Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 387 Dragon Cave

Orochimaru recognized the person before him, rose from his seat, and a pleased smile appeared on his lips: "Truly a rare guest, a rare guest indeed..."

Aokiji scrutinized Orochimaru. His pale face had a sickly, effeminate quality, and purple eyeshadow clung to his eyes, making his golden vertical pupils sharp and dangerous.

"So many years have passed, but you haven't changed much in appearance."

Orochimaru said with great interest, "You've changed quite a bit."

"Orochimaru, come help me." Aokiji stretched out his hand and said directly, "I need you."

Orochimaru was taken aback, then laughed, "It's not just his appearance, but... his personality seems to have changed quite a bit too."

Aokiji stared into Orochimaru's eyes: "The only constant in this world is change."

"Don't you know who I am now?"

Orochimaru crossed his arms and said, "If you get too close to me, you'll be in trouble."

Aokiji said calmly, "It doesn't matter, I will take action."

Orochimaru squinted, not accepting immediately, waiting for Aokiji to offer his real bargaining chip.

After a while, Aokiji responded to his expectations, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning rapidly and connecting to form a snowflake pattern, and once again extended an invitation: "Come and help me, I will show you sights you have never seen before."

Orochimaru stared at Aokiji's Mangekyou Sharingan and licked his lips: "Looks like you've gained some pretty good power."

He paused, then said with interest, "But which scene are you referring to?"

Aokiji spoke slowly, his voice low and deep: "...That is the truth called the world."

Upon hearing this, even the well-informed Orochimaru couldn't help but show a look of surprise and curiosity.

"Hmm..."

Orochimaru sensed intense interest, lowered his head, shrugged his shoulders, and let out a morbid laugh.

Aokiji watched quietly without saying a word.

Orochimaru stopped laughing, raised his head, and looked at Aokiji's calm face with his golden vertical pupils: "Interesting, very interesting. As expected, Aokiji-kun is the one who truly understands me."

"So, what's your answer next?"

"Need I say more?" Orochimaru's upturned lips almost stretched to his ears: "Please take me with you, so I can see that sight."

The two reached an agreement. Kabuto, who was standing to the side, pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and the non-prescription glasses reflected a white light.

Let's wait and see what kind of unique color these two will bring to the world when they join forces.

Aokiji reached into his loose clothes, pulled out a scroll, and handed it over.

Orochimaru's eyes showed a hint of curiosity.

"This is a little interest," Aokiji explained calmly. "I think you'll be interested."

Orochimaru's interest intensified, and he eagerly took the scroll, opened it, and browsed through it, only to be greatly surprised.

Aokiji replied, "This is the Dragon Blood Reincarnation Technique. I hope you can help me research this ninjutsu. You are very talented in this area."

"Do you mean to...?"

"That's right," Aokiji responded to Orochi's guess.

"Just as I thought..." Orochimaru chuckled. "If you're so eager to see that person, I can help you first..."

A faint ripple stirred within Aokiji, but his expression remained calm: "If you're talking about something like the Impure World Reincarnation, I don't think I need it."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in surprise: "You even knew about this beforehand?"

In Orochimaru's eyes, the resurrected Aokiji exudes an extraordinary aura of control over everything in the world with every move he makes.

Aokiji didn't answer that question, but instead asked, "You've joined an organization called Akatsuki, haven't you?"

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru was even more surprised.

The Akatsuki organization is now very secretive, and not many people know about it, let alone know that he himself is in the organization.

Suddenly, as if he had just realized something, he said, "Could it be that you've also set your sights on those eyes?"

"I'm interested, but now is not the time."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. It wasn't the right time. The subtext was that he was interested. In other words, Aokiji had his eye on something else within the organization.

"I'm interested in something else now."

Aokiji confirmed Orochimaru's conjecture.

"What is that?"

Aokiji glanced at Kabuto Yakushi, who was listening in.

Yakushi Kabuto paused, then understood. Clearly, the following information was confidential, and he, as an outsider, should not be here.

Just as he was about to leave, Aokiji made no attempt to conceal his presence and directly said, "Zetsu."

This made Kabuto Yakushi even more unable to understand Aokiji.

Orochimaru was taken aback, recalling the information about this "Zetsu." Come to think of it, this guy was also a very mysterious figure within the organization.

"What's so special about this guy?" Orochimaru chuckled. "You're even more interested in him than in those eyes."

"This guy is the key."

Aokiji smiled, adopting a riddle-like tone, emphasizing mystery and highlighting his unfathomable nature.

"key?"

Orochimaru became interested. He wasn't in a hurry to ask for the answer; the exploration itself was part of solving the mystery: "What do you want me to do?"

"You help me lure this guy out, and I'll take care of the rest." Aokiji planned to just capture a Zetsu to study.

"This is really asking too much of a person," Orochimaru said, a slightly troubled expression on his face.

"I know you can do it."

"Alright, but I might need Aokiji's help then."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Help me catch my partner; I'm very interested in one of his studies."

Aokiji narrowed his eyes slightly.

After that, the two had a conversation about how to implement the plan in detail.

After finishing, Aokiji stopped Orochimaru, who was about to leave. Besides asking Orochimaru to help capture White Zetsu, he had another important matter to ask Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru, take me to Ryuchi Cave."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow: "Oh dear, that's quite surprising."

Aokiji calmly replied, "I plan to obtain immortal techniques from there to further enhance my strength."

Orochimaru glanced at him.

In the past, Aokiji also knew Sage Mode, but it was a degraded version. It's not surprising that Aokiji can now use this real Sage Mode.

"Learning Sage Mode comes with great risks," Orochimaru warned. "A slight mistake could cost you your life."

"The greater the risk, the greater the reward, isn't that right?"

Upon receiving Aokiji's confident reply, Orochimaru chuckled self-deprecatingly, "Looks like I've been futile."

Without further ado, Orochimaru walked toward Aokiji and said, "Let's go, let me take you to Ryuchi Cave, let me see your strength that I haven't seen in a long time."

"I won't let you down."

Qing smiled and followed.

Ryūchi-dō is a secret realm located between reality and illusion. Ordinary people find it extremely difficult to even find the entrance, let alone enter it.

Only those with the most sincere hearts are capable of visiting and entering.

With Orochimaru's guidance, Aokiji didn't have much trouble reaching the "entrance" of Ryuchi Cave; the difficulty lay in getting inside.

Interestingly, the country surrounding this entrance is the very same Loulan Kingdom.

Beneath the land of Loulan lies a dragon vein, and both the Dragon Land Cave and the dragon vein contain the character "dragon." Upon closer examination, the existence of a dragon vein beneath Loulan may conceal some kind of connection.

I don't know how long I walked, but the fog ahead grew thicker and thicker, obscuring the towering rock pillars that could be seen everywhere, leaving only blurry, towering black shadows. The already desolate scene became even more eerie and terrifying.

Aokiji stopped in his tracks, looking at the footprints below him, and thought for a moment: "Looks like we've come back to where we started."

Orochimaru smiled but didn't say anything, watching with great interest.

He was very familiar with everything here, but he just wouldn't tell Aokiji.

The trials at Ryuchi Cave had begun without anyone noticing. With Aokiji's strength, Orochimaru had no doubt that he would be able to pass. What he was curious about was how Aokiji would break through them.

It was with this mindset that he didn't remind anyone along the way.

(End of this chapter)