"Lord Aizen!!"
Almost the moment he realized he was enveloped by that strange light, Uchiha Itachi immediately cried out.
But before he could make a move, he felt a large hand firmly pressing down on his shoulder.
As soon as he looked up, he saw Aizen Sōsuke standing beside him, his two large hands gripping both him and Yakushi Kabuto.
Before he could speak further, he heard Aizen's calm voice say, "Get ready."
"It will probably be a little dizzy."
Just as he registered these words, Uchiha Itachi felt his vision instantly engulfed by a dazzling light, and he lost all consciousness in a bout of vertigo.
Even time and space blurred in that moment.
Until an unknown amount of time had passed.
"Thud."
A dull sound suddenly rang out amidst the noise filled with ringing ears, followed by a full-body sensation of weightlessness. His feet landed heavily on solid ground, and his entire body abruptly sank.
Uchiha Itachi subconsciously opened his eyes and rolled over to climb off the ground.
Following that, his expression couldn't help but freeze.
What appeared before his eyes was a scene completely different from the barren desert they had just been in. Tall towers stood everywhere in his field of vision, and the sun itself was obscured by this endless forest of towers.
Just looking at the bases of these towers, they seemed highly similar to the ruins he had stepped on before.
For a moment, his mind felt somewhat blank.
"Where... exactly is this?"
Uchiha Itachi subconsciously asked aloud.
"It should be a past timeline."
Just as his voice trailed off, he heard Lord Aizen's familiar voice sound beside his ear.
Uchiha Itachi suddenly turned his head, his expression instantly showing surprise.
"Lord Aizen!"
Looking down, he saw Yakushi Kabuto still looking dizzy, clearly not having recovered from the temporal shift just now.
However, once he reacted, he suddenly understood Aizen Sōsuke's previous words and said in astonishment, "A past... timeline?"
"Yes."
Aizen Sōsuke calmly looked at the scene before him, like an archaeologist witnessing the true face of an ancient relic, his gaze behind the thick glasses holding a hint of investigative curiosity.
The massive energy connected not only spatial distance but also dimensional differences on the temporal scale.
This point, he naturally knew.
Even before arriving here, he had been prepared to investigate temporal research projects.
Only the fact that Orochimaru appeared before him was slightly beyond his expectation.
More accurately, it was the level of attention paid to him by the "Audience" mentioned by Orochimaru that surprised him slightly.
However, it was not a major issue.
"Don't worry."
"We have already set an anchor to the previous timeline."
"Even if you wanted to stay here longer, you probably wouldn't have much opportunity."
As if seeing through the slight panic in Uchiha Itachi's heart, Aizen Sōsuke turned to him and smiled gently.
Hearing this, Uchiha Itachi subtly relaxed.
It was only then that Yakushi Kabuto, who had been dry-heaving nearby, finally propped himself up, leaning on his knees with difficulty, and quietly asked, "Lord Aizen."
"Then, the time difference between us and the previous timeline won't be too long, right?"
As he spoke these words, he harbored a faint hope in his heart.
If he had the chance, he wanted to see his mother in this timelinethat was the deepest regret of his life.
"The distance I anchored is approximately fifteen years ago from the present."
"It won't exceed that range at most."
"However, if we try to leave a certain radius, we will likely be dragged back to our original dimension by the temporal anchor."
Aizen Sōsuke carefully explained to the two of them.
Hearing this, a sigh flashed in Yakushi Kabuto's eyes.
"I understand, Lord Aizen."
Aizen Sōsuke patted his shoulder and instructed, "Although I don't know what preparations Orochimaru has made, we don't have much time."
"Rouran Country should not be completely destroyed yet. Regardless of what Orochimaru intends to do, we just need to find the Ryūmyaku Sealing Grounds directly."
"However, we must be fast."
"Understood."
The two immediately agreed and then set into motion.
The group bypassed the towering forest of spires ahead and quickly walked toward the cavern deeply buried underground. Looking from the edge, it was dark and deep like an abyss, yet it contained countless buried towers.
Through the faint light filtering down through the gaps between the endless towers, the three saw a red-haired girl sitting on the edge of a hanging tower, softly humming a tune.
The moment they noticed the girl, both sides clearly paused.
The girl hesitated for a moment and subconsciously asked, "Who... are you people?"
"Orochimaru!!"
Sasori's voice suddenly echoed through the deep space, furious: "This isn't what we agreed upon!"
"Where exactly is this place?!"
Although his voice sounded utterly enraged, his body maintained a distance of more than ten meters from Orochimaru, and his gaze towards the other man held an indescribable wariness.
Although Orochimaru was now an S-rank missing-nin declared socially dead by Konoha, and had shown clear hostility towards that team of Konoha Ninja during the previous action, even accepting recruitment from the Akatsuki Organization.
But Sasori wasn't a child who had just started out in the Ninja World; how could he not know that people's hearts are hidden?
What exactly did this guy want to do?
Was he planning to team up with those Konoha bastards from earlier to kill him here?
Was he after his puppet techniques? Or research data on energy?
Sasori secretly pondered this, his secret techniques poised and ready, prepared to deliver a fatal blow to the scoundrel at any moment.
However, he found that Orochimaru also looked deeply serious.
"This is wrong."
He lowered his head, looking at the compass-like treasure in his hand, his brow furrowed tightly.
This was not the timeline he had designated.
Was it prematurely warped by that Aizen guy?
In such a short amount of time just now?
Just thinking about this made Orochimaru's heart sink a little.
The unexpected inherently represented risk.
According to the original plan, he should have used the contingency given to him by the White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave, relied on prophecy to set an ambush, and brought Aizen in one go to a timeline he was unfamiliar with, killing him there with the help of allies from that era.
Or, by using the temporal turbulence between different dimensions, he should have exiled him directly to a different timeline, thereby relieving their world. But now... "Everything is messed up."
Seeing his serious expression, Sasori gradually realized that things were different from what he thought, and he slightly lowered his guard: "What exactly happened?"
However, before they could finish speaking.
Orochimaru and Sasori both simultaneously looked up in a certain direction.
"Swoosh, swoosh—!"
A dense sound of rushing air suddenly rang out from behind the two men.
Several sharp, three-pronged Kunai abruptly shot out from the shadows.
Appearing simultaneously from the shadows were streaks of shadow flying like ropes, wrapping around the air at an incredible speed.
"Flying Thunder God Technique!"
The dazzling flash in that instant caused the figure of the newcomer to cross the boundary between shadow and light with incredible speed. The Kunai held reversed in his hand was like a sharp wind, suddenly piercing through the brief tens of meters, sketching a golden shooting star in the air.
However, how could Orochimaru and Sasori be easy targets?
Almost the moment they sensed this killing intent, the two moved at superhuman speed, simultaneously pulling away in different directions.
The rapidly shooting dark shadow first wrapped around the shadow beneath Sasori.
Facing this powerful constraint, Sasori didn't even look, directly dismantling his puppet body, which scattered into a large mass of parts in the air.
The sudden increase in the number of components clearly exceeded the newcomer's expectations, causing the scattered shadows to momentarily pause.
"Clang—!"
On the other side, the golden streak of light slicing down from the air was powerful and heavy, cutting down from above and colliding directly with the long blade Orochimaru drew from his waist, resulting in a crisp metallic clang.
However, the familiar jutsu and figure allowed Orochimaru to recognize the newcomer's identity almost instantly upon seeing him, and he immediately shouted, "Stop!"
Clearly, the newcomer also recognized the other party's figure toward the end of the attack, and the strength in his hand visibly lessened.
After only a brief exchange.
Several figures immediately scattered, putting distance between each other.
"Lord Orochimaru?!"
"Why are you here?"
Two voices rang out simultaneously, and then both paused.
Hearing the voices, Sasori, who was about to continue his attack, also stopped, looking at both parties with confusion.
Soon, the masked blonde man opposite them took off the mask on his face.
That familiar face caused Sasori's gaze to halt.
"You are... Minato Namikaze?!"
Konoha's Fourth Hokage?
Didn't that guy die long ago?
Minato Namikaze heard the astonished voice, glanced toward Sasori's direction, slightly frowned, but did not speak immediately. Instead, he turned toward Orochimaru and cautiously asked, "Lord Orochimaru, I did not receive notification from Third Hokage regarding a joint operation."
"May I ask what you are doing here...?"
He had originally thought that sending their squad to a desolate place like Rouran Country for this mission was already a bit excessive.
He didn't expect that even Orochimaru had come.
What exactly happened here?
Minato Namikaze subconsciously thought this.
However, Orochimaru's next words immediately startled him.
"It is normal that you did not receive notification."
Orochimaru's voice was still hoarse and sinister, but it now carried a hint of righteous solemnity that added a subtle strangeness in Sasori's mind.
However, his subsequent words made Sasori instantly forget that small thought.
"The two of us are not in the same timeline."
"What?!"
The expressions of Minato Namikaze and Sasori both froze.
Orochimaru, however, seemed completely unaffected, stating calmly, "Our timeline is the winter of Konoha Year 55."
"This guy and I received a mission to go to Rouran Country to handle the Ryūmyaku seal, but we encountered some unexpected events."
"It seems now that we have arrived in an unknown timeline."
"You must have encountered some abnormality on your side too, right?"
"Uh... yes."
Minato Namikaze's expression clearly became heavier.
However, after seeing Orochimaru, he subconsciously lowered his guard and gave a signal to his teammates hidden in the shadows behind him.
Soon, several figures stepped out from the shadows.
Akimichi Choza, Aburame Shibi.
And the still-young Kakashi Hatake.
"On our side, during the battle just now, we were caught up in a suddenly erupting pillar of Ryūmyaku energy..."
"Until just now, we thought we had run into an enemy ambush."
Minato Namikaze's voice was slightly subdued.
However, it was clear that he did not doubt the meaning of Orochimaru's words.
"Oh, right."
"The time point on our side is Konoha Year 45."
"No wonder..."
Hearing this, Orochimaru smiled meaningfully, his expression indifferent.
In their timeline, he was still the Hokage candidate, a great contributor during the Third Great Ninja War, and the direct disciple of the Third Hokage.
It was only natural that Minato Namikaze treated him this way.
It wasn't just Minato Namikaze.
Even the teammates behind him, after clearly seeing Orochimaru's face, successively took off their masks to acknowledge him.
Only Sasori looked between Orochimaru and Minato Namikaze's group, his gaze slightly subtle.
Great changes had occurred; people and events were entirely different.
With a mere ten-year gap, Orochimaru's status in the hearts of the Konoha Ninja was worlds apart.
This truly was quite moving.
However, he didn't expect such a thing to happen.
Time travel?
Of course.
For him, there wasn't really any difference.
"Hmph."
Seemingly noticing Sasori's playful gaze, Orochimaru coldly snorted and immediately ordered Minato Namikaze's group, "I don't know what your previous mission was, but now you are directly under my command."
"Our squad is currently tracking an extremely dangerous Konoha fugitive; the danger level is very high."
"For the time being, I need you to cooperate with my actions."
"Do you understand?"
Minato Namikaze's team looked at each other.
However, due to Orochimaru's high reputation in their era, coupled with the unprecedented event of time travel, they all still nodded.
"Yes."
"Lord Orochimaru."
"Thump."
The red-haired girl collapsed onto the ground with a dull thump, her eyes rolled back.
Aizen Sōsuke released his hand, narrowing his eyes as he reviewed the memory information extracted from the girl's mind.
Rouran Country.
Princess Sara.
The prematurely deceased Rouran Queen.
Anrokuzan, who controls the government and the puppet army.
A bloodline capable of influencing the power of the Ryūmyaku.
"Interesting."
Aizen Sōsuke rubbed his fingertips, his tone slightly playful: "A Rouran Country vastly different from the recorded history."
"Is this a different parallel dimension?"
"Or has history become chaotic due to the simultaneous insertion of multiple different chaotic nodes?"
If his opponent were only Orochimaru, he could simply treat the man as nonexistent.
But clearly.
It could be inferred from Orochimaru's words that they had been prepared for an ambush.
Moreover, the one who set the trap for him was an entity far superior in status.
How interesting.
Just as he was thinking this.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Heavy, slow footsteps emerged one by one from the dark tunnel behind him.
"Has someone already arrived?"
"But who are you?"
"And where is the Rouran Queen?"
Aizen Sōsuke listened to the voice coming from behind him and slowly turned his head.
The moment he saw the appearance of the other party, a flash of surprise crossed his eyes.
It was a tall man with messy silver hair, leading an entire squad, and wearing armor.
"You are..."
"Lord Senju Tobirama?"