Less than a minute later, a swarm of ninjas surged out of the cave. They clutched various weapons, their eyes locked on Jie Uchiha in high alert.
'They're all just small fry,' Jie noted after a quick glance, not spotting any familiar faces in the mob.
It made sense. It was only Konoha Year 51; the Konoha Crush plan during the Chunin Exams was still nearly ten years away. The Sound Five would only be around Sasuke's age right now and certainly wouldn't be deployed in a frontline defense like this.
Suddenly, Jie noticed a familiar-looking blue-haired girl, no older than ten, standing amidst the crowd.
'That must be Guren, one of the reincarnation vessels Orochimaru prepared,' he realized. 'The Crystal Release Kekkei Genkai... her strength isn't bad.'
Finally seeing a recognizable face, Jie couldn't help but take a few extra looks. It was a pity she was still just a little girl, completely lacking the valiant, domineering aura she would have when she debuted years later.
"Orochimaru, is this how you treat your guests?" Jie called out toward the cave, completely ignoring the mob of grunts surrounding him.
As soon as the words left his mouth, a pale-skinned ninja with long black hair slowly emerged from the dark depths of the cavern.
Seeing Jie's appearance, a flash of understanding crossed Orochimaru's snake-like eyes. He subconsciously licked his lips with his long, slender tongue and sneered. "The young clan head of the Uchiha clan, Jie Uchiha. What a rare guest."
Jie noted the black cloak patterned with red clouds draped over Orochimaru's shoulders and nodded imperceptibly.
'The Akatsuki.'
Based on the timeline, Orochimaru should indeed still be with the Akatsuki, partnered with Sasori of the Red Sand. It was quite a stroke of luck that he had managed to stumble across him upon arriving at the Hidden Sound Village today.
Orochimaru's gaze drifted to the deep sword fissure tearing across the training ground and the smooth, unnatural cut leveling the mountaintop. His pupils shrank slightly, and a trace of wariness crept into his expression as he looked back at the youth.
"Shouldn't you be on the Kumogakure battlefield right now? How do you have the leisure to visit my Village?" Orochimaru asked calmly, his unique, magnetic voice betraying none of the tension of a first encounter.
Being an Akatsuki member who also operated his own ninja village, Orochimaru's intelligence network was exceptionally thorough. However, no matter how brilliant the Sannin was, he could never have guessed the truth: Jie had just finished assassinating the Fourth Raikage and had simply gotten lost on his way back to Konoha.
Naturally, Jie had no intention of admitting something as embarrassing as getting lost.
After a brief silence, he spoke plainly. "You are an S-rank rouge-ninja of Konoha, and I am a Konoha ninja. Is that reason enough?"
Orochimaru's movements paused for a fraction of a second before returning to normal. He licked his lips, flashed his trademark sinister smile, and chuckled. "That's not a very funny joke. I don't peg you as someone who would blindly follow that old man's orders, Jie."
"That's why I changed my mind," Jie said flatly. "Hand over the Kusanagi Sword and the Ryuchi Cave summoning scroll, and I'll let you off this time."
Without a better excuse to pick a fight, he decided to just resort to outright extortion. He was quite interested in Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword anyway. As for the scroll, the Sage Mode of Ryuchi Cave was a powerful asset, and it was exactly what he needed. Since he was already here, he might as well demand some local specialties before leaving.
A trace of anger flared in Orochimaru's chest, his golden eyes reflecting a harsh, cold light. But then his mind flashed to the recent intelligence reports sent by his spies embedded in Konoha.
'That heaven-spanning, crimson-gold giant... that unfathomably powerful Susanoo...' Orochimaru abruptly swallowed his pride and fell silent.
"If it's just such a trivial matter, why did you have to make a trip personally?" Orochimaru finally said, his tone icy but yielding. "A mere Kusanagi Sword and a summoning scroll—I will naturally hand them over."
Jie looked at the snake Sannin in genuine surprise.
Why was this Orochimaru so different from the cold, ruthless villain he knew? Someone comes knocking on his door to extort him for absolutely no reason, and he doesn't fight back at all?
Originally, Jie figured there was a standard protocol for a proper shakedown. First, he'd have a friendly sparring session with his host to witness Orochimaru's passionate and welcoming ninjutsu repertoire. Then, through Orochimaru's enthusiastic introductions, he would meet some new, giant reptilian friends from Ryuchi Cave. Only after all that could he happily return to Konoha with the parting gifts Orochimaru offered out of sheer friendship.
But Orochimaru had just agreed right off the bat. What about all the steps in between? Didn't this just make Jie look like the bad guy?
Not hesitating for long, Jie simply shrugged. "That couldn't be better."
Hearing this, Orochimaru bit his thumb and rapidly wove a sequence of hand seals.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
A massive plume of white smoke erupted. When it cleared, a giant snake as thick as a grown man appeared before Orochimaru. The beast unhinged its jaw and spat a slimy, saliva-drenched scroll right into Orochimaru's waiting hands.
"Here, this is the Ryuchi Cave summoning scroll. You just need to write your name in blood to form a summoning contract with them," Orochimaru sneered, subconsciously licking his lips again. "However, the temperaments of the lords in Ryuchi Cave aren't very pleasant. Are you sure you still want to sign it?"
Ignoring the veiled threat, Jie stared at the saliva-covered parchment with utter disgust.
Did all the snakes in Ryuchi Cave like to hide things in their stomachs just like Orochimaru? Or did Orochimaru learn his grossest habits directly from them? Seeing the thick layer of spit, Jie's immediate impulse was to drop the extortion and walk away.
However, as Orochimaru unrolled it, Jie noticed that the actual parchment inside was perfectly clean and untouched by the bile. He inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Truth be told, Jie was highly interested in the inhabitants of Ryuchi Cave. Those massive serpents—along with the toads of Mount Myoboku and the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest—were renowned as the three great Summoning Beasts of the ninja world. More importantly, Ryuchi Cave was one of the three great unexplored sage regions that explicitly possessed a training method for Sage Mode. It was a power Jie thoroughly coveted.
Without another word, Jie walked straight up to the scroll, bit his finger, and signed his name in blood right next to Orochimaru's.
The moment he finished the last stroke, the fresh characters of his name glowed with a faint, ethereal light. Instantly, Jie felt an inexplicable, tethered connection form between himself and a distant, unseen location in the ninja world.
'That must be the direction of Ryuchi Cave,' he thought.
The hand seals for the Summoning Jutsu were universal. The only difference was whether the caster had tethered themselves to a specific contract. If one used the jutsu without signing a scroll, they might summon absolutely nothing—or they might summon something wildly unpredictable and ferocious. Only someone with Jiraiya's ridiculous luck could use the jutsu without a contract and end up inexplicably reverse-summoned to the safety of Mount Myoboku.
Now that Jie had signed his name, he would reliably summon the giant snakes of Ryuchi Cave whenever he used the technique in the future.
Jie rolled his shoulders and looked back at the pale Sannin.
"And the Kusanagi Sword?"
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