Naruto: Starting with Tsunade

Chapter 395 High-level hunters always disguise themselves as prey.

In the dimly lit room stood a huge human-shaped statue, sitting cross-legged, with its wrists clasped together and its fingers forming lotus petals, placed in front of its chest in the lotus mudra.

Located above the finger, ripples appeared in the space, which soon condensed into several outlines, radiating a seven-colored light.

One of them, Payne, looked around and realized that someone was missing.

He calmly gazed at the phantom with golden vertical pupils through his wavy eyes, as if trying to discern something from its gaze.

After a long pause, he asked in a completely emotionless voice, "Where is Hiruko?"

Orochimaru replied in a hoarse voice, "He should have been killed."

A ripple appeared in Payne's usually calm, mirror-like eyes: "Should?"

"We ran into Aokiji Uchiha on the road."

Orochimaru lowered his voice, secretly observing Pain's reaction upon hearing the name.

A barely perceptible hint of surprise flashed across Pain's eyes: "Uchiha Aokiji, I remember this guy used to be your comrade, right?"

"That's all in the past," Orochimaru sighed. "You know, Hiruko and I are both rogue ninja from the village. How would he react if he encountered us?"

"So, you abandoned Hiruzen and ran away?"

Payne arrived at this conclusion based on the preceding text.

"What else?" Orochimaru shrugged and teased, "Are you suggesting we both stay here?"

The most difficult lies to distinguish are those that are both true and false.

In reality, Aokiji ambushed Hiruko on the road, seized the opportunity to instantly kill him, and then used a summoning technique to summon Shinja to turn Hiruko into stone, which is still in the laboratory.

At this moment, an organization member who appeared hunchbacked in the illusory image mocked, "He's really useless; neither of them could defeat him."

Orochimaru retorted, "Fine, you go ahead. I bet you won't even have time to run away. With your pathetic puppet, you probably won't even last one punch."

This wasn't Orochimaru intentionally trying to criticize; it was just stating the facts.

The puppet that the opponent is so proud of might really be defeated by a single punch from Aokiji's soul fire.

"You bastard, dare to say that again?"

The member's eyes were bloodshot, his anger radiating with intense murderous intent.

Seeing that neither of them could stand the other, Payne spoke up at the right moment to stop them: "Stop arguing."

Pain knew Orochimaru's personality very well, and naturally, he would never stay and fight to the death for the sake of his comrades.

The Akatsuki were all rogue ninja, and the quality of the individuals within them varied greatly. Pain had long been prepared for such behavior.

Payne coldly said, "Tell me about Aokiji."

Orochimaru anticipated Pain's actions and delivered the prepared answer to him.

"Uchiha Aokiji..."

Payne muttered something and wrote down the name.

Orochimaru teased, "Boss, are you preparing to cause trouble for Aokiji?"

Payne did not respond.

Orochimaru, realizing he'd made a fool of himself, chuckled to ease the awkwardness.

Pain looked at the organization member who had just argued with Orochimaru and said, "Scorpion, you team up with Orochimaru."

The Akatsuki members usually operate in pairs. Firstly, this increases the success rate of their missions. Secondly, it allows them to monitor each other.

Within the organization, Sasori, who has a bad relationship with Orochimaru, is a good candidate.

However, Sasori doesn't consider the bigger picture and only follows his own mood, doing whatever he wants. He firmly states that he doesn't want to team up with Orochimaru.

This was exactly what Orochimaru wanted: "Oh, perfect timing, I didn't want to team up with you either."

Neither side was willing, and Payne couldn't force them to comply.

Payne's control over the members of the organization is quite loose.

Bai Zetsu suggested, "In that case, let's find a new partner to join us."

Payne agreed with this answer: "Is there anyone else suitable?"

"A rogue ninja from Kirigakure, and one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

"Who is it?"

Upon hearing this, someone within the organization couldn't help but ask a question.

"Oh dear, you're really in a hurry~ Juzo, well, that's normal, after all, you two used to belong to the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist."

After making his joke, White Zetsu stopped keeping him in suspense and said, "It's Raiga Kurosuki."

Juzo scoffed, "You've already found this guy?"

Although they belong to the same organization, they don't have a good relationship, and the only thing that connects them is their ninja swords.

White Zetsu replied, "Not yet, but we should be able to find it with some time."

Pain looked at Orochimaru: "Is everything alright?"

Orochimaru didn't say much. If he acted too hastily, it would be suspicious that there was a reason behind it.

After reaching an agreement, the Akatsuki members left one by one, leaving only Sasori, Zetsu, Pain, and Konan.

Pain, Zetsu, and Konan are in a circle, while Sasori is left here for a special purpose.

What do you think?

Payne asked the three men for their opinions.

Orochimaru joined the Akatsuki organization with impure motives, so Pain was always wary of him and never considered him one of his own.

Black Zetsu, whose face was half white, spoke in a low voice: "I can't see any problem at the moment."

"I think this guy might be plotting something," Scorpion sneered. "I have pawns around him who can keep an eye on him."

Payne accepted the suggestion: "Inform me immediately if there is any unusual activity."

"it is good."

On the other side, Orochimaru opened his eyes, put down his hand that was still forming seals, and smiled at the white-haired youth in front of him: "Things are progressing smoothly. They will be adding new team members for me. Zetsu should be there when that happens."

He then added about the new members they recruited.

Aokiji didn't take this to heart.

Aside from Kisame, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist are just average.

Out of caution, Orochimaru added, "After all, this is a recruitment of core members. Other members will also be present, and even Pain might be there."

"The Rinnegan, is it? That's certainly troublesome."

Aokiji's solemn tone didn't linger for long, quickly replaced by a cheerful one: "But getting out unscathed shouldn't be a big problem."

Seeing Aokiji's confidence, Orochimaru said nothing more, and took out a white snake from his pocket to use as a means of communication: "Those guys don't trust me, so it's best if we're careful when we communicate."

Aokiji took the communicator snake and asked, "Do you have a picture of Raiga Kurosuki?"

"Are you planning to have the organization find him first?"

It will take Akatsuki some time to find Raiga Kurosuki, but if Aokiji finds him first, he will have more initiative and advantage.

Aokiji slightly curled his lips, saying with an unfathomable air, "High-level hunters often appear in the form of prey."

That sounded incredibly pretentious. Orochimaru pondered it carefully, then a wicked smile spread across his face: "I see. As expected of Aokiji. I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of expressions they'll make."

"Intelligence is always important."

"You can go back to the village and find Dou. I think he has the information you need."

Inspired, Aokiji thought, "That's fine too. I also have some things to take care of."

(End of this chapter)