Yes, the Hokage!

"Obito..."

This sudden turn of events left both Shisui and Kakashi stunned.

Anyone else would have been instantly killed by that stab, but Orochimaru, being the Hokage's longest-living character, quickly spat out a wet Orochimaru from his mutilated mouth, excitedly licking his lips: "He's actually mastered Wood Release: Wood Spike Technique without a teacher, hehehe, I'm getting more and more excited..."

He didn't finish his sentence because everyone could clearly see that through the shattered ceiling, the bright moonlight shone down, but when it fell on Obito, it covered him with a layer of blood.

In the blood-red moonlight, two black magatama in his pupils spun rapidly in his crimson irises, coalescing and taking shape... The magatama were no longer independent, but attracted each other, connected, merged, and transformed into a complete pattern. The pattern looked like three curved blades interlocked end to end, with an ethereal circle in the middle, which looked like a spinning shuriken from afar.

The Mangekyou Sharingan... was born.

Chapter 26 Divine Might!

It's done!

Feng Lan, who was lying in wait near the base, suddenly opened his eyes. He had already sensed Obito's awakening through his sensory abilities. He hadn't expected things to go so smoothly. In that case, Orochimaru would no longer be of any use to him.

"Surround the base, don't let this snake escape!"

"Yes!"

Then, with a swift movement, he vanished into thin air.

Inside the base, Orochimaru keenly sensed Obito's danger, and having studied the Sharingan for a long time, he knew the conditions for activating the Mangekyou Sharingan, which was clearly due to the girl he had just pierced.

"Hidden Shadow Serpent Hand!"

Therefore, taking advantage of Obito's pain when he activated the Mangekyou Sharingan, he decisively pulled Rin in front of him as a hostage: "Kid, if you don't want this little girl..."

Before he could finish speaking, a golden light flashed by, and a lithe figure suddenly appeared in his sight. A ball of hair, shimmering with a dark blue light, came hurtling toward his head.

As mentioned earlier, Feng Lan spent several years during the Third World War cultivating his perception abilities and the Flying Thunder God Technique, but he kept this trump card hidden from everyone.

"Feng Lan!" Orochimaru exclaimed in shock and anger, "You can actually use Flying Lightning..."

He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Feng Lan unceremoniously hurled a ball at him.

"Spiral pills!"

The highly concentrated, spinning, azure chakra sphere emitted a sharp, piercing sound, distorting and warping the surrounding air, let alone Orochimaru, who was hit squarely in the bullseye.

The terrifying impact exploded in all directions from his cheek. Orochimaru's entire head was swallowed by the Rasengan, and the spinning chakra tore at his face like a drill. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and his entire head collapsed and shattered at a visible speed. The scene was somewhat inhuman.

Of course, Feng Lan knew that his newly learned Rasengan would definitely not be able to defeat Orochimaru. His purpose in using this move was to knock Orochimaru away, then catch Rin as she fell from his hands, and leap towards the door.

Meanwhile, Obito charged straight at Orochimaru like a wild horse. Seeing that the other party had no time to pursue, Feng Lan hurriedly tore open Rin's clothes and saw that the wound on the girl's stomach was slowly healing. He breathed a sigh of relief.

The A-rank ninjutsu, Yin Healing and Destruction, involves knowing the enemy's attack points in advance and healing them before the attack, thus minimizing damage. In the original work, Kabuto used this technique before being hit by Naruto's Rasengan, while Fenglan used it to save Rin's life.

He deliberately provoked Orochimaru, driving him to a desperate act, all so that he would target Obito. This way, Kakashi and Rin would fight desperately to protect their comrades. Once Orochimaru killed one of them, he could awaken Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan.

This was what Fenglan had discussed with Jingyin before. After all, he wasn't the kind of person Ban, so he had to find a way to protect the two children. As expected, Jingyin strongly opposed putting the two children at risk. It was only after he used sweet words and promised her something that she finally agreed.

As a medical ninja, Shizune proposed using a ninjutsu scroll to replicate Yin Healing and Destruction and activate it remotely as a means of survival. However, she also stated that the limitation of this ninjutsu is that it cannot be activated too early or too late. Activating it too early will waste the effect of the ninjutsu, while activating it too late will leave no time for treatment.

But Shizune didn't know that Fenglan was a sensory ninja who couldn't possibly misjudge the timing; Yin Yu Shang Mie was exactly what was needed for his plan.

"Oh!"

With a muffled thud, the base gate was blasted open, and Daohuo and Tiehuo rushed in shouting "Zhishui-ge!" while Jingyin followed closely behind them, immediately spotting Lin in Fenglan's arms.

She hurriedly used her palm magic to heal Lin, while checking her condition with her other hand. Half a minute later, she breathed a sigh of relief: "Fortunately, Yin Yushangmie's treatment was timely enough to save her life. Was all of this... really worth it?"

"It's worth it as long as she didn't die." Hearing that Lin had survived, Feng Lan breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at the battle inside the base.

At this moment, Obito did not hear the conversation between Fenglan and Shizune. In his mind, Rin was already dead (in reality, she was dead without Yin Healing and Destruction). So he immediately turned into a furious child, roaring like a beast as he charged at Orochimaru, who had just molted and recovered.

Seeing Feng Lan rush in with his men, Orochimaru knew that the situation was hopeless and it was impossible to abduct Obito, who had already awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. Naturally, he decided to retreat.

"Hidden Shadow Serpent Hands!"

He once again unleashed his signature ninjutsu, summoning even more and stronger snakes this time. He didn't intend to harm anyone; he only needed to briefly hinder the opponent before escaping unscathed.

A dozen or so ferocious serpents bared their fangs and charged forward, but Obito showed no sign of stopping. However, the instant the serpents touched his body, something miraculous happened...

The snakes passed straight through Obito's body without affecting him at all, as if the two were not even in the same dimension!

This is Obito Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan ability, hailed by countless Naruto fans as the strongest Mangekyou ability with a bug-like quality...

Kamui!

"This is……"

Shisui's pupils suddenly contracted. Apart from Fenglan, who knew the plot, only he realized what was going on: "The power of the Mangekyou Sharingan?!"

The giant snake did not affect Obito's speed at all, which was something Orochimaru did not expect. Before he could retract his arm, Obito had already reached him. Caught off guard, he only had time to raise his arm before Obito pressed him to the ground and began to tear him apart in the style of Iori Yagami's Explosive Eight Maidens.

"Ah ah ah ah ah!"

As Obito tore at the rocks, several huge logs spiraled up, causing near-devastating damage to the surrounding area, and Orochimaru's entire body was completely torn apart.

This kid is too dangerous!

He felt extremely troubled, as he was no longer truly immortal. If he repeatedly used Orochimaru-style substitution techniques and exhausted his chakra, he would truly die.

Obito at this moment clearly made Orochimaru feel that his life was in danger.

So he stopped lingering and opened his shattered head, spitting out a new body, which then charged straight at the broken ceiling created by the explosive tag.

However... the two of them had already been lying in wait there.

"Gentle Fist, Eight Trigrams, Sixty-Four Palms!"

Then, Riji leaped down from the gap in the ceiling, his white eyes wide open, and unleashed a flurry of blows with both hands.

Orochimaru's chakra was almost depleted, and he was caught off guard. He had no time to defend himself and was hit squarely by the sixty-four palm strikes. His pressure points were instantly sealed, and he would not be able to activate his chakra for a while.

Dai then leaped high behind Richi and delivered an elbow strike to the chest of the snake.

Of course, given his personality, he would definitely give this elbow strike a name: "Konoha Destroyer Rock Rising!"

"Buga!"

Orochimaru's chakra was currently sealed, and he couldn't use his substitution jutsu. He was nearly killed by a series of elbow strikes and flew backward in the same pose as Dio. Unfortunately, he didn't have the ability to shout, "You've been tricked! This is my escape route!"

"Wow!"

Obito, impatient as ever, pounced on Orochimaru, about to tear him to pieces.

Feng Lan immediately raised an eyebrow. Orochimaru certainly deserved to die, but he couldn't die at this time. A living Orochimaru was far more valuable than a corpse.

Based on what Orochimaru has done so far, he can keep the Third Hokage entertained for quite some time. If Orochimaru dies, what will we eat?

He didn't shout any nonsense like "Stop!", "Calm down!", or "Spare her life!" Instead, Feng Lan shouted, "Obito! Rin can still be saved!"

"Lin!"

Obito instantly regained his senses, flashed to Rin's side, and seeing the girl's complexion slightly restored under Shizune's healing, tears welled up in his eyes: "That's wonderful, that's truly wonderful..."

Yes, that's really great.

Although it was already apparent in the original work, Feng Lan breathed a sigh of relief after confirming it herself. As expected of the heroine who couldn't hide her tears even when Obito had turned evil, she was able to pull him back.

Just as Itachi said, he never felt that Obito's trust and admiration for him were important, because as soon as Rin died, all of these things would vanish in an instant.

The corrupted Obito even tried to kill Minato, but he had an extra testicle!

Therefore, his view of Obito was the same as that of Madara: he could not be a confidant, but only a pawn.

The idea that Madara would kill Rin to completely corrupt Obito and then brainwash him is clearly not feasible. The original plot has already fully demonstrated that Madara will eventually betray him. And frankly, even if the plot hadn't reached the point of betrayal, Obito never intended for Madara to be resurrected. He was always thinking about activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi himself.

Therefore, Fenglan's chosen solution was to maintain Obito's humanity through Rin, so that her and Minato's influence would remain effective. In this way, although Obito, as a pawn, would not completely obey orders, he could still do many things.

He then went over and carried Kakashi, whose ribs had been broken by a tail strike, to his side. After confirming that Shisui, who was being supported by Tetsukasa, was unharmed, he smiled and walked up to Orochimaru, who was lying motionless on the ground: "We meet again~"

"You despicable scoundrel..." Orochimaru was furious when he saw Feng Lan. He knew perfectly well that he had been completely used by the other party. This whole group of people were just waiting to catch snakes tonight.

"Sigh, all you're good for is being stubborn." Feng Lan shrugged and patted Orochimaru on the back of the shoulder. "Even if I admit that 99% of the blame lies with my despicable behavior, doesn't your greed account for even 1%?"

"My provocation was so obvious before, do you dare say that before you made your move, you didn't suspect that this was a trap I deliberately set for you?"

Orochimaru's expression was contorted, and he couldn't utter a single word. Feng Lan was right; he had indeed considered that Feng Lan had deliberately come to provoke him into attacking. However, Orochimaru was extremely arrogant and believed that he could quickly finish the battle and escape with his men.

Another point is that he was too greedy and too eager to improve. Obito's physical excellence made Orochimaru determined to give it his all, otherwise he would die with regrets.

Chapter 27 Who Wins, Whom Do They Help?

Everything went very smoothly tonight. Orochimaru was caught for committing a crime, and Obito successfully awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan. Especially the latter, to be honest, even if Kakashi and Rin had stayed, there would have been many variables. It was very likely that they would have been killed before Obito even woke up. Therefore, Fenglan also advised them before leaving.

However, given the deep bond between these two and Obito, they will definitely stay. Orochimaru just happened to stab Rin with his sword, and it just so happened that the awakened Obito witnessed this low-probability event of going berserk, which was something Feng Lan couldn't control with his wisdom. Fortunately, he was quite lucky.

However, luck is relatively conserved. Just as Feng Lan had directed Tie Huo and Dao Huo to tie Orochimaru's limbs to a thick log like a pig being tied up, a sigh came from the doorway: "Feng Lan, well done."

Upon hearing this voice, Feng Lan's pupils suddenly contracted, and his face showed extreme annoyance. However, as he turned around, he quickly changed his expression to a smiling one: "Third Generation Lord, you've arrived just in time."

Such precise timing clearly indicates that he was the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Feng Lan's supposedly secretive actions were all seen through by him, and he was just waiting for everything to settle down before coming out to reap the rewards.

The word "timely" was emphasized, the sarcasm obvious, but the Third Hokage didn't care at all. He just said in a serious tone that was different from his usual kind voice: "Feng Lan, you did a good job. Orochimaru... leave him to me."

Kakashi was still in the dark, Obito only had eyes for Rin, Shisui frowned, not knowing what to do, and Shizune even lowered her head, not daring to meet his gaze. But... in the Third Hokage's eyes, there was only Orochimaru.

The light in his eyes when he looked at his unfortunate disciple was genuinely kind. After all, Orochimaru was the Third Hokage's favorite disciple. Even when Orochimaru was caught red-handed conducting inhumane experiments, the Third Hokage couldn't bear to kill him or even arrest him. And even when Orochimaru killed him during the Konoha Collapse Plan, he didn't seem to have much resentment. In fact, when he died, the image of Orochimaru as a child appeared before his eyes.

Feng Lan fully understood the Third Generation's feelings at that moment, but unfortunately, his answer was: "NO!"

This is certainly not because his favorite thing to do is to say no to those who are self-righteous, but because Orochimaru is a very powerful bargaining chip. As mentioned earlier, with Orochimaru as a stain on his record, the Third Hokage has to choose between incompetence and evil to take the blame. He must either be so incompetent that as the Kage of a village, he did not know that his disciple was secretly conducting inhumane experiments, or he must be so evil that he knew that such a tragedy was happening and did nothing about it.

If Orochimaru is taken away by the Third Hokage here, not only will it be like letting a tiger return to the mountains, but he and Minato will also lose their bargaining power.

Like I said before, what will we eat now that you're gone? (Mysterious voice: Yes, what will we eat?)

"Feng Lan." The Third Hokage's tone became slightly more serious. "Normally I can laugh off your little whims, but not today. Give me Orochimaru, and you can handle the Uchiha clan entirely. We can also discuss what you and Minato want to do slowly, but not now. Everything is for the village, for the Will of Fire."

It's clear that Orochimaru is highly regarded by the Third Hokage. He even agreed to delegate some more power to him, and even gave up competing with Obito, a peerless genius who possesses both the Mangekyou Sharingan and Wood Release, in order to protect this disciple.

But Fenglan's answer was still to shake her head, a slow but firm shake of her head.

One of the famous quotes from "Yes, Prime Minister": Never believe what a "real" person says, because it's just a variation of countless lies.

The promises the Third Hokage is making now may be heartfelt; he is willing to sacrifice everything to protect his beloved disciple. But what will happen after he saves Orochimaru?

Once his disciple is safe, he will feel sorry for the power he holds and will be even more reluctant to let go of Obito, a promising talent who already possesses Kage-level strength and could even reach Super Kage level in the future!

Ultimately, isn't it ridiculous to not take control of the success or failure of something yourself, but instead pin your hopes on whether the other party keeps their word?