At night.
In a secluded dense forest within Konoha, fragmented moonlight trickled through the branches, faintly illuminating a figure bound to a tree trunk.
With a groan, Hayate awoke from unconsciousness.
'Who am I?'
'Where am I?'
'What am I doing?'
'Right, the Eight Gates Released Formation… That spy!'
As Hayate recalled what happened before losing consciousness, he was struck by a wave of intense pain, drenched in cold sweat.
Taking a direct hit from the pseudo-Eight Gates Fist, his body was riddled with fractures, and surviving was already fortunate.
Hayate tried to cry out for help, but his mouth was taped shut, so he was only able to emit faint groans barely audible within ten meters.
Gasping lightly, Hayate lowered his head to inspect his body, only to discover a fractured right shoulder, multiple fractures throughout his body, sealed Chakra, his leg ninja bag taken, and he's being bound to the tree trunk with only half of his feet touching the ground!
'The other party was not only cautious but also a skilled old fox!'
Hayate gritted his teeth.
"You're awake."
At this moment, Shinno approached under the dappled moonlight, exuding an air of confidence.
"Mm-hmm!" Hayate endured the pain and whimpered, 'Who exactly are you!'
"I know you have a lot of questions, and coincidentally, I have a question for you too." Shinno said with a smile, "You answer my question, and I'll answer yours. How about it? Just nod if you agree."
Hayate pretended to hesitate, only reluctantly nodding after some time.
With a cold smirk, Shinno stepped forward and tore off the tape, then asked: "question, tell me how to pass through Konoha's barrier!"
Hayate pretended to struggle for a while, before blurting out: "Rat-Ox-Monkey-Ram-Dragon-Tiger!"
Shinno silently memorized the hand seals.
"Now it's my turn. My question is… you, who you are!" Hayate was in so much pain that his voice is trembling.
"My identity is…" Shinno's eyes flickered as he was about to make something up when suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind.
"Who?!" Shinno turned around sharply.
In the shadows behind, a small white snake swiftly crawled forward.
'It's Orochimaru…' Shinno breathed a sigh of relief.
The white snake approached, then opened its mouth and spat out a one-armed man covered in foul-smelling mucus.
Shinno held his breath in disgust.
"You… are Orochimaru?" Seeing the arrival of this person, Hayate's pupils couldn't help but shrank.
Boom!
Without saying anything further, Orochimaru knocked Hayate unconscious, then, he looked at Shinno with a smirk: "The chaos outside was indeed caused by you."
Shinno didn't explain either, as being exposed by a few Konoha's brats wasn't exactly honorable. So, he changed the subject and asked: "Have you finished your business?"
"So, you still knew I had something to take care of." Orochimaru sneered coldly.
When he came out of Konoha Prison, he planned to go to the Anbu's Headquarters to investigate. However, due to Shinno and Hayate, Anbu and the Military Police Force were heavily searching, greatly disrupting Orochimaru's plans.
Of course, this disruption was beneficial, because with the Anbu's Shinobi dispatched everywhere, it meant the Anbu's Headquarters was vulnerable, which is just convenient for him to move!
But there was no need to let Shinno know about this.
Shinno brace himself and said: "This Shinobi is Gekko Kanpū's younger brother. You should know about the grudge between me and him!"
"Are you planning to use him to lure Gekko Kanpū?" Orochimaru disdainfully said, "You will die miserably."
"Gekko Kanpū can grow to this point thanks to the Body Revival Technique, a technique I personally developed, so he is impossible to defeat me!" Shinno smirked arrogantly.
Moreover, at this moment, he was a powerful ninja who could perfectly use the Eight Gates Released Formation without dying. Just a mere Gekko Kanpū, even if he mastered the Body Revival Technique to the extreme, could never be his opponent!
As for Konoha-Style Kenjutsu, Five-Attributes Ninjutsu and the like, they were simply not worth considering under the speed and strength of his Eight Gates!
Orochimaru chuckled and said: "Since you're so confident, Gekko Kanpū will be your responsibility when the plan starts."
Shinno keenly sensed the malice emanating from Orochimaru, but couldn't figure out the source of this malice.
"What are your plans next?" Orochimaru didn't give him time to think and asked directly.
"Leave Konoha!"
Shinno seemed to have everything under control, and said, "If I'm not mistaken, Konoha's Gate should be surrounded by Konoha's Shinobi."
Orochimaru nodded. With Anbu and the Military Police Force jointly sealing the gate, the presence was quite fierce. Just in case, Orochimaru didn't dare to enter with his real body.
That's right, the Orochimaru standing in front of Shinno is just a clone.
"So what?" Orochimaru asked.
Shinno continued: "So I plan to cross through Konoha's barrier."
And the key of the Konoha's barrier, he just got it from Hayate!
Orochimaru seemed to see through Shinno's calculation and reminded with a smile: "Only Konoha's Anbu knew about the barrier's key, and this guy is not an Anbu."
'What?!'
Shinno's face immediately changed.
'Gekko Hayate… This little beast dared to deceive me?!'
'He's as despicable as his brother!!'
'The people of Gekko Clan are all liars!'
'They all deserve to die!!'
Shinno's face turned purple with rage, wishing to slap Hayate to death, but restraint was necessary for greater plans. Besides, wouldn't killing Hayate equivalent to telling Orochimaru that he was deceived?
He'd be looked down upon!
So Shinno said coldly: "Of course I know that. I originally planned to catch a Konoha's Anbu to torture the barrier's key tonight. If it weren't for your sudden appearance, I would have acted earlier!"
The corner of Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly and he sneered silently.
'Poor Shinno!'
"Then, let's act separately." Orochimaru originally wanted to join forces with Shinno to go to the Anbu's Headquarters, but now, it seemed that such a thing was only suitable for himself.
Shinno also didn't want to deal with Orochimaru at this moment, so he naturally has no objections.
So, the two went their separate ways.
…
After disguising himself, Shinno went to the street. After walking a few steps, he saw a figure flickering on a wall in the distance.
'It's Konoha's Anbu!'
Shinno was about to follow when he noticed another figure flickering not far away. He furrowed his brows slightly, then calmly strolled and observed. Then, he found that Konoha's Anbu and the Military Police Force were working together, jointly searching everywhere. And the two sides were separated by a distance, so if one side had trouble, the other could send a distress signal immediately!
Shinno cursed in his mind, 'If I knew this would happen, I would have called Orochimaru together!'
Meanwhile, just as he thought, Orochimaru sneaked into the Anbu's Headquarters very smoothly.
But as soon as he reached the second floor, he was blocked by someone.
"Who are you?" Blocking Orochimaru was a slender figure wearing a turtle mask.
"And who are you?" Orochimaru asked gloomily, secretly thinking to himself, 'This guy didn't just happen to pass by, he detected my infiltration and appeared here in advance. What a strong perception!'
The person answered honestly: "My name is Konoha Saburo, how about you?"
'Konoha Saburo?'
'Must be a code name.'
Orochimaru coldly said: "I'm the one who's going to take your life!"
"It looks you're an enemy." Konoha Saburo shook his butt, and three huge tails covered with spikes flew out, shooting towards Orochimaru like a tsunami.
'Those tails seemed familiar…' Orochimaru froze in place, and his face gradually turning pale.
'Sanbi Isobu?!!'