Chapter 121: Orochimaru’s “evil”! Konoha’s Era Has Changed
Somewhere within the Land of Fire.
“Lord Orochimaru, you instructed us to focus our attention on Uchiha Ikeizumi, and now he is no longer in Konoha. This is because we discovered that Tanzaku Street in the Land of Fire experienced a great massacre yesterday.”
“It is said that hundreds of people died, and the entire Tanzaku Street turned into a sea of blood. And the one who caused this ‘tragedy’ is Konoha Village’s ‘Lava Release Ferocious Beast’—Uchiha Ikeizumi!”
“We also heard that nine years ago, Uchiha Ikeizumi also launched a similar massacre on Tanzaku Street. But that time, he only killed dozens of people; this time, he killed hundreds.”
At this moment, Orochimaru had not yet begun planning to establish the Hidden Sound Village in the Land of Rice, but he had already gathered quite a few subordinates.
After all, many of his special research projects could not be completed by himself alone.
Moreover, he did not hold any trust in the Akatsuki organization to which he belonged. On the first day he joined the Akatsuki, he pondered how he would manage himself in the ninja world if he were to leave the Akatsuki in the future.
After listening to his subordinate’s report.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, showing an expression of interest, licked his dry lips, and muttered, “Uchiha Ikeizumi, that’s a kid who leaves a deep impression. His belief in Absolute Justice, his extreme personality, once made me feel quite troubled!”
“It seems that Teacher Sarutobi couldn’t stand him anymore and let him ‘plague’ other places? Or did he, unable to control his extreme personality any longer, choose to defect after massacring everything in Konoha Village?”
Orochimaru did have spies planted in Konoha, even three or four of them.
But for some reason, those three or four spies of his…
…had not sent back any information for quite some time.
It was highly likely that their identities were exposed and they were captured.
As a result, Orochimaru only had a vague understanding of what was happening within Konoha.
“Go and make contact with that kid,” Orochimaru commanded after a moment of thought, “Tell him directly that I am very interested in his Absolute Justice. If he has nowhere else to go after leaving Konoha… if he doesn’t mind, he can come to me, and I can recommend a very good place for him.”
Orochimaru paused and added, “It’s a place that will surely accommodate his Absolute Justice, and perhaps among those with equally peculiar personalities, many will agree with his Absolute Justice—Make sure you tell him all of this and see if he’s interested.”
The subordinate was stunned and hesitantly asked, “Lord Orochimaru is interested in that kid, so why not just capture him directly?”
“Heh heh… capture him?”
Orochimaru coldly glanced at his fanciful subordinate, finding himself almost laughing out loud when people were being utterly ridiculous, “Don’t think that just because you received the power I granted you, you can easily take down that extreme kid.”
“He was the ‘Lava Release Ferocious Beast’ on the battlefield of the Third Shinobi World War. At the age of nine, he killed a Jonin from an enemy village. And now, he is eighteen years old.”
“If I were to personally go, I could do it. As for you, or rather, all of you? Don’t indulge in unrealistic fantasies.”
“Carry out my orders, and it’s best not to make me waste any more words.”
The subordinate keenly sensed a sense of impending danger as if he were being watched.
He shivered and quickly said, “Yes, Lord Orochimaru!”
After seeing his subordinate off, Orochimaru’s lips curved into a slight smile.
“Uchiha Ikeizumi… I’ll use the lives of these useless people to see how strong you’ve become now. You will always be my best choice for a container… without exception.”
“Heh heh heh…”
Orochimaru’s sinister laughter was filled with cruelty and coldness.
…
“Pfft!!!”
“What?!”
Within a town in the Land of Fire, not far from Tanzaku Street.
Jiraiya was so shocked that he even spat out the sake he was drinking.
He abruptly stood up and went to the table of customers nearby, pushing himself into their midst. When he pulled out a wad of cash from his pocket, the dissatisfied expressions on the customers’ faces immediately vanished.
Jiraiya patted the wad of cash and said with a feigned casual smile, “I’ll pay for your drinks. Can you tell me specifically what happened on Tanzaku Street?”
Under the magic of banknotes, Jiraiya successfully transformed into “Information Jiraiya.”
He immediately gathered much information from the customers at that table.
This caused a hint of unconcealable solemnity to flash across his feigned casual expression.
But more than that, he was astonished.
Jiraiya stood up and returned to his own table, clutching his empty sake cup, his brows furrowed. “With that kid’s extreme personality, he might indeed have killed hundreds of people. Especially since a place like Tanzaku Street is a mixture of all sorts of people, but hundreds of deaths… that’s simply too exaggerated, too excessive.”
“Didn’t the old man try to control that kid’s behavior at all? After all these years, he should have been able to make that kid’s personality a little more normal, right? Unless the old man has been continuously indulging Uchiha Ikeizumi, even trying to use Uchiha Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice to intimidate certain people in the village.”
“As a result, that kid became even more reckless under such indulgence, to the point where even the old man couldn’t control him anymore. This… is just like the old man and Danzo.”
Jiraiya found this possibility very high, because Hiruzen Sarutobi had a precedent—that was Danzo.
Danzo was a negative consequence of Hiruzen Sarutobi’s excessive indulgence.
Based on Jiraiya’s understanding of Hiruzen Sarutobi…
This Third Hokage might very well step into the same pit twice.
“No…”
Jiraiya, who had just sat down, couldn’t help but stand up again before his butt had even properly warmed the seat.
He casually placed a banknote under his empty sake cup, and while walking straight out of the tavern, he furrowed his brows in silent thought.
“Tsunade must also be in Tanzaku Street. Although she no longer interferes with ninja matters, if she were to inexplicably encounter such a reckless kid, she would most likely be unable to stop herself. After all, that’s her impetuous personality.”
The more Jiraiya thought about it, the more something felt off. Perhaps only by personally going to Tanzaku Street could he ascertain some of the situation.
As for his primary objective, pursuing Orochimaru?
The event of hundreds of deaths overnight was simply too significant. Jiraiya felt that these two matters could not be prioritized at the moment.
He decided to investigate the easier one first.
Moreover, Tanzaku Street wasn’t too far away.
…
Half a day later.
*Swish*—
A sharp ninja sword instantly pierced the heart of a Konoha ninja who was on a mission outside.
The other party’s body trembled as he grasped the blade with both hands, but when the blade was gently twisted, all his strength was instantly drained, and several of his fingers were severed by the blade.
As he collapsed weakly to the ground, as his vision grew darker, he muttered in confusion, “Why… why… we’re from the same village…”
Uchiha Ikeizumi pulled out his ninja sword, flicked off the bloodstains, and sheathed it again.
“Because you committed a crime—nine years ago, during the Third Shinobi World War, you killed an innocent family of five for momentary lust.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s tone was cold, “Perhaps that family of five also uttered the same question as you—why? After all, you are both from the Land of Fire, and as a Konoha ninja, why did you kill their entire family of five?”
The Konoha ninja, whose consciousness was increasingly fading, was filled with regret.
Who would have thought that the events of nine years ago would be repaid nine years later…
Who would have thought that someone would concern themselves with such “trivial matters”…
And who would have thought that even though he hadn’t told anyone about this, the Uchiha ninja before him knew it all clearly!
【Ding! You have successfully executed an act of Absolute Justice! Your Chakra has gained a small increase! Congratulations, you have successfully dropped: “Shurikenjutsu” Experience Book × 2! 】
“The probability of ninjas being good people is really low, meow!” Kijiro remarked from the side.
He and Lord Ikeizumi had only encountered five or six Konoha ninjas on their way to the Capital of the Land of Fire.
Lord Ikeizumi had only left three alive. As for the other three, they had become three unburied corpses.
Among the three who were left alive, one of them had committed a crime, but it was not a capital offense. Lord Ikeizumi had severed one of his legs, and even if it were reattached, he would likely have difficulty moving freely.
Kijiro glanced contemptuously at the corpses on the ground. He despised such sinners from the bottom of his heart and felt no pity or mercy for them.
Just as Kijiro was about to continue on their way, he noticed that Lord Ikeizumi beside him showed no signs of moving.
Kijiro was startled.
Before it could speak, Uchiha Ikeizumi, as if sensing its doubt, said expressionlessly, “When Konoha ninjas go on missions, unless they are powerful Jonin, they usually go in groups of three, with at least two ninjas per group.”
This single sentence made Kijiro immediately understand.
Kijiro clicked its tongue in amazement, “Lord Ikeizumi wants to see if the other one or two ninjas have any sins on them?”
“Yes.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi said indifferently, “Ninjas possess power far beyond that of ordinary people. When ninjas carry sins and still linger in this world, the ‘evil’ they cause in the future will be even more severe. And the number of innocent people who suffer because of their ‘evil’ will also be greater.”
Just as Kijiro was about to speak, a shout from not far away caused both it and Uchiha Ikeizumi to shift their gaze.
“Ryoichiro! Hongdou and I have been looking for…”
The sudden shout abruptly stopped at this moment.
A Konoha female ninja who suddenly appeared widened her eyes, her face filled with disbelief as she looked at the scene before her.
In her sight—a Konoha ninja wearing the Uchiha Police Force uniform stood next to a corpse with blood gushing from its chest. Although the Police Force ninja’s sword was sheathed, the blood splattered on the person’s clothes still told her that the “murderer” was this Uchiha Police Force ninja!
The corpse on the ground was also the “Ryoichiro” she had mentioned!
She had witnessed a “friendly fire” incident among ninjas from the same village!
And the deceased was even her comrade who had gone out on a mission!
In her shock, the female ninja hurriedly drew her ninja sword from her waist, leaped back a few steps, and with undisguised horror in her eyes, she looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi’s profile and exclaimed, “Who are you? Why did you kill a fellow ninja from the village?”
Before Uchiha Ikeizumi could speak, another figure rapidly approached.
The newcomer was clearly more experienced than the female ninja.
Upon seeing the body of a comrade on the ground, the newcomer’s pupils constricted. Without hesitation, he took out four kunai with explosive tags attached and rapidly threw them forward.
*Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!*
The four kunai were precisely embedded in the front, back, left, and right of Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Each kunai had an explosive tag attached to its end, and each was also connected by a thin steel wire.
“Don’t move!”
Mitarai Anko said in a cold, soft voice, “If you make any extra movements, I will immediately detonate…”
Before she finished speaking.
Mitarai Anko suddenly realized that the “unknown enemy” was wearing the Konoha Uchiha Police Force uniform. And that profile, Mitarai Anko felt, looked somewhat familiar.
There were already very few Uchiha ninjas who could make her feel familiar.
As a few names flashed through Mitarai Anko’s mind.
She suddenly widened her sharp, beautiful eyes.
“…Uchiha Ikeizumi!!!”
In that instant, beads of cold sweat involuntarily dripped down her back. Mitarai Anko regretted being so impulsive.
“Uchiha Ikeizumi?” the female ninja beside her, still in shock, suddenly froze.
The next second.
Her reaction was almost identical to Mitarai Anko’s.
“Long time no see, Hongdou,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said as he stepped over the body of the Konoha ninja beneath his feet. Even though his steady stride towards Hongdou was an act of disregarding her warning, the sweating Hongdou dared not detonate the explosive tags.
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s languid tone caused Hongdou’s forehead to sweat profusely, “If I remember correctly, you should be staying in Konoha Prison, not roaming freely?”
Kijiro’s voice of realization then chimed in, “I remember now, meow! You’re that disciple of Orochimaru, right?”
“Two years ago, Lord Ikeizumi encountered you. He discovered that you had committed several evil deeds for Orochimaru without your knowledge. However, even by the standards of Absolute Justice, your crime was not punishable by death. Lord Ikeizumi merely threw you into Konoha Prison and ordered you to reflect for five years.”
Kijiro narrowed its cat eyes and spoke human words, gazing at Mitarai Anko. It licked its paws and continued, “Only two years have passed now. Meow, is the passage of time in Konoha Prison different from the passage of time outside?”
“Or perhaps…”
“Like that kid Naruto before, were you ‘pardoned’ by the Third Hokage using his special privilege? No wonder the Third Hokage was so smooth with the operation back then; he’d already tried it once.”
Mitarai Anko: “…”
Her silence confirmed Kijiro’s judgment.
After two years of harsh imprisonment in Konoha Prison, with only simple meals every day, Mitarai Anko, who felt like she had lost more than ten pounds, had indeed been released by the Third Hokage.
She still remembered what the Hokage had said to her.
— “Hongdou, the crime you are accused of… is merely that Orochimaru used you without your knowledge. Five years of imprisonment would be too much for you. These two years are enough for you to clear your name and completely sever ties with Orochimaru.”
— “Moreover, you can’t even remember what evil deeds you unintentionally helped Orochimaru commit. Such severe punishment would naturally be even more inappropriate for you.”
— “Currently, Konoha is in a time of need for its people. I, as Hokage, can pardon you. I hope you will remember the Will of Fire of Konoha and not dwell too much on the past.”
At that time, Hongdou had also asked Hiruzen Sarutobi, “What if I encounter Uchiha Ikeizumi?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s reply was, “I am the Hokage. Even if Ikeizumi’s personality is extreme, he sometimes has to listen to me. Even if he is dissatisfied with my actions, he will always understand me.”
At that time, Hongdou believed Hiruzen Sarutobi’s words.
However…
She felt like she had believed him too hastily.
“Two choices,” Uchiha Ikeizumi said, not being overly aggressive, but rather very calm and composed, “Choose the freedom given to you by the Third Hokage and stand on the opposite side of Absolute Justice, becoming my enemy. Or, lay down your weapons and surrender.”
“Hongdou, you…”
The female ninja beside her swallowed nervously and looked at Mitarai Anko.
“…Choose two.”
Hongdou immediately released the thin steel wire in her hand. In less than a hundredth of a second, she had made her decision.
Kijiro let out a rare “tsk tsk,” “This is the first time I’ve seen someone so decisively back down. I thought there would be one more villain who would die by Lord Ikeizumi’s hands today!”
Mitarai Anko looked at Uchiha Ikeizumi with a complex expression.
She said, “He and I were in the same class at the Ninja Academy. It’s precisely because I know him that I know what I should do.”
Kijiro: “!!!”
It suddenly remembered… Lord Ikeizumi was generally too lazy to remember the names of villains he had killed or imprisoned, because the number was simply too large.
Only Mitarai Anko was remembered by Lord Ikeizumi.
So that was the connection!
Uchiha Ikeizumi’s tone was indifferent, “Follow me for a while. After I’m done with this matter, I’ll take you back to Konoha.”
Hongdou forced a smile and said to her companion, “You’ll have to take Ryoichiro’s body back and report to the Hokage.”
She did not ask what Uchiha Ikeizumi was busy with.
Since she had decided to back down, she naturally had to see it through to the end.
“Hongdou, he killed…”
Hongdou interrupted her companion, “No one who died by Uchiha Ikeizumi’s hand was innocent.”
She paused and continued, “And those imprisoned by him… are no exception.”
Although Hongdou couldn’t remember what evil deeds she had unintentionally helped Orochimaru commit.
She believed herself to be guilty.
…
Land of Fire.
Tanzaku Street.
A tall man wearing wooden sandals squatted in the center of the street in a striking pose, his long white hair, which had exploded outwards like needles behind his head, now draped to the ground.
He extended a finger and scraped forcefully along the cracks between the paving stones. The dried, flaky bloodstains within the cracks clung to the skin of his fingertips. He brought it to his tongue and licked it slightly.
“Human blood…”
Jiraiya slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping across the entire ground before him.
Although the street had been cleaned thoroughly, the bloodstains in the cracks of the paving stones were difficult to remove. In his sight, the cracks of the paving stones along the entire street were stained with many dried, black bloodstains.
Jiraiya felt as if he could see the corpses strewn across the ground from that night.
It was as if he were witnessing Tanzaku Street covered in fire and blood.
He also noticed that many passersby around him had complex expressions.
Many buildings on both sides of the street were already scorched ruins.
Casinos, dance halls, bathhouses, clubs… all sorts of pleasure houses were either tightly shut or had already been burned down.
The entire Tanzaku Street had lost its former bustling prosperity.
With just a little inquiry, Jiraiya could roughly ascertain how many people had died that night.
“Several hundred people… That young Uchiha Ikeizumi, he went a bit too far this time, didn’t he?!” A trace of shock and gloom flashed in Jiraiya’s eyes, and he couldn’t help but grumble about Sarutobi Hiruzen: “The old man really indulged his behavior to exploit his Absolute Justice. Now, the consequence of indulgence is that Uchiha Ikeizumi has become quite uncontrollable.”
However, after inquiring further, Jiraiya suddenly discovered that things were not quite as he had imagined.
“Everyone who died that night was a bad person?” He looked at a local resident of Tanzaku Street and asked with a frown, “Wasn’t anyone innocently caught in the crossfire?!”
Under Jiraiya’s monetary persuasion, the local resident chose to tell him everything: “When we were cleaning up the bodies, we specifically looked at their faces. They were either gangsters, samurai thugs, ninjas who often bullied people, or individuals involved in shady dealings.”
“Some of the bodies were burnt beyond recognition. But those we could identify were not good people. That fellow named Uchiha Ikeizumi… while it was terrifying, he seemed to have only killed villains.”
Jiraiya fell silent for a moment. If, as the local resident said, everyone killed was a villain who deserved to die…
Did that mean Uchiha Ikeizumi might have been investigating the situation in Tanzaku Street secretly for a long time?
Was his massacre that night a righteous “net closing”?
Had he possibly been planning for it for a long time?
“So that’s how it is…”
Jiraiya murmured, “No wonder Tsunade didn’t stop his extreme actions. Given Tsunade’s personality… once she learned that Uchiha Ikeizumi only killed villains, she might very well stand by and do nothing, or even ‘unintentionally’ cooperate.”
Jiraiya calmed his thoughts slightly and intended to inquire about Tsunade’s whereabouts, but learned that the renowned “fat sheep” of Tanzaku Street had left early the morning before yesterday.
It was said that she had left with a large group of children, heading in the direction of Konoha.
Jiraiya was a bit bewildered.
Uchiha Ikeizumi…
Tsunade…
What exactly were these two up to?
…
Konoha.
Hokage’s Office Building.
“Hiruzen, why didn’t you inform us about such a major incident earlier?”
Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado found Sarutobi Hiruzen one after another. Koharu Utatane’s old face showed a hint of anger. She immediately said, “That’s Tanzaku Street! A significant source of revenue for the Land of Fire comes from Tanzaku Street! And a large portion of the taxes collected from Tanzaku Street is used for our Konoha’s ninja budget!”
Koharu Utatane took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down, but she couldn’t.
Koharu Utatane gritted her teeth and said, “Nine years ago, Uchiha Ikeizumi killed dozens of people in Tanzaku Street, almost bringing Tanzaku Street to a standstill. That time, I asked you to summon him back for accountability, but you used the excuse of ‘needing a ninja with a Dual Bloodline Limit to stabilize the battle situation’ and brushed it aside.”
“I felt back then that your indulgence of him would only cause similar behavior to escalate. And indeed, nine years later, he did it again a few days ago.”
“And…”
Koharu Utatane took a deep breath, “This time, over a hundred people died! This is just the tip of the iceberg that those three ninjas saw, as they didn’t investigate further.”
“The tip of the iceberg they saw was a hundred corpses. What about the full picture? Could it be hundreds, even thousands of corpses?”
“Hiruzen, within Tanzaku Street are the family pillars of many powerful families in the Land of Fire! Many magnates even patronize there!”
“Can you guarantee that Uchiha Ikeizumi didn’t kill a single magnate? He even dared to kill the Daimyo’s second son!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen, with a blank expression, held his pipe. The wisps of smoke rising from the pipe obscured half of his face.
Sarutobi Hiruzen, sitting in his chair, slightly raised his eyelids and looked at Koharu Utatane, who was struggling to calm down.
He said, “How could I not know what you’re talking about? The problem is that the event has already occurred. By the time I learned of this matter, it was several days after the incident. Can I go back a few days and send someone to stop Uchiha Ikeizumi?”
Sarutobi Hiruzen rubbed his aching brow with his free hand.
“Besides waiting for Ikeizumi to return, what else can I do? Koharu, Homura. You are high-level advisors of Konoha. Tell me, what else can I do now?!”
“Should I go to Tanzaku Street, take a sample of every cell from all the deceased, then reanimate them all with Edo Tensei, and then act as if nothing happened?!”
“Or should I dispatch all the Anbu and Root ninjas from the village and arrest Uchiha Ikeizumi under the pretext of ‘capturing a criminal rogue ninja’?!”
Sarutobi Hiruzen said in a deep voice, “You should all know, were the people killed by Ikeizumi truly innocent?”
“His justice places him on the side of righteousness. If the village people knew that I, the Hokage, killed a Uchiha who Punished Evil and Promoted Good, how would they perceive me?”
“Don’t forget…”
“Uchiha Ikeizumi’s Absolute Justice has already received preliminary approval from many people in the village! The times have changed.”
“Absolute Justice is no longer a Plague God that everyone avoids.”
As he spoke, a hint of undeniable pain flashed in Sarutobi Hiruzen’s eyes.
Wasn’t this also one of the reasons why he couldn’t take revenge on Uchiha Ikeizumi?
Even he couldn’t understand why it had become this way? Why, in such a short time, had many people come to approve of Ikeizumi’s justice? Clearly, the villagers’ thoughts were not like this before.
Sarutobi Hiruzen felt like he was on the verge of grasping something crucial.
But that spark of inspiration kept slipping through his fingers.
“Hokage-sama!” Suddenly, an Anbu Ninja entered the Hokage’s Office and reported to Sarutobi Hiruzen, “A Konoha ninja named ‘Shizune’ has returned to Konoha alone. She said—Lady Tsunade will be returning to the village soon.”
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado all froze.
Tsunade was returning?!
…
Somewhere in the Land of Fire.
Swish, swish, swish—three figures were rapidly advancing in one direction. Although they were all ninjas, they were not wearing ninja headbands, and each had a rather sinister aura, making it clear at a glance that they were not Konoha ninjas.
“Hey! Are you sure this is the right direction? We’ve been searching for a day and still haven’t found that Uchiha Ikeizumi. If we can’t find him, how are we going to explain it to Orochimaru’s people?”
“Besides, the direction we’re heading doesn’t seem to be towards Konoha Village!”
A ninja running at the very back grumbled with dissatisfaction.
“Hmph!”
The ninja running at the forefront snorted coldly in response, “Don’t underestimate my tracking abilities! We found the inn where he stayed in Tanzaku Street, and I’ve memorized his scent. As long as I can catch a whiff of his scent, I can find Uchiha Ikeizumi!”
“I don’t know why he isn’t returning to Konoha, but I’m sure Uchiha Ikeizumi is following this path. However, besides him, there are two other scents.”
The ninja at the front frowned and continued, “One of the scents doesn’t seem human. It might be a Summoned Beast.”
“The last scent is a bit like a woman’s.”
“And… the scent is getting stronger.”
Suddenly.
The middle ninja, who had been silent, said urgently, “Stop!”
The other two immediately stopped.
Under their puzzled gazes, he walked to the side, lowered his head, and looked at the ground, saying, “Look here.”
The other two walked over, and their pupils contracted.
“A corpse?!”
A headless corpse, covered in blood, lay in the bushes by the roadside, while a large head lay a few dozen centimeters away from the headless body.
The look of terrified despair frozen on the corpse’s face was clearly visible.
“There’s a headband.” One person bent down and picked up a metal headband. Upon seeing the pattern, his eyes flashed with surprise. “Hidden Cloud Village? What is a Hidden Cloud Village ninja doing in the Land of Fire? Could it be a spy from the Hidden Cloud Village planted in the Land of Fire? Tsk, this fellow was really unlucky to be killed.”
“He was killed by Uchiha Ikeizumi,” said the ninja with the keenest sense of smell. “There’s a very strong scent of Uchiha Ikeizumi nearby. There are no other signs of a struggle around. This Hidden Cloud Village spy was likely killed instantly.”
“Heh… No wonder Lord Orochimaru is so interested in that brat. A ninja with a Dual Bloodline Limit is indeed remarkable.”
Another person said solemnly, “The corpse is very fresh. That fellow named Uchiha Ikeizumi should have killed him within fifteen minutes.”
The three looked at each other.
Fifteen minutes…
That meant Uchiha Ikeizumi might be very close to them!
The three wasted no more words and immediately quickened their pace towards the front.
Half an hour later.
When two people and a cat appeared within the three’s line of sight, they, who had been searching for a long time, immediately perked up and, with silent understanding, increased their speed again, quickly surrounding the two people and the cat ahead.
One person blocked the front, while two guarded the rear left and rear right.
Their appearance “forced” Uchiha Ikeizumi to stop.
“Heh heh… Uchiha Ikeizumi, the renowned Lava Release Ferocious Beast, a ninja with a Dual Bloodline Limit rarely seen in the entire Ninja World… It really wasn’t easy to find you!”
The ninja blocking the front, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly.
He stared directly at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
Then, he couldn’t help but glance at Mitarai Anko, who was beside Uchiha Ikeizumi: “You are… tsk, no wonder I felt that woman’s scent was a bit familiar.”
“Mitarai Anko, Lord Orochimaru’s direct disciple! Ha, this is quite unexpected!”
Mitarai Anko: “!!!”
Anko had been wondering what these three were up to.
But when their last sentence was spoken, she suddenly realized that these three were not here with good intentions.
Especially when they mentioned Orochimaru’s name, Anko’s expression turned dangerous, and her muscles tensed slightly, as if ready to spring into action at any moment.
“Orochimaru?”
Kijiro, who was beside them, narrowed his cat eyes: “Lord Ikeizumi either doesn’t leave the village, or when he does, all sorts of demons and monsters appear.”
“Hey, hey, hey!”
A ninja from the rear right said, “We are talking to Uchiha Ikeizumi. What right does a pet cat like you have to interject?”
Then, the ninja standing at the front spoke, “Uchiha Ikeizumi, Lord Orochimaru values you greatly, which is why he sent us to find you.”
He repeated what Orochimaru had told him to Uchiha Ikeizumi, thus extending an Olive Branch to him.
After he finished speaking, while Uchiha Ikeizumi and Kijiro showed no reaction, Mitarai Anko’s expression changed slightly.
She couldn’t help but look anxiously at Uchiha Ikeizumi.
“What do you say… Lord Orochimaru is very sincere. As long as you join the organization Lord Orochimaru belongs to, in the future, you will be on equal footing with Lord Orochimaru.”
“Your Absolute Justice, which is not recognized by others, will surely be recognized by someone. It’s much better than staying in a place like Konoha Village.”
“And…”
Just as the ninja at the front was about to continue his eloquent speech, Uchiha Ikeizumi suddenly interrupted him with a nonchalant tone: “Is this the message that the heinous beast Orochimaru sent you to convey to me after traveling such a long distance?”
The concise sentence caused the three ninjas to change their expressions simultaneously.
How dare this Uchiha bastard insult Lord Orochimaru with such vulgar language!?
When Lord Orochimaru valued and thought so highly of him!
Truly incomprehensible!
Uchiha Ikeizumi coldly continued, “I have a message for you to take back to him – wash your long neck clean, and wait for Absolute Justice to come knocking.”
“However… that’s assuming you have the ability to communicate with him in dreams after you die.”
After he finished speaking, the three ninjas sent by Orochimaru immediately sensed a strong sense of crisis.
Before they could react, Kijiro made the first move.
Kijiro, who was not large in size, transformed in the blink of an eye into a terrifying giant cat over ten meters tall, with a ferocious and fearsome appearance. Without hesitation, he swatted at the ninja in the rear right.
Caught off guard, the opponent had no time to dodge and was directly hit by Kijiro’s paw.
Bang!!!
Instantly…
The ground trembled slightly.
“What?!” The other two’s faces changed drastically, but before they could make any further moves, Uchiha Ikeizumi, who had already been poised for action, was standing right in front of one of the ninjas. His eyes had turned into Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his scarlet eyes reflected in the opponent’s pupils.
As the opponent’s eyes suddenly glazed over, the ninja sword in Uchiha Ikeizumi’s hand had already drawn a deep bloody line across his neck.
A large head rolled to the ground.
Blood spurted skyward!
The last ninja’s pupils contracted, and he tried to hastily create distance, but unexpectedly, Mitarai Anko, who had been ready, also gritted her teeth and attacked: “Ninja Art: Shadow Snake Hand!!!”
In an instant.
More than a dozen fierce venomous snakes emerged from Mitarai Anko’s sleeves, each with extreme speed piercing through the air and attacking. They instantly bit the opponent more than a dozen times.
The venom was injected into the opponent’s body through their fangs.
“Oh… no…” A sudden wave of weakness washed over the ninja, causing him to go limp.
Anko quickly walked forward, drew a kunai, and held it to the opponent’s throat.
She gritted her teeth and threatened, “The poison will take at most three minutes to kill you. If you tell me Orochimaru’s location, I’ll give you the antidote.”
“Heh, you think…” Just as the weakened ninja was about to say something harsh, his expression suddenly froze.
Anko had just noticed that something was wrong with him when she felt her collar being pulled backward.
She was dragged backward.
Before she could wonder who had pulled her, the weakened ninja with the stiff expression in front of her began to visibly inflate.
When he inflated into a sphere, he exploded with a bang!
Bang!!!
Morsels of meat splattered in all directions.
Bang!!!
Bang!!!
The other two corpses were also identical, weirdly swelling rapidly and exploding with a bang.
A lot of morsels of meat and blood splattered onto Anko, making her facial expression freeze.
She clearly hadn’t expected things to unfold this way.
Until Uchiha Ikeizumi’s calm voice rang out behind her: “It seems Orochimaru sent the three of them here to die. And he left a contingency plan long ago to destroy the corpses so others couldn’t track him down through them. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to have the guts to stand in front of me himself.”
Uchiha Ikeizumi narrowed his eyes; in his view, the “evil” in the Ninja World had many sources. Orochimaru was one of them!
And hearing Uchiha Ikeizumi’s words, Anko felt a sense of daze…
It wasn’t Orochimaru who was targeting Uchiha Ikeizumi now.
It was Uchiha Ikeizumi who was targeting Orochimaru!
…
…
