"The First Hokage is very strong..."
Akihara Kagura could fully appreciate the strength of the First Hokage, Hashirama, and softly said, "It seems Orochimaru has dodged a bullet. Kabuto, go see him.
Apart from Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, no one in the ninja world could understand the strength of Hashirama more than Akihara Kagura. This is Akihara Kagura's new boss!
This system isn't bad...
A resurrected boss is still a boss!
This time, I should really thank Orochimaru!
If it weren't for Orochimaru, Akihara Kagura wouldn't have thought it possible to find a new boss, let alone gain even more powerful strength!
Akihara Kagura glanced at his system page, the total amount of chakra he could gather had been raised to 5S class, which should be the limit for a normal ninja.
Besides,
The chakra was also at his command like an extension of his body.
The abundant chakra and the combination of the Rinnegan (Provisional) allowed Akihara Kagura to feel that he could easily execute ninja techniques.
Many techniques only required the chakra to flow in the body in the way the technique is executed, simplified by a hand sign or even without the need for hand signs, directly releasing the technique, which also greatly enhanced the power of the techniques.
For example, the Chidoriobtained from Kakashi...
For example, the Water Dragon Bullet Technique obtained from the Third Hokage and so on...
As for Wood Release...
Akihara Kagura could easily use Wood Release with a clap of his hands.
Akihara Kagura finally became a proper ninja who doesn't need to use hand signs.
Inside the Sound Village.
Hashirama's arm was quickly regenerating, as all those resurrected through the Edo Tensei possess undying bodies, even if their bodies are shattered, they can quickly regenerate.
However, Hashirama, as a beneficiary of the undying body through Edo Tensei, subconsciously felt somewhat unaccustomed: "I didn't expect this body to be so frail, it can't even withstand this small amount of technique power..."
"You... are mocking my art?"
Deidara quickly swooped down riding a clay giant bird!
"No, no..."
Hashirama quickly waved his hand, still showing politeness in the face of the enemy. This First Hokage would never mock others for being weak, after all, there was no one stronger than him in the ninja world during his lifetime.
"His body is regenerating..."
Uchiha Itachi looked at Hashirama with some unease.
The next moment!
Uchiha Itachi's eyes instantly turned a deep red, staring intently at the body of Hashirama reanimated through the Edo Tensei: "This chakra..."
"Eh? Sharingan!"
Hashirama turned to Uchiha Itachi, immediately becoming somewhat curious about him: "Konoha's forehead protector, you're a member of Madara's clan, and also a ninja of the Konoha, right? Why are you mixing with ninjas from other villages?"
"This First Hokage is really too talkative!"
Kisame Hoshigaki swung his Samehada giant sword at Hashirama!
However, Hashirama dodged the Samehada giant sword, kicking Kisame Hoshigaki in the chest and sending him flying!
This First Hokage's taijutsu was also quite formidable!
"Shinra Tensei!"
A huge repulsive force instantly sent Hashirama flying!
"Eh? These eyes…"
Hashirama was sent flying backward, his arms crossed, looking towards the eyes of Pain with a mix of surprise and curiosity. However, before he could say anything more, a group of Akatsuki members charged at him again!
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Hashirama quickly brought his palms together!
Vines and tree roots burst from the ground, turning the battlefield into a forest in an instant. All members of the Akatsuki were swiftly pursued by the vines within the trees!
"Be careful."
Uchiha Itachi, avoiding the attacks of the vines and tree roots in the forest, softly warned his teammates, "Do not stay in the same place for more than a second…"
"…"
After five calm seconds, Pain suddenly lifted his palm: "Leave this place to me, I'll clear the battlefield!"
"Shinra Tensei!"
A more powerful repulsive force exploded from him as the center, flipping the entire forest. The small Sound Village was instantly turned into ruins.
"Damn it!"
Orochimaru, escaping to a distance, clenched his teeth in hatred. The village he had painstakingly funded and built was reduced to ruins.
However, Orochimaru couldn't afford to dwell on these minor issues. He needed to leave quickly, find a way to hide, and seek a base where the Akatsuki could not find him.
Fortunately.
His plan was not a total failure.
Even though Hashirama, the First Hokage, was a fool, he still bought Orochimaru some time to escape and allowed him to obtain the experimental data for the Edo Tensei.
"These fools…"
Orochimaru looked back at the Sound Village, where the battle was intensifying again, and coldly swore, "When I use the Living Corpse Reincarnation to capture Akihara Kagura and obtain his body, your luck will run out…"
One First Hokage might not be enough…
Then add a Second Hokage!
Orochimaru was confident because his hands were full of treasures!
However, when Orochimaru arrived at one of his bases, he saw Yakushi Kabuto there, who brought him delayed news.
"I received early notice of the Akatsuki's movement and planned to report to Lord Orochimaru, but I was imprisoned by Kagura, who wanted to use me to kill by proxy…"
"That brat…"
Orochimaru felt even worse.
Akihara Kagura, that damn brat, had sent Shimura Danzo to his Sound Village, pretending to be allies for now, but behind the scenes, he was plotting against his so-called ally!
Even though Orochimaru himself intended to harm Akihara Kagura…
"Never mind."
Orochimaru couldn't continue to pursue Akihara Kagura's fault and even had to reassure Kabuto: "Kabuto, although I received the news a bit late, I still appreciate the information you brought. At least now I know Kagura had ill intentions in our alliance…"
The battle in the Sound Village soon ended.
Hashirama, reanimated through the Edo Tensei, couldn't use more power than his reanimated body allowed. Plus, the quality of the sacrifice was not up to par, causing his reanimated body to quickly dissipate.
The Akatsuki fought a big battle but couldn't find Orochimaru or Shimura Danzo's whereabouts. However, they didn't give up and intensified their search for Shimura Danzo.
Obviously.
Their struggle would last a long time.
In the future, Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo would have to constantly evade the Akatsuki's pursuit, occasionally facing a team of Akatsuki members.
For this reason.
Orochimaru had no choice but to ask for Akihara Kagura's assistance, requesting through Yakushi Kabuto for Akihara Kagura's help in deploying Konoha's manpower to encircle and suppress the Akatsuki organization, to give them a bit of breathing space.
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Orochimaru), to assist Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo in evading the pursuit of the Akatsuki organization.]
This task couldn't be easier to resolve.
Akihara Kagura sent White Zetzu Awei to find Nagato, and soon brought back good news. Nagato, upon hearing Akihara Kagura's plan, also promptly issued a new mission.
[System Prompt]: [New Work Task (Nagato), to make Shimura Danzo feel the pain of this world.]
As expected of him...
Indeed, he would issue such peculiar missions.
The Akatsuki organization also did not give up on the plan to pursue Orochimaru.
However, the Akatsuki organization would not spend all their time on pursuing Orochimaru; they also needed to continue gathering funds and recruiting personnel.
If the members of the Akatsuki organization once again discovered the whereabouts of Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo, they would naturally mobilize to pursue them, but it would no longer be their top priority.
Although Nagato also wished for the Akatsuki organization to organize a daily pursuit of Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo as a team-building activity, the organization's war weapon plan was the top priority...
As for Orochimaru's side...
Akihara Kagura was not vague about it.
Akihara Kagura only needed to order his Asura Path, the Sasori of the Red Sand, to pursue Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo. With the Sasori of the Red Sand holding them back, Deidara alone wouldn't be able to do much, allowing Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo to escape.
This was a mission of cyclic mining.
If it weren't for Akihara Kagura's decent character, plus the time needed for White Zetzu Awei to travel back and forth, Akihara Kagura would really want to make these into daily tasks.
After helping Orochimaru escape from the Akatsuki organization's pursuit for the first time, Akihara Kagura directly mined a large ore and obtained the latest results of Orochimaru's research.
[Curse Mark Technique (Using natural energy to form a curse mark, which can freely bind the target's movements, control the target's body, or grant the target strength. Even if the target's chakra is exhausted, the curse mark can still provide chakra to the target)]
This technique was extremely useful for Akihara Kagura!
Because the members under Akihara Kagura's command, such as Tendō·Shisui, Asura Path·Sasori, and Animal Path·Hanzo needed him to provide chakra to use techniques.
Conveniently.
The Curse Mark Technique could convert natural energy into the practitioner's chakra. By applying the curse mark on their chakra receivers, it could provide them with abundant chakra.
Akihara Kagura was very interested in this technique. Upon acquiring the Curse Mark Technique, he immediately found a way to apply the curse mark enhancement on all under his command.
Karin was the first to receive a curse mark.
The little girl had two marks on her wrists, one a small, slightly blackened leaf-shaped mark, which was the curse mark applied by Akihara Kagura;
The color of the other mark was slightly lighter, Akihara Kagura's Flying Thunder God mark, to facilitate Akihara Kagura's ability to rescue her anytime she was in danger.
"This curse mark…"
Karin curiously examined the curse mark on her wrist.
The group of curse marks was Akihara Kagura's tamed natural energy. Unlike Orochimaru's curse marks, which were as hot as flames, they spread like flowing water on her arm, immediately making her feel empowered!
"Adamantine Sealing Chains!"
Four chains burst from behind Karin!
At her age, she could usually release only one chain. The curse mark enhancement allowed her strength to increase at least fourfold!
"Not bad."
Akihara Kagura looked at Karin with satisfaction, patting her little head: "Practice well, try to learn Sage Mode on your own. In a few years, when the Adamantine Sealing Chains on your back can reach the standard of sealing Tailed Beasts, I'll let you participate in the Chunin Exams."
"Did I hear that Lord Kagura participated in the Chunin Exams alone? Will I, like Lord Kagura, participate alone?"
"Do you want to make friends, Karin?"
"…"
Koharu quickly shook her head.
"Let's see how it goes."
After pondering for a moment, Akihara Kagura spoke, "If appropriate, I can have a Genin from the village accompany you to the Chunin Exam. I heard that Genin is quite good at cooking, very strong as well, and Kabuto needs to continuously participate in the Chunin Exams. It's time to eliminate Orochimaru's two spies and have him join your team to help..."
Akihara Kagura felt like the little girl he had saved had become like a daughter to him, being raised in his care, although Karin's personality was quite good.
However...
Karin was only seemingly nice on the surface.
In front of Akihara Kagura, this little girl was gentle, but behind his back, she gradually became like what Akihara Kagura used to be in the Root, and the Uchihas in Root listened to her.
Akihara Kagura waved at Karin, sitting in front of the office desk flipping through the intel within the Konoha Village like his predecessor: "Alright, Karin, go to the training ground and practice well, and call those guys from A,B,C… in for me!"
"Yes."
As Karin left, she saw twelve Uchihas. She was particularly annoyed by the one named A.
Because the name A...
Was said to be Akihara Kagura's name when he joined the Root.
"Don't think that having the Dual Kekkei Genkai will earn Lord Kagura's favor. I am the most suitable assistant for Lord Kagura..."
"One day, when Lord Kagura is gravely injured, I can use all my blood to save his life, while you can only watch Lord Kagura get hurt with your Sharingan..."
"Right, right, right..."
Uchiha A nodded his head in headache.
Although he didn't know who else could gravely injure Akihara Kagura, arguing with a kid at this time would make him feel embarrassed in front of his clansmen.
Life in Root was quite peaceful.
Compared to the era of Shimura Danzo, Root had become significantly more humane, and the frequency of missions had greatly decreased, mainly because the Third Hokage, most of the time, dared not let Akihara Kagura and Root carry out missions, fearing the day they might receive news of a war breaking out in the ninja world.
The ninja world was gradually entering a period of peace.
Aside from Orochimaru and Shimura Danzo creating some minor news, there were no signs of wars anymore, as if the ninja world would always remain peaceful.
The villagers of the Konoha Village gradually got accustomed to a peaceful life, Akihara Kagura and Karin were also growing up, the twelve Uchihas of Root had become adults, and even if they removed their masks, not many recognized them. They were just accustomed to living with their masks on.
Time passed little by little.
April 4th.
This was a magical day.
Akihara Kagura's seventeenth birthday, the first to come with blessings, was unsurprisingly someone from Root, who caught a small white snake sneaking into Root.
The small white snake had a scroll in its mouth, still handwritten by Orochimaru with the character for longevity, which was Orochimaru's preferred way of giving gifts.
However, this time, the scroll Orochimaru sent was not any gift like shuriken or kunai, but a detailed plan drafted by Orochimaru himself.
The Konoha Village Collapse Plan.
This was the seventeenth birthday gift Orochimaru planned to give to Akihara Kagura.
Because this year's Chunin Exam in the second half of the year in the Konoha Village would be a grand gathering, with two allies of the Konoha Village, the Sand Village and the Mist Village, also participating.