Standing in front of Gusion was a young man with long silver hair tied in a ponytail at the back and black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, giving off an innocent vibe at first glance.
But Gusion knew this kid was actually quite scheming—he was a hardcore fan and top research assistant of Orochimaru: Yakushi Kabuto.
As a spy, Kabuto was also top-tier. By this point in time, Kabuto should have already been put under Sasori's jutsu, but then freed by Orochimaru.
So right now, Kabuto was a double agent, pretending to gather information on Orochimaru for Sasori while actually following Orochimaru's orders to monitor Sasori and Akatsuki from time to time.
If you also count that Kabuto sometimes returned to Konoha, he'd be a triple agent.
"Are you Lord Calamity? Lord Orochimaru has been waiting for you."
Kabuto wore a bright yet fake smile and bowed to Gusion.
The reason he recognized Gusion from afar was because Gusion was wearing the Akatsuki cloak, which was very distinctive.
After joining Akatsuki, Gusion not only got the ring originally belonging to Itachi, codenamed "shu," but also the stylish cloak of the organization.
However, Gusion didn't wear the standard Akatsuki uniform. Instead, he used his space's costume adjustment function to change his Black Nightmare appearance into the style of the Akatsuki cloak.
This function in the space system is free to use twice per world: once as a default disguise when entering a new world, and a second time for a free adjustment. After that, you have to pay End Coins, and it's not cheap.
Honestly, Gusion didn't really like the Akatsuki uniform—it was a bit of a hassle in battle—but this seemed to be a strict requirement of the organization. After all, Nagato wanted Akatsuki to make a name for itself in the ninja world.
As a top mercenary organization, their clothes were like living advertisements. You can't win a war for a small nation and have nobody know who did it.
With such distinctive clothes, outsiders could instantly identify Akatsuki, and soon, the war commissions would come rolling in.
"Yes, that's me. Where's Orochimaru?"
Gusion nodded at Kabuto. He wasn't particularly fond of Orochimaru, but that didn't stop him from cooperating with him for now to achieve their respective goals.
Based on his character in this world, being polite to Orochimaru was reasonable—after all, they'd had similar experiences. They were naturally in the same camp.
"Please follow me. Lord Orochimaru is waiting for you in his secret base."
Kabuto led Gusion into the Sound Village, winding through various paths until they reached an entrance to an underground passage and went inside.
Looking at Orochimaru's arrangements, Gusion was struck by his caution—even within his own ninja village, he hid his research base so well.
Walking through a long underground corridor, Gusion saw many rooms. As a scientist, Orochimaru was meticulous about categorizing rooms—archive rooms, experiment material storage, chemical labs, biological labs, etc.—all neatly organized.
At the corridor's end, there seemed to be a reception room. Orochimaru walked out to greet him. He wasn't wearing the Akatsuki uniform but a lab coat, clearly having just finished an experiment.
"Gusion-kun, welcome."
Orochimaru wore what he thought was a friendly smile as he greeted him.
Gusion used his scanning skill to check Orochimaru's stats and was surprised to find that Orochimaru wasn't a one-trick pony.
[Sannin: Orochimaru]
Constitution: 75
Strength: 68
Agility: 70
Spirit: 73
Charisma: 48
Gusion had thought Orochimaru's spirit stat would be low, since he was easily taken out by genjutsu. But that wasn't the case; Orochimaru's survival ability was strong, and he was a well-rounded ninja.
He'd only been taken down by Itachi's genjutsu because his soul had some defects from forbidden jutsu, making him less resistant to illusions.
Come to think of it, as one of the Sannin, Orochimaru knew many powerful jutsu. His chakra reserves wouldn't be low—definitely Kage-level.
Given Orochimaru's many tricks, Gusion thought Kakuzu was really overconfident to talk tough to him. If it came down to a life-and-death fight, Orochimaru could definitely deal with Kakuzu.
But after seeing Orochimaru's stats, Gusion still wanted to complain: how does someone like Orochimaru have 48 points in charisma!? Where exactly do I fall short?
"Orochimaru, your secret base is really big. Must have cost a lot, huh?"
Gusion pulled himself together, looking at the massive underground base and all the experimental equipment, curious about Orochimaru's funding sources.
With how stingy Kakuzu was, there's no way Akatsuki would fund Orochimaru's private scientific research.
"Please, have a seat."
Orochimaru first invited Gusion to sit, then said, "I have a few sponsors."
"From what you say, it doesn't sound like your funding comes from within the organization. As a Konoha defector, who's still willing to support you?"
Gusion asked curiously, already guessing a few possibilities.
"If I tell you, Gusion-kun, you might get angry. But since we might be working together, I don't think I can keep this from you."
Orochimaru slyly licked the corner of his mouth with his long tongue. "My largest funding source is from Konoha."
Gusion thought, as expected. "Danzo?"
Orochimaru let out a hoarse laugh. "You really can't be fooled, Gusion-kun. Yes, it's him. I'm guessing you hold quite the grudge?"
"Does it matter if I do or don't? If I get the chance, I'll definitely kill him."
Gusion casually accepted the tea Kabuto handed him, used his appraisal skill to check it (not sleeping tea), and took a sip.
"Haha, then I'll pray for him. After all, you have the strength to kill him, and right now, I don't want to lose my research funding."
Orochimaru had always kept in touch with Danzo, but he hadn't told him about Gusion joining Akatsuki and teaming up with him, because he didn't like Danzo much either.
Currently, their relationship was purely mutual exploitation. When Danzo was no longer useful, Orochimaru would consider getting rid of him too.
"We'll talk about Danzo later. Orochimaru, what exactly are you researching?"
Gusion asked, testing whether the strategies he'd worked out for open-world scenarios would work here.
"I have many projects. My main focus, of course, is biotechnology. My goal is immortality. Gusion-kun, are you interested in research?"
Orochimaru looked at Gusion with interest. He'd heard that Gusion defected because of human experimentation. Though he figured Danzo had set him up, he thought Gusion might know a thing or two about research.
"Orochimaru, you overestimate me. I may have been charged with those crimes, but I know nothing about research."
Gusion shook his head, then changed tack. "But if you're willing to share some research results with me, I can help solve your funding issues."
In the ninja world, you can't just go around robbing things because you're strong. Scientific research often requires equipment you have to buy. If you rob someone once, it's hard to get more equipment later—which is self-destructive for a researcher.
"Oh? Gusion-kun, I knew I wasn't wrong about you."
Orochimaru smiled, stood up, and gestured, "We're both from Konoha, both forced to defect. In my mind, you've always been a reliable comrade. If you want research results, of course I'll share them with you."
He walked to the door and beckoned Gusion, "Gusion-kun, come. Let me show you my lab."
At this moment, Gusion received a new hidden quest.
[Hidden Quest: Orochimaru's Research]
Quest: Help Orochimaru solve his funding problem and help him advance his research projects. If there are research results, Orochimaru will share them with you.
Difficulty: Easy to Deadly
Rewards: Depends on research results. Can obtain bloodlines, skills, and other items.
Failure Penalty: None
[Note: Hidden quest linkage detected. Pioneer, please explore new possibilities.]
What interested Gusion was that the note mentioned a linkage. He'd only gotten three hidden quests so far, and the one from the Raikage didn't seem connected. That meant the Uchiha rescue quest and Orochimaru's research could be linked.
Thinking about it, maybe it was related to the Sharingan. If he could get Orochimaru a Mangekyo Sharingan, could Orochimaru, with his Hashirama cells, research an even higher bloodline?
After all, according to canon, Uchiha Madara awakened the Rinnegan after absorbing Hashirama's cells—the combination of Yin-Yang Release.
This shows that the Yang Release in Hashirama's cells stimulates the Yin Release in the Sharingan.
Madara already had Eternal Mangekyo, but what if it was just a regular Mangekyo combined with Hashirama's cells? What would happen?
Just thinking about it, Gusion found it interesting. This trip was really worthwhile. Besides his plan to rope Orochimaru into working against Konoha, he might get other big rewards.
"Gusion-kun, look at this child. Can you see what's different about him?"
At this moment, Orochimaru led Gusion to a room. The door opened, and a boy with grayish-white hair and two dots on his forehead stood before them.
The boy was cold and expressionless but showed great respect to Orochimaru. As soon as they met, he bowed. "Lord Orochimaru."
Gusion recognized him at a glance from his features—Kimimaro Kaguya. The boy was still young, not yet stricken by his bloodline disease, looking very healthy.
"What's that mark on his neck?"
Gusion asked knowingly, spotting the cursed seal on Kimimaro.
"Kimimaro, this is Calamity Gusion, my partner. Show him your ability."
Orochimaru ordered.
Kimimaro obeyed, unleashing the power of the cursed seal. Tadpole-like markings appeared on his skin, then his body transformed further—his skin turned deep brown, and he grew a tail.
Entering the second stage of the cursed seal, Kimimaro's aura soared. In Gusion's field of vision, Kimimaro's total stats increased by more than 10 points, even given his weak base.
"A fascinating ability, but it doesn't seem to be chakra-based power, does it?"
Gusion praised. He didn't deny that the cursed seal was a useful burst power, but he had no intention of using Orochimaru's research for himself.
Leaving aside the risk of being bitten by Orochimaru, even if Orochimaru didn't play tricks, the second stage of the cursed seal looked too ugly for him.
"No wonder you once fought Minato as an equal. Gusion-kun, you have a sharp eye. This isn't a standard secret jutsu of the chakra system but the effect of natural energy on the human body. I call it the 'Cursed Seal' technique."
Orochimaru said proudly. This was one of the most successful practical research outcomes he'd achieved in recent years.
"Natural energy? Senjutsu?"
Gusion feigned curiosity. In reality, Senjutsu wasn't all that secret in the ninja world. As a former Konoha war hero, it was reasonable for him to know about it.
"That's right, it's another form of Senjutsu. Gusion-kun, you may not know this, but Senjutsu is so powerful that most people can't learn it. My cursed seal lets anyone wield Senjutsu's power."
Orochimaru gestured to Kimimaro, who smoothly deactivated the cursed seal—showing excellent control and making the technique look very mature.