The Fire Daimyō unconsciously spoke the thoughts in his heart.
He suddenly froze. How did he unknowingly say what he was thinking?
He looked up and saw Jiraiya's gloomy face, along with Orochimaru's faint expression.
The Fire Daimyō's throat moved as he swallowed: "...I—I drank a little tonight, what I said just now was drunken nonsense, please don't take it seriously."
Orochimaru didn't care about this idiot's thoughts, but he was puzzled—why did the other party reveal his inner thoughts out loud?
He shifted his gaze downward toward Kairen, and immediately saw a pair of blood-red eyes, three tomoe circling a black pupil.
Orochimaru's dark gold serpent eyes suddenly narrowed as he gasped: "Sharingan?!"
Jiraiya also saw it, his forehead full of confusion: "Sharingan?! What's going on? I'm not seeing things, right?! Kairen has the Sharingan!"
Kairen crossed his arms, his face full of a subtle Sasuke-like arrogance.
Not pretending anymore. Cards on the table. He could call himself Senju Kairen, or Uchiha Kairen, or even Ōtsutsuki Kairen.
He was already invincible—why pretend to be a diva?! Just be as flamboyant as he wanted. Someone would fill in the explanations for him anyway.
The pitcher plant also saw it, and the image was transmitted straight into Uchiha Madara's eyes. Madara stood up in shock.
Ever since Wood Release appeared, his calm heart had been stirred again by a pair of metaphorical big hands.
"Sharingan—this makes no sense! How could someone from the Senju Clan possess the Uchiha Clan's Sharingan?"
Orochimaru was also making guesses nonstop. The first thing he thought of was human experimentation, but then he shook his head.
Kairen's records were clear. He had lived in the village since childhood and both parents were civilians.
His ancestral records were incomplete—perhaps the secret of Kairen's Kekkei genkai lay within them.
Someone who possessed both Wood Release and the Sharingan—who were his ancestors?
Could it be… he was the descendant of the First Hokage and Uchiha Madara?
Deep underground, Madara's eye twitched violently. It felt as if someone was slandering the pure friendship between him and Hashirama.
Orochimaru linked the history of Konoha before and after.
Suddenly his pupils shrank, brilliance flashing in his eyes, and he pointed at Kairen below:
"He is the descendant of Uchiha Madara and Uzumaki Mito."
Boom—
Jiraiya heard what sounded like thunder exploding in his mind. He stared at Orochimaru.
"What are you talking about?! You're slandering our predecessors!"
Orochimaru snorted. What was slandering predecessors? He even wanted to dig up their coffins!
Naturally, everything Orochimaru said was heard by Uchiha Madara.
A vigorous but elderly voice bellowed from the dark underground: "Brat!"
Madara was so angry his chakra surged, the entire cave trembling as if about to collapse.
He perked up his ears even more, preparing to hear how this "dead sannin," as he defined Orochimaru, would try to explain himself.
Orochimaru folded his arms and calmly explained: "In Konoha Year 10, Uchiha Madara brought the Nine-Tails to attack the village. He battled the First Hokage. Later, Uchiha Madara was killed, and the First Hokage died from exhaustion."
"I always wondered why the two founders of Konoha suddenly developed such a rift."
"Until I saw the miracle on Kairen-kun, then I understood."
"It turns out Uzumaki Mito and Uchiha Madara were in love—that's one part of the rift."
Kairen was completely stunned.
Was Orochimaru not afraid of dying?! How dare he slander Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara like this?
Well, he probably assumed Madara was already dead—he could say whatever he wanted! Blacken them however he wished!
Jiraiya frowned. "You think Kairen is the descendant of Lady Mito and Uchiha Madara, but that still doesn't explain his Wood Release."
Orochimaru chuckled. "Who told you Wood Release is exclusive to the Senju Clan? The Uzumaki Clan also has deep mastery over Yang Release, so theoretically they can use Wood Release as well."
"And most importantly, the Nine-Tails chakra within Kairen-kun—that's the key that reveals the truth of that old feud."
Kairen rubbed his hair. Somehow his existence had unjustly smeared both Hashirama and Madara. The Valley of the End battle was being rewritten into some messy love triangle.
"This—" Jiraiya's throat tightened, unable to speak.
Orochimaru burst into wild laughter. "Hahahaha… the mysteries of history turn out to be nothing more than a love triangle—laughable, absolutely laughable!"
...
"Brat! Brat!"
Uchiha Madara's chest rose and fell rapidly in fury.
The wrinkles on his face twisted together, his Sharingan bursting with endless killing intent.
"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him!"
His battle with Hashirama at the Valley of the End was about their ideals—not Uzumaki Mito!
Rage and killing intent spread relentlessly in his heart.
A layer of blue skeletal armor formed around Madara. He wanted to teleport to the surface right now and slice Orochimaru into snake pieces with his Susanoo blade.
White Zetsu's voice sounded: "Lord Madara, no! Your aged body cannot withstand additional combat."
Madara took a deep breath, snorted coldly, and sat back down with no expression.
"When I am reborn, I will absolutely torture him to death."
Orochimaru had no idea a powerful killing intent had locked onto him. Right now, he had only one thought filling his mind—taking Kairen's body.
This was the perfect moment to team up with Jiraiya, restrain Kairen, perform body-snatching reincarnation, and defy fate.
Orochimaru leapt off Gamabunta's head and formed the Summoning Seal midair: "Summoning: Manda!"
"Boom!" White smoke exploded.
A massive purple serpent with violet scales and dark ring patterns appeared amid the smoke.
The moment Manda arrived, it smelled overwhelming blood. The scent excited it to the extreme. It looked around—mountains of corpses and oceans of blood.
"Good! Good! Orochimaru, you're very sensible, bringing so many offerings! However, there's one flaw—dead ones aren't fresh!"
Orochimaru smiled without responding.
The atmosphere grew tense, the silent stillness before a great battle settling in.
The Fire Daimyō sensed the tightened atmosphere and grew excited: "Yes! Yes! Eliminate this damned rebel! Let him understand the consequences of offending me!"
Jiraiya suppressed his disgust. The Fire Daimyō had just spoken his inner thoughts aloud, and Jiraiya truly felt the sinister nature of nobles.
These people feared the power of shinobi yet had to rely on it.
Still, he was the ruler of the Land of Fire—Jiraiya had to protect him!
"Summoning Technique!"
Jiraiya slapped Gamabunta's head. With a puff of white smoke, Gama appeared.
Jiraiya said to him: "Protect the Fire Daimyō—don't let him get hurt."
Gama nodded, wrapped the Fire Daimyō with his tongue, then leapt away, leaving the battlefield of the three behind.