Kabuto Yakushi finally arrived.
Uehara Naraku was nearly finished with his juice by the time Kabuto, the star specially arranged for the Five Great Countries' Ninja Villages, hurriedly showed up.
Kabuto arrived with Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha, standing upside down on the rooftop, looking down at everyone on the ground.
Uehara Naraku looked up at their figures, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Kabuto Yakushi, are you here to die?"
"Oh dear, isn't this the new leader of the Akatsuki, Lord Uehara Naraku?"
Upon hearing Uehara Naraku's words, Kabuto's lips curled into a smile as he gauged the tense and wary Five Kage and their numerous guards...
After a moment, Kabuto shook his head, clicking his tongue in admiration: "This won't do, Uehara Naraku. We are the Akatsuki, here to establish a new order in the Ninja World. How can we associate with this bunch of degenerate and decaying Five Kage?"
"Hmph, none of your business!"
A layer of Chakra gradually enveloped Uehara Naraku's palm, and a cold glint flashed through his gaze: "What, is that coward Orochimaru still too afraid to face me?"
"No."
Kabuto shook his head again, curving his lips into a smile: "Lord Orochimaru is busy preparing graves for every ninja in the Ninja World. He's too busy to break free right now!"
"..."
The expressions of the Five Kage changed.
This Kabuto Yakushi was even more arrogant than Uehara Naraku!
Though merely a pawn of Orochimaru, he had such audacity. However, his words were quite shocking. What scheme did Orochimaru have this time?
"Don't disrupt the meeting!"
Mifune made the first move, suddenly unsheathing his Ninja Blade, and leaped sharply into the air to slash at Kabuto's head!
The speed of this Samurai's blade technique was astonishingly fast!
In the next moment, Mifune's Ninja Blade was caught barehanded!
In Minato Namikaze's hand, a golden Chakra giant hand gripped Mifune's Ninja Blade, then kicked Mifune down!
"Don't be too hasty..."
Kabuto looked at the disheveled Mifune, laughing, "It's hard to expect too much of you, since you're just Samurai, untrained in a ninja's patience..."
"Enough with the nonsense!"
Jiraiya fixed his gaze on the few who were standing upside down on the ceiling, saying solemnly: "Kabuto Yakushi, Minato, Obito Uchiha, what scheme is that scoundrel Orochimaru up to again?"
Jiraiya was undoubtedly the one most concerned about Orochimaru.
The relationship between Jiraiya and Orochimaru was quite peculiar, arguably even closer than with Tsunade. After all, Jiraiya was willing to share joys with Orochimaru.
"Lord Jiraiya, do you think I would answer such a question?"
Kabuto laughed, shaking his head, spreading his palm: "Since it's a scheme, naturally you will only know when it's unveiled!"
At this point, Kabuto suddenly pushed his glasses up with his fingers: "But if you think about it, Lord Jiraiya, as a friend of Lord Orochimaru for tens of years, since it's you asking, perhaps it doesn't matter if I tell you!"
The next moment, Kabuto's figure suddenly dropped down!
Kabuto chose the highest position in the room and slowly sat down, with Minato Namikaze and Obito Uchiha following closely behind appearing behind him.
"It's a long story, so I need to slowly tell you..."
Kabuto's lips curled into a smile, his voice deliberately lowered: "Where should I begin? Perhaps from why we wanted to seize the Akatsuki's Rinnegan and Gedo Statue!
Over the years, while Lord Orochimaru and I were undercover in the Akatsuki, we each learned some secrets about the Rinnegan and Gedo Statue. Everyone, even the former leader of the Akatsuki, Nagato, believed the Gedo Statue was an ultimate war weapon.
But after analyzing with Lord Orochimaru and further verifying through Mr. Obito Uchiha's cooperation, we confirmed one thing: the Gedo Statue has never been an ultimate weapon; rather, it's a deformed Tailed Beast of the Ninja World."
"Tailed Beast?"
Everyone present couldn't help but furrow their brows.
Especially the One-tailed Jinchuriki Gaara, whose expression turned cold as he slowly lifted his head to say: "What does this mean? Is there another Tailed Beast in the Ninja World?"
"No."
Kabuto shook his head, pushed up his glasses, and spoke softly: "In a thousand years of the Ninja World, there has only been one Tailed Beast, and back then it had a very cute name, perhaps we should call it the Ten-Tailed..."
"Ten-Tailed?"
Everyone's gaze involuntarily tightened.
Uehara Naraku's face showed surprise for a moment, then suddenly looked at the solemn-faced Konan beside him, a sudden realization appearing on his face: "Indeed, there are ten pillar-like things on the Gedo Statue..."
"Yes..."
Kabuto pushed up his glasses again, chuckling as he continued: "Lord Orochimaru has been pondering, why the Gedo Statue needs the Chakra of Tailed Beasts to be activated, why it has ten pillar-like structures yet only nine eyes?
And every time the Gedo Statue absorbs the Chakra of a Tailed Beast, an eye is activated. The laughable part is, the Akatsuki always regarded the Gedo Statue as a war weapon, without knowing what kind of treasure they were guarding."
"Bastard!"
Uehara Naraku's eyes narrowed slightly, eyes fixed on Kabuto above, his voice cold: "Kabuto Yakushi, I am the current leader of the Akatsuki. In my presence, you'd better watch your words, otherwise later I'll make sure you die in style!"
"Are you still putting on that invincible act now?"
Kabuto's lips curved provocatively as he glanced at Uehara Naraku, laughing somewhat wantonly: "The Akatsuki have always been squandering treasures! Do you know that the so-called Rinnegan is the Six Paths Sage's eyes, but don't you know what the Six Paths Sage used those eyes for?"
"What do you mean?"
When Uehara Naraku asked, his eyebrows were tightly knit.
At this moment, Uehara Naraku appeared just like an ignorant child, one who possesses immense power yet is drawn by curiosity due to his inexperience with the world.
Yakushi Kabuto sighed inwardly at Uehara Naraku's acting skills before continuing his explanation: "The Six Paths Sage was not just a legend; he actually existed. The Ten-tails was also once a monster that roamed the lands of the Ninja World.
In order to prevent the Ten-tails from wreaking havoc on the Ninja World, the Six Paths Sage chose to defeat it and extracted its Chakra, dividing it into nine parts—these are the nine Tailed Beasts known in today's Ninja World.
However, those Tailed Beasts were just part of the Ten-tails back then. As long as all the Tailed Beasts' Chakra is gathered again and placed within the Gedo Statue, the life-filled shell of the Ten-tails, the monstrous Ten-tails that once roamed the earth can be revived!"
"…"
Everyone's facial expressions suddenly changed.
Due to the Jinchuriki, every Ninja Village knows how powerful the Tailed Beasts are. They can't even begin to imagine how overwhelming the Chakra of the ten Tailed Beasts combined into the Ten-tails would be…
"Oh."
Uehara Naraku nodded indifferently, slowly raising his fingers: "Just a bigger Tailed Beast, since you mentioned all of this…"
"Don't be blinded by your own strength, Uehara Naraku-sama."
Yakushi Kabuto shook his head with a mild smile and adjusted his glasses: "If it were only about capturing a large Tailed Beast, do you think Orochimaru-sama would go to such great lengths? The Ten-tails is not as simple as you imagine.
The Ten-tails possesses power on par with the Six Paths Sage. It is a monster that can fight the Six Paths Sage for ages, and it holds the strongest Chakra, unlikely to be easily defeated like the current Tailed Beasts!
Even the Six Paths Sage couldn't directly kill the Ten-tails; he could only develop a unique Jutsu to seal it within himself, just like how the Fifth Kazekage is a Jinchuriki, and the Six Paths Sage became the Jinchuriki of the Ten-tails.
Interestingly, not too long ago, during his fake death escape, Orochimaru-sama managed to discover the Jutsu that can turn someone into the Ten-tailed Jinchuriki.
Once Orochimaru becomes the Ten-tailed Jinchuriki, he will be the new Six Paths Sage of this Ninja World, surpassing all previous Ninja! Be it the Ninja God Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara, now they're merely playthings in Orochimaru-sama's hands!"
Yakushi Kabuto slowly lifted his head to view the sky and raised his palm, his voice becoming solemn and dignified: "Orochimaru-sama, as the new generation Six Paths Sage, will achieve immortality, unify the entire Ninja World, and extinguish this chaotic ninja era!"
"…"
Uehara Naraku's eyelids twitched.
Yakushi Kabuto sure has planned a dramatic play for Orochimaru!
But it does seem to align with Orochimaru's desires. After all, Orochimaru doesn't have grand ambitions like using the Eye of the Moon to make people live eternally within Genjutsu; he's relatively simple-minded, merely desiring immortality and scientific research...
If Yakushi Kabuto claimed Orochimaru pursued peace across the Ninja World by implementing the Eye of the Moon Plan or something like that, it would indeed be too far-fetched!
"…"
The expressions of the others present turned grim.
If everything Yakushi Kabuto said is true, then once Orochimaru succeeds, they will face a mythical figure from millennia ago...
The Six Paths Sage.
This term sounds far grander than Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama.
That's because the Six Paths Sage has always been revered as the founder of the Ninja Sect, credited for granting people of this world the ability to use Chakra and worshipped as a divine figure for a thousand years.
"Said so much…"
Uehara Naraku's gaze trembled slightly as he spoke softly: "Someone like the Six Paths Sage… Is he truly real?"
"Of course, he's real."
Yakushi Kabuto's smile grew richer as he turned to Jiraiya, smiling: "The reason I am willing to answer this question is because Jiraiya-sama definitely knows about this."
Yakushi Kabuto looked at Jiraiya and asked, "Orochimaru-sama specifically sent me to ask Jiraiya-sama about a name on the Mount Myoboku Summoning Scroll, which presumably is Hogoromo, right?"
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing Yakushi Kabuto, Jiraiya's eyes narrowed, and his gaze became vigilant: "What's up with this name?"
How does this guy know about this!
Yakushi Kabuto looked at Jiraiya and nodded with a smile: "It seems everything is true! The name Hogoromo is indeed the name of the Six Paths Sage according to legend…
Orochimaru-sama wishes to verify whether the Six Paths Sage's legend is true, and he received a message stating that the Great Toad Sage of Mount Myoboku once imparted methods to synthesize Sage Chakra to the Six Paths Sage."
Yakushi Kabuto adjusted his glasses, a smug grin appearing: "We must thank Jiraiya-sama for the intel, which ensures our plan is foolproof…"
At this moment, the others looked at Jiraiya with questioning eyes.
They too seemed eager to verify from Jiraiya if what Yakushi Kabuto said is true and if there's evidence proving the Six Paths Sage truly existed!
"…It's true."
Jiraiya nodded, his expression sour.
He never expected himself to be the source of such information!
"Now is the time for the main event!"
Yakushi Kabuto's expression grew stern again as he scanned the crowd, gently asking: "Soon facing the new generation Six Paths Sage Orochimaru-sama, will the Five Kage opt to kneel and surrender to Orochimaru-sama now…
Or do you want to truly witness the Six Paths Sage's power and wait for Orochimaru-sama to bestow apocalypse and downfall upon your ignorant and foolish group?"
"…"
Everyone's faces flashed with anger.
Today, right here.
Their hatred towards Orochimaru was fueled to the max thanks to Yakushi Kabuto's help.