Blood vessels across his entire body had ruptured extensively, his Achilles tendons were torn, and his muscles were dissolving. Even with Makiya's constant treatment, his life was barely hanging by a thread.
His body had too many hidden injuries; in order to summarize the training methods for the Eight Inner Gates, Dai had taken many detours.
After the group returned to the base, Dai was carried directly into the frontline hospital. Guy followed closely by his side, his face filled with anxiety. Fearing he might disturb the medical ninjas' treatment, he went to the open space at the entrance and performed single-handed handstands, turning his grief into strength and training desperately.
To heal Dai, a large number of precious medicinal herbs were required. After a long period of recuperation, even if he recovered, his body would be far from what it once was.
Makiya, Shisui, Genma, and Ebisu entered the command center together to report the mission details. When the mangled corpses were unsealed from the scrolls, Makiya heard the constant sound of gasps echoing throughout the room.
Not to mention the crucial intelligence extracted through genjutsu interrogation. Such significant results caught everyone's attention. After deliberation, the think tank decided to go public with the news to boost morale and immediately formulated a plan for a surprise attack on the Hidden Mist base.
The entire camp entered a state of lockdown, consolidating forces and allowing entry but no exit, with heavily guarded checkpoints and scouts.
After Makiya and his group left the command center, they could clearly feel the gazes from all around. Passing ninjas whispered, their eyes toward Makiya and Shisui filled with an extra measure of respect.
Ninjas worship the strong. Makiya, Shisui, and Dai had proven themselves on the battlefield. Regardless of age or clan, they were war heroes in their own right.
Genma and Ebisu shared in the glory, unconsciously puffing out their chests.
Shisui had an inexplicable smile on his face, though no one knew what he was thinking.
Makiya guessed he must be thinking about the clan and the village again, but the smile was too ambiguous—at a glance, he looked like a creep. Thus, Makiya shifted his steps to silently distance himself.
Tucked in his robe were three sealing scrolls containing the Executioner's Blade, the Shibuki, and Samehada. These were his spoils of war, his personal property.
The impact of wiping out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist was still spreading. Less than half an hour after Makiya returned to his quarters, he suddenly received word to return to the command center.
At the entrance of the command center, the four met again, looking at each other in confusion. Even Guy came running over, panting. After gathering, they walked through the main doors together.
As soon as they entered, Makiya saw a figure that was both strange and familiar.
Orochimaru!
The reason he felt both strange and familiar was that he had seen the original work and even parts of Boruto, so he knew Uncle Snake... or Auntie Snake very well. But after transmigrating, he had rarely interacted with him, only catching glimpses from a distance a few times.
Nominally, this guy was the commander of the Hidden Mist battlefield, but he was always elusive. Makiya figured he had probably sneaked off to kidnap children or was digging up a base for experiments in some remote wilderness.
Fortunately, the frontline think tank was very reliable and could function normally without Orochimaru, handling the deployment of ninja teams with ease.
Although Orochimaru was neglectful of his duties, he always appeared at critical moments. No losses were caused by his absences; this snake's information network was very well-informed, with eyes and ears everywhere.
The ordinary staff of the command center had been dismissed, leaving only a few core leaders. Led by the young and capable Shikaku Nara, they were huddled together, heads down, formulating plans.
In the central main seat, Orochimaru looked at the five of them with interest. His gaze, in particular, hardly left Makiya and Shisui.
After receiving the news, he had immediately taken the time to visit the battlefield. The ruins left on the plains were spectacular; the destruction of the natural environment was not inferior to that caused by the Sannin.
He knew that although the child before him was small, his body contained world-destroying energy.
This was very abnormal, extremely abnormal. The Uchiha clan's chakra wasn't small, but it would never reach this level. Tobirama Senju's experimental records stated clearly that from the Warring States period until now, Makiya was the only anomaly in the Uchiha clan.
Even Madara Uchiha couldn't achieve this level at his age.
'I really want to research him!'
At the height of his excitement, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips.
Makiya felt the gaze and looked up, meeting Orochimaru's eyes.
With long black hair, golden vertical pupils, pale skin, and a cold aura, Orochimaru gave off an unapproachable vibe just by sitting there.
But in reality, Orochimaru was quite popular in the army with many followers. Before his reputation collapsed, his subordinates were spread throughout the various clans of Konoha.
"I have seen the intelligence you reported. I still have a few questions I'd like to ask in person."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice echoed in the command center. Most of the questions were about the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, which Makiya and the others answered one by one.
When the Eight Inner Gates and Might Dai were mentioned, Orochimaru immediately summoned the head of the frontline hospital, arranging for Dai to stay in a private room equipped with the best medical ninjas and herbs for full treatment.
Guy's nose ran with gratitude. Although he knew it was a move to win people over, when it involved family, no one could remain indifferent.
The line of fate had changed. Orochimaru recognized the power of the Eight Inner Gates early. If he were to defect in the future, he would certainly be wary of watermelon skins in a crowd.
Konoha operated on a cumulative merit system, with a final settlement at the end of the war. However, Orochimaru stated on the spot that rewards and punishments should be timely, and he pulled out two piles of ninjutsu scrolls for Makiya and the others to choose from.
Genma and the other two could choose two B-rank ninjutsu. Makiya, Shisui, and Dai could choose two A-rank ninjutsu. The rank of a ninjutsu represented the difficulty of learning and mastering it, but generally, difficult ninjutsu were also more powerful or had special effects that could catch an opponent off guard.
Makiya browsed through them, but only the Five Elements Seal caught his eye. Other ninjutsu weren't very attractive to him.
His Fire Style was its own system, and he needed to develop his own moves. He barely had enough time to practice Kido, so the cost-effectiveness of learning ninjutsu that conflicted with his own system was too low.
Sealing techniques in Naruto were an exception; they were very broken and worth studying.
Orochimaru seemed deep in thought, gently stroking the armrest of his chair. A white snake emerged from behind him, its mouth opening to spit out a scroll.
"Take this."
Orochimaru tossed the mucus-covered scroll to Makiya. "You should be interested in this."
Makiya didn't understand why, but he still accepted it with a smile. "Thank you, Lord Orochimaru."
After a few more polite exchanges, the atmosphere was harmonious. When the group left the command center, everyone had a smile on their face.
The smile on Makiya's face was fake. He had noticed Orochimaru frequently looking at him with a burning gaze. He was very familiar with this look; in his previous life, his mentor would use this look when looking at a sample during an experiment.
'Damn, I've been targeted by this snake.'
Although Makiya wasn't afraid of Orochimaru, he was afraid of trouble. At this point, he could only take it one step at a time.
Back in the tent, Makiya wiped off the mucus and opened the scroll, only to find it was the Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu.
Although this ninjutsu was A-rank, it was a forbidden technique recorded in the Scroll of Seals and was also the signature move of the Prince, Naruto.
The Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu was an A-rank technique invented by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju. It utilized a massive amount of chakra to increase the number of shadow clones, allowing one to create thousands of clones at once.
After the shadow clones disappeared, the memories and fatigue would be fed back to the original body exactly as they were. If one's spirit wasn't strong enough, the caster ran the risk of mental collapse or even going insane, which was why it was classified as a forbidden technique.
Secretly passing on a forbidden technique—Orochimaru was indeed generous and bold enough.
Makiya's eyes flickered, suddenly thinking that staying in contact with Orochimaru wasn't a bad idea.
To be honest, he was greedy for the Scroll of Seals, as well as Orochimaru's array of strange ninjutsu, such as the Living Corpse Reincarnation or the location of Ryuchi Cave...
It was a bit embarrassing to always rely on others. Knowledge was always interconnected, and he also wanted to contribute to the other Makiyas.
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