But soon, Konan had another doubt.
"Danzō died in Amegakure. Will that make the relationship between Konoha and Amegakure deteriorate?"
"After all, he can be considered one of Konoha's elders. Wouldn't killing him openly be inappropriate?"
It was perfectly normal for Konan to think this way. After all, killing a three-generation elder just like that really did seem unstable.
But if that person was Danzō, then Gekko Chizan was willing to go all in—he had to be killed.
"Alright, I understand. I'll make the preparations."
"Mm. You also need to stabilize the situation on Amegakure's side. It's just a village—harder at the beginning, easier later."
Gekko Chizan knew very well that reorganizing a village was no easy task. That was precisely why he chose to stay in the rear and hand all the problems over to others.
At that moment, he suddenly thought of the two talents he had poached from Kumogakure.
Those were genuine management talents—one of them was even the future secretary of the Fourth Raikage, someone capable of handling all kinds of village affairs.
"As for people to help you, I do have two candidates, but they're still in the assessment period."
"I'll go urge things along in a bit. If there's no problem, I'll send them over to help you manage Amegakure."
Hearing that there would be helpers, Konan's eyes immediately lit up.
Right now, the only person she could rely on was Terumi Mei, but Terumi Mei also had to take care of the intelligence network in the Land of Hot Water. Over the past few days, the girl's fatigue was clearly visible.
"Then please hurry!"
"I'm about to die from exhaustion!"
Facing Konan's grievance, Gekko Chizan burst out laughing, then disappeared along with his laughter.
...
Land of Waterfall, Orochimaru's laboratory.
"So you're saying, sensei, I asked you to brainwash them, and you directly put a curse technique on them????"
"No—what kind of operation is this???"
Gekko Chizan looked at Samui and Mabui in front of him, their faces full of anger as they did some scattered chores, while Orochimaru was fully focused on his research.
Hearing his beloved disciple's horrified voice, Orochimaru finally put down the instrument in his hand, revealing a smile as he looked at Samui and Mabui as if they were priceless treasures.
"Hehehe, the two people you sent over are quite good seedlings."
"What I implanted in them is a curse mark I researched not long ago."
Yes, a curse mark—the same one that would later be placed on that orthopedic prodigy and Sasuke.
But had this thing really been researched so quickly?
Wait—if that was the case, then Jūgo… had he already been discovered?
"That's not the key point. I sensed a kind of energy similar to senjutsu energy within that curse mark."
"Sensei, you succeeded?"
Orochimaru laughed even more happily at those words, just like a deranged scientist—no, he was a scientist to begin with.
The more he laughed, the more certain Gekko Chizan became that he had definitely found Jūgo and conducted research targeting Jūgo's physique.
Otherwise, the curse mark could not possibly be replicated.
"That's right! Come on, since you're here, let's take a trip to Island Turtle. You'll understand once we get there."
"Island Turtle?"
"Mm!"
Without thinking, Gekko Chizan grabbed Orochimaru, and in the next second, the Flying Thunder God brought the two of them to Island Turtle.
The moment he stepped onto Island Turtle, within Gekko Chizan's snake-like perception, an extremely dense mass of senjutsu energy appeared.
Under Orochimaru's lead, the two of them entered the central area of Island Turtle.
It had been a long time since Gekko Chizan last came here. As he looked at everything around him along the way, he was instantly dumbfounded. This was still Island Turtle????
All kinds of high-tech equipment were everywhere. As for how it was powered—please look to the side at the gigantic pangolin, which was continuously rolling to supply power…
As for the other large animals, they were all at their respective posts. For example, a gorilla was currently helping transport goods.
"This… has it turned into a high-tech zoo?"
"As expected of you, sensei—even the animals aren't spared. Tsk tsk."
Orochimaru didn't feel anything was wrong with this at all. They had to be fed anyway—might as well have them do some work.
Soon, they arrived at the central area.
This was a lake, and at its center was the waterfall that allowed one to directly face the darkness in their own heart—the True Waterfall.
"That waterfall is quite interesting. Inside it is a sealed room."
"And it can actually reflect a person's dark side. The losses Island Turtle suffered alone probably made Kumogakure's heart ache for a very, very long time."
"If I'm not mistaken, this waterfall and the hall should be a place prepared for Jinchūriki training. After all, aside from Jinchūriki, I really can't think of who else would need this kind of dark-side training."
Facing Orochimaru's words, Gekko Chizan nodded.
Although he had known from the beginning that Orochimaru's research ability was extraordinary, personally experiencing it still left him in awe.
This kind of talent was terrifying—relying on a single brain, he had directly raised the scientific ceiling of the entire shinobi world.
"Hehehe, but the shinobi world is so vast that there are always some unpredictable things."
"For example, right now."
"Someone can use this waterfall to cleanse themselves."
"Come on, that child is inside."
Gekko Chizan already knew who the child inside was.
A sage-bodied individual with a split personality—Jūgo…
When the two entered the waterfall, a simple tent appeared in their view.
Outside the tent stood a small kid with orange hair, looking about four or five years old.
"Jūgo, long time no see."
"Hm? Orochimaru-sama, you've come."
Orochimaru walked up to the boy and patted his head, leaving Gekko Chizan a bit confused.
Wasn't Jūgo supposed to have a split personality and go berserk at the drop of a hat? Why did the scene in front of him feel different?
After greeting Orochimaru, Jūgo shifted his gaze to Gekko Chizan. A trace of red light flashed in his eyes, and he muttered:
"Who are you? You have very dense natural energy on you, and there's also a kind of gloomy aura…"
"Like a snake… it makes me very uncomfortable…"
Gekko Chizan: …Am I like a snake??? Then what does the one beside you count as???
Orochimaru: Hehehe, I'm the guardian. Can you compare to me?
"Oh? You can see the natural energy within my body?"
"Mm… it's not exactly seeing. I can feel it. That kind of chilling energy—if it were the old me, I probably would've gone berserk and killed you…"
Great. Still the same Jūgo who goes berserk at the slightest provocation.
But why wasn't he going berserk now?
"Hehehe, I met Jūgo by chance. He has a natural sage body and can sense natural energy."
"But once the natural energy around him exceeds the limit, he enters a berserk state."
"It wasn't until he came here and accepted the cleansing of that waterfall that things began to change."
Here? The Falls of Truth?