As long as a reincarnated person's willpower was strong enough, they could break free from the caster's control.
Someone like Uchiha Madara could never be controlled by the Impure World Reincarnation.
Jokichi stood silently in the secret room for a moment, savoring Madara's final words.
Am I also a pawn being manipulated by someone, just like Madara was?
Looking back on his entire life in this world, Jokichi chuckled softly.
If there really was someone in this world capable of treating him as a pawn, it could only be the system.
But even if that were true, it didn't matter.
He had nothing to begin with anyway.
The system had given him his current life.
So what if I'm being used as a pawn?
...
Stepping out of the secret room, Jokichi used a space-time ninjutsu to hurry toward the Land of Rice Paddies.
He had already obtained Madara's forged item.
Next up were the First Hokage and Second Hokage.
He could probably obtain the belongings of those two if he went to Konoha.
However, doing so would inevitably lead to a falling out with people he knew.
Unless it was an absolute last resort, he didn't want to go down that path.
About half an hour later, Jokichi crossed several countries and returned to the Land of Rice Paddies.
Since he didn't know Orochimaru's exact location, he directly used his sensory abilities for a carpet search.
But just as expected, the search yielded no results.
Orochimaru truly lives up to his name. He's as slippery as a snake...
How could a guy like that possibly live in an exposed, open lair?
"Do I have to search every country one by one?"
Jokichi felt a bit troubled.
If he really had to comb through every country, who knew how much time it would take!
After all, Orochimaru wouldn't just stay in one place forever.
Who knew if they might just miss each other entirely.
If that was the case, he might as well go get the Tailed Beast rings first.
Just as he was about to head to the Land of Lightning, a sudden realization hit him.
Why do I have to search one by one?
Am I not a ninja?
Isn't gathering intelligence a basic requirement for a ninja?
I don't know where Orochimaru is, but couldn't I just ask someone who does?
Jokichi couldn't help but slap his forehead.
It was true that after becoming stronger, even his way of thinking had become simple and brutish.
This was very bad.
When facing people far weaker than himself, thinking like this might not be a big deal.
But the moment he faced someone around his level or even stronger, continuing to think this way would guarantee a swift death.
Remembering this, Jokichi had the urge to slap himself again.
But realizing he would be the one suffering either way, he put his raised hand down.
"I'll just vent my anger on Orochimaru later!"
Having made his decision, Jokichi immediately set off for Otogakure.
He engaged his unparalleled stealth mode.
He grabbed the village's higher-ups and used the Sharingan to hypnotize them and extract information.
After some investigation, he still didn't know Orochimaru's exact location.
However, he did manage to find out the locations of many of Orochimaru's bases.
Without any hesitation, Jokichi immediately headed for the nearest one.
With the help of his space-time dojutsu, it only took him a few minutes to arrive at the closest base.
He used his sensory skills to investigate.
Finding that Orochimaru wasn't there, he immediately moved on to the next one.
Finally, while searching the third base, Jokichi sensed that familiar chakra.
Cold, eerie, and giving off a very snake-like feeling.
Aside from Orochimaru, no one else possessed this kind of chakra signature.
"I finally found you!"
Jokichi smiled, pleased with his success.
...
Inside the underground base, within a dark and damp laboratory, Orochimaru was operating at a test bench.
Suddenly, the airflow in the laboratory grew turbulent.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, killing intent leaking from his body.
He slowly turned around, only to see a pitch-black, distorted portal opening in the space behind him.
A look of surprise instantly crossed his face.
Immediately going on guard, he pushed off the test bench and did a backflip to put some distance between himself and the spatial portal.
Jokichi slowly walked out of the spatial passageway.
Looking at the slightly tense and guarded Orochimaru, Jokichi chuckled softly.
"Yo, Orochimaru, long time no see."
Hearing this, Orochimaru was initially confused, then fell into deep thought, and finally looked shocked.
"Y-You're Jokichi!?"
"It's only been half a year since we last met. Did you forget me already?"
As if I'd recognize you!
Growing from a 12-year-old boy to a young man in his twenties in just half a year... Did you grow up eating hormones or something?
Orochimaru was usually a meticulous and serious person.
But seeing Jokichi's current appearance and hearing his words, even he couldn't help but complain internally.
However, the thought of Jokichi's strength quickly sobered him up.
Orochimaru's heart tightened as he slammed his hands together.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Rumble!
Accompanied by a tremor from the ground, two coffins rose up from below.
The lids of the coffins were marked with the kanji for 'One' and 'Two' respectively.
Then, the coffin lids automatically fell away, revealing the figures inside.
They both looked like middle-aged men in their thirties.
One wore red armor, while the other wore blue.
One had long black hair, and the other had silver spiky hair.
Their eyes were closed, and their faces were covered in cracks.
It was obvious that they had been summoned by the Impure World Reincarnation, their consciousnesses not yet awakened.
And these two summoned individuals were none other than the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama.
Seeing that the two had been successfully summoned, Orochimaru breathed a huge sigh of relief.
The expression on his face also visibly relaxed.
He was just about to show off and introduce them to Jokichi.
But then he saw that Jokichi also had a smile on his face.
"The fact that you took the initiative to summon these two saves me a lot of trouble."
Jokichi's reaction caused Orochimaru to frown.
Why isn't he surprised at all?
Why isn't he nervous?
It's only been half a year. Is he already confident enough to face the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, and one of the legendary Sannin all at the same time?
...How is that even possible!
Orochimaru admitted that Jokichi's talent was the most terrifying he had ever seen in history.
His strength was also incredibly formidable.
But no matter how much of a genius he was, it was impossible for him to grow strong enough to surpass the combined might of three people in just half a year.
Which meant...
"Has his ego inflated?"
Orochimaru chuckled softly.
A genius's greatest weakness was arrogance.
Rapid progress and smooth sailing through life caused them all to become blindly conceited.
Many geniuses in this world had fallen precisely because of this.
Maybe I still have a chance to claim this guy's body.
Orochimaru stared greedily at Jokichi.
His long tongue darted out, licking a circle around his lips.
His hands formed a seal, awakening the consciousness of the First and Second Hokage.
But before they could even comprehend the situation, Orochimaru stripped away their consciousnesses.
These two were summoned using White Zetsu bodies he had caught three months ago.
He had researched and cultivated those clones to use as sacrifices, making their strength very close to when they were alive.
Orochimaru wasn't sure if he could completely control these two, so he directly erased their minds.
Meanwhile, Jokichi's smile grew even wider.
"Orochimaru, you really are considerate. If these two were awake, I'd actually feel a little bad about this."