Upon seeing someone arriving, Sasori, after sweeping away the venomous bees attacking him, slightly raised his head to look at the suddenly appearing white-haired youth, then glanced at Orochimaru, feeling slightly puzzled.
Orochimaru had mentioned that this Konoha ninja named Hiruko was his peer, and Orochimaru was currently forty-one years old. It would be expected that his peer Hiruko should also be around forty.
But now, this white-haired Konoha ninja appeared as a teenager.
Orochimaru was already a ninja skilled at maintaining his youthful appearance, seeming like a young man in his twenties even in his forties. However, Hiruko appeared even younger than him, which seemed unusual.
Orochimaru had said that Hiruko was expelled from Konoha for studying a certain forbidden technique.
The youthful appearance was probably due to the power of that forbidden technique.
Those who can master forbidden techniques are never simple individuals.
Over there, upon hearing Orochimaru's greeting, Hiruko responded indifferently:
"Compared to me, you are truly the most surprising one. Despite having such an enviable future, you abandoned your bright prospects and betrayed Konoha."
Though his tone was indifferent, it could barely conceal a hint of jealousy.
He was a peer with Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, but unlike the three, his talent was extremely mediocre.
While Orochimaru and the other two rampaged through the Ninja Realm as the Sannin, he was just a transparent Jonin in Konoha, not valued by the upper echelons.
Among the Sannin, the most gifted ninja was undoubtedly Orochimaru.
He could be considered the ideal ninja in Hiruko's eyes.
Masterful in all ninja forms, intelligent, capable of serving as a commanding general during the ninja wars, and achieving significant success in research.
Any single talent he possessed would make many ninjas envious and jealous.
But all these talents concentrated in Orochimaru alone are precisely Hiruko's deepest insecurity.
Can ordinary people never surpass geniuses?
That's why he risked life-threatening danger to practice forbidden techniques.
All to surpass so-called geniuses and become the strongest ninja in the Ninja Realm.
"Seeing stagnant things naturally breeds disinterest. I'm only interested in the flowing wind."
Orochimaru said with a smile.
"Is that so? Then what brings you to me? And with someone I do not recognize."
If Orochimaru were still a Konoha ninja, Hiruko would naturally think Orochimaru came to capture him back to Konoha.
But now Orochimaru has betrayed Konoha and become an S-Class Renegade Ninja like him, so his intentions are worth pondering.
He scanned back and forth between Orochimaru and Sasori, appearing thoughtful.
Black base... red clouds… definitely a uniform, has Orochimaru joined some organization?
Moreover, this seemingly Puppet Master guy gave him a very dangerous feeling.
Compared to Orochimaru, there wasn't a trace of humanity in this one.
It was like facing a cold piece of iron.
"Forgot to introduce, this is Sasori of the Red Sand from Hidden Sand, currently my colleague."
Orochimaru leisurely introduced Hiruko.
"Sasori of the Red Sand?"
Hiruko looked at Sasori with surprise.
This ungainly, crude-looking five-path man is Sasori of the Red Sand from Hidden Sand?
But wasn't Sasori of the Red Sand a handsome young man with red hair?
His crude appearance was totally mismatched with the word handsome.
Soon, Hiruko figured out something, nodding understandingly.
"I think I understand. But what's your business here? My research is at a critical stage, and I don't have time for any organizational games."
From the uniform worn by Orochimaru and Sasori, Hiruko could infer their purpose in visiting him.
They came to invite him to join their organization.
However, he had no interest in it.
His forbidden technique research was at a critical stage, and he had no time to join some random organization.
Orochimaru didn't mind and smiled, saying to Hiruko: "Our organization is called 'Akatsuki,' and indeed, we came to invite you to join. The organization is currently short-staffed, desperately seeking talent. With my personal recommendation, you could skip a series of troublesome reviews."
The formal member reviews for Akatsuki were very strict.
But that applied to outside candidates.
If someone like him, a core member, recommended Hiruko, the cumbersome assessments could be skipped, and he could directly join the ranks of formal members.
This was also one of the privileges of being a core member.
"You know, I have no interest in anything outside forbidden technique research. If that's what you came about, you can leave now."
Hiruko was unafraid to fight Orochimaru.
In the past, he certainly wasn't a match for Orochimaru, and now it might still be difficult, but with his initial mastering of forbidden techniques, escaping posed no problem.
Besides, this was his territory, and Orochimaru had to consider before acting against him.
He was no longer the Konoha ninja who could be easily manipulated by the Sannin.
"Don't rush to reject, it's not about making you work for free. Your Chimera Jutsu, I presume, requires powerful Kekkeigenkai ninjas."
Orochimaru confidently said.
Though he didn't have an in-depth understanding of Hiruko's forbidden technique, Kinjutsu: Chimera Jutsu, he knew it needed numerous powerful Kekkeigenkai ninjas to become a Complete Form.