Under the ground, there's naturally no real food source. Orochimaru couldn't really eat dirt anyway. He barely managed a meal with soldier pills from a scroll, then fell asleep.
Six hours passed in a flash.
"Wake up! White Zetsu's clones are about to scout this area."
The genie stuck his head out and shouted in the mind channel, but maybe because he had been too tired before, Orochimaru was sleeping like a log and couldn't be woken up no matter what.
In desperation, the genie took control of the body and slapped himself in the face a few times.
He could have directly controlled Orochimaru to run away, but why let him be lazy?
After a flurry of activity, Orochimaru woke up from his sleep.
Although he was still very hungry, it was bearable. The physical fatigue had also eased a lot, but his face hurt a bit.
Wiping away the injuries on his face, Orochimaru learned about the current situation and said directly, "Find a gap in their patrol routes, and we'll break through."
"I'm sorry, I can't do that, or rather, with your abilities, you can't meet my requirements."
The genie spread his hands, "The White Zetsu's sensing range is not small, and with the help of the Divine Tree's root network, their movement speed underground is faster than yours. Breaking through will definitely alarm them."
As long as a sufficient number of White Zetsu keep him at a distance, Orochimaru has nowhere to hide underground.
Of course, the White Zetsu are no match for Orochimaru. It wouldn't matter how many came, but if Nagato, also recovered and full of energy, came over, things would get troublesome.
"Then we can only stick to the original plan and play hide-and-seek with these little things."
Orochimaru didn't want to fight Nagato for the time being. Although wasting time with the White Zetsu clones here wasn't what he wanted either, it was the only option now.
His biggest problem comes from his size.
If he were a normal human size, he wouldn't have to worry about hunger and would have fully recovered. He also wouldn't have to worry about the White Snake Sage being curious. He could try to break the contract seal now.
No matter which of the above, Obito and Nagato wouldn't be able to catch him.
"That's not necessary."
The genie pointed downwards, "You can continue to go deeper."
Orochimaru frowned, "Keep going deeper?"
That wasn't a very good idea. He wasn't really an earthworm. Moving underground costs Chakra.
And Chakra is directly related to his fullness. Without filling his stomach, even the strongest ninja can't make bricks without straw.
Using the blind spots of the White Zetsu clones' sensing range to make small adjustments in position is acceptable, but continuing deeper underground is just a short-sighted solution.
You have to know that only on the surface is there an abundance of food sources. If he avoids the White Zetsu's search but doesn't have enough Chakra to return to the surface, he might be trapped to death in the earth.
For Orochimaru, that kind of death would be ridiculous.
"That's not what I meant."
The genie heard Orochimaru's misunderstanding and smiled, "A hundred meters further down, there's a wide underground river. It's not a dead end, and it has a lot of fish, crabs, shrimp, and shellfish."
"Really?" Orochimaru's eyes lit up when he heard that.
Where does the underground river lead to? He doesn't care whether it's a dead end, as long as he has enough Chakra, he can go anywhere.
And the best way to fill his current giant empty shell is to eat a good meal.
With that in mind, Orochimaru didn't hesitate. Enduring the hunger, he eagerly drilled down in the direction the genie pointed.
The earth opened and closed, swallowing all traces.
A quarter of an hour later, the White Zetsu's senses swept across the area, unaware.
…
"We've searched over a thousand meters deep from top to bottom, an area of fifty kilometers, and still haven't found any trace of Orochimaru."
Zetsu poked his head out of the Venus flytrap and said slowly, "He must have escaped."
"Escaped? Where can he escape to? Such a large body is very conspicuous wherever he is, just like a tailed beast."
Obito turned his head, looked down at Zetsu, who only had half his body above ground, and said slowly,
"Have there been any other sightings of Orochimaru in the past three days?"
During this time, Obito also understood that the giant form must be the product of some kind of surgical accident. Otherwise, there's no reason Orochimaru wouldn't change back to his original form, just to be beaten by Nagato for so long.
In terms of size, at most it's more durable in the battles of top ninjas, but it's not much of an advantage.
Zetsu closed his eyes for a moment and integrated the messages transmitted by the clones, then opened his mouth and said, "There haven't been..."
"Then do as I said, expand the scope and continue to look."
Obito glanced at Zetsu, his words full of unshakable determination, "He must still be somewhere, secretly looking at the search teams, waiting for us to give up."
"How can we let Orochimaru get his wish?"
"At most, it's just a futile effort, wasting a little time."
"What I have the most of right now is time."
Obito paused and continued, "But if we really find him, then it'll be a big win."
"I understand."
Black Zetsu glanced at Obito, feeling a little emotional in his heart.
It's not just Nagato who has grown. Obito has also been able to put aside his boring pride and act calmly, which is also thanks to the pressure Orochimaru has given him.
"Also, spread the news outside that Orochimaru is seriously injured and dying..."
Obito's eyes flashed with red light and he said quietly, "It's not a good solution to keep looking like this. Let the Grass ninjas cooperate and test Konoha's reaction."
If Orochimaru loses means of communication with Konoha, Konoha will definitely panic. After all, he is a top combat force, which they can't afford to lose.
And if the two can still contact each other, it's likely that Konoha will send ninjas to meet Orochimaru. Then, by following the clues, they might be able to catch Orochimaru's tail.
"I'll notify the Grass ninjas to do that."
The two fan-shaped leaves closed, and the Venus flytrap, along with Zetsu, sank into the ground.
…
"Tsk, they still haven't given up after so long? They're really patient."
Orochimaru followed the river, moved to a blind spot in the White Zetsu's senses, leaned against the smooth stone wall, and continued his eating time.
In the past three days, other than sleeping and relieving himself, Orochimaru has been either eating fish or on the way to catching fish.
Fortunately, the underground river is a primitive environment, without any traces of human involvement. The aquatic resources are extremely rich, otherwise it really wouldn't be able to support Orochimaru's huge appetite.
He put an eight or nine-meter-long fish in his mouth, pressed his lips together, and pulled the fish tail outward with his fingers, pulling out a fish skeleton.
Wiping away the blood from the fish bones that pricked the corner of his mouth, Orochimaru chewed a few times and swallowed the fresh, tender fish meat mixed with the fishy innards.
"I don't have time to play with them anymore. Have you found the exit yet?"
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