Chapter 280: The Power of Destiny
Northwest of Konoha Village, at the border of the Land of Fire.
Loud booms echoed one after another, accompanied by the shouts of two people.
"Madara, are you going to talk or not? Not talking, huh? Sandbag-sized fist!"
"Bastard!"
...
On the other side, Hashirama and Tobirama had already learned of Konoha's recent situation from Hiruzen.
"Foolish!" Tobirama cursed loudly, his brows tightly knitted.
Hashirama also sighed. "Monkey, you must explain things properly to Second Grandfather later. The alliance between Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools cannot be broken over this!"
Hiruzen smiled bitterly and nodded.
Jiraiya was getting anxious. These people kept talking but didn't mention bringing Orochimaru back, and Orochimaru was just nearby.
"Jiraiya, calm down. With Elder Masahiko here, we don't need to worry about Orochimaru for now," Sakumo comforted upon seeing this.
Hearing this, Tobirama frowned, turned his head, and asked, "Orochimaru, where did you learn Edo Tensei, and why are you defecting?"
When Tobirama was alive, Orochimaru was still Konoha's young genius, becoming a Jonin at fifteen without showing any signs of inappropriateness.
Orochimaru didn't explain. He glanced at the Konoha group, his gaze lingering on Jiraiya for an extra second, before his body turned into earth and slowly disappeared.
"An Earth Clone? Since when?!"
Hashirama explained, "When Second Grandfather threw his first punch, he swapped his main body with an Earth Clone. Second Grandfather should have noticed too."
Over on Masahiko's side, having beaten Madara "tattered" again, he instantly appeared beside Hashirama. "Orochimaru's clone dispelled, which means his main body is about to reach a place he thinks is hidden, and your Edo Tensei is about to be undone. Anything you want to say?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Hashirama and Tobirama's bodies emitted a faint white light.
"Second Grandfather, I heard from Hiruzen about recent events," Hashirama said. "I hope..."
Masahiko sighed and interrupted him. "Anything else you want to say? As for what happened before, I will make my own judgments and investigate myself."
Hashirama wanted to say more but was interrupted by Tobirama. "Second Grandfather, everything is up to you. I only hope you can spare Danzo this time. He was also acting wholeheartedly for Konoha, just using the wrong methods."
The two slowly vanished. Masahiko was stunned for a moment. "So it really is Danzo's fault?"
He looked at Hiruzen, who still had an expression of wanting to speak but hesitating.
"Alright, I'll give you one day to organize your words properly. Tomorrow, I want to hear the ins and outs of everything that happened during this time."
"Jiraiya, you don't need to wear that expression of losing your good buddy either. I'll go chase after Orochimaru right now."
"Old geezer, where do you think you're going!" Madara's shout came. "Hitting me and then leaving, where is there such a good deal!"
Masahiko was startled. He didn't expect Orochimaru hadn't undone Madara's Edo Tensei.
"Stalling for time?" Masahiko looked at the charging Madara. "Even if I keep interrogating him, I probably won't get any information about Akatsuki out of Madara's mouth..."
Pondering for a moment, Masahiko pulled out a bone spur from his right hand. "All-Killing Ash Bones!"
...
Meanwhile, in Konoha Village, at Tenten's house.
A certain Fat Cat, forgotten by Masahiko, wore an expressionless feline face, eating the fish meat Tenten fed it bite by bite...
In Tenten's hand, a one-foot (33 cm) long fish was gradually turning into a one-foot-long fish skeleton.
"Chubby kitty, you can eat so much. No wonder you were abandoned by your owner."
The Fat Cat couldn't even be bothered to respond, merely repeating the motions of swallowing and opening its mouth.
Until it opened its mouth and no fish meat was fed into it.
"Chubby kitty, you finished a whole fish, you should be about full now, right?"
The Fat Cat paused, looked at the fish skeleton in Tenten's hand, and opened its mouth to an exaggerated angle. "Chomp!"
Tenten's expression stiffened as she looked at the vanished fish skeleton in her hand.
"Eh?!"
...
Back with Masahiko, he watched the slowly crumbling Madara, who was no longer regenerating, and smiled while shaking his head.
"I don't know if we'll have a chance to meet again. With less than half your power, you are truly not enough for me to fight. If there is a next time, I hope you can be stronger."
"Damn old geezer, just you wait for the day I am resurrected..." Madara said as his body slowly dissipated.
Masahiko turned to look in Hiruzen's direction. "This time I'm really going to find Orochimaru!"
As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished from the spot.
The reason Masahiko was confident he could find Orochimaru was that when he first appeared, he not only snatched the kunai from Orochimaru's hand but also placed a sensory sealing formation on his hand.
He originally thought he could trail Orochimaru to find Akatsuki's people. He didn't expect Orochimaru's defection wasn't due to an Akatsuki invitation, but the seal was still useful now.
After a few flashes of his figure, Masahiko appeared in the center of the Land of Sound.
The Land of Sound was a small country, similar to the original Land of Whirlpools, with a population of only tens of thousands and an equally small area.
It was getting late into the night, and there were hardly any pedestrians on the streets. Masahiko's sudden appearance didn't cause any commotion.
Sensing carefully for a moment, Masahiko sank into the ground. After sneaking down for about a hundred meters, he saw a familiar door.
"This sensory-blocking material again." Masahiko sighed. "Good thing my sensory formation won't be blocked."
Masahiko pushed the door open. "As expected, it is Orochimaru's laboratory?"
"Senior, you've arrived." Orochimaru was right at the door, looking as if he had been waiting for a long time.
Masahiko frowned and asked the question again, "Where did you get Madara's cells?"
"Haven't you already guessed?"
Masahiko sighed. "So it really was from my battle with him. Then you also obtained my blood, right?"
Orochimaru nodded. "That's correct."
"Return it to me, and I won't care about your defection or anything else."
"I am sorry, Senior. I am afraid I cannot return it to you. I have already used up all of your blood."
Masahiko's mouth twitched. "You didn't use my blood to do anything weird, did you?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "How could I? Your blood is extremely precious."
Masahiko was startled. His physique during his battle with Madara back then hadn't reached the level of a Sage Body. The quality of his blood should have been vastly inferior to Madara's and Hashirama's.
"What is so precious about my blood?"
Orochimaru revealed a mysterious smile. "It contains the power of destiny."
"Destiny?" Masahiko was stunned for a long while. How did this turn into metaphysics?
"Hmm?" By the time he came back to his senses, the Orochimaru in front of him had turned into... a shed snake skin, and Masahiko's sensory formation was attached to it.
"The shedding learned from the White Snake Sage of Ryuchi Cave? He is becoming more and more like a snake." Masahiko's expression was grave. "He stayed here just to tell me these two disjointed sentences... Is he abandoning this laboratory?"
A line of characters flashed before Masahiko's eyes: "Witnessed and significantly changed the Naruto World side story: Orochimaru's Defection. Obtained 10(x8) Witness Points."
"The power of destiny... huh?"
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