A special thank you to my patrons:
—Jacob Mooe, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Archer, Acedia, kurtis newman, Little Sand, Kyle.S406, Alin Kadas, sediaz, Flavio Rodrigo.
ad 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
-------------------------------------------------------------
A direct, head-on clash with Pain was something Midorima simply would not do. The root of the entire situation lay with Obito Uchiha, and thanks to his Kamui ability, Obito possessed an almost impenetrable defense. At the very least, with the methods currently at Midorima's disposal, he had no way to kill Pain.
Taking out Obito directly was impossible, and confronting Pain in a straightforward fight would place him under just as much crushing pressure. What was more, if he couldn't locate Nagato, then no matter how many Pains he destroyed, new ones would simply rise to replace them. Under these circumstances, the optimal course of action for Midorima was to avoid battle entirely. He would wait until the Five Great Shinobi Nations had completed their preparations, and only then engage in the final decisive struggle against Pain.
After putting a great distance between himself and the battlefield, Midorima accidentally ran too far and had to double back to find Orochimaru. The four members of Shikaku's team, having escaped the danger zone, were now locked in a tense standoff with Orochimaru. After all, even though Orochimaru had technically died once before, none of the Leaf shinobi would ever forget the things he had done in the Hidden Leaf Village—slaughtering numerous prison guards and breaking Danzō out of confinement.
When Midorima saw this, he was furious. He jabbed a finger at Shikaku's nose and snapped, "What time do you think this is? Can't you put this petty grudge aside for now?"
"Petty grudge? He killed members of our clan and is a wanted fugitive of the Leaf Village! How is any of that petty?!" Tsume raged.
Midorima shook his head in exasperation. "Pain could show up at any moment. Orochimaru can protect himself, and they'll have a hard time killing me, but what about you four? Even if Pain doesn't come, with your level of skill, do you honestly think you can actually kill Orochimaru? You'd be lucky not to end up stuffed into a specimen container as research material. Think about the bigger picture! Do you understand what the bigger picture is? Right now, our top priority is to unite every possible force to fight the Akatsuki. Compared to the Akatsuki, Orochimaru is nothing."
At first, Orochimaru had been nodding along in agreement. Midorima might be young, but his perspective was indeed broad, and he understood the necessity of suppressing personal hatred to achieve a greater objective. But upon hearing that last sentence, a vein bulged visibly on Orochimaru's forehead. Nothing? "Have you ever seen nothing like me?" Orochimaru coldly said.
"Shut up." Midorima reached out and covered Orochimaru's face with his hand. "More important than killing him is warning the other villages and making sure the Five Great Shinobi Nations are fully prepared."
Orochimaru attempted to protest again, but Midorima shot him another glare. Orochimaru swatted Midorima's hand away and rolled his eyes in sullen frustration.
Shikaku offered no rebuttal. Instead, he extended Samehada toward Midorima. "Since you've successfully gotten away, why don't you take Samehada back?"
Midorima shook his head, refusing to accept the blade. "I still have other matters to attend to. It's impossible for me to return to the Leaf or the Mist Village in the short term. So I'll have to leave this to you." Seeing that Midorima's resolve was firm, Shikaku immediately turned and, along with his four comrades, parted ways with Midorima and Orochimaru.
"What do you plan to do next?" Orochimaru asked.
"I'm going to the Ryūchi Cave again. While I can hold my own against Pain, in my current state, I won't be able to handle the situation once the Ten-Tails appears," Midorima replied.
Orochimaru rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Should I accompany you to the Ryūchi Cave as well?"
Midorima knew that Orochimaru had long desired to learn Sage Jutsu. The reason he hadn't done so up to this point was that his physical body simply hadn't been suitable. Now that he had switched bodies, he was understandably eager. Midorima had no objections. After all, if Orochimaru learned to wield Sage Jutsu, it would be a tremendous asset in the battles against Madara and eventually Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
"What about the Reanimation Jutsu?"
"I trust Kabuto can handle gathering the cellular tissue of the deceased. Performing the Reanimation Jutsu will take some time, but it shouldn't pose too much of a problem," Orochimaru said.
"That works. By the way, if we use the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, we should be able to return to the Ryūchi Cave immediately," Midorima suggested.
"Are you speaking to me?" Orochimaru asked.
"Is there a third person here?" Midorima replied, puzzled.
"Ahem, I believe you may have forgotten—Manda is dead," Orochimaru reminded him.
Midorima thought about it and realized it was true. Summoning Sen'ya would be the most convenient, but that creature was far too massive and would be spotted too easily. Instead, he summoned Tagitsuhime once again. She appeared looking thoroughly bewildered, and upon seeing Orochimaru, her expression turned suspicious.
"Why do you feel completely different from before?"
"Well... the me standing here now is no longer the me from before," Orochimaru could only explain it that way.
"What did you call me here for this time?" Tagitsuhime asked, her confusion evident.
"This isn't a good place to talk. Can we go to the Ryūchi Cave first? Don't look at me like that—I don't have a choice. You don't want to get into another fight with those strange people, do you?" Midorima countered.
"You really are a magnet for trouble," Tagitsuhime said, rubbing her forehead in resignation.
"After a few more times, you'll probably get used to it," Midorima replied with a grin.
Tagitsuhime shot him a glare but said nothing more. She performed the Reverse Summoning Jutsu, transporting both Midorima and Orochimaru straight to the Ryūchi Cave.
"It's safe here. Now, tell me what this is about."
"He..." Midorima pointed at Orochimaru, "wants to learn Sage Jutsu. As for me, I want to understand the next, deeper level of Sage Mode."
"Ha?" Tagitsuhime blinked in surprise and immediately shook her head. "Sage Mode is Sage Mode. How could there be a deeper level of Sage Mode? Don't tell me... you actually want to become a full-fledged sage?"
Wasn't achieving a level beyond Sage Mode essentially becoming an actual sage? Midorima shook his head. He then activated his Six-Tails Mode. An immense chakra surged outward, and a crushing pressure swept through the air, pressing down on both Orochimaru and Tagitsuhime until they could barely breathe.
"As you can see, I am currently a jinchūriki and possess the Six-Tails Mode. So what I want to ask is this: if I attempt to activate Sage Mode while already in this state, is there any danger involved?" Midorima asked.
Tagitsuhime ran her tongue across her lips slowly before drawing a deep breath. "I'm sorry, but... I'm not entirely sure about that either. The vast majority of people can, at most, only manage to use Sage Jutsu. And jinchūriki, for their part, tend to rely primarily on the power of their tailed beasts. Someone like you, who simultaneously possesses both the power of a jinchūriki and the power of Sage Jutsu, is exceedingly rare... No, I've never encountered anyone like you before."
Midorima paused and thought back carefully. It was true that Naruto was probably the only person who had ever met both conditions, and the Naruto of the present was still a long, long way from reaching that state. The First Hokage was undoubtedly powerful and was the reincarnation of Asura's chakra, but he had never been a jinchūriki, so he could never have possessed such a mode. Now that Midorima had this opportunity, he naturally wanted to give it a try. Moreover, if he couldn't push his own potential to its absolute maximum, he wouldn't have much confidence in facing the soon-to-be-completed Ten-Tails.
"I genuinely don't know what you should do. If you truly wish to understand more, I suggest you seek an audience with the White Snake Sage. She should be able to offer you guidance," Tagitsuhime said.
Midorima nodded slightly. "That would be for the best."