"Hanzo? That man was strong, and his poison techniques were formidable. How could he just…"
Orochimaru trailed off, clearly taken aback. He had not expected the upheaval in the Land of Rain to be caused by Hanzo's death.
But another question quickly surfaced.
"Kenichi, how did you know?"
He looked up at his disciple. Even though this new body was shorter and he had to tilt his head back to meet his eyes, the pressure in his gaze was the same as ever.
He had not heard any news about Hanzo's death. How had his disciple learned of it?
On top of that, Amegakure would never casually announce the death of its village leader. The village did not have many powerful shinobi to begin with. Hanzo had been their only true pillar.
The death of someone like that absolutely had to be concealed. If word spread, it would immediately attract the attention of hungry wolves from other lands.
"Because I joined an organization there," Kenichi replied, raising his hand, "and the leader of that organization, Pain, told me."
A ring gleamed on his finger.
Orochimaru's eyes flicked to it. The ring was engraved with the character for "jade," its design unusual and refined.
"An organization? A leader?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, a dangerous light flashing through them. It seemed his disciple really had grown up while he was occupied.
"Teacher, you will definitely be interested," Kenichi continued, unable to hide his excitement. "That leader's eyes are the eyes of a sage."
He knew Orochimaru would react to that.
After all, they were the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. Kenichi had seen his teacher poring over ancient scrolls many times.
One of the illustrations showed the Sage of Six Paths, and the concentric rings around his eyes were the most striking part of the image.
"The Rinnegan?"
Orochimaru clearly knew more about that old legend than Kenichi had imagined. His gaze sharpened further. If that was truly the case, then this organization was far from ordinary.
Until now, he had thought the Rinnegan was nothing more than exaggeration from the distant past, a way for people to glorify the Sage of Six Paths. He had not expected it to actually exist in the modern era.
"Tell me how your mission went," Orochimaru said.
He shaped the floor with Earth Release, forming two simple stone chairs, then sat and fixed his eyes on Kenichi.
He was very interested.
Kenichi sat as well and honestly recounted his entire journey.
Even so, his expression turned a little awkward partway through. Orochimaru, focused solely on listening, did not seem concerned about how he was sitting, and from his angle Kenichi could vaguely see more of his posture than felt appropriate.
"Kenichi Amamiya, get a grip. You are seriously overthinking things," he scolded himself internally.
What was there to be embarrassed about?
The blonde girl in front of him might look cute at a glance, but the problem was that this "girl" was Orochimaru, his teacher, the one who liked to experiment with snakes.
Not a figure you casually stared at, regardless of the body being used.
"The Akatsuki, huh? I have heard of them," Orochimaru murmured, resting his chin on one hand as he thought. "It was said they were wiped out. It seems that was not accurate."
Orochimaru had indeed heard of the organization before, active in the Land of Rain. At the time, he had dismissed them as a laughably naive group.
The idea of pursuing peace in the ninja world had always sounded absurd to him, practically impossible.
Still, it seemed they had some connection to that fool Jiraiya. That alone made things more complicated.
"Oh, right, teacher. The Akatsuki also extended an invitation to you."
Kenichi suddenly remembered something he had nearly forgotten.
He took a second, empty ring from his pocket and handed it to Orochimaru.
"Oh? This is interesting."
Orochimaru smiled faintly, then casually took the ring and slipped it onto his finger.
Watching that motion, Kenichi scratched the back of his head. Something about the scene felt oddly awkward.
He knew he was just passing along an Akatsuki token, but the way he had just placed the ring in his teacher's hand made it feel more like some stiff, ceremonial gesture than a simple delivery.
Orochimaru, however, did not dwell on it at all.
He had originally planned to move to a nearby small country, establish his own organization, and continue his research there. Now, however, it seemed he had a new direction.
The Akatsuki.
He did not particularly care about an idealistic group that had once been nearly wiped out. What interested him was its new leader and those Rinnegan eyes.
Eyes known in legend as the Sage's Eyes.
Orochimaru coveted that power deeply.
"You did very well, Kenichi. Did you not say you needed some materials? I have already prepared them for you. They are in Lab 3," Orochimaru said, looking at his disciple with satisfaction.
He had originally only wanted to send him away so he could focus on his own rebirth. He had not expected him to come back having secured such a valuable connection.
On top of that, he had deliberately chosen to meet him in this body's original appearance, using it as a test of his loyalty. He wanted to see if he would show disrespect, take advantage of his apparent vulnerability, or attempt to probe his current strength.
So far, his behavior had been acceptable. He had not tried anything out of line.
"Thank you, teacher!"
Kenichi's eyes lit up with genuine excitement. He had previously asked Orochimaru for materials used in creating thermobaric bombs. He had not expected his teacher to actually secure them in such a short time.
That kind of item was not cheap.
"It was nothing."
Orochimaru paused, then looked him over more intensely.
"By the way, Kenichi… you can see my current body clearly, right?" he asked in a serious tone.
"I can, teacher. What exactly is going on?"
Although Kenichi already understood the situation, he certainly could not show it. He played dumb, acting completely confused about his new appearance.
He had assumed Orochimaru did not intend to explain it at all.
"This is the Reanimation Jutsu I developed. If you want to learn it in the future, I can teach you," Orochimaru said with a thin smile.
Kenichi blinked, momentarily stunned. He had not expected his teacher to bring it up so directly.
Almost immediately, he thought of the experiments he had previously taken over. He remembered clearly that one of the logs had contained a chilling line:
"After the transfer, the body and soul may be significantly weakened due to fusion issues."
"Thank you, teacher. But I am still young. I do not need it for now," Kenichi answered with an easy smile.
He suspected his teacher was probing him again.
He even wondered if the line he had seen in that Konoha logbook had been deliberately left there for him to read, just another piece on Orochimaru's experimental chessboard.
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