At the border of the Land of Rice Fields, a unit of Konoha ninjas entered the country.
Ninjas formed a unit at a scale of a hundred, but this group far exceeded that number. Calling them a ninja army wasn't inaccurate.
"The Land of Rice Fields is quite peaceful now," Shisui remarked as he observed the scenery around him, sincerely praising it.
This wasn't how the country used to be.
Compared to the Land of Fire, it was colder, but most of its land was arable. Though it only yielded one harvest per year, it was far better than the neighboring Land of Iron and Land of Hot Water.
The Land of Iron was covered in snow year-round, relying on its abundant minerals to sustain itself. The Land of Hot Water, mostly mountainous, thrived on tourism. Without a ninja village, such a place naturally became a hotspot for rogue ninjas and small ninja organizations.
That was until the establishment of Oto.
"Things are indeed much better now. This also reduces the burden on the Land of Fire," Masashi said.
This land could sustain a ninja force of considerable size and quality. At the end of the Warring States period, this region housed a powerful ninja organization capable of defending an entire country. However, in the early days of the village system, they offended Konoha, so they ceased to exist.
Grave desecration and assassination, never delayed overnight.
Since then, the ninja world of this country had been in disarray. Despite its wealth, the lack of order led to suffering among civilians, which in turn affected the border regions of the Land of Fire.
That was until Oto was founded.
Its strategy mirrored what Nagato did after taking over Ame, recruit or eliminate.
The difference was that in the Land of Rice Fields, those who opposed Oto tended to disappear entirely.
Orochimaru was undoubtedly not a good person, but everyone knew that he only experimented on those who could refine chakra, ordinary people didn't interest him. And those who disrupted the country's social order? Every single one of them made excellent research material.
Thus, this undeniably villainous figure brought unprecedented stability to the Land of Rice Fields.
Wherever he set up a lab, the area became peaceful, so peaceful that even the usual social structures barely existed.
However, the arrival of a Konoha ninja army disrupted this fragile peace.
This unrest, though, was limited to the nobility. The Konoha ninja quickly noticed that, unlike the citizens of other small nations, the common folk of the Land of Rice Fields did not fear their uniformed presence.
It was the lords who wore forced smiles.
As per protocol, Masashi first paid a visit to the lord of the Land of Rice Fields.
Initially anxious, the lord relaxed upon hearing that it was Masashi. He warmly received him and agreed to all of Konoha's requests without hesitation.
A perfect display of hospitality.
Afterward, Masashi continued his march toward Oto. By now, Oto had been fully built.
Before even reaching the village entrance, Masashi spotted its so-called leadership. In reality, there was no leadership, only high-ranking tools.
The village head had already changed hands. The former Number Two tool had been promoted. As for what happened to Number One, Masashi didn't need to ask.
After all, the reward-and-punishment system of Oto was quite simple. Still, asking despite knowing the answer was a traditional virtue among ninjas.
As Masashi's squad approached, the tools, no, the officials, came forward to greet them.
Under Orochimaru's influence, the Oto ninjas had the audacity to challenge anyone. They believed themselves to be elite warriors hardened in a crucible of death.
But the man before them was a demon. So, they greeted him with enthusiasm.
"Where's your boss?" Masashi glanced around. "Why didn't he come?"
In other villages, pleasantries were necessary, but not in Oto. After all, he and Orochimaru were so "close." There was no need to be polite with mere future test subjects.
"Masashi-sama, our village recently underwent a leadership change." The new Number One tool forced a smile.
This was a man who could chat and laugh with Orochimaru, someone not to be trifled with. As one of the privileged few in Oto who could hear Orochimaru's eerie chuckle without ending up on an operating table, he had witnessed what "chatting and laughing" really meant.
Orochimaru had been genuinely delighted back then. And that was terrifying. Even Kabuto couldn't achieve that.
"So, does that mean you're in charge now?" Masashi glanced at him.
"N-No! I merely serve the people!" Number One nearly pissed himself.
There were too many witnesses. Someone would surely report this conversation to Orochimaru. After all, the last guy was eliminated that way.
In charge? More like lying on an operating table, he thought. He had to clarify this immediately.
That way, as per Orochimaru's rules, any snitch would also have to repeat his clarification.
Such was the simple honesty of Oto's culture. Those who disrespected it became raw materials.
"Well, you're quite progressive," Masashi nodded. "A leader with such a strong sense of service, Oto has a bright future."
Number One felt like Masashi was trying to get him killed. He swore he had never offended this man before...
"Please spare me…" He was about to cry. He felt like today was the day he would die. This wasn't an exaggeration, it was just a fact. The ecosystem of Oto was unique.
But for such a group to form and continue growing, Orochimaru's generosity played a crucial role. Trading one's life for ninjutsu, taking a gamble where a bicycle could turn into a motorcycle, this kind of exchange made perfect sense to wandering ninjas.
"Hahaha, I was just joking." Masashi suddenly laughed, and the atmosphere instantly relaxed.
"Please, this way."
"No problem, let's go together."
With that, the group marched into the village.
Oto had fully prepared for the arrival of the Konoha ninjas. When they entered, they immediately noticed how sparsely populated the place was.
"Our village is small, and we have a limited number of ninja. Right now, it's the peak season for missions in the Land of Rice Fields, so most of our people are out." Number One explained, noticing the confusion on their faces.
Masashi neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
He didn't know how many people Orochimaru had recruited, but there were definitely more than this.
Clearly, most of them had been moved underground. Probably to avoid unnecessary conflicts between the rank-and-file Oto ninjas and the Konoha ninjas accompanying him.
Given the mindset of those Oto ninjas, that was highly likely.
"If an enemy were to invade, leader, do you think your current numbers could hold out?" Itachi suddenly asked.
"Everyone in the ninja world knows that we're under Konoha's protection, who would dare to attack us?" Number One responded smoothly.
He didn't know Itachi's identity, but he noticed how this young man could speak freely in front of Masashi without being interrupted. That meant he was close to him, so he dared not be negligent.
To be safe, he even added a few extra compliments.
Unfortunately, Itachi had inherited his father's signature expressionless face. He didn't even blink.
Number One received no reaction, but he didn't show any dissatisfaction either. He simply maintained his enthusiastic demeanor. When the group arrived at the central area of Oto, he invited Masashi into the building representing the village's core.
"Shisui, Torune, stay here with the others. Remember to respect the customs of Oto," Masashi instructed before entering with the tools.
The remaining Konoha ninjas stayed behind, waiting.
Shisui and Torune immediately understood Masashi's words.
As battle-hardened ninjas, they could tell that something was off about this village. The leader didn't act like a leader. The subordinates didn't act like subordinates.
And as they observed their surroundings, they felt an undeniable sense of unease. The regular Konoha guards were already on alert, but for those who had been in Root, everything about this place screamed trap.
So even though they were technically waiting, they remained in a state of readiness, prepared for combat at any moment.
The Oto ninjas left in the village were also observing the Konoha ninjas.
"Dosu, so those from Konoha?"
On a high vantage point in Oto, a black-haired boy looked at the distant figures. From his perspective, the Konoha ninjas gathered in front of the so-called leader's building were nothing more than black specks.
"So what if they are? Don't cause trouble," his hunchbacked companion replied. "I don't want to lose my exam slot over this."
"I heard that their genin are all coddled by their parents." A girl twirled a kunai in her hand. "I can't wait for the exams, I want to see them cry."
Even though they're my teammates, these two are complete idiots… Dosu silently thought to himself.
Just because Konoha had more people, did that really make them the strongest village in the ninja world?
What do these two even use their brains for?
The three of them had been selected to participate in the Chunin Exams, but Dosu had no expectations for the team battles, not with these two. Still, recalling Orochimaru's only instruction made him uneasy.
Was that really all there was to it? Just taking the exam?
Since when did the Oto ninjas operate that way?
What exactly was Orochimaru planning?
Not being informed meant not being recognized. And in Oto, a ninja without Orochimaru's recognition had no future.
After all, the village had no Ninja Academy. Here, if you wanted to learn ninjutsu there was only one source: Orochimaru.
He needed to understand why they were participating in these exams. If he could grasp the reason, perhaps he could earn Orochimaru's recognition.
He wasn't like Zaku. Zaku was a reckless fool, but at least his loyalty to Orochimaru was genuine.
Dosu, on the other hand, had joined Oto for power.
He had no master.
His master was himself.
I will make you recognize me, Orochimaru…
---
It was clear that many aspects of Oto were actually modeled after Konoha. For example, the building that represents the village's center of power.
The difference was that there was no public administrative hall here. Oto did accept missions from the outside, but they have a separate facility for processing them.
Masashi stepped into this building, the symbol of Oto's authority. As soon as he entered, the door behind him closed with a loud rumble.
Number One revealed his true colors, he respectfully bowed and said to Masashi, "Please, this way."
No more pretending! Cards on the table! I'm just here to work!
He conveyed this message clearly through his body language.
"..." This guy is really overacting.
"Lead the way."
"Got it!"
After this brief exchange, Number One eagerly led Masashi through the building.
The interior layout was quite similar to the Hokage Building. Having been a major figure in Konoha for many years, Orochimaru was most familiar with the Hokage Building.
In the Hokage Building, the Hokage's office door had a plaque that read "Hokage Office."
Similarly, Number One led Masashi to a door with a plaque that read "Otokage Office." Then, after opening the door for him, they stepped aside. Masashi walked in and, without waiting for them to enter or close the door, he slammed it shut himself.
"Masashi, why the big temper?" Inside the office, Orochimaru sat in his chair, smiling slyly.
This was indeed an office in the proper sense, not just for show, this was where he actually handled documents. Running an organization required approving paperwork. Oto was a crucial source of cash flow for Orochimaru and an important intelligence-gathering platform. While he was dedicated to his research, he also took governance seriously.
"You still have some resentment about not becoming Hokage, don't you?" Masashi sat down across from him, pulling over a chair.
"To say I don't feel anything at all would be a lie," Orochimaru said, separated from Masashi by a desk. His golden, snake-like eyes concealed his true emotions as always.
His eyes were always full of rich emotions.
Whether they were genuine or not, that was for his opponent to determine.
"Will Oto be participating in the joint Chunin Exams?"
"Of course. I have plenty of outstanding young talents here."
"Then give me the participant list."
Orochimaru pushed a scroll across the desk.
The scroll wasn't thick, Masashi unrolled it and could take in all its contents at a glance.
"Only three people?"
"A ninja's strength isn't measured by numbers. These three are exceptional."
Exceptional enough to be materials for Edo Tensei, huh? Masashi put away the scroll, his face unreadable.
"Are you familiar with these three children? Why not take a closer look?"
"I'm not. But I have no interest in the dead," Masashi replied, watching him. "Recently, someone infiltrated the Hokage's graveyard, did you know that?"
Some things were better discussed openly.
Apart from listing the candidates' names, the roster also included their mission history and photos.
The three names on Oto's list were identical to those from the original timeline.
These three were Orochimaru's sacrifices for Edo Tensei.
Given Konoha's ANBU's lackluster performance in recent years, even with the association's intelligence channels, Masashi couldn't determine for sure whether the joint Chunin Exams would have any unexpected incidents.
But he had his own methods of judgment. At the very least, he could gauge Orochimaru's and the Tsuchikage's intentions. Just by looking at who they were sending.
For the sake of curse mark research, he had been in contact with Orochimaru for quite some time. He had long since noticed that Oto didn't even have a formal ninja ranking system, they probably only had an experimental subject ranking system.
What was the point of an organization without a ninja ranking system participating in the Chunin Exams?
Thus, if the Edo Tensei sacrifices showed up, there was a 90% chance Orochimaru was up to something, it might just be a different scheme than before.
If the young Tsuchikage showed up, then Iwa was definitely up to something, just like in the original timeline. As for whether the Tsuchikage would come, that was still uncertain.
But these three sacrifices? That was confirmed.
Still, Masashi was puzzled.
Three of them...
In the original timeline, the three sacrifices corresponded to the Idiot, the Rich Guy, and the Workaholic.
But the Workaholic was still alive in this timeline.
So who was the third one?
Would it be him? Unlikely, he was alive and well, so how could he be used for Edo Tensei?
In his life as Muzo, he had never been able to confirm whether Edo Tensei truly summoned souls or merely replicated chakra. But based on the Fourth Great Ninja War from the original timeline, it was most likely actual souls. After all, Hagoromo had pulled a bunch of people straight from the Pure Land to assist in battle.
So, whether the Pure Land naturally existed in this world or was created later by Hagoromo, it was undeniably real. The only question was whether the beings inside it were actual souls or merely chakra imprints.
However, Masashi didn't really care whether Orochimaru would ever use Edo Tensei on him. Even if the technique simply copied chakra, a duplicate with memories from Muzo would know how to break free from Edo Tensei's control.
Someone who regularly resurrected others with Edo Tensei had to always be prepared for the possibility of being resurrected themselves. This was simply a precautionary measure.
What Masashi truly cared about were the Idiot and the Rich Guy. If the Edo Tensei from the Fourth Great Ninja War was used in this way, he could accept it, after all, he missed those two people. But if it was anything like the one used during the Chūnin Exams in the original timeline…
Zero tolerance.
He reached up and touched the Curse Mark on his neck, debating whether he should activate the Rinnegan right now and deal Orochimaru a direct blow.
Genjutsu might not be the most reliable option, but the Human Path seemed like a much more definitive approach.
"The Hokage's graveyard… Was the target the First Hokage's cells?" Orochimaru showed no cracks in his composure. "I didn't expect that, besides me, there's someone else capable of handling such advanced research. I'd love to meet them."
Since he hadn't carelessly said something like, "Were the First and Second Hokage's cells stolen?" which would have been an indirect confession, Masashi continued to probe.
"You won't meet them. I'll find out who it is and kill them."
"You're quite bloodthirsty." Orochimaru looked slightly surprised.
Masashi stared at Orochimaru, who calmly met his gaze.
"Are you suspecting me?"
"Are you not worth suspecting?"
"Now that you put it that way..." Orochimaru thought for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose I do seem quite suspicious."
"So, you're admitting it?"
"Of course not. Tell you what, if I tampered with the Hokage's grave, then…" Orochimaru's expression suddenly turned solemn, "…let all my research data since leaving Konoha be completely wrong."
Now that was a vicious oath.
There was nothing Orochimaru valued more than his research data, absolutely nothing.
And after dealing with the Sannin for so many years, Masashi had realized something: Orochimaru actually took oaths very seriously. He hated being forced to swear anything, and if someone pressured him into making an oath, he'd likely eliminate them.
Of course, this didn't mean he trusted other people's oaths. Orochimaru seemed to subscribe to the philosophy: "When I swear an oath, I tell the truth. When you swear an oath, you're just talking nonsense."
"That's pretty extreme. So you really had nothing to do with it?"
"What would I need those cells for?" Orochimaru replied. "I have my own principles. I've already determined that research path to be unfeasible, I wouldn't waste resources on it again."
He sounded so convincing that Masashi couldn't be completely sure anymore. If possible, he didn't want to lose Orochimaru as an important research collaborator. But if he had to weigh his options, the lesser evil was the better choice.
"This is a serious matter. I hope you understand."
"Oh?" Orochimaru's usual smirk faded. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Personally, I believe you. But you know as well as I do, we are ninjas," Masashi said. "I have a lie detection method, and I need your cooperation."
The Human Path... calling it a "lie detector" wasn't exactly a lie. Masashi had never used it before, and he wanted to test it out.
"What if I refuse?" Orochimaru asked. As an intelligence expert, he had already verified the truth behind certain rumors.
He knew for a fact that the Uchiha in front of him had acquired the Rinnegan. Regarding the Rinnegan, despite lacking suitable test subjects, Orochimaru had already made several bold theoretical assumptions.
The rumor that Masashi had "copied" the Rinnegan, Orochimaru judged that to be half-true, half-false.
The copying part was false. But the fact that he had obtained the Rinnegan was true. The Sharingan was one of the key pathways to unlocking the secrets of the Rinnegan. Because of this, Orochimaru had already formulated a daring plan.
Even if it meant offending the Uchiha, he was willing to take that risk. If he could uncover the secrets of the Rinnegan, then everything would be worth it.
Actually, this might be an opportunity… A thought crossed Orochimaru's mind.
At this point, he had already mastered several key jutsu, and he was quite confident in his own survival abilities.
"If you refuse, I'll still do it by force," Masashi said coldly. He had never trusted Orochimaru and seeing the three sacrificial candidates only made him trust him even less.
"In that case, fine," Orochimaru said.
Perhaps because of the sudden reversal, Masashi, who had already been preparing to activate his Curse Mark, hesitated and looked at him in confusion.
"Forcing others with power is also a very standard ninja tactic," Orochimaru said as he stood up. "However, I don't think either of us wants to end our collaboration so abruptly."
Orochimaru smiled. "I know a good place. Want to come with me?"
"Go there for what?"
"If we fight here, our collaboration will have to end, we'd become enemies. But if we change locations, and you manage to defeat me, then naturally, you'll have the final say."