Chapter 55: Movements on All Sides
Swoosh! Swoosh!
Just then, two figures appeared in the clearing.
Darui and Karui immediately stood up. "Lady Yugito!"
Yugito glanced at her watch. She was a full twenty minutes late. She rubbed the back of her head, a little embarrassed. "Sorry to keep you two waiting."
"Not at all, Lady Yugito," they said respectfully.
Just then, Neji stepped forward. "Let's introduce ourselves properly. My name is Hyūga Neji, and I'm the captain for this exam."
In the Village Hidden in the Sound.
Guren gently pushed open the door to a sparsely equipped laboratory. A slender figure stood inside.
"Lord Orochimaru," she said with a bow, "what are your orders?"
The figure turned, his golden eyes devoid of all emotion. He looked her over, then took a refrigerated glass container from one of the experimental devices.
Frozen inside was a white arm.
"Take this to Konoha," Orochimaru said, his voice flat as he handed her the container. "Give it to the leader of Root, Shimura Danzō."
The white arm was a prosthetic created from Hashirama's cells.
Ever since defecting from Konoha, Danzō had been Orochimaru's primary source of funding. In recent years, he had begun research on the Living Corpse Reincarnation and the Eight Branches Technique, two forbidden jutsu that required a massive amount of capital. Though he had established a network of secret laboratories and had a considerable amount of savings before leaving the village, his experiments were a bottomless pit. He had nearly exhausted his funds.
So, while he didn't particularly like his benefactor, he couldn't afford to cut ties with him just yet.
A while ago, Danzō had sent him a message. His right arm was completely paralyzed. He had asked if Orochimaru had a solution.
Orochimaru, desperate for funds, had immediately begun cultivating Hashirama's cells and had custom-made a Wood Release arm for him.
His research into the First Hokage's cells had advanced considerably in recent years. The life force they contained was a source of constant amazement to him. He had conducted over a hundred human experiments, attempting to transplant the Wood Release, but all of them had failed. The subjects were either consumed by the powerful life force and turned into trees, or their bodies had simply exploded.
If the cells alone were so powerful, it was hard to imagine the true horror of a full-powered Senju Hashirama.
The Wood Release arm was a double-edged sword, with the risks likely outweighing the benefits. Even with Danzō's strength, it would be difficult to suppress the cells. But knowing Danzō, his thirst for power would compel him to take the risk. How he would deal with the backlash was none of Orochimaru's concern.
"I will deliver it safely, Lord Orochimaru," Guren said, sealing the arm in a storage scroll.
"There is another mission for you," Orochimaru said, his eyes narrowing.
"Your orders, Lord Orochimaru."
"Have you heard of Uchiha Itachi?"
"Yes. The eldest son of the Uchiha clan. A genius who was on the battlefield at the age of four."
A playful, yet murderous, expression appeared on Orochimaru's face. "He will also be participating in these exams. Your second mission is to kill him."
Guren's pupils contracted. She knew that when Orochimaru looked like that, it meant he was very interested in someone. Sending her to kill Itachi... it was just a test of the boy's true potential. If she succeeded, it would mean he was nothing special. If she failed... it wouldn't be a good thing for Itachi either. To display such exceptional talent would mean he would be a target of Orochimaru's obsession from that day forward.
She knew better than anyone how terrifying Orochimaru was. And his research into the Living Corpse Reincarnation had recently made a breakthrough... If Itachi proved to be too brilliant, he would likely become Orochimaru's next vessel.
A shiver went down her spine, but she nodded without hesitation. "I will kill him, Lord Orochimaru."
"You may go."
"Yes, sir."
After she had left, Orochimaru was lost in thought. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara, the two great heroes of the Warring States Period. He had glimpsed the power of the "God of Shinobi" from his cells. But of Madara, and of the Sharingan, he knew very little.
"After Hashirama, the Wood Release vanished from the world. After Madara, the Sharingan reigned supreme, but no one has ever reached his level."
"It makes one curious... what are the secrets of the Sharingan?"
At the gate of the Village Hidden in the Sound, Gen'yūmaru and Gozu, who had been waiting for some time, hurried over to Guren as she approached.
"Guren, what did Lord Orochimaru say?" Gen'yūmaru asked.
"Let's go," she said, and then she was gone, a blur of motion as she disappeared into the forest.
The two of them exchanged a look and then hurried after her. The hierarchy of the Sound Village was clear. At the top was Orochimaru, and below him was Guren, his most trusted subordinate. Gen'yūmaru and Gozu were not her teammates; they were her underlings. In her eyes, they were insignificant.
At the gate of the Village Hidden in the Mist.
The kind-faced Gengetsu Hōzuki looked at the group about to depart for Konoha, his expression grave. "Zabuza," he said, "don't worry too much about the exams. Your priority is to protect the young lady."
"Lord Gengetsu," Zabuza replied respectfully, "as long as I am here, no one will harm a single hair on her head."
Mei Terumī pouted. "Sensei, I'm not a child anymore. I can take care of myself."
"Mei," Gengetsu said with a weary look, "you are the hope for ending the Bloody Mist. You must defeat everyone in these exams and make a name for our village."
At his words, the lazy expression on her face vanished. "Don't worry, Sensei," she said, her voice filled with determination. "I will be the one to take the top spot!"
"It's good to have ambition," he said, nodding. "You have no rivals in our village, but do not underestimate the genin from the other villages. And these are no ordinary exams. They may not be sending real genin."
Mei flicked her red hair, a confident smile on her lips. "Sensei, Zabuza and I are not real genin either."
Gengetsu didn't know if she had taken his warning to heart. "Alright, you may go," he said with a sigh.
He watched them leave, a thoughtful expression on his face. Ever since the end of the Third Great War, the Fourth Mizukage had become like a different person. He rarely appeared in public. And, to Gengetsu's bewilderment, he had reinstated the long-dormant "Bloody Mist" policy, cracking down on the village's Kekkei Genkai users and creating a climate of fear.
"Sigh," he murmured to himself. "What is the future of our village?"
After he had left, the space in front of the gate distorted, and Obito emerged.
"The old fool still hasn't given up," he said, his voice cold.
A Venus flytrap-like plant emerged from a nearby tree trunk. "Madara," White Zetsu giggled, "if he's such a nuisance, why don't you just control him with a genjutsu?"
"He's not so easy to control," Black Zetsu's raspy voice replied.
Obito snorted but didn't argue. The Fourth Mizukage was a perfect Jinchūriki. Any ordinary genjutsu would be instantly broken by the Three-Tails. The only reason he could control him was because he had taken advantage of the summoning contract Madara had made with the beast. It was the same reason he had been able to so easily control the Nine-Tails.
But Gengetsu's influence in the village was a major obstacle. His status was no less than that of the Mizukage, and he had many followers. The risk of controlling him was far greater than that of controlling the Mizukage, who was a civilian-born genius with few ties to the powerful clans.
After a moment's thought, Obito said, "Zetsu, we're going to Konoha."
"Oh?" White Zetsu's voice was filled with glee. "Are you finally going to make a move on your own clan, Madara? How cruel."
Obito didn't reply to his taunt, simply disappearing into his Kamui dimension.
On the road to Konoha, Darui's eyes kept drifting to Neji's pure white ones. He remembered their spar for the position of captain, how he had been left half-dead by Neji's Black Lightning. "Captain," he said, a look of envy on his face, "how did you develop Black Lightning?"
Neji glanced at him and smiled. "You want to learn? I can teach you."
"Heh..." Darui's mouth twitched. He thought he was being teased. Black Lightning was the Third Raikage's unique secret technique. To learn it was not only to gain a powerful trump card, but also a great honor. The sole inheritor of Black Lightning... it had a nice ring to it.
"I'm not joking," Neji said, his expression serious. "If you want to learn, I'll teach you."
Darui took a deep breath. "Are you serious?"
"My word is my bond." Neji nodded, then his tone changed. "But I'm also interested in your Storm Release. How about a trade?"
"Deal!" Darui agreed without a moment's hesitation. He didn't feel like he was getting the short end of the stick. His Storm Release had been defeated by Neji's Black Lightning. He felt that it was the technique, not himself, that was weak. And the Third Raikage was his idol; to learn Black Lightning was his dream. Besides, a Kekkei Genkai was not something that could be taught so easily. It was all about natural talent.
Neji wasn't surprised by his quick agreement. The Hidden Cloud was very open about its secret techniques, unlike Konoha, which kept everything under lock and key.
"Black Lightning is the pinnacle of Lightning Release nature transformation," Neji began to explain. "Since you can use Storm Release, you shouldn't have any trouble with that part. But you also need to mix in a small amount of Yang Release chakra. The difficult part is controlling the ratio... and then there's the stability of the mixed chakra..."
As he listened, a look of surprise appeared on Darui's face. "Captain, the principle behind Black Lightning... it's very similar to my Storm Release."
"Oh?" Neji paused. "Is that so?"
"Storm Release is a Kekkei Genkai formed by combining Lightning and Water Release chakra in equal measure," Darui explained. "It has the destructive power of lightning and the fluidity of water..."
Five days later, the four of them arrived outside Konoha.
Though it was called a "village," its prosperity was on par with the capital city of the Land of Fire. And with the Five Great Nations holding their joint Chunin Exams there, the roads were already bustling with people.
Karui, who had just graduated from the academy and had never left the Land of Lightning before, looked around in awe. The teachers at the academy had all said that Konoha was prosperous and wealthy, but they had understated it. Compared to Konoha, the Hidden Cloud, perched on its high mountain peaks, was practically a backwater.
Even the well-traveled Darui, who had never been to Konoha before, looked around like a country bumpkin, his face filled with wonder.
Yugito, however, was silent, her brow furrowed. She had been thinking about how to complete the four missions the Raikage had given them.
Neji's eyes swept over the crowd. He saw many genin who had come for the exams. Then, he saw Mei Terumī, Zabuza, and the others from the Hidden Mist.
Mei isn't a genin anymore, he thought. It seems the Hidden Mist also knows what Konoha is up to. They're not sending real genin either. The other villages are probably doing the same. These exams... they're going to be an arena for the Five Great Nations to test each other's strength.
He looked at Mei, a small smile on his lips. She had blossomed. A slender waist, a graceful figure, and a seductive aura. She was a world apart from the other, unripe genin girls.
From a distance, Mei and her group also noticed them. The Hidden Mist and the Hidden Cloud had little contact, but they were still one of the Five Great Nations. She was paying close attention to her potential opponents.
"Are there any masters among the younger generation of the Hidden Cloud?" she murmured to herself.