Between the dark and deep underground crevices, the rustling sound of fine earth and stone grinding against each other could be heard. A slender snake with all-white scales quickly slithered through these crevices, unreachable by humans, infiltrating this area that was both familiar and strange to him.
For a long period during the first half of Orochimaru's life, he worked in Root, having even served as Danzo's deputy at one point.
Even after he left later on, he continued to maintain his cooperation with Danzo Shimura.
However, unlike him, a researcher who pursues change, even after so many years, Danzo remained the same as he was back then, content to live like a rat underground.
It was precisely for this reason that he had never taken that fellow seriously.
Without any external interference, he could never be mentioned in the same breath as Teacher Hiruzen.
But despite his contempt, he came here today to continue their former collaboration.
The reason, naturally, was Aizen.
Although he had only met Aizen Sōsuke twice up until today, the young man's standing in his heart had been elevated to an unparalleled degree during these brief two meetings.
Even when facing Teacher Hiruzen, Orochimaru had never been as cautious as he was today.
"This young man who desires to change the world is truly too abnormal."
Orochimaru thought to himself, a hint of apprehension flashing in his golden snake eyes.
Although he never believed the actions of the Shinobi Clans would succeed from the start, his goal was not to support these fools against Konoha, but rather to force out Aizen Sōsuke's true strength and obtain some information.
To him, everything related to Aizen Sōsuke was practically a blank slate.
Where there is a path, there must be traces left behind.
Orochimaru also came from a civilian background, and people like him knew best what kind of effort was required to achieve even minor accomplishments.
If one wished to succeed without making a sound, the difficulty would be astronomical.
Originally, he believed he could at least search for some faint signs Aizen left behind in his early years, hoping to deduce the process by which he gradually grew stronger and began his research over the years.
But what astonished him was that all of Aizen Sōsuke's power and intelligence seemed to have dropped from the sky; there were simply no traces of any actions he had taken.
It was as if this young man had always been nothing more than an ordinary research Ninja until the day he took action against him.
However, this was clearly impossible.
If that was the case, it could only mean that a considerably large organization had consistently served as the source of his power.
Almost immediately, he thought of Root.
The blind spot right under the lamp was not an impossibility.
Even during the years when he was most closely connected with Root, Danzo Shimura would never have revealed all information to him.
More importantly, the very fact that Aizen Sōsuke chose to join Root was suspicious both inside and out.
Because of this, Orochimaru chose to risk some exposure and came with considerable sincerity to negotiate with Danzo Shimura.
"Swish."
In just a moment, the white snake infiltrated an office located in the deepest part of the Base without triggering any alarms or attracting attention.
"Who is it?"
The moment the white snake passed through the room and entered the secret chamber, a hoarse, muffled voice suddenly sounded.
"Heh heh, still so vigilant."
"Lord Danzo."
Hearing the voice from behind the desk, the white snake let out a slightly dull tone, its pair of golden vertical pupils looking toward the man in front of it.
"What is the matter?" Danzo Shimura still did not get up, his voice flat.
"It's nothing critical."
"I merely wish to request some information from you."
"Naturally, it won't be free."
Orochimaru was long accustomed to Danzo's tone and showed no dissatisfaction.
Since he was here to exchange for information about Aizen Sōsuke, he had naturally made ample preparations.
Although the body that Aizen had dealt with earlier had already been separated from him, the results of that body's fusion with Senju cells were a great success—and not only that, he had successively experimented with various techniques on that body, such as Curse Marks and Snake Sage Mode, all yielding astonishing results.
It must be said that Senju cells indeed possess astonishing resilience, and a body that belonged to him yet had been separated was truly an excellent experimental material.
However, if he could obtain news related to Aizen, Orochimaru wouldn't mind ceding more benefits in this area.
Just as in another timeline, he began to frantically pursue that kind of power after being instantly subdued by the Mangekyo Sharingan.
After seeing a new path, the price a mad scientist like Orochimaru could pay was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
However, just as he prepared for Danzo Shimura to make an exorbitant demand...
He saw that Danzo was still sitting behind the desk. After a moment of silence, his tone was as cold as ever: "Understood. Get out."
"..."
"?"
Orochimaru was stunned by the response, subconsciously raising half of his body, looking at him in confusion.
Danzo Shimura maintained his posture of sitting hunched over his desk; his expression and gaze were incredibly natural, and he even occasionally looked down at the documents on the table.
But all this "naturalness," in the current situation, became a display of "unnaturalness."
"Danzo?"
"How dare you!" Danzo Shimura slammed the desk in displeasure.
Yet his backside remained glued to the chair.
Even the anger on his face was strikingly lifelike.
In an instant, Orochimaru understood.
This fellow was not Aizen Sōsuke's benefactor.
Quite the opposite—he had also been controlled by that strange Genjutsu.
This discovery suddenly gave Orochimaru a strong sense of foreboding.
"How many people can that fellow's Genjutsu cover? How large an area?"
Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder.
According to his common sense, even if Aizen Sōsuke's Genjutsu could rival or even surpass the Mangekyo Sharingan, it shouldn't be able to remain constantly active on the same person for twenty-four hours, right?
This isn't how Ninjutsu works.
Fortunately, he still had a second contingency plan besides Danzo Shimura.
Hiruko.
That was a former teammate from his old squad.
He was internally insecure and withdrawn, possessed mediocre talent, yet yearned for power like theirs, which led him to gradually become unscrupulous over the years.
However, neither his status nor his strength was significant enough to warrant excessive attention from others.
Soon, following his memory, Orochimaru arrived outside Hiruko's laboratory door.
The door was locked, but that was no problem for him.
As the white snake's body climbed along the ventilation shaft, he saw a figure wearing a white coat, hunched over an empty experimental bench, quietly recording something.
"Hiruko, you're still the same as ever."
He resumed his cryptic demeanor and spoke in a deep voice.
"Didn't I say not to come in unless it's important!"
"I don't have time for trivial matters!"
The moment Hiruko spoke, that intense feeling of foreboding rose again in Orochimaru's heart.
Why did this sound exactly like Danzo?
"Hiruko?"
"Get lost!"
The sense of foreboding in Orochimaru's heart immediately turned into a degree of bewilderment.
He quickly crawled in front of the other man, even moving onto the experimental bench, only to see that the experimental report under Hiruko's hand was clearly just a meaningless scribble.
This is insane.
Hypnotizing two people simultaneously?
And long-term?
This couldn't possibly be a coincidence, could it?
At this moment, Orochimaru no longer cared about his previous caution. Instead, a thought that even he found somewhat impossible arose. He suddenly shot out of the laboratory, bursting into the experimental area of the Root Base, blatantly rushing past researcher after researcher in white coats.
He saw that everyone in the entire experimental area looked busy yet organized, each performing their duty, with a few occasionally whispering and slacking off—all their actions were the same as before.
Yet, precisely, everyone seemed not to notice him, this white snake.
This overly "normal" scene caused Orochimaru's snake body to grow cold all over, his eyes wide with astonishment.
What is going on?
What is this situation?
Everyone in the entire Root Base has been hypnotized?!
How could such a level of Genjutsu exist in this world?
If Aizen Sōsuke could truly achieve this level, why would he bother going through so much trouble to overthrow Konoha?
What exactly did he do?!
One question after another surged continuously in Orochimaru's mind.
However, let alone an answer, he couldn't even formulate a slight idea.
Just at this moment.
"Boom—!"
A fierce Chakra fluctuation suddenly erupted from a laboratory upstairs. The dull impact made the Base, buried deep underground, seem to tremble continuously, like an earthquake.
Vaguely, Orochimaru could even perceive that subtle fissures were beginning to appear in space due to the violent surge of Chakra.
Yet, a sliver of hope suddenly rose in his heart.
Such a powerful energy fluctuation should be enough to wake up at least a few people, even if they were under deep hypnosis, right?
And then, the bizarre thing happened.
Everyone, who had been barely maintaining their daily interactions as if putting on a show, unanimously stopped what they were doing and stood quietly in place, like walking corpses.
The experimental area, which had been as bustling as a marketplace just a second ago, suddenly fell into a silence that was almost like death.
They were like robots whose plugs had suddenly been pulled out.
At this moment, a sense of horror he had never experienced before in his life suddenly assaulted Orochimaru's mind.
With almost no hesitation, his snake body suddenly shot into the nearest ventilation shaft at near-maximum speed, relying on his familiarity with the Base to exit as quickly as possible.
It's over!
This is aimed at me!
While Orochimaru was over there fighting a battle of wits with the air.
The Chakra fluctuations constantly spreading within the room gradually began to subside under the suppression of Aizen Sōsuke.
Uchiha Itachi and Yakushi Kabuto stood rigidly in place, their clothes and hair thoroughly disheveled by the sudden storm.
It wasn't until an unknown amount of time passed that the wind gradually ceased.
What appeared in their line of sight immediately afterward was a dark, deep, prism-shaped crystal.
That crystal was being gently held between Aizen's fingers.
"Aizen... Lord Aizen?"
Although he did not know what exactly had just happened, Uchiha Itachi, relying on the unique nature of his Mangekyo Sharingan, clearly felt an unprecedented pressure emanating from the seemingly inconspicuous crystal.
However, he couldn't even pinpoint the source of this pressure.
There was clearly not a single trace of leaking Chakra, yet just looking at this crystal gave him an inexplicable feeling—a heaviness and oppression, like perceiving Susanoo deep within his ocular power for the very first time.
It was as if he was looking at something that fundamentally did not belong to this world.
"What exactly is this?"
"As I said before, this is the concept—of a Hollow."
"A concept?"
Uchiha Itachi subconsciously repeated the word, feeling utterly bewildered: "Are you referring to concepts like Chakra, the gravitational constant, or cell count?"
"Precisely."
Aizen Sōsuke's smile appeared slightly more sincere than usual.
It was obvious that he was genuinely pleased right now.
But... "How is that possible?"
Yakushi Kabuto stared wide-eyed in astonishment, looking at him in disbelief.
As a researcher, he wasn't a semi-illiterate person with only elementary school education, like Uchiha Itachi.
Although matter and properties both contain the character for 'substance,' they are fundamentally not the same thing!
How could anyone mold a concept into a physical object?!
Even if it's Aizen, that... seems highly unlikely, right?
However, Aizen did not seem bothered by his offense; instead, he smiled and said softly: "It is indeed not yet."
"After all, a concept only becomes reality once it has fully integrated into this world."
"The reason it currently exists in this form is merely to facilitate my own use."
"This..."
Listening to Aizen Sōsuke's explanation, Yakushi Kabuto found himself speechless.
That's not the point at all!
For a researcher, what Aizen was saying was equivalent to: "I just held Pi in my hand and plan to plug it into a computer later to calculate the area of a circle."
If anyone else had said that, Yakushi Kabuto would definitely be questioning their sanity right now.
But this person was Aizen.
Was this truly possible?
Seeing his bewildered expression, Aizen likely knew what he was thinking but offered no further explanation, simply slipping the crystal into his sleeve.
Under normal circumstances, such a thing would naturally be impossible.
But under the power of 'Suigetsu,' it could become a reality for a certain period of time.
Of course, most importantly, the concept of a Hollow had never existed in this world before.
That was the reason he could so easily insert this concept into this world and then extract it just as easily.
However, extracting a concept was simple, but transforming that concept into universal knowledge within the human world would not be so easy.
To achieve this reality, he required a large amount of energy for assistance.
Fortunately, he had already selected the location.
Thinking this, Aizen Sōsuke paid no mind to Itachi and Kabuto's still-recovering expressions and asked thoughtfully: "Oh, right."
"If you were traveling in the desert, would you prefer coffee or black tea?"
"Over there!"
"There are traces of that guy here!"
"Hurry and chase them, don't let them escape!"
Amidst the hazy buildings shrouded in mist, wave after wave of shouts rang out intermittently from various locations, followed immediately by a series of hurried footsteps and Chakra sweeping out through sensory perception.
Zetsu, using the Mayfly technique, carried Uchiha Obito on his back, darting through every corner like a stray dog, looking utterly desperate.
The Mizukage Building in the distance had, at some unknown point, acquired a massive hole, with the entire side from the second to the fifth floor blown into ruins.
Clearly, the sudden rage of the Kirigakure Ninja was not without reason.
And the instigator was the man currently slumped on Zetsu's back.
Uchiha Obito currently seemed to have completely lost consciousness; the half of his body belonging to White Zetsu was covered by a thick layer of keratin.
The majority of his body was enveloped in this grotesque, demon-like shape, which was still constantly wriggling.
As for his head, it was entirely encased in a monstrous, mask-like mass, completely obscuring his original appearance, while his body instinctively struggled on Zetsu's back.
"Damn it, Obito, you bastard!"
"Making such a huge commotion all of a sudden, you weren't trying to kill me, were you?"
Zetsu complained under his breath, still feeling lingering fear when recalling the scene from moments ago.
He had been fine just a moment ago, but then, for unknown reasons, a huge mass of substance resembling White Zetsu cells suddenly erupted from his body, and he immediately lost all reason, recklessly unleashing a terrifying power.
That might and the oppressive feeling emanating from a soul level were things Zetsu had never experienced.
Even more outrageous, this guy suddenly turned into a beast controlled by the desire for destruction and began slaughtering people inside the Mizukage Building.
First, Yagura Karatachi had half his ribs shattered, followed by the Mizukage's Anbu rushing in, and then large numbers of Kirigakure Ninja who noticed the anomaly.
The entire street around the Mizukage Building was left flowing with blood because of him.
Then, suddenly, the guy just collapsed onto the ground, silent, as if his battery had run out.
The entire process lasted only a few short seconds.
If Zetsu hadn't reacted quickly enough, that idiot Obito would have probably been stabbed to death on the spot by the enraged Hidden Mist Ninja.
But what exactly was that just now?
Black Zetsu thought to himself.
Although the time was short, with his eyesight, he could naturally discern the truth.
In those few seconds just now, the power Uchiha Obito unleashed definitely surpassed his own peak strength.
Even Uchiha Madara back then... Never mind.
Black Zetsu suppressed his chaotic thoughts.
He could vaguely sense that certain things were starting to slip out of his control.
But right now, getting Obito to safety was the most crucial task!
The slender white-scaled snake body climbed onto a treetop, reflecting a slight sheen among the dappled leaves.
At this moment, the snake body had stopped its flight, settling its form, coiling on the treetop, and looking back toward the Root Base.
Although he had been shaken when escaping from Root, after running only a few steps and realizing that no one was pursuing him, Orochimaru suddenly recognized the problem.
Those reactions just now... didn't seem to be aimed at him?
Up until this moment.
Forget about people chasing him; after leaving the Root Base, the entire Village was peaceful. Outsiders couldn't even sense the energy fluctuations inside, and not a single tremor of that strong vibration had leaked out.
The entire Root Base seemed to have been completely sealed off, becoming a closed information space, entirely undetectable to outsiders.
However, recalling the scenes he had witnessed inside the Root Base just now, Orochimaru had absolutely no intention of going back to confirm anything.
He had truly been seeing ghosts in every bush.
Aizen Sōsuke... Had that man completely taken control of the entire Root?
This truly went beyond his imagination.
Just as Orochimaru was wondering how to continue his search for information about him, he heard a sudden *poof*.
The world before the snake body suddenly inverted, turning into a stretch of dark shadow.
Orochimaru's body instinctively tensed up for a moment.
However, upon sensing the familiar 'snake scent' in the surrounding environment, he suddenly calmed down.
But when he raised his head and saw the snake silhouette in front of him, his nictitating membranes slightly closed, and he subconsciously showed a hint of wariness.
"White Snake Sage?"
"After many years, we meet again, Orochimaru."
A slightly slow and heavy tone, like that of an old woman, came from the mouth of the white snake silhouette coiled on a soft chair before him.
Behind the chair were three graceful and exquisite figures, all smiling brightly as they looked at him.
Tagitsu-hime, Ichikishima-hime, and Takiri-hime.
The Three Great Snake Sages.
Just seeing this lineup, Orochimaru knew that nothing good awaited him, and coupled with this rare emergency summoning, it spoke volumes.
Nevertheless, he asked: "This is quite unusual."
"It is rare for all of you esteemed Sages to gather here. Do you have some urgent matter to instruct me on?"
The favors owed must eventually be repaid.
"Indeed, there is some trouble."
"However, it is not our own affair."
The White Snake Sage smiled, looking at him, flicking her reddish tongue, and pointing her tail tip upward. The words she spoke, however, caused Orochimaru's gaze to suddenly sharpen.
"This time, it is someone else's instruction."