I, Naruto Uzumaki, don't need your approval.

After deactivating Kurama Mode, Naruto picked up the black rod on the ground.

These Yin-Yang Release artifacts, capable of easily piercing through chakra protection, were his spoils of war. It wasn't a complete loss; at least he could study the composition of Yin-Yang Release.

Just then, a notification sounded in Naruto's mind: "Nagato's favorability towards you has reached approval, and you have gained 'Nagato's Ninjutsu training experience'."

The voice in his head startled Naruto; it was yet another reward that was better than nothing.

Does he need Nagato to teach him his current ninjutsu skills? But looking at Nagato's memories isn't bad either. Maybe next time I use talk-no-jutsu on Nagato, it will have unexpected results.

However, Naruto did not immediately consult the training experience.

Instead, following his senses, he arrived at the place where Orochimaru was hiding and called out towards the crack in the rocks, "Stop hiding, come out, Orochimaru!"

Chapter 152 The situation in the ninja world will undergo a major change.

"Stop hiding, Orochimaru."

After urging him a few times, Naruto directly reached out and conjured a Rasengan.

Sensing the compressed and condensed chakra, a python slithered out from a crevice in the rocks, spitting out a half-naked body—it was Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's ninjutsu is still as impactful as ever...

After internally complaining, Naruto squinted and smiled, "Orochimaru, are you very disappointed that Pain and I didn't both suffer serious injuries? You almost obtained the legendary Rinnegan."

Orochimaru had long heard about the personality of the leader of Uzushio Village.

This was a strange, powerful individual who possessed strength surpassing that of the Five Kage, yet wished to disguise himself as a Genin. He could only fawn over him, saying, "No, no, I just wanted to observe the battle; I had absolutely no ulterior motives."

Naruto snorted and laughed, "Was the last attack on Uzushio Village also just for observation? But judging from Pain's attack on you, it seems you've broken ties with Akatsuki. This is your second time defecting."

"There was a minor conflict... I attacked Itachi Uchiha, but I failed."

"But don't worry, I will definitely not attack the Land of Waves this time."

After a moment's hesitation, Orochimaru recounted his ambush of Itachi Uchiha, nearly getting killed in the process. After all, the Akatsuki and Uzushio Village were currently enemies, so perhaps he could gain some goodwill.

Naruto stared at Orochimaru for a long time, then suddenly frowned: "Let's go to the village and sit down. I have a lot of questions for you, about Konoha and Akatsuki."

Orochimaru paused for a moment, then remembered the tailed beast chakra he had sensed earlier.

This Uzumaki leader might indeed have some connection to Konoha, so he nodded and followed behind Naruto.

After Naruto and Orochimaru left, a figure emerged from the ground. It was the Yin-Yang Master Zetsu. Zetsu glanced at Naruto and Orochimaru in the distance, then looked towards the sea.

Having been secretly watching Nagato, he naturally noticed the battle between Naruto and Nagato.

However, because the two had such powerful perception abilities, he remained hidden deep underground until the end of the great battle, when he was able to come out to get some fresh air and gather intelligence.

Based on the chakra traces on the battlefield, he could roughly guess the identity of the Jinchuriki, the leader of Uzushio Village.

Nagato was somewhat disappointed that he couldn't even defeat a Jinchūriki, but the Nine-Tails was the most special and closest to the Ten-Tails, so it wasn't surprising that it had this fighting power.

The leader of Uzushio Village, besides being a Jinchūriki, must also be a reincarnation of Ashura or Indra.

But he couldn't quite tell whether it was Ashura or Indra. Uzumaki Menma's personality seemed to be a combination of Ashura and Indra, which puzzled him greatly.

Surely Ashura and Indra couldn't have reached a reconciliation after Madara Uchiha's death.

Without the conflict between the two, how could he have persuaded Indra to carry out the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan? Could he really only rely on Obito and Nagato? But those two are more unreliable than the other.

……

Inside the company building.

After the chakra burst ended in the distance, the ninjas from various countries, who had been forced to stay in the conference room drinking tea, began to wait anxiously.

Whether it was Uzumaki Menma or that mysterious powerhouse who won the battle, it was not a good thing for them. It meant that a powerful ninja comparable to the demigods of the past had appeared in the Land of Waves.

In future power struggles among the various ninja villages, this ninja's opinion will inevitably have to be taken into account.

At that moment, Uchiha Shisui pushed open the door and said expressionlessly, "The earthquake is over. All the ninjas who have come to the Land of Waves for tourism can continue to go out and about, but remember to abide by the rules of Uzushio Village."

“If you violate the rules of Uzushio Village, no matter which village you are from, we will bring you to justice.”

Shisui used the pretext of seeking refuge to invite ninjas from various countries for tea. After the disaster ended, he naturally couldn't detain these spies for too long, since they were nominally tourists.

The battle between Uzumaki Menma and the Akatsuki leader was also part of their propaganda about the strength of Uzumaki Village.

Faced with Shisui's warning, the ninjas from various countries abandoned their dismissive attitude, nodded slightly, and left the company building under Shisui's gaze.

Then, the group of ninjas could no longer suppress their curiosity and rushed towards the bay where the battle was taking place.

The original crescent-shaped bay was completely destroyed. Not only were there meteorite craters on the ground, but large areas of the forest along the shore had also collapsed, and some parts had been completely charred.

Upon entering the largest crater, the residual chakra within made them feel uneasy.

Other craters were also filled with remnants of chakra, exuding an aura of destruction. Some low-ranking ninjas were unable to stand and collapsed to the ground.

The Jonin leading the team, disregarding the Genin who might negatively impact the village's image, began exchanging words after leaving the meteorite crater.

A Jonin from a small ninja village asked the Jonin leading the Cloud Village, "Cloud Village, does your village's Killer Bee have this kind of destructive power?"

The Cloud Village Jonin frowned: "Lord Killer Bee is a Jinchuriki, so of course he can destroy the terrain."

The young ninja from the village cautiously asked, "What about the Fourth Raikage? Could he have such destructive power?"

The Cloud Village Jonin fell silent. He had never seen the Fourth Raikage go all out, but he figured it should be about the same. But wouldn't that mean that the two sides in the battle possessed strength comparable to the Raikage?

The Iwagakure Jonin standing nearby chuckled and said, "Putting everything else aside, the Third Hokage's destructive power is even more terrifying than this. He can annihilate a mountain in an instant. But if it's just a battle, there's probably no need to destroy so much terrain."

The Jonin from the small ninja village hesitated for a moment, then said, "Gentlemen, I have a bold guess: the strength of the two sides in this battle surpasses that of the Five Kage. Their combined strength is equivalent to the Five Kage plus their Jinchuriki..."

"That's impossible!" the Iwa ninja and the Kumo ninja exclaimed in unison, then fell silent with grim expressions.

Because what the other party said was true. Such astonishing destructive power was indeed equivalent to the combination of a Jinchuriki and a Kage, but those were the Five Kage. How could they be surpassed by a small ninja village leader who appeared casually?

Moreover, there is more than one such powerful individual, making this situation even more challenging than the demigods of the ninja world back then.

Although the demigods of the ninja world were called demigods back then, they were only demigods within the Land of Rain. The poison gas from the salamanders needed to be prepared in advance. Once they left the terrible environment of the Land of Rain, the poison gas from the salamanders would not be so troublesome.

But this time it's different; it's a simple and brutal destructive force, with a deterrent effect comparable to a Jinchūriki.

If these two were to infiltrate the country, they would directly threaten the village.

After thinking about this, the ninjas present exchanged glances and summoned their summoning beasts to send the information back to their respective villages. At the same time, they had a vague premonition.

After the Third Shinobi World War, the situation in the shinobi world will undergo another major change.

Chapter 153 The Deal with Orochimaru

Inside the interrogation room, Naruto rested his chin on his hands, watching Orochimaru with great interest.

Orochimaru is one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha. He is a genius inventor who is no less than the Second Hokage. He has considerable expertise in Sage Mode, Cursed Seal Transformation, Cloning Bloodline Limits, and the Soul.

In a sense, Orochimaru improved the Impure World Reincarnation technique, indirectly leading to the outbreak of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

That ninja war, which lasted only three days, resulted in the deaths of more than 30% of the ninjas in the ninja world, promoted peace among the five great ninja nations, and indirectly fulfilled Nagato's plan to deter the ninja world.

Orochimaru's flaws are also obvious; after witnessing the loss of life, he became incredibly cold-blooded.

He not only disregarded the lives of his enemies, but also those of his subordinates and civilians, making him an absolute cold-blooded creature.

Seeing Naruto's gaze, Orochimaru inexplicably recalled himself before the experiment began, when he looked at the test subjects with the same coldness in his eyes.

After a moment of silence, Naruto said in a low voice, "Orochimaru-kun, what do you think I should do with you?"

Orochimaru frowned at the familiar tone, but he calmly replied, "Then we'll have to see what Menma-kun thinks. Does Menma-kun want another partner or another enemy?"

Orochimaru squatted down and continued, "However, if Menma-kun wanted to kill me, he would have done so already."

Naruto glanced at Orochimaru, then his smile faded as he said:

"Orochimaru, there are some things I need from you. If you are unwilling to hand them over, I don't mind giving you to Konoha and Akatsuki. I believe they will be happy to accept this gift."

"That's really domineering, no wonder he's the leader of Uzushio Village... I agree."

Orochimaru's expression was uncertain, and he sighed softly. He knew he had no choice at all. If he refused the invitation, he would probably have to spend his future in the Land of Wind with the yellow sand.

As for giving it to Akatsuki and Konoha, he wasn't too worried, since he had more than one body.

Having mastered the Reanimation Jutsu and invented the Cursed Seal, he had long since divided his soul into several parts.

However, it would be somewhat frustrating to simply hand over the technology one possesses.

"I can hand over the technology, but you must offer something in exchange. Otherwise, I would rather die than give you the technology."

Faced with Orochimaru's unwavering resolve, Naruto shook his head and then said, "Come with me."

Following behind Naruto, Orochimaru was led to a secret room, and he wondered if the other party was going to kill him to silence him.

At that moment, Naruto took out a scroll from the drawer, and after breaking the seal, several dead White Zetsu appeared on the ground.

"Is this Zetsu?" Orochimaru asked, somewhat puzzled. These corpses were similar to those of Zetsu from the Akatsuki organization.

Naruto nodded and explained:

“These White Zetsu are all the masked man’s subordinates. Not only are their physical structures completely different from ordinary people, but they also have the ability to use Wood Release. You, who once conducted Wood Release experiments in Konoha, should be able to research something useful from them.”

Upon hearing the words "Wood Release," Orochimaru's eyes lit up; he had never seen such a strange creature before.

But Orochimaru became wary the next moment. In his weak position, the things the other party was offering in exchange were too valuable, and they probably wanted even more from him.

After examining the White Zetsu's body, Orochimaru said with a serious expression, "Boss Menma, what do you want?"

Naruto gave Orochimaru a meaningful look, then said, "After you conduct your research on White Zetsu, you need to give me a copy of the research data. In addition, I need the contract scroll from Ryuchi Cave."

"The scroll from Ryuchi Cave—you want to cultivate immortal techniques?"

Orochimaru's expression turned somewhat grim; he hadn't expected the other party to want to cultivate Sage Mode.

Naruto nodded: "That's right. After realizing that I couldn't defeat Pain, I felt that my strength was still a bit too weak. The only thing that could help me improve was Sage Mode."

Orochimaru was speechless and quickly fell into deep thought.

He was already evenly matched with Pain before even learning Sage Mode. Once he mastered Sage Mode, wouldn't he be the strongest ninja in the ninja world?

But in the end, Orochimaru still took out the scroll that recorded the location of Ryuchi Cave and handed it to Naruto: "This is the location of Ryuchi Cave, but whether you can gain the Sage's approval depends on yourself."

Naruto took the scroll; the location recorded on it was far from the five great nations, in a remote mountain range.

After seeing Naruto accept the scroll, Orochimaru swallowed the White Zetsu's corpse and walked towards the door: "Boss Menma, the deal is done. I look forward to seeing you again."

But Naruto stopped Orochimaru's subordinate, causing the latter to frown: "Menma, are we still going to fight?"