He was in Konoha, exuding an aura of dominance.

The base of the root system was vast, and even he would find it difficult to thoroughly investigate every corner in a short time. His senses were completely empty, just like any ordinary night.

But Orochimaru dared not slack off.

His intuition, honed over many years on the battlefield, made him particularly sensitive to danger.

Both teammates agree on this point.

I vaguely remember that Jiraiya, that idiot, once said something like that while chatting by the fire.

"If the three of us encounter danger, Orochimaru will definitely be the last one standing. Even though he's not good at medical ninjutsu, his survivability is higher than Tsunade's."

Although Jiraiya was an idiot, Orochimaru agreed with this statement.

Only the living have a future; the dead must stay away.

Without hesitation, following the warning in his heart, Orochimaru quickly left along the fastest escape route he had set on the day he joined the company.

Before anyone at the Root Base could react, Orochimaru had already leaped onto the steep branches of a towering ancient tree, looking down at the Root Base that had put him in danger not far away.

'The sense of crisis has lessened,' Orochimaru thought, but his vigilance remained.

He hasn't figured out the current situation yet.

This is the Root base located near Konoha. If any disturbance occurs, the Anbu will arrive in a matter of moments. Even the brutes of Kumogakure would not choose to attack here.

Do you really think Danzo is a good-for-nothing?

So what exactly is it?

There's some kind of dangerous item in the base that I don't know about, and now that dangerous item is about to go berserk?

Or is there really an invasion by foreign enemies?

Recently, I heard that the Four-Tails Jinchuriki from Iwagakure was captured alive and brought back. Danzo went to the Hokage's office that same day.

It is said that he argued with the Hokage inside, trying to take ownership of the Four-Tails, but was sternly rejected by the Hokage.

He slammed the door shut in a fit of rage before leaving.

sizzle.

Orochimaru heard the faint, almost inaudible sound.

then.

Boom!!

A deafening explosion occurred simultaneously with scorching flames and intense heat!

In the wide-open pupils, the root base, which was in darkness and not illuminated by sunlight, seemed to come alive, swallowing countless foods in one gulp, then its belly swelled up and then burst open.

Finally, there was a dazzling white light and a piercing red.

The smell of gunpowder mixed with the aroma of roasted meat filled the air, which he, who was closely connected with snakes, caught.

His pupils contracted sharply, and even Leng Jun was speechless for a moment, his mind automatically calculating.

The process involves using enough detonators to blow up the entire base, transporting that number of detonators to every corner of the base, and finally activating the detonators by bypassing the heavily defended base.

Even with Orochimaru's intelligence, he had no idea what the mastermind was planning at this moment.

If you have that ability, why don't you just go and blow up Danzo?

What a waste!

Taking a deep breath, Orochimaru kept his senses sharp as he surveyed his surroundings.

Detonating such a large number of explosive tags at such close range would make it impossible for even a Kage-level expert to leave Konoha's search area instantly, especially in front of him.

But finding them won't be easy, since someone who does something like that would definitely try their best to hide themselves...?

Orochimaru blinked, his face full of suspicion.

What do you mean by "someone is clapping above my head"?

Chapter 56 Where Did This Poor Guy Come From?

clap clap.

The rhythmic drumbeats relentlessly challenged Orochimaru's common sense.

He looked at the person in front of him.

With an exquisitely beautiful face, like that of a fairy, and a long, moon-white robe fluttering in the wind, she looked on with a smile at everything she had caused.

After a moment's hesitation, Orochimaru tentatively asked, "Gen-kun?"

"Hmm?" Isogen tilted his head slightly.

As expected.

Orochimaru rarely went out in the past year, but news about Yuuko Ujūgen still reached his ears through various channels.

This includes, but is not limited to, the fact that Yuka was originally in an orphanage under Danzo's control, but Danzo was blind to her potential and allowed her to grow to an uncontrollable level.

Danzo was furious.

In fact, after hearing about Isogen's rapid improvement in strength, he had considered inviting her to participate in his experiment. The idea was quite good, but unfortunately, Mito Uzumaki's power was even greater than that of the Nine-Tails.

Moreover, he already felt guilty and uneasy for not taking good care of Rope Tree.

It can only be said that Orochimaru is still a follower of the Will of Fire, possessing passion and conscience.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Orochimaru asked tentatively.

"Punish evil and promote good."

"Do you know that the base belongs to a very important person and contains a lot of valuable information that is very useful to Konoha?"

"That's who we're going to hit."

Fifty strings without hesitation.

Orochimaru fell silent.

In addition to being a ninja, he was also proficient in psychology.

It was easy to see that Isogen was acting from the heart; in other words, he knew what he was doing, did it anyway, and wasn't afraid of the consequences.

"..."

Have I been out of touch with the outside world for too long?

Has Danzo's reputation become so weak that it can no longer protect him?

Do kids these days not know about the Will of Fire?

The fact that he answered so quickly shows that Isogen knew whose territory this was, but he did just that, blowing the entire Root base into the sky.

It also contains the research materials that I have worked hard to complete these past few days.

Orochimaru's originally calm heart couldn't help but clench when he thought about the precious research data that perished in the fire.

That contains special training he secretly gave himself by misappropriating Root resources without Danzo's knowledge!

What are you going to give me in return?!

"Tch, where did this poor wretch come from?"

The tone was as flat as if one were dismissing a beggar on the street.

After a few seconds of silence, Orochimaru's eyes gradually turned hostile.

I'm here, you born evil brat!

"Ten million, interested in working with me?"

The sense of danger suddenly subsided, and the lesson that had been brewing in Orochimaru's mind vanished without a trace.

Most importantly, he is an expert in psychology, so no matter how you look at it, the ten million mentioned by Fifty Strings is true.

What happened to the orphans they were promised?

Or is it that Konoha has become so wealthy that the combined wealth of a Chunin and a Genin could reach this level?

"Mere money."

"Twenty million, take it or leave it."

“...The Root and Dark Division personnel will arrive soon. If you leave now, you can avoid them.”

Orochimaru gave advice in a natural manner.

What happened to the Three Ninja?

What happened to the root members?

No matter how prestigious your reputation is, you still need to make a living.

In particular, the goals he set for himself all required a lot of money.

Harnessing resources from the roots is one approach, but it can't be done forever, since Danzo himself needed a lot of money to maintain his power base.

Right now, it's just a matter of both sides getting what they want. It's only a matter of time before Danzo achieves his goals or his patience reaches its limit and they break off relations.

He has invested most of the money he has earned from completing tasks over the years into projects.

An S-level mission's reward starts at one million, and a single expensive piece of equipment can cost more than that.

You don't know the cost of firewood and rice until you're in charge of the household.

Even with Orochimaru's "cold-blooded" nature, once he took charge of the household, he couldn't help but value money.

Twenty million? How long would it take me to complete all those tasks?

All you have to do is talk and pretend to be blind to get it for free; imagine how much time that could be saved for experiments!

As for the research data that perished in the fire, it wouldn't be a problem for him to spend some time rewriting it.

As for Danzo's losses...

Who is Danzo? Who is Danzo?

Not familiar, really not familiar.