The wanted orders issued by both Konoha Village and the Cloud Village for Orochimaru had suddenly stirred up the entire underworld of the shinobi world into a frenzy of activity.
Rogue ninja and various powerful mercenaries had already begun taking action, searching for Orochimaru in every corner of the continent.
There was simply no resisting the temptation—the bounty offered by Konoha Village alone was absolutely irresistible, not to mention the additional reward promised by the Cloud Village!
If that development alone hadn't been shocking enough, Sunagakure's subsequent announcement immediately sent shockwaves throughout the entire shinobi world.
Sunagakure released official confirmation that Orochimaru had assassinated the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, and they too issued their own wanted warrant for the rogue Sannin.
Although Sunagakure was so financially strapped that they were practically selling their own blood and couldn't offer a massive monetary bounty, they were still a major ninja village after all. In order to avenge their fallen Kazekage and express their collective outrage, they directly offered a substantial amount of gold dust as compensation.
This development caused a complete sensation throughout the entire shinobi world!
At a coastal location, powerful winds and crashing waves swept inland, bringing with them the salt-tinged humidity of the ocean air.
Inside a modest seaside hotel, two ninja wearing distinctive black robes embroidered with red clouds were taking a brief rest between missions.
The taller man was carefully reading through a newspaper, while his companion—a man carrying a distinctive red three-bladed scythe that reeked of dried blood—appeared visibly bored and restless.
"Hey, Kakuzu, it's time for us to move out," the scythe-wielder complained.
"This mission has been really tedious. Why won't you let me kill anyone? My offerings to the great Jashin-sama are still insufficient."
"On the way back, I want to eliminate someone. Kakuzu, you'll help me find a suitable target..."
"Hey, I'm talking to you, Kakuzu."
Hidan continued his incessant rambling for quite some time before he finally realized that his partner Kakuzu hadn't responded at all to his complaints.
"Hey, what exactly are you reading? You haven't said a single word for such a long time."
Hidan turned sideways with obvious irritation and looked directly at Kakuzu.
"Huh? Kakuzu, what's wrong with you?"
At this moment, Hidan was genuinely surprised to discover that Kakuzu was gripping the newspaper with trembling hands, displaying an expression of complete disbelief on his usually composed face, and his eyes seemed to be literally glowing with excitement.
What could possibly cause such a reaction?
The next second, before Hidan could even begin to understand what was happening, Kakuzu suddenly leaped to his feet, strode out of the hotel with obvious excitement, and began walking away without so much as a backward glance.
"Kakuzu, you..." Hidan called out in confusion.
Hidan hurriedly grabbed his bloody triple-bladed scythe and followed in complete bewilderment.
"Why are you walking so fast? Wait for me, hey!"
"Heaven has truly descended upon us!" Kakuzu exclaimed with barely contained joy, as if he had just encountered the most fortunate event of his entire life.
"What heaven? Are you interested in following me and believing in Jashin-sama?" Hidan asked hopefully.
Kakuzu, who usually made a point of telling Hidan to shut up, didn't seem to care at all about his partner's religious proselytizing and said directly, "Hurry up, we're heading to Otogakure immediately!"
"Hey? Aren't we supposed to be returning to the base?"
"No, we're going to kill Orochimaru!"
"Why?" Hidan asked with genuine confusion.
Hidan had no idea what was happening and wore a completely puzzled expression on his face.
"Read this and then give it back to me when you're finished!" Kakuzu commanded.
He directly shoved the newspaper into Hidan's hands and then quickened his pace even further.
"What is this supposed to be..."
Hidan looked down at the newspaper and took several moments to process what he was seeing.
"Wow! That's an incredible amount of bounty money!"
"Oh, I see what's happening now..."
Hidan, who had suddenly grasped the situation, caught up with Kakuzu and was about to speak with a knowing smile when suddenly a subtle chakra pulse emanated from both of their hands.
This was the Akatsuki leader's signal notifying all members to prepare for an urgent meeting.
"Let's find a suitable location first," Kakuzu said.
"Right!"
In the dim underground base, several shadowy figures gathered together through the Magic Lantern Body Technique.
Before Tendo Pain could begin speaking, Kakuzu used the projection created by the jutsu to speak directly:
"Our team doesn't have time to accept any new missions at the moment, because I'm going to hunt down the organization's traitor, Orochimaru! Don't assign us any new missions until I eliminate that bastard!"
Kakuzu didn't care what mission Tendo Pain had been planning to assign them and simply refused outright. The most important priority at this moment was locating Orochimaru.
"That's exactly what I intended to discuss!" Pain's voice resonated without any trace of emotion. "You should be aware that three major ninja villages have now issued wanted orders for Orochimaru."
"Even without considering the extraordinary bounty amounts involved, Orochimaru remains a traitor to our Akatsuki organization. Hunting him down is our next official mission!"
"Zetsu, from this moment forward, search for Orochimaru with all available resources!"
"Understood!"
"Kakuzu, what is your current location?"
"We're preparing to head toward Otogakure! There might be useful clues about Orochimaru's whereabouts there."
"Excellent! Your team will proceed to Otogakure Village immediately!"
Tendo Pain turned his attention to another projection. "Sasori, you and Deidara will investigate the areas surrounding the Cloud Village. Orochimaru escaped from the Land of Lightning not very long ago. There may be valuable intelligence available in that region. You can also attempt to track or intercept the pursuit teams from the Cloud Village and extract information about Orochimaru's location."
"Understood," Sasori replied simply.
"All other members, complete your current assignments as quickly as possible and then stand by for further orders."
"Once Zetsu locates Orochimaru's trail, everyone must deploy immediately!"
"If circumstances become critical, I will also take direct action!"
"That concludes this meeting. Disperse!"
"Wait a moment..." Kakuzu suddenly interjected.
He spoke in an extremely menacing tone: "I don't care who else wants to kill Orochimaru, but his corpse belongs to me, and the bounty money is mine as well!"
"If anyone dares to try stealing from me, I'll kill them!"
After delivering this threat, Kakuzu glanced coldly at every other member present, and then his projection vanished.
Hidan could only shrug helplessly beside his partner. There was nothing he could do about it—that was just how Kakuzu operated!
The dim base fell into complete silence, and then the remaining projections disappeared one by one.
"Found it! I found it!" came an excited shout.
"Over here!"
Following the triumphant call, dozens of figures flashed through the quiet forest with practiced stealth.
Ninja of unknown origin had gathered around a concealed entrance to what appeared to be a secret base, and a cold breeze drifted out from the dark opening.
"Someone in a nearby village claims to have spotted Orochimaru recently. This must be one of his hideouts!"
"However, considerable time has passed since then. Judging from the surrounding environment and lack of recent activity, this place appears to have been abandoned."
"Never mind that detail—maybe there will be useful clues inside the base."
"Exactly! Even if Orochimaru isn't currently here, it's still worthwhile as long as we can discover traces of his movements!"
"Attack!"
With eager anticipation, dozens of ninja rushed into the entrance impatiently and disappeared into the darkness beyond.
After what felt like an eternity, there was a tremendous explosion and a dull detonation echoed from deep within the base, and thick smoke and bright flames erupted from the entrance.
The entire base structure collapsed directly, burying alive every single ninja who had broken inside.
As the forest gradually returned to its natural calm, two figures materialized on the towering trees nearby—they had been observing the entire time.
"Lord Orochimaru, this marks the sixth group of ninja to discover one of our bases!" Yakushi Kabuto reported to his master with obvious frustration, noting that their losses had been mounting steadily over time.
Orochimaru's already pale complexion became even more ghastly with anger. Even burying these intruders alive had failed to diminish his growing rage.
In order to avoid detection by ninja with exceptional sensory abilities, Orochimaru had been forced to abandon more than ten different bases in rapid succession!
The base they had just destroyed was relatively insignificant, but several of the installations he had been compelled to abandon previously had been constructed with tremendous effort and resources!
Now, everything was gone!
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