—Yes, there's a reason for that," Nagato nodded, knitting his brows thoughtfully. "What if the Sealing Armor gives way at a crucial moment when I'm one step away from defeating Uchiha Yue?" Would I then repeat the fate of the Sage of the White Snake?
The thought stung him uncomfortably. After all, the sage was also confident in his strength, he almost killed Yue, but lost due to unforeseen circumstances. That would be embarrassingly unfair. And so it happened with the Sage: he did not take into account that Yue has an Eternal Izanagi, and was forced to bitterly admit defeat.
"Your concerns are reasonable,— Tobirama agreed. — Tell me, Orochimaru, what function do you propose?
"It's very simple, Leader-sama,— Orochimaru replied with a characteristic grin. — We will integrate the Reverse Summoning technique into the armor. If you feel that things are bad, you can activate it immediately and retreat! Rest assured, the function is quite simple, and its integration will not take much time.
Soon, Nagato, satisfied with their decision, left the laboratory. He accepted the offer without fully realizing its cunning.
It was indeed possible to use summoning techniques in the Area of Dead Silence, but with one critical caveat: the summoning formation had to remain stable without disintegrating under the influence of the overwhelming power of this place.
Imagine the summoning technique as an inseparable channel of chakra between the summoner and his target. As long as this channel is stable, the call can be canceled at any time. But as soon as the creature found itself in the Area of Dead Silence, its destructive power began to suck out energy, tearing this channel.
To escape, the summoner had to act with lightning speed while his body was still weak. He needed to recreate this channel by force, pour his own chakra into it, and manually activate the callback. But this required knowing where the exit point was on the body, an almost impossible task for most creatures. Delay meant death.
The only known way to escape, besides killing Yue, was demonstrated by the toad sages. Only the desperate efforts of Jiraiya, who carried them out of the epicenter, allowed them to survive. Barely catching their breath, they gathered the last shreds of strength and activated the technique, returning to Mount Myoboku barely alive.
In short, it was possible to escape from the Area of Dead Silence, but incredibly, inconceivably difficult.
Tobirama Senju and Orochimaru immediately started putting the finishing touches.
Meanwhile, Nagato returned to Akatsuki's hideout in high spirits. My heart was fluttering with anticipation: As soon as the armor is ready, he, with his current might, will crush Uchiha Yue! And then, having obtained this absolute power, he will become the god of the new world!
To hell with this cowardly suggestion, hiding in Kamui's space and waiting for the enemy to die of old age! He's a god, not some turtle with its head pulled into its shell! Besides, he didn't trust that impostor Madara. Hiding in the Rocks is a last resort. If there's a chance to kill Yue himself, he'll take it.
Unfortunately, he didn't take one thing into account.…
—Orochimaru...I hope this Nagato is really as strong as he pretends to be." In the dimness of Tobirama's laboratory, Senju grinned. — Get ready to become the new Hokage.
Orochimaru hissed, licking his lips. — Since the leader-sama is so self-confident, he probably has a reason to be, the Second one is sama. But... is someone like me worthy of the title of Hokage?
— In all of Konoha, there is no candidate more worthy than you, Orochimaru! Tobirama snapped. — And your past transgressions... can they even be considered a betrayal? That fool Danzo made an attempt on the Hokage's life and still sits on the council. And you were just experimenting with it on humans. What is this compared to his crimes?
He snorted contemptuously.
"And that idiot Hiruzen had the least right to expel you!" You are his student, and Danzo is his sworn brother. A brother commits a serious crime — he gets away with it. The student stumbles and is immediately declared a nookenin. Where, tell me, is justice in this world?
Tobirama shook his head in frustration. What a blind man he was to take these two nobodies as his disciples. Lately, he regretted it more than anything in the world. If he had picked up two stray dogs from the street, it would have been more useful.
The only joy was that Sarutobi took Orochimaru as his disciple. Tobirama saw in him a reflection of himself in his youth — ambitious, brilliant, but still too inexperienced. You have to fight for the post of Hokage! Don't wait to be served on a platter. It was his intrigues that once helped his older brother take this post, snatching him from under the nose of Uchiha Madara, whom Hashirama himself predicted to be the leader.
As for experiments on people... it's a mere trifle. Such things are not flaunted, they are done in the shadows. So what if they're officially banned? Just do it secretly, that's all.
After becoming Hokage, he did not stop researching himself. Who would dare to check on the village head? Officially, everyone knew that the Second One had left the experiments himself. But in reality?.. Heh… However, he only used outsiders and criminals. Never the inhabitants of Konoha. And that idiot Danzo didn't hesitate to experiment on his own people. He was always talking about the Will of Fire, with only self—interest on his mind.
A complex expression flashed across Orochimaru's snake—like face, a mixture of surprise, flattery, and newfound purpose. He bowed his head. For the first time in years, he felt something like loyalty.