Steve Chapter 109

Before crossing over to the Naruto world, Fang Mo had thought that the anime world was nothing out of the ordinary.

But it was only after arriving here that he realized the stark differences between the two worlds.

Back in the Marvel Universe, characters like Iron Man truly resembled Robert Downey Jr., and Doctor Strange bore a striking resemblance to Benedict Cumberbatch. This made him feel like he was just playing around with them in a movie when he first arrived in that world.

However, the Naruto world was a whole different story. It was the anime world, and if Fang Mo hadn't known it was Naruto, he would have been utterly perplexed.

Suddenly, a fair-skinned man with black hair appeared. Without his forehead protector and ninja attire, and if he didn't play with snakes, would you ever believe that he was Orochimaru, one of the legendary Sannin?

Honestly, even cosplayers resembled Orochimaru more than he did himself.

But that was just how it was.

After all, this was a real world, and the characters were no longer just ink and paper but actual living beings. Discrepancies in appearance were to be expected.

Fang Mo was familiar with Orochimaru's character. He was a boss-level figure in the early stages of Naruto, making a dramatic entrance during the Chunin Exams by killing the Third Hokage and frightening all the genin. His presence was truly formidable.

However, from what Fang Mo could see now, Orochimaru appeared quite young. Though his aura was somewhat gloomy, he didn't emanate the intense evil and cruelty that he would display in later arcs. Thinking back to the information mentioned by Hyuga Hatsuhisa earlier, the genin hadn't been born yet, and Minato Namikaze was still alive. This meant that Orochimaru had likely not begun his human experiments or had just started, and hadn't reached the depths of depravity he would later attain.

With these thoughts in mind, Fang Mo felt compelled to try and establish contact with Orochimaru.

After all, he would need to borrow a microscope from Orochimaru later on.

Might as well get acquainted with him, right?

However, before Fang Mo could leave the hiding place, he used a substitution technique to see a blond-haired man. Fang Mo immediately recognized him because of his distinctive hair color.

It was Minato Namikaze, the future Fourth Hokage and the protagonist's father.

Minato was accompanied by two subordinates as he directly approached Orochimaru for a serious discussion.

Thanks to the invisibility of Steve, Fang Mo overheard their conversation.

To his surprise, Minato and Orochimaru were not here to search for Hyuga Hatsuhisa. Instead, they were seeking information about the "Wind Release" technique that Fang Mo had used. He had casually employed a "Wind Release" jutsu earlier with his Ring of Arcana, which allowed him to control any storm or airflow. The immense power of this Wind Release had caught the attention of the Konoha ninjas.

They suspected that Sunagakure might be planning some kind of conspiracy, given that they were from the Land of Wind that had invaded Konoha. As for the Cloud Village, they had only dispatched a small group of ninjas to cause trouble. Earlier, the Sand Village had killed the Third Raikage, resulting in a deep enmity between the two villages. Additionally, the recent battle at God's Bridge had severed the Sand Village's crucial supply route to the Fire Country, forcing them to concentrate their efforts on the Cloud Village. The Cloud Village was also fully engaged in their resistance, leaving little energy to spare for dealing with the Konoha.

In contrast, Sunagakure was indeed the most skilled in Wind Release among the Five Great Ninja Villages.

However, it was strange that such a powerful jutsu had been unleashed in an open area in the forest, yet not a single Leaf ninja was harmed. Normally, if Sunagakure had used this jutsu to ambush the Konoha camp, it would have been devastating. Although Sunagakure might not have found the exact location of the Konoha camp, they possessed a powerful trump card that they could use strategically. Randomly unleashing it in the forest seemed unnecessary.

The Konoha's strategist, Shikaku Nara, speculated that Sunagakure might have used a tailed beast. This was plausible, considering that during wartime, the Cloud Village's jinchuriki was also active outside their village. Thus, it wouldn't be surprising if Sunagakure also had a jinchuriki. However, controlling a tailed beast was no easy task, as evidenced by Sunagakure's tailed beast going berserk and needlessly destroying a large part of the forest.

At present, Minato and Orochimaru had come out to search for clues about the Suna jinchuriki, hoping to find and neutralize this potential threat before it could escalate.

"So, you haven't found any leads on the Suna jinchuriki yet?" Orochimaru asked, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"We haven't found any information about the jinchuriki yet," Minato replied, shaking his head, "but during our search, the intelligence division discovered a critically injured Suna ninja. We now have a rough idea of the location of the Suna camp."

"Oh?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure it's not a trap?"

"I don't think so," Minato pondered, "the terrain in that area isn't suitable for an ambush. Moreover, Suna ninja aren't particularly skilled in Earth Release, so constructing defensive fortifications would be difficult for them."

"The previous tailed beast rampage might have caused them to change their camp's location," Orochimaru speculated.

After a moment of contemplation, Orochimaru said, "If you want to attack them, you should act now. Do you have confidence in dealing with their jinchuriki?"

"I know some sealing jutsu," Minato nodded. "If they have a jinchuriki, I should be able to handle it."

"Good." Orochimaru waved his hand decisively. "Let's head back to camp for now. We shouldn't delay this matter..."

The two of them disappeared from the spot in an instant.

After they left, Fang Mo, who had been eavesdropping from the hiding place, was left dumbfounded.

"Damn, this misunderstanding could become a big deal."

Fang Mo sighed and rubbed his face. Originally, he had merely launched a random attack, but he didn't expect it would be linked to Sunagakure.

"What's wrong?" Hyuga Hatsuhisa asked curiously. Although she could observe the situation outside with her Byakugan, she couldn't hear what others were saying and only knew that someone had been standing there earlier.

"Your Konoha ninjas are about to attack Sunagakure's main camp," Fang Mo explained directly. "They suspect Sunagakure has a jinchuriki, so they plan to launch a surprise attack on their camp."

"Attack Sunagakure's camp?" Hyuga Hatsuhisa pondered for a moment before asking, "So, the big decisive battle is about to happen? Is the war going to end?"

"I think so," Fang Mo scratched his head, his mind still occupied with thoughts about the bugs in this world. He replied absentmindedly, "To be honest, in all these years, I've never seen Konoha lose. With clans like the Senju, Hyuga, Uchiha, Inuzuka, Nara, and Aburame all in Konoha, how could they possibly lose?.

Hyuga Hatsuhisa was concerned about her own situation, though, and asked worriedly, "When can I go back? If I don't return soon, my clan will consider me a deserter..."

"A deserter?" Fang Mo was startled, then remembered, "Oh, you mean the Caged Bird Seal."

Indeed, the practices of the Hyuga clan were quite unreasonable. The main branch controlled the lives of the branch family members through the Caged Bird Seal and the Byakugan. If a branch member died, the Caged Bird Seal would automatically destroy their Byakugan. On the other hand, if they betrayed the clan, the seal could kill them remotely.

Earlier, Hyuga Hatsuhisa's reconnaissance team had been attacked. According to the original plot, she was supposed to die there. But Fang Mo's appearance had saved her.

However, it didn't mean she was free from the Caged Bird Seal's consequences.

As long as the main branch discovered she was still alive, they would definitely find a way to deal with her.

She could hide for a while, but not forever. If she didn't return, she would eventually be killed.

"Oh, the Hyuga Clan..." Fang Mo looked thoughtfully at Hyuga Hatsuhisa.

He realized that, although this girl wasn't adept at picking up on the plot, she seemed quite obedient. Maybe he could use her to create some chaos in Konoha?

But if he wanted to cause trouble in Konoha, what identity should he use?

Fang Mo pondered for a moment.

Suddenly, a bold idea popped into his mind.