"You will be in charge of investigating what Orochimaru did regarding the body modification surgery after he returned to the village,"
Tendo Pain said slowly.
Even though he had already seen Orochimaru's peculiar sensory abilities, Nagato didn't believe the man could keep them active all the time.
Even he himself only used the 'Rain Tiger Howling Technique' when he entered a defensive state.
Nagato absolutely did not believe that Orochimaru was more powerful than him in terms of endurance, as he was from the Uzumaki Clan.
Therefore, the information system of White Zetsu clones under the masked man should still be usable. Obito nodded slightly,
"No problem."
His purpose for coming here today to stir up trouble had been achieved. Next, he would use the information obtained from Konoha to spread fear and strive to make the conflict between the organization and Konoha erupt as soon as possible.
He cast a final glance at the expressionless Pain and was about to leave directly, a cold laugh echoing in his heart.
At this moment, Pain called out to him.
"Do you have something else?" Obito raised an eyebrow.
"I heard that the reason Orochimaru's body modification surgery has such self-healing abilities is because he gained some results from the corpses of White Zetsu clones."
Tendo Pain calmly looked at the masked man and said plainly,
"What do you think about this?"
Obito's heart skipped a beat under Tendo Pain's gaze, but he remained calm on the surface.
"Who said that? It's pure nonsense. I heard that Orochimaru had been researching that body modification surgery a long time ago."
"Indeed, Orochimaru's research has been ongoing for a long time, but it's only in the last two years that the death rate of his experimental subjects has decreased. As for who told me..."
Tendo Pain looked at the masked man deeply.
"It's very simple, someone in the organization participated in Orochimaru's experiments as an assistant."
Obito's heart trembled, and a name came to mind.
"Yakushi Kabuto?"
"That's right, it's him."
Tendo Pain said slowly. "According to Yakushi Kabuto, after you designed the Kumo Village envoy to die at the Hyuga clan's territory that night, Orochimaru obtained White Zetsu clones after fighting with you."
"Because Yakushi Kabuto defected afterward, he doesn't know the detailed research process, but one thing is certain: such huge progress is definitely related to White Zetsu clones."
"Yakushi Kabuto was Orochimaru's student, and he transformed his body step by step from an ordinary ninja to his current state.
I believe what he says."
Tendo Pain narrowed his eyes slightly. "So, I ask you again..."
"Does White Zetsu have the ability to heal injuries?"
"..."
"Heh..."
Under Tendo Pain's silent gaze, Obito was silent for a moment, and then suddenly laughed. "White Zetsu naturally has the ability to heal injuries, but it's only for itself, stemming from their special physical body. As for how Orochimaru transferred this ability to others, I don't know, and White Zetsu doesn't have this ability."
"Oh, is that so?"
Tendo Pain said neither confirming nor denying, but he didn't dwell on the issue any longer and instead asked, "Then it should be fine if I borrow a few White Zetsus from you to help Yakushi Kabuto with his research, right?"
"Suit yourself."
Obito's expression instantly turned grim, and a few cold laughs echoed in his heart. ... Even if he refused now, he would probably receive news of a 'Konoha Ninja' attacking White Zetsu clones in a few days. However, even though he felt dissatisfied, it was difficult to vent it at the moment. Holding back something from an ally was normal, but it was wrong to let the other party discover it. Obito's good mood was instantly ruined by this display in front of him, but with a change of thought, he sowed discord again.
"Yakushi Kabuto is involved with Orochimaru in some unclear way. If you really want to research that body modification surgery, you'd better find a few more trustworthy people."
"I will consider it."
Tendo Pain's expression remained unchanged, making it impossible to read his thoughts. Seeing this, Obito said no more and disappeared directly amidst the Uzumaki. The meeting room was silent for a moment, and then a cold female voice suddenly sounded. "The masked man was not telling the truth."
Konan floated down from the shadow in the corner of the ceiling. "If Orochimaru was able to research such surgery from White Zetsu, then the White Zetsu itself must be even stronger, but he has never mentioned it all this time."
Konan had always been prejudiced against the secretive masked man, or rather, she was wary of anyone who possessed power that could threaten Nagato. "I know."
Tendo Pain... or rather, Nagato shook his head and said slowly, "It's a cooperation where we each have our own intentions."
In fact, it wouldn't be impossible to secretly capture a few White Zetsu clones for research, but Nagato brought it up because he really couldn't stand the masked man using him for selfish reasons while pretending to be doing it for his own good. It was truly sickening. Nagato turned to Konan and asked, "By the way, have we found any suitable ninjas who are good at body modification and cell surgery?"
The research on the White Zetsu clone branches was of great importance, and he naturally wouldn't let Yakushi Kabuto take full charge. Konan frowned slightly upon hearing this. "We have found some, but none of them are good people."
They included the last leader of the Sky Ninjas who was planning to carry out terrorist attacks in Konoha, the leader of the Yellow Izumi cult who was running an evil religion and intended to start a rebellion, and Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja Hiruko, who defected and rebelled out of dissatisfaction with his own strength... Their personalities were all terrible in their own ways, but they had one thing in common: they were all bad news.
Upon hearing Konan's introductions, Nagato nodded slightly. "As long as their individual abilities are acceptable."
When searching in a cesspool, one could only find such hard, stinking stones or crawling maggots covered in filth. There was no choice from the beginning.
However, this was exactly what Nagato hoped for. Although it was for the sake of world peace, it was better for these greedy and despicable scumbags to sacrifice themselves than for people with noble ideals to do so. He could no longer bear to lose another companion. Although Tendo Pain's expression was blank, Konan, who had shared life and death with Nagato for so long, naturally knew what he was thinking. She sighed softly. "Nagato, that's not your fault."
Tendo Pain didn't answer.
He stared into the darkness ahead, silent.
...
On the border of the Land of Fire.
Konoha Secret Fortress Base. ...
As Orochimaru led Kakashi and the others to leap from the treetops to the entrance, Jiraiya, who was inside, came out to greet them. "Hahaha, Orochimaru you..."
Jiraiya burst out laughing and was about to curse, but upon seeing Orochimaru's current appearance, his voice stuck in his throat. After a long pause, he said, "Did you... get shorter?"
The two were similar in height before. Jiraiya was a burly man about 1.9 meters tall, and while Orochimaru was a bit thin, he was about 1.8 meters tall in shoes. In comparison, the Orochimaru before him appeared somewhat petite. 1.7 meters, no... only slightly over 1.6 meters. Hearing Jiraiya's comment, everyone's eyes fell on the 'Great' Orochimaru, their gazes turning strange, especially Kakashi and his companions.
In fact, they had noticed Orochimaru's changes earlier, but after all, he was a 'Konoha Sannin' and had displayed immense power upon his arrival, so who would dare to be so foolish as to gossip about it with him? Only Jiraiya would do that.
Orochimaru's expression remained unchanged. "There were some minor problems during an experiment."
It was the first time using the Slug Cloning Jutsu, and there were some errors in controlling the dimensions, but this was a minor issue and did not affect his combat effectiveness. Jiraiya misunderstood what he said and mused, "Indeed, otherwise you wouldn't have been absent for over a year."
He then glanced at Kakashi and the others. "You guys come in.
I have a general understanding of the situation.
We'll need you few to go with me for discussions with the village about specific mission details."
Kakashi exchanged a glance with Uchiha Jinsuke and nodded.
The group entered the fortress and went to their assigned rooms to rest, while Orochimaru followed Jiraiya to the conference room. Upon entering the room, Jiraiya's smile disappeared, and he appeared somewhat angry. "These Kusa Village ninjas are getting bolder and bolder."
"This isn't called boldness, it's called being brazen."
Orochimaru pulled out a chair and sat down, smiling faintly. "Currently, our high-end combat power can't defeat the Six Paths of Pain of the Akatsuki organization. This is a fact."
With a numerical advantage, Konoha could still wear down the Akatsuki organization, but the Third Hokage was clearly unwilling to suffer such a loss.
Since they didn't want to go head-to-head, they could only endure these soft blows, which was only natural.
Although the Kusa Village ninjas had the Akatsuki organization as their backing, they were ultimately not their own power. They were also testing Konoha's bottom line, and in essence, they were playing both sides between the Land of Earth, the Land of Thunder, and the Land of Fire, stretching the limits. "By the way, if I recall correctly, Nagato was your disciple."
A smile appeared on Orochimaru's face. "If you had listened to me earlier, sending them to their deaths might have been a suitable course of action."
"You gave them power, but now they seem to be suffering even greater torment."
"Pain... heh, named after suffering, this is truly... tsk tsk."
Bringing up the past, Jiraiya's emotions became somewhat low, but he still shook his head, his tone unwavering. "I have no regrets about the three years of teaching. They were all excellent children..."
"Wait."
Orochimaru interrupted Jiraiya's words and laughed. "You're not still going to say that Nagato is the so-called 'Child of Destiny', are you?"
Jiraiya was silent for a moment, then nodded slightly. "There is a possibility."
"So... if there was an opportunity, you might not kill him?"
Orochimaru's lips curled outwards, a clear sign of mockery. "Whether or not he's a Child of Destiny aside, he indeed possesses immense power now. Apart from the First Hokage of the past, perhaps no one is his opponent."
"If you still cling to these weak ideas, you will surely die by his hand."
"Precisely because of this..."
Jiraiya's voice suddenly rose considerably. "Precisely because of this, he needs to be guided."
"Guided, how do you plan to guide him?"
Orochimaru chuckled. "I had a brief conversation with the current Nagato. His current goal is to achieve world peace through absolute military power."
"So, Jiraiya, if you want to deny his path, do you have a better way to achieve this goal?"
Jiraiya froze for a moment, opened his mouth, but could not speak.
This question did not align with his life's positioning. In the Great Toad Sage's prophecy, he would meet the 'Child of Destiny' who could change the ninja world and become his teacher.
And one day afterward, his choice would lead the 'Child of Destiny' to also make a choice, a choice that would bring prosperity or destruction to the ninja world.
The Great Toad Sage's prophecy was vague, and the only thing that could be believed was that it was absolutely accurate. Jiraiya had pondered this extensively. What was so special about him that he could influence the 'Child of Destiny'? After much thought, it could only be the 'ninja way' of a ninja, the spirit he had upheld his entire life. But the ninja way, the spirit... in the end, these were all abstract thoughts. It did not have clear steps; it was not a concrete path. Therefore, only the 'Child of Destiny' who could find the right path could truly accomplish it. To ask Jiraiya to answer this question was truly asking too much.
"You see, you actually don't know, do you?"
Therefore, Orochimaru did not believe any of this and denied the so-called prophecy from the beginning. In his view, everything required a process and could not be achieved overnight. Just like in the historical stories of another world told by the genie, the First Emperor who achieved unification also had to 'accumulate the strength of six generations'. Honestly, if Nagato didn't have Obito behind him plotting, ruling the ninja world by force might not be impossible.
This was no longer the era of the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama. To this day, most ninjas had abandoned their clans and identified themselves as ninjas of a certain village. In the future, they might even abolish national borders and identify themselves as ninjas of a unified nation. The steps were not too large. But how to say it, Nagato and the others had no intention of striving in this direction. He was dissatisfied that Senju Hashirama, who possessed the strength to end the ninja world, only established villages. But in the end, their methods were just picking up scraps. Without having seen it, they could not imagine what a unified nation should be like. The direction they were striving for now was just a seemingly perfect 'paradise'. Heh... the views of young people were too idealistic, not understanding that such things only existed in dreams and were impossible to achieve.
Moreover, Orochimaru himself had already made plans for the future development of the ninja world. And Jiraiya was a rather important part of it. Rather than letting him remain so confused, it was better to do something practical and support his cause. Orochimaru licked his lips and said to the somewhat dejected Jiraiya, "Since you don't know what to do, don't try to guide him, otherwise it will only be counterproductive."
"Heh, perhaps your disciples will even directly kill you, believing that 'this is the price of ideals'."
"After all, in their current state, to deny their own suffering, they desperately need to prove this resolve."
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya suddenly looked up and said with a tone of surprise,
"So, all those years ago, when you were obsessed with pursuing eternal life and were on the verge of breaking with the old man, you were thinking about these things?"
---
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