Chapter 599: Betrayal
Deep within the Land of Sound, in a base hidden far underground.
Orochimaru and Kabuto were walking slowly down a subterranean corridor.
The intelligence from Otosu Town had just been delivered into Orochimaru's hands.
He casually unrolled the scroll. Written on it in code was the intelligence regarding the appearance of Sasuke and Sakura—information he already knew.
After all, these two had brazenly barged into his sphere of influence, openly and plainly searching for his bases.
"Lord Orochimaru, this group from Konoha seems to be coming in with aggressive momentum..." Kabuto stood behind him, pushing up his glasses as he spoke. "Should we avoid them for a bit?"
"Avoid them?" Orochimaru suddenly stopped, turned his head slightly, and shot Kabuto a glance.
The flickering lights in the corridor cast fluctuating shadows on the snake-like man's profile.
Those amber eyes were as coldly sinister as a venomous snake in the dark.
Kabuto's heart tightened. The faint, almost imperceptible killing intent carried in Orochimaru's hoarse voice coiled around his heart, making it hard to breathe.
Orochimaru's strength has grown again, he thought.
Just a single look, a single sentence, was enough to make his heart tremble.
The bespectacled young man felt a chill, yet his face still maintained an unhurried, fake smile: "I think... the reason that guy Kakashi dares to search for our traces here so unscrupulously is probably not just because he has Haruno Sakura supporting him from behind, right?"
Orochimaru gave him a profound look, and only after a long while did he turn his head back.
He smiled slightly, and as he paced deeper into the cramped and gloomy corridor, he said coldly: "That piece of trash who merely holds the empty title of a genius dares to run wild in my territory; it's highly likely he's made a breakthrough with that eye he only obtained through sheer luck!"
"The Mangekyo Sharingan?" Kabuto followed, asking at the right moment.
"Exactly." Orochimaru replied coldly, repeating it word by word, "The Mangekyo Sharingan..."
The Sharingan... this name held a special significance for Orochimaru.
He had once been defeated by Itachi Uchiha, losing in a very miserable state. From then on, the arrogant and proud Orochimaru became obsessed with the Sharingan. He coveted the Uchiha physique, and for a time, he actively plotted to obtain Sasuke Uchiha's body. Unfortunately, in this ninja world, he had failed to successfully kidnap Sasuke as he had in the original timeline.
The Mangekyo Sharingan was indeed his weakness, an eternal sore spot in his heart.
It was just... Orochimaru thought to himself, his gaze growing increasingly cold and gloomy: What kind of foul fish and rotten shrimp are you, Kakashi Hatake? Itachi Uchiha being able to defeat me—what does that have to do with you?
Ultimately, the Mangekyo Sharingan must be paired with someone worthy of it to unleash its true power. To put it bluntly, is Kakashi... really worthy of the Sharingan? It was obvious Orochimaru did not think so. In all of Team Seven, the one he valued the most was Haruno Sakura, followed by Sasuke, whom he had coveted for a long time.
As for Kakashi?
He was not even fit to carry his student Haruno Sakura's shoes.
Kabuto could roughly guess what was going through Orochimaru's mind. He knew Orochimaru did not think highly of Kakashi.
However, Haruno Sakura, whom Kabuto had been avoiding mentioning, was the true threat.
Having served under Orochimaru for so many years, Kabuto understood this man's personality very well. Aside from his weak sense of morality and lack of human empathy, he was actually a decent leader. At least on the surface. Otherwise, he would not have so easily won over a bunch of cannon fodder, and even talents, who were willingly ready to lay down their lives for him.
The true Orochimaru was proud and arrogant, devoid of emotion, unmindful of past affections, and treated worldly constraints as nothing; he was a cold-blooded animal in every sense of the word.
Because they were surrounded by strong enemies and the situation was critical, Orochimaru's mood had already begun to grow volatile. If he were to mention Itachi or Sakura at this time and stimulate Orochimaru's emotions, Kabuto himself might end up drawing his ire, right?
"I know it's not Kakashi you want to talk about, Kabuto." Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, glancing back at the bespectacled man behind him, and said flatly, "Haruno Sakura... and of course, Sasuke Uchiha, who may have already awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan. The former alone is already very troublesome; if you add a pair of Mangekyo Sharingan on top of that, no matter how you look at it, we are undoubtedly bound to lose."
"I can help you hold off Sasuke." Kabuto hastily stated his position. "My corpse manipulation technique happens to have no fear of the Sharingan!"
Orochimaru made no response.
The two continued walking like this until they reached the end of the corridor.
Under the illumination of the dim lights, it was evident that there was no more path ahead.
"Lord Orochimaru, this is a dead end," Kabuto reminded him.
"So you noticed. This is a dead end... a dead end... how should we proceed?" Orochimaru stopped his steps, sounding as if he were asking Kabuto, yet also muttering to himself.
Kabuto frowned slightly.
"I do not understand, my Lord." He hesitated for a moment before answering.
"No, you do understand, Kabuto. We were just approached by Akatsuki, and now, we have powerful enemies from Konoha blocking the door." The man in the kimono spoke faintly. "A fierce tiger blocks the front, and a pack of wolves trails behind. I have no confidence in dealing with any of them. Is this not reaching a dead end? Tell me, what should we do?"
Kabuto pondered for a moment, but still looked somewhat puzzled: "My Lord, I still do not understand... Konoha certainly comes with ill intentions, but regarding Akatsuki earlier... they only seemed to be inviting you to rejoin the organization and didn't seem to have any threatening intentions. That shouldn't count as a dead end, right?"
Orochimaru sneered: "No threatening intentions? That was merely because they did not have the spare energy to threaten me... You don't actually think Akatsuki is some kind of charitable organization, do you? That is even more absurd than believing the Third Hokage is a good person! Entering that organization means throwing your life away for them, and in the end, you'll more than likely be disposed of once you've outlived your usefulness... Otherwise, why do you think I defected from Akatsuki in the first place?"
Kabuto was silent for a moment, completely speechless.
"So, what should we do?" Orochimaru continued. "If I were you, Kabuto, I would already be considering how to betray myself right now... This is a prime opportunity. What do you think, Kabuto? Are the terms offered to you by Akatsuki not tempting enough?"
Kabuto immediately broke out into a cold sweat!
Swish, swish, swish!
Hearing a few cold hisses, before the bespectacled youth could even react, he was already tightly bound by several pythons. In an instant, his entire person became like a fish on a chopping board, completely immobilized!
"Lord Orochimaru, I have not betrayed you!" Kabuto did not attempt to struggle, nor did he quibble; instead, he immediately cried out, "I chose to follow you because I acknowledge your ideals. How could I betray you over a few illusory promises!"
"Of course you haven't betrayed me, otherwise you would already be a corpse by now."
Orochimaru turned around, looked at Kabuto, and said coldly.
"But, you hesitated, didn't you?" He glared with his amber vertical pupils, as a chilling killing intent slowly overflowed from his beast-like eyes and seeped into Kabuto's body.
"Lord Orochimaru..." Kabuto panted heavily, groaning in pain while struggling to speak, "I can explain!"
"Then I am all ears." The man in the kimono chuckled coldly.
Meanwhile, outside one of Orochimaru's underground bases.
A young girl's figure suddenly appeared. Her slender black sandals stepped onto the ground, her light footsteps stirring up a faint cloud of dust that settled on her fair, delicate feet.
Sasuke Uchiha arrived close behind, his figure landing steadily beside Sakura.
"According to the intel, there is also one of Orochimaru's underground bases here." He exchanged a glance with Sakura and said, "Will you do it, or should I?"
"I'll handle it! You should conserve some of your stamina..." Sakura Uchiha clapped her hands and said, "I just hope we won't return empty-handed like the last few times!"
"Get out here, Orochimaru!"
She let out a cold snort, her hands rapidly forming hand seals as the chakra on her body erupted fiercely.