The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

To be honest, after Orochimaru sent Kabuto Yakushi to extend such an invitation to Menma, the desire in Menma's heart spread and grew rapidly like spring grass.

Don't talk to Menma about justice or innocence.

In such a world.

These words are all luxuries.

If it were the old Menma, he might have hesitated or refused Orochimaru's invitation, because he still carried the filter of his past life and the ordinary mindset of his previous life. But now he is different.

Menma has already completely immersed herself in this world.

They wouldn't care about these small issues.

He only cares about himself and those who are truly willing to care about him and stand shoulder to shoulder with him; everything else is meaningless.

Therefore, Menma accepted Orochimaru's invitation without much hesitation.

Upon hearing Menma's answer, Kabuto's smile deepened. This was the answer he most wanted to hear, and one he had anticipated from the beginning.

Since they are allies with their Lord Orochimaru and harbor resentment towards Konoha, it's practically impossible for them to refuse this invitation.

This is Yakushi Kabuto's opinion.

"I knew Menma-kun wouldn't refuse. Here's the basic arrangement of the plan. Menma-kun can take a look first. Of course, this is just a contingency plan. After all, there's still a full month before the plan is implemented, and things could change at any time. However, I'll contact Menma-kun immediately if anything changes."

As Kabuto Yakushi spoke with a smile, he took out a scroll from his pocket, flicked it lightly, and threw it towards Menma's location.

He caught the dough with his backhand.

"Hehe, anyway, I'll say it again: I'll only act based on the situation. You should personally convey this to Orochimaru-san."

With a numbed expression, he spoke calmly.

“That’s natural. Well then, I won’t bother you any longer, Menma-kun. Excuse me for being rude.”

After giving a slight bow, Kabuto bowed.

"Whoosh."

With a flicker, he disappeared into the deep night.

Just a few seconds later, Kabuto Yakushi was completely out of Menma's range of perception.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 101 Undercurrents (Fourth Update)

Menma looked in the direction where Kabuto Yakushi had left, a look of seriousness appearing in his eyes. Then, after pushing open the door and returning to his room, Menma went to the table and opened the scroll that Kabuto Yakushi had thrown to him.

The above is indeed a summary of the joint operation plan between the Sound Ninja and the Sand Ninja.

This includes, but is not limited to, the combined efforts of Rasa and Orochimaru, Gaara's complete tailed beast transformation, and the timing of surprise attacks by the elite Sand and Sound Ninja forces that have infiltrated to nearby locations.

This scroll contains a complete record of all the key points of the Konoha Crush plan.

'So, they really have me wrapped around their little finger, Orochimaru-san...'

A faint murderous aura appeared between his pockmarked brows as he murmured to himself.

An invitation that was not expected.

This was clearly beyond Menma's own plans.

Originally, he planned to take advantage of the chaos to leave Konoha and watch the collapse of Konoha unfold. He didn't care who won or lost, nor did he care about Orochimaru, since Orochimaru wouldn't die so easily anyway. But now it seems that whether he likes it or not, he has to join this 'feast'.

'That's fine too, at least I can put on a good show before I leave.'

Mianma exhaled a breath of stale air, gazing at the dark night outside the window, and clenched his right hand slightly.

At the same time.

It is a secluded area some distance from Konoha Village.

Kabuto Yakushi, who had just left Menma's place, also appeared here.

With practiced ease, they found a secluded entrance behind a pile of rubble.

Without hesitation, Kabuto Yakushi stepped down and went straight to the bottom floor.

In the innermost dimly lit room, there was only an oil lamp hanging in the window.

Orochimaru was conducting his research very seriously.

The various human organs and limbs casually placed on the experimental table, with blood splattered everywhere, would probably make an ordinary person vomit bile if they saw this scene, but Kabuto Yakushi stepped in with a calm expression.

Kabuto Yakushi had become accustomed to such scenes over the past decade or so. After becoming Orochimaru's most capable assistant, he would see him once or twice a day. The forbidden research on the human body was one of the most core projects in all of Orochimaru's research.

In order to gain greater power, or even to achieve immortality.

Studying humans with different physical constitutions was one of the best ways for Orochimaru to explore all of this.

Upon entering the laboratory, Kabuto did not immediately report, as he knew very well that his Lord Orochimaru hated being disturbed during experiments. Instead, he went directly to the seat opposite Orochimaru and skillfully began working as an assistant.

This experiment was completed step by step.

Until the final finishing touches are completed.

Orochimaru picked up a towel and casually wiped the blood from his face and hands. Then, his narrow snake eyes looked directly at Kabuto Yakushi in the opposite seat.

"Du, how did it go? What was the result?"

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. The Sand Village has confirmed it twice. They will unleash the One-Tailed Beast at the designated time. In terms of troop deployment, they have also promised to send thousands of elite troops to the designated locations at the designated time. However, they still doubt that we can guarantee their troops can successfully infiltrate the outskirts of Konoha."

After a slight pause, Kabuto Yakushi replied softly.

"Hehe, the Sand Village is still the same as ever. Their backbone was completely broken more than ten years ago, but it doesn't matter. As long as they can cooperate, that's fine. You can reveal some information when appropriate. If necessary, I will also contact that Fourth Kazekage again."

Orochimaru chuckled softly, a hint of mockery appearing in his eerily bright eyes.

In the three Shinobi World Wars, Sunagakure was the defeated side all three times.

It was precisely these repeated defeats that caused Sunagakure to decline continuously. When the Five Great Ninja Villages were first established, apart from Konoha, which stood out, the gap between the other four villages was not significant.

They can basically be considered to be evenly matched.

But now?

Sunagakure has completely become the worst of the worst.

As a former high-ranking official of Konoha and now an ally of Sunagakure, Orochimaru understands this very well.

However, Orochimaru doesn't care about this at all. If it's a powerful ally, it would actually be a troublesome thing for Orochimaru.

Otherwise, Orochimaru wouldn't have gone to Sunagakure instead of Kumogakure or Iwagakure, since in terms of strength, those two villages would have been the most suitable partners.

In particular, Kumogakure has shown a strong momentum to catch up with, and even surpass, Konohagakure in recent years.

This is one of the reasons why Orochimaru chose Sunagakure.

Of course, at this point, Orochimaru could not have imagined that the Sand Village's lack of backbone would go even further, and that the Fourth Kazekage would abandon a plan that had been negotiated and drafted for months at the last moment.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

The pharmacist bowed in greeting.

"So, what about the other side? Has our ally also agreed to join the plan?"

Orochimaru, unusually serious, looked at Kabuto Yakushi and asked, as if in Orochimaru's eyes, Menma, this ally, was far more important than the Sand Ninja.

Of course, this is clearly also due to Menma's potential and the huge benefits he could bring to Orochimaru.

If we only consider the Konoha Crush Plan itself...

Unless Menma can directly transform into his complete tailed beast form, he would indeed be able to completely overwhelm Sunagakure, an ally.

If we're only talking about their previous combat performance...

One piece of dough is far from enough.

"As you expected, Lord Orochimaru, Menma-kun did not refuse our invitation, but he still held back a bit."

"Huh? Reserved? Tell me about it."

"Yes"

Then, Kabuto Yakushi succinctly relayed his previous conversation with Menma to Orochimaru.

After listening.

"Hehe, that's a perfectly normal assessment. But as long as he's willing to join in, that's enough. In the future, let this one-faced Makoto act with you. Kabuto can cover that area and show it to my beloved teacher. I can't wait to see what my Hokage teacher looks like then."

Orochimaru stretched out his tongue, licked his lips, and sneered.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

The various forces that have come together.

An undercurrent begins to stir.

This Hidden Leaf Village, which has enjoyed peace for over a decade, is about to face its own calamity once again.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 102 Necessary Preparations (Fifth Update)

Meanwhile, Orochimaru, Menma, and Sunagakure were exchanging ideas and preparing their own plans.

The Hidden Leaf Village was not entirely unaware of this either.

Putting aside everything else, Orochimaru's return after so many years is enough to put Konoha on its guard.

No one would think that this former pride of Konoha Village had returned just to take a stroll. Even with Sasuke's involvement, from Hiruzen Sarutobi's perspective, his former beloved student must have had a much bigger scheme.

Therefore, almost at the very moment the second round of the Chunin Exams ended, the entire Hidden Leaf Village became tense on the surface but relaxed on the inside. Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's orders, not only the regular garrison troops, but even the Hokage's direct ANBU were on high alert, conducting 24-hour shifts of patrols and reconnaissance.

Do not overlook any suspicious clues.

However, Orochimaru seemed to have only returned for Sasuke's sake, and after that day, he disappeared without a trace.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi still dared not relax in the slightest.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew better than anyone how strong his disciple was, but he was not the same person he used to be. Many years ago, he was still at his peak and had the ability to kill Orochimaru, but now he could only gamble with that forbidden technique.

This is a natural decline that cannot be reversed by human effort.