Just as Gekko Chizan was leaving the Land of Hot Water, he suddenly felt the senjutsu chakra belonging to Tagitsuhime inside his body begin to surge violently.
"Chizan, there's something I need to tell you."
Tagitsuhime transformed into a long crimson snake and slowly appeared. The moment she emerged, she brought Gekko Chizan a piece of news that shocked him.
"Your teacher Orochimaru asked me to pass on a message. An organization called Akatsuki has come looking for him."
"The one leading them has the Rinnegan. Another one is black and white, looks like an immortal cactus."
What the hell? Akatsuki???
Wasn't that the name he gave to Yahiko and Konan's organization? And the Rinnegan—Nagato?
A black-and-white cactus… Zetsu? That description was way too accurate. But still, something felt very wrong.
"Where is my teacher? The Land of Waterfall?"
Tagitsuhime shook her head and revealed Orochimaru's whereabouts.
"He went to the Land of Rivers. They're waiting for his response now. He sent the message through Ryūchi Cave and asked me to notify you."
The Land of Rivers? What the hell did Orochimaru run over there for???
Instead of staying obediently in Takigakure doing research, he was running around everywhere!
You had to know, that bastard teacher of his didn't have any of Chizan's formula kunai. Even if he wanted to fly over, he had no way to do it.
He had told Orochimaru before to keep one of his formula kunai as a coordinate, but he still vividly remembered Orochimaru's expression back then.
Orochimaru had been full of disdain, his voice even carrying a sense of guarding against a thief.
"No, you should keep something that good for yourself. Or give it to someone useful."
"I am Orochimaru. No matter what kind of enemy I face, I won't be afraid."
"Tagitsuhime, take me to Ryūchi Cave. At the same time, inform Orochimaru to be ready to use Reverse Summoning at any moment."
Without another word, Tagitsuhime directly transformed into human form. With a single summoning technique, she took Gekko Chizan and vanished from the spot.
...
Inside Ryūchi Cave, Manda was surrounded in the middle by the Jinlin four sisters. Those four pairs of ill-intentioned pupils made Manda suffer endlessly.
When he saw Gekko Chizan, it was like seeing a savior.
"Chizan, you're finally back!"
"My poor heart was scared half to death!"
Manda immediately charged toward Gekko Chizan with a massive snake dash, his mouth full of grievances.
But someone was even faster than him. A golden snake tail slammed down directly in front of Manda, stopping him cold. The overwhelming physical strength made Manda feel like he had crashed into a solid wall.
Jinlin's body had grown even more massive now, filled entirely with senjutsu energy. She glared viciously at Manda and threatened him outright.
"We're still here. Do you think you get a turn to get close to Chizan?"
After saying that, Jinlin instantly changed faces. One second she was domineering as hell, the next she turned into a gentle little lamb.
"Chizan, you're here. Did you bring me something tasty?"
The moment the words "something tasty" came out, the other three giant snakes all crowded over as well.
Gekko Chizan smiled slightly, casually pulled out a scroll, and opened it. Ten full baskets of snakeberries appeared in front of them. Even Manda was stunned, drool unconsciously dripping from his mouth.
"Take them and split them yourselves."
"Manda, tell me about my teacher's situation."
Gekko Chizan tossed a basket of snakeberries in front of Manda and walked over himself.
At the same time, a flash of red light appeared. The remaining nine baskets of snakeberries instantly became six.
Tagitsuhime had already reappeared, snatching away three baskets with lightning speed.
Seeing this, the four snakes were completely dumbfounded. Jinlin immediately wailed out loud.
"Tagitsuhime-sama! You eat good food and drink fine wine with Chizan every day, and you're still stealing from us?!"
Tagitsuhime didn't bother with her at all and just started eating like crazy on her own.
Seeing that even Tagitsuhime had arrived, Manda didn't dare to breathe too loudly.
Under the blatantly greedy gazes of the four snakes, he first stored away the snakeberries, then finally began talking about Orochimaru.
It turned out Orochimaru had gone to the Land of Rivers to collect medicinal ingredients. There were many places within the Land of Rivers where herbs grew.
But during this operation, they encountered an attack from the Rinnegan halfway through.
Only then did Gekko Chizan notice that Manda had many wounds on his body. Though unfamiliar, there were a lot of them.
Manda glanced at the injuries on his body, a trace of fear surfacing in his eyes.
"The attacks of the Rinnegan wielder are extremely terrifying. I charged straight into it and got bounced away. The harder I hit, the more injured I became."
"Even Orochimaru was extremely passive against that kind of attack."
"Whether it was Wind Release or snake ninjutsu, nothing could do anything to them."
"If they had actually wanted to kill us, we'd probably be dead already."
A hint of gravity appeared on Gekko Chizan's face. Did Nagato come in person?
"Was that person red-haired?"
"Yes. Red hair. He looked very young, and he seemed to really dislike Orochimaru. He didn't hold back at all."
Wasn't that normal? Back then, Orochimaru had advocated directly killing the three kids.
Nagato held grudges!
"And then?"
"Then the guy who looked like a cactus spoke up. He wanted Orochimaru to join their organization, but Orochimaru didn't agree and said he'd think about it."
"And after that?"
"I don't know. Then Orochimaru canceled the summoning, and I came back. At the same time, he asked me to bring the message to you."
Gekko Chizan fell silent. Was Orochimaru planning to walk straight into the trap?
Worthy of being his teacher. Relying on the fact that he was a snake, he wasn't afraid at all, huh? Worst case scenario, he'd just shed his skin and escape?
"It's here! Summoning!"
"Take me with you! Tagitsuhime, stop eating!"
Before the words even finished, Manda, Gekko Chizan, and Tagitsuhime all vanished from Ryūchi Cave.
Only the Jinlin four sisters were left staring at each other.
"Get ready. We might be going over there too."
"But first—eat!"
The eldest sister Urokohane spoke up. Before the other three snakes could react, she opened her massive mouth and started devouring crazily!
...
Using the summoning technique, Gekko Chizan hid directly inside Manda's mouth. Manda trembled with fear, terrified of failing to serve this great lord properly.
Very soon, a cold, sharp voice sounded beside Gekko Chizan's ear.
"So, Orochimaru, is this your choice?"
"Hmph. Wouldn't it be fine if I just killed him?"
Two voices—one belonged to Zetsu, the other to Nagato.
"Chizan, there's another person nearby, but this person's aura is a bit strange."
"Another person?"
"Yeah, but that person seems to have his own methods. Judging from the aura he's revealing, he's an enemy, not a friend."
Gekko Chizan frowned deeply. The current situation seemed a bit beyond expectations.