Good news: Orochimaru no longer needed to covet another's Sharingan. He had his own now—and a remarkably advanced one at that.
Bad news: He'd been too hasty. And he'd been exposed.
To his credit, after being exposed, he didn't try to fight Itachi Uchiha again. He chose to flee immediately… Honestly, he could have been bolder. After discarding the now-worthless Itachi, he could have tried to seize the leader's Rinnegan.
But he still chose to retreat. After his initial rash mistake, he'd regained his rationality.
Orochimaru needed to figure out what the hell had happened to him. He'd just replayed his entire life in his head at high speed and found absolutely no reason why he should possess the Sharingan.
So what was going on?
For a shinobi, fighting without proper intelligence was dangerous. Information about both the enemy and oneself was crucial… Even if Orochimaru had gone all out to snatch the Rinnegan, he'd only have gotten a pair of fish-eye bubbles, because the Rinnegan in the Deva Path's sockets were exactly that—bubbles.
Though from a pure power perspective, Orochimaru did have a chance of winning.
Regardless, because of Orochimaru, the recently dispersed group had gathered once more.
Itachi Uchiha briefly explained what had just happened, then heavily emphasized the snake's danger.
"Orochimaru's power is far beyond what it appears. He possesses a Mangekyō Sharingan and can wield it freely… In our brief exchange, I sensed his strength far surpasses mine. He is… exceptionally difficult to deal with."
Qianyu listened to Itachi's description and felt this always-interesting man, Orochimaru, had just gotten even more interesting.
"A loose organization like this was bound to have defectors. I just didn't expect one to appear so quickly."
Qianyu jumped in first with his sarcastic commentary, then asked the self-proclaimed god, the "Deva Path," in a perfectly calm tone:
"Is there a protocol for handling defectors within the organization?… Ah, seems not. Forget I asked."
The calmer his tone, the more it sounded like mockery aimed at the leader.
But Qianyu didn't give the other party a chance to explode. He seamlessly shifted gears, putting on a show of analyzing Orochimaru.
"Considering Orochimaru defected now, he must have intended to defect earlier, meaning his motives for joining were questionable from the start… Combined with his act of stealing a Sharingan and his hidden immense power, it's highly likely his goal in joining the Akatsuki was the Rinnegan."
If Orochimaru had been present, he'd have felt deeply wronged. Ah, I was hiding my power?
"That's illogical," Jigen chimed in, clearly another troublemaker just like Qianyu. "If his goal was the Rinnegan, why target a Sharingan? Compared to exposing himself, wouldn't lying low offer a better chance?"
"Who knows how his thoughts shifted? Perhaps he realized his strength wasn't enough to seize the Rinnegan. Perhaps he investigated and found there isn't actually a Rinnegan here at all…"
Qianyu sounded like he was talking nonsense. Or maybe he was about to start reciting Nagato's ID number.
"The leader's strength—" Jigen raised an eyebrow, putting on a show of keen analysis, ready to dissect the leader further. But before he could finish, the Deva Path cut him off.
Any sane person knew you couldn't let these two keep rambling. Their conversation seemed information-dense, but it was all useless noise.
"Orochimaru dared to defect. That means the organization's secrets are at risk of exposure. The priority is to recapture and deal with him swiftly," the Deva Path stated.
Was this the time for analysis? The priority was getting Orochimaru back.
The Deva Path's gaze turned to the two most active participants: Qianyu and Jigen.
"I refuse such a mission," Qianyu rejected immediately. "It doesn't align with my ultimate goal for joining this organization. I only obey that ultimate goal."
He was a man nearing a hundred years old. He had his own prestige to maintain. He was a partner in this organization, not a lackey to be summoned and dismissed.
"Same here," Jigen followed up. Clearly, he didn't give a damn about Orochimaru, viewing him as an insignificant minor character.
Their statements only fueled the leader's anger, already stoked by Orochimaru's betrayal.
One defector was one thing, but if the leader started a fight with these two now, the freshly assembled Akatsuki would effectively disintegrate on the spot.
"Leader, the matter of Orochimaru should be handled by us personally."
Konan, sensing the tension and knowing Nagato's emotions were nearing a breaking point, spoke up quickly.
"Bad news: Orochimaru has always been good at hiding. Good news: He doesn't know much about the organization. And even if he wanted to leak information, he probably has nowhere to leak it to," Qianyu said.
"Such information is just a bargaining chip to him. Chips only have value when held. Perhaps he'll find an opportunity to trade with us in the future. If he leaks it—say, to a major village—he loses his leverage, and both sides become locked in a fight to the death… I think he understands this logic easily," Jigen added.
The two were no longer lacing their words with barbs, offering further explanation instead. It sounded remarkably like they were yielding to the leader.
Konan's persuasion and the two's apparent submission slightly calmed the Deva Path's near-explosive mood.
At least one thing they said was right: Orochimaru wouldn't easily leak the organization's secrets.
"First, the organization must quickly recruit a new member. Second, two-man team compositions will be adjusted. Members from the same village will be separated. Third, the defection matter will be handled by me personally."
The Deva Path gave his final verdict on the "Orochimaru Defection Incident."
His mood was still foul. This was supposed to be a milestone—the organization setting sail, the great plan beginning. Yet the ship had capsized before even leaving port… What Orochimaru did was the classic 'one bad apple spoils the barrel.'
Since Qianyu explicitly refused to participate in hunting the traitor, Orochimaru was none of his concern. His next task was locating the Three-Tails.
The Deva Path and Konan moved together. Utilizing the Rinnegan's wide-area sensory abilities, they would reach a suspicious area, raise a curtain of rain, and follow the faint traces. Orochimaru's trail became increasingly clear.
After all, a detection ninjutsu like the Rain Tiger at Will Technique was absurdly stealthy and convenient. Utterly insidious.
While Orochimaru preferred staying underground, it didn't mean he never surfaced. Nagato's sensory ninjutsu was too treacherous. Orochimaru couldn't defend against it completely.
When Nagato found Orochimaru again, all Six Paths of Pain were deployed. They proceeded to pummel Orochimaru—a man with top-tier hardware but no operating system, immense power but no clue how to use it effectively. After gleaning most of Pain's abilities, Orochimaru escaped once more.
At that point, Nagato could forget about capturing him. If you didn't get him the first time, he'd only become harder to catch.
Clearly, even the difficulty of tracking his traces had increased by a level.
A White Zetsu, secretly observing that battle, was reporting to Obito Uchiha and the Black Zetsu attached to him.
"Orochimaru's situation is… very strange. Unless I'm mistaken, the unique pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan is identical to Madara Uchiha's."
The masked man, Obito, shook his head immediately.
"That's impossible. Every Uchiha who awakens the Mangekyō has unique circumstances. Each pair of eyes is different. Even if Orochimaru somehow obtained a Mangekyō, it couldn't be Madara's… We all know where Madara's eyes are."
"I'm absolutely certain. Those eyes had Madara's pattern."
This White Zetsu didn't want to be a contrarian, but reality forced him to argue… He'd seen it with his own eyes. How could it be false?
But this White Zetsu had some perspective. He merely re-emphasized his point before continuing:
"Additionally, Orochimaru does possess a hidden power, but he seems unable to wield or control it skillfully… He was pushed to the brink of death multiple times by Pain's unique abilities, yet he revived almost instantly during the fight."
"That recovery speed is also abnormal. If I had to guess, Orochimaru doesn't just have Madara's power… he might even possess the Wood Release power of the First Hokage."
"Ah? Is that possible?"
It was well known: Orochimaru was a fanatical "scientist." His entire life was eat, sleep, research forbidden jutsu. The first two were survival instincts; the last was his passion… Orochimaru had no appetite for fine food, nor was he lazy. He simply loved research.
If there were any relics of Madara Uchiha or Hashirama Senju in Konoha, Orochimaru would find—or create—a way to study them. That's how he could combine the strengths of both.
Ahem. Or to put it another way: If Orochimaru could seize the powers of Asura and Indra in just four or five decades of life, wouldn't that make Black Zetsu—who schemed for a thousand years to succeed—look like a complete clown?
If Orochimaru were Black Zetsu, and Black Zetsu were just some Konoha orphan… wouldn't Kaguya have broken free ages ago?
Black Zetsu fell into deep self-doubt.
"If Orochimaru has both the Mangekyō Sharingan and Wood Release… does that mean he also has the potential to awaken the Rinnegan?" Obito asked.
If Orochimaru could serve as a backup, a living one was far more valuable than a dead one.
"Unlikely. Even granting that possibility, he only has a Mangekyō, not an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan."
"Right."
If Orochimaru had that potential… didn't that mean Obito did too? After all, Obito had a Mangekyō and Hashirama cells.
Meanwhile, the center of the Akatsuki's discussions, the man who had just suffered a crushing defeat—Orochimaru—found himself in Ryūchi Cave.
He knew he was strong. Now he wanted to know why. For that, he sought the legendary White Snake Sage.
That Sage was the most likely figure to have answers. According to legend, she was an ancient monster who had lived for who-knows-how-long and occasionally observed the shinobi world… Orochimaru believed this Sage might have accidentally witnessed the moment of his own… peculiar transformation.
Let's just say Orochimaru came to the right place. The White Snake Sage didn't need to "accidentally" see anything. She already knew exactly what had happened to him.
Unlike previous searches that required great effort, this time, for some reason, Orochimaru smoothly delved deep into Ryūchi Cave and found the White Snake Sage hidden in the secret realm's depths.
"White Snake Sage. We meet again."
Orochimaru greeted her naturally, then immediately frowned. Hm? This is our first meeting. Why did I say 'again'? What's with this strange sense of familiarity?
"Orochimaru. I know why you've come. I can only tell you this: you once embarked on a journey through time. On that journey, you learned many things. But upon returning to your original time, you lost all memory of it… That is all I can say. The remaining truth… you must find for yourself."
The White Snake Sage, knowing his purpose, spoke thusly.
It wasn't that she enjoyed being cryptic. She knew why Orochimaru had lost his memory. Precisely because of that, she feared saying too much might attract… unwelcome guests.
So let Orochimaru investigate on his own. Whatever he found would have nothing to do with the White Snake Sage.
Her words made Orochimaru understand a little… and left him even more confused about a lot.
"Through time? Who? When?"
Orochimaru's head spun, but he knew one thing: he needed to embark on a journey to reclaim his memories.
Orochimaru wasn't the only one with a chance to meet a Sage again.
Year 70 of Konoha.
The Chakra Fruit, nurtured for over twenty years on the God Tree planted within the Beginning World, finally ripened.
When the fruit was ready, Qianyu naturally returned.
"The power the God Tree has siphoned from the vast dimensions is… staggering. Kaguya's dimensions hold no more wonder… It absorbed energy from five different dimensions. A fruit born from fusing those five sources must contain energy surpassing that of any God Tree that ever existed in the shinobi world. Do you know what that means?" said the gardener clone Qianyu had left here.
"Of course I know. But at this point, what's there to hesitate about? Besides, it's not like I lack contingencies… They're not even contingencies. I always had a diversion plan."
The Chakra Fruit's energy was immense, which meant it was hard to control.
"True. I'm just worrying unnecessarily… The plan was foolproof from the start," the clone Qianyu said.
Qianyu nodded, reached out, and reabsorbed his clone. He took a deep breath, then rose into the air.
Qianyu plucked the small, melon-like Chakra Fruit from the God Tree's heights and, without hesitation, swallowed it whole.
The fruit was tiny, easy to eat. But its small size only highlighted its insane energy density.
This wasn't eating a fruit. This was chugging a can of "Six Nuclear Bombs."
Combined with his body's God Tree characteristics, after swallowing the fruit, there was no complex "digestion" needed. The power, sharing the same origin, simply transferred from the tree to him.
In an instant, he was full. Then he felt… stuffed.
He couldn't yet control this vast energy, but even so, he felt a leap in his very life essence.
From this unknown dimensional space, he lifted his gaze and looked toward the shinobi world.
And there, suspended in the deep void above the world, he saw him—the Sage of Six Paths. Seated cross-legged, staff in hand, his face etched with worry.
Talk about meeting a Sage again…
It was only right to greet his long-unseen teacher. So, Qianyu opened his mouth and spoke:
"Burp~"
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