Building so many bases had taken a considerable amount of effort. And now, with most of them destroyed, the losses could only be described as devastating.
Although he thought this in his heart, Kabuto Yakushi's face remained expressionless.
Orochimaru let out a low laugh, then raised his head to look at Kabuto.
"Have Yuto and Uchiha Madara already started making their move on the tailed beasts?"
Kabuto was momentarily stunned. He was just about to report this matter, but he hadn't expected that Orochimaru-sama had already anticipated it.
Seeing Kabuto's expression, Orochimaru let out another low laugh, licking his lips.
"Truly impressive. It seems the tailed beasts do indeed conceal great secrets. Unfortunately, discovering this now is a bit too late."
"However, not entirely too late!"
"Orochimaru-sama..." Kabuto wanted to say something, but before he could speak, Orochimaru had already risen from his position, his entire body exuding a sinister aura.
"Have you found everyone?"
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Kabuto nodded gently.
Orochimaru walked expressionlessly toward the cave entrance, and Kabuto hurriedly followed behind him.
Facing the blinding sunlight, Orochimaru and Kabuto appeared at the mouth of the cave.
"Orochimaru-sama!"
"Orochimaru-sama!"
Voices of respect rang out, reaching the ears of Orochimaru and Kabuto who had just emerged.
Looking up, Jugo, Karin, Guren, Yukimaru, and many others had all appeared before Orochimaru's eyes.
Iwagakure
Kitsuchi slammed his hand on the table with an angry expression.
"Old man, what exactly are you thinking?!"
Kitsuchi glared at Onoki, then turned his gaze toward Deidara, who stood beside Onoki with a casual expression.
"Quiet down, Kitsuchi."
Onoki sat in the Tsuchikage's seat, his hands crossed, speaking calmly.
"How can you expect me to quiet down! Deidara just attacked the village, and combined with his previous defection, you know better than anyone the losses he's caused the village."
"And now you're just lightly forgiving him? Even directly giving him a jonin position!"
"I don't understand your orders. Regarding this, I object!"
Kitsuchi's face showed an expression of incomprehension as he shouted!
"The one sitting in the Tsuchikage's seat right now is me, not you."
Onoki continued speaking with an expressionless face.
After speaking, Onoki turned his gaze toward Kurotsuchi, who stood to the side looking somewhat lost.
"Your father needs to calm down!"
Standing to the side, Kurotsuchi looked at the expressionless Onoki, then glanced at the furious Kitsuchi, her face showing a helpless expression.
For some reason, ever since Onoki returned, Kurotsuchi always had a strange feeling, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.
Pushing aside the inexplicable thoughts in her mind, Kurotsuchi quickly stepped forward, pushing Kitsuchi toward the exit of the Tsuchikage's office.
With Onoki's temperament, once he made a decision, anyone's objection would have little meaning.
In Kurotsuchi's view, no matter how much Kitsuchi argued at this point, it would have no effect on the outcome.
After leaving the Tsuchikage's office, Kitsuchi still wore an angry expression. Along the way, he remained sullen.
It wasn't until they had walked some distance from the Tsuchikage's office that Kurotsuchi, seeing her father still looking angry, was about to comfort her short-tempered father.
Suddenly, Kurotsuchi noticed that Kitsuchi, who should have been wearing an angry expression, had at some point become completely calm.
"Father... you?"
Kurotsuchi looked at Kitsuchi with a bewildered expression, somewhat stunned.
"What? Should I be very angry?"
Seeing Kurotsuchi's surprised look, Kitsuchi spoke in a calm voice.
Whether it was Kurotsuchi's imagination or not, she detected a hint of worry in her father's voice.
"Father, you don't seem angry. Then why did you make such a scene in front of the old man?"
Kurotsuchi looked at Kitsuchi with confusion, clearly not understanding her father's earlier actions.
Hearing Kurotsuchi's words, Kitsuchi wanted to say something, but then swallowed his words back, casually saying:
"You don't need to concern yourself with this matter."
After speaking, Kitsuchi strode forward along the street.
Seeing her father's hesitation, Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes, placing her hands behind her head.
"Really, even Father has become somewhat strange."
At this moment, inside the Tsuchikage's office.
Only after sensing that Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi's presence had disappeared did Deidara stretch lazily, plopping down unceremoniously on the Tsuchikage's desk.
"Seriously, Zetsu, don't drag me into things like this."
Deidara wore an annoyed expression, fiercely glaring at Onoki, who had been sitting to the side the entire time.
"If we didn't include you in this act, there would be a risk of exposure."
Onoki spread his hands, a strange smile appearing on his face.
Just then, the air in front suddenly distorted, and a spiral-shaped vortex appeared.
In the next moment, Obito's figure emerged from the vortex.
"Oh, you're back. How did things go on your end?"
The Zetsu impersonating Onoki looked at Obito, a smile appearing on his face.
"As long as your identity isn't exposed, there won't be any problems on my end."
"Even with Sasori and the others helping, it will still take some time to completely control Iwagakure."
Obito's expression carried a hint of relaxation as he spoke calmly.
"Don't underestimate Iwagakure. Be careful not to capsize in a gutter like with Kirigakure."
Deidara narrowed his eyes as he looked at Obito, his voice carrying a cold laugh.
"Don't worry. If this really fails, Uchiha Madara-sama will cleanse Iwagakure. That's something even you wouldn't want to see, I imagine."
Hearing Deidara's mocking tone, the corner of his mouth hidden beneath the mask curled into a smile, though his voice remained unchanged.
Deidara's expression changed slightly, but quickly returned to normal as he let out a dissatisfied cold snort!
The White Zetsu impersonating Onoki quietly watched the two of them at odds, showing no intention of intervening.
Kirigakure
Utakata looked expressionlessly at the two people who had suddenly appeared before him.
If one observed carefully, they could clearly see Utakata's eye twitching continuously.
Clearly, Utakata was in a bad mood right now!
"Your name is Utakata, right? The bad guy told us to come find you. I'm Fu!"
Fu carefully examined Utakata, speaking in a carefree manner.
"Yugito."
Standing beside Fu, Yugito spoke with an indifferent expression.
[
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