"Akatsuki attacked Iwagakure and caused the death of Ōnoki of the Two Scales?"
"But what does that have to do with us, Sunagakure?"
In the Land of Wind's Sunagakure, after receiving this intelligence report from the Land of Earth, Rasa rely glanced at it twice before tossing it aside. As Kazekage, he was already busy enough—he had no ti to concern himself with sothing like a Five Kage Summit.
If one had to rank the most miserable Kage in the shinobi world, then the Kazekage would undoubtedly take the top spot.
Every generation of Kazekage not only had to painstakingly secure funding for the village but also handle all its internal affairs. By the ti it was Rasa's turn, he even had to worry about the growth of his son, Gaara—the One-Tail Jinchūriki.
People only saw the glory and prestige of being a Kage—but who ever saw Rasa still handling village affairs at three in the morning?
Sharing a similar mindset was Kumogakure. After reading the intelligence from the Land of Earth, the Fourth Raikage, A, not only felt no sympathy whatsoever—instead, he laughed more happily than anyone else.
The enmity between Iwagakure and Kumogakure ran deep. In A's view, during the Third Great Ninja War, the Land of Earth had only lost a number of unnad shinobi—though admittedly, the number might have been sowhat large. But they, on the other hand, had lost a Kage!
Now, upon suddenly hearing that that old fossil Ōnoki had died, the Fourth Raikage didn't feel even the slightest urge to attend any funeral rites.
"Is it really fine if we don't go?"
"That Akatsuki organization is indeed a threat to the status of the Five Great Nations. And if the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Water all attend, while only we of Kumogakure do not, they might very well divide up the interests of the Land of Lightning among themselves."
Samui looked at the Fourth Raikage, hoping her leader could set aside personal grudges and think from the bigger picture.
"That is a problem…"
"Tsunade isn't like that old man Hiruzen…"
Hearing Samui's words, the smile on the Fourth Raikage's face stiffened slightly.
If he could avoid it, he truly didn't want to attend Ōnoki's funeral. When your enemy's leader dies, that's sothing to celebrate—being asked to mourn was honestly asking too much!
"Then we'll go."
"Besides, this trip to the Five Kage Summit might give a chance to et that brat called Uchiha Keizumi."
"I'd like to see what kind of brat he is, to make the Daimyō so afraid!"
The Fourth Raikage nodded. He figured that Konoha would most likely bring Uchiha Keizumi along. It was a perfect opportunity—he wanted to see for himself whether the kid was really as powerful as the rumors claid.
As the Five Great Nations began to move, on another front, Yakushi Kabuto had already gathered Kimimaro and Jūgo.
At this point, Jūgo regarded Kimimaro as his most important companion—or rather, his cage. Under such circumstances, as long as Kabuto could persuade Kimimaro to join him, Jūgo would essentially co as a "buy one, get one free."
"Kabuto, has Orochimaru-sama really died?"
Even though quite so ti had passed since Orochimaru's death, Kimimaro still found it hard to believe—or perhaps, he simply didn't want to believe it.
Everyone knew that in the entire shinobi world, Orochimaru was the hardest to kill. No matter how you looked at it, it didn't make sense for him to die so easily.
"Orochimaru-sama is indeed dead. The White Snake Sage witnessed it personally."
Kabuto let out a sigh and shook his head. To be honest, staying by Orochimaru's side had always felt dangerous, but Orochimaru had indeed given him a sense of belonging—no longer leaving him feeling like a drifting leaf in the wind.
However, when he left, the White Snake Sage had specifically warned him: if he didn't want Orochimaru to suffer, then it would be best not to use the forbidden technique Impure World Reincarnation to summon Orochimaru back from the Pure Land.
According to the White Snake Sage, Orochimaru had once used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Shimura Danzō of Konoha. Yet Danzō had been unable to even maintain his own will—he could only continue to suffer under that strange fla of Uchiha Keizumi.
"So even using Impure World Reincarnation won't work?"
"I rember Orochimaru-sama once said that if he truly died, then by using Impure World Reincarnation to bring his soul back to the shinobi world, he could plant a curse mark again and use it to evade death!"
Kimimaro still refused to give up. He had already prepared himself to offer everything to Orochimaru. If Kabuto could pull Orochimaru back from the Pure Land, Kimimaro wouldn't hesitate to give up this body of his.
After Kabuto revealed what he knew about Uchiha Keizumi, Kimimaro could only let out a helpless sigh.
"By the way, Kabuto, where are we going?"
Jūgo also understood Kimimaro's thoughts. Right now, he only felt fortunate that Orochimaru had been killed by that guy nad Uchiha Keizumi. Especially after hearing that Orochimaru couldn't be revived at all, Jūgo's mood had improved imnsely.
"To a place—an organization Orochimaru-sama once belonged to!"
"But our goal isn't to serve that organization. According to the information I've obtained, that organization's leader possesses a pair of legendary Sage Eyes. And those eyes can perform a forbidden technique capable of bringing the dead back to life!"
"If ordinary forbidden techniques can't revive Orochimaru-sama, then that technique might have a chance!"
Naturally, Kabuto had no intention of telling Kimimaro the truth. It was true that he wanted the Rinnegan from Nagato, but what he really needed was to use those eyes to revive Yakushi Nonō.
As for Orochimaru…
Snakes were cold-blooded, after all.
Wasn't that what you taught , Orochimaru-sama?
"Sage Eyes?"
Kimimaro was a bit confused, but he knew it was best to trust Kabuto. After all, once Kabuto entered Sage Mode, his entire body would practically turn into sothing half-human, half-snake—if you said he hadn't inherited Orochimaru's teachings, no one would believe you.
"But before that, we need to make a trip to the Land of Earth first!"
"The organization we're joining not long ago killed Ōnoki of the Two Scales. I've co up with a new idea regarding Impure World Reincarnation, and I plan to use that Third Tsuchikage to test my technique!"
Although Kabuto had agreed to cooperate with Black Zetsu, he had plans of his own.
According to the White Snake Sage, he was destined to beco a powerful figure capable of single-handedly igniting the Fourth Great Ninja War. That thing called Black Zetsu was obsessed with reviving Uchiha Madara. If he truly succeeded, Kabuto needed to ensure he had the strength to force Uchiha Madara to revive Yakushi Nonō.
And if Kabuto's forces grew strong enough, he would even dare to dig out Nagato's eyes himself.
No matter what kind of forbidden technique it was, only when you perford it yourself could you truly feel at ease, wasn't that right?
anwhile, in Kirigakure, a certain man coughing up blood looked back at the village behind him, then at his foolish younger brother—and finally made up his mind, turning toward the direction of the Land of Rain.
Although Kirigakure was becoming better and better, in the eyes of Hōzuki Mangetsu, was the current Kirigakure really still the Kirigakure of the Land of Water?
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