Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 337 Let's all take down Konoha!

Orochimaru's secret meeting with Rasa went very smoothly.

When Rasa decided to meet Orochimaru, it meant he had made up his mind.

After leaving through the secret passage of Sunagakure, Orochimaru looked back at the village amidst the yellow sand.

"It's truly pathetic. Lacking sufficient strength, yet unwilling to be subordinate to others, and with ambitions that don't match abilities, his ultimate fate was destined for failure," Orochimaru thought to himself.

For some reason, he was reminded of himself by those words.

Perhaps, I am just such a pathetic existence?

"No, I have already seen a completely new world." Orochimaru quickly suppressed the dejected thought and the image of Bane flashed through his mind.

Just then, Orochimaru suddenly saw a figure sitting alone on the edge of a wall on the roof of a building in Sunagakure.

"Is that Rasa's son?" Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a strange light as he murmured, "A tailed beast jinchūriki is quite suitable as a sacrifice."

Without paying much attention to the figure, Orochimaru quickly turned and left.

The yellow sand gradually obscured his figure. About three hours after leaving Sunagakure Village, on a desolate Gobi desert, there were several figures who seemed to have been waiting there for a long time.

As Orochimaru emerged from the yellow sand, the figures immediately knelt respectfully on one knee before him, saying, "Lord Orochimaru!"

The Sound Five.

Headed by Kaguya Kimimaro, the group includes Sakon and Ukon, Kidomaru, Tayuya, and Jirobo.

They were the five most elite ninjas among the members of the Hidden Sound Village, which Orochimaru established in the Land of Rice Fields, and were also Orochimaru's direct forces.

Besides the Sound Five, there was another guy who looked quiet and seemingly harmless, wearing round-framed glasses; he was clearly Kabuto Yakushi.

"Is there anything you need to report to me while I'm away?" Orochimaru asked in a chilling tone.

Kaguya Kimimaro and the others remained silent, while Kabuto Yakushi stood up and said, "Lord Orochimaru, there's been a slight development regarding Konoha, which you entrusted to keep an eye on. Sasuke Uchiha, whom you've been focusing on, encountered Zabuza Momochi, a rogue ninja from Kirigakure, while on a mission in the Land of Waves. He was nearly killed, but he later used the power of his Sharingan."

"The Sharingan?" Orochimaru's eyes flashed with interest.

Back when he was in the Akatsuki organization, he encountered Itachi Uchiha, who had also defected from Konoha. Out of covetousness for the Sharingan, he ambushed Itachi, only to be instantly killed by Itachi's genjutsu. Perhaps this was because his soul was damaged and he had poor resistance to genjutsu.

Regardless, ever since then, Orochimaru has become extremely obsessed with the Sharingan's bloodline limit.

Unable to handle Itachi Uchiha, he gradually turned his attention to another 'survivor' of the Uchiha clan, Itachi's younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha.

"Based on my intelligence infiltration in Konoha, it's highly likely that Sasuke Uchiha will also participate in this Chunin Exams," Kabuto Yakushi added.

"Even if they don't yet have the abilities of Chunin, Kakashi will still let them experience it," Orochimaru said calmly.

He wasn't surprised by this situation. After pondering for a moment, Orochimaru said, "You don't need to worry about this for now. Rasa has already agreed to cooperate with me to initiate the Konoha Crush Plan. After that, we'll proceed according to the original plan. Later, there will be an opportunity for us to take down Rasa together, and then..."

After briefly explaining the Konoha Crush plan, Orochimaru added, "But the goal of the plan needs to be changed."

Kabuto asked with some confusion, "Change? No longer aiming to eliminate the Third Hokage?"

"No, my dear teacher is still the target to be eliminated, but at the same time," Orochimaru said, looking at Kabuto Yakushi, "I also have to do some things that will displease Lord Danzo."

"Lord Danzo." Upon hearing this, Kabuto Yakushi lowered his gaze slightly and then said, "My loyalty to Lord Orochimaru is beyond question."

"Of course I know." Orochimaru smiled and patted Kabuto Yakushi's shoulder as if to encourage him.

Orochimaru had a good grasp of people's hearts. He knew very well that Kabuto Yakushi might have his own reasons for staying by his side, but ever since he was tricked by Danzo and killed Nono Yakushi with his own hands, he could no longer be loyal to Danzo. He wished he could kill Danzo.

The Konoha Crush plan was impossible without the cooperation of Orochimaru; Orochimaru wouldn't do something so uncertain.

Konoha, a vast ninja village, is known as the strongest of the five great ninja villages. Without an inside accomplice, how could it be so easily destroyed by a simple plan?

Orochimaru, being from Konoha, was well aware of the extent of Konoha's power.

His inside man was Danzo, or rather, the entire Konoha Crush plan was a conspiracy between him and Danzo.

As a high-ranking member of the village, Danzo Shimura always coveted the position of Hokage, but he was completely controlled by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. It can be said that as long as Hiruzen Sarutobi lived, Danzo would never be able to seize the position of Hokage.

As Danzo grew older, he felt more and more that his time was running out. If he couldn't eliminate Hiruzen Sarutobi, he probably wouldn't be able to sit on the Hokage's throne in his lifetime.

Orochimaru had cooperated with Danzo when he was in the village, and maintained some contact with him even after he defected.

The plan to destroy Konoha appears to be aimed at crushing the village and causing it to fall apart. However, with Danzo holding it back, it is unlikely to achieve this goal. The only thing they can do is create an opportunity to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage.

In fact, in the original story, this is how it ended. The entire Konoha Crush plan made Sunagakure look like a fool, gaining nothing and even having their own Kazekage killed by Orochimaru.

In the end, he had to humble himself before Konoha and become an ally of its subordinates to survive this ordeal.

On the other hand, what about Konoha? Such a massive collapse plan ended up with the unlucky Hayate Gekko dying and the Third Hokage being killed, but nothing else affected Konoha's strength.

And clearly, all of this was achieved according to Danzo and Orochimaru's plan.

However, Danzo never expected that Jiraiya and the others would not allow him to take the position, and went to great lengths to bring Tsunade, who had been wandering around for who knows how long, back to become Hokage.

Danzo had no chance against Tsunade. He was indeed a high-ranking member of the village, but Tsunade was of impeccable lineage, a true descendant of the Senju clan, and a princess appointed by the Daimyo of the Land of Fire.

With strength, prestige, and powerful connections, Danzo was powerless to stop Tsunade from rising to power.

In the end, they killed the Third Hokage, but all of this benefited Tsunade.

"So what do you mean?" Yakushi Kabuto asked.

"Nine-Tails." Orochimaru raised an eyebrow slightly and said, "Besides cooperating with Lord Danzo to eliminate the Third Hokage, there are two other things to do in this Konoha Crush plan. You will be in charge of one of them."

"Huh? Me?" Kabuto Yakushi paused for a moment, then pointed to himself and said, "You mean I'm here to take charge of stealing the Nine-Tails?"

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

Do you think I have that ability?!

If I had that ability, I would have gone straight to kill Danzo. Why would I need to learn skills from Orochimaru?

"No, you're in charge of another objective: to seize the Book of Seals," Orochimaru said, shaking his head.

Kabuto Yakushi is still a young Karami, and Orochimaru isn't stupid enough to assign him something as impossible as stealing the Nine-Tails. However, taking advantage of the chaos in Konoha, he has a good chance of having Kabuto steal the Scroll of Seals.

"The Book of Sealing?" Kabuto Yakushi frowned slightly, then said, "I understand. However, I need some more time to obtain information about the Book of Sealing."

"It's right there in the Hokage's office in the Hokage Building," Orochimaru said calmly. "My dear teacher valued that book extremely much, practically taking care of it personally. But yet, this important book was stolen at the beginning of the year by a mere brat who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy. Don't you find that amusing?"

Before Kabuto could answer, Orochimaru continued, "Once the Konoha Crush plan is executed, I will trap Sarutobi-sensei inside the barrier, and Sunagakure will cause chaos throughout Konoha. At that time, you must not reveal your identity and go to the Hokage Building immediately. I will not ask about the specifics, but you must bring me the Scroll of Seals."

Knowing he had no right to refuse Orochimaru's orders, Kabuto immediately replied in a deep voice, "Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

After explaining the matter of Kabuto Yakushi, Orochimaru looked at the Sound Five, then a gentle smile appeared on his face as he softly stroked Kimimaro Kaguya's head and said, "Kimimaro, you didn't need to force yourself to come see me."

Although Kimimaro appeared perfectly normal at the moment, he was actually terminally ill and nearing the end of his life; the slightest movement would cause him excruciating pain throughout his body.

"Lord Orochimaru, your sudden disappearance has made me very worried about your safety," Kimimaro replied softly.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine." Orochimaru's tone remained gentle, seemingly showing Kimimaro a different attitude and affection than towards others.

After a slight pause, Orochimaru continued, "You don't need to worry about your condition. I may have found a way to reverse this bloodline disease."

At this point, Orochimaru's eyes became somewhat distant, and after a long while, he said, "The answer will be clear once the Konoha Crush plan is finalized."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." Kimimaro didn't ask what the method was; since Orochimaru said so, he was willing to trust him unconditionally.

In fact, he never doubted any of Orochimaru's statements; in his heart, Orochimaru was everything!

Meanwhile, inside Ryuchi Cave, Bane was explaining Orochimaru's plan to destroy Konoha to everyone.

"Although there's no evidence, I suspect that Danzo was behind all of this."

"So, Konoha may look glamorous on the surface, but there's a lot of darkness inside. However, we're all from the Navy, so we understand these things. The larger the organization, the less likely it is to be pure."

Listening to Bane's eloquent explanation, Zoro remarked, "That's certainly true."

"Although Orochimaru didn't tell us about his plan, now that we know, we can't miss this opportunity," Bane said to the crowd.

He had an agreement with Orochimaru, and there were rumors about some kind of sacrifice.

But Bane always believed that people must rely on themselves, so how could he place all his hopes on Orochimaru?

"Konoha is the strongest and most profound of the five great ninja villages. They possess the most comprehensive knowledge of ninjutsu. The main thing we need to do when we go to Konoha is to retrieve the Book of Seals, which is said to contain all of Konoha's secret and forbidden techniques. With this book, we can study it for a long time," Bane instructed.

"Before we act, we need to do some disguise. Look, this is the drawing I made. In the next few days, Ain, you will be in charge of preparing clothes of this kind." Bane took out a drawing and showed it to everyone.

The design of the clothes drawn on the drawing is very simple: a black trench coat with red clouds, the same style as the Akatsuki!

"What does this mean?" Zoro asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The Akatsuki, a hidden organization in the shadows, well, you could call it an evil organization, made up of a bunch of rogue ninja. When we go to Konoha to cause trouble this time, we'll use their identities. We'll take the benefits, and they'll take the blame," Bane said.

After a slight pause, Bane continued, "However, considering that Orochimaru might summon me, I won't pretend anymore. You can just pretend."

(End of this chapter)