Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

The three of them looked at the man in front of them, who had golden snake eyes, purple eyeshadow, pale skin, and a cold, serpentine demeanor, and felt that he looked somewhat familiar.

Finally, Konan blurted out in surprise, "You're Orochimaru!"

Orochimaru? Orochimaru, the leader of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha?

Upon hearing this, the Akatsuki members behind the three began to whisper among themselves, as this name was renowned throughout the ninja world.

"Yes, it's me."

Orochimaru maintained his smile and walked towards the three of them, saying slowly, "Jirai also missed you all. He had been inquiring about your whereabouts all these years, but he received the wrong information and thought you were dead. If he knew that you had created the Akatsuki organization, he would be very happy and proud."

Upon hearing Jiraiya's name, Konan and Nagato relaxed their guard and instinctively went to Orochimaru, eagerly inquiring about their teacher's recent situation.

But at that moment, Yahiko stretched out his arms and stopped his two companions.

He frowned, and with a serious expression questioned Orochimaru:

"Why are you here? And who are those people behind you?"

Konoha kept Orochimaru and Danzo's defection a secret to save face.

Therefore, Yahiko and the others were unaware that Orochimaru was no longer one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, but a wanted criminal.

But Yahiko remembered very clearly that when Orochimaru first met the three of them, he proposed to kill them, ostensibly to reduce their suffering.

Yahiko had no liking for such a cruel and cold-blooded person.

"Yahiko, don't be nervous, I mean no harm."

Faced with Yahiko's questioning, Orochimaru stopped and calmly explained, "The people behind me are all Konoha's ANBU ninjas. We are here in the Land of Rain on orders from the Third Hokage."

"What mission?" Yahiko pressed.

That's right.

Orochimaru had already prepared the story, and he began to tell it in detail:

"Hanzo spared the lives of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and me on the battlefield and bestowed upon us the title of the Legendary Sannin. He can be considered the benefactor of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. Now that he is dead and the Land of Rain is in turmoil, we do not want to see the country suffer, so we asked the Hokage for permission to lead a force to quell the war."

"Then why didn't Jiraiya come with you?" Yahiko continued to press.

Orochimaru sighed upon hearing this and said softly, "You should have heard about the current situation in Konoha. Tsunade was taken away by Kisame Hoshigaki and became a hostage of Kirigakure. Jiraiya also has to stay in the village to assist the Third Hokage and handle various affairs. Therefore, I will be leading this team alone. In short, I am willing to help you make Akatsuki the ruler of Amegakure and restore peace to this country."

His words were sincere and without any loopholes, making it hard for anyone to doubt them.

"Great."

Upon hearing this, Konan and Nagato no longer had any doubts, and the members of Akatsuki also showed joy on their faces, discussing it excitedly.

In their view, with Konoha's help, Akatsuki would undoubtedly be even more powerful and would easily become the ruler of Amegakure in the near future.

Faced with such a great temptation, only Yahiko was not blinded by joy, but maintained the utmost rationality.

He remained silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head at Orochimaru, firmly refusing:

"Lord Orochimaru, Akatsuki has its own philosophy and methods. We will use Akatsuki's methods to achieve peace in the Land of Rain, so we won't trouble Konoha with our help."

As the leader of Akatsuki, he had to consider the entire organization and all his subordinates at all times, so he had to be extremely cautious.

In Yahiko's view, Orochimaru's sudden visit was too suspicious, and his motives were very likely impure.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

He wanted to continue persuading Yahiko, but Danzo behind him was getting impatient. He snorted coldly and stepped out from the crowd.

"Stop wasting your breath on them, Orochimaru. They're just a bunch of brats, just take them down."

Danzo said with dissatisfaction, and then made a gesture. His Root ninjas immediately sprang into action, surrounding the Akatsuki members.

"As expected, I knew you had ulterior motives all along."

Seeing this, Yahiko also snorted coldly, then turned to Konan, Nagato, and the others and shouted, "Prepare for battle!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the enemy rushed forward and engaged in a fierce battle with the members of Akatsuki.

For a moment, the sounds of ninja tools clashing, explosive tags exploding, and shouts of battle from both sides were mixed together.

The ninjas Danzo brought were all elite members of Root, and in terms of both numbers and strength, they were significantly superior to those of the Akatsuki.

Therefore, shortly after the start of the battle, the Akatsuki organization was suppressed by the enemy, with members being defeated one after another, and they were forced into a series of defeats.

Whoosh.

Orochimaru leaped backward and quickly withdrew from the battlefield.

He had no intention of making a move, but instead observed the performance of Yahiko and the other two from the outside, making his own assessment of them in his mind.

In this way, the most suitable candidate can be selected as the vessel for the rebirth of the undead.

What interested him most was naturally Yahiko, the leader of Akatsuki. Yahiko's leadership skills and temperament left a deep impression on him from their first meeting.

However, as it turns out, the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.

Orochimaru quickly discovered that Yahiko was not very strong; his only specialty was Water Release, and he could only use ninjutsu like Water Wave.

As a disciple personally trained by Jiraiya and the leader of Akatsuki, he shouldn't be at this level.

Orochimaru was puzzled by this.

Suddenly, Yahiko was attacked by two Root ninjas and knocked to the ground.

Shhhhhh.

In the critical moment, Konan came to the rescue, throwing a large number of paper shurikens to force the enemy back.

But the next second, Yamato, who was not far away, secretly made his move, manipulating several wood-style vines to emerge from the ground and tie Konan up like a rice dumpling, tightening the bindings more and more.

Just as Konan was about to be strangled to death, her body suddenly turned into pieces of paper, breaking free from the Wood Release's restraints and scattering in all directions.

A few seconds later, the pieces of paper gathered in another place and reassembled into Xiao Nan's original form.

Paper clone.

Seeing this, Orochimaru's eyes finally lit up.

"A ninjutsu created using the properties of paper? That's quite creative, at least more powerful than that Yahiko's."

He secretly thought to himself that he had become interested in Xiao Nan.

Although the other party was a girl, Orochimaru didn't mind occupying Konan's body. For him, occasionally living as a woman on the long road to immortality might be a good experience.

Konan, too, did not last long under the siege of the Konoha ninjas.

Her paper-style ninjutsu had not yet been improved at this time, and after being soaked by the Konoha ninja's water-style ninjutsu, she could no longer use it.

"Kill them!"

Danzo pointed at Yahiko and Konan and gave the order in a deep voice.

The next second, more than a dozen Root ninjas attacked together, throwing a large number of kunai and shuriken, which rained down on the two of them.

"and many more."

Orochimaru, not wanting to see the "vessel" destroyed, hurriedly shouted, but it was too late.

Just when everyone thought that Yahiko and Konan were doomed, Nagato suddenly unleashed a powerful burst of chakra from the crowd on the other side, breaking free of the encirclement and rushing over.

He appeared in front of Yahiko and Konan, raised one hand, and his Rinnegan emitted intense fluctuations of ocular power.

With a "bang".

All the kunai and shuriken flying towards them were deflected by a strange and inexplicable force, clattering and scattering all over the ground.

谷斛

Nagato usually keeps his head down and has very thick, long bangs that often cover his eyes. But at this moment, with his outburst, the air currents lifted his red hair, completely revealing his Rinnegan.

Danzo and Orochimaru were both surprised when they noticed Nagato.

There's something strange about those eyes.

Danzo frowned, his expression puzzled. He could see that Nagato's eyes possessed extraordinary power, but he didn't know its origin.

Orochimaru, however, was startled, his golden snake eyes narrowing sharply as he recognized the Rinnegan.

He now finally understood why Jiraiya had stayed behind to teach these three children—it was all for those eyes.

Jiraiya's true disciple was this red-haired boy named Nagato. Nagato was the true leader of the Akatsuki organization.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru's eyes flashed with a dazzling light, like a python that had been starving all winter and had spotted a delicious prey, staring intently at Nagato.

He was determined to have this boy's body.

Danzo acted faster than Orochimaru.

"Take him down! Remember, don't damage his eyes."

With Danzo's command, the Root ninjas launched their final attack on Nagato and his two companions.

"It's Konoha ninjas again, those damned things..."

As Nagato looked at the menacing enemy approaching, it was as if he had returned to many years ago, when he was still a young boy and witnessed his parents being killed by Konoha ninja.

At this moment, his hatred for Konoha was rekindled and reached a new peak.

"Summoning Jutsu, Gedo Statue!"

With a furious roar, Nagato slammed his palm into the ground, unleashing the boundless rage within him.

Boom!

A gigantic hand burst from the ground, instantly swatting away several Konoha ninjas. Then, with a violent tremor, the massive body of the Gedo Mazo emerged completely, much to the astonishment of Danzo and the others.

"Roar!"

The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path let out a roar to the sky, like a rampaging tailed beast, its terrifying power sending chills down one's spine.

"what is that?"

Danzo quickly retreated several dozen meters, staring at the Gedo Mazo with suspicion and uncertainty. The feeling that monster gave him was remarkably similar to Kisame Hoshigaki in his Sagata form.

"Nagato, you can't use that technique!"

Konan was horrified and tried to dissuade Nagato, but Nagato had lost his mind and was only thinking about killing all the Konoha ninjas.

Then, black rods extended from the Gedo Mazo and were thrust into Nagato's back.

"what!"