Orochimaru dragged his grievously injured body eastward for half an hour before finding Kakuzu waiting for him. Though Orochimaru looked wretched, his clothes splattered with blood, at least he had clothes. Kakuzu, on the other hand? He was bare-chested, his trousers were shredded rags, and combined with his dark complexion, he looked utterly destitute.
"I didn't expect you to survive an attack like that..." Kakuzu remarked. His tone suggested surprise, yet his expression indicated he hadn't truly believed Orochimaru would be killed. Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited here.
"A matter of luck. Our opponent's technique is still incomplete; he was merely forcing its use. I might not be so fortunate next time," Orochimaru replied.
"Our first mission as partners, and it ends in failure. It seems our compatibility isn't very good."
"Is that so? I don't believe I was the problem... Based on the previous battle, the strength you displayed didn't even surpass Kakashi's," Orochimaru stated, offering no respect whatsoever to his senior partner.
Orochimaru could employ more tact, but he saw no need.
His blunt words instantly made Kakuzu's gaze turn dangerous. "Watch your mouth. Those who speak carelessly often don't get a second chance."
It seemed an internal conflict was about to erupt, but just then, an origami butterfly fluttered past them. It circled Orochimaru and Kakuzu twice before gliding upwards, landing gracefully on the branch of a large tree.
For some reason, a flurry of paper sheets suddenly materialized in the air, dancing and converging towards the butterfly's location. As they gathered, a human figure took shape.
"You failed a mission you were supposed to be certain of completing. You should know, the organization paid a considerable price to acquire Sasori of the Red Sand's location... The 'Sannin' are ultimately just ninja from a bygone era, it seems. Nothing particularly impressive."
The person who appeared before Orochimaru and Kakuzu was none other than Konan. Clearly, she had no intention of wasting her social graces here either.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. Insidious, cunning, dangerous, treacherous – he had been labelled many things in his life, but this was the first time someone had pointedly told him to his face, "You're underwhelming."
He was about to speak (or perhaps make a move), but as he casually glanced up at Konan's face, a vague sense of déjà vu stopped him cold. This wasn't his first time seeing Konan; he already knew she was someone deeply trusted by the organization's leader. Yet, seeing her profile now, a flicker of familiarity seemed to surface from the depths of his long-buried memories.
"The organization's intelligence capabilities? This intel never mentioned we'd face interference from Konoha shinobi," Kakuzu countered with a cold snort.
The mission was ostensibly to capture Sasori of the Red Sand, but in reality, they had spent the entire time battling Konoha ninja, never even making contact with Sasori. Theoretically, they should have overcome all obstacles to complete the mission – swatting aside Konoha ninja like flies – but obviously, they hadn't managed that.
So, excuses had to be made. Your organization's intelligence was clearly flawed.
Orochimaru remained silent, his mind churning with unknown thoughts.
"I observed your battle. I hadn't expected Konoha to still possess such a ninja after the Fourth Hokage..." Konan revealed she had witnessed the entire confrontation.
In truth, they were all somewhat acquainted; Konan had even had indirect contact with Habara before.
"Let's abandon this mission. Sasori of the Red Sand's abilities are merely so-so, nowhere near the standard required to join our organization. However, I hope you will take this lesson to heart and avoid failure next time."
Konan didn't care whether Sasori's abilities had been countered by Habara; she had only seen Sasori being utterly dominated by Habara, unable to offer any resistance. Under those circumstances, she concluded that the rumors about Sasori's strength were greatly exaggerated. A ninja of that caliber wasn't worth recruiting.
The Akatsuki had its own hierarchy. While Konan's words were harsh, she often spoke for the leader. Therefore, her statement was a warning from a superior to subordinates, and Kakuzu couldn't refute it.
By now, Orochimaru seemed to have figured something out, and he too adopted a facade of compliance.
"Your injuries... are they problematic?"
Konan hadn't wanted to ask, but she worried that escorting two wounded members would slow their return to Amegakure.
"Heh heh," Orochimaru let out a pair of raspy chuckles. "It's nothing."
As he spoke, he began to cough violently, the kind of hacking cough that sounded like he might expire at any moment. Just as Kakuzu and Konan wondered if he was about to drop dead, with one final retch, an arm emerged from Orochimaru's mouth.
The hand flexed its fingers, patting Orochimaru's face as if confirming something, then extended further out. When the arm was out to the elbow, a second hand emerged from his mouth as well.
By this point, Orochimaru's breathing sounded like a broken bellows. His body contorted unnaturally, and pained gasps echoed through the forest.
The two arms pried Orochimaru's mouth open wider, and a new head pushed its way out. Another Orochimaru was being born. His old body peeled downwards, bit by bit, as the new one emerged.
It was as if his entire being turned inside out. When the process was complete, all the injuries on his body had vanished. Like a Möbius strip completing a cycle, Orochimaru's "rebirth" possessed a strange sense of order and harmony amidst its utter grotesqueness.
"I'm perfectly fine. Just a few minor scratches," Orochimaru repeated with a smile.
The spectacle was absolutely skin-crawling. Konan, having witnessed the entire process, could only manage through gritted teeth, "Good. Let's return quickly."
"Of course," Orochimaru replied, acting as though his injuries truly had vanished completely.
His earlier "transformation" had clearly been deliberately grotesque, aimed at unsettling the emotionally stunted "Angel" – a small retort for her accusation of him being "underwhelming."
For the foreseeable future, whenever Konan shared the same space as Orochimaru, she would experience a profound sense of physiological and psychological discomfort. Though she maintained her usual blank expression, only she knew the true extent of her revulsion.
After the trio returned to the Land of Rain, Konan went alone to report the mission's status to Nagato in Amegakure, while Orochimaru and Kakuzu went their separate ways.
Although Orochimaru currently belonged to the Akatsuki, his position was neither too close nor too distant from the organization's core. He occasionally entered Amegakure but never stayed long within the village... This arrangement benefited both sides. Even Nagato felt that keeping such lawless shinobi within Amegakure was detrimental to his clandestine rule.
This was still the Akatsuki's dormant period. Low profile, discretion – that was their mandate.
Therefore, Orochimaru's secret base was merely located within the Land of Rain's borders. He could be summoned by the Akatsuki when necessary but maintained considerable autonomy in his daily activities.
Upon returning to his lair, Orochimaru spent the next few days routinely, tinkering with his endless collection of jars and vials, showing no signs of anything unusual.
However, late one night, Orochimaru, seemingly fast asleep, suddenly snapped his eyes open. He performed a summoning jutsu, calling forth a small messenger snake. With swift movements, he stuffed a scroll into its mouth and released it...
This demonstrated Orochimaru's enduring vigilance. Knowing he operated under the watchful eyes of the Rinnegan, he naturally exercised the utmost caution.
While Orochimaru and Kakuzu were abandoning the Sasori mission and heading back to the Land of Rain, Habara and Kakashi were dutifully moving towards the Land of Wind. They trailed behind the Suna duo, providing protection and ready to cover their retreat if needed.
However, they didn't venture too deep into the Land of Wind. They were aware there was a slight possibility Sunagakure might not welcome their presence. Getting too close could not only endanger themselves but also potentially trigger unnecessary diplomatic friction.
Thus, after escorting Zaemon Matsuyo for a certain distance and roughly confirming she had met up with Suna reinforcements and was no longer in danger, Habara and Kakashi began to withdraw from the Land of Wind, heading towards the Land of Rivers.
By the time they had traversed the Land of Rivers and just crossed into the Land of Fire, Habara suddenly heard the cry of a hawk overhead.
He stopped and looked up.
"What is it?" Kakashi asked.
"Suna transmission, I'd guess," Habara replied, raising his arm.
The hawk circled overhead a few times, seemingly confirming their identities, then swooped down, landing neatly on Habara's forearm.
Habara untied the small bamboo tube attached to the hawk's talon, extracted the coded message hidden inside, and quickly deciphered it. He turned to Kakashi, "All wrapped up. Zaemon is back in Suna. Mission accomplished."
The mission was indeed successful, but Kakashi wasn't entirely free of worry. After a moment's thought, he couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure leaving that puppet behind won't cause problems?"
"What problems could there be? Is Suna really going to lodge a formal protest with Konoha over this? What would they say? Demand Konoha return the puppet made from the Third Kazekage's corpse? They'd lose face completely. And if it's just informal inquiries, why should we bother responding?" Habara said with a dismissive wave.
"You've got an answer for everything," Kakashi shrugged, deciding not to dwell on it.
It wasn't his problem, anyway.
"What else? The 'Strongest Kazekage' has been missing for how long? Suna must have anticipated his fate long ago. Do they really still hope the Third Kazekage is alive and well after all this time?"
"Mocking the Kage of a village isn't exactly good form," Kakashi cautioned.
"Mocking anyone isn't good form. Is mocking you a good thing, Kakashi-senpai?"
Kakashi: "..."
For some reason, Kakashi suddenly lost the desire to speak.