Zetsu of the Akatsuki Organization isn't the only one skying on the battlefield from the shadows.
In another corner of Konohagakure, Orochimaru stared at the Crimson Red Susano'o that suddenly appeared on the battlefield with a shocked expression, and this shocked expression soon turned gloomy as he saw that Crimson Gourd held by the Susano'o.
"Humph… so they really were after it!" – Orochimaru snorted softly.
The situation has gotten to this point, the proof is right in front of him, if he still couldn't react to it and understand everything, then he wouldn't be Orochimaru, one of the most cunning characters in this Shinobi World.
Orochimaru thoroughly understood that his previous encounter with Fujin at the reins of Shrine wasn't just a coincidence, and also had nothing to do with Yuhi Kurenai was abducted him himself, Fujin was definitely there searching for the Sword of Totsuka… And now that Homusubi has obtained the Sword of Totsuka, it proves that the Sword of Totsuka must have been sealed in that Shrine!
"Damn it…!" – Orochimaru was really alloyed upon thinking that the Spiritual Weapon he was searching for so long and was finally about to obtain was taken away by Amatsukami who got one step ahead of him… And he is more annoyed upon seeing the power of the Sword Totsuka… it is much stronger than he had initially expected, therefore, Orochimaru is really regretful now.
It's truly a pity that Orochimaru isn't aware of the fact that having Mangekyou Sharingan is extremely necessary to be able to obtain and use Sword of Totsuka, as without Mangekyou Sharingan even if he did manage to obtain Sword of Totsuka using some method, he wouldn't be able to control it, so it would just be a waste of time and effort.
With a sullen expression, Orochimaru withdrew his gaze from the direction of Homusubi and looked around the rest of the village revealing a trace of melancholy on his face.
Orochimaru has been planning to destroy Konohagakure for so many years, but now that the village he has wanted to destroy is really in front of him, Orochimaru has suddenly felt empty in his heart, and a sense of loss has filled.
Orochimaru isn't sure how he should feel about this situation, therefore, he is quite confused…
But, Orochimaru is Orochimaru after all, he soon converged all these inexplicable emotions, condensed Chakra under his feet, and soon disappeared from this corner of the village.
Whoosh
…
At the Refugee
Not long ago, when Tendo on the ground used a large-scale Shinra Tensei to destroy a large section of Bone Forest created by Fujin, the shock waves also travelled down to the refugee and caused large-scale damage.
Although the shock waves this time were not as serious as the first time, the damage is still several times more serious compared to the last time, multiple walls and pillars in the refugee shelter have collapsed, causing the number of casualties to be higher compared to the last time.
And because all the electric lights have been destroyed in the passage, along with the collapsed wall that has blocked all the light from the outside, the refugee is currently in a totally dark state, there is no light, and therefore, nothing is visible.
"Is everyone okay…?" At this moment, Shizune's voice came from the darkness…
"I am fine…" Sasuke
"I am okay…" Naruto
""We are also fine."" Hinata and Neji
"I am also fine…" Izumi
"There are no injuries except for severe Chakra Exhaustion…" Yui
"Cough-cough…" coughed Mitarashi Anko because of being choked by the smoke and dust, she tried to grope around for some support in order to stand up, but seemed to be unable to do so… currently her physical state isn't good, as she seems to be seriously injured and bleeding around her waist, therefore, she is having trouble standing up, and can't help but curse in annoyance, "Damn it!"
Listening to Anko's painful voice, Shizune quickly asked, "Anko… are you injured?"
"I do seem to be injured, and there is also bleeding around my waist…" answered Anko as she moved her hand as if searching for something.
At this time, Anko's hand finally touched the flashlight that had fallen on the ground, she immediately shook the flashlight, and soon a beam of light appeared in the passage…
As soon as the flashlight was lit, everyone gathered close to Anko, and Shizune, who seems to be in the best state among the four seniors Kunoichi, immediately healed Anko's wound using Iryo Ninjutsu.
While Anko's wound was being healed, the others tried to search the surroundings.
Although the shock waves a few moments ago caused various collapses in the underground refugee, fortunately, there was no major problem in this passage, which is also the reason why almost everyone, in this passage, except for Mitarashi Anko, was safe and no children were injured.
After a while of silence, Yui looked above, and said with a worried tone, "What exactly is happening outside…?"
As soon as, Yui's words fell, the expression of the other three Kunoichi became extremely serious…
As experienced Kunoichi, they too understand that collateral damage caused by ordinary battles is unlikely to extend to the refugee shelter which is several meters underground.
And now that the refugee shelter is subjected to such serious impacts, and shock waves every now and then, this can only prove that the ongoing battles on the surface are unimaginably fierce and are beyond the scope of what they have ever witnessed.
It's a pity that Yui is unable to activate her Byakugan because of the serious Chakra exhaustion that occurred during the battle against Asura Pain, so, she is unable to observe the situation outside, and therefore, is unable to understand the exact situation.
And while the four senior Kunoichi's expression was extremely solemn, and the four young kids were kinda nervous because of this serious atmosphere, suddenly the sound of leisurely footsteps sounded in the passage.
As soon as the sound of footsteps was heard, everyone became vigilant, the eyes of four senior Kunoichi looked at each other, and soon a plan was formulated.
Shizune and Izumi who seem to be in the best condition among the four positioned themselves to ambush, Yui took the four kids a little far from the scene of the battle so as not to hinder the other three, while Anko stood in the same position as previous to act as the bait in order to loosen up the guard of the incoming enemy.
After everyone was ready, Anko, who held the flashlight shifted the beam of light in the direction of the sound of incoming footsteps, and asked with a vigilant expression, "Who is there?"
The light of the flashlight fell on the incoming person and the gloomy figure appeared in front of everyone, the figure looked at Anko in front of him, and a sly grin appeared on his lips, "Oh… isn't this Anko… It's been so long?"
"Oro… Orochimaru!?" Anko was startled upon realizing the identity of the person in front of her, immediately, a terrifying killing intent burst out of her, "How dare you sneak inside Konoha? I am going to kill you!"
After saying so, regardless of her injury, Anko quickly weaved hand signs and instantly rushed towards Orochimaru, 'Ninpou: Multiple Shadow Snake Hands!'
Orochimaru was still quite carefree, but he still completed the hand signs of the same Jutsu as Anko, at the same moment, 'Ninpou: Multiple Shadow Snake Hands!'
Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha Sha
Instantly, multiple Snakes flew out of the sleeves of Anko and Orochimaru and bit fought against each other.
Taking advantage of the short gap, Anko immediately used the body flicker Jutsu and appeared behind Orochimaru with a Kunai and stabbed through his heart.
'It couldn't have been so easy, right?' thought Anko with an uncertain expression.
And sure enough, suddenly, Orochimaru's head tilted 180 degrees, and looked at Anko with a smile, "Obviously you said that you were going to kill me, but at the moment when you had the chance of stabbing through my heart, you still avoided the most vital part of my heart and shifted the Kunai a little… Anko-chan… you still care about your Sensei… don't you?"
Seeing that Orochimaru whose heart was stabbed by her was still in the mood of joking and playing around, Anko was angrier, "Shut the hell up…!" and used the Kunai in her other hand to chop off Orochimaru's neck off his torso.
Orochimaru did not care about Anko's roar, nor did he care about the other Kunai that would soon chop off his head off his torso, at this moment, he was considering something…
After a moment, of consideration, Orochimaru nodded to himself, and then instantly, a snake at the speed of lightning shot out of the cuff of Orochimaru's Kimono and wrapped around Anko, restricting all her movements, the very next moment, Orochimaru's neck stretched out and elongated… It went around Anko's back and bit on bit her neck.
Anko's goosebumps stood up as soon as Orochimaru bit her neck, and all her senses were screaming, "Let me go…!"
She struggled but was unable to, and suddenly started to feel weak…
After injecting his Chakra inside Anko, Orochimaru retracted his neck and said with a smile, "Anko-chan… this is the punishment for your willfulness… Next time you meet Sensei, you must greet him with respect, understand?"
Anko held her neck, and while resisting the pain in her body that was quickly making her lose consciousness, she asked with a vigilant expression, "What exactly did you do just now?"
But before she could get her answer, Kurenai's eyes went dark and she passed out…
At the same time, the flashlight in Anko's hand also fell to the ground, as a result, an oblique beam of light shone on Orochimaru's body from top to bottom… The light shining on Orochimaru's body made his gloomy figure seem more horrifying… so horrifying, that Shizune and Izumi who were supposed to carry out a sneak attack on Orochimaru didn't even have the courage to take a single step forward…
Orochimaru didn't care even care about the two Kunoichi and looked in a certain direction…
Under Orochimaru's scrutinizing gaze, Yui felt hairy, but resisting the fear in her heart, she still put on the Gentle Fist posture and asked vigilantly, "Orochimaru… what do you want to do?"
As one of the Legendary Sannin who almost became Yondaime Hokage, Orochimaru's reputation is extremely loud in Konoha and most of the Konoha Shinobi have a natural fear of him… even people as strong as Kakashi are not different in this aspect… so, it is normal for the three Kunoichi to be extremely flustered in the face of Orochimaru.
Orochimaru didn't reply to Yui, he looked at her for a moment, then his gaze shifted to Uchiha Sasuke behind her…
This time, his purpose of sneaking inside the Konoha Refugee is naturally to kidnap Uchiha Sasuke before either Konoha or Uchiha Clan could react…
From the battle between Kimimaro and Uchiha Sasuke a few months ago, Orochimaru has discovered that Uchiha Sasuke's talent, although not as good as Uchiha Shisui or Uchiha Itachi, is still very high….
After all, Uchiha Sasuke activated his Sharingan at a younger age compared to Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui… Therefore, Orochimaru believes that the upper limit of Uchiha Sasuke is also very high… activating Mangekyou Sharingan is definitely a possibility… As such, Uchiha Sasuke is the perfect candidate to act as his vessel in the future…
Being subjugated to the vicious gaze of Orochimaru, Sasuke felt terrified… he felt as if he was being stared at by the most vicious being, and in fear, his Sharingan activated subconsciously…
Orochimaru stretched out his tongue and licked his lips in excitement, "Tsk, tsk… What a beautiful pair of eyes…"
These actions of Orochimaru immediately made everyone understand that Orochimaru's target is definitely Uchiha Sasuke…
Understanding this, Uchiha Izumi while resisting the deep fear in her heart, also appeared next to Yui, and while guarding, she said to Orochimaru in a stern tone, "If you dare to do anything to Sasuke-kun, then, you will incur the wrath of our Patriarch, Shisui-san, and Itachi-kun… facing the three of them, you will definitely suffer, even if you are one of the legendary Sannin!"
Izumi didn't know that her words really made Orochimaru sober from his previous excitement, and also tensed his nerves… 'Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Shisui, and Uchiha Itachi… huh?'
Boom!
And while Orochimaru was thinking of something, suddenly a burst of an explosion sounded on the other side of the passage, and a hole opened up.
Immediately afterwards, a figure wearing a Takigakure Forehead protector with a horizontal scratch on it, and Akatsuki's traditional Black turtle neck cloak with a red cloud pattern on it walked inside the passage from the hole…
The figure looked at several people in the narrow passage, and then his gaze finally landed on the figure of Uzumaki Naruto, next to Uchiha Sasuke.
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Read up to Chapter - 786 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations