Chapter 73: Kirigakure Is a Forbidden Land — Once You Enter, Don't Even Think About Leaving!
Facts proved that Oborotsuki's cooking skills were quite decent.
Even though it was the first time Risa had eaten noodles made by him, she was extremely satisfied.
However, Oborotsuki himself had a bitter tale to tell.
After working her over until the middle of the night, his subordinate was fully content, while he himself was half-dead from exhaustion—only earning himself a good reputation.
Oborotsuki returned to his room, opened his system inventory, and looked at the unchanged backpack with a wry, helpless smile.
"As expected, my guess was right."
"Risa is the same as Uzuki Yūgure…"
More precisely—not every woman would grant a reward just from contact.
Oborotsuki had proven with practical action that the system's words were true.
"Sigh… worked all night for nothing."
Thinking this, Oborotsuki helplessly closed the system panel.
But at that moment, he suddenly noticed his room door move slightly.
"Trying to show off such a small trick?"
He lay on the bed with both arms behind his head, legs crossed, smiling playfully and leisurely.
"Ugh… annoying…"
Yūhi Kurenai revealed herself, unable to hold back from stomping her foot:
"You know you're too strong, but couldn't you at least pretend you didn't notice me using genjutsu to sneak in?!"
Now that she was Oborotsuki's concubine, what Kurenai wanted most was his complete recognition of her.
"I'll find time to give you some pointers on genjutsu."
"Your genjutsu level is too low. It's hard for me not to notice."
Oborotsuki teased.
"Tch… I don't want to learn genjutsu right now. I want noodles."
Kurenai walked over and stated matter-of-factly.
"What kind of noodles?"
Oborotsuki paused, pretending to be confused.
"The noodles you made for Risa—I want some too!"
Kurenai answered immediately.
"…I'm really tired today. Can we do it tomorrow?"
"No way! I want them now!"
Oborotsuki: "…"
Well, he had brought this on himself.
With a helpless laugh, he got up from bed:
"If I die of exhaustion, Red, you'll be half responsible."
…
Because of the recent Three-Tails berserk incident,
And after sealing the Nine-Tails, Oborotsuki had also killed a White Zetsu clone. Worried that it might attract other Akatsuki members to attack Kirigakure, he hadn't left the village for the past two days.
On the third day, Orochimaru arrived as promised.
The man had fully adapted to his new body.
Though still far from his peak condition, he was already much better than three days earlier.
"Orochimaru, I'm warning you."
"Next time you're in front of Kushina, watch your mouth."
The moment Oborotsuki saw Orochimaru, he immediately issued the warning.
This caused Orochimaru—who had arrived full of anticipation, waiting for Oborotsuki to provide intelligence—to freeze, his expression stiffening.
"Heh heh…"
"It seems I guessed correctly."
Orochimaru gave a meaningful, sinister smile, his eyes gleaming wickedly.
"But I never expected that Minato Namikaze would actually perish together with the Nine-Tails."
"It looks like a lot of incredible things happened in the village during the time I was gone…"
Clearly, besides adapting to his new body over the past three days, Orochimaru hadn't been idle.
He had already investigated the intelligence thoroughly.
"Anyway, mind your own business. You won't have any problems."
"What you want is in the northwest of the village—the Kaguya clan."
"Go find it. If you're late, I'm not responsible."
After saying this, Oborotsuki waved his hand and prepared to leave.
"Can I ask you for one more favor?"
Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
"What?"
"There's a troublesome guy coming up behind me. Right now, I don't want to fight him."
"If you could help me deal with him…"
Before Orochimaru finished, Oborotsuki had already activated chakra sensing and instantly locked onto a very familiar signature.
He gave Orochimaru a deep look, said nothing, and vanished in a flash.
…
Although Pain's Deva Path had ordered them to temporarily refrain from pursuing any defectors,
Sasori of the Red Sand was unwilling to just give up hunting Orochimaru.
So over the past few days, he had secretly used his spies to investigate.
Following the intelligence provided by his spies, he had taken advantage of gaps between missions and tracked Orochimaru all the way here.
The massive crimson puppet Hiruko was extremely cumbersome. At this moment, it was slowly "wriggling" its way through the forest.
But the next second, Sasori suddenly whipped around, looking toward a large tree to his right-rear.
"Whoosh—"
In the next instant, Oborotsuki had already appeared.
"As expected… it's you…"
Oborotsuki looked down at Sasori below with a meaningful smile.
"Hōzuki Oborotsuki…"
Sasori's gaze flickered.
Back then, he had only joined Akatsuki after being defeated by Oborotsuki and left with no other choice.
Now, unexpectedly, he had encountered him here again.
"I'm not here to deal with you."
Sasori immediately explained.
"Kirigakure is now a forbidden land."
"No matter what your purpose is—once you enter, don't even think about leaving. You should have heard that saying, right?"
Oborotsuki smiled coldly.
"You want to fight…?"
Sasori's eyes darkened. Without hesitation, he attacked first.
The metallic tail stinger from Hiruko shot toward Oborotsuki like lightning.
After his previous defeat at Oborotsuki's hands, Sasori had silently worked hard to improve himself. His combat power had advanced significantly.
However, before the metallic tail could even strike Oborotsuki, Sasori discovered that Oborotsuki had already vanished.
The next second, his entire body stiffened.
Then—"BOOM!"
Oborotsuki struck from behind. With one slash, he effortlessly shattered Hiruko into pieces.
Inside, Sasori's true body was revealed.
Still the appearance of a red-haired boy of about ten years old.
But in puppet form.
"Isn't this much cuter?"
"Why bother showing yourself in that weird form?"
Looking at Sasori's real body, Oborotsuki shook his head with a smile.
"Secret Red Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
The furious and humiliated Sasori tried to unleash his ultimate technique, but before he could even begin, the chakra strings in his hands were completely severed.
"It's useless. After our last fight, I already understood your abilities perfectly."
"Right now, besides obediently surrendering, the only path left for you is death."
Oborotsuki casually shouldered the Decapitation Greatsword and smiled at him.
"Damn it…"
"What exactly do you want?"
Sasori realized he was completely no match for the current Oborotsuki.
Left with no choice, he asked in anger.
Stay and work for me. If you perform well, I might let you live.
Now, not only did he want to strike at Akatsuki and seize their tailed beasts—he also wanted every member of Akatsuki to submit to him!
When that time came, he really looked forward to seeing Uchiha Obito's furious, frustrated expression.
Thinking of this, the corners of Oborotsuki's mouth couldn't help but curve into a smile.
"Betray Akatsuki…?"
Sasori hesitated for a moment after hearing this.
He had already been somewhat shaken. After leaving Akatsuki, he didn't really know where else to go.
So he had stayed, drifting along, waiting—perhaps Akatsuki really could achieve that ideal plan.
Now, receiving Oborotsuki's invitation, he wavered once again.
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