Start with a Zanpakuto and build the strongest Mist Village.

When he finally settled down and started doing scientific research again, the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, began targeting him once more.

In time, even if Orochimaru has unparalleled talent in research, he will inevitably fall behind!

"Ok?"

Orochimaru, who was lost in thought, suddenly raised his head, his mind alert.

There was no sign of any activation of any of the warning ninjutsu inside or outside the laboratory, but his instincts as a powerful individual were subtly giving him a warning.

Golden vertical pupils stared at the corner of the laboratory. Suddenly, a figure wearing a vortex mask appeared in the corner of the laboratory.

Orochimaru reacted with incredible speed. Although the situation was extremely strange, and the fact that the other party had managed to sneak into his laboratory so silently demonstrated their extraordinary abilities, it did not prevent him from making the right judgment.

The three kunai were unleashed in an instant, drawing three cold streaks of light in the dimly lit room.

But a strange thing happened: the kunai actually passed right through the person's body, as if there was nothing there at all.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.

A swirling face, an invulnerable body...

"It's you?!"

"I didn't expect even the legendary Sannin to know my name." Obito Uchiha spoke slowly, mimicking the tone of Madara Uchiha from his memories, his crimson Sharingan peering through the mask at Orochimaru's face.

"Uzumaki Man possesses the Mangekyou Sharingan and Wood Release, and is also proficient in space-time ninjutsu."

Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips. His eyes widened, and his pale golden vertical pupils showed no fear, but were instead filled with greed and desire.

This guy is the only one Orochimaru knows who can completely balance the power of the Uchiha and Senju within his body and develop them simultaneously.

After learning of this guy's existence, Orochimaru conducted countless experiments, but without exception, they all failed.

The only possible outcome is that, like Danzo, some limbs will be implanted, and special sealing techniques will be needed to seal the power.

That doesn't even qualify as a research achievement!

At this moment, the most perfect experimental subject was right in front of him, and Orochimaru couldn't wait to skin and dismember this guy and start studying him!

Moreover, this guy was wearing a black robe with red cloud patterns...

Upon seeing this outfit, Orochimaru immediately pictured those pale purple, wavy eyes!

"After Higashimatsuyama, your existence disappeared from the world's sight. I never expected that you would join Akatsuki."

Orochimaru licked his lips, his eyes growing increasingly excited: "That guy with the Rinnegan, he's got quite the ambition."

"Since you've had contact with Payne, you should understand Payne's philosophy and the criteria for recruiting members."

Obito spoke calmly.

"I'm here to recruit you, Orochimaru."

"I don't have the habit of living under someone else's roof."

Orochimaru grinned, formed hand seals, and countless snakes surged from his sleeves, blasting towards Obito: "Besides, my relationship with your organization isn't one of contact, it's one of conflict!"

"Latent Shadow Snake Hands!"

Dozens of pythons swarmed towards Obito, but he remained unmoved.

Countless snakes and pythons landed on his body, but they all missed, passing right through Obito's body and returning empty-handed.

"It really is a space-time ninjutsu..."

Orochimaru licked his lips, completely certain of the identity of the person in front of him.

Space-time ninjutsu is its most iconic feature, and there are only a handful of people in the entire ninja world who have mastered it.

Aside from Jiraiya's disciple, there's only this Uzumaki man from Mount Higashimatsu standing before me!

Obito Uchiha remained indifferent, arrogantly stating, "Your techniques are completely ineffective against me..."

"Soleiwadokana."

Orochimaru gave a wicked smile and slowly formed hand seals.

A coffin, summoned, bursts from the ground, its door slowly sliding down.

Inside, a ninja with a full head of silver hair and wearing a blue armored face shield from the Warring States period had his eyes lowered.

Repay the other person with his own way.

The best way to deal with a spacetime magic user is to use another spacetime magic user!

Chapter 146 Orochimaru and Akatsuki, Tsunade Enters Kirigakure

Even though Obito Uchiha had never seen the person in the coffin before, the familiar appearance made him freeze in place.

No one in Konoha is unfamiliar with this ancestor before them; he is the former Hokage who truly established Konoha's dominance, whose name is engraved on the Hokage Rock and recorded in Konoha textbooks.

The Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju!

"Is this... the Impure World Reincarnation technique?"

Tobirama Senju slowly opened his amber-like red eyes: "I never thought that one day I would be summoned by this technique."

The creator of the Impure World Reincarnation technique was Tobirama Senju.

This Second Hokage of Konoha was a true genius of forbidden techniques, creating countless forbidden and secret techniques throughout his life, each one possessing terrifying power.

Moreover, most of those ninjutsu were specifically designed to target a certain red-eye disease family. For example, the Dark Travel Technique was created entirely to restrict the red-eye disease!

Among these, the Impure World Reincarnation technique stands out as the best.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique was developed by Tobirama Senju long before Konoha was even established, and it was already very successful at that time.

Even though the impure resurrection technique was far from being as perfect as Orochimaru's current version, it already possessed the characteristic of immortality inherent in impure resurrection. Combined with the "mutual multiplication of explosive tags technique," it directly transformed into a self-destructing truck!

Many powerful ninjas in the ninja world at that time suffered greatly from Tobirama Senju's technique, especially when Konoha was first established and the country was conquering the other four countries. Tobirama's technique caused the ninjas of those countries to cry out in despair. The Second Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth, Mu, even declared that the Impure World Reincarnation technique developed by Tobirama Senju was a despicable ninjutsu, showing his extreme contempt for it!

But no matter how despicable it is, no amount of cursing can conceal the power of this forbidden technique!

Orochimaru had been practicing the Impure World Reincarnation technique for several years, and had even mastered it before the Third Shinobi World War.

However, compared to Tobirama Senju's "Edo Tensei Self-Destruction Style," Orochimaru wanted to reproduce the strength of the person he was using in life, so that they could be resurrected from the Yomi Pure Land and used for his own purposes.

That's how the Third Kazekage was back then.

The same is true for the current Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.

"It was all out of necessity, Second Generation Lord."

Orochimaru's hoarse voice slowly rang out: "Faced with this powerful being who possesses the Mangekyou Sharingan, the First Hokage's Wood Release, and has mastered special space-time ninjutsu, I can only call upon you."

"what?"

Upon hearing Orochimaru's words, Tobirama Senju's mind completely ignored the prior knowledge of who Orochimaru was, why he was resurrected using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, and why he was summoned in the first place. Instead, he focused his attention directly on Orochimaru's words.

"Mangekyo Sharingan..."

Tobirama Senju's eyes were sharp as lightning, his red pupils landing directly on Obito Uchiha's swirling face.

Upon seeing the crimson three-tomoe gem clearly, Tobirama Senju's gaze became even more ferocious, and his aura grew even colder.

"You inherently evil Uchiha brat! I'll finish you off with my own hands!"

Orochimaru didn't even need to use special talismans to control Tobirama Senju in battle. The Second Hokage, who regarded the Uchiha as his life's enemy, simply drew a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and shot it at Obito Uchiha.

Obito Uchiha also snapped out of his daze at Tobirama Senju's arrival and glanced at Orochimaru with apprehension.

He had already heard about the Impure World Reincarnation from Zetsu.

When Orochimaru encountered Nagato and the others, he used this very move to summon the Third Kazekage. Little did he expect that the current Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, would be here!

He had certainly heard of the glorious past of the previous Hokage, so the moment Tobirama Senju made his move, Obito cautiously activated his Hollowfication.

"Zheng!"

The kunai pierced Obito's skull precisely, passing right through it before falling to the ground.

Upon seeing this, Tobirama Senju's expression suddenly turned solemn.

It was indeed a space-time ninjutsu, and it was different from his Flying Thunder God technique, a space-time ninjutsu that placed the user in another dimension.

"According to the available intelligence, this guy's space-time ninjutsu can transfer himself to another dimension to avoid all external attacks. His body will only appear when he takes action."

Orochimaru's voice rang out just in time, relaying the information that Minato Namikaze had gathered on Mount Higashimatsu.

"In addition, he also possesses the Mangekyou Sharingan and extremely powerful Fire Release ninjutsu, including the First Hokage's Wood Release. Please be careful, Second Hokage!"

"Kaleidoscope and Wood Release, then..."

Tobirama Senju's gaze shifted, and his hands formed a hand seal.

The intangible Obito felt the world around him suddenly turn dark, and he couldn't even perceive the slightest light.

A special genjutsu that even the Sharingan can restrict: Dark Travel Technique!

However, Obito remained calm and continued to maintain his Hollowfication.

Kamui is such a bug that as long as he doesn't actively engage with Hollowfication, Obito is in an invincible position.

But here is the problem.

In this situation, how can you achieve victory?

"Wood Release: Tree Binding and Eternal Burial!"

A hoarse voice came from the other side. To the surprise of Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju, dense vines sprouted from the ground in seconds and completely filled the laboratory.

Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju were immediately locked onto by the trees, which grew like vines in an instant, transforming into a giant tree in the blink of an eye.

"when……"

"There's still one person here! What terrifying stealth ability!"

Orochimaru and Tobirama Senju both wore solemn expressions, trying to struggle, but the continuous chakra drain from their Wood Release left them helpless.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique does indeed grant immortality and even unlimited chakra, but Obito Uchiha already knew all this. The most effective way to counter this is the First Hokage's Wood Release!

However, to prevent Tobirama Senju, who was also a user of space-time manipulation, from seizing the opportunity the moment he made his move, Obito decisively let Zetsu make the move.

Two against two, that's not a foul!

The Wood Release's absorption of chakra completely suppressed the chakra recovery of the Impure World Reincarnation, thus completely sealing Tobirama Senju.

Orochimaru stared in astonishment at Zetsu, who emerged from the ground, also dressed in a black robe with red clouds. His golden vertical pupils were filled with shock.

"There's actually a second user of Wood Release..."

“Our foundation is far more complex than you can imagine,” Obito said slowly. “Are you now willing to have a proper talk?”

"The power of Wood Release is truly formidable."

Orochimaru glanced at Tobirama Senju, who was completely crushed by Wood Release, but showed no fear on his face; instead, he remained calm.

"But if you think you can subdue me with just Wood Release, you're really underestimating me, Orochimaru."

"Rumble..."

The ground beneath Orochimaru's feet trembled once more, and a wooden coffin burst forth from the earth. The coffin door fell to the ground, revealing the figure inside.

With just one glance, Obito Uchiha and Zetsu both froze for a moment, then their expressions turned extremely serious.

"I never expected you to even include him..."

"As a Konoha ninja, how dare you treat the former Hokage of Konoha like this? You truly have no respect for Konoha whatsoever, Orochimaru!"

If even this guy is resurrected using Edo Tensei, and then there's the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, then they really won't be able to handle Orochimaru.

After all, the power of Wood Release originated from him!

"I'm a rogue ninja."

Orochimaru smiled calmly: "So, are you two ready to face the God of Shinobi?"

Obito Uchiha's expression was solemn, his crimson eyes beneath the vortex mask fixed on the being inside the coffin.

I originally thought it was just a simple recruitment of new people, but I never expected Orochimaru to be able to do it to this extent.

In that case...

"Stop, Orochimaru."

Black Zetsu suddenly spoke up, interrupting the two who were about to have a second battle: "We are here to recruit you into the Akatsuki organization, not to fight."