During the previous "Senju Incident," Orochimaru either strayed from or drew closer to his life's path—but either way, he had danced on the edge of death.
But honestly, it was unavoidable. The temptation of Hashirama Senju's cells and the power of Wood Release were simply irresistible to a serpent like him.
Fortunately, the unstable elements within the Senju clan had already been eliminated, and the cooperation between Orochimaru and Danzo Shimura was limited in scope. After Haseo issued him a warning, Orochimaru quickly fell into line. Since the war began, he'd been working diligently at the front lines.
One reason was that Orochimaru still listened to Haseo at times; another was that Konoha couldn't offer anything else on par with Hashirama's cells to truly entice him again.
Yet another factor was that the battlefield environment actually benefited Orochimaru's diverse experiments, whether involving corpses or captured enemies. His actions faced little unnecessary interference.
As time passed, Orochimaru increasingly felt the village's limitations and restraints upon him, while its value and appeal steadily diminished...
It could only be said that, from childhood onward, Haseo had always been Orochimaru's inspiration.
In any case, after this night's "secret meeting," the mess left behind by the Fourth Hokage's departure was sorted out.
Regardless of personal decisions, Konoha would never stray from its course during wartime.
Minato Namikaze finally caught the attention of Konoha's top brass. Indeed, his current performance had already drawn great attention, and now that future directions had been clarified today, Konoha would likely restart certain significant strategies employed during the Third Hokage's reign—the so-called "Star-Making Plan."
To address the crisis caused by the disappearance of the Fourth Hokage, some individuals needed to debut as idols.
... ...
Haseo's "freedom" was both enviable and infuriating—but others' emotions were always none of his concern.
Contrary to what one might imagine regarding ideal family life, even though after leaving the Land of Hot Springs, Haseo and his companion resettled in yet another quiet town, recently he had become an unnecessary presence at home and aimlessly wandered around to the point of being annoying...
He had actually been traveling around various places.
Yes, solo traveling.
Karma bites? Serves you right? Something like that anyway.
Although the Ninja World's map was limited, it was undeniable that the world itself remained quite vast. One individual could almost never visit every corner of it. Thus, visiting places unseen before, witnessing unfamiliar sights, could certainly count as expanding the meaning of one's life. From an optimistic perspective, such thinking was entirely reasonable.
Thus, at this moment, Haseo had arrived at a place that felt a lot like Shikkotsu Forest. Just like there, mountains stretched endlessly, greenery filled the eyes, and the climate was humid and warm... The only difference was that it wasn't as unbearably humid as Shikkotsu Forest.
This place was Mount Myoboku.
As he walked through this place, Haseo could feel countless eyes locking onto him.
"A ninja—now that you've come here… are you a cultivator or a challenger?"
Despite having entered someone else's territory, Haseo remained completely relaxed. Even when a thunderous voice suddenly boomed from above and behind him, he showed no sign of tension.
Then the very mountain behind him let out a deep, rumbling roar.
"So this is the Rock Residence Toad? Not bad for a 'gatekeeper' look—though honestly, I was expecting something bigger."
Haseo half-turned his body and laid eyes on an enormous, monstrous head.
Of course, a hidden realm should give off an overwhelming first impression.
In this aspect, the Rock Residence Toad was indeed qualified. However, one couldn't really expect it to intimidate Haseo. Compared to Katsuyu, this overgrown toad still came up short—in fact, they weren't even in the same league.
"Sorry, but I'm not here for trials… Actually, I'm just visiting for sightseeing. If I must be categorized, I'd say tourist rather than ninja."
The toad likely mistook Haseo for a "Sage Art trainee." Yet at present, Haseo had already mastered Sage Mode entirely and maxed out all Sage techniques—so why would he travel to Mount Myoboku just to learn Sage Arts?
"If that's true, then Mount Myoboku doesn't welcome your kind… Considering that in recent times there have been so few challengers already, are there still other troublemakers coming?"
The giant toad sighed over the decline of the Sage Art industry.
But if someone weren't visiting specifically for Sage-related reasons, why should such a "toad habitat" as Mount Myoboku welcome human visitors? Would they actually consider developing tourism? That seemed somewhat ridiculous.
Therefore, the Rock Residence Toad adopted a simple and direct method to stop Haseo's intrusion—it raised its thick front leg and stomped straight down toward Haseo's head.
Then, after slowly lifting its limb again, a massive dent had indeed appeared on the ground. Naturally though, Haseo's figure was nowhere to be seen inside the crater.
Haseo had no intention of fighting with the toads. Otherwise, for him at this moment, the larger their size, the easier such creatures tended to deal with.
Ignoring the toad, Haseo had already made his way into the inner part of Mount Myoboku. However, he hadn't taken more than a few steps deep within when he encountered several other toads.
"Looks like I've stirred up a real hornet's nest…"
Well said—it really *is* a toad nest.
"The human ninja who entered Mount Myoboku—we've found you."
Some of the toads even became extremely aggressive.
"Wanna fight? Well, I think it's better not to. Unless... you're actually frogs or bullfrogs instead of toads."
"Wait, don't rush into battle..." It seemed this warning from Haseo worked somehow, and eventually a toad recognized his identity: "Is that *a* Fourth? Are you Lord Haseo, the Fourth Hokage of Konoha?"
Recognized?
So Haseo lifted his head, carefully scrutinizing one of the large figures before him.
"Ah, it's Wentai Gam. Your body seems even larger... but unfortunately, your meat quality looks worse."
To toads, especially large ones, humans should be difficult to distinguish clearly. Yet Haseo's way of speaking immediately let Wentai Gam recognize who he was.
In fact, Haseo's words sent a chill through the surrounding toads.
Here's an interesting question—would anyone actually dare to go camping and host a frog banquet on Mount Myoboku?
The answer? Terrifyingly real—such people actually exist. And worse—he actually gets away with it.
"Have you come to Mount Myoboku specifically to see the Great Toad Sage, Lord Haseo?"
"No, I'm just here for travel..."
"As the Hokage, you must have a very important reason for coming to Mount Myoboku. If it's something related to future matters, the Great Toad Sage will definitely provide some answers."
"So I really came here just for tourism."
"I understand, I understand. You probably don't feel comfortable discussing this with us. But if you're gonna make up excuses, at least try a little harder next time... How could a ninja like you possibly be this bored?"
Please follow me. The Great Toad Sage is right ahead. I'll guide the way."
Wentai Gam was practically the most hotheaded toad on Mount Myoboku, yet before Haseo, it seemed unusually polite... After all, there weren't many ninjas who truly saw them as ingredients.
"..."
However, Haseo's perception wasn't great. Did this toad just indirectly insult him?
Indeed, he was bored—blatantly bored.
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