Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it was the agreed time for everyone to travel through time.
At the Fourth Hokage's timeline, the location where the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru traveled to was inside the Hidden Leaf Village, more specifically in a secluded corner near the Hokage building.
Meanwhile, the travel point for the Six Paths Madara and Six Paths Hashirama was at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rain.
There, the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze and Danzo Shimura, leading the Hidden Leaf shinobi, had been waiting for a long time.
Let's split the story and talk about the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru first.
As soon as he arrived through the time travel, he headed straight to the Hokage office and received the resurrection list from the Third Hokage.
At the same time, the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru handed over the scroll containing the resurrection jutsu to the Third Hokage.
"It's really great to see you again, old man."
After completing the main goal of this time travel, the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru didn't leave but wanted to give the Third Hokage a hug.
However, the Third Hokage was very cautious toward Orochimaru since he already knew from the light screen video just how dangerous his disciple was.
"Old man, are you serious about stepping back like that? That really hurts my feelings."
"Hmph, you know well what you've done."
"I know too well, that's why I want to hug you."
"You want a hug? Go hug the version of me on your side then."
"Tch~ Old man, you really are cold and heartless."
"Cold and heartless?"
The Third Hokage stared in disbelief and pointed at himself, continuing, "Do you even hear what you're saying? With all the things you've done, the fact that I didn't smash you with a stick is already doing you a favor."
"In this timeline, I haven't had the chance to do that yet, haven't I?"
Hearing this, the Third Hokage nodded.
This timeline's Orochimaru indeed hadn't done those unbearable things yet.
Human experiments and Wood Release research had definitely been done, but the former didn't use Konoha people as test subjects, and the latter was mainly controlled by Danzo.
Orochimaru was at most an accomplice and not worthy of death.
But Danzo—
Through brief exchanges with various timelines, it was known that Danzo was doomed.
No one could save him, just as his teacher Tobirama Senju had said.
To make Danzo contribute something in the end, he and Minato planned to trap him, intending to hand Danzo over to Nagato for punishment, hoping to lessen Nagato's resentment toward Konoha.
As the saying goes, solving things through negotiation is always better than using force.
If negotiations failed, they could still fight later.
This was also a favor from the Fourth Hokage Minato to Jiraiya.
Otherwise, just the threat of the Rinnegan alone would have made the Fourth Hokage not spare Nagato, and there would be no pretense of civility before battle.
"If there's nothing else, you can leave. I still have to review documents for Minato."
"Alright then, I'll go find the Orochimaru of this timeline."
"Wait, just don't cause any trouble."
Hearing this, the Third Hokage instinctively wanted to stop him.
One Orochimaru was already dangerous enough.
Two Orochimarus meeting could lead to unknown trouble.
But on second thought, this Orochimaru wasn't from his timeline. If he stopped him from meeting this timeline's Orochimaru, wouldn't he find a way anyway?
Better to let him go, as long as he promised not to cause trouble.
"No problem. I'm just going to persuade him, to stop him from researching pointless projects."
The Third Hokage nodded. Since the other said so, he believed him.
The scene shifted.
The Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru had just left the Hokage building, thinking about where he should be at this time.
"If I'm not mistaken, I should be in the secret laboratory that Danzo established at this time."
He chuckled to himself, then swaggered confidently toward the laboratory.
Not long after, he arrived at the lab's entrance.
To keep it hidden, the entrance was protected by a deceptive barrier.
To an outsider, it looked like a dead end.
Only by following a fixed route could one see the true situation inside.
"Lord Orochimaru."
As soon as he entered the barrier, Root ninjas appeared.
Orochimaru ignored the two Root guards and walked straight into the laboratory.
The two Root ninjas were quite surprised.
They had been guarding this spot since morning and personally saw Orochimaru enter the lab without leaving.
How had he suddenly appeared outside just a few hours later?
Could there be another exit from the lab that they didn't know about?
The two Root ninjas said nothing but quietly remembered this to report to Lord Danzo when he returned.
"tsk tsk tsk, people really shouldn't be narrow-minded. I was so foolish back then to agree to Danzo's request."
After entering the lab, the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru recalled the days when he was "tricked" by Danzo into doing research.
He had spent enormous manpower, resources, and energy studying Wood Release, only to be hated and abandoned by everyone, and the final result was just this one thing called Yamato.
If the power of Wood Release from the First Hokage Senju Hashirama was a hundred, then Yamato's wood release was barely in the single digits.
He had even defected from Konoha because of this useless thing. Thinking back now, it wasn't worth it at all.
Of course, he wasn't regretting it, just reminiscing about his foolishness back then.
"Who are you?"
The Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru was heading toward the deepest room in the lab, but the Orochimaru from this timeline had run out of research materials and stepped out to order the Root ninjas to get some.
It just so happened that the two Orochimarus met in the corridor.
"You can try guessing first."
The Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru looked at the Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru as if he were looking at some interesting toy.
The reason he had traveled back here was to satisfy his own twisted curiosity.
Nothing was more entertaining than toying with his former self.
"How amusing."
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru wasn't angry at the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru's behavior; instead, he found it quite interesting.
"Daring to impersonate me walking in the lab, and not afraid when meeting the real me. So there really are people who don't fear death."
No sooner had he spoken than the Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru launched an attack on the Fifth.
A simple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands technique—naturally, it posed no threat to the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru.
He didn't kill those few little snakes; instead, he helped them escape the Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru's control and brought them back into his own sleeve.
"Not returning a favor is rude. You try my Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."
With that, the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru launched the same attack on the Fourth.
"Is that even possible?"
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Originally, he had simply thought the other was a cheap impostor, so although he found it interesting, he still attacked.
But seeing that the impostor not only countered his Hidden Shadow Snake Hands but also used it against him was quite unexpected.
The Hidden Shadow Snake Hands seemed like a ninjutsu, but it was actually a summoning technique.
Without a summoning contract with Ryuchi Cave, this move couldn't be used at all.
But now, except for himself, all other summoners of Ryuchi Cave should have been dead.
Out of nowhere, an impostor appeared who could use Ryuchi Cave's summoning technique.
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru thought this was getting more and more interesting.
"Using my own technique against me, you really have some ideas."
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru chuckled lightly, preparing to make contact with the snakes.
His intention was the same as the Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru's — to help these snakes "empathize with suffering."
But the moment he touched the snakes, his expression changed instantly. Without hesitation, he swiftly cut off their heads.
"How about that? My snakes work better than yours, right?"
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru ignored the Fifth Hokage's's mockery. He stared blankly at his right hand and noticed the palm was rapidly turning black.
This was the symptom of severe poisoning.
"If even I can't avoid being poisoned, imagine how strong the venom on these snakes must be."
Without any emotion, the Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru severed his own right hand to prevent the poison from spreading further.
Actually, he didn't quite understand. Ever since he failed the Ryūchi Cave Trial and had most of his body consumed by Princess Tagitsuhime, he had transformed his body into a white serpent, immune to most poisons.
For a poison to affect him, it must be incredibly powerful.
So here's the question:
Why use such a potent poison on these small snakes? Wouldn't it be better suited for something else?
"There's nothing special about it. This poison is just a byproduct of my experiments. It's waste otherwise, so I figured I'd put it to use."
"I see."
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru licked his lips and grew serious.
If earlier he had only treated the other as a foolish impostor, now he was ready to face an actual opponent.
"Tell me, who are you? And why do you pretend to be me?"
"Since you're asking sincerely, I'll be merciful and tell you."
The Fifth Hokage's Orochimaru adjusted his expression and said earnestly, "Actually, I am your great uncle: Giant Orochimaru."
The Fourth Hokage's Orochimaru was left speechless.
What's this? I have a great uncle and I didn't even know?
****
Support me on my ko-fi account and read upto 15 early chapters,
https://ko-fi.com/aayume