Chapter 278: Uchiha Brothers meet again

Finished.

A major problem has arisen.

This was Orochimaru's first thought.

Akihara Kagura had not been entirely certain about Nagato's Rinnegan; he had considered the possibility that the Rinnegan might be destroyed even before attempting to seize it.

This guy even had a backup Rinnegan.

As Orochimaru listened to Akihara Kagura discussing the relationship between the Uchiha clan and the Rinnegan, he understood the new term "Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."

"Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan..."

Orochimaru squinted his eyes, recalling the bloodline he had once coveted: "So the final evolution of the Uchiha clan's bloodline is to become the Rinnegan?"

The duel between the genius brothers Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke had not only attracted attention but was also part of Akihara Kagura's plan to cultivate the Rinnegan?

No wonder...

No wonder Akihara Kagura was grooming Uchiha Sasuke...

Because Uchiha Sasuke, that little guy, wasn't good at independent thinking and would mostly follow orders. He was the vessel for Akihara Kagura's Rinnegan cultivation...

Akihara Kagura always seemed to achieve multiple objectives with one move, making it impossible to understand his intentions until he reached his goal...

However...

Even now, it's already very troublesome!

While Orochimaru was still pondering, a voice called out from the shore, loudly shouting at Akihara Kagura: "Young Man, Sasuke is about to meet Uchiha Itachi!"

It was White Zetsu Awei.

White Zetsu Awei delivered this important news.

The sibling rivalry within the Uchiha clan was a deeply involved conspiracy.

Even Akihara Kagura had made numerous arrangements for this duel, and the group of Root ninjas assisting Uchiha Sasuke's revenge was not merely there to watch!

"It seems I don't have time to linger here."

Akihara Kagura glanced at Orochimaru, leisurely controlling the wooden dragon to rise into the sky, and said, "If the Rinnegan is truly hidden in the explosive tag trap, Lord Orochimaru, then please help me detonate it to avoid others fighting me for this weapon of war..."

"Hmm?"

Orochimaru looked at the unimpressed Akihara Kagura and forced a smile: "Kagura-kun, are you really not considering..."

To be blunt...

This might be his last chance to take Akihara Kagura's body, using the billions of explosive tags left by Konan, his only chance to defeat Akihara Kagura...

If next time, Akihara Kagura obtained the Rinnegan, combining the Sage's eyes and body, would he become the Sage of Six Paths?

"No consideration."

Akihara Kagura raised his hand, ready to leave.

"Kagura-kun..."

Orochimaru frowned, looking up at the flying wooden dragon.

"Almost forgot."

"This time you betrayed our alliance again."

Akihara Kagura suddenly stopped, quickly forming a seal with his hands, and a black summoning barrier rune flashed from his hand, landing directly on the lake surface.

"Wait..."

Orochimaru could only watch as the summoning rune landed. He recognized it as the necessary summoning rune for Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags.

The next moment!

The black summoning rune rapidly spread across the lake surface!

In an instant, the black rune covered the entire lake, revealing its true nature—stacks of thick explosive tags!

Strangely...

As the black summoning rune expanded, some small black summoning runes hidden here rapidly decayed and disappeared. Apparently, the previous person who tried to set up the summoning formation here didn't have strong enough chakra and could only arrange it bit by bit...

"There are other Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tag summoning formations set up here..."

Akihara Kagura glanced at Orochimaru and leisurely continued:

"Lord Orochimaru, have you forgotten I am the assistant to Konoha's Hokage? I mastered the forbidden technique of Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags long ago and even made some slight improvements..."

"Improvement?"

Orochimaru squinted his eyes, suddenly feeling uneasy.

"The Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tag originally involved an exponential summoning of explosive tags."

Akihara Kagura held a shuriken in his hand. He raised it and threw it down, with an explosive tag attached to the end: "But with some improvements, it can now use a single explosive tag as a trigger to instantly summon and detonate all the explosive tags..."

"What?"

Orochimaru's heart trembled.

There were billions of explosive tags in this area, and if Akihara Kagura detonated them instantly, the explosion would be enough to shake the entire Land of Rain!

Without much thought, Orochimaru's body transformed into a snake, his instincts screaming in warning, and a massive creature suddenly appeared!

This gigantic creature had eight snake heads and eight tails, roaring at Akihara Kagura's wooden dragon!

"Boom!"

Akihara Kagura snapped his fingers.

Boom!

The entire lake exploded suddenly!

All the explosive tags on the lake's surface were detonated in an instant!

Akihara Kagura swiftly maneuvered the wooden dragon away, feeling the shockwave of billions of explosive tags being ignited behind him!

A massive mushroom cloud rose behind him, radiating a heat as intense as the sun. The ground trembled violently, causing the entire Land of Rain to feel the quake, and many places even witnessed the rising mushroom cloud!

By a small river.

Konan and Nagato felt the tremors beneath their feet.

They both turned their heads towards the direction of the Akatsuki base and saw the ascending mushroom cloud. Konan couldn't hide the shock in her eyes.

"Did Orochimaru... succeed?"

A drop of cold sweat trickled down Konan's cheek.

"Perhaps..."

Nagato's face darkened; they were still unaware of the situation there.

However...

Finding a safe place was the most urgent matter now.

"Let's find Sasori first..."

Nagato decided to look for Sasori of the Red Sand. He took Konan's ring to use the Rinnegan's power to locate Sasori and the others.

Sasori was undoubtedly the most trustworthy member within the Akatsuki.

When Akihara Kagura first almost brought the Akatsuki to the brink of destruction, it was Sasori who voluntarily took him and Konan away.

On a rock in the Land of Rain.

Sasori and Kakuzu were still watching Deidara and Hidan argue.

However, when the massive explosion and tremor hit, the two finally stopped and looked in surprise at the rising mushroom cloud.

"This is art!"

Deidara spread his arms wide, gazing fervently at the mushroom cloud: "This is the greatest art in the ninja world. One day, I will create such art too!"

"..."

Sasori shook his head helplessly.

"Isn't that the direction of our base..."

Hidan curiously asked as he looked back at the location of the explosion.

This question startled everyone present, making each person ponder why such a massive explosion occurred...

Besides the Akatsuki members...

No one else in the Land of Rain could create such a large-scale explosion, right?

"Is Pain contacting us?"

Kakuzu quickly glanced at the ring on his hand.

"Let's answer it."

Sasori also looked at his ring.

This was the Akatsuki's communication method. No matter the distance, they could use the rings to perform the Technique and establish a group communication channel through the Rinnegan.

However...

The signal from the rings soon ceased.

Nagato, who was initially trying to locate Sasori and the others, encountered a Rain Ninja searching for them, who informed them that Jiraiya and Hanzo the Salamander were looking for them.

Nagato had to abandon contacting the Akatsuki members for now, only notifying Sasori and Kakuzu to head to Rain Village instead of returning to the base, where they would meet.

Rain Village.

This small village was filled with industrial style.

Jiraiya stood atop a tower in Rain Village, looking worriedly at the distant mushroom cloud from the explosion, his heart mixed with feelings.

"Orochimaru, that guy..."

"An explosion of that scale is enough to destroy Rain Village."

Hanzo the Salamander stood beside Jiraiya, also staring at the mushroom cloud, advising in a deep voice, "The chance of that Sannin kid surviving is slim... you might not even find his body."

"..."

Jiraiya fell silent.

The Akatsuki base.

Or rather, it should now be called the former Akatsuki base.

The power of billions of explosive tags had completely obliterated the entire Akatsuki base, leaving only a crater the size of a city.

Fortunately.

These were merely explosive tags.

The quantitative change did not lead to a more terrifying qualitative change.

A massive snake lay in the crater, its body still writhing, now entirely charred with fractures everywhere.

When it appeared, it had eight heads and tails.

Now...

It had only half a tail and one head left.

At the moment of the explosion, its body instantly curled up, wrapping one of its heads, barely leaving one head intact.

That head bit down on the charred part of its body. The intense pain made it let out a low growl, but it stubbornly continued to bite.

These wounds were insignificant.

As long as it was still alive, its body could recover and heal.

Perhaps due to the severe depletion of chakra within its body, the eight-headed serpent finally had no choice but to give up. It slowly opened its mouth, and a human figure crawled out from it, collapsing weakly to the ground.

It was Orochimaru.

This guy had survived again.

Even in such a dire state, he still lived.

"Akihara Kagura..."

Orochimaru's fingers were too weak to move.

If he hadn't used the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique at the last moment before the explosion, transforming into the body of the eight-headed serpent, he might already be dead and buried by now...

"That guy..."

Orochimaru tried to grit his teeth but didn't even have the strength to do so. He could only sit and recover his energy: "I still need to send a message to that idiot Jiraiya; his troublesome disciple has a spare Rinnegan..."

"Have him quickly send word to Konoha..."

"Tell Konoha's people to kill Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi directly..."

"No..."

"That won't work..."

Orochimaru recalled Akihara Kagura's speed, realizing he was being too optimistic: "There probably isn't enough time..."

Indeed.

There probably wasn't enough time.

For now, it would be good enough if they could find Nagato first.

However, while they were busy searching for Nagato, Akihara Kagura might have already taken away the victor among the Uchiha brothers, Uchiha Itachi, and Uchiha Sasuke.

Land of Fire.

A former Uchiha stronghold.

This stronghold had long been abandoned. The outside appeared desolate and dilapidated, while the inside was somewhat clean, despite being filled with ruins. It barely served as a place to rest for a while.

This place...

Was where Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi had agreed to settle their vendetta.

Uchiha Sasuke sat on a stone chair inside the stronghold, while other Root ninjas stood scattered around. Some stood on the broken walls, others behind the door beams.

In theory...

This should have been a duel between brothers.

However, everyone present had the right to seek revenge against Uchiha Itachi, because they once shared the same surname and possessed the same kekkei genkai.

"Karin has sent a message."

An Uchiha walked in from the front, speaking softly: "Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki have arrived, just outside the stronghold..."

"Shall we go out and kill him?"

"Let's go kill him!"

"Or should we wait for him to come to us?"

Everyone present became somewhat excited.

However, as this group of Uchiha grew more fervent, they started arguing noisily, reminiscent of old clan meetings, which gave Uchiha Sasuke a headache.

"Quiet down!"

Uchiha Sasuke hastily stopped them, the young man trying to imitate his father as he spoke to calm the clan members: "We agreed to fight on this old clan ground, so let's wait for him to come here. We'll kill him here and complete the Uchiha's revenge..."

Outside the stronghold.

Karin stood with a team.

When Uchiha Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki arrived, Karin reached out to stop them and spoke softly: "That shark face stays, only Uchiha Itachi can enter."

"Itachi."

Kisame Hoshigaki shouldered his Samehada and pointed it towards Karin from afar: "They don't seem very friendly!"

"I'll go in alone."

Uchiha Itachi shook his head, preventing a possible clash between Kisame Hoshigaki and Karin, and walked past Karin on his own.

After passing by Karin, Uchiha Itachi suddenly remembered something and said to Kisame Hoshigaki: "Kisame, you should go back."

"Itachi?"

Kisame Hoshigaki frowned but then relaxed and chuckled: "If Itachi dies here, someone has to collect the body, right?"

"No need."

Uchiha Itachi shook his head and walked into the stronghold.

~~~

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— Ending + Extra Chapters!

Read upto Chapter 348: End! + Extra Chapters of Sasuke's Rebirth where the world Akihara Kagura is not around.

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