With every grim word uttered by Shen Mo, the faces of the two Hokage darkened with unimaginable sorrow and dread.
Tobirama Senju tried repeatedly to interject, to demand explanations for the destruction of the Uchiha or the abandonment of their protocols, but each attempt was eclipsed by yet more devastating news. The Konoha they had bled and died for was crumbling, managed by a former student who now faced betrayal from his own apprentice.
"Is that fool Hiruzen Sarutobi still alive?"
Tobirama Senju's disembodied head radiated an aura of rage potent enough to chill the air. The entire Senju clan gone? Hiruzen's apprentice attempting to destroy the village? He had entrusted the future to his student, and this was the catastrophic result.
"This is truly... profoundly disappointing," Hashirama Senju murmured, his expression etched with a deep, crushing sadness for the destruction of his greatest dream.
"The current Hokage is indeed still Hiruzen Sarutobi. He even recently acquired a handful of Jars from me," Shen Mo commented with a faint smile, then abruptly shifted his gaze. "The excitement here appears to have concluded. So, since neither of you intends to purchase anything, farewell."
"Wait—"
Before Tobirama Senju could complete his protest, Shen Mo vanished with sudden, decisive finality.
The magical pause in time instantly dissolved.
The inexorable process of disintegration resumed, accelerating the decay of their Edo Tensei forms.
"Hateful!"
Tobirama Senju roared in impotent fury, but it was over. The name Shen Mo became his final, perplexing memory.
Shen Mo had truly left. He had not intended to sell to the Hokage immediately; there was no rush. His priority lay elsewhere: Orochimaru.
The moment was ripe for a sales pitch to the thoroughly humiliated Sannin.
Despite his horrific injuries, Orochimaru had managed to survive long enough for his subordinates to intervene. Kabuto Yakushi, leading the remaining Sound Five, had covered the escape, eventually reaching a secluded refuge.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto Yakushi finally spoke, his voice strained with urgency. "Your injuries are catastrophic. We must stabilize you immediately."
Orochimaru's arms were entirely useless, his lower body was critically compromised, and his internal organs were severely damaged by the shockwaves and the Holy Light's burning touch. Any ordinary person would have died instantly.
"Focus on the immediate treatment," Orochimaru gasped, coughing up a fresh mouthful of blood.
"Once we stabilize the damage, we must return to the base at once to prepare a suitable new vessel for the Body Replacement Technique," Kabuto stated, administering a potent pill and beginning to weave the Mystical Palm Technique.
This loss was immense. The female body he currently inhabited was the finest vessel he had ever used, perfectly harmonized with his soul, allowing him to operate at his peak for nearly eight years. Now, it was utterly ruined.
"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto asked, his voice shaking with disbelief. "Is Tsunade, the legendary Sannin, truly capable of such power?"
Kabuto had never witnessed Orochimaru so thoroughly defeated and decimated. They had gone in with the terrifying power of the Edo Tensei, and yet they had suffered this crushing loss.
"That is what defies all logic," Orochimaru whispered, his eyes still wide with raw astonishment. "Tsunade is a medical specialist. While formidable, she should not possess this degree of destructive power. Furthermore, she somehow managed to shatter the Impure World Reincarnation technique."
"What!?" Kabuto Yakushi's pupils contracted sharply. The miraculous, sacred forbidden technique had been defeated?
"I do not comprehend the nature of that power."
Orochimaru remembered the blinding white light, his gaze filled with a complex mixture of yearning and primal fear. It was no ordinary energy. Every time that weapon glowed, an overwhelming sense of dread had surged through his mind, an instinct telling him that the power was irresistible, that his efforts were futile, and that even dying beneath its light would be a perverse honor.
What in the depths of existence is that power?
"That power is the Holy Light."
A calm, resonant voice suddenly cut through the air. Orochimaru and Kabuto instantly froze, their skin crawling with adrenaline.
Kabuto snatched a kunai, placing himself protectively in front of the crippled Orochimaru.
Standing before them was a man in a black suit, holding a staff, with a white cat perched nonchalantly on his shoulder. Such attire was utterly impractical for a Shinobi.
At that moment...
"Miyav."
The cat, Himari, yawned, its gaze drifting sideways to Kabuto Yakushi, before it deliberately extended its tiny claws.
You are prey.
A tremendous, paralyzing wave of pressure slammed into Kabuto. He stared at the fluffy kitten in sheer terror. To his heightened senses, Himari was no ordinary animal but the most fearsome apex predator, the natural enemy of all that lived. The slightest move would result in instant, brutal capture and death.
How can a human possess a natural enemy?
"Himari," Shen Mo spoke gently, stroking the cat.
Himari responded with an affectionate rub against her owner's palm, retracting her claws.
The suffocating pressure vanished, leaving Kabuto Yakushi drenched in cold sweat, his entire body trembling.
Shen Mo was pleased. After their last campaign, he had rewarded Himari with a cultivation manual for the Yōkai lineage and slightly improved her bloodline toward the mythical White Tiger. For someone with Kabuto's intensely sensitive nature, the concentrated, predatory blood pressure was devastatingly effective.
Orochimaru, observing Kabuto's shaking legs, realized something profound was wrong. He fixed his serpentine gaze on Shen Mo.
He was certain he had never seen this man.
"Didn't you just say you wanted to meet me?" Shen Mo walked slowly forward, his voice soft and persuasive.
A sudden, desperate realization struck Orochimaru.
"Are you Tsunade's man!?" he shrieked.
Shen Mo paused, a slight look of perplexity on his face. "That is a misunderstanding. Tsunade is merely one of my clients."
"A client?" Orochimaru repeated, his voice raspy as the mysterious man approached him.
Would you like Shen Mo to offer a direct, highly-discounted recovery and power-up package to the beaten Orochimaru, or to explain Tsunade's Paladin class in detail?