The underground space was already dim, and Kabuto Yakushi's figure blended together with the shadows.
Because of the backlighting, the reflective round glasses perched on the bridge of his nose made it impossible to see the look in his eyes. Yet in this environment, the faint, almost nonexistent smile on his face seemed especially eerie. Although compared to a "genius" like Orochimaru, Kabuto Yakushi had always regarded himself as merely an untalented "ordinary person," if he truly were ordinary, how could he possibly have stayed by Orochimaru's side for so long?
He had even been rather "enjoying" that companionship. Orochimaru carried certain twisted hopes of his and had always been his spiritual support.
Serving Uncle Snake wholeheartedly had always been the central theme of Kabuto Yakushi's life.
Leaving aside Kabuto's upbringing and psychological journey for now, "underground workers" like him and Orochimaru had one very obvious characteristic: extreme vigilance.
Even when staying inside their own base, they would not relax in the slightest just because the environment was relatively familiar. They were always afraid that someone would suddenly leap out of some patch of grass and try to kill them…
Therefore, almost without warning, Kabuto suddenly turned around. In fact, before he had even completed the turn, several sharp scalpels had already left his hand.
But his attack missed. All that came back was the thud, thud, thud of sharp blades piercing into the wall.
There had been nothing behind Kabuto Yakushi just now.
"An illusion?" Kabuto pushed the glasses on the bridge of his nose with one hand. "But… forget it."
He seemed to have sensed some unfamiliar presence suddenly appearing behind him, though it had vanished in a flash… Having that sort of illusion was quite normal. After all, paranoia was common in underground work.
However, his feeling had not been wrong. He had simply been tricked.
There had been nothing behind him just now because that thing was behind him now.
After Kabuto Yakushi turned around, a human-shaped shadow silently and secretly appeared on the wall behind him. Even the shadow it cast on the wall overlapped with Kabuto's.
Immediately afterward, like a flower blooming in silence, that shadow opened up like a hollow silkworm cocoon… It did indeed have a human shape, but its inside was completely empty.
Kabuto Yakushi sensed nothing at all. The other party was already pressed tightly against his back… The shadow was like a tiger shark lurking several feet beneath the water, while Kabuto was a seabird floating on the surface. Predation would happen in a single instant!
From absolute stillness to violent motion, its speed was impossible for the naked eye to distinguish. Its mouth opened, its teeth closed, and it swallowed him whole! Kabuto Yakushi, without the slightest resistance, was completely wrapped inside by this Michelin-man-like thing.
Tobi twisted his hips slightly, as if Kabuto Yakushi were still wobbling a couple of times inside his "body."
"Ha, I suc—"
Having just captured Kabuto Yakushi, Tobi was about to start shouting excitedly. But in an instant, he remembered exactly what kind of place this was, and he hurriedly clamped his own hand over his own mouth.
Although things were finished on his side, the other operations were still underway. Moreover, compared to the other two targets, the one he had captured was merely a side dish.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Sasuke, who had been resting with his eyes closed in his own room, suddenly snapped his eyes open.
Then he saw a rather miraculous sight: a very bizarre-looking plant person slowly emerged halfway from the floor in the center of his room.
An intruder?
For such a strange fellow to appear so sneakily, there was no other possibility besides an intruder. In fact, before Sasuke could even complete that thought, the long sword placed beside him had already been drawn from its sheath by instinct.
A cold gleam flashed along the long, straight blade. The light reflected from the blade crossed half the room before merging with the blade once more, and both pointed toward the same place:
the neck of the strange creature that had infiltrated the base.
The length of time Sasuke had spent beside Orochimaru absolutely could not be called long, but the progress he had made during that period was immeasurable. Compared to the Sasuke who had stayed in Konoha several months earlier, he was already entirely different.
However, before his neck could be severed by that slash, Zetsu uttered only four words:
"Uchiha Itachi."
Sasuke's movement came to an abrupt stop. The path of the long sword halted steadily in place. In the end, that slash did not fall, and it would never be able to fall.
To Sasuke, those four words carried a kind of magic.
"Do you want to know where Uchiha Itachi is?" Black Zetsu explained further.
Sasuke still maintained his expressionless image, but before Black Zetsu had even cast out the hook, he already knew this ribbonfish had taken the bait.
...
Compared with Tobi being cautious while desperately suppressing his dumbass tendencies, and Black Zetsu's causality-weapon-level Talk no Jutsu deception, Obito's "arrest" of Orochimaru was much more "open and aboveboard."
He appeared directly in front of Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, after all these years, your figure has changed quite a bit." Not only had Obito directly invaded, he even had the leisure to pay attention to Orochimaru's appearance… This was not to say that he was interested in Orochimaru's body shape, but rather that the changes in the other party were indeed very significant.
The current Orochimaru was using the body of a young girl. In terms of development, the figure was on the petite side. Even if he performed human modification, the speed would not be that fast.
"That uniform… Akatsuki, is it? How nostalgic. In the end, you still came looking for me. Hehe, has the trouble someone else caused you not been enough?"
Facing the enemy who had suddenly appeared, Orochimaru put down the scroll in his hand and stood up from a workbench.
He actually still had the mood to mock him… For a slight "person involved" like him, watching Hagoromo torment Akatsuki was actually quite an interesting thing.
Fundamentally speaking, that was a sad matter for both Hagoromo and Akatsuki themselves, but aside from them, who else would feel sad about it?
"You don't seem surprised that you were discovered."
"Not surprised?" Orochimaru repeated those three words in a questioning tone. Of course he was surprised that he had been discovered so easily, but at this moment, what he wanted to lament even more was this… Why was it so hard to be a pure scientific researcher?
"What business does Akatsuki have with me at this point?" This question from Orochimaru was somewhat immoral. He clearly knew—or believed—that the other party had come to kill him.
However, the truth was not so. "Mm, there are indeed some matters we need to discuss with you, but we'll need to change locations first," Obito said. "Don't worry. We'll also help bring along your important personal belongings."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed even further… A hostile visitor had come, that much was clear. But he had not expected the hostility to reach this extent. Were they even going to seize his precious little padded jacket?
"It seems you have quite an interesting eye. May I ask your identity?" Although Obito was wearing a mask, Orochimaru had already noticed that one of his eyes was a Sharingan.
As for the Rinnegan, he had not noticed it yet.
"Uchiha… Madara."
"That name…" Orochimaru naturally would not easily believe the other party's words, but those four characters had already stirred certain associations in him.
"What if my answer to your invitation is 'no'?"
"Do not misunderstand. I did not come here to negotiate with you. I came to inform you of an order that you are only permitted to accept."
Obito had never intended to persuade Orochimaru with words. As he said this, the unique spatial ripples of Kamui had already appeared before his eye. Then, he extended his right hand toward Orochimaru, five meters away.
Kamui plus Banshō Ten'in. As long as his hand touched Orochimaru, he could instantly absorb him. And once Orochimaru was locked inside the Kamui dimension, he would be nothing more than a bird in a cage.
Orochimaru had no idea what had happened. An irresistible, tremendous attractive force acted upon his body, and he flew directly toward Obito's palm.
With a heavy smack, Obito seized Orochimaru's neck with one hand.
Immediately afterward, Orochimaru felt his body begin to endure a twisting sensation… This seemed to be some kind of dōjutsu, or perhaps some kind of seal…
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