Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Perhaps the day he is killed by Madara Uchiha will be the day he completes the improvement of the Impure World Reincarnation technique and the creation of small clones of the One-Tailed, Four-Tailed, Eight-Tailed, and Nine-Tailed.

There's no way around it; he couldn't possibly be killed under normal circumstances, but against the Rinnegan, a divine eye that controls life and death, it's really hard to say whether his Reincarnation technique can be successfully activated.

In short, Orochimaru dared not gamble.

Furthermore, while he himself cannot remove the cursed seal that Madara Uchiha placed on him, Kirito Tohsaka might be able to.

After all, the curse mark on his body had been sealed by Kirito's Sage Art Sealing Talisman, so Madara Uchiha could no longer actively trigger the curse mark to kill him.

If Konoha wants to obtain information from him, they must first get past the cursed seal that Madara Uchiha placed on him.

Therefore, his defeat and capture by Minato might actually be a blessing in disguise.

Minato didn't know what Orochimaru still had up his sleeve, but he decisively used the Flying Thunder God Technique to quickly bring Orochimaru back to Konoha.

A moment later, Orochimaru returned to the familiar Konoha.

Unfortunately, upon his return, he was not greeted with enthusiastic cheers and sincere praise from the villagers, but instead faced a cold and desolate prison.

"Orochimaru has been captured. It's suspicious that this guy was defeated by his own disciple."

Meanwhile, after Minato left, Black Zetsu quietly emerged from the shadows, staring suspiciously at the spot where Minato and Orochimaru had disappeared, and said coldly.

With its keen eyesight, how could it not see that Orochimaru's strength surpassed Minato's? As long as it was cautious, it should have been impossible for Orochimaru to be defeated, but Orochimaru still lost.

Based on his understanding of Orochimaru, that cowardly snake, he shouldn't have been so reckless as to attack him.

Black Zetsu now genuinely suspects that Orochimaru deliberately allowed himself to be defeated and captured by his disciple.

"Well, his current value is only in improving the Impure World Reincarnation technique and nurturing the four cloned tailed beasts. The former is basically complete. The best solution is to use White Zetsu as a sacrifice, so that the summoned Impure World puppets can retain their original strength to the greatest extent. The latter is already in my hands."

Looking back now, this guy probably knew all along that the day his value was completely exploited would be the day he was eliminated, so he planned his escape route well in advance. What a cunning human being.

With things having come to this point, Black Zetsu no longer intended to waste time and energy rescuing Orochimaru, and quickly put Orochimaru out of his mind.

On the other side, Hiruko, relying on several White Zetsu disguised as him, successfully shook off most of his pursuers. He was also lucky that the other escape route he had prepared was not affected by the collapse, which allowed him to escape Orochimaru's laboratory and arrive at the entrance of a cave that was also hidden behind a waterfall, more than ten kilometers north of Takigakure.

"Phew, that was really tough. Those damned Konoha ninjas didn't catch up. It seems that Orochimaru's temporary deception tool for the Byakugan is very effective."

Hiruko burst out of the waterfall and landed on the water below. He was overjoyed at his successful escape and, for the first time, he secretly admired Orochimaru's intelligence.

He then looked at the red orb in his left hand and continued to pour chakra into it, giving it enough energy to keep it running.

This red orb is the ninja tool that Orochimaru developed to deceive the Byakugan. The reason this ninja tool can deceive the Byakugan is that its power comes from the red eye, a bloodline limit that counters the Byakugan.

Hiruko had no choice but to continue north, preparing to return to the lair of the Oni organization he had established in the Land of Fields.

That place is his true territory. Once he gets there, he will have enough information to deal with the threat from Konoha.

"However, Takigakure is a ninja village with considerable strength. It's really hard to believe that it was conquered by Konoha so quickly. Also, what kind of ninjutsu did Konoha use to cause Orochimaru's seemingly impregnable laboratory to collapse on such a large scale? Could it be that Kirito Tohsaka himself came here in person?"

During his escape, Hiruko carefully analyzed the attack, his heart growing heavier with each passing moment.

Although he disliked Orochimaru, he was actually quite certain of Orochimaru's abilities.

The laboratory Orochimaru built was clearly constructed at great expense, reinforced with many powerful sealing barriers. Even a normal earthquake or an S-rank Earth Release ninjutsu wouldn't be able to easily destroy it.

But this very laboratory was breached by Konoha in a single move, which made Hiruko realize the danger level of Konoha and think that he would have to be more careful when facing Konoha in the future.

"Sigh, I'm following Uchiha Madara now, and sooner or later he'll drag me into a direct confrontation with Konoha. What am I going to do then? That stinky snake has the Reanimation Jutsu and the means to revive himself, but I don't. I've already seen the hope of perfecting the Oni-Garuru Technique, but I haven't been able to see it come to fruition. That would be such a loss."

Hiruko couldn't help but feel pessimistic as she thought about the likely upcoming battle with Konoha.

He's not stupid. The fact that Madara Uchiha sent Black Zetsu to urge the improvement of the Impure World Reincarnation technique shows that Madara Uchiha was already preparing to fight against the entire ninja world.

Such outrageous behavior was something that Beiliu Hu respectfully declined.

Madara Uchiha was insane and capable of doing so, but Hiruko was neither insane nor capable of doing so. However, he had the cursed seal planted by Madara Uchiha on his body, and his life was in Madara Uchiha's hands. He couldn't say no and could only be passively dragged forward.

Hiruko was good at regulating his emotions. He quickly suppressed his negative feelings and began to think about how to save his life in the upcoming battle.

Improving one's personal skills is, of course, the best solution.

His abilities are basically derived from the Oni-Garuru Technique. As long as he can use the Oni-Garuru Technique to absorb a new bloodline limit, his strength will increase significantly.

Unfortunately, although his Oni-Garuru Technique has made some progress by incorporating some Yin-Yang Escape abilities, it is still far from perfect. He needs more time and to conduct more experiments to obtain enough data to realize this possibility.

Therefore, his Oni-Garuru technique allows him to absorb four bloodline limits simultaneously, which is already the limit; any more would overwhelm him.

This leaves him with very few ways to significantly improve his strength in a short period of time.

It's nothing more than acquiring powerful external objects or learning some powerful ninjutsu.

Fortunately, he acquired many excellent ninjutsu while working for Madara Uchiha, including several S-rank forbidden techniques, such as the Uchiha clan's ultimate genjutsu, Izanagi.

Now that he has absorbed the Sharingan, a bloodline limit, using the Oni-Garaku technique, and has developed the Sharingan to the three-tomoe level, he theoretically has the conditions to use this ultimate genjutsu.

"Once we're safe, I'll take some time to learn this ultimate illusion technique. If used well, it can save your life and even turn the tide of battle."

After ruling out the possibility of not being able to perfect the Oni-Garara Technique in a short time, Hiruko immediately thought of Izanagi, the ultimate genjutsu of the Uchiha clan.

In addition, he plans to see if he can develop more ninjutsu related to Swift Release, Steel Release, and Dark Release on his own.

He had only used these three bloodline limits superficially before, without exploring their potential in depth.

Suddenly, Hiruko felt a deadly sense of crisis.

Without a second thought, he decisively used the Steel Release: Steel Transformation ninjutsu, instantly strengthening his body's defense to a level comparable to steel.

A loud "clang!" rang out.

The next moment, Hiruko found himself being slashed. The immense force of the enemy's strike sent him flying, leaving a deep gash on his back.

Ignoring his injuries, Hiruko immediately used Swift Release: Acceleration upon landing, combined with Steel Release: Steel Transformation, to break the speed of sound. Without consuming chakra, his speed continued to increase, and he moved forward in a straight line.

In the blink of an eye, Beiliuhu seemed to transform into a beam of light, instantly rushing hundreds of meters away.

A dozen seconds later, Hiruko had to stop because his chakra was too depleted. By then, he had already traveled dozens of kilometers.

"Ha~, ha~, ha~, what a powerful slash! My Steel Release has been broken. Luckily I ran fast, otherwise I would definitely have been entangled and then put into a tough battle. Who attacked me? The chakra fluctuations are completely unfamiliar."

As soon as Hiruko stopped, he swallowed a special soldier's ration pill to quickly restore his chakra, and said breathlessly.

As soon as he finished speaking, a purple light shone across the sky, and a purple lightning bolt struck the ground not far from him.

Then, a deafening thunderclap resounded.

At the same time, a purple-haired woman wielding a purple katana descended upon Hiruko like a thunder goddess. Hiruko was swept over by the woman's purple eyes that flashed with purple lightning, and a feeling of despair immediately arose in her heart.

"Hmph, stop pretending! Take this!"

In the face of despair, Hiruko's hidden ferocity was also unleashed. He roared and his eyes instantly transformed into a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan.

Sharingan - Genjutsu!

The Thunder God Puppet looked at the Sharingan with impressive power in Hiruko's eye sockets. Its purple eyes remained completely unmoved. The Mangekyou Sharingan patterns within its body rotated and lit up with a red light, and a purple tengu warrior with only half a body suddenly appeared.

Susanoo - First Stage.

When Hiruko saw the Thunder God Puppet use Susanoo, she immediately realized that her genjutsu was just showing off her skills in front of the Thunder God Puppet. She was shocked: "Who is this person? She can use Susanoo, but her eyes are not Mangekyou Sharingan."

The moment the Thunder God Puppet unleashed Susanoo, its attack also arrived, a massive purple katana slashing towards Hiruko with lightning speed.

Hiruko was immediately forced to use Swift Release: Acceleration to dodge, having learned his lesson and no longer daring to easily absorb others' chakra using Dark Release.

Moreover, he also understood that the chakra of the chakra giant formed by Susanoo was not so easy to absorb. If he absorbed it rashly, he might suffer the same fate as when he used Dark Release to deal with Orochimaru.

At this point, even Rukia abandoned the idea of ​​continuing to escape. The enemy clearly possessed a movement ninjutsu that was even more powerful than his Swift Release: Acceleration. Continuing to use Swift Release to escape would only hasten his defeat.

For a moment, Hiruko's mind raced, trying to figure out what other ways he could defeat this terrifying enemy before him.

Kirito wasn't going to give Hiruko too much time to think. If he hadn't wanted to capture Hiruko alive, he could have killed him with a single blow.

Now, with him multitasking, the chakra within the Thunder God puppet was rapidly depleted, and a large number of black sealing techniques seeped into the ground from beneath its feet, quickly forming a powerful sealing array in the surrounding soil.

Hiruko struggled desperately, attempting to throw powerful explosive ninja tools and unleash powerful ranged ninjutsu while dodging, but all of them were easily blocked by the purple tengu samurai covering the Thunder God puppet, and he couldn't break through their defenses at all.

As time ticked by, Hiruko's heart sank to the bottom, and despair quickly spread through him. He realized that he was probably doomed this time.

It wasn't that he wasn't strong enough; it was just that the enemy in front of him was ridiculously strong. He estimated that even if it were Orochimaru, he would probably only be able to die with resentment when facing an enemy who could use Susanoo.

Sure enough, as a complex sealing array lit up the ground within a radius of hundreds of meters, Hiruko was immediately unable to move, and his chakra was also strongly restricted, completely losing his ability to resist.

Sealing Technique: Seven-Layer Lamp Array!

"who are you?"

Having been completely overwhelmed, Hiruko asked without any temper.

Although he was unwilling to accept his fate, he didn't harbor much resentment. All he wanted to know now was who had defeated him.

The Thor puppet remained silent and used the back of its blade to knock Hiruko unconscious.

Chapter 363: The Final Prologue

In the northern part of the Land of Iron, beneath a vast underground space completely covered by ice and snow, Madara Uchiha sat cross-legged atop the massive Gedo Mazo, intently absorbing the Tailed Beasts.

After nearly a week, he had absorbed the Two-Tails and the Three-Tails into the Gedo Mazo, causing the Gedo Mazo to open its two eyes again.

As the power of the Gedo Mazo continues to recover, it is absorbing and consuming the tailed beasts at an increasingly faster pace. If nothing unexpected happens, the absorption of the Four-Tails will only take another half day.

"What immense power! How did the Sage of Six Paths manage to defeat such a powerful force back then? If the facts weren't right before our eyes, it would be hard to imagine that Kaguya Otsutsuki, who wielded the Ten-Tails, would have failed."

At this moment, Madara Uchiha formed a close connection with the Gedo Mazo. He deeply felt the vast, ocean-like chakra emanating from the Gedo Mazo and was filled with emotion.

With such a terrifying amount of chakra, he felt that he could use Tenai Zhenxing ten times in a row without even breaking a sweat, and he didn't need to worry about his chakra being depleted.

In addition, he felt that his Rinnegan was becoming increasingly powerful after being nourished by this terrifying chakra and a special chakra born from the fusion of multiple chakras within the Ten-Tails, and that there were faint signs of it evolving again.

There's also the Mangekyou Sharingan from Uchiha Homura. Even though it didn't fuse with another pair of Mangekyou Sharingan to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, it has now begun to break this condition after receiving the same power nourishment as the Rinnegan, and has started to evolve towards the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

Madara Uchiha believed that after some time, Homura Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan would evolve into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and then continue to evolve towards the Rinnegan.

"Time is never enough."

Madara Uchiha noticed the change in Homura Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan and said regretfully.

The difference between one Rinnegan and two Rinnegan is not small. If he could, he really wanted to wait for Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan to evolve into the Rinnegan.

Unfortunately, time waits for no one. The longer it drags on, the more prepared the ninja villages in the ninja world will be to unite against him.

Even for him, facing the entire ninja world alone, it's impossible to say he wasn't under pressure.

Although ants are small, a large number of them can eventually become a big problem, not to mention that there are one or two ants among them that he feels threatened.

Kirito Tohsaka, and that mysterious ninja who fights using puppets.