"We happen to really like this spot," Orochimaru said calmly.
"No, that won't do at all," Hyuga Kazuhiko replied with a smile. "You're supposed to be the elites of our graduating class."
"That's fine, we'll sit here."
Akaba frowned slightly. Their meaning should have been clear enough by now—this guy had better not be that clueless...
Hyuga Kazuhiko narrowed his eyes slightly while maintaining his smile. "In that case, I wish you all an enjoyable meal." With a polite nod, he turned and naturally made his way toward the next table.
Akaba glanced around.
There were about thirty to forty people total—half were clan heirs, while the other half were commoner-born ninja who had successfully become genin after passing the exams.
From the food arrangements alone, Hyuga Kazuhiko had ensured equality.
But careful observation revealed subtle differences.
Those sitting closer to Hyuga Kazuhiko's table were generally the stronger and more talented ones. His intention earlier in asking Akaba's group to switch seats was exactly for this reason.
"Our class is the first graduating batch since the war..."
Hyuga Kazuhiko gently spoke to the people at the nearby table.
"Hypocrite," Jiraiya muttered under his breath.
"Eat faster," Akaba murmured as he continued eating meat, wanting to finish quickly so he could leave as soon as possible.
Orochimaru clearly had the same idea.
Both buried themselves into devouring their meals, choosing whichever food and cooking method filled their stomachs fastest, without caring about taste at all.
As for Jiraiya...
After eating just a few slices of meat, he suddenly clutched his stomach and bolted for the restroom. "Ugh!! Here it goes again—I gotta go!"
"Tch, what an idiot. He knew he had an upset stomach in the afternoon, but still insisted on coming when he heard there'd be barbecue," Tsunade sighed quietly.
"Never mind him, let's keep eating."
Orochimaru stuffed a few more bites into his mouth, his mouth already full.
It was rare seeing him like this—he was usually someone who never rushed through anything.
Tsunade, meanwhile, carried on eating calmly, totally unfazed by their odd behavior.
After a short while, Akaba and Orochimaru both stopped eating.
They exchanged glances, then subtly looked around.
No one was paying attention to them.
Perfect.
Without making a sound, both used Multiple Shadow Clones and Transformation Jutsu to quietly sneak away right in front of Tsunade.
With her back facing them, Tsunade didn't notice the suspicious departure of two individuals at all.
After exiting the barbecue restaurant,
the two maintained their transformed appearances and slipped unnoticed into the busy streets.
A short time later, they reached a more desolate area near Konoha.
At that point, Orochimaru finally asked, "Earlier, you mentioned giving me some role?"
"A major villain—basically the big bad of the early arc."
Akaba answered, "A cunning conspirator behind the Chunin Exams who later defects from Konoha as a rogue ninja."
Initially calm, Orochimaru only grew shocked upon hearing the words "conspirator" and "rogue ninja," unable to help turning toward Akaba in surprise. "You're joking, right?"
"This is how I'm currently planning the story to go," Akaba shook his head.
"Do you really think I come off as the kind of person like that?"
Orochimaru seemed genuinely astonished.
Fair point.
Akaba pinched his chin thoughtfully, carefully looking Orochimaru up and down.
Then he sat cross-legged, took out his sketchpad and brush, and started brushing quickly, capturing Orochimaru's earlier observation of Yauma.
When the drawing was finished, Akaba turned the sketchpad around.
"What the hell is this?"
Because of the night, even though ninjas had sharp eyesight, they still struggled to see clearly at first glance.
Orochimaru stepped closer and finally made out what was drawn.
The figure in the picture had its back turned, but every movement and gesture exuded an aura of pure evil.
Looking more closely, the scene seemed very familiar.
"Is this… me?"
The young Orochimaru was stunned. He pointed at himself speechlessly for a long time.
"Yeah, when you were studying Yauma."
Akaba withdrew his chakra, and the ink faded away automatically.
Orochimaru froze momentarily, then coughed lightly, trying hard to act composed again. "Depends on the angle you look at it."
Silence fell.
Taking a few steps forward, Orochimaru suddenly stopped.
He looked around bewilderedly and said, "How did I get here?"
"I wanted to ask where you were headed, but seeing that serious look on your face, I didn't want to interrupt."
Akaba remarked.
"Forget it. Since Danzo isn't around these days, I'll show you my laboratory."
Orochimaru said.
That explained it; they were already inside his lab. Akaba scanned his surroundings looking for the entrance, but the night was too dark and he wasn't a professional sensor ninja. After checking around, he found nothing.
"Don't bother searching. The entrance to the lab isn't on this side."
Orochimaru twisted and turned until they came upon a crack between some rocks.
He lay flat and squeezed himself into the crevice.
Akaba's eyes widened.
Bro, you can fit through, but how about me?
"Come in."
Orochimaru disappeared inside, waving from the other side of the rock fissure.
Akaba remained silent for a moment before forming hand seals and using Earth Release to bypass the rock.
Before long, he arrived beneath the lab.
But underneath still lay solid rock. After looking around, he finally spotted an opening in a corner and maneuvered through it into the laboratory.
"Hmph, hmph, hmph. Didn't expect you'd actually find this gap."
Orochimaru chuckled slightly.
His plan didn't work out, but he wasn't too upset about it.
Akaba surveyed his surroundings.
The lab was quite large, but only a single room. There was a door leading somewhere else — judging by appearances, probably an ANBU base outside.
He got it now — Orochimaru had carved that crack in the rocks for secret comings and goings.
"What do you use for experiments?"
Akaba asked casually after glancing around.
"The most common ones are vermin — they're everywhere around here and easy to trap."
Orochimaru answered. "Next are rabbits, although once we caught a lost deer, probably one that escaped from the Nara clan."
"You sure don't discriminate."
Akaba wandered around and indeed found a pair of small antlers, which indicated this deer must have been quite young.
"It was a rare specimen, so I'll have to send my apologies to Loe."
Orochimaru said without any change in tone.
To use something like that for Soft Physique Modification… truly remarkable.
Akaba couldn't help but admire this feat silently.
Orochimaru now had no flaws from any perspective.
Even if the Third discovered his research experiments, it would still be Danzo who took the blame.
"Akaba, do you know? The truth is, what I most want to research isn't ordinary ninjutsu, but the secrets of life and immortality," Orochimaru said in a low tone, guiding Akaba toward a corner.
Then he carefully took out his most treasured possession—the molted skin of the White Snake.
"A snake's shed skin? It's said to symbolize luck and rebirth," Akaba said, momentarily surprised.
Ah, just like what I've seen in the manga—the molted skin of the White Snake. As expected...
"Luck and rebirth—if humans could master those two aspects, they wouldn't die, right?" Orochimaru murmured to himself.
"Luck is something nobody can control," replied Akaba.
"That's exactly why I want to study the secret of regeneration."
Gently, Orochimaru put it away again.
"Regeneration may be easy, but true immortality is hard. Even the First Hokage's body could supposedly heal from any wound—but what happened in the end?" Akaba didn't buy into it.
Even in the manga, though Orochimaru later seemed "successful," Akaba still didn't believe that was real immortality.
The body might remain eternal, but the soul itself still weakens.
"You might have a point, but I still want to try pursuing it."
Orochimaru spoke indifferently. "Akaba, I envy you."
"Envy me?"
"You always come up with such fascinating ideas—flexible bodies, Lightning Cutter. More importantly, your drawings aren't just fantasy—they're techniques that might actually be realized."
"What do you mean?"
"I'd like you to provide me with some concepts. You can draw whatever you like—you know, I don't really care about those things anyway."
Akaba was taken aback, not expecting such words at all.
However, merely offering ideas wasn't a big deal.
After all, Orochimaru hadn't yet mastered his serpent-based jutsu, so there were plenty of techniques for which he could supply conceptual ideas.
Thinking thus, he nodded. "Okay, but I have one condition."
"What, you really agree?"
Overjoyed, Orochimaru brightened.
He'd been craving Akaba's help for a long time. Ever since they were in the Land of River, he'd wanted to work together—he simply hadn't found the right moment to bring it up until now.
"I can give you some ideas, but you must promise not to conduct human experiments," Akaba said seriously.
"Naturally."
At this stage, Orochimaru hadn't yet gone deep into such research or faced many insurmountable difficulties, so human experimentation hadn't even crossed his mind.
"Good, then cooperation it is."
Akaba extended his hand.
They shook hands. Orochimaru, likely triggered by his professional habits, tidied up the somewhat disordered area afterward.
Then he continued, "Danzo has left the village. I suspect he might have headed to Sunagakure Village."
"To investigate Magnet Release?"
Currently, in the Land of Wind, the only thing worth personally investigating by the Anbu Commander himself would be Magnet Release—the kekkei genkai that made its stunning appearance during the Chunin Exams.
"He recently showed me all the data he'd collected on the One-Tail—including old ledgers dating back to the time of the First and Second Kazekage."
"The old man sure does have his hands full—keeping an eye on the Land of Whirlpools while managing affairs in Sunagakure Village."
Akaba sighed lightly.
But this was only natural. According to the comic plot, he indeed knew that Sunagakure Village had not dared to take action against Konoha in recent years.
However, Danzo would never trust Sunagakure Village.
If during the Great War of the Land of Whirlpools, Sunagakure Village betrayed them from behind, they would suffer severe losses due to a lack of intelligence.
He stepped forward a few paces, then halted and said, "If you really want to develop it, I suggest you focus on combining Summoning Technique with Taijutsu to forge your own Ninjutsu."
"Combining Summoning Technique with Taijutsu?"
Orochimaru was momentarily taken aback. Previously, he either summoned alone or summoned many small snakes for scouting purposes.
After thinking about it, he honestly replied, "I've considered it before, but didn't come up with a good solution."
"You can start with something simpler."
Mr. Akaba casually drew a sketch.
It showed a simple figure spreading his sleeves, from which several large snakes flew out.
[Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!]
Then he drew another one—"[Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!]"
These drawings were different from the earlier ones. Because the ink wasn't condensed chakra, they could be preserved for a long time.
Akaba tossed them to Orochimaru and smiled lightly. "Just for reference."
Orochimaru took them and glanced over. What he lacked were ideas. But now, with such vivid images, he could instantly visualize how to implement them in his mind.
The idea looked simple in theory, but turning it into something practical would take serious time and experimentation.
"It's such a privilege working with Mr. Akaba."
He whispered to himself, eyes gleaming with excitement.
"Let's go."
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