Chapter 387: Aizen and Orochimaru's Conversation
Tsunade had always been unlucky.
The few high-stakes gambles she'd ever won had come at the cost of someone close to her.
Just like now—
having just redeemed an SS-rank Mutated Pet Egg, instead of feeling excited, she furrowed her brows like something bad had happened.
"Isn't this… a bit too lucky?"
Tsunade pressed her lips together,
sorting through the memories in her mind. Every time her luck suddenly spiked like this, it came hand-in-hand with disaster.
And yet,
after a long life as a ninja, she had no loved ones left to lose.
All that remained was the village she swore to protect—Konoha.
Could it be, like last time, that someone was planning to attack the village again?
Tsunade felt a wave of frustration.
But she knew that brooding wouldn't help. The only thing that mattered now was getting stronger.
The SS-rank Mutated Pet Egg—
the only one of its kind in the entire Reincarnation Game—hadn't even been hatched yet, but the moment it was redeemed, it shot straight to the top of the Pet Leaderboard.
"Who got it?"
"An SS-rank Mutated Pet Egg? Isn't that from that infamous gambling addict of the ninja world? I heard she always loses—how did this happen?"
The game-wide announcement of the egg's appearance
sent the player base into an uproar.
"Pure dumb luck!"
"SS-rank Mutated Pet Eggs are a trap. They need a ton of expensive materials to level up. Even the richest factions would go bankrupt raising one!"
"I was smart and picked a C-rank pet. I can level it up fast and snowball—better than having a god-tier pet you can't even feed."
"Smells like jealousy in here. Is that you, upstairs?"
Compared to Buggy,
Tsunade's prize sparked more envy than scorn.
After all, the legendary gambler had dumped real resources into the draw. Nobody felt like mocking that.
And besides,
who'd be dumb enough to provoke the strongest Paladin in the game? If she refused to team up in the future, your chances of surviving elite monsters would nosedive.
"This pet… is ridiculously strong."
Tsunade winced as she poured most of her zombie materials into hatching it—
materials that could've easily raised a dozen normal pets.
[Mutated Zombie Baby (SS)]
Level: 1 (Due to quality interference, gains +40 random attribute points per level)
Attributes: Unknown
Stats: Strength 45, Agility 50, Constitution 48, Spirit 42
Skill Slots: 4/6
Skills: Corpse Poison Aura Lv.1, Zombie Iron Body Lv.1, Corpse King Aura Lv.1, Mass Corpse Control Lv.1
Growth Stage: Juvenile 1/100
Note: As a mutated pet, it is guaranteed to undergo a [Special Evolution] when reaching maturity.
"A freshly hatched juvenile with stats rivaling Kage-tier elites? And it gains forty random points per level?!"
Tsunade was stunned.
If this pet were a monster, it'd be classified as a gold-tier boss.
And it usually took a team of top players—
rotating attacks, using advanced tactics, cycling potions and abilities, grinding it down over time—just to take one of those down.
And now… she had one at her side?
It was only a juvenile,
but with enough zombie materials, raising it to gold-tier boss level wasn't out of the question.
Of course—
that was the optimistic view.
If Fang Yi were here, he'd say players were far too naïve.
Raising a gold-tier boss-level pet wasn't that easy.
Just leveling up a pet like that required materials worth many times the cost of hatching it in the first place.
The better the pet, the more expensive it was to raise.
If you thought you could just hunt zombies and trickle in XP,
you were in for a rude awakening.
Owning a pet cost money.
Raising one cost way more.
…
Elsewhere—
Warm, golden sunlight spilled across the rooftop of the Hokage Building.
Aizen stood at the edge, quietly watching the busy villagers below—both ninja and civilians alike—their faint voices drifting up to him.
From this height, they looked like ants.
And the massive walls surrounding the village
looked like a prison, a cage of iron bars and chains holding them in.
A lone butterfly fluttered down—
only to be snapped out of the air by a sudden black snake.
Crushed in a single bite.
"I'm honored to receive your response. I'm Aizen Sosuke. If nothing unexpected happens, we'll likely be allies for some time to come."
"Orochimaru."
As Aizen spoke,
the black snake opened its jaws wide. A pair of pale arms, etched with black curse marks, stretched out and forced the mouth open.
Like shedding skin,
Orochimaru emerged from the snake's belly.
"Thank you…"
Naked, Orochimaru took the haori Aizen offered and draped it over his shoulders.
The two stood very close.
Well within striking range.
Either of them could have attacked at any moment and possibly killed the other.
"An otherworlder who managed to perfectly fool Danzo and the villagers in just a few months… As much as I hate to admit it, I couldn't have pulled it off myself."
Orochimaru flicked his tongue, eyes glinting as he studied the calm-faced man before him.
Danzo's disguise had huge flaws.
But because he was crafted from Sarutobi Hiruzen's shikigami, their auras were nearly identical.
Konoha didn't have many high-level soul-type players, which was why the deception had worked.
But for someone like Orochimaru,
who played with souls as easily as a child with toys,
even lingering fragments of spiritual aura were enough to piece together the truth of Konoha's situation.
He had also seen through Aizen's disguise.
A strange entity.
His inner soul and outer body were completely separate.
No… Aizen was a soul—a living spirit—who could function without a body.
That type of being didn't exist in the ninja world.
Which meant…
he was definitely an otherworlder, using some method to assume human form.
And the only recent event that could have caused such dimensional interference
was the Evil God's attack.
Aizen's timeline lined up perfectly.
How interesting.
Orochimaru's tongue drooped out, licking the black curse marks at the corner of his mouth. He looked utterly unhinged.
The black necromantic script spread waves of deathly energy,
so potent that even Aizen—whose body was composed entirely of refined spirit particles—felt its interference.
That sensation…
was like a soul falling into Hollowfication.
"The former Hokage candidate, destroyer of the strongest ninja village… Orochimaru—currently the most powerful player in the Reincarnation Game."
Aizen's tone was light,
but his gaze never left Orochimaru.
Leveling up in the game was a reward system.
Each level added stats—it was a gift.
Aizen didn't need that gift.
He had already been classified as a [Second-Tier Lifeform],
which meant he had no reason to fear Orochimaru.
Even in a real deathmatch,
he was confident in defeating any enemy.
Still—
after sensing the concentrated death aura radiating from Orochimaru, he couldn't help but marvel.
The Reincarnation Game…
had taken a being that was once just a [First-Tier Lifeform]
and elevated him into something that even Aizen found daunting.
This kind of pressure…
was almost on par with Captain-Commander Yamamoto.
"I'd like to sacrifice the entire Hidden Leaf… and use it to open a portal between Hueco Mundo and the ninja world.
Orochimaru—are you interested?"
Aizen finally revealed the true purpose behind reaching out to him.
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