Chapter 194: The Duo
Tonbo Tobitake stood there watching for a while. As he suspected, the power levels of the ninjas in this arena were quite decent. However, most were specialized "one-trick ponies," unlike the well-rounded shinobi trained in Hidden Villages. Nevertheless, they were veterans of many life-and-death struggles.
The presence of Bloodline Limits was surprisingly high. He also learned from the crowd that this arena model existed across various nations. It served as a marketplace for the elite to scout for personal guards. The "En Oyashiro" everyone mentioned was one of the big shots in the Land of Hot Springs—a fabulously wealthy merchant.
It seems Orochimaru is collaborating with these rich types. Not exactly a surprise, Tonbo thought. He sensed Orochimaru's chakra inside a specific room; clearly, they hadn't finished their discussion.
Orochimaru had secret bases scattered across every nation. Developing them so effectively required a method, and trading with the upper echelons of power was undoubtedly one of them. Tonbo left the spectator stands and headed toward Orochimaru's location. He wanted to see what the snake was up to.
"Thanks to your support, Lord En Oyashiro, my base wasn't as difficult to set up as I expected," Orochimaru said with a smile inside a secret room. He was addressing a middle-aged bearded man with grayish-brown hair wearing a hooded robe.
En Oyashiro was lounging on a sofa like a lazy cat. "Well, only when collaborating with a ninja like you do I feel like I'm talking to an intelligent person. I hope you can maintain this cooperative attitude."
Facing Orochimaru, he showed no trace of fear, despite the terrifying rumors surrounding the Sannin. In the Land of Hot Springs, most of Orochimaru's experimental subjects were supplied by him. After years of this arrangement, he was very familiar with Orochimaru.
"Of course. I am a man who favors win-win situations. I hope we can collaborate indefinitely," Orochimaru replied, sitting comfortably on a sofa.
"In that case, I'll leave this uninvited guest to you. I'm a businessman; I prefer not to fight if I can avoid it." En Oyashiro chuckled, and with a poof, he vanished from Orochimaru's presence.
Orochimaru turned his gaze toward the person standing right in front of him. "Captain Tonbo, your Genjutsu is growing stronger. Long time no see. Is Sarutobi's health holding up lately?"
"Tch. It seems Senior Orochimaru has developed quite the defense against my techniques. Why was that Lord En Oyashiro in such a hurry to leave?" Tonbo said helplessly.
His Invisibility had failed. Even without prior intelligence, it seemed the world was not lacking in experts. Orochimaru was one, and that merchant was another.
"Hehe, when you walk in so openly, it's hard not to notice," Orochimaru laughed. "That man is different from me. If I am a wily rabbit with three burrows, he is one with fifteen. He is far more cunning than I am."
"I can tell. Using a clone just to go outside... truly cautious," Tonbo remarked. Through his sensing, he realized both men were clones. He recognized Orochimaru's clone by the specific chakra volume. "But that man is irrelevant. Senior Orochimaru, why don't you tell me what you're doing here?"
Tonbo was genuinely curious. Orochimaru's social circle was incredibly vast—from Konoha's high command to international gangs, he had partners everywhere.
Orochimaru licked his lips. "For my experiments, Captain Tonbo. Let's leave it at that for now. I don't particularly want to deal with you at the moment. If there's a chance in the future, we'll meet and chat again."
His words seemed to carry a hidden meaning, leaving Tonbo puzzled. Chat in the future? Why not now? You're just a clone anyway.
Poof!
Orochimaru simply smiled and vanished.
"What a cautious fellow."
Tonbo had been hoping to plant a neural thread on him to collect his biological data. Since they were all clones, it was a wasted effort. He couldn't deduce what Orochimaru was planning or why he was in the Land of Hot Springs—unless it was exactly as the snake said: trading for corpses from the arena for experiments. Looking at the bodies left behind today, there was at least one user of a secret technique.
Forget it, I'll just go 'borrow' some data from the corpses instead.
After considering it, Tonbo had no reason to chase Orochimaru. He was just being nosy. He turned his focus back to the abundance of Bloodline Limit users and secret technique practitioners in the arena. That was far more useful to him.
He returned to the arena, used his Genjutsu to hide, and went back to his old habit: reading the memories and physical data of the deceased. That stealthy, thieving feeling was something he hadn't experienced in a while.
"Hmm. Only a few of these ninjas are from the Hidden Hot Springs. Most are rogue ninjas, and some are escapees who couldn't handle the oppression of the nobility. It really is tough for ninjas without a village to call home," he mused.
Despite their power, ninjas were not the dominant force in the world's grand narrative; that belonged to ordinary people. Tonbo's methods were too sophisticated for these average ninjas to detect. He noticed the quality of participants dropped once En Oyashiro finished his recruitment. Five days later, he finally left the arena, feeling satisfied.
It was a literal data bank! He decided he should visit the underground arenas of other Great Nations in the future. If the Land of Hot Springs had this much variety, the major nations would be even better.
Whoosh!
Swallowing a secret pill to sustain his evolution, Tonbo headed north toward the border near the Hidden Mist. According to his Eye of the Creator reconnaissance birds, two strange individuals had appeared there recently. He looked at the map in his hand.
North... the Bounty Station... Hmm... Are they collecting funds for the Akatsuki organization at this stage?
Right, they shouldn't be hunting Tailed Beasts quite yet. Akatsuki wasn't ready to make their big move.
"Itachi-san, the organization really doesn't treat us like people. I didn't work this hard to make money even back in the Hidden Mist. Honestly, for the sake of an 'interesting dream,' I'm working myself to death."
Kisame's complaints were just talk; he was actually quite willing to do the work. The goal of the Akatsuki leader aligned well with his own views. A body was currently slung over his great sword, Samehada.
Uchiha Itachi replied, "We're almost at the Bounty Station. Don't be careless."
Outside the bounty stations, it wasn't uncommon for "vulture" ninjas to ambush those who had completed missions to steal their rewards.
"Ha! Good. I was hoping to stretch my muscles. This guy wasn't strong enough to give me a proper workout," Kisame laughed, shaking the corpse hanging off Samehada. He was genuinely looking forward to a real challenger.
"Stop, Kisame. We might be in trouble."
Itachi looked up at the birds circling in the sky, his Sharingan spinning.
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