Born in Sunagakure, dedicated to antagonizing Konoha for decades

Time is a cruel and merciless knife, and this time it struck with a critical hit...

Meanwhile, Sasuke Uchiha, the younger brother of Itachi Uchiha, who "luckily" escaped the massacre of his clan, also began to come into everyone's view.

Sasuke Uchiha is still quite famous, after all, he is one of only two remaining members of the Uchiha clan in the ninja world, and he is also the younger brother of the superstar and popular Itachi Uchiha. However, his fame is limited to a small circle. His reputation as a genius was previously only in Konoha. Even though he performed quite well during the Konoha Chunin Exams, the news of Orochimaru's solo attack on Konoha and killing Hiruzen Sarutobi had such a huge impact that people have forgotten about this Uchiha genius who performed so well during the Konoha Chunin Exams.

In short, although Uchiha Sasuke had some fame before, it wasn't very big, and he couldn't be compared with the top-tier or super-top-tier ninjas in the ninja world. After all, he was just a kid. His future might be possible, but not now, unless he could achieve an amazing feat like his older brother, such as single-handedly defeating the Uchiha clan at the age of twelve.

But now, Uchiha Sasuke has done it!

Although his record wasn't as impressive as his older brother's, taking down Orochimaru, a veteran double-crown hero, was no small feat!

There's no need to elaborate on who Orochimaru is; he's the man who once used snake venom to defeat the Third Raikage. Sasuke Uchiha was only fifteen or sixteen years old when he was able to take down Orochimaru. Regardless of the method he used, in this ninja world where only the victor reigns supreme, it's all about winning and losing.

Sasuke Uchiha has truly ascended to the top of the ninja world. Coupled with the added boost of his "second male lead" aura successfully activated by Orochimaru, his popularity has surged to rival that of his older brother, Itachi Uchiha, in less than a month. Even Sasori, whose reputation for handsome looks has been built up over decades by Shinto, is now in jeopardy...

"Brother, weren't you and Orochimaru on pretty good terms? Now that he's dead, you don't seem sad at all..."

In Sunagakure, within the Miyako clan, Sasori's father, still shocked that Orochimaru had been killed by a mere child, saw his older brother leisurely sunbathing in a pure gold armchair, showing no sign of distress, and asked in surprise.

Although his older brother was a bit crazy, he was definitely a man of strong emotions. Even when Jiraiya, with whom he didn't get along well, died in the Land of Rain, he still went to him in the middle of the night to get drunk and mourn their lost friendship.

Orochimaru's relationship with his older brother was much better than Jiraiya's. He had originally planned to have his brother get drunk with two bottles of 1982 wine after another of his old friends had passed away. He had even left work early today.

It turns out that the guy's condition is completely different from when Jiraiya died!

Could it be a fake friendship?

That shouldn't be the case...

"So you don't understand Orochimaru. How could that guy die so easily? Cats have nine lives, but he has at least eighteen. In terms of his survival methods, the difficulty of killing him is proportional to the difficulty of killing the Six Paths old man's mother. With that brat Uchiha's methods, it's a long way off before he can kill Orochimaru."

Masato, with his eyes closed, leisurely sunbathed and said calmly.

1087. The corpse is already rotting but it's still not dead?

He remained remarkably calm about Snake's "death," attributing it merely to a failed attempt to possess someone. He had anticipated this calamity ever since Snake set his sights on the second male lead, Kuku.

Who is the second male lead in "Kuku"?

That's the destined second male lead. Not to mention Kaguya-sama is waiting for him to be sealed away with the savior, his identity as the reincarnation of the eldest son of the Six Paths Elder means Orochimaru can't possibly possess him. Just look at how powerful the souls of the Six Paths Elder family are—the Six Paths Elder, who's hiding somewhere, still manages to pop up and deliver a big gift to the savior and the second male lead. His soul hasn't disappeared after hundreds or thousands of years and can still come out to deliver gifts. That kind of soul power is comparable to those in fantasy novels.

Although the two sons of the Six Paths Elder could not exist in the world forever like him, they could still reincarnate continuously, which shows how strong his soul power was. It would be impossible for an ordinary and unremarkable soul like Orochimaru to possess another body. Moreover, Orochimaru had possessed countless bodies because of his wealth, which made his soul incomplete. Later, his hands were sealed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Sharingan of the second male lead could enhance his spiritual power. From any perspective, Orochimaru was bound to lose.

However... he couldn't remember many details about how Orochimaru was resurrected in the original work. But given that Orochimaru was a genius who was proficient in the art of survival and had extremely deep knowledge of the soul, even Kaguya probably couldn't completely kill him.

Even if Kaguya succeeds in destroying the world without any countermeasures, and everyone in the ninja world is wiped out, Orochimaru could still continue to live a carefree life.

The guy (or girl) who turns action anime into fantasy anime...that's how awesome he is!

"Dude, you mean Orochimaru isn't dead? That's impossible. Apparently, someone went to the scene and the body was already rotting..."

When Handsome Scorpion's father heard his older brother say that, he also became interested.

He wasn't very familiar with Jiraiya and Orochimaru, two of the legendary Sannin of Konoha. After all, he rarely left the village since his debut, unlike his older brother who was always traveling around. Apart from Tsunade, who was probably his sister-in-law, he really didn't know much about Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

The only thing we know is that Jiraiya may also be Hiruzen Sarutobi's illegitimate son. Although their hair is different, they are essentially the same.

Orochimaru is undoubtedly a rare genius in the history of ninja. If he had been born into a decent family, his achievements would have been comparable to Konoha's White Fang. This is not an exaggeration. However, even so, Orochimaru's scientific achievements are also undeniable. Just the fact that he created a snake ninjutsu that disgusted the Third Raikage to the point that he didn't want to fight is enough to make him go down in history.

However... recalling what was said in the ninja world, he really couldn't think of any other way Orochimaru could have survived; his corpse was practically rotting.

"Orochimaru isn't exactly a respectable person, so don't try to understand him with the logic of us respectable people. Although I don't know why Orochimaru isn't dead yet, my man's sixth sense tells me he's definitely still alive. Don't underestimate my sixth sense, even though it only lasts a few days each month, it's always very accurate. Back in World War II, didn't I have a premonition that something was going to happen to you? I gave you so many bodyguards, and you still got into trouble, didn't you? If it weren't for my ability to fly, Aunt Chiyo would have outlived her son. It's the same now. I have a feeling Orochimaru won't die so easily. At least that brat Uchiha is too inexperienced; killing Orochimaru is almost impossible for him..."

"I'm sitting back in my old chair and talking leisurely," Masato said.

"...Now that we're talking about Orochimaru, can we please not bring up that incident...?-_-||"

Thinking back to the time when he was stabbed in the back by a Konoha genin, Sasori's father looked up at the sky speechlessly.

This is arguably the biggest stain on his career, but fortunately, his mother is a board member of the Ninja Academy, so this dark history was not recorded.

"I was just using an analogy... By the way, has your son been sending you any messages lately? Now that the Akatsuki has taken down the Two-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Six-Tails, which tailed beast are they going to target next?"

Shindou waved his hand, changing the subject and asking.

Being stabbed in the back by a genin has almost become Sasori's father's inner demon. To be fair, Sasori's father's puppetry skills are definitely superior to Chiyo's now, but because of this incident, his historical status in Sunagakure is not very high. He is a double-flower red rank and a powerful figure in Sunagakure who holds the power of the puppeteer force, but his historical status is slightly lower than that of Ebizo, who is not a double-flower red rank but has served as the Minister of Military Affairs for many years. Who knows, he may be overtaken by Rasa in a few years. It's a bit sad to think about.

In terms of contributions to the village, Rasa can't even come close to Sasori's father. After all, over the years, Sasori's father has trained countless puppeteers for the village and is now the spiritual leader of the puppeteer army. However, the fact that he was stabbed in the back by a Konoha genin is a major stain on his life record that can't be erased even with correction fluid.

Actually, back then, that Konoha genin's strength was not that of a genin at all. His true strength was much greater than that of an ordinary jonin. In particular, his Konoha-ryu swordsmanship was incredibly skillful. It was clear that he had been mentored by Senju. In those days, the Konoha-ryu techniques and swordsmanship developed by Senju had not yet become widespread. Moreover, that genin was so skilled in them, so his strength was definitely not that of a genin.

People might believe he was an elite Jonin, but unfortunately, regardless of his attire or official rank, he's just a Konoha Genin. Konoha is really good at playing dumb to fool others; otherwise, twelve Genin wouldn't have saved the world in the future. This is much more impressive than high school students saving the world!

Let alone the future savior who will receive the Six Paths' grand gift and the second male lead in the pants, whose strength is already beyond the Kage level, even now, the savior and the second male lead in the pants are several levels stronger than genin. But unfortunately, their official rank in Konoha is still genin. Who the hell can you reason with that?

That tragic Hyuga clan boy who was nearly killed by Obito's terrible Wood Release is now a Jonin, while the Savior, who can easily bow down to Obito with his words, is still a Genin. Only Konoha would do something so shameless. Even now that Nawaki is in power, it seems like they've never thought about promoting the Savior and the others. Nara's little cannonball only got promoted to Chunin because of the hereditary Grand Marshal system.

1088. Handsome Scorpion should be back too.

We don't know if the genin who stabbed Sasori's father and was rescued by White Fang is still alive. Although he was slashed by him back then, given Konoha's cockroach-like resilience, he should still be alive. He hasn't specifically sought out that person in Konoha these past few years, so we don't know the specifics. But none of that matters anymore. Even if that guy became a jonin back then, it wouldn't matter. Everyone knows Sasori's father was stabbed by a Konoha genin. Whether his strength matches his rank or not, he was still a genin...

However, Masato didn't want his younger brother to dwell on these old stories. Compared to being stabbed to death by White Fang in the original story, his younger brother and his wife are at least still alive now, and apart from having a rebellious son, they are living a pretty carefree life.

However, speaking of that rebellious son, Sasori... the plot has progressed to this point, and Masato feels it's necessary to end Sasori's "undercover operation." If his nephew continues to infiltrate the Akatsuki group, developing feelings for them would be really bad...

"...No, but after he and Onoki's disciple captured the Jinchuriki in Takikage's hands, they've been wandering around the ninja world, finding many of Orochimaru's former laboratories. I guess they were hunting Orochimaru before, but now that Orochimaru is dead, we don't know their exact situation..."

Speaking of his rebellious son, Sasori's father also had a headache. His son's "undercover" identity was something he and his older brother made up. The truth was that his son, for some reason, killed the Third Hokage and then ran away from the village to voluntarily join a terrorist organization. Now this terrorist organization is at odds with the entire ninja world. Although his son tipped him off because of Shuri, he didn't know what his son's attitude was.

He had tipped him off, but the kid continued to stay in the terrorist organization and even helped them capture the Tailed Beasts. He was genuinely worried that if this brat stayed in the terrorist organization for too long, he would develop feelings for them, and it would be difficult to deal with him turning against them in the future.

Throughout history, no one who has ever been an enemy of the entire world has ever had a good ending!

"If I remember correctly, the Three-Tails of Kirigakure has almost been resurrected. Kirigakure's focus is now on the Three-Tails. It won't be easy for the Akatsuki to capture the Three-Tails. I guess they will also go to Kirigakure."

After thinking for a while, Handsome Scorpion's father continued.

During the last Five Kage Summit, the leaders of several villages were speculating about the time when the Three-Tails would be resurrected. The resurrection time of a tailed beast can range from a few years to ten years, so it is not easy to calculate the exact time. However, many years have passed since he was beheaded by his older brother, so it seems that it is about time for him to be resurrected.

Compared to the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, which have already been hidden, and the One-Tails and Seven-Tails, who are guarded by so many powerful figures in Sunagakure, the Three-Tails, which has not yet been resurrected, is obviously easier to deal with. Putting himself in their shoes, if he were the leader of Akatsuki, he would also deal with the Three-Tails first and leave the tough nuts to crack for last.

Now that Kirigakure has fully strengthened its vigilance, it is obviously impossible to continue with the previous two-person operation mode. Even if Itachi Uchiha and Kisame are sharp, they are not capable of taking down a major ninja village single-handedly. Therefore, he estimates that the Akatsuki organization will need at least several people to capture the Three-Tails. His son and Onoki's disciple happen to have nothing to do, so they are very likely to go to Kirigakure to capture the Three-Tails.

"...In that case, I'll go to Kirigakure and bring him back, lest this kid end up becoming a terrorist. If that happens, your old man and my uncle will be so angry they'll crawl out of the ground."

Hearing his younger brother's analysis, Shindou nodded and agreed that it was possible. Nagato and Minami were alright, but they were weak in terms of scheming and trickery, and they wouldn't use any feints or diversions.

Furthermore, Madara's round eyes allowed Nagato to call himself a god, which shows how confident he was in his own strength. Therefore, he wouldn't resort to any messy tricks and would simply follow the proper procedures.

Only weaklings use their brains; truly formidable people don't just brute force their way through...

"I just don't know if that brat will come back with you."

The handsome Scorpion's father was naturally very excited that his son was coming back, but then he thought of something and said uncertainly.

If his son wanted to come back, he would have done so long ago. The fact that his son was a rogue ninja was a joke in their family. Whether he was a rogue ninja or not was not up to them to decide. However, his son hadn't returned after notifying him last time, so he knew that his son's heart wasn't in the village. Over the years, he had come to terms with it. With his son's abilities, he wouldn't encounter any danger in the ninja world. As long as he was healthy, it didn't matter where he was. He no longer expected his son to return to the village. He only hoped that his son would leave that terrifying organization and not let him, an old man, bury his son. Karin couldn't bear the blow of her dead father.

"That's not up to him anymore. The plot has progressed to the point where only the finale is left. I'll kidnap this brat if I have to. Go tell your mother and the others to prepare to pick him up. I'm heading to the Land of Water right now..."

After shaking his head and finishing speaking, Masato soared into the sky and flew towards the Land of Water. However, he wasn't sure if Sasori was definitely hiding in the bushes in the Land of Water, so after leaving the village, he activated his Observation Haki and began searching the world map.

.......

"Damn it, I didn't expect Orochimaru to be killed by that brat from the Uchiha clan. We wasted so much of our time... Hmm."

Meanwhile, the art duo, who had received the mission to kill Nagato and stake out the Three-Tails in Kirigakure, were setting off from the Land of Rivers. Along the way, after confirming that Orochimaru was probably dead, Deidara was furious and kept complaining like a wronged woman.

It's the Uchiha again.

He realized that he and the Uchiha clan must have been enemies in their past lives. Back then, Onoki organized a joint Chunin Exam to give him the protagonist's halo, but that bastard Itachi Uchiha stole the protagonist's halo. After a year of reflection, he didn't think he had lost to Itachi Uchiha. So when he heard that Itachi Uchiha had defected from Konoha to make his own way in the world, he left the village without hesitation and set off to make his own way in the world. He wanted to make the name of the great artist Deidara appear above that bastard Itachi Uchiha.

However, things didn't go as planned. When he left the ninja world, Itachi Uchiha was incredibly popular because of his clan annihilation, while Deidara, the great artist, was still unknown. Later, he was even killed by that bastard Itachi Uchiha in what he considered the most shameful way with genjutsu and then added to the Akatsuki.

They've been chasing Orochimaru for so long and haven't found a trace of him, yet he's been overtaken by a brat from the Uchiha clan. Orochimaru's current fame is even greater than when he rode a giant bird, defeated a group of people, and stole a tailed beast. He's almost as famous as the infamous Sasori. How can he tolerate this?

Now, he gets really angry just hearing the name Uchiha...

1089. Yellow Earth: Can puppets also create clones?

"...Stop talking nonsense and let's get going. Itachi and the others have already arrived in Kirigakure. Kirigakure is on full alert right now, so capturing the Three-Tails will definitely be very troublesome..."

Sasori was used to Deidara's constant complaining. Perhaps because Deidara was probably his cousin, Sasori didn't yell at him this time, but patiently tried to calm him down.

If this kid had been nagging him endlessly in the past, he would have already started yelling at him...

"Brother Sasori, didn't you say Orochimaru's survival skills were unparalleled? How did that brat Uchiha manage to kill Orochimaru?"

After Deidara finished venting his frustrations, he also became curious. Although he had never witnessed Orochimaru's ability to survive, he believed that Orochimaru's hide-and-seek skills were unparalleled. He and Sasori had practically searched the entire ninja world, but they still couldn't find Orochimaru. Yet, Orochimaru had been playing hide-and-seek in the Land of Rivers, doing just fine. If it weren't for that Uchiha brat killing Orochimaru and exposing his laboratory, it would have been a huge relief.

He would never believe that Orochimaru actually had a large laboratory in the Land of Rivers. They had searched the entire Land of Rivers but couldn't find it. Orochimaru's move of hiding the truth from the obvious was unprecedented.

Orochimaru's hide-and-seek skills are so amazing, he must be someone who values ​​his life. Someone who values ​​his life so much must be an expert at survival, if not unparalleled. Moreover, Orochimaru was a famous double-flower red stick decades ago, so his strength must be considerable. Yet now he was killed by a kid.

He was genuinely curious about how Orochimaru had been killed.

"...After all, he is Itachi Uchiha's younger brother. The Sharingan of the Uchiha clan has many abilities, and perhaps one of them has the ability to kill Orochimaru."

Inside the strange shell, handsome Sasori looked up at the sky speechlessly. Who knew how Orochimaru was killed by that Uchiha brat? As for Orochimaru's ability to survive, he had seen it with his own eyes. Just that snake-shedding-skin technique alone made most of the humans in the ninja world back down. Even the rich Nandu was so disgusted that he only drank water for days. Even he, who had studied human body art for so many years, felt stomach acid.

To be honest, he couldn't figure out how Orochimaru was killed by that Uchiha brat.

But now that it has happened, there's no use dwelling on it. He guessed it was probably the Sharingan ability of the Uchiha clan.

He had been teammates with Itachi Uchiha for a period of time. Although they were both aloof and handsome, they didn't interact much, but he had seen Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan several times. Itachi's strength was indeed formidable; at least during their time as teammates, there was no one Itachi couldn't defeat with a single glare...

Sometimes he truly envied those with bloodline limits; an ordinary person's entire life's effort couldn't compare to the awakening of the ninja world in a single day.

However, on the other hand, his grandfather was said to possess Magnet Release, and that bastard uncle was even more gifted. So why hadn't his father and he awakened their bloodline limits? This puzzled him greatly. If they had bloodline limits, he wouldn't have had to painstakingly research puppetry. Thinking about how he had worked so hard for so many years, wishing he could use 24 hours a day as if it were 48, but still couldn't break through that old guy's rock-hard defense, Scorpion felt a headache coming on.

He then glanced at Deidara, whom he suspected was his "cousin," next door, and silently breathed a sigh of relief. This guy hadn't inherited that bastard's messy talents either...

"Hmm? A few mice are coming..."

At this moment, Handsome Scorpion suddenly sensed someone quietly approaching them from a hundred meters ahead.

Although he didn't know about sensory ninjas, the enemy was already a hundred meters away from him. If he still couldn't sense them, he would be a complete idiot.

"Deidara, we've been looking for you for ages. You've been causing trouble outside for long enough. It's time to come back with us."

The newcomers were none other than Onoki's son, Koto, Onoki's disciple, Akatsuchi, and Onoki's beloved granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. However, Onoki would certainly not allow his beloved granddaughter to come along on such a high-risk activity as searching for Deidara, which could potentially lead to a fight with the Akatsuki. But daughters are always their fathers' little darlings, and Koto was easily swayed by his daughter's coquettishness. When he discovered that she had secretly followed him out, he couldn't bear to send her back.

When Huang Tu saw Deidara, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but when he saw the strange shell next to Deidara, his heart jumped involuntarily.