Having barely managed to suppress his inner turmoil, Orochimaru changed the subject, his face ashen. "Kai, if I hand over the research data,
Having barely managed to suppress his inner turmoil, Orochimaru changed the subject, his face ashen.
"Kai, if I hand over the research data, will you let me leave?"
Experimental data might be the life's work of many scientific fanatics, something they'd defend to the death.
But for Orochimaru, a scientific genius with a potentially endless lifespan, it wasn't so important.
Furthermore, his wood release cell experiments hadn't yielded any significant breakthroughs at this stage. So, for him, it was essentially useless.
"Don't worry, I won't cheat you," Kai said with a dry laugh.
"Of course, if you hadn't helped Pakura earlier, I wouldn't have hesitated to kill you, then find someone with a cursed seal to revive you and continue this conversation."
"You know about that, too?" Orochimaru's face instantly changed.
The secret connection between immortality transfer and the cursed seal was something only he knew.
After all, Orochimaru had only recently defected from Konoha. He didn't have the Sound Five or Kabuto.
So, if he were to be killed by Kai, the only way to revive would be to wait for the will within a cursed seal to awaken on its own.
And the person with the cursed seal had to be unable to suppress him.
Orochimaru wasn't as carefree as he was in the original story, where he could rely on his immortality to do whatever he pleased.
"Hehe, I know a lot about you. Enough to fill a pillow book," Kai said, not elaborating. "Let's not get sidetracked. Hand over the wood release cell research data, and let me use your lab."
"Use my lab, too?" Orochimaru's expression faltered.
Having just escaped Konoha, he had secretly built numerous laboratories during his time as a Sannin.
Each one was the result of dedicated work, and even more valuable during these turbulent times.
Losing any of them would be a significant blow.
However, after meeting Kai's smiling gaze, Orochimaru's resistance deflated like a balloon. He forced a smile. "Alright, but my closest lab is in Kusagakure…"
"Don't worry. I left a space-time marker there. With my dōjutsu, getting there won't take long," Kai said, smiling.
Orochimaru paused, staring at Kai's blood-red Mangekyo Sharingan, a flicker of longing in his eyes.
He quickly suppressed it, but Kai noticed. "What's wrong? Admiring my Mangekyo? If you want to take it, be my guest."
Orochimaru shuddered.
The eyes were tempting, but not worth dying for.
He didn't want to be killed by Kai, then revived through a cursed seal, only to be killed again.
That endless cycle was a horrifying thought.
After regaining his composure, Orochimaru's expression returned to normal.
"Your possessions are only appealing to the dead. It's getting late. Let me see the secrets of your Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Is that so?" Kai didn't pursue the matter. Killing Hiruko had served its purpose.
His goal wasn't to have Orochimaru extract wood release cells for him.
He didn't trust this scheming viper enough to let him do it alone.
His fate was best left in his own hands.
"Kimimaro, let's go!" Kai said, glancing at the quickly assembled Kimimaro. He activated his Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, unleashing his powerful dōjutsu to tear a spatial rift in the air.
Orochimaru stared at the dark rift, his face filled with shock.
Meanwhile, in Amegakure…
A battle of almost divine proportions had taken place in Town, but because most of the residents had fled, the casualties were minimal. Even Hanzo of the Salamander had survived.
This didn't have a significant impact on Amegakure.
The heavily guarded meeting hall was now deserted of ANBU.
Only Hanzo, Nagato, and Kosuke remained. The silence created a tense atmosphere.
"Alright, continuing to stare at each other won't help," Hanzo said, breaking the silence.
"I've surrendered to Uchiha Kai. I believe you have as well…"
"No, who said we…" Nagato started to protest, but Yahiko quickly covered his mouth, earning a glare.
"Yes, we made a bet with Kai and lost. We're his now," Yahiko said.
"We have a lot of history, but now we're all working for someone else. Those matters will be decided by Kai. I trust you have no objections, Hanzo-sama?"
They could attack Hanzo, but Nagato's incomplete Rinnegan was useless.
The Konoha genin would likely watch from the sidelines.
Whether they would intervene on Kai's behalf was uncertain.
"Good. I'm glad you understand the bigger picture. I didn't expect the Akatsuki to have a leader with such vision," Hanzo said, secretly relieved.
If he wasn't facing Uchiha Kai, he was confident he could defeat them.
But Yahiko had admitted their connection to Kai, making it difficult for him to act.
This outcome was the best.
However, Hanzo didn't dwell on this.
His gaze shifted to Kosuke. "You three have been lingering. You must have something to tell me?"
As the leader of the strongest village outside the Five Great Nations, Hanzo's existence was crucial.
Kosuke's expression shifted. He glanced at Yahiko and the others before sighing. "We were ordered to invite Uchiha Kai to the Five Kage Summit."
"But we were also ordered by the Third Hokage to invite you, Hanzo-sama, to participate."
"Although you're now working for Kai, we still want you to persuade the other Great Nations to avoid conflict with him. You should know the consequences of a war."
When they arrived, Kosuke and the others only knew of Kai through rumors.
But after witnessing him defeat Uchiha Madara, they realized Kai was beyond their comprehension.
A single misstep could lead to disaster.
____________________
for more advance chapters visit my patreon
patreon.com/kane45
Tier: 10$ Casual Reader - 20+ Advance Chapter
20$ Intermediate Reader - 40+ Advance Chapter
40$ Expert Reader - 80+ Advance Chapter
Update: "Monday to Friday - Update 3 Chapters a Day"
"Saturday and Sunday - Off"