A ramen shop on the edge of the Land of Rice Fields.
"Hermit Purple!"
Linto slapped his Polaroid camera.
A photo slowly came out.
Orochimaru was sitting in a chair, holding a teacup in his hand. He seemed to sense Linto's spying; he slightly raised the teacup and nodded to Linto.
He wasn't running anymore.
Without Star Platinum drawing details, the photo showed Orochimaru sitting in a street. Both sides of the street were empty shops. Behind him stood more than ten ninjas, wearing headbands with musical note patterns.
The Village Hidden in Sound.
Linto understood that this was why Orochimaru had been running all the way to the Land of Rice Fields.
For seven days, he chased, he ran, he couldn't escape even with wings.
Linto and Orochimaru had barely stopped for a moment.
With Hermit Purple's power, no matter where Orochimaru hid, Linto could always track him down through clues.
Until now, Orochimaru had finally stopped running.
He was openly waiting for Linto to appear.
Jiraiya once said:
If he fought Orochimaru in a sudden battle, Jiraiya could beat him up - of course, there was some boasting in that - but once Orochimaru had enough preparation and planning time, his threat would increase exponentially.
In the photo, Orochimaru's eyes seemed to say, "I'm right here, Linto, do you really dare to come?"
"What kind of Batman setup is this?"
Linto chuckled, "Shopkeeper, how far is it from here to the Village Hidden in Sound?"
The ramen shop owner heard this and looked at Linto's big sword: "At a normal person's pace, going northwest on foot would take five days. If you took a horse-drawn carriage, it would take two days. But, if you are a ninja, zipping through the trees, it might only take a day."
Linto roughly understood the distance and nodded. He stood up and took out a bill from his pocket and put it on the table.
"Keep the change."
The ramen shop owner dried his hands with a towel, walked over, and looked at the amount. He quickly grabbed the money, lifted the curtain, and chased after him.
"Sir! A bowl of ramen doesn't cost that much, you gave too much -"
He didn't finish speaking before he froze.
He watched Linto step on the Ruin Sword, as if an invisible giant had thrown him and the sword into the sky, flying straight towards the northwest.
The ramen shop owner fell to the ground and shouted, "Wife!"
"What?"
"Come out... and see a god!"
...
Inside the Village Hidden in Sound.
During the day, there wasn't a single person to be seen on the streets. Only Orochimaru sat in a chair, holding a cup of hot tea, quietly sipping and enjoying the sun.
Just looking at Orochimaru, one might think he had given up crime and put down all his grudges in the ninja world.
But if you moved your gaze slightly back, you could see more than ten grim-faced ninjas from the Village Hidden in Sound, and...
Two wooden coffins.
In the Hokage world, where production was low, carefully crafted wooden coffins were considered a proper burial.
Ordinary families couldn't afford this. When they died, they were just wrapped in straw mats, which was considered enough.
Most people were just buried in a hole.
Only landlords, merchants, and powerful ninjas could enjoy wooden coffins.
As mentioned earlier, ninja villages infiltrated each other. The Village Hidden in Sound was no exception. Spies from different ninja villages used their abilities to hide in corners, watching Orochimaru and his group from afar.
Many people had secretly guessed that Orochimaru was the leader of the Village Hidden in Sound, but the true exposure still shocked many people.
Spies naturally had a wide range of information sources.
They had long heard about the chase between Linto and Orochimaru. Now it seemed that the end of this battle was in the Village Hidden in Sound, right in front of them.
"But, what do these two coffins with 'One' and 'Two' written on them mean?"
"You don't even understand that? What kind of person is Orochimaru?
One of the legendary Sannin, chased all the way by Linto, a new generation ninja. Do you think he wouldn't be angry?
These two coffins are his determination.
If Linto doesn't come, then it's fine. But if he comes..."
"If he comes?"
"The coffins are already prepared, what do you think? It's definitely a fight to the death. It seems Linto has really angered Orochimaru. He's even willing to die together."
The spies whispered to each other.
Yakushi Kabuto walked over to pour tea for Orochimaru: "Sir, do you really think Linto will come?"
Yakushi Kabuto couldn't imagine how Kimimaro, Jugo, and Orochimaru had been defeated by Linto before. It must have been a difficult struggle.
From Orochimaru-sama's caution, Yakushi Kabuto could guess that Linto was a powerful ninja.
But...
With Orochimaru-sama fully prepared, will Linto really come?
Alone, challenging a ninja village?
This has gone beyond recklessness and impulse.
It's foolish.
Not only Yakushi Kabuto had similar thoughts.
Konan and Deidara, who were hiding in the sky, also had the same thoughts.
"Looks like we're wasting our time today."
Deidara yawned boredly. Their targets were Linto and Orochimaru, but compared to Orochimaru, who was like a sewer rat, Linto's "arrogant" personality was more to Deidara's liking.
Konan nodded slightly.
Just then.
"He will come."
Uchiha Itachi in the sky.
Orochimaru on the ground.
The two, separated by thousands of meters, said the same thing at the same time.
"Why?"
Yakushi Kabuto and Deidara asked at the same time.
Faced with this question, Orochimaru and Uchiha Itachi, two extremely intelligent people, couldn't give a precise answer. They could only vaguely offer a word.
"Feeling."
This was a very subtle, indescribable, and incomprehensible certainty.
Only those who had truly fought with Linto would have this feeling.
After hearing Uchiha Itachi's description, Konan raised her hand, wanting to say something, but stopped.
On the other hand, Deidara, who was unrestrained, slapped his thigh and laughed loudly:
"A feeling from being beaten... Brother Itachi, are you sure you're not talking about some kind of special fetish?"
Uchiha Itachi: "..."
They waited for another two hours. Their original plan was to wait for Linto to appear and fight Orochimaru to a stalemate, then take action in the chaos and capture both of them at once.
Konan looked at the time.
The sun was high in the sky, directly overhead.
It was noon.
"Deidara, is your clay reconnaissance bug reacting?"
With the Village Hidden in Sound as the center, Deidara had set up a clay reconnaissance area with a radius of twenty kilometers. As long as Linto stepped into this range, it would trigger a slight explosion.
"No." Deidara replied.
Konan said, "Itachi, it seems your 'feeling' was wrong. We can't wait any longer. The news of Orochimaru being in the Village Hidden in Sound has already spread. It won't be long before various forces come here. We have to act before that."
After Konan finished speaking, she didn't receive a response from Uchiha Itachi.
He remained in a posture of closing his eyes to rest.
"Itachi?"
"Listen carefully."
Uchiha Itachi suddenly spoke.
Listen?
Konan listened carefully. She heard the whistling wind, and...
Getting closer!
"Look!"
The noon light fell on Linto who was flying on his sword.
"He's here!"
"He really came!"
No sneaking in, no assassination, and no gathering allies.
Just like this, alone, under the blazing sun at noon, he openly came to the enemy's lair!
Too crazy.
"Holy crap!"
Deidara's eyes lit up, his mouth half-open: "Itachi, I take back what I said just now. I now understand what you mean by 'feeling'. Linto... this guy, is interesting!"
"And he's actually flying?!"
People in the sky and on the ground saw the speeding Linto.
They poured Chakra into their eyes, and saw Star Platinum appearing behind the Ruin Sword, grabbing the hilt, and aiming at Orochimaru –
"Ora!"
Linto accelerated again, and a white conical cloud appeared behind him.
In an instant, the sound of thunder rumbled through the sky, like divine punishment, falling towards Orochimaru!
Boom!
The Ruin Sword pierced through Orochimaru's body, pinning him to the ground.
The shockwave spread outwards, the land cracked, and sunk downwards.
In just one strike, all the buildings within a hundred meters of Linto collapsed, and all the ninjas from the Village Hidden in Sound who were hiding nearby were buried in the rubble.
Smoke filled the air, blocking the view.
A hand reached out from the dust, gently waving, as if lifting a curtain.
A strong wind howled.
Linto stood in the center of the ruins, pulling out the Ruin Sword, and at the same time –
Thump! Thump!
The sound of two coffin lids falling appeared.
Linto looked at the two people who walked out, and frowned slightly.
"Why are there 'big zombies' too?"
---
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