Chapter 238

Suddenly, a figure with a face of Yin and Yang, adorned in the Akatsuki cloak, emerged from the ground, and his appearance immediately brightened Orochimaru's eyes slightly.

It had been quite a while since he'd seen this fellow, and he had always wanted to find him to verify certain things.

Ever since Kaito piqued his interest, Orochimaru had been desperately seeking his whereabouts, but alas, he couldn't find any information at all.

The man seemed to have never existed, and he held a special status within the Akatsuki.

He didn't need to attend meetings, didn't need to assemble, and even many missions didn't require his participation, which genuinely gave Orochimaru a bit of a headache.

But now that this fellow appeared before his eyes, how could he not feel elated?

However, swiftly, he withdrew his gaze, for he knew he must not appear too unrestrained.

He certainly didn't want this fellow to perceive his intentions, thereby causing him to become wary of him.

"What do you mean?" Sasori, frowning, looked at the fellow before him, and then indifferently asked, "If I recall, your name is Zetsu, right?"

"Yes, you may call me that."

The white half of Zetsu nodded, and then his black half slowly took over the conversation.

"Without further ado, this time the destruction was indeed man-made, and the situation that emerged was somewhat beyond imagination.

Because it involves a Tailed Beast, I went to the scene to investigate. That place has been completely destroyed, but there are still many traces left.

I saw octopus tentacles there, as well as traces of fire burning. If nothing went awry, it was a clash between a Fire Style expert and the Eight Tails."

Eight Tails? Fire Style?

Upon the emergence of these two keywords, Orochimaru and Kisame's expressions unknowingly shifted, while Sasori lowered his head, beginning to ponder seriously.

Why would the Eight Tails appear here? It truly was a perplexing matter.

After all, the Eight Tails was the Hidden Cloud Village's strongest strategic weapon, and could even be dubbed one of the most lethal strategic weapons in the entire shinobi world.

The only one seemingly more potent than this creature appeared to be the Nine Tails. However, they didn't know who the Jinchuriki of the Nine Tails from the Hidden Leaf was now, only knowing it was a brat named Naruto.

Indeed, their mission was to collect Tailed Beasts, but exactly who the Tailed Beasts were remained a secret within each village—except for the Hidden Leaf.

However, they were all rogue ninjas from various villages, and they had once held high positions within their respective villages. Even upon leaving their villages, they left behind markers, awaiting to be utilized when needed.

They were all privy to matters within their own villages, but they wouldn't easily speak of affairs from other villages.

It was not so much that they wanted to protect their own village, but simply that there was no need to share these secrets with others.

If needed for a mission, perhaps they would say something, but outside of that, they would not engage in superfluous chatter.

Orochimaru, evidently, wouldn't say much about Naruto. Moreover, when he was in the Leaf Village, his primary focus had always been his experiments, without much interest in acquiring information about Naruto.

Now, turning back to the topic, even someone like Orochimaru, who held a high status in the Leaf Village, was unclear about the specific circumstances of his own Jinchuriki.

So, how could the Akatsuki, devoid of any members from the Hidden Cloud Village, know the situation of the Eight Tails Jinchuriki?

Currently, they did not know who the Eight Tails Jinchuriki was, at least as far as they were concerned now, nor why the Eight Tails Jinchuriki would come here and release the Tailed Beast to battle.

This left them even more puzzled; they truly didn't understand what it meant.

"The Eight Tails in the Land of Grass, what exactly is going on, and what happened to them?"

Kisame asked, utterly perplexed. He knew that their ultimate mission was the Tailed Beasts, so he still paid some attention to such matters.

Besides, he was also extremely wary of those who wielded the Tailed Beasts; he wanted to know what the outcome of their confrontation was.

After all, there was a chance they would encounter them in the future, so acquiring some information in advance wouldn't hurt.

"I cannot be certain why the Eight Tails is here, but some answers can be gleaned from speculation, and I think none of you are incapable of guessing, right?"

Black Zetsu's muffled, hoarse voice sounded again, causing everyone present to frown.

The Eight Tails Jinchuriki appearing here—could it be for intelligence gathering?

Actually, this thought was quite normal. If the Hidden Stone and Hidden Leaf were to clash, whoever interfered could benefit, right?

Thus, naturally, it's the Hidden Cloud!

And who, simultaneously, bears a grudge against both the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Stone?

The answer is still the Hidden Cloud!

Moreover, in the entire ninja world, who has the strength and energy to participate in this, and doesn't have to worry about backlash?

The answer remains the Hidden Cloud!

Although the Hidden Sand Village is nearby, and they themselves have not insignificant disputes with both the Leaf and the Stone, they simply do not have the energy and capability.

Furthermore, they also have the possibility of joining the battle. After all, having lost three Ninja Wars in a row, the Daimyo of the Wind Country has already cut off their supplies and fled.

They are in dire need of money; if they join the war and manage to achieve victory, it could significantly replenish their resources.

But the problem is, they scarcely have any powerful ninjas left from the aftermath of the three wars, and the Daimyo reducing the investment means they have no funds to train many young ninjas for all these years.

It's a vicious cycle, but they have no alternatives, and furthermore, the Leaf has produced an impeachment incident, and that fellow named Rasa is also a victim.

He did want to attempt to shift the conflict like Ōnoki, but he didn't have the capability to achieve that. It was unattainable!

So, all things considered, only the Hidden Cloud Village has this capability, and indeed, they can truly do it.

"Quite interesting, letting their own village's Jinchuriki execute this kind of mission; it's truly characteristic of the Hidden Cloud Village."

Orochimaru thought through all of this, he couldn't help but lick his lips; although he could not be certain, he somewhat sensed what was going on.

"Back in the days of the third war, their Raikage could run alone to the Hidden Stone Village for intelligence, ending up delivering his own life; they really are of a consistent lineage."

Sasori, as someone who indirectly helped Rasa instigate the war, wore an incomparably indifferent expression, and he even fearlessly began to mock the Third Raikage.

"I suspect, actually, I think it's not just the Eight Tails Jinchuriki because I found some interesting things at the scene,"

At this moment, Black Zetsu spoke again, simultaneously tossing an arm onto the ground.

"Though it is just a severed arm, I think all of you recognize what this is, right?"

All present gazed at the arm, their expressions starting to darken at this moment.

Even though this robust arm was severed, it still exhibited the unique sense of power it possessed, and the iron rings on the arm undeniably testified to whom this arm belonged!

"The Fourth Raikage?"

Kisame muttered to himself, he, of course, knew what the appearance of this arm implied!

The others shared his feelings; this suggested that the present situation was likely many times more complex than they had imagined.

Because this battle unexpectedly involved the Eight Tails and the Fourth Raikage!

"Based on my on-site investigation and judgment, it appears someone battled the Fourth Raikage and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki together,"

Black Zetsu gazed at the people before him, continuing to speak calmly.

"And the final result is, the Fourth Raikage lost an arm, and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki likely has been defeated; they have all been taken away.

I can rule out the possibility that the Fourth Raikage fought due to the Eight Tails losing control because I found traces of the Eight Tails protecting the Fourth Raikage.

And their opponent, unimaginably powerful. I saw numerous traces of sword strikes on the ground; those marks were likely left by that individual.

Of course, there may be errors in my deduction, after all, the information I have is limited. However, I have taken some precautionary measures.

I sent a clone to the Land of Lightning. As long as it can be confirmed that the Fourth Raikage is not in the Hidden Cloud Village, then all will have answers!"

After the meeting ended, Orochimaru returned to his residence alone, choosing not to be with the others.

But today's events indeed brought him considerable shock: one person single-handedly dealt with the Fourth Raikage and the Eight Tails Jinchuriki.

Even when the Jinchuriki had fully unleashed the Tailed Beast Mode, they still failed; such a level of combat truly rendered Orochimaru somewhat incomprehensible.

But after all, Orochimaru is not one to dwell overly on entanglements; if it cannot be understood, then just go inquire from someone in the know.

Actually, he already had an answer in his heart as to who achieved all of this, it's just that he cannot confirm it yet.

He now only hoped that through this conversation, he could obtain some genuinely valuable information.

"Ninjutsu: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Kaito, who had been resting in the Leaf camp, had leisurely spent more than half a month, and he had spent this time quite joyously.

Especially seeing that group of youngsters, each earnestly executing missions, and visibly, they began to change.

Even Hinata, the shy girl, started to bear the semblance of a ninja, which also felt quite interesting to Kaito.

After all, these little powerhouses achieved growth that surpassed the original story, which was definitely a good thing for their future.

However, Kaito also noticed something interesting, which was that among the teammates chosen by Neji, surprisingly, there was the existence of Kurenai Yūhi.

This did make Kaito take a bit more notice, after all, he was somewhat curious about this kind of illusion that could manipulate the five senses.

"Where have Naruto and Sasuke gone to, exactly? Why haven't they been seen at all?"

Standing not far from the camp gate, watching Guy and Kurenai lead Neji, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino in two teams respectively set off, he also muttered to himself inwardly.

However, he thought the issue should not be too significant, after all, the family did send quite a few elites from the security department to follow, and at the same time, that guy Kakuzu was also there.

And the person leading the team was still this guy Kakashi, no matter how you looked at it, there shouldn't be a problem.

But just at this moment, he was startled to perceive a new reaction from his hunting mark, and when he quickly went to check, his whole person fell into silence.

However, after being silent for a moment, a trace of excitement appeared on his face.

[Adaptation complete, Mark count: 1]

[Mark target——]

[Uchiha Madara!]

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