Not far from Orochimaru's room was a hall.
In the hall, the Sound Five were either standing or sitting, looking somewhat bored.
"What should we do next? Orochimaru-sama's body can't hold on anymore, right? Perhaps one of us will become Orochimaru-sama's new body."
Kidomaru looked up at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused as he stared at the light above.
"Maybe. But it's an honor for us. Without Orochimaru-sama, we would just be a bunch of homeless orphans, likely to die in some corner of the street at any time."
Jirobo took a big bite of the bone in his hand. "But I don't think it's likely to be me. After all, I'm the weakest among us five."
Jirobo's words immediately changed the atmosphere in the room.
The thick-skinned Jirobo didn't notice that his words made the expressions of the others tense up.
Tayuya, Kidomaru, Sakon… they glanced at each other, trying to gauge each other's expressions.
As Jirobo said, if Orochimaru chose the new body based on the strongest among them, Jirobo would be the first to be eliminated.
And the others all had a certain probability.
As for Kimimaro, his body was already terminally ill, beyond cure.
Otherwise, Kimimaro would have been the best choice.
Now, thinking about the possibility of Orochimaru targeting their own bodies, these three, who usually respected Orochimaru immensely, all felt somewhat hesitant.
They were not as they claimed, seeing this as an honor.
After their secret glances, they understood.
They were birds of a feather.
"We still need to find a way to capture Takumi. His body is the most ideal for Orochimaru-sama."
Kidomaru, sensing the awkward silence in the hall, quickly changed the subject. "And there's news that he defeated Uchiha Itachi. That's not a simple guy."
"Right. And Orochimaru-sama hates Uchiha Itachi very much. If he obtains Takumi's body, Orochimaru-sama will be able to wash away that disgrace!"
Tayuya quickly followed up, steering the conversation away.
"But, Orochimaru-sama has already tried several times and failed."
Sakon sighed and said, "Even Orochimaru-sama failed. What can we do?"
Kidomaru and Tayuya looked at each other. Neither spoke.
They of course knew that going themselves would be suicide.
After all, even Orochimaru failed. They were far inferior to Orochimaru, so how could they possibly defeat Takumi?
"Should we try poisoning?"
Tayuya tentatively suggested a method.
But Sakon quickly dismissed it. "Won't work. I recently got some information. Poison seems to have no effect on him. Moreover, he is a very skilled Medical-nin. It's said even the legendary Tsunade is no match for him in Medical Ninjutsu."
"Even if poisoned, with his abilities, he could probably create an antidote instantly."
"Then what should we do?"
Tayuya scratched her head irritably. "This won't work, that won't work either!"
"I'll go try."
An indifferent voice reached the ears of the four, making them all freeze.
Then they all looked at Kimimaro, who had just spoken.
Kimimaro, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them and sat up from the apparatus.
The various tubes connected to his body fell off one by one.
"Try? Try what?"
Sakon asked knowingly, really because Kimimaro's words were too surprising.
"I'll go try to capture Takumi."
Kimimaro said expressionlessly and was about to walk out of the hall.
"Are you insane?"
Kidomaru couldn't help but say. "Even Konoha's Shodaime and Nidaime Hokage were no match for that Takumi. You may be strong, but can you possibly be stronger than those two?"
"Right. You should just focus on recuperating. Maybe Orochimaru-sama can still find a way to cure you."
Tayuya curled her lip and said.
She had never really thought much of Kimimaro.
Perhaps it was because of the completely different way Orochimaru treated Kimimaro compared to them.
She was jealous.
But she didn't dare to act, because even in his sickly state, she was no match for Kimimaro.
Among the Sound Five, Kimimaro's strength far, far surpassed the other four.
"My life was given to me by Orochimaru-sama. If I can dedicate this life to Orochimaru-sama, I have no regrets."
With that, Kimimaro ignored the others and walked straight out of the hall.
"Uh, what should we do? Should we inform Orochimaru-sama about this?"
After the four of them looked at each other, Jirobo cautiously asked.
"Of course we have to tell him!"
Tayuya said irritably. "And we have to stop him. Leaving without Orochimaru-sama's orders won't be taken lightly by him."
"Then I'll go."
Kidomaru said. "I'm the fastest."
Sakon stood up and said, "I'll go inform Orochimaru-sama."
Sakon came to the door of Orochimaru's room and knocked gently.
"Enter... cough, cough..."
Orochimaru's voice was very hoarse and accompanied by severe weakness.
A flicker of something strange passed through Sakon's eyes, but he quickly concealed it.
He pushed the door open, glanced at Orochimaru, then immediately lowered his head and said, "Orochimaru-sama, Kimimaro has left."
"Hmm?"
Orochimaru frowned. "What happened?"
Although Orochimaru's body was weak now, his killing intent hadn't diminished in the slightest.
Under his gaze, Sakon didn't dare delay at all.
"Kimimaro said he wanted to try and bring Takumi back for you."
After speaking quickly, Sakon lowered his head, waiting for Orochimaru's response.
"Oh?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, and the killing intent receded.
He thought for a moment with a pensive expression, then a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, though there was a hint of sorrow in his eyes.
"Kimimaro, you are such a good child, but what a pity..."
"Since he wants to go, let him."
After saying this, Orochimaru sat back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.
Coughing from time to time.
"I'll take my leave now."
Sakon retreated from the room and gently closed the door.
Only then did he let out a long sigh.
The moment he faced Orochimaru's killing intent, he almost thought he was going to die there.
In the room, Kabuto lowered his head slightly, hiding his gaze behind the white reflection on his glasses.
"Orochimaru-sama, is that really alright? Kimimaro's body..."
Kabuto trailed off, but he knew Orochimaru understood what he meant.
"His body is nearing its limit. Let him do as he wishes."
Orochimaru said softly. "It's that child's wish. I don't want to stop him."
"Is that so?"
Kabuto said softly and didn't speak further.
Back in the hall.
Seeing that Kidomaru had returned and Kimimaro was nowhere in sight, Sakon immediately understood that Kidomaru hadn't caught up to him.
"Orochimaru-sama said to leave him be."
Sakon said.
"Hmm?"
Tayuya was stunned. "Orochimaru-sama really said that?"
In her impression, Orochimaru had always treated Kimimaro very well, almost like a father.
But now this father said to leave him be?
For a moment, Tayuya couldn't accept it.
"Orochimaru-sama told me personally."
Sakon said. "Don't speculate blindly. Orochimaru-sama's thoughts are beyond what we small fries can guess. We just need to do our jobs."
Then, he looked at Kidomaru.
"I caught up to him, but he sent me back."
Kidomaru spread his hands helplessly. "You know, I'm no match for him."