I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Chapter 94 Meeting!

On the night before the Chunin Exams began, in the dense forest outside Konoha Village, the moonlight was shattered by the tree canopy and sprinkled on the decaying leaves like shattered silver.

Orochimaru leaned against the trunk of an old camphor tree, his headband from the Grass Ninja Village tied crookedly on his forehead, the mask-like skin obscuring his true face.

He held a kunai between his fingers, slowly turning it in the moonlight, unhurried and composed.

There was still time before he could officially infiltrate Konoha. He was waiting, waiting for the right opportunity to sneak into the examination hall, waiting for the right prey.

Footsteps sounded behind me. It wasn't the sound of leaves being crushed, but the very light and steady sound of boot soles landing on decaying leaves, like a cat's.

Orochimaru didn't turn around, and the kunai stopped spinning; his fingers stopped moving.

"Shuoge Jun".

Shuoge emerged from the shadows of the trees, a knife on his back, a mask tucked into his waistband, his black robe blending seamlessly into the night.

He stood five steps behind Orochimaru, neither getting any closer nor deliberately maintaining a perfect distance.

The moonlight fell on his shoulder, making the faint scratch on the scabbard appear white.

Orochimaru tilted his head, revealing a golden eye. The outline of Sakugo was reflected in the pupil, and a look of inquiry appeared in his eyes.

"What terrifying insight!"

Orochimaru licked his lips, not bothering with the pointless question of how Sakugo had discovered him.

Instead, he asked another question, "Are you here to stop me?"

"No," Shuo Ge said calmly.

Orochimaru's eyes flashed with surprise, yet also with a hint of matter-of-factness. Sakugo-kun wasn't exactly a busybody. A slight smile played on his lips, though it didn't reach his eyes. He turned back, gazing at the scattered lights of Konoha Village in the distance.

"So, why did you come to see me, Sakugo-kun? —"

"I just think it would be a shame if your head just fell off like that." Sakugo looked at Orochimaru's neck, then his gaze moved upwards.

Orochimaru tapped the handle of his kunai lightly with his finger, the sound being particularly clear in the silent forest.

He slowly turned around to face Shuoge, his golden eyes looking down at him, the temperature in his gaze dropping even further.

"Does Shuoge-kun know what I want to do?"

Shuoge neither backed down nor pressed forward. He stood there, his left hand on the hilt of his knife, calm and unhurried, like an old tree that had been blown by the wind for a long time, its roots deep and unmoving.

You are destined not to succeed.

Orochimaru's eyelid twitched slightly.

His plan—disguised infiltration, attacking Sasuke, planting the cursed seal, and the collapse of Konoha—was a carefully orchestrated scheme.

The Third Hokage is dead, and Minato is in his prime. He has experienced the speed of the Flying Thunder God Technique firsthand, and he is not entirely confident in a head-on confrontation.

He had never said these words to anyone.

The young man in front of me spoke with such certainty, as if he had seen the script with his own eyes.

"Your track isn't on this road," Schogor said flatly. "You should play to your strengths."

If he lost both hands fighting the third generation, wouldn't he be beaten to a pulp and run away in the fourth generation?

Orochimaru remained silent.

It's not that I have nothing to say, but rather that I'm reassessing the person in front of me.

He had seen Shuoge's Mangekyou Sharingan before; its power was not weak, but not strong enough to make him wary.

What silenced him wasn't his strength, but what was in his eyes—calm, resolute, as if he were watching a game of chess whose outcome he already knew.

He spent his entire life researching forbidden techniques, conducted countless human experiments, betrayed Konoha, joined Akatsuki, and then defected from Akatsuki again.

All he did was try to uncover all the secrets of the ninja world and reach the other side that countless people yearn for.

He didn't believe anyone could see through his path.

"If you survive," Shuoge loosened the hilt of his knife, turned around, "we'll talk again."

he's gone.

His figure disappeared into the shadows of the trees, and the sound of his footsteps grew fainter and fainter, soon swallowed up by the night wind.

Orochimaru stood still, his golden eyes fixed on the direction where Sakugo had disappeared, the smile on his lips slowly fading away.

The kunai hung at his side, the moonlight shining on its blade, giving it a cold gleam.

"Sakugo-kun, I underestimated you." Orochimaru's voice was very soft, almost like he was talking to himself.

"However, the outcome of this game has only just begun!"

Orochimaru was so confident, to the point of being arrogant.

He didn't believe he would lose.

He put away his kunai, turned and walked out of the woods.

The lights of Konoha Village stretched out ahead, forming a bright expanse like a row of open eyes.

He walked straight ahead without hesitation or looking back.

Konoha Village, afternoon. The sun is shining brightly, and there aren't many pedestrians on the streets; most are preparing for the upcoming Chunin Exams finals.

Shuoge emerged from the secret police stronghold without a mask, a knife hanging on his back, and walked through several alleys into a secluded house.

This is a safe house he arranged outside the village. No one lives there normally; only he comes occasionally.

Today, the person he was waiting for has arrived.

Obito sat by the window, leaning against the wall. He had taken off his mask, revealing his scarred face.

The marks on the right side of his face, where he was crushed by rocks, are still shocking even after being repaired by White Zetsu. His left eye is a Sharingan with three tomoe, and his right eye is a Mangekyou Sharingan.

He wasn't wearing Xiao's black robe with red clouds; instead, he wore a dark gray long-sleeved shirt with the collar pulled up high to cover the stitching marks on his neck.

Sunlight streamed in through the window and fell on his knees. He didn't look at Shuoge, but gazed out the window.

"Lin is on her way." Shuoge leaned his knife against the door and sat down opposite him.

Obito's finger twitched.

The door opened.

Lin walked in, wearing a white medical gown, her hair tied back, carrying a medicine box in her hand.

When she saw Obito, she paused, the medicine box slipped from her hands and fell to the ground, spilling the bandages and medicine bottles inside.

She didn't pick it up; she just stood there, looking at Obito.

Obito was also looking at her.

The two looked at each other, neither of them speaking.

Shuoge stood up, walked out, and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the wall outside the door, took out the shuriken that Shisui had given him from his pocket, and twirled it between his fingers.

It's not that it's boring, it's to give the people inside time.

He couldn't explain why he brought Rin along. Maybe he felt Obito should see her, or maybe he wanted Obito to know that Rin was doing well in Konoha.

There is no further reason.

There was no sound from inside the room.

There was no crying, no talking, not even breathing.

It was quiet for a long time, so long that Shuoge thought they might have fallen asleep.

He pushed open the door.

Lin stood in the same spot, without moving.

Obito stood in front of her, two steps away, without hugging or holding hands, just standing there.

The medicine bottles and bandages scattered on the ground were left unpicked, casting messy shadows in the sunlight.

Sakugo went inside, and Obito took a step back, putting his vortex mask back on. The Sharingan eyes in the mask's holes changed from red back to black.

"I'll go get the things."

Obito's voice was hoarse. "I know where Orochimaru's Sound Village base is. Isn't he researching the Sharingan and the First Hokage's cells? I'll make a copy of all his data, including forbidden techniques. Wait for my news."

"Thanks." Shuoge tucked the katana back into his waistband.

Obito glanced at Rin one last time.

With divine power activated, space distorted, and his figure vanished.

Rin stood there, looking in the direction where Obito had disappeared, her lips moved but she didn't say anything.

She crouched down and picked up the scattered medicine bottles and bandages one by one, putting them into the medicine box. When she picked up the last bottle, her finger paused; it was a bottle of eye drops.

"Sakugo-kun, Obito—will he come back?"

"He never left."

Lin put the medicine bottle away, fastened the lock on the medicine box, and stood up.

"I'm going back now."

she left.

There were no extra words, no questions asked, "When will he come again?", no requests to "Take good care of him for me."

He walked to the door, stopped, didn't turn around, just stood there for a moment, then pushed the door open and went out.

Shuoge sat alone in the empty room, taking out the shuriken from his pocket—the one engraved with the character "Mirror".

The crooked characters were carved by Zhishui when he was a child.

He held the sword in his hand, the metal warmed by his body heat, and the coolness slowly faded away.

Ultimately, we can never go back to the past.

But at least—

You're still alive, aren't you?

Obito knew that Sakugo wanted this information because of the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan. He was also interested in the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan not to become stronger, but to find out the limits of those eyes.

He already has the first generation of cells, and the side effects of the Kaleidoscope have been suppressed, but the Eternal Kaleidoscope is another level.

He didn't think Orochimaru could research anything; that madman only knew how to manipulate corpses and culture fluids, occasionally creating a few imperfect experimental subjects.

But it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, since there's no harm in trying.

Kamui can traverse space without cost, and copying data requires no manual effort; White Zetsu can do it for him.

He only needs to decide what to do, and leave the rest to his clone.

The Land of Fields, the underground stronghold of the Sound Village.

White Zetsu emerged from the wall, half of its body embedded in the rock, and tilted its head to look at the specimens in the culture tank for a while.

No one noticed it; Orochimaru wasn't there, Kabuto wasn't there, and the test subject guarding it was dozing off in a room at the other end of the corridor.

A thin vine extended from White Zetsu's fingertip and slipped into the crack of the lock on the archive room door. The sound of the lock turning went unnoticed. It pushed the door open and went inside, taking in all the scrolls on the copy rack, one by one, roll by roll.

The contents of the scroll are transmitted back to the space where Obito is located in sync with the White Zetsu's body.