Danzo stared at the document on his desk.
Raising his hand, he summoned a Root ninja.
He tossed the document to the ninja without a word.
"Deliver this to the Village Hidden in Sound!"
The ninja silently nodded, took the document, and disappeared instantly.
Left alone in the dimly lit room, Danzo let out a sinister laugh.
"Hmph!"
"Sarutobi, since you refuse to train that boy into a proper weapon…"
"Then don't think you'll have him either!"
"That man has quite the interest in the Uchiha. Sending him such a grand gift… I'm sure he'll be grateful!"
With that, Danzo turned and vanished into the shadows.
The speed at which Root relayed messages far surpassed Sasuke and his team's pace.
The distance from Konoha to the Village Hidden in Sound wasn't far.
In one of the underground secret bases of the Sound Village…
Orochimaru stood before yet another failed experiment. His expression calm, he addressed Kimimaro, who stood beside him.
"Dispose of this one."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru," Kimimaro replied, taking the failed specimen and leaving without hesitation.
As Kimimaro's figure disappeared, Orochimaru sighed.
"Such a pity… I still haven't found a cure for your Kekkei Genkai disease."
Kimimaro's bloodline limit was extraordinary. Without his illness, he would have been Orochimaru's ideal vessel.
What a shame.
What a loss.
As Orochimaru reflected, Kimimaro returned, carrying a sealed document.
"Lord Orochimaru, this was sent by those people."
Orochimaru smirked.
"That old relic Danzo… hasn't given up yet, has he?"
A fool who dreams of becoming Hokage. Maintaining contact with Danzo, however, was still necessary after all, Orochimaru relied on Danzo's resources for many of his experiments.
But as Orochimaru opened the document, his expression froze in shock.
"Uchiha… Sasuke!"
Kimimaro frowned slightly.
Uchiha.
Of course, he had heard of them. One of Konoha's two great bloodline clans, though the Uchiha had been annihilated.
"What an astonishing boy. Freshly graduated, yet capable of battling Konoha's Blue Beast!"
"And he's awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan!"
"Such a perfect vessel!"
Orochimaru licked his lips.
Seeing Orochimaru's expression, Kimimaro couldn't help but feel a tinge of jealousy toward this boy he had never met.
To think someone could capture Lord Orochimaru's attention like this.
The Uchiha clan's Sharingan, was it?
Hmph!
Whose bloodline limit is stronger mine or his?
"Orochimaru-sama, Danzo has certainly delivered a great gift this time!"
"This boy is simply perfect to be my vessel."
"Though, I still need to test him first!"
Kimimaro lowered his head and replied, "Lord Orochimaru, allow me to go. I'll verify whether this boy is worthy to become your vessel."
Hearing this, Orochimaru raised his gaze to Kimimaro.
"I would like to see him for myself."
"But! We absolutely cannot be discovered."
"That brat has Hatake Kakashi with him."
While Orochimaru wasn't afraid of Kakashi, he didn't underestimate him either. If Kakashi were to focus solely on escaping, Orochimaru wasn't confident he could stop him.
After all, the Copy Ninja of Konoha hadn't earned his reputation for nothing.
"Prepare yourself. We're heading to the Land of Waves."
Meanwhile, Sasuke and his group had been traveling for most of the day.
At their current pace, it would likely take a few more days to reach the Land of Waves.
However, the first act of the Land of Waves arc was about to begin.
As they moved along the road, Sasuke's gaze landed on a suspicious puddle of water not far ahead.
This is too obvious.
He looked up at the sky.
Under the blazing sun, on a dry, dusty road, there was somehow a puddle of water that hadn't evaporated.
Such a trick might fool civilians, but any ninja with even a shred of common sense would notice it immediately.
Well, almost any ninja.
Naruto, oblivious as always, didn't seem to notice anything unusual.
Even Sakura glanced at the puddle curiously a few times.
However, due to her lack of experience, she didn't think of it as a potential enemy trap and simply walked past it without much thought.
Kakashi, on the other hand, noticed it immediately. As he glanced behind him, he saw Sasuke subtly stop practicing hand seals and shift his left hand closer to his weapons pouch.
Noticing this small movement, Kakashi smiled inwardly.
As expected of Sasuke, a true genius… His first mission, and he's already this sharp at spotting danger.
It seems I don't need to worry too much about him.
Satisfied, Kakashi returned to his book, Icha Icha Paradise, even quickening his pace slightly to take the lead.
By doing so, he ensured that the two attackers' first target wouldn't be him, but rather Sasuke or the others.
Kakashi wanted to observe how the three would react to a dangerous situation.
The group walked slowly past the puddle.
As Sasuke, the last in line, stepped past it, the trap was sprung.
Clang! Clang!
The sound of chains echoed as a ninja leapt out from the puddle, while another attacker emerged from the bushes nearby.
The two Chunin-level rogue ninjas moved swiftly and decisively. It was clear this wasn't their first time on such a mission.
Hearing the noise, Naruto and Sakura froze, their eyes wide in shock as they stared at the sudden attackers.
The two rogue ninjas swung their weapons mercilessly at the team.
In that moment of crisis, Naruto and Sakura's minds went completely blank.
The ninja behind Sasuke swung a scythe fiercely, aiming straight for Sasuke's neck.
Sakura immediately covered her mouth in horror.
"Sas"
Before she could finish speaking, Sasuke effortlessly sidestepped, narrowly evading the attack.
With a swift counter, he struck the attacker's face with a powerful backhand punch.
The second ninja, seeing his comrade's attack fail and witnessing him get hit, was momentarily stunned.
But in the next instant, his shock turned to horror.
Unbeknownst to him, a kunai had already sliced across his throat.
Blood sprayed out violently.
Thud, thud!
The sound of impact echoed as the ninja's body was pinned to a nearby tree by several kunai.
Simultaneously, the ninja on the ground found himself immobilized his arm brutally broken and his leg shattered under Sasuke's foot. He was completely incapacitated.
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