Orochimaru saw Jiraiya's hesitation and sneered, "Jiraiya, you're still the same, soft-hearted."
With that, Orochimaru bypassed Jiraiya and quickly headed towards the location he had previously pinpointed.
Jiraiya stood silently for a few breaths, then just as he was about to give chase, an old toad wearing a cloak with grayish-white hair suddenly appeared on his shoulder.
Jiraiya was startled, "Sage Fukusaku!"
This toad was one of Mount Myōboku's two great sages—Sage Fukusaku!
Sage Fukusaku said to Jiraiya, "Little Jiraiya, no matter what you're doing right now, stop immediately. The Great Master is looking for you; he has a new prophecy."
"Ah—"
Jiraiya was shocked.
The Great Sage Fukusaku spoke of was the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myōboku, the great sage who taught Sage of Six Paths senjutsu.
Such a figure wanted to see him, Jiraiya couldn't delay.
Now, even if his parents died, he had to put it aside.
Orochimaru's matter was put aside; he needed to quickly teleport to Mount Myōboku to listen to the Great Toad Sage's prophecy.
Orochimaru and Hiruko found an inconspicuous small mountain. It was in this place that Orochimaru's summoned snakes died in batches.
Hiruko looked at this inconspicuous place, "That kid Ryou is hiding here?"
Orochimaru sneered, "He's definitely here. Let me go down and take a look."
Orochimaru sat cross-legged on the ground, and a white snake separated from his body, burrowing deep underground.
The white snake that Orochimaru transformed into was more agile than ordinary snakes, easily breaking through the base outside the small hill.
Orochimaru entered and noticed large patches of greenish-white humanoid creatures, who attacked him.
Orochimaru quickly dodged and delved deeper inside.
He felt that the Ninja World's greatest secret was about to be revealed to him.
Finally, Orochimaru passed through layers of obstacles to reach the very center of the base and saw a Gedo Statue that resembled a Yama from hell.
Dangling from the Gedo Statue were White Zetsu, like human lives wailing.
"This is—!"
Orochimaru's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils almost bursting from their sockets.
Below the Gedo Statue, an ancient old man opened his eyes. As his crimson Sharingan opened, it was as if the entire world paused.
"Get out—!"
Outside, Orochimaru suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.
Hiruko was somewhat shocked; Orochimaru was injured before even engaging in battle. Who exactly was inside?
Orochimaru captured the old man's Sharingan through the images transmitted by his clone.
Orochimaru coughed up blood, and his eyes couldn't hide his lingering fear. Being looked at by that old man genuinely made him feel like he had fallen into the 18th layer of hell.
That kind of killing intent, Orochimaru felt, was the best description for a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
"Sharingan, it's the Sharingan, it's someone from the Uchiha!"
The strongest Uchiha was "Wicked Eye Fugaku," who gained fame during the Third Great Ninja War, but such a title was insignificant in front of the Sannin.
Among the currently existing Ninja of the Uchiha Clan, even if you searched the entire clan, you wouldn't find anyone who could injure Orochimaru with just a glance.
Then there was only one possibility—
Orochimaru and Hiruko exchanged glances, simultaneously speaking the name considered taboo by Konoha.
"Uchiha Madara—!"
Madara, one of Konoha's founders, and Hashirama were known as legendary Ninja.
During the Warring States Period, Madara and Hashirama were the pinnacle of Ninja.
He wasn't revered by the world as the God of Shinobi like Hashirama, but even someone like Orochimaru would tremble at the mention of Madara's name.
"Run, run first!"
Orochimaru took Hiruko and turned to flee. After getting far away, they found a place to rest, keeping an eye on the previous direction, ready for battle at any moment.
But for a long time, there was no movement. Madara seemed to have paid them no attention from beginning to end.
Would you notice ants suddenly entering your home?
Is this the arrogance of the Uchiha?
Hiruko noticed Orochimaru's forehead, "Orochimaru, you're sweating, aren't you!"
Orochimaru wiped the sweat from his forehead, quietly rubbing away the urine stain by his feet.
How could I only sweat when confronting such a terrifying Ninja?
So that day, when Ryou shouted for his ancestor to save him, he wasn't praying for ancestral blessings, but genuinely asking his ancestor to emerge.
His clan's ancestor, Madara.
Why couldn't Orochimaru figure out such a simple question?
Hiruko swallowed, "Orochimaru, are you sure you didn't see wrong? Uchiha Madara was killed by the First Hokage before we were born."
Orochimaru slowly regained his composure and analyzed, "I don't know what Uchiha Madara looks like? But that old man's aura clearly came from the mountains of corpses and seas of blood of the Warring States Period."
"He is definitely Uchiha Madara! He probably used some Secret Technique to feign death and escape back then."
Hiruko advised, "Orochimaru, let's just run! That's Uchiha Madara. In an era without the First Hokage, he is invincible."
"No—"
Orochimaru refused.
Hiruko shouted loudly, "You're crazy, Orochimaru! That's Uchiha Madara. If I were still alive, I would have already wet myself."
Orochimaru said resolutely, "No, for eternal life, even Uchiha Madara, I must contend with him. Besides, the current Uchiha Madara is not in good shape."
"When I saw him, his hair was all white, his face was full of wrinkles, and he had biological tubes connected to his back to sustain his life."
"I see, Uchiha Madara is almost finished, so he needs Ryou's forbidden jutsu to extend his life, to seize Kusagakure's life Secret Technique."
"Hiruko, do you know? This is an opportunity, a huge opportunity."
"Uchiha Madara went through so much trouble to feign death, he must be hiding a massive secret. As long as I get this secret... heh heh!"
Hiruko looked at the crazed Orochimaru; he felt that the other party had gone mad.
Madara! Even if Hiruko perfected his Chimera Technique and became a perfect Ninja, he wouldn't dare to touch his whiskers.
Yet Orochimaru actually wanted to seize his secret.
It was truly insane!
Orochimaru was indeed crazy, but he wasn't stupid. To deal with Madara, he couldn't rely on himself alone.
He needed help, preferably Jiraiya and Tsunade, who were also Sannin.
"Hiruko, go find Jiraiya. He's probably in the forest. Tell him about Uchiha Madara."
"I think with Jiraiya's personality, he definitely won't ignore a dangerous person like Uchiha Madara."
"Alright!"
Orochimaru then bit his finger, summoned a small snake, wrote some words, had the snake swallow it, and then sent it back to Konoha to Tsunade.
The Senju Clan most wanted Madara dead. Orochimaru didn't believe Tsunade would remain calm upon hearing that Madara was still alive.
After doing all this, Orochimaru still felt uneasy, so he summoned the Ninja from Kusagakure.
He said to Chizu, "I've found your Village's Kekkei Genkai. It's down here, but there are some difficult things to deal with below."
"Quickly send a signal to the Kusagakure people to come here. Then we'll all work together to deal with the monster below."
Chizu subconsciously glanced at Mui.
Mui was a bit uncertain; could an enemy even Orochimaru found troublesome be dealt with by their Kusagakure people?
Mui felt there was a trick.
But Orochimaru immediately released a snake that swallowed one of their Chunin, "Hurry up, do you think I'm playing around with you? If you're any later, all of you will die."
Mui's face was terrifyingly gloomy, but he could only signal Chizu to send a signal to the Village.
Time was too short, otherwise Orochimaru really wanted to call in the Konoha Kirigakure front-line Ninja army.
To deal with Madara, it had to be this exaggerated.