Pakura had successfully obtained Shindai's transmitter and was now heading home to figure things out.
Meanwhile, in the Kazekage Building.
Rasa sat alone in his dim office, his expression exceedingly gloomy.
He already knew that Pakura was trying to gain the Advisors' support, wanting to compete with him for the position of Kazekage.
The last time they ambushed the Land of Fire with the Hidden Cloud Village, they were driven out of the Land of Fire by Konoha Ninja after just one battle. Sunagakure already had a small number of Ninja, and many died in that battle. It could be said that Sunagakure suffered heavy losses.
Therefore, some voices of doubt against him began to spread in the Village.
Although Ebizo told him there was no need to listen to those words, Rasa still cared deeply.
Rasa himself did not succeed as Kazekage through normal means, so he wanted to achieve something in this Ninja World War to prove himself. However, it could be said that he achieved nothing at all.
Moreover, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind had already questioned him.
Now the Hidden Mist Village was locked in a bitter struggle with them. The Daimyo ordered him to resolve the Hidden Mist Village's trouble as soon as possible, no matter what, and then not to initiate any more battles.
Currently, the Daimyo of various countries were discussing ending the war. Once the war officially ended, the Daimyo would have Rasa further demilitarize by reducing the number of Ninja, and the funding for Sunagakure would be cut again.
It could be said that Rasa was already feeling terrible, and with Pakura doing this, he felt even worse.
Rasa knew very well that the reason he sat so securely in his Kazekage position was thanks to the support of Chiyo and Ebizo.
However, Chiyo and Ebizo had told him before that they wanted to retire after this war ended, meaning that after Chiyo and Ebizo retired, his biggest supporters would be gone.
The Advisors who currently rejected Pakura did so because of Chiyo and Ebizo.
He had achieved nothing in this war, while Pakura, on the other hand, had distinguished herself with outstanding military achievements in this war.
Therefore, without the support of Chiyo and Ebizo, the outcome might not be certain.
A hint of ruthlessness flashed in Rasa's eyes as he murmured, "I hope you're sensible, otherwise don't blame me!"
...
Days passed one by one.
Three months flew by in a flash.
Shindai, who was patrolling the border guard, had Akimichi Tafu, a Chunin from the Akimichi clan, as his teammate.
Shindai was quite satisfied with this teammate.
Because what the Akimichi clan was most famous for was not their secret Ninjutsu, the Multi-Size Technique, but their eating!
Akimichi Tafu's Ninja tool pouch contained mostly various sauces.
Just catch some wild game, spread the sauce, and grill it over a fire—it was absolutely delicious!
Following Akimichi Tafu, Shindai never had to worry about food.
During this period, Shindai and Orochimaru became increasingly familiar. (Shindai thought so himself~)
Shindai had performed several missions alone with Orochimaru, and Orochimaru was able to point out some flaws in Shindai's execution of Magnet Release.
For Shindai's questions, Orochimaru would answer them one by one, and also extrapolate, even proactively testing Shindai on some professional issues.
However...
Orochimaru had asked Shindai more than once if he was interested in exploring the mysteries of life.
Each time, Shindai would unequivocally answer that he was not interested.
Because Shindai felt that if he said he was interested in exploring the mysteries of life, then next, Orochimaru might take him to explore human anatomy and conduct human experiments.
Although Shindai felt that if he expressed interest, Orochimaru would take him as a disciple, Shindai didn't really want to become Orochimaru's disciple in the first place.
However, to be fair, although Orochimaru was a bit eccentric, he was genuinely a good person, basically fulfilling all of Shindai's requests, except when Shindai asked for gossip, he was very stingy with answers.
How did such a good person get involved in human research?
Human research is actually not incomprehensible. Human research, especially in the fields of medicine and scientific research, is of great significance for promoting medical progress and scientific research.
For example, it helps to understand the nature of diseases and develop new treatment methods, such as the development of Medical Ninjutsu, which all require human research.
But couldn't they consider ethics and morals, and ensure safety within a legal and ethical framework?
I don't understand, I really don't understand.
Shindai's patrol for the day was over. Before going back to rest, he went to see Orochimaru to report on the patrol.
"Lord Orochimaru, nothing happened today. My patrol is over, so I'm going to rest now, okay?"
"Wait, Shindai, sit down. There's something I want to talk to you about."
Shindai found an empty seat and sat down, looking at Orochimaru with some confusion.
Orochimaru didn't speak immediately, but stared at Shindai for a while.
Orochimaru had given Shindai many chances, and he didn't want to keep testing Shindai repeatedly.
After these few tests, Orochimaru was almost certain that Shindai knew some things about him and was wary of him.
This wariness was not present during normal conversations with Shindai, but as soon as the topic turned to anything related to life, Shindai would immediately interrupt and joke his way out of it.
When Orochimaru's snake-like eyes made Shindai feel uncomfortable all over, he finally spoke, "You're wary of me, aren't you?"
Shindai was already starting to have a bad feeling. He chuckled dryly, "Huh? How could that be? How could I be wary of Lord Orochimaru?"
"Do you know about some of the experiments I've been doing?"
Orochimaru's direct hit completely stunned Shindai.
Shindai's pupils widened slightly. Like someone with ADHD, he scratched his head, touched his nose, occasionally glanced at Orochimaru's eyes, then pretended to clear his throat and coughed a few times before defending himself, "What could I know? Uh, I don't know anything. I've never seen Lord Orochimaru do experiments, right?"
Orochimaru's lips curved slightly. Shindai's behavior clearly indicated he was lying.
"Heh, you really do know, that's why you're so wary of me."
"No, I'm very sincere..."
The more Shindai spoke, the less confident he became, and his voice grew softer.
"Although I'm very curious about how you know, I'm more interested in your thoughts. If you're very resistant, there's no need to take risks by following me. Back then, in front of Lord Sarutobi, you could have directly refused to become my disciple or subordinate, and you've had countless opportunities to tell Lord Sarutobi what you know."
Shindai felt cold sweat breaking out on his back. Now, no matter what he said, Orochimaru already assumed he knew.
Was his lie that obvious? He was impeccable when he was an undercover agent!
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