knew better than anyone—every "beginning" with Orochimaru carried a price.
Orochimaru's voice turned cold, clinical. "The side effects of Living Corpse Reincarnation are too many—and it's easy to damage the caster's soul."
As he spoke, his mind flicked to the moment he'd been instantly crushed beneath Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan—power so absolute it had left him no room to struggle.
"The most suitable vessel for me," Orochimaru added, "was always Uchiha Itachi."
Kabuto froze for a beat. "I see…"
He wisely chose not to say anything more.
Orochimaru's smile returned, wicked and confident, as if he'd already discarded that loss. "Forget it. I've already left Akatsuki."
He adjusted the clothes with a smooth motion. "Now I'll focus on studying reincarnation properly."
Kabuto's eyes flickered. "Reincarnation… properly?"
Orochimaru's gaze gleamed with interest. "The Great Toad Sage's Edo Tensei had extremely high purity."
His voice carried a faint, hungry edge.
"The First, Second, and Third he summoned could all display tremendous strength. That level of control…" Orochimaru's smile widened. "It's worth studying."
Kabuto nodded, processing quickly. "You mean to refine your own research through it."
"Exactly," Orochimaru said. "If the technique can be pushed to that level, then the path to immortality becomes far cleaner."
Tch!
Before his words had even settled, space warped into a spiraling distortion.
The lamps flickered.
A man stepped out as if walking from the twist itself, wearing an orange mask with a single whirl pattern.
Uchiha Obito.
Kabuto reacted instantly. His body jolted as he drew a kunai and slipped into a fighting stance, eyes wide behind his glasses. "Who's there?!"
"Put it away," Orochimaru said calmly, not even turning his head.
Kabuto hesitated, but his grip didn't loosen.
"Interesting," Orochimaru murmured, narrowing his eyes. "So you can enter without leaving a trace."
Obito's voice was flat, emotionless. "I'm here to offer cooperation."
He took one step forward, unhurried, as if he belonged there.
"Since you've left Akatsuki," Obito continued, "you should be lacking a new partner."
"Cooperation?" Orochimaru's lips curled into a sinister smile. "From you?"
Obito didn't react to the tone. "That's right." His gaze settled on Orochimaru—now in a woman's body—without any hesitation. "I know what you seek is immortality."
Kabuto's eyes tightened. He didn't like hearing Orochimaru's ambitions spoken so plainly by an outsider.
Obito's voice remained even. "I have a method that can let you live forever."
Orochimaru's smile didn't falter. If anything, the interest in his eyes sharpened. "And you're offering it… for what price?"
Obito's head tilted slightly. "Instead of living like this—turning yourself into something neither man nor woman—choose a path that doesn't require you to gamble your soul every time you change bodies."
Kabuto's knuckles whitened around the kunai. He wasn't sure if it was insult or provocation.
Orochimaru, however, didn't get angry.
"Is that true?" he asked softly, as if savoring the promise. "If you truly have a way to grant immortality…"
He took a step forward, eyes fixed on Obito's mask.
"Then we can work together—closely."
"Good."
Obito didn't hesitate. He casually tossed out a sealing scroll.
It landed on the table with a dull thud.
"Consider it a gift," Obito said. "Your task is simple: research Edo Tensei thoroughly."
Orochimaru glanced at the scroll, then back at Obito. "You want results."
"I want the technique," Obito replied. "And I want it in usable form."
A strange spatial ripple spread again, light bending at the edges of the room.
Before Kabuto's bewildered eyes, Obito vanished—so cleanly it was as if he had never been there.
Silence returned, but it felt sharper than before.
Orochimaru's expression shifted several times in a short span—amusement, calculation, suspicion—each flashing and disappearing like a snake's tongue.
Then he turned slightly, voice calm.
"Go. Open it."
Kabuto swallowed once, then stepped closer. Carefully, he undid the sealing scroll.
A moment later, the space above the table rippled—and something dropped onto the surface with a heavy, wet sound.
Kabuto's eyes widened.
Inside lay a corpse.
A White Zetsu body.
Orochimaru stared at it for a long beat, and his smile returned—slow, controlled, and dangerous.
"So this is the 'gift,'" he murmured. "How generous."
Kabuto's voice came out hoarse. "Orochimaru-sama… what do we do?"
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed as he looked down at the body.
"We research," he said softly.
Then, with quiet certainty—
"And we decide how to use it."
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