It suddenly clicked in his mind and disbelief appeared on Orochimaru's face! A second later, he began laughing maniacally again! He said, "No wonder! It all makes sense now! I always felt that you leaving the village with such a deadly phobia and a young child was suicide. Even if you wanted to go, Sensei would never allow you to. Your clan wouldn't either. That ans you should have cured yourself before you left the village.
Yet, all these years, you acted as if you had it. For over two decades, you used this reason to avoid every Konoha duty with the exception of the Third Great Ninja War! The elders backed off due to this reason.
I couldn't sense anything off about your acting either, not back then or last week. If not for this incident, I would have been in the dark, hahaha. Well played, Princess Tsunade!"
Tsunade's expression stayed indifferent, but it was as Orochimaru predicted. Hiruzen flatly refused to let her leave in such a state. He even sent several Anbu squads to keep an eye on her led by none other than Sakumo to ensure she didn't sneak out.
Considering that they had just endured a great war and were soon heading towards another, Hiruzen wasn't even willing to let her leave. However, understanding her state of mind, losses, and contribution, he had no option but to relent, but he did so only after her hemophobia was cured.
However, this was kept hidden. The only individuals aware of her being cured were Hiruzen and Hiromasa. Sakumo had so doubts, but he wasn't sure. The remaining 3 elders, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, weren't inford of this and believed that she still suffered from it.
As for the rest, they weren't even aware of this issue, except for Shizune who learnt it later since Tsunade decided to keep up the act to avoid being called to duty. Her acting was so good that no one aware of her phobia ever questioned it. Even Hiruzen wondered at tis whether she had been cured. So, Orochimaru's shock was completely understandable.
Even though he was laughing, Orochimaru felt a chill running down his spine. In his original plans for attacking Konoha, he had only considered Hiruzen and Jiraiya as threats. He had completely dismissed Tsunade and wasn't aware of Fujin's strength until he clashed with him in the Forest of Death.
He couldn't help but wonder, 'So, you didn't think of as a big enough threat to play this card, Sensei? Or, did you not play it because you wanted to respect her wishes? Regardless…'
His attack had already failed. It was pointless to think about it. Seeing her forr teammate laughing like a madman, Tsunade felt a tinge of sadness. After all, they, along with Jiraiya, had fought countless battles together and trusted their backs to each other. Yet, the person in front of her didn't seem to have any such mories. He was almost like a stranger.
As she began concentrating chakra in her fist, Orochimaru finally stopped laughing and said, "Co on, Tsunade. You don't think I would co here without any escape route. You may have fooled today, but the next ti wouldn't be like this. Besides, even without your help, I hav…"
Surprise appeared on Tsunade's face as Orochimaru disappeared mid-sentence. She thought, 'Reverse summoning? However, sothing feels odd. It seed forced for so reason…'
Orochimaru had the sa thought. He wondered, 'Since when did Jugo beco so quick in rever…'
His eyes widened as an unexpected sight appeared in front of his eyes. Three massive snakes were towering around him. Monts later, his eyes landed on a figure standing between them. He thought, 'What the hell? Why is White Snake Sage here? What is happening? I wasn't able to summon anyone for over a month and now they suddenly reverse summon ? Hmm?'
Suddenly, Orochimaru noticed sothing even more strange. The place he stood at wasn't like how he rembered. Instead, it looked like a massive explosion had happened there. The surrounding terrain was in a bad shape and several burn marks were on the ground and surrounding rocks.
Orochimaru wondered, 'What the hell happened here? Did soone attack Ryuchi cave?'
Before he could analyze, Manda asked, "Orochimaru, do you have anything to say in your defense?"
Orochimaru frowned and asked, "What do you an? And, why couldn't I summon you?"
Manda angrily asked, "You dare to ask that after you attacked Ryuchi cave and killed thousands of young snakes? Bastard! Do you have a death wish!"
Orochimaru was stunned by the accusation. He wondered, 'What the hell? I attacked? When did I do that?'
At the sa ti, the White Snake Sage observed, 'Hmm, this is weird. His condition is terrible. Even his soul feels off. Did he finally make a mistake while playing around with his soul? Also, why does it look like he fell from the sky right on his face?'
Manda continued, "We waited for over a month, waiting for your explanation. We even restricted your summoning contract. However, instead of giving us an explanation, you avoid us for so…"
Manda suddenly stopped speaking, as disbelief appeared on his face. Garaga and the other snakes, who were staring down at Orochimaru, were dumbfounded too. Every single one of them was caught off guard. Imdiately after, all their emotions imdiately changed into rage. Even the calm White Snake Sage was angered!
Manda cursed, "That bastard! He escaped! He dares to look down so much on us?"
The reason why everyone lost their temper was because Orochimaru disappeared instead of answering. They could easily see that he had used reverse summoning. The short-tempered snakes imdiately saw that as a massive insult!
The White Snake Sage muttered, "Summon him back. This ti, attack him as soon as he appears! It's been a while since a summoner looked down at us to this extent!"
In a hidden base in the Land of Hot Water, Orochimaru appeared in front of Jugo. Disbelief appeared on his face as he realized what had happened. Jugo reverse summoned him due to the signal he sent earlier.
However, the snakes didn't know that! Orochimaru didn't need a second guess to understand how the snakes would interpret it. His expression beca grave as he instructed, "Reverse summon imdiately! Keep doing it until I tell you to stop! Start weaving the hand seals now!"
Jugo was confused, but seeing how serious Orochimaru was, he didn't hesitate and started weaving hand seals. Monts later, Orochimaru disappeared from the base and appeared in the Ryuchi cave, right at the place where Manda and Garaga were attacking!
He cursed internally, 'Shit! What the hell happened during my attack on Konoha? How was Ryuchi Cave impacted? I should have looked deeper into this issue. Unfortunately, I didn't have the ti due to being hunted non-stop! Not to ntion, my condition...'
He imdiately flickered. Unfortunately, there wasn't much space to dodge. Garaga's tail appeared right in front of his body. Monts before he could be hit, Orochimaru disappeared from Ryuchi cave and appeared in his base. He imdiately instructed, "Continue doing it!"
At the sa ti, he thought, 'Shit! I need to find a way to pacify those bloodthirsty snakes. If I can't, then I will have to terminate our contract sohow before they kill !'
The danger Orochimaru felt was even greater than when Hiruzen cut off a part of his soul or Fujin went at him intending to kill. After all, neither Hiruzen nor Fujin could summon him and continue attacking till he died.
Had he been at full strength, he would have had the confidence to survive and negotiate with the snakes. Unfortunately, he wasn't. The main reason why he hadn't looked deeply into why he couldn't summon snakes was because he didn't want them to see his terrible state.
Unfortunately, luck wasn't in Orochimaru's favor. Not only did he have to confront them when he hadn't healed from the injuries inflicted by Hiruzen, he had to do it right after taking a full-power punch from Tsunade to his face! Over the years, Orochimaru had been in desperate situations several tis. However, nothing ca close to the danger he was feeling at that mont!
——
While Orochimaru was facing a rare life-threatening situation, Sunagakure was extrely tense as well! The talks hadn't concluded yet, but Fujin's army reached the border of the Land of Wind! The entire council was on edge!
Fortunately, they finally received good news. Sajo sighed in relief and muttered, "They have stopped marching and have stationed themselves at the borders. It looks like he won't cross the border until the talks are concluded."
The others in the council were relieved as well. Only Chiyo and Ebizo thought, 'As I suspected… This is a bluff too. It's just that we can't afford to call their bluff. How unfortuna…'
Before they could finish their thoughts or anyone else could express their relief or concerns, an Anbu ninja ca running into the council room. Despite his mask, every council mber could see how tense and worried he was.
The moods of the council mbers beca grim once again as they imdiately imagined the worst. Goza thought, 'What now? Don't tell that maniac still attacked us!'
At the sa ti, Chiyo wondered in shock, 'Would he attack? No, Konoha wouldn't take that decision. However, if he disobeys their order and acts independently…'
Everyone had similar thoughts. While they had so confidence in Konoha's leadership, Fujin was an unknown factor. If he forced a war upon them, Konoha would undoubtedly be forced to follow!
Ryusa nervously asked, "What happened?"
The Anbu ninja reported, "We have lost contact with Grandmaster Renkaze!"
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————————————
A/N : If you can, then please support on P@treon.
Link - pat /DevilHex
(No space)
Alternatively you can support on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi
Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.
Thank You Ahmad, JTSSE, Marcio, . ., Ryan, Kyosuke, ZimaBlue, Adrian and Frank for supporting on P@treon.
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