Otogakure.
The Village established by Orochimaru in the Land of Rice Fields.
It was also Orochimaru's hiding place.
The Wood Clone, Yagami Light, looked at the Village established by Orochimaru and walked up unhurriedly.
This time, he had come to find Orochimaru to make a deal at the request of his original body.
It couldn't compare to a great Ninja Village like Konoha; Otogakure was less a Ninja Village and more a small Village.
The gate was crude, and rows of mud-brick houses with peeling walls exuded a sense of impoverished dilapidation.
Yagami Light's spiritual sense swept over; some children were even practicing with tree branches, and even the instructors only had the strength of ordinary Genin.
This strength was far inferior to that of Dosu Kinuta and his two teammates who participated in the Chunin Exams.
Of course, this was also related to Orochimaru sending a large amount of combat power to Konoha during the Konoha Crush.
Their strength couldn't match the Sunagakure Ninjas, and most of them were killed by Konoha without even a chance to surrender.
Orochimaru didn't treat them as human beings at all; he knew Konoha's strength perfectly well, yet he still did this, purely treating the Otogakure Ninjas as disposables.
Now, there were very few experts left by Orochimaru's side; the Dosu trio had been killed in Konoha.
The Sound Four and Kimimaro had already been dealt with during Sasuke's defection; Aoki Yoru killed four, and Neji killed one.
Only Guren remained, guarding some unknown base.
In the entire Otogakure, the talents Orochimaru spent ten years cultivating were almost completely wiped out.
From this, it was clear that Orochimaru had no intention of seriously managing a Ninja Village.
He coerced and enticed the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields to fund the establishment of Otogakure, but most of the investment was taken by him for experiments; after all, experiments were too costly, something Aoki Yoru knew all too well.
If it weren't for the need to give the Daimyo an explanation to keep the funding coming, Orochimaru might not have even bothered to build the Village gate.
After all, the investment in scientific research was enormous.
The "good guy" Danzo's sponsorship was just a drop in the bucket, and even the Daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields' funding wasn't enough.
Yagami Light knew how high the original body's expenses were, let alone Orochimaru, who had several experimental bases.
Yagami Light suspected that Orochimaru must have robbed nobles and wealthy merchants from various countries; after all, Orochimaru was not a man bound by rules.
Otherwise, even if he sold his own body, he wouldn't be able to build so many laboratories.
"Halt! Who are you, and what are you doing in Otogakure?"
At the gate, Yagami Light was stopped by two Genin.
The strength of these two was considered among the top in the current Otogakure.
At least judging by their Chakra levels, it seemed so; after all, Otogakure barely had any Ninjas left now.
With a gentle smile on his face, Yagami Light said, "I'm here to find Orochimaru."
The expressions of the two changed instantly.
Lord Orochimaru's presence in Otogakure was a secret; very few people knew.
One of them picked up a signal flare and shot it into the sky; matters involving Lord Orochimaru were always top secret and had to be handled with caution.
"Swoosh—"
The other person instantly appeared in front of Yagami Light, holding a Kunai to his throat.
"Who are you? How do you know Lord Orochimaru is here?"
Ignoring the weapon at his throat, Yagami Light simply said calmly, "So, could you please announce my arrival and have Orochimaru come out?"
The two glanced at each other, their faces full of killing intent. "Although we don't know how you found out, Lord Orochimaru's information cannot be leaked. So, die!"
With that, he moved to slit his throat with the Kunai.
"Puchi—"
A breeze blew past, and the two were instantly sliced in half at the waist.
Their consciousness instantly plunged into darkness, and they fell straight to the ground, expressions of disbelief frozen on their faces.
Yagami Light paid no mind to the two on the ground and walked straight in.
"It's an intruder! Stop him! Quickly notify Lord Orochimaru!"
As soon as Yagami Light entered, he was surrounded by people from Otogakure; even some children a few years old gathered around with tree branches, staring at him nervously.
Aoki Yoru couldn't help but sigh; the strength of this crowd was inferior even to the samurai of the Land of Iron, but their suicidal courage was something many great Ninja Villages lacked.
When it came to winning people's hearts, Orochimaru's methods even surpassed those of his teacher, the Sandaime Hokage; the student had indeed outdone the master.
Immediately, Lightning-style Chakra erupted from his body, traveling along the ground and knocking them all unconscious.
He wasn't a maniac and didn't have the habit of killing the innocent; these people's strength posed no obstacle, and if he and Orochimaru came to blows later, they might get caught in the crossfire, so it was better for them to be unconscious.
At this moment, in a basement deep within Otogakure, Orochimaru, who was conducting an experiment, suddenly froze.
In a raspy voice, he said, "Kabuto, an uninvited guest has broken in. Go deal with him!"
Yakushi Kabuto, who was assisting nearby, was taken aback for a moment. He pushed up his glasses with a finger and revealed a standard fake smile. "Yes, Lord Orochimaru."
Orochimaru then buried his head back into his experiment, seemingly unconcerned about the situation outside; he was very confident in Kabuto's strength.
Kabuto's combat power was at least at the Elite Jonin level; he could even hold his own against a Kage-level opponent.
In the Ninja World, apart from the Five Great Ninja Villages and the Akatsuki Organization, Kabuto could practically go wherever he pleased.
Yagami Light stopped at the entrance to the basement; he sensed someone walking out—it wasn't Orochimaru, but their strength was not low.
Yagami Light didn't even need to guess who it was—Yakushi Kabuto. After all, by Orochimaru's side, only Yakushi Kabuto had such strength.
Before long, a figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
Yakushi Kabuto stared intently at Yagami Light. "To what do we owe the honor of an uninvited guest's visit?"
"I'm here to find Orochimaru and make a deal with him."
Yagami Light looked at him with an inquiring expression. The person before him was a prime example of a commoner's counterattack, having single-handedly dominated the early stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War through technology.
Yakushi Kabuto frowned; this man's gaze made him very uncomfortable.
"Although I don't know how you found this place, I'm afraid Orochimaru is very busy. However, since you're here, don't think about leaving."
As he spoke, Yakushi Kabuto's hands were enveloped in sharp Chakra—it was his signature move, the Chakra Scalpel.
Yagami Light sighed, took a Kunai from his Ninja tool pouch, and struck a pose. "It seems I'll have to deal with you first, Yakushi Kabuto."
Hearing this, Kabuto's pupils constricted. Not many people outside of Konoha knew of him. Could he be connected to that dead ghost, Danzo?
He then shook his head; this person couldn't be from Konoha, or else the team sent would have been led by at least one of the Sannin.
Yakushi Kabuto immediately became serious. Although he didn't know who this person was, he couldn't let him leave alive; he had to hand him over to Lord Orochimaru for interrogation.
Immediately, his figure vanished from the spot.
The speed of an Elite Jonin was not something those two gatekeeping lackeys could compare to.
"Clang—"
Yagami Light blocked with a backhand, easily parrying Yakushi Kabuto's strike.
Seeing his attack easily blocked, Yakushi Kabuto's expression changed; the opponent was no ordinary person.
Immediately, Chakra erupted throughout his body as he increased the speed of his Body Flicker Technique, appearing repeatedly around Yagami Light.
Yagami Light could only keep blocking with his Kunai.
He was forced to defend continuously amidst Yakushi Kabuto's high-speed attacks, looking like a flickering candle in the wind, as if his defense could be torn open at any moment.
"Puchi—"
Yagami Light's hands were sliced by the Chakra Scalpel, and he instantly seemed to lose all sensation as the Kunai in his hands fell to the ground.
He looked at Yakushi Kabuto in horror. "What did you do?"