"Welcome back, Orochimaru -sama."
Ash-blue hair and a handsome face adorned with a pair of glasses. Compared to his image in the first part, he certainly looked much younger now; by calculation, he was probably around 19 years old.
"Kabuto, get ready. We're using the Reverse Summoning Technique to head to the Land of Hot Springs."
"Yes. These two children are..."
As his gaze swept over, Amane noticed him pause briefly on her hair and Kimimaro's forehead.
"Uzumaki Amane and Kimimaro of the Kaguya Clan. This trip to the Land of Water was truly worth it." Orochimaru seemed to be in an excellent mood. Upon hearing their names, Kabuto's gaze lingered on Amane for a moment longer, murmuring, "Could she be..."
[I'm surprisingly famous.]
The behind-the-scenes boss of Akatsuki, Orochimaru, and his Jackie Chan-esque secretary—heavyweight characters who spanned the early and late stages of the story—actually all knew her.
If Amane suddenly wanted to change her name and live a quiet life, it would be difficult.
After a round of introductions, the four began walking deep into the base. Many staff members they encountered along the way immediately showed visible fear upon seeing Orochimaru's face; one person even collapsed directly onto the floor after they passed.
This made Amane very curious, and her mind couldn't help but recall those kidney-harvesting videos from her past life.
[There's absolutely no sense of incongruity,] Amane could even imagine such a scene in her head.
After a series of turns, the number of people they encountered dwindled until the four eventually arrived in a large hall.
As soon as she entered, Amane was drawn to the formula on the ground.
[It's very similar to the Contract Seal, but it currently lacks a medium for activation. They probably want us to stand on it, then place blood or a part of our bodies on it to allow the distant side to establish a Chakra link, and then use Summoning to achieve instantaneous movement.]
Amane's reaction did not escape Orochimaru's eyes. He waited silently for the Young Lady to snap out of it before asking, "Well? Have you figured out the principle behind this?"
With the three pairs of eyes focused on her, Amane didn't hide anything and explained what she had just deduced.
The three reacted differently in an instant.
Excluding Kimimaro's ignorant daze, Yakushi Kabuto was surprised, while Orochimaru gave a satisfied smile.
"It seems Danzo really put his heart into teaching you. So, besides the Adamantine Sealing Chains, what about the Four Symbols Seal or the Five Elements Seal?"
Kabuto adjusted his glasses, letting the reflection on the lenses hide his expression.
It seemed the name 'Danzo' had struck a nerve, though he didn't voice any other opinion.
"No, I haven't even heard the names of those Sealing Jutsu."
Setting aside the original work, Danzo truly hadn't even told her the names of those seals.
Amane guessed it was because those two techniques were too profound, as their prestige in the original work was quite high.
Orochimaru smiled again, and then the four followed the steps mentioned earlier to complete the preparations for the technique. Then, with a 'poof,' a large snake appeared in the hall before them.
[It's not Manda.]
From its appearance, it looked like a common king snake, but through her sensing, the Chakra inside this snake was quite substantial—at least stronger than the deceased Hiro.
Additionally, although the architectural structure here was no different from before, judging by the feeling of the air on her skin, Amane noticed that the moisture had significantly decreased.
"Amane and Kimimaro, come with me for a moment. Kabuto, you handle making the 'mask' for this Root member. In a few days, go with Amane to report to our dear Danzo-sama."
Once the order was given, none of the three said a word of protest.
After more twists and turns, the place Orochimaru led them to was clearly a training ground.
But the opponents weren't Amane and Kimimaro themselves.
"Pick one person to challenge. If you can kill one of the two of them, then your entire group will be free."
There were about sixty people in total, confined in cells in units of ten. Previously, they seemed to have been playing some kind of card game with each other.
Following Orochimaru's words, everyone's gaze instantly projected over, and very quickly, almost all of them stared intently at Amane.
[As expected...]
Amane was 7, and Kimimaro was 10. Moreover, Kimimaro was a Taijutsu-type Ninja; just looking at their appearances, Amane seemed like an easy target, not to mention she was a girl.
"Now, which of you wants to go first? I'll give you one minute to decide. If no one is willing by then, you understand the consequences."
As he spoke, an invisible killing intent permeated the training ground. Even the two who were already accustomed to killing felt a thick sense of oppression!
Having been in this world for so long, Amane had gained some understanding of what so-called killing intent was through her Chakra cultivation.
To put it simply, it was actually an outward release of spiritual energy, and spiritual energy was extremely susceptible to being influenced and changed by a person's thoughts and actions.
For those who had killed too many, or those who were already numb to killing, the impact of that spiritual energy release on others would naturally be very intense, evoking fear.
Indeed, under the influence of this terrifying killing intent, more than half of the groups immediately dripped with cold sweat and pointed their fingers at Amane.
"It seems a choice has been made. Now, let me see your current skills. Let me be clear: do not underestimate them. These are not like the people Danzo gave you to practice on in Root."
This wasn't hard to see. Although everyone looked ragged and grimy, the flow of Chakra in their bodies was quite powerful.
This was a pack of fierce, hungry wolves who only looked pathetic on the surface!
"They can all come at once, too."
Amane walked to the center of the training ground, her entire being exuding confidence as she spoke.
Seeing Amane acting so bold, Orochimaru indulged her and directly opened all the cell doors of those who had just chosen her as their opponent.
A total of forty people instantly poured out from their respective cages, but they didn't swarm her all at once. Instead, they instantly split into three modes of action.
[Ten people to surround and engage in close combat, twenty ready to substitute at any time, and ten staying back to prepare Ninjutsu. Just in terms of this grouping, they're excellent. They really aren't small fry; they're much better than the people Danzo fed to me.]
Amane closed her eyes and activated Kagura Minds Eye. Simultaneously, her hands flew through Hand Seals, finishing just as the ten people rushed toward her.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
A massive amount of Chakra instantly transformed into water, forming a torrent with Amane at the center. Among the ten close-range attackers, eight were instantly swept to the ground. The second echelon immediately hid behind an earth wall created by the third echelon.
At the same time, without a word, Amane leaped into the air, causing a pair of hands emerging from the ground to grab nothing but air. Meanwhile, her hands rapidly formed seals again.
Shadow Clone Jutsu!
Three Shadow Clones used the obscuring effect of the smoke to instantly prevent the other two Chakra signatures underground from determining which one was the correct target for a sneak attack.
And at that moment, at the cost of one Shadow Clone, a thunderous roar exploded on the spot.
The massive sound even caused Kimimaro, who was outside the field, to painfully cover his ears, lamenting that if this move hit at close range, one's ears would definitely be lost.
[Compressing Lightning Release Chakra and then releasing it? Sound travels faster through the ground than through the air; the people attempting sneak attacks underground will faint from the loud noise. And since it's Lightning Release, those who were just standing on the water will probably have a very bad time.]
Watching another figure entwined with faint bolts of lightning darting through the field, leaving paralyzed Ninjas falling one by one in her wake, Orochimaru excitedly extended his long tongue to lick his lips.
At this point, no more than twenty Ninjas were still standing on the field.
But this didn't mean these people were weak. On the contrary, in terms of overall strength, this group was much stronger than the Kaguya Clan members Amane had encountered when she left the base.
[Good coordination. Let's see if you have the ability to handle this next move.]
The remaining people had already figured out the logic behind Amane's excellent results.
That was her incredibly fast Hand Seal speed, which successfully allowed her to use a large-scale Ninjutsu at the very beginning. And her powerful sensing ability, which allowed her to counter the underground sneak attacks with Lightning Release after they failed.
In that case, they would take turns throwing Ninja tools—using these long-range attacks to hinder Amane's Hand Seals—while primarily using hit-and-run tactics to launch Ninjutsu attacks.
After all, they had the numbers, and as long as Amane made even a slight mistake, the victory would be theirs.
The plan was indeed sound, so when Amane created her Shadow Clones, one of them seamlessly transitioned into the Hiding in Mist Technique as soon as the aftershocks of the Lightning Release: Thunder Roar Cannon ended.
Wind Release Ninjas were truly scarce in this world.
Sensing Ninja weren't very common either.
After the mist dissipated, Amane slowly walked toward her original position beside Orochimaru, casting a dissatisfied glance at him.
It turned out that while Amane was making full use of her sensing ability to harvest them in the mist, someone in the group—perhaps thinking the thick mist was an opportunity—had chosen to flee.
They had already been fed to the snakes.
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