"Sage of Six Paths?"
Orochimaru frowned deeply.
In the ninja world, even Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, was not taken seriously by him; he was at best a slightly stronger pawn.
Orochimaru knew what Nagato had and what he wanted. If the conditions were right, he could fully control Nagato's actions.
But the Sage of Six Paths was different.
Having lived for over a thousand years, the Sage of Six Paths was unlike the Slug, the White Snake, or even Black Zetsu. Based on the traces left in the ninja world, it was hard to grasp his intentions.
For example, Pure Land. This was his first direct point of contact with the Sage of Six Paths, and he saw it as an Ootsuki soldier factory.
But if he considered it from the Sage's perspective, if he possessed a place like Pure Land, he would definitely invest immense effort in developing and strengthening it, instead of running to the human world every few days to play house.
The Sage of Six Paths gave Orochimaru the feeling that Pure Land wasn't something meticulously planned, but rather a product of going with the flow.
This wasn't Orochimaru's baseless fantasy, but a reasonable guess about such a mythical being.
What mortals saw as the unique and terrifying 'Ten Suns in the Sky' might have just been the Golden Crow birds taking turns and acting on a whim.
Ootsuki Kaguya activated the Moon Eye and thus possessed the Origin Sphere space. The Sage of Six Paths also had the Third Eye on his forehead, so he created Pure Land. Perhaps things were simply that easy.
Because the Sage of Six Paths left so little information about any matter, Orochimaru dared not be careless. He looked up at the Genie Lamp.
"Didn't you say he was most likely in a state of reincarnation? How did he end up inside Naruto?"
"He is, after all, Ashura's reincarnation, and now he's become the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. If he had no connection at all, that would be strange."
The Genie Lamp shrugged. "Don't make that face. My previous prediction wasn't far off. The Sage of Six Paths probably has no intention of paying you any mind."
"This old man might just want to sell ramen right now."
"Ramen?"
Orochimaru paused, and at once, a name popped into his mind, "Ichiraku Ramen?"
"That's right." The Genie Lamp nodded, a strange smile on its face.
In the original timeline, many people speculated that the ramen chef who inexplicably survived the Nine-Tails attack, lived quietly until the very end, might be the main villain.
He hadn't expected this unremarkable character to actually have something going on.
Come to think of it, Naruto was disliked and avoided by everyone when he was young. Even Iruka only slowly started taking care of him after becoming his teacher.
But Ootsuki Ichiraku had gotten along well with little Naruto from a very early time.
"Sage of Six Paths… his hobbies are really… unique."
Orochimaru's expression was strange, and he didn't know what to say. He remembered that when he was young, he and Jiraiya often ate at Ichiraku Ramen.
"Immortals, if they don't have any goals, they get bored easily. Not everyone is like Black Zetsu."
The Genie Lamp spread its hands. "He's just playing with immersion."
Even the White Snake Sage had the idea of transforming into a dragon, thinking of not being limited to the tens of miles underground of Ryuchi Cave. The Sage of Six Paths had already been the lord of the ninja world. When he chose to separate the Tailed Beasts, perhaps he had truly let go of everything.
"For now, that's all we can consider. I can try to test him later."
Orochimaru gazed at a corner of the village and leaped down from the Hokage Rock.
These few days were a rare window of opportunity. He wanted to expand the number of wooden ninjas in the village as much as possible, to select suitable material for the upcoming First Hokage cell transplant surgery.
...
In a deep cave, above the grotesque Gedo Statue.
After the One-Tails Shukaku was completely devoured, ten figures simultaneously withdrew their Chakra, letting out a sigh of relief.
Although the past three days were not non-stop, with shifts for rest, their spirits and energy were largely depleted, and everyone was exhausted, wishing they could just fall asleep.
"Thank you all for your hard work."
Tendo Pain nodded slightly, casually dispelled the Illusion-Illusion Technique, and the ten figures disappeared one after another.
Before leaving, Yakushi Kabuto looked up at the strange eyes on the Gedo Statue that had already opened halfway. In a moment, he felt as if he was staring into the face of a demon, and his heart trembled with fear.
"This thing is really malevolent. I wonder if Orochimaru-sama has a way to deal with it."
Despite his worries, he had already received the message not to contact rashly recently.
Soon, only two figures remained on the ten fingers of the Gedo Statue. Obito looked at Tendo Pain. "How is it? After sealing the One-Tails, has the burden been reduced a lot?"
"You certainly didn't lie to me." Tendo Pain's eyes deepened. "But there was an omission in what you said before."
"You didn't tell me that after sealing the One-Tails, the Gedo Statue would become difficult to control."
The Gedo Statue had nine eyes on its face. Currently, only one was open, and not fully open yet. But Nagato had already sensed something.
The Gedo Statue was not a puppet that could be controlled at will. Its self-awareness had now become a bit more active. It was hard to imagine what the consequences would be if this behemoth lost control.
"I don't know the specific details of this matter either,"
Obito's gaze remained unchanged, and he said slowly, "All my information comes from historical records. I am not hiding anything."
Tendo Pain glanced at the masked man, not fully believing him. If the Gedo Statue were to riot in the future due to sealing the Tailed Beasts, he would stop at any time.
For now, sealing the Tailed Beasts indeed reduced his burden.
Seeing that Nagato no longer pressed, Obito understood that this hurdle had been passed and said, "It's best to seal the Tailed Beasts in order of their tail count. The Two-Tails Jinchuriki is currently active in the Land of Frost, and I have located her whereabouts."
"You are not allowed to do this without my permission."
Tendo Pain looked at Obito and said indifferently.
"Heh... As you wish. I won't interfere with this matter." Obito replied nonchalantly and disappeared.
Meanwhile, in a basement in Amegakure, Nagato sat up from his wooden bed and let out a long sigh.
Although he had been up for three days without sleep and was mentally exhausted, his body was the most relaxed it had been since summoning the Gedo Statue.
Konan was beside him and immediately noticed the change in Nagato's body. A hint of surprise appeared on her cold face, "Nagato, how do you feel?"
"The Gedo Statue's drain on my chakra is not as severe."
Nagato did not hide any emotions in front of Konan and sighed, "I didn't expect Madara not to have lied this time."
In fact, the Gedo Statue, as the shell of the Divine Tree, had an innate instinct to reclaim the Ten-Tails' Chakra. If Nagato didn't have the Rinnegan, his body would have been drained dry after his spirit was linked to the Gedo Statue.
In the ninja world, only the original owner of the Rinnegan, Uchiha Madara, could completely suppress the Gedo Statue. Even Obito himself could not accomplish this.
"That's great." A cold glint flashed in Konan's eyes. "Next is the Two-Tails Jinchuriki."
Konan was aware that it was not convenient to cause trouble for Kumogakure at this time, but what she valued most was Nagato himself, even more than the so-called peace in the ninja world.
The establishment of the Akatsuki organization and their actions were essentially to fulfill the wishes of their deceased friends.
"There's no need for that for now."
Nagato shook his head. "Although the masked man said it's best to seal them in order, the truth of this matter needs to be verified. We already have the Seven-Tails in hand, so we can try with it."
Although the Gedo Statue was his summon, his understanding of it was not as good as the masked man's. This situation itself was very unusual.
Where the masked man got this information was not worth dwelling on for now, but they couldn't be led by the nose all the time.
Disrupting the order and using the Seven-Tails as the second Tailed Beast to be sealed would be carried out, even if it was wrong.
If disrupting the order would truly cause a major disaster in collecting the Tailed Beasts, the masked man would definitely speak out to stop them. At that time, it would be an opportunity to obtain information.
This was a tactic to control the other party in reverse.
"Oh, right." Nagato suddenly thought of something. "How has the research on the 'Body Enhancement Surgery' progressed these past few days?"
"It's not as good as when Yakushi Kabuto was here a few days ago."
Konan thought of the arrogant behavior of those few people, and a hint of annoyance flashed in her eyes.
"They said that rapid progress in the early stages and slowing down later is normal, but I think they've been secretly adding personal ingredients."
It could be said that Yakushi Kabuto's repeated warnings had successfully planted a concept in the minds of laypeople like Konan: slow research progress definitely meant those few people were stealing public funds for private gain.
And it just so happened that both Hiruko, who urgently needed to solve his physical problems, the leader of the Yellow Izumi school, and the leader of the Sky Ninjas, were all suspects, making it impossible for Konan to trust them.
"This matter will have to be handed back to Yakushi Kabuto later." Nagato closed his eyes. "Inform him tomorrow."
"I understand." Konan nodded slightly and her figure vanished back into the darkness.
...
In a clean but old wooden house, Orochimaru completed his last surgery of the day.
He put away his experimental equipment and looked at the figure enthusiastically getting used to his new abilities, smiling, "How does it feel?"
"It's incredible. My youth now has more possibilities."
Guy clenched his fist, his gaze blazing. "Thank you, Orochimaru-sama."
"After the modification, your body is more in tune with nature. If you continue to practice breathing techniques, you might have a chance to master Sage Mode."
Orochimaru nodded slightly. "Don't let me down."
"Yes!" Guy's shout was very loud.
Orochimaru naturally wasn't worried about Guy's effort. He glanced outside the window at the sky. "It's already this late. Come out to eat with me."
Guy patted his stomach and readily agreed.
His body had just undergone modification and consumed a lot of energy, so he needed a good meal.
Guy didn't stand on ceremony with Orochimaru. In his opinion, Orochimaru was his teacher, one of his own, and there was no need for overly polite talk.
The two left Guy's house and headed towards the village, their destination being Ichiraku Ramen.
The time was a little later than the normal dinner time, so there weren't many diners, and Orochimaru and Guy could sit casually at the counter.
Orochimaru's expression was normal, and he said slowly, "Ten bowls of Tonkotsu ramen first."
After learning from the Genie Lamp that Teuchi was Ootsuki Ichiraku, it took him great effort to maintain his usual composure.
The Sage of Six Paths didn't seem to feel exposed. As the Genie Lamp had said, he was immersed in the role of a ramen chef. He responded with a hearty "Coming right up!" and began preparing his signature Tonkotsu ramen.
According to the setup, Ichiraku, as an ordinary person, wouldn't dare to chat casually with a fierce person like Orochimaru, and the Sage of Six Paths didn't say anything to Guy either.
Orochimaru sat at the counter drinking plain water, calmly watching the other person's fluid movements. The Genie Lamp marveled from the side,
"With this skill… even if he wasn't the Sage of Six Paths, in Japan, he could be called a Ramen Sage."
Orochimaru also nodded in agreement.
Just as ninjas excelled at Ninjutsu, this person had perfected his ramen-making through countless trials. In such chaotic times, being so focused on ramen technique was already unusual.
Even the top carpenters in the Land of Waves had to learn some Ninjutsu, and their movements were not inferior to Konoha Genin.
This person was truly special.
"Uncle Teuchi, isn't it ready yet? I'm starving."
Guy, without any of Orochimaru's calculations in mind, urged as usual.
"It'll be ready soon, it'll be ready soon."
'Uncle Teuchi' replied with a squinted smile and casually asked, "Did you go training again? That's why you're so late?"
"No, I had surgery..."
Guy said carelessly, then realized his slip of the tongue and looked at Orochimaru nervously.
In fact, if it were an ordinary Guy, he wouldn't be like this. Although Danzo had determined he couldn't be an ANBU or a Root member, as a ninja, Guy was undoubtedly competent.
It was just that because he was in the village and had no defenses against Teuchi, he accidentally let slip.
"It's fine, this isn't something that needs to be kept secret." Orochimaru shook his head.
Meanwhile, 'Uncle Teuchi,' hearing Guy say this, slightly opened his squinted eyes, looked Guy up and down, and as if he had discovered something, casually responded, "Had surgery, huh? Then you should eat more to replenish your strength."
"You can rest assured about that. I always have a good appetite." Guy patted his stomach and smiled, revealing a row of shiny white teeth.
"Then tonight's business is going to be great!"
The two chatted enthusiastically, while Orochimaru observed coldly until they finished dinner and parted ways with Guy.
On the way back, Orochimaru looked up at the Genie Lamp. "How is it? Does this person have any extra movements?"
"Probably not. The Ramen Sage is preparing tomorrow's ingredients... Oh, and he also made a new sauce. It looks like it tastes good."
The Genie Lamp shrugged. "He didn't leave any tricks on you or Guy in secret."
"So, he's really dedicated to playing the role of Teuchi."
Orochimaru's lips curved slightly. "If that's really the case, then that would be great. You keep an eye on him for me lately."
The Genie Lamp smiled. "Leave it to me, don't worry."
Orochimaru nodded slightly. He was extremely confident in the Genie Lamp.
Although the Sage of Six Paths was formidable, he was at best the number one person in the ninja world. For the Genie Lamp, even the Ootsuki clan, a galactic civilization, was just a native.
This was a difference in dimensions.
---
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