Orochimaru was as simple and brutal as ever. When a person suddenly appeared in the middle of nowhere, lying on the ground, who knew whether they were good or bad?
He wasn't interested in figuring out who the man was, so there was no need to consider how to treat him. Orochimaru walked over to the man and observed him first, finding no traps. Only then did he reach for the man's collar.
This scene pleased Hibari. The boy was careful and vigilant. No wonder he could survive to the end despite being targeted by so many people.
Then, Orochimaru grabbed the man's collar and lifted his head. The man, still unconscious, frowned, seemingly bothered by the discomfort. This was a good sign that he wasn't unconscious due to serious injuries or poisoning, but more likely from exhaustion.
The next moment, Orochimaru delivered two slaps to the man's face. The force was so great that one could hear a loud "pak." After two strikes, the man's face swelled up immediately.
Seeing that two slaps weren't enough, Orochimaru didn't hesitate and gave him two more. Hibari winced and unconsciously touched his own cheek.
This time, it finally worked. Orochimaru had slapped the man awake.
When the man opened his eyes, he first saw Orochimaru and seemed to think he was just a child with no threat. He immediately said, "I'm so thirsty... Give me some water, you brat..."
As soon as the man spoke, Hibari was first stunned, then he laughed. Such a scumbag was a rare sight. With that kind of attitude, it was a miracle he hadn't been beaten to death.
Even Orochimaru was taken aback for a moment. Then his eyes turned slightly darker, and a faint smile appeared on his face. He whispered, "How interesting..."
As soon as he said that, the venomous snake sleeping on his neck woke up, flicking its tongue and staring at the scumbag with cold, vertical pupils.
The arrogant man saw the snake, and his face filled with terror. He struggled violently, trying to break free from Orochimaru's grip. But he was too weak, and Orochimaru was a shinobi. The man couldn't easily break free.
The snake gradually slithered from Orochimaru's neck and wrapped around the man's, flicking its tongue and staring intently into his eyes.
The man's expression was one of extreme fear. He said, "A snake, it's a snake... Let me go! I don't want to die!"
Orochimaru didn't indulge him. He raised his hand and gave him two more slaps, almost knocking him out. Before the man could recover, Orochimaru said, "From now on, I ask, you answer. If I am not satisfied in the slightest, you will have to endure the bites of a thousand snakes..."
As he finished speaking, numerous venomous snakes slithered out from every corner of his clothing. They all flicked their tongues and stared at the man with the cold, unfeeling eyes of a reptile, almost making the scumbag wet himself.
"Tell me, ask me..." the man said, flustered.
Orochimaru's forehead twitched. Before the man could react, he raised his hand and gave him two more slaps. This time, two of the man's teeth fell out, and blood flowed from his mouth.
"When you speak to me, watch your tone, trash," Orochimaru said icily. The snake wrapped around the man's neck licked the blood from his mouth with its tongue, an incredibly sinister sight.
Only then did the man understand that he had run into a tough opponent. His attitude changed quickly. He immediately said, "Master, what do you want to ask?"
Watching this, Hibari's lips curled up slightly. He murmured to himself, "Such a worthless person. He must be lacking discipline. How did he grow up to be like this?"
Orochimaru then asked a series of questions about the snakes, where the man came from, and why he was here. The man didn't dare to hide anything, answering Orochimaru quickly for fear of getting another two slaps or being bitten to death by the snakes.
Hibari listened for a long time and finally understood what was going on. He couldn't help but feel a little excited and happy.
According to the man, he had lived in a nearby village that had recently settled there. They were a semi-nomadic tribe. However, snakes had always been a common sight around their village, and the villagers would occasionally hunt them for a living.
After all, snakes had medicinal value. Sometimes, merchant caravans would pass by the village and buy snake gallbladders and snake wine, allowing the villagers to make a small profit.
Things were going well until one day, a giant snake as tall as a mountain and as long as a dragon appeared in the village. It immediately ate several villagers, terrifying everyone.
Then, the giant snake began to speak. It said its name was Manda, a disciple of the White Snake Sage of the nearby Sage Land, the Ryūchi Cave. Recently, it had noticed that a large number of its young snakes were being hunted and killed, so it had followed the trail of humans and come here for revenge.
Everyone in the village, from the old to the young, had been involved in the industry of hunting snakes and selling them for money, so they were all at odds with Manda.
However, Manda was clever. It realized there weren't many people in the village, not even enough for two or three meals. There were only a few hundred people. So, it came up with a "pig-raising" plan. The villagers had to atone for their sins by sacrificing ten people to Manda every week. If they didn't, it would eat the entire village.
It didn't care where they got the ten people from—whether they were lured, robbed, or whatever. As long as there were ten.
At first, the village sacrificed some of its own people. But they soon realized that if they kept doing this, the village would wipe itself out. They wanted to run, but Manda had spies all around. Large numbers of snakes were watching. Several people who had tried to escape before were eaten alive by the snakes.
So, they couldn't run, and they couldn't keep sacrificing their own people. Under duress, the villagers began to harbor malicious intentions. They would trick travelers from passing merchant caravans into staying, then poison them or tie them up and offer them as sacrifices to Manda.
Manda was ecstatic, but the nearby merchant caravans were in for a terrible time. Every time they passed through the area, they would lose some of their men, never to be seen or heard from again. After several hundred people disappeared, who would dare come anymore?
Except for the occasional fearless caravan that didn't believe the stories, no one came anymore. With no outsiders to sacrifice, the village was forced to start sacrificing its own people again.
The first person to be chosen was this scumbag, but he didn't want to die. So he ran away in the middle of the night, coming all the way here with bloody feet. He was truly lucky. Perhaps some bored god really was watching over him, allowing him to escape alive.
As Hibari listened to all this, he looked at the man again and thought about his attitude. He figured, "Your fellow villagers probably hated you for a long time and were just waiting for a chance to sacrifice you to Manda..."
Setting everything else aside, if Hibari had a troublemaker like this in his village, he would be the first to vote to sacrifice him, to get rid of the problem once and for all.
It was hard to say who was right and wrong in this village's story. They were just pawns of fate. They hunted snakes to improve their lives, which wasn't wrong. And Manda coming to find the reason for the drastic decrease in his family was also not wrong. What if his own sons or grandsons were skinned, their meat eaten, and their gallbladders sold? It would be infuriating, wouldn't it?
Then again, Manda was a jerk who liked to eat people to appease his appetite. So, it was even worse to give him a legitimate reason to do so.
What happened next was true evil. The village, in order to save itself, began to kill innocent members of the nearby caravans. They were no longer just dealing with snake blood; it was now human blood.
Just as Hibari had said before, before they face events that can change their lives forever, many people believe they are on the side of good. But that isn't the case.
Most people are in a state of moral chaos. When they face such an event, most people will choose to do evil for their own benefit. This is normal; there's nothing to be ashamed of. Because Hibari felt he was also one of these people.
If something crossed his bottom line, he would also turn to darkness. And that bottom line varies from person to person. That's why darkness is so common, and truly good people are so rare.
Hibari had no opinion of this ill-fated village. He didn't want to get involved and decided to let it destroy itself. It was a village that could be summed up in four words: pitiful, tragic, hateful, and lamentable.
But Hibari was very interested in Manda. He had clearly come out of the Ryūchi Cave for a snack, and it happened once a week. This was a clear lead. Hibari just needed to go to the village, wait for a while, and Manda would appear.
At that time, Hibari would tell him his intentions and see if he would be willing to take him and Orochimaru to the Ryūchi Cave. If he was willing, that would be good. If he wasn't...
This jerk had eaten so many fellow humans. Senju Hibari, a man of righteousness and kindness, a modern-day ninja, couldn't just stand by. He would have to act like a hero and slay the snake. He would break Manda's spine and then storm the Ryūchi Cave to talk to its leader!
Yes, he had finally found a clue to the Ryūchi Cave, and Hibari wouldn't miss this chance. If Manda cooperated, they would be fine. If not, Hibari would beat him until he did!
After making up his mind, Hibari looked at Orochimaru. Orochimaru looked back at Hibari and asked, "Aniki, what should we do?"
"Let's go take a look. If we can find Manda, that would be great. Our long journey would finally have an end..." Hibari grinned and said.
Orochimaru also smiled and said, "You're right..."
The scumbag was dumbfounded. He had just told them such a terrifying story, and these two idiots were still going to blindly walk into it? Shouldn't they run away as fast as they could?
"Didn't you hear me? The snake I'm talking about isn't this kind of venomous snake! It's taller than a mountain and longer than a dragon... a dragon, you know? Like in the myths! I'm not joking!" The man said in a panic.
Hibari rubbed the Ame no Murakumo at his waist and smiled. He said, "If the first time my Ame no Murakumo gets to taste blood is Manda's... that would be a worthy opponent."
"You two can go on your own. I finally escaped. I'm not going back. I would rather die than go back..." the man said quickly.
Orochimaru frowned slightly and raised his hand, giving him two more slaps, almost knocking him unconscious.
"Do you think we are asking for your opinion? You will either obediently take us to your village, or I will let you experience what it's like to be eaten by snakes right now," Orochimaru said in his cold voice.
As soon as he finished speaking, dozens of snakes around him hissed, flicking their tongues, as if waiting for Orochimaru's order to tear the man apart.
The man was terrified of Orochimaru. He seemed to remember that these two weren't easy to deal with either...
Meanwhile, in the Ryūchi Cave, a giant purple snake was slithering out of the depths of the cave. It looked very happy, as if it was going on a picnic...
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