In the distance, Kimimaro came to a stop, leaning on a tree with his right hand, looking a bit exhausted.
His clothes were torn in several places, and his face was slightly smudged with dirt, making him look quite disheveled.
*Cough, cough, cough...*
Kimimaro coughed violently, covering his mouth with his right hand. When he removed it, a splash of blood bloomed in his palm.
"This bloodline disease is really troublesome... *Cough, cough, cough*..."
After a fierce battle, his bloodline disease had flared up again.
Taking a deep breath, Kimimaro quickly circulated the remaining chakra in his body, suppressing the illness once more.
"Whew... That was really close. If it weren't for Orochimaru's Rashomon, things could've turned out very differently."
Feeling a sense of relief, Kimimaro leaned against the tree to rest for a moment.
Rashomon, the strongest defensive summoning technique, consumed a tremendous amount of chakra. Given his current reserves, he could only summon two gates while keeping some energy in reserve.
Luckily, the Two-Tails wasn't as fearsome as the Nine-Tails, and Yugito wasn't a perfect Jinchuriki, which weakened the power of the Tailed Beast Bomb significantly. Otherwise, even two layers of Rashomon wouldn't have been able to withstand the attack.
His chakra had also been significantly depleted from using *Shunpo* to flee at high speed. Combined with the activation of his bloodline disease and the need to circulate chakra to suppress it, he was understandably fatigued.
But now, at least, he was safe.
As for the clone of Gyuki, he had already dispelled it during his escape.
"It was dangerous, but I also got a firsthand experience of a Jinchuriki's power. Tailed Beasts really are something amazing."
Kimimaro muttered to himself, developing a keen interest in the Tailed Beasts.
In this world, one of the most powerful forces was the power of the Tailed Beasts, especially the combined power of all nine, which formed the Ten-Tails—the pinnacle of power in the shinobi world.
More importantly, Tailed Beasts were immortal. Even if killed, they would resurrect.
If he could thoroughly research the biology of Tailed Beasts, immortality might no longer be a mystery to him.
The thought excited Kimimaro.
But for now, it was too early to think about hunting a Tailed Beast. At the very least, he needed to reach Kage level before he could even consider it.
For him, reaching Kage level wasn't far off. If he hadn't spent the past two years studying medical ninjutsu, he might already have one foot in that realm.
"For now, I need to focus on curing my bloodline disease. That's the most important thing."
After resting for a while, Kimimaro wasted no time and set off again.
Meanwhile, in the Raikage's office...
*Bam!*
The Raikage's fist slammed down on his desk, shattering it.
The desk, which had only been replaced a week ago, was now completely destroyed.
The others in the room weren't surprised at all. They were used to this; the Raikage's office went through desks faster than anything else.
Darui looked on with a helpless expression and silently added the broken desk to the expense report.
Seeing that the Raikage was furious, he didn't dare mention it.
"Damn it! Orochimaru dared to sneak into my village and kidnap someone?! He doesn't even see me as a threat!"
The Raikage's eyes burned with anger.
"Raikage-sama, are we sure it was Orochimaru? According to Yugito, the man never used snake-related jutsu; he only used sword techniques," Darui said with some doubt.
"It's definitely him. Orochimaru is a master of swordsmanship. More importantly, those two demon-faced gates had to be Rashomon! There's no one else in the current shinobi world who can use that summoning technique except Orochimaru.
He ruined quite a few of our plans during the Third Shinobi World War with that jutsu."
Even from a distance, the Raikage had recognized the two towering Rashomon gates in the village.
He had no idea that Orochimaru had generously passed on that jutsu to Kimimaro.
"If it really was Orochimaru, then this Gyuki kid must be far more valuable than we thought."
The Raikage calmed down slightly upon hearing this.
"We haven't heard any intel from our spy in Kirigakure. We don't know what's happening over there. If Gyuki really is the son of the Fourth Mizukage, and Orochimaru has him, then something major must have changed in Kirigakure.
Mabui, get in touch with our spy in Kirigakure immediately. We need to know what's going on! That village is too suspicious."
"Yes, Raikage-sama! Should we send the Anbu after Orochimaru?"
"No. Dealing with a rogue ninja like Orochimaru doesn't require us to make a move. Send a message to Konoha, twist today's events a bit, and pressure them. If they can't even handle their own rogue ninja, the Third Hokage is proving to be more of a failure every day.
Back in the day, he commanded the legendary Sannin, White Fang, the Yellow Flash, and the Uchiha Clan and had the guts to take on all four of the Great Shinobi Villages. But now, he's just a relic of the past. It's kind of sad, really."
Mabui noted the Raikage's orders and immediately set to work.
The Raikage's plan to pit Konoha against Orochimaru showed that he wasn't just a brute, but also a sharp strategist.
He had once deeply respected the Third Hokage.
But now, the aged Hokage only filled him with pity.
Konoha could no longer claim the title of the strongest village.
The *Hyūga Incident* had revealed Konoha's weakened state. The once-glorious village had fallen into decline.
If it weren't for the fact that Kumogakure had lost many powerful shinobi, including the Third Raikage, in the Third Shinobi World War, the Fourth Raikage might have already made a move against Konoha.
With Kumogakure growing stronger every year, its military power was now the greatest in the shinobi world.
The Raikage, full of ambition, was only waiting for the right time to launch a war and seize more resources.
Meanwhile, Kimimaro, who had long since left, had no idea that his impersonation of Orochimaru had stirred up a bit of trouble for Konoha.
He was already on his way out of the Land of Lightning, heading toward a small country known as the Land of Tools.
This was where Tsunade had agreed to meet him.
Two days later, within the Land of Tools, a handsome, white-haired boy arrived.
Perched on his shoulder was a small, yellow rodent-like creature, about thirty centimeters tall.
Its cute appearance caught the attention of many girls.
Many eyes lingered on the boy, and if not for the aura of "stay away" he projected, he would have been approached by several people.
The white-haired boy, disguised with Gaia foundation, was none other than Kimimaro. And the adorable creature on his shoulder was Pikachu.
"Little guy, you sure have a lot of charm."
Kimimaro noticed the attention and chuckled.
"Pika?"
Pikachu tilted its head, seemingly not understanding.
Having just emerged from the system, Pikachu was like a blank slate and naturally didn't understand these things.
Luckily, Kimimaro had the ability to communicate telepathically with it, allowing them to talk normally.
However, it still couldn't grasp the meaning behind his teasing.
Kimimaro laughed and patted Pikachu on the head, feeling uplifted.
Cute things really did have the power to heal the soul.
No wonder so many people kept pets.
Having Pikachu with him had definitely brightened Kimimaro's journey.
Of course, Pikachu wasn't just a pet.
After proper training, it could develop formidable combat abilities.
(End of Chapter)