Aoba originally did not think in the direction of Sunagakure.
In fact, the fuse for the Third Ninja World War was the disappearance of the Third Kazekage.
Of course.
At that time, people did not know that the Third Kazekage had been made into a puppet by Sasori.
They simply thought that the Third Kazekage was missing.
In the Ninja World, which was already in a turbulent situation and was like a volcano on the verge of erupting. The disappearance of the Third Kazekage was equivalent to injecting a catalyst into the volcano.
This caused the strength of Sunagakure, who was originally relatively weak, to be greatly reduced. The power between major ninja villages became unbalanced, causing Iwagakure to attack Sunagakure without hesitation.
These things.
Aoba knew it clearly.
It was because he knew these things that he did not care about Sunagakure.
At this time node.
There was no need to specifically target Sunagakure.
They will collapse on their own!
But...
Aoba did not expect that.
The Third Kazekage was actually still working together with the spy Mani who sneaked into Konohagakure Anbu and find how to take advantage of the war between Konohagakure and Kumogakure to sneak attack Konohagakure from behind.
"Since you have the idea of ambushing Konohagakure, then I must help you!"
Aoba did not expect that Sunagakure would dare to think so.
He had to make good use of this!
Instantly.
Aoba took out a piece of paper from his bosom.
Right now, what he lacked the least was paper.
Then, he took out a pen and began to write back and forth on this piece of paper.
Just like this.
Aoba repeated it for about half an hour.
The words on the paper began to coincide with Mani's notes in his memory.
"It should be enough."
Aoba stared at the words on the paper. The content was just a combination of a pile of words, and there was nothing that could be read in essence.
But...
These words could form a brand new text.
After practicing every word here, Aoba took out another piece of paper from his bosom.
This time.
His eyes became serious.
Aoba held a pen and began to write on the paper. Line after line of words formed a secret letter.
After writing this secret letter.
Aoba rolled it up and put it on his body. Then, his figure disappeared in a flash.
Now, he needed to do this personally. Shadow Clone could not replace him.
This matter was very important.
Handing over to the Shadow Clone and waiting for the result, he was still worried.
Almost in an instant.
Aoba appeared on a tree in the forest.
On the trunk of this tree was a circular Flying Thunder God Formula.
Swish Swish Swish...
The pieces of paper on Aoba's body flew up and down, constantly changing. His entire appearance also changed bit by bit.
After these changes finally ended.
Aoba directly changed into the appearance of Sunagakure's spy, Mani. He quickly moved toward Konohagakure's west direction.
Mani had just been caught yesterday.
There must be no response here.
Aoba ran at an extremely fast speed towards the place to the west where Mani had been sending messages.
After a period of time.
Aoba arrived under a tree in the western forest. He raised his foot and lightly jumped, reaching the top of the tree.
He then sees a tree hole.
There was a bird's nest beside the tree hole, but there was no bird on it.
"It's here."
Aoba had seen this tree hole in Mani's memory.
This tree hole was not naturally formed. It was dug up by Mani ten years ago and used for contacting Sunagakure.
Aoba first moved toward the tree hole. There was nothing inside.
Then he put the letter he had written in his hand in.
Immediately after.
Aoba jumped down and walked into the distance.
After a while.
Aoba raised his hand and placed it on his lips. He took a deep breath and blew again.
"Phwwwwwhht~"
A whistle with a specific rhythm sounded. It was like a secret signal being sent out.
....
About a minute later.
A bird flapped its wings and flew over. It stopped on the nest in front of the tree hole and reached its mouth into the tree hole.
The bird picked up the letter on the bird's nest with its feet and flapped its wings to leave.
Such a scene.
It completely fell into Aoba's eyes.
"Are all ninja birds so smart?"
In Mani's memory, Aoba had seen many such scenes. When he saw this scene with his own eyes, he still felt that it was very fascinating.
Swish!
Aoba's figure flashed and disappeared.
He directly used Hiraishin no Jutsu(Flying Thunder God Technique) to return to the tower.
Now, the secret letter to the Third Kazekage had been sent out. At least, Sunagakure did not know that Mani had been discovered. He could take advantage of this opportunity.
Swish! Swish!
Not long after Aoba returned, two more figures returned.
These two people were the ones who had previously gone out to become Sunagakure's spies.
The two advanced paper clones carried many things in their hands.
They even brought back a table.
After the two advanced paper clones brought these things back, they began to arrange the things in the room.
Not long after.
They had already tidied up the room.
After all, this was done.
They released the shadow clone and directly turned it into messages, returning to Aoba's body.
In a split second.
Everything that these two people did was reflected in Aoba's consciousness.
After the two of them transformed into Sunagakure's ninja form, they went to Konohagakure's general store and bought a lot of things in a high-profile manner.
These things were not deliberately bought. He really needed it in the tower.
At the end of the payment.
The two of them also deliberately created some small quarrels, which made the boss of the shop have a deep impression of the appearance of the two.
"Not bad."
Aoba nodded. These things had some effect on the future.
Now, everything was proceeding step by step in an orderly manner.
...
Konohagakure, somewhere.
This place was like a small hill. From the outside, there did not seem to be any different.
Only when you go to the nearest position can you see a secret door where the tall grass of the hilltop was covered.
This was Orochimaru's secret base, and also the place where he conducted human experiments.
Aoba did not know how far Orochimaru's human experiments had reached, but judging from the current timing, he should not have conducted any experiments on Yamato.
Right at this time.
Aoba's two advanced paper clones arrived.
They had already turned into the appearance of the two Root ninjas.
One of the Root ninjas stood at the door and gently knocked on the door.
After a while.
He knocked again.
It was as if he was using a password.
When he knocked for the third time, the door opened.
"What's the matter?"
A voice came from the gap in the secret door. This person was not Orochimaru, but an assistant in Orochimaru's laboratory.
"We have something to see Orochimaru-sama," The Root ninja said in a deep voice.
"Come in."
The assistant looked at Aoba's advanced paper clone and confirmed that they had been here before. They were both Danzo's men and then opened the secret door completely.
As the door opened.
Aoba's two advanced paper clones walked in one after another.
This was a dark staircase. Only after the secret door was opened could he see through a little bit of light.
Rumble...
Just as the two advanced paper clones walked in, the secret door behind them closed again.
"It's so dark!"
The advanced paper clone, who had turned into the young Root member, suddenly swayed. His right hand slapped the stone wall at the entrance.
Hum!
His hand trembled slightly. When he raised his hand, an imperceptible black circle appeared on the wall shrouded in darkness.
"You guys watch the path."
The assistant said unhappily and walked in front. Having been here all year round, his eyes had long adapted to the darkness.
"Understood, understood!"
The advanced paper clone nodded repeatedly from behind. This kind of darkness was not a problem for them. After all, Aoba had always been among Konohagakure Intelligence Division.
The three of them walked down the steps in turn and arrived at a long corridor.
The entire corridor was dark, and there were two snake-shaped candlesticks on the wall every three or four meters.
There were burning candles on the candlestick, but it was unknown if it were due to the problem of the candles, but the flames were not very bright.
The faint candlelight illuminated the road here.
The assistant walked in front.
Aoba's two advanced paper clones followed behind.
"Tick!"
"Tick!"
"..."
As the three of them walked forward, they could faintly hear the sound of water dripping from their surroundings. It was especially clear in this quiet corridor.
This corridor was very long.
The three of them walked for a full five minutes before reaching the end.
"Wait a moment."
The assistant said to Aoba's advanced paper clone indifferently. After that, he walked toward the room in front of him.
The moment the assistant entered the room.
The advanced paper clone, who was at the back, reached out his hand again and pressed a black circle on the wall.
"Come in!"
The assistant walked out of the room. Then he stood at the door and looked at the two people quietly.
Aoba's advanced paper clone did not say anything. They directly walked into the room.
The two people just walked in.
They saw a large cylindrical instrument.
These instruments were lined up in a row and filled with yellowish-green liquid. An unconscious human was inside.
There were two rows of these instruments. At the place where the two rows converged, there was a white laboratory table with all kinds of sophisticated instruments and many test tubes used for experiments. Some beakers had liquid bubbling inside.
The two advanced paper clones sized up what was inside. They looked around, but they did not see Orochimaru.
Suddenly.
Both of them could feel a mass of chakra appearing behind them.
"So it's the two of you!"
A voice that seemed to have seen through the vicissitudes of life sounded out, and then a straight black-haired man walked out from behind Aoba's advanced paper clone. He was wearing the same ninja outfit as Konohagakure Jonin.
This person...
It was one of Konohagakure's Sannin, Orochimaru!
"We were ordered to..."
Aoba disguised himself as the Root ninja who helped Orochimaru dissolve the corpse and said slowly.
Just as he was about to finish speaking.
He was immediately interrupted by Orochimaru.
"Whose order is it?"
Orochimaru changed his indifferent tone from before. His tone suddenly became serious.
Orochimaru's snake eyes revealed a fierce gaze as he stared at Aoba's advanced paper clone.
"It's Danzo-sama's order," Aoba's advanced paper clone said in a deep voice.
After saying this.
Aoba's two advanced paper clones did not say anything else.
Of course.
Orochimaru, who was in front of the two of them, also did not speak.
At this time.
Orochimaru's eyes were wide open, and his long and narrow snake eyes were filled with evil light.
None of the three people spoke.
The atmosphere was in a state that was about to freeze.
A moment later.
A smile appeared on Orochimaru's face. He stuck out his long tongue and licked the corner of his mouth.
"Interesting!"
"Amazing!"
"This is a ninjutsu I have never seen before!"
"I didn't expect there to be such a person in the village!"
Orochimaru started muttering to himself, but he did not lower his voice.
As Orochimaru speaks.
Aoba's advanced paper clone both had a strange thoughts in their hearts.
'Not good!'
'It seemed...'
'Orochimaru recognized them!'
'How was this possible!'
One must know that Aoba's advanced paper clones were a combination of two powerful techniques -- Kage Bunshin no Jutsu(Shadow Clone Technique) and Kami no Shisha no Jutsu(Paper Person of God Technique). The clone produced by him was a perfect simulation that even Sharingan couldn't see through.
If one had to just say that there was something wrong.
That was strength.
Otherwise, there would be no other problems.
After all, the basis of Aoba's advanced paper clone was to read that person's memories in advance and use that person's memories to simulate the actions that that person could do.
But...
Orochimaru actually recognized it with just a glance.
This caused a more cautious thought to arise in Aoba's heart.
If this were to continue.
Perhaps even more people would recognize him.
That would make things even more troublesome!
"Orochimaru-sama, what are you talking about? Why don't I understand? We are following Danzo-sama's orders to ask for a batch of Corpse Dissolving Water." Aoba's advanced paper clone spoke slowly. The more he spoke, the calmer he had to be.
After all, he wasn't sure if Orochimaru had really discovered their abnormality or was just bluffing them.
"Hahahahaha!"
When Orochimaru heard Aoba's advanced paper clone's words, he immediately raised his head and laughed. His laughter was filled with a meaningful tone.
"Okay~"
"Since you need Corpse Dissolving Water so much..."
"I'll give you the formula as well."
As Orochimaru spoke, he suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a snake.
This kind of sudden scene.
The two advanced paper clones who were directly watching were dumbfounded.
Although Aoba had seen Orochimaru spitting out snakes in anime a long time ago, but he was seeing it with his own eyes now.
There was still a faint feeling of discomfort in his heart.
Just as the snake emerged from Orochimaru's mouth, the snake's mouth also opened wide.
There was a scroll on the tongue of the snake, and the scroll was also attached with the saliva of the snake.
"This is the formula for Corpse Dissolving Water. I believe that with your ability, you can configure it!"
Orochimaru directly took out the scroll from the snake's mouth and threw it directly to Aoba's advanced paper clone, who was in front of him.
Aoba's advanced paper clone instinctively took the scroll.
Only...
He felt that there was something wrong.
'Is Orochimaru testing him?'
'Or did Orochimaru really see through something?'
'Is the contents of this scroll real or fake?'
'What is his purpose for doing this?'
Aoba's advanced paper clone's mind was filled with question marks. These question marks had yet to be answered.
"This scroll records the formula for Corpse Dissolving Water. This is something that Danzo came to me for. I didn't even give it to him."
A meaningful smile hung on Orochimaru's face. His snake eyes stared at Aoba's advanced paper clone's face.
"If you still need some finished products, I will give you a few more bottles."
After saying this, Orochimaru took another deep look at Aoba's advanced paper clone's faces. Then, he turned around and walked toward the experimental platform.
Orochimaru came to the experimental platform and opened a drawer on the experimental table.
He took out a small bag from inside.
The bag was full of Corpse Dissolving Water bottles.
After that.
Orochimaru carried the bag and turned around to walk back until he was in front of Aoba's advanced paper clone.
"This bag of Corpse Dissolving Water is all of my current stock. I'll give it to you. When I need it, I'll make it myself."
Orochimaru raised his hand and handed the bag to Aoba's advanced paper clone.
"???"
Aoba's advanced paper clone instinctively raised his hand to take the bag, which made a lot of question marks appear in his head.
'What did this mean?'
'Did Orochimaru see through it?'
'Or did he not see through it?'
This made a lot of question marks appear in Aoba's mind, and he was a little confused about Orochimaru's behavior.
If he did not see through it...
Then why did he say something inexplicable?
One had to know that Orochimaru was not an overly neurotic riddles person.
But...
If Orochimaru could see...
Then why did he have to give the Corpse Dissolving Water and its formula?
What was this person trying to do?
After Aoba's advanced paper clone took the bag, he looked at Orochimaru in a daze. He became very cautious and his mood was very complicated. He did not dare to act rashly.
"Eh?"
Orochimaru smiled as he stared at Aoba's advanced paper clone. Then, he asked, "You have already gotten what you want. Why aren't you leaving? Or do you have anything else you want?"
"No more."
Aoba's advanced paper clone immediately shook his head and said, "This time, we were ordered to take Corpse Dissolving Water. Now, we will hand them over to Danzo-sama."
After saying that.
Aoba's two advanced paper clones were prepared to turn around and leave.
"Oh?"
At this time, Orochimaru's voice sounded again. He asked with deep meaning, "Is it really Danzo?"
"It really is Danzo-sama." Aoba's advanced paper clone braced himself and said. The more it was like this, the more he had to bite to death and not let go.
"Not bad!"
Orochimaru nodded. His snake eyes flashed with admiration.
"If you don't mind, use your real body to find me. I am willing to accept you as my student."
Suddenly.
Orochimaru said something that stunned Aoba.
'Sure enough!'
'Sure enough, he saw through it!'
Aoba's advanced paper clone could not even believe his ears.
Not only did Orochimaru see through that he was an advanced paper clone, but he also took a fancy to his own body.
In Aoba's eyes.
The student that Orochimaru wanted to take in.
Basically, they were all Orochimaru's chess pieces.
Or rather, they were the preparation for the container.
The Mitarashi Anko was a very obvious example!
To be able to be accepted as a student by one of the Sannin, Orochimaru, might have an irresistible temptation for any ninja of Konohagakure at the moment.
But Aoba was different!
Not only does Aoba have a cheating system. He had also become one of the Sannin Tsunade students.
In the face of such words.
There was no reaction.
He was even a little scared.
This meant that he had been targeted by Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru-sama, you must be joking. I am a ninja from Root. Other than mission, I have no other thoughts." Aoba's advanced paper clone shook his head and said.
"I have already given the Corpse Dissolving Water to you. Are you still unwilling to admit it?"
The smile on Orochimaru's face gradually disappeared. He shook his head at Aoba's advanced paper clone who was in front of him. His long and narrow snake eyes began to turn cold.
"If I am not wrong, you should have combined the shadow clone with a special transformation technique to have such an effect!"
Orochimaru said in a low voice. After he said this, Aoba's advanced paper clone was completely sure that Orochimaru was not joking or guessing. He really saw through it.
Wasn't this a bit too terrifying!
They didn't even exchange blows.
They didn't even have physical contact with each other.
He only took a glance.
In an instant, he saw through Aoba's advanced paper clone!
'Is this ability of Konoha Sannin, Orochimaru?'
Aoba's advanced paper clone sighed in his heart. He had nothing to fear. After all, he could remove his shadow clone at any time. He would not expose his identity at all. However, the change in front of him made him want to know why he was exposed.
"It's really a special ninjutsu!"
Orochimaru stared at Aoba's advanced paper clone and sighed again.
"Whether it's aura, appearance, demeanor, personality, it's as if they were carved from the same mold!"
Orochimaru's snake eyes repeatedly sized up Aoba's advanced paper clone and looked like he was looking at a work of art. The coldness in his eyes had already turned into appreciation!
"You must have put in a lot of effort to be able to do this. I think at least you need to put in a lot of time on acting."
Orochimaru seemed to be conducting academic research.
This made Aoba's advanced paper clone feel very bad.
It seemed...
If his real body was here.
It was possible that he would be directly captured by Orochimaru to do human research.
The more Orochimaru was like this.
The more cautious and conflicted Aoba was, the more cautious and conflicted he would feel.
In the face of Orochimaru's words.
He was silent.
He did not respond at all.
However...
Orochimaru did not care whether Aoba responded or not. His snake eyes were still flashing with thoughts and continued to analyze.
"But..."
Orochimaru's words changed slightly, and his brows gradually furrowed. He seemed to have thought of something difficult to understand, and his entire mind was changing according to his analysis.
"I can feel it..."
"Your soul feels very young!"
"If I'm not wrong, you should be less than sixteen years old!"
"Genius!"
"Other than geniuses, I can't think of any words to call you!"
"To be able to create such a level of ninjutsu at such a young age..."
"If you don't become my student, it would be a pity. I am a person who specializes in ninjutsu!"
Orochimaru continuously made his own judgment. Every word he said was almost correct, except that he did not judge that Aoba was a transmigrator.
At the end of his words.
Orochimaru once again threw an olive branch to Aoba.
Such a talent.
He really wanted to have a chance to train him!
In his heart, he really hoped that Aoba could become his student.
"Orochimaru-sama, you are joking. I am just a Root ninja." Aoba's advanced paper clone shook his head again. He still did not admit it.
After hearing Aoba's words, Orochimaru smiled again and waved his hand.
"I will give you time to think about it slowly..."
"You can go!"
"I hope that the next time we meet, I will be able to get a direct answer from you!"
Orochimaru did not do anything to Aoba.
Instead, he generously let Aoba go.
This was precisely what made Orochimaru brilliant.
For many years, Orochimaru had relied on his unique personality and charm to trick many people who were willing to see him as their home, willing to sacrifice their lives for Orochimaru and do anything for him, such as Kimimaro.
Orochimaru's words just now were very obvious.
Not only did he provide benefits to Aoba, but he also gave Corpse Dissolving Water's formulas to Aoba.
He also told Aoba that he had seen through his technique, but he did not target him and even threw out an olive branch to him.
In the end, the door of Orochimaru's house always opened to you.
"..."
Aoba's advanced paper clone was stunned for a few seconds. Then, he turned around and prepared to leave.
Now, he was fearless.
If Orochimaru was really willing to let them go, they would take the Corpse Dissolving Water's formula with them.
However, if Orochimaru was only using a strategy and took advantage of the moment they turned around to launch a sneak attack, he could just directly remove the advanced paper clone.
However.
Just as Aoba's two advanced paper clones walked to the door of the room.
Orochimaru's voice rang out from behind the two of them.
"Soul."
Orochimaru lightly spat out these two words. These two words were not loud, but the scene was exceptionally quiet and clearly entered Aoba's advanced paper clone's ear.
Instantly.
Aoba's two advanced paper clone's footsteps paused.
"Don't you want to know how I saw through it?"
Orochimaru said meaningfully. His snake eyes stared at the backs of the two people who walked to the door. Then he did not let the two advanced paper clones ask and continued to talk.
"The souls of the two of you are the same, so I can judge that you are the same person's clone and have a physical body. That should be the special change of the shadow clone!"
Orochimaru's voice rang out again. When these words entered Aoba's advanced paper clone's ear, Aoba immediately focused his attention.
'So that was the case!'
'It is actually a problem with the soul!'
'This point.'
'There was no way to improve it!'
"You can imitate these two people so well. It can be said that this technique is very powerful!"
Orochimaru praised Aoba's advanced paper clone.
"If not for my high attainments in soul research, I wouldn't have been able to distinguish them accurately!"
"When the two of you came in, I saw that the souls of the two of you were not right. In addition, I know these two people and know what their souls feel like."
"So you don't have to worry..."
"In the entire Konohagakure, no one except me can see the problem in your clone."
"Don't worry and use it boldly!"
Orochimaru said with a smile. He seemed to see Aoba's soul in the tower through the advanced paper clone.
He happened to be researching the issue of immortality during this period of time.
This also made him understand truth, which was to look at a person, not his body, but his soul.
The appearance of the body could be imitated.
But the soul could not be imitated.