Black Zetsu cast a brief glance at Danzo and said nothing further.
His body slowly sank into the earth, disappearing together with White Zetsu, as if they had never been there at all.
Only a final sentence lingered behind, cold and unmistakable. "It's best not to take too long. Otherwise, we'll have to consider finding someone else to cooperate with."
The moment Black Zetsu's blatant threat echoed in his ears, the faint smile on Danzo's face vanished completely, replaced by a dark, oppressive expression.
Yet he did not dare to retaliate in the slightest.
After all, if Black Zetsu and his kind truly possessed the ability to help him seize control of the Hidden Mist Village, then removing him from the board would be just as easy for them.
More importantly, Danzo still needed their assistance to truly stabilize his rule over Kirigakure.
At present, he only controlled the Third Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, and a portion of the village's forces. That was all.
Controlling the Hidden Mist Village was nothing like controlling Root.
To truly dominate Kirigakure, he would need to suppress the vast majority of its ninja and ensure that every order he issued would be carried out without question.
Furthermore, Danzo had no intention of relinquishing the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails that resided within the Hidden Mist Village.
Those were power—power that he absolutely needed.
A new powerful ally… must be found.
Of course, Danzo did not voice this thought aloud.
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu were far too adept at infiltration and disguise; for all he knew, they might still be secretly observing him.
Suppressing the thought deep within his heart, Danzo forced himself to calm down.
The most urgent matter right now was to deal with the Hidden Mist Village. Once he had complete control over Kirigakure, only then would he consider searching for other partners.
---
Underground.
Black Zetsu and White Zetsu had not truly left.
White Zetsu tilted his head slightly. "I doubt Danzo will obediently cooperate with us forever, right?"
Black Zetsu let out a low, knowing chuckle. "Of course not. That man was never the honest type. He's already thinking about finding another collaborator."
Having existed within the shadows of the ninja world for a thousand years, Black Zetsu possessed an exceptionally deep understanding of human nature.
He wouldn't claim absolute infallibility, but someone like Danzo was far too easy to read.
"So… we're just going to let it be?" White Zetsu asked, clearly puzzled.
Black Zetsu merely smiled faintly. "There's no need to worry. Our purpose in approaching Danzo is simple—to kill Hirakawa Aoshi. As long as he continues moving toward that goal, nothing else matters."
In Black Zetsu's eyes, Danzo was nothing more than a temporary pawn. No matter what schemes he harbored, Black Zetsu couldn't care less.
If Danzo became disobedient… then he would simply be discarded, and another collaborator would be chosen.
After all, the ninja world was never short on ambitious individuals.
---
Secret Base.
Rinne Path–Orochimaru returned atop the Ultimate Summoned Beast.
After confirming that Danzo had successfully infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village, he ceased further interference.
There was no longer any concern regarding Danzo's safety. From time to time, Rinne Path–Orochimaru could be dispatched to observe the situation and collect information.
There was no need to waste additional energy on Danzo.
After dismounting from the Ultimate Summoned Beast, Rinne Path–Orochimaru did not enter the base.
Instead, Rinne Path–Hiruko came out to meet him.
When Orochimaru had first been turned into a Rinne Path, Aoshi had been fully occupied refining the Zero-Tails Formula, leaving no time to explore the sage training methods of Ryūchi Cave.
Now that the opportunity had finally presented itself, he naturally intended to investigate.
This would be of immense value to Aoshi's research into developing sage techniques.
After all, Aoshi had already obtained the cultivation method of Shikkotsu Forest from the Slug Sage.
Yet cultivating senjutsu was far from simple, and to this day, he had not successfully developed a form of sage art suitable for ordinary ninja.
This was hardly surprising.
If senjutsu were truly easy to master, then over a thousand years would not have yielded only the Three Great Sage Lands with complete and systematic lineages of sage techniques.
Take Sarutobi Hiruzen's summoned beast, the Monkey King Enma, for example.
In terms of raw strength, Enma was not inferior to the summoned beasts of the Three Great Sage Regions—yet he did not possess senjutsu. His species simply lacked any knowledge of it.
The difficulty of immortal arts was evident.
Moreover, Aoshi sought to develop a sage technique suitable for ninjas themselves, which only compounded the challenge.
Not to mention, practicing senjutsu carried extreme risks. That was why, despite the passage of so much time, progress had been minimal.
Summoning Jutsu!
As Rinne Path–Orochimaru completed his hand seals, two massive serpents were summoned instantly.
One of them was entirely purple with dark markings—Manda.
The moment it appeared, Manda let out a furious roar at Rinne Path–Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru! How dare you contact me through summoning again! You still haven't paid the sacrifices you owe me! Since that's the case, I'll take them from you instead!"
Before the words had even finished, Manda's enormous jaws were already snapping shut.
Had anyone else been present, the mere stench from its mouth would have been enough to overwhelm them.
Faced with the attack, Rinne Path–Orochimaru used the Body Flicker Technique to evade.
When he reappeared, he was already above Manda's head.
"Damn you, Orochimaru!"
Ignoring the furious curses, Rinne Path–Orochimaru shifted his gaze toward the other giant serpent nearby.
This one was entirely crimson, bearing a single eye. Its stare toward Rinne Path–Orochimaru brimmed with violent hostility.
Its name was Garaga.
Garaga had long resided within Ryūchi Cave. Its temperament was so volatile that even the other serpents avoided it entirely.
Rinne Path–Orochimaru was genuinely surprised to see it here.
In truth, Garaga's appearance was the result of Manda encroaching upon its territory. The serpents of Ryūchi Cave were inherently aggressive, often clashing over land.
To avoid damaging its lair, Garaga had responded to the Summoning Jutsu and appeared alongside Manda.
What it hadn't expected was that before it could even confront Manda, Manda would attack Orochimaru instead.
Thus, Garaga remained to the side, silently observing, intending to enjoy the spectacle.
"Die, Orochimaru!"
With a thunderous roar, Manda lashed out with its colossal tail, clearly determined to kill Orochimaru even at the cost of severe injury.
Rinne Path–Orochimaru's expression turned icy. "It seems I'll have to calm you down before we can get down to business."
Dodging the attack once more, he leapt onto the Ultimate Summoned Beast and immediately seized control of it.
The massive creature beat its wings and soared into the sky, evading another strike before unleashing a bolt of silver-white lightning from its horns.
Lightning Release was incredibly fast—Manda had no time to dodge.
The power was equally terrifying. The strike left a charred, blackened wound across Manda's body, scorched by the intense heat of the lightning.
Agony surged through the giant serpent, driving it into an even greater frenzy. "You despicable Orochimaru! I will kill you today!"
Without further hesitation, Rinne Path–Orochimaru directed the Ultimate Summoned Beast forward, engaging Manda in full combat.
This was the perfect opportunity to determine which was stronger, the Ultimate Summoned Beast… or Manda.