Naruto: I, who fooled the ninja world, was hailed as a savior.

Chapter 408 A Madman and a Monster
The night in Sunagakure is eerily quiet.

There was no wind, no insect chirping, not even the slightest rustling sound that one would expect from human activity.

The pale moonlight shone on the sandy buildings of varying heights, turning the entire village into a lifeless gray-white.

The streets were deserted, and every household had its doors and windows tightly shut, resembling a huge, abandoned tomb.

This calm is not tranquility, but a deathly stillness, a suffocating stillness.

Except for a few areas where faint lights were still lit, the entire village was almost completely immersed in darkness.

Those lights belonged to Ebizo and a few other survivors of Sunagakure. All the other Sunagakure ninjas were actually White Zetsu in disguise.

Meanwhile, beneath Sunagakure, in a hidden underground space.

Ye Cang stood outside a huge stone gate, which was tightly closed and covered with complex sealing incantations. In the dim light of the torches, it looked particularly sinister.

Inside the door, faint sounds could be heard, like someone slowly chewing and swallowing, mixed with the "crackling" sound of bones being crushed.

Ye Cang stood outside the door with the scroll in his hand, his expression and body stiff. He even unconsciously lowered his breathing to the lowest possible level, forcing himself not to imagine what was happening behind the door.

at this time……

"what are you doing here?"

A cold, flat voice suddenly rang out from very close behind her.

Ye Cang shuddered violently, as if the blood in his body had stopped flowing, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

Almost instinctively, I turned around and saw that a figure had silently appeared behind me.

Uchiha Obito.

He wasn't wearing the vortex mask; his figure appeared in the distorted space, his Sharingan eyes fixed on Yekura.

Upon seeing who it was, Ye Cang's tense nerves relaxed slightly, but her heart was still pounding.

“I…” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady, “I’m here to report on the new intelligence that ‘Absolute’ has gathered.”

"The intelligence gathered by 'Ze'?"

Obito knew very well how deep Pakura's fear of Orochimaru was; if she could, she probably would never have taken the initiative to seek out Orochimaru in her entire life.

But now, he's actually taking the initiative to come to Orochimaru to report information?

Obito frowned, looked at the scroll in Pakura's hand, and said, "Give it to me..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a sudden voice.

"It seems to be very important information, which is why you came to see me in person."

A hoarse, teasing voice came from behind Ye Cang.

Crunch!

The heavy stone door slowly opened, releasing an even stronger stench of blood, mixed with a sweet, pungent smell reminiscent of a snake shedding its skin, which was nauseating.

A figure slowly emerged from the darkness behind the door, dressing as he did so.

The first thing that catches the eye is Orochimaru's naked upper body, his skin an unnaturally pale white.

In the dim light of the torch, a closer look reveals that the pale skin is covered with an extremely fine layer of white snake scales, reflecting a cold luster.

Compared to before, Orochimaru's body lines are now long and smooth, even perfect. His muscles are clearly defined but not bulging, exuding a strange yet coordinated sense of power.

but……

Sensing that even colder aura, Obito's eyes narrowed slightly involuntarily.

"The new batch of 'goods' has been eaten too?" he asked tentatively.

"Hehe." Orochimaru let out a hoarse and pleasant laugh, his long, forked tongue slowly sliding across his lips, as if savoring some exquisite delicacy.

"This new batch of goods you found is indeed quite good," he said with a smile. "There's a Crystal Release ninja and a Storm Release ninja in there."

Based on his numerous experiments, he divided the path of evolving into a "perfect creature" through devouring into three stages.

In the first stage of evolution, he needs to devour and fuse five specific bloodline limits in order to fully master and perfectly balance the nature changes of his five chakras.

These five bloodline limits are: Ice Release (water and wind fusion), Lava Release (fire and earth fusion), Storm Release (water and lightning fusion), Magnet Release (wind and earth fusion), and Crystal Release (fire and lightning fusion).

When these five powers achieve a perfect cycle and balance within his body, the foundation for his use of chakra will be more solid than ever before.

His mastery and understanding of chakra and the essence of the five elemental ninjutsu surpasses that of Onoki, who mastered "Bloodline Limit: Dust Release".

In the second stage, based on this, he needs to further devour five other bloodline limits to push the potential of the five attributes to the limit and achieve a qualitative leap.

These are: Boil Release (a fusion of water and fire), Wood Release (a fusion of earth and water), Explosion Release (a fusion of lightning and earth), Hurricane Release (a fusion of wind and lightning), and Scorch Release (a fusion of fire and wind).

Orochimaru is confident that he can complete this second stage.

At that time, the power contained in this body alone was enough to contend with Nagato and Hyuga Kumokawa, who possessed the "Rinnegan" and "Tenseigan".

As for the third stage...

That was just a vague speculation in his imagination. He had no firm grasp on the essence of Yin and Yang or even more ethereal things.

But even completing the first two stages would be enough for him to stand at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

"It's a pity." Obito's voice broke the brief silence. "I can no longer help you collect bloodline ninjas."

"Oh?" Orochimaru looked at him, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "We've been discovered?"

“Not entirely.” Obito shook his head. “It’s because of the Akatsuki.”

"Do you remember the space-time ninjutsu that Hanzo demonstrated in the underground palace?"

"After that, the five great nations followed the clues and discovered that the Akatsuki organization had been secretly transferring and collecting resources for a long time."

"Now, the disappearance of bloodline ninjas in various countries is also being attributed to the Akatsuki organization, who are believed to be responsible for it."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Now all the major ninja villages have entered a state of high alert, and ninjas are basically no longer going out."

"Furthermore, under Hyuga Kumokawa's orders, Konoha even shared its sensory barrier with other ninja villages."

"Now, I will be detected as soon as I enter the perception range."

Upon hearing this, Yekura added, "This is also one of the things I wanted to report. Sunagakure has also received a reminder and a barrier from Konoha."

She did not say whether the Akatsuki had ever visited the now impoverished Sunagakure.

Perhaps they've been here before.

But faced with this village, which has been completely ransacked by Orochimaru and is now truly "penniless," even members of the Akatsuki organization would probably feel at a loss.

Perhaps, out of pity, we might even leave them something.

Ye Cang thought to himself with a touch of self-mockery.

"Is that so..." Orochimaru's eyes flashed with regret as he thoughtfully said, "Stealing won't work. It seems that only outright robbery remains as an option."

They originally planned to take advantage of the fact that the five great ninja villages were focused on the Akatsuki to steal as many bloodline ninjas as possible. However, they didn't expect that the Akatsuki were doing something similar, except that the Akatsuki were stealing "people," while the Akatsuki were stealing "things."

"So..." Orochimaru's gaze returned to Pakura, the invisible pressure making Pakura's breath catch in her throat, "What information did you bring?"

Ye Cang took a deep breath and handed over the scroll he was holding tightly in his hand.

"It's the latest intelligence about the Land of Fire."

As Orochimaru looked down and flipped through the documents, she reported, "The Daimyo of the Land of Fire was assassinated by Naruto Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki of Konoha."

"Now, Hyuga Kumokawa has taken full control of the Land of Fire and has exposed many forbidden experiments and crimes committed by the daimyo during his lifetime, launching a large-scale purge."

"Everyone associated with him, from top to bottom, was slaughtered in droves, and he issued a series of... somewhat inexplicable decrees."

As Yekura spoke, she observed Orochimaru's reaction.

His narrow, golden snake eyes swept quickly across the scroll.

Upon seeing a series of measures such as "abolishing the Daimyo system," "implementing a system of Kage-government unity with the Hokage at its core," and "promoting ninjutsu education for all citizens," Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

“Hyuga Kumokawa…” he murmured the name, his slender tongue licking his lips again.

This time, the smile became even more profound and cold.

"This is getting more and more interesting." Orochimaru chuckled, looking at the articles on the scroll. "This isn't some random decree."

Although he loathed Hyuga Kumokawa to the extreme, Orochimaru, being a smart man himself, had to admit and sigh at this moment.

Hinata Kumokawa, that guy is an absolute madman and a monster.

This exclamation did not stem from admiration, but rather from recognition of the other person's extraordinary character, strength, wisdom, and even vision that transcended the times.

Once upon a time, Orochimaru, who witnessed the horrors of war in his youth and deeply felt the fragility of life, must have pondered the reason for the endless war in the ninja world.

However, at that time, his vision was constrained by worldly frameworks, and he couldn't think of a way to change it.

His strength at that time was insufficient to support any visions that transcended the times.

Now, he has chosen another path, pursuing individual transcendence and eternity, attempting to understand the meaning of life by transcending death and evolution.

However, he really didn't expect that Hinata Kumokawa, that madman, would actually dare to do it, and actually do it.

In fact, Orochimaru and Obito did something similar, but they directly used White Zetsu and genjutsu to replace or hypnotize the troublesome Daimyo and high-ranking officials of the Land of Wind.

Of course, the lives of ordinary people in the Land of Wind were not very good as a result, but Orochimaru and Obito didn't seem to care.

but……

"Why?" Orochimaru whispered. "Hyuga Kumokawa, why did you do this?"

He didn't believe that Hyuga Kumokawa was only after some vague power, or for some grand reason like making the Land of Fire and Konoha stronger.

As someone of the same kind, and as the person who knew Hyuga Kumokawa's true nature best, Orochimaru knew very well that beneath Hyuga Kumokawa's gentle exterior lay a madman just like himself.

That guy's vision will definitely not be limited to Konoha or even the Land of Fire, and it won't even stop at the ninja world.

That guy is definitely plotting something more; in fact, they might even have the same goal.

Such people may, in the process of achieving their ultimate goal or after achieving it, bestow upon others a small amount of pity that is insignificant to them.

However, they would never waste their precious energy and resources on things that do them no good before achieving their goals.

They would never bestow meaningless kindness upon others.

To achieve their goals, they are willing to sacrifice everything, including their own lives, without hesitation.

"I can't think of anything..."

Orochimaru's long, narrow golden snake eyes narrowed slightly, as if trying to see through the few words on the scroll to understand Hyuga Kumokawa's thoughts.

What exactly is this guy trying to do?
Is there some connection between the rise of the Land of Fire and Konoha and the increase in Hyuga Kumokawa's personal strength?
"Oh, right," Ye Cang suddenly said, interrupting his thoughts.

"Hyuga Kumokawa also invited the other Kage to the Land of Fire for a Five Kage Summit to formally discuss matters related to the formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces."

He believed that in order to deal with the growing threat from Akatsuki and the Hollow World, it was necessary to start the Fifth Shinobi World War.

The Fifth Shinobi World War?
"He's a complete madman." Orochimaru's lips twitched, and he couldn't help but repeat the assessment.

He pondered for a moment, a calculating glint in his eyes, before finally letting out a cold chuckle: "Fine. The muddier the water, the easier it is to fish in troubled waters." Chaos was never a crisis for him, but rather the perfect opportunity to fish in troubled waters.

He raised his head, turned his gaze to the silent Uchiha Obito beside him, and said, "In that case, let's postpone the operation against Ryuchi Cave for now."

"Anyway, that cunning white snake is determined to hide in its cave, and there's nothing we can do about it for the time being."

When this matter was mentioned, a shadow crossed Orochimaru's eyes.

Some time ago, relying on his spiritual contract with Ryuchi Cave, he used reverse spiritual techniques to break into Ryuchi Cave and even killed the giant snake Shinya that blocked his way.

However, from beginning to end, the White Snake Sage and the other two Snake Princesses never revealed their faces. They simply forcibly interrupted his Reverse Summoning Technique and sent him back to the Ninja World.

Even more troublesome is that the several hidden entrances to Ryuchi Cave that he had previously identified have also been sealed off.

During this time, Obito Uchiha used "Kamui" to travel to various places to collect the bloodline ninjas he needed.

Meanwhile, they were also using their spatial perception to search for the entrance to Ryuchi Cave that connects to the Ninja World.

However, the white snake immortal who had lived for over a thousand years was clearly more cautious and cunning than he had anticipated, hiding its lair extremely well.

It will be difficult to find a new entry point in a short period of time.

Even though Orochimaru sent Obito to eliminate the contractors outside Ryuchi Cave in order to lure them out, the other party did not react at all, as if they had completely cut off all contact with the outside world.

Orochimaru always felt that the key to his evolution to the third stage lay with the White Snake Sage, but he couldn't find him and didn't have a good solution.

"can."

Obito's voice was devoid of any warmth, his crimson eyes locked onto Orochimaru, carrying an undeniable warning: "But don't forget what you promised me."

He had just confirmed with Zetsu and Itachi that Sasuke Uchiha had awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan.

The most crucial piece of the plan is finally in place.

All that remains is for Sasuke to transplant Itachi Uchiha's eyes, obtain the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and then fuse the flesh and blood of Hashirama Senju and Naruto Uzumaki to awaken the Rinnegan.

The ultimate goal is within reach; only one last thing remains...

“Of course I remember.” A smile flickered in Orochimaru’s narrow, vertical pupils. “The Gedo Mazo left in Nagato’s hands, right?”

How could I forget?

That's exactly what I want.

　Sigh, I've finally reached the climax. It felt so good to write this, but I feel like I can't write a better Naruto novel. I'm a bit out of ideas.

　　By the way, readers who haven't received the fan title yet can check out Qidian's new event. Once you reach 3,000 fan points, you can get a fan title for free.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)