Although someone like Kabuto Yakushi had accompanied Orochimaru through one of the most beautiful stretches of his life, deep down, Orochimaru was an absolutely cold-blooded creature. The only things capable of making him heat up were all kinds of research and forbidden techniques. He probably had some polite apology in his heart, but he still "pressed forward without hesitation" and blew the entire base sky-high.
Using a massive prearranged technique formula to carry out an explosion like this was not easy to compare with the scale of Deidara's personal self-destruction in terms of strength. But even if it was weaker than that final suicidal strike, it would not be weaker by much.
No matter who it was, if they truly took such a blow head-on, their only fate would be to faceplant.
In order to break away from the battle with "Uchiha Madara," Orochimaru could only do this, because if he had to fight the other party, he had no real chance of victory.
His vomiting had been to buy time. The explosion afterward was also to buy time. In essence, it was simply preparation for his own escape… A masked man who possessed two kinds of dōjutsu, the Sharingan and Rinnegan, was already beyond common sense in terms of strength. Orochimaru did not actually have confidence that he could blow the other party to death, but if he could use the chance created by the explosion to escape, that was already enough for him.
As long as he broke through the other party's barrier, he could escape even with a technique like reverse summoning. So here, Orochimaru was using the classic terrorist-style way of thinking: whether or not the explosion could kill the other party was one thing, but in any case, blow it up first.
There were pursuers, those being pursued, people doing the bombing, and people being bombed. So in this matter, which side suffered the most?
Of course, it was the Land of Rice Fields. With people setting off self-destructions here day after day, even if the people could endure it, the land could not. All the terrorists were gathering in this small country. It could truly be said to have suffered eight lifetimes of bloody misfortune.
Although the light-and-shadow effect of such a large-scale explosion could absolutely be observed as an astronomical phenomenon, the Land of Rice Fields was, after all, a certain distance away from the Land of Iron. The M78 Nebula could not see the Leonid meteor shower, nor could it see the Pegasus Meteor Fist.
Therefore, the Five Kage Summit had no way of knowing for the time being exactly what had happened over there. However, even if Hagoromo knew about Uncle Snake's tearful sacrifice, and Uncle Snake really had miraculously blown Obito to death, to be honest, Hagoromo's reaction would probably be rather subtle… There definitely would not be gratitude. Blame probably would not quite fit either. He would likely feel more helpless, and that Orochimaru had meddled in things that were none of his business.
After Konoha's group and Kirigakure's party concluded their secret meeting, in accordance with the confidentiality principle of their shady dealings, they separated once more, then headed separately toward the venue of the Five Kage Summit.
About half a day later, they arrived at a heavy fortress that was entirely militarized. Although in this world, the concept of "impregnable" basically did not exist, the heavy city walls whose foundations were buried beneath frozen earth and whose upper sections were exposed to wind and snow still gave humans the feeling that this place was "impregnable."
"A fortress?" Hagoromo murmured softly. Yet those three words alone drew Tsunade's sidelong glance.
What was hidden inside that sigh was actually very easy to understand. For example, if someone always held a hammer with excellent weight, length, and grip, then habitually and subconsciously, he would want to use that hammer to hit something. So although there was no grudge or feud here, Hagoromo occasionally felt his hands itch… Cough. This was a normal psychological reaction for most people. It was definitely not because he especially wanted to stir up some bizarre trouble.
If there was anything special about him, it was that his "occasionally" happened a little too frequently. Leaving aside the matter in Amegakure, he had, after all, blown up the Nine-Tails in this country not long ago.
Fortunately, among Konoha's three-person group, he was not the one in charge.
Tsunade gave him a look that said "shut up," then took the lead and walked toward the fortress's main gate. Samurai wrapped from head to toe in heavy armor, with an art style completely different from shinobi, appeared in their field of vision.
After verifying the Hokage's identity, the iron city gate opened. This was basic etiquette toward a Kage. Although shinobi were good at "leaping over roofs and walking on walls," they could not very well make a shinobi of the Hokage's status jump around all over the place. That would be far too improper.
The samurai, as the hosts, maintained extremely tight security. Almost every five meters, a samurai stood guard inside the fortress. Although all these people together would not be able to withstand Hagoromo's little hammer, their attitude was still worthy of approval.
Under the guidance of a samurai, Tsunade's group crossed the relatively open outer area and then arrived at a more hidden room. This was the conference venue.
When they arrived, the Fourth Raikage, the Third Tsuchikage, and the acting Kazekage had already arrived ahead of them.
When they had separated earlier, the Mizukage had gone first and the Hokage afterward. So with Terumī Mei included, although Tsunade was the one who had advocated for the Five Kage Summit, in practice, she was the most "arrogant" attendee, arriving last.
Tsunade walked to her own seat and sat down. Then she placed the hat symbolizing her identity on the conference table before her. As for Hagoromo and Jiraiya, there was no seat for them here.
Only then did Tsunade look around the room, taking in the people from each village whose status was equal to her own.
The Fourth Raikage was a burly man who looked ten centimeters taller than Jiraiya and an entire size stronger. The Third Tsuchikage seemed as if he might reach the end of his natural lifespan at any moment. As for Sunagakure, because there was no suitable candidate for Kazekage, the village's representative was temporarily acting as adviser Ebizō. Of the two guards following behind him, one was called Baki, while the other was Gaara, who was excessively young.
With just a little thought, one could understand that Gaara definitely had not come as a mere "guard." At this point, Sunagakure had probably already consciously begun to nurture him.
Aside from the Five Kage and their guards, the Land of Iron's side was also present as hosts and arbiters. That meant the leader of the samurai. Before coming here, Tsunade had already looked into this person. His name was Mifune, and his strength could not be underestimated.
All sides had now appeared, but the room fell into an eerie silence.
While Tsunade was reading the atmosphere, Hagoromo had already finished looking around. To be honest, this group of people all looked so solemn that they truly resembled a group of single dogs over the age of fifty coming to a group blind date.
So who was the target? The only "young grass," Terumī Mei?
Hagoromo's gaze was quite open and unrestrained, because everyone present was an old friend he had not seen in many years.
If everyone here who was not from Konoha could hear Hagoromo's inner thoughts, they would definitely say in unison: Who the hell is friends with you? To be honest, the fact that this group of people did not collectively rush at him like vicious dogs pouncing on shit was already enough to praise them as high-quality talents who had completed elementary education.
Some had lost sons. Some had lost fathers. Some had lost elder sisters. Some had lost younger brothers…
The details were as follows: the Tsuchikage had lost a son, the Raikage had lost a younger brother, the acting Kazekage had lost an elder sister, and the granddaughters of both the Raikage and Tsuchikage had lost their fathers…
These things were either directly done by Hagoromo or essentially the same as being directly done by him. So counting it all up, Hagoromo really should not still be alive. Just look at what he had done. He had practically turned both the Tsuchikage's and Raikage's families into orphans and widows.
Just as Hagoromo was considering how Tsunade would open the meeting, he noticed that a girl behind the old Tsuchikage was staring straight at him.
Hagoromo blinked. Did he have fans in an enemy country? Not very likely. But at a time like this, smiling was enough.
So a rather friendly smile appeared on his face, and he even made a V sign with his fingers.
In this situation, however, Hagoromo's gesture and expression could absolutely not be interpreted by others as a friendly smile. On the contrary, it was max-level mockery.
The moment he smiled, the other side completely lost it. Kurotsuchi began forming hand seals with both hands.
Whether she could beat him or not was one thing. In any case, she was going to splash blood all over his face.
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