"Well, about that… the Bertholdt you mentioned, I don't know him. But Kokushibo—I do know him for sure."
"Can you tell me what exactly you want with him? I mean, I'm on pretty good terms with him. If you two are enemies, I can't just take you to him—that wouldn't be very ethical, right?"
Akashō babbled nonsense to stall for time while thinking through his next move.
"You don't need to worry about why I'm looking for him. Just tell me where he is."
Orochimaru's brow creased subtly. His first impression of Akashō was that of a slick-tongued brat full of lies. Whether he truly didn't know Bertholdt was still questionable.
"But… I don't know where he is either."
The moment Akashō put on an innocent look, Orochimaru expressionlessly drew his kunai again.
"Trying to play me?"
"Hey, hey, hey—let's talk this out! No need to jump straight to violence!"
Akashō hurriedly stepped back, nerves tightening. If this guy really was ruthless, then he'd have to transform into Bertholdt and try to escape. If that didn't work, he'd have no choice but to gamble on activating the third Villain Template.
Of course, that would be terrible for farming reputation later. He really didn't want things to go that way.
As his mind raced, a flash of inspiration struck.
"Even though I don't know where he is, I do have a way to make him come to me!"
"Oh?"
Orochimaru sheathed the kunai again. "Go on. How would you make him come looking for you?"
"Well… think about it. Back when I was in the Hidden Leaf Village, he suddenly showed up and took me away. So if you bring me back to the Hidden Leaf camp now, he'll definitely come looking for me there."
Going to the Hidden Leaf camp didn't matter. As long as night fell, Kokushibo's Demon Body would ensure his survival. Killing Orochimaru might be a stretch, but escaping would definitely be possible. Plus, there were all those Leaf ninja in the camp as backup. The main problem right now was tricking Orochimaru.
Looking at Akashō's fake smile, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"So in other words, you're not actually sure he'll come looking for you, are you?"
"Uh…"
Akashō was at a loss for words. Was he supposed to portray himself and Kokushibo as family or something?
Given how Kokushibo behaved, no one would believe that.
Seeing his silent admission, the chill in Orochimaru's eyes deepened.
"In that case… how about I kill you instead? If your bond is really that strong, he'll come to me for revenge."
Akashō's eyelid twitched. This bastard—so in the end, it always comes down to fighting.
Just as Akashō was about to transform, Orochimaru suddenly smiled.
"Fine. You can come back to the Hidden Leaf camp with me."
Huh?
Akashō was stunned by the sudden shift in attitude.
"Oh…"
And so, Orochimaru led Akashō toward the Hidden Leaf camp.
Along the way, the two idly chatted.
"Aren't you curious who I am?"
"Orochimaru. Kokushibo mentioned you to me."
"Oh?"
Orochimaru stroked his chin with interest. That guy actually talked about him to others? In that case, their relationship might indeed be unusual.
"What did he say about me?"
Orochimaru was curious—what kind of person did Kokushibo think he was?
Cold? Powerful?
That arrogant guy… surely he didn't think he was weak?
Akashō glanced at him, and before his brain could catch up with his mouth, he blurted out:
"He said your purple eyeshadow has a certain charm."
The moment the words left his mouth, Akashō clapped a hand over it. Orochimaru stopped in his tracks instantly.
Hearing that, Orochimaru immediately recalled the excuse Kokushibo had used earlier to provoke him.
Damn it, why did I say that out loud… Akashō cursed inwardly.
Originally, he had wanted to say that Kokushibo thought the purple eyeshadow looked stupid. But in that split second, he felt that answer wouldn't work and tried to change it—only to swap "stupid" for "has charm."
Ridiculous!
Orochimaru slowly turned his head to look at Akashō, who awkwardly avoided his gaze.
After a few seconds of suffocating silence, Orochimaru resumed walking toward the Hidden Leaf camp as if nothing had happened. Akashō let out a quiet sigh of relief and hurried after him.
As expected of the strong—calm and magnanimous.
"By the way, Snake-san, how did you even know about me? Did Jiraiya tell you?"
"Snake-san?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow at the way Akashō addressed him.
This brat really did have a slick mouth.
"Are we that close? Calling me that so casually?"
Akashō scratched his head.
"Guess I picked it up from hanging around Jiraiya for too long lately. He's pretty easygoing, haha."
In truth, Akashō was trying to pry information out of Orochimaru. But since Orochimaru wasn't as easygoing as Jiraiya, he had no choice but to shamelessly act familiar.
Orochimaru gave a cold laugh.
"I can agree with you on Jiraiya being an easygoing fool. But don't call me Snake-san again. We're not that close."
"Got it, Snake-san. Understood, Snake-san."
Orochimaru: "..."
Akashō's behavior reminded Orochimaru of what had happened the night before, when he told the Leaf ninja surrounding Kokushibo to retreat—and they somehow took it as an order to attack instead.
"As for how I know about you—it wasn't Jiraiya who told me. It was his student, Minato Namikaze."
"He sent me a letter saying he'd found an orphan from the same clan as his lover, who had been lost outside. But that orphan was apparently taken by Kokushibo, who had previously appeared in the Land of Wind."
"And judging by the trail, it's very likely they were heading toward the battlefield on my side. So he asked me to keep an eye out and take care of you if I happened to run into you."
"Oh…"
Akashō nodded thoughtfully.
A trail?
Did he really leave behind any trace of heading toward the Earth-Fire battlefield?
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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