After leaving the Konoha Hospital, Kuroto strolled on the streets.
Because several blocks have to be rebuilt, Konoha at this time has become a large construction site again, and the streets are full of carts transporting building materials.
Fortunately, Sandaime-sama issued an emergency on that night and evacuated most of the villagers so even though a lot of buildings were destroyed, the casualty count was still quite less.
Of course, Kuroto also played a large part in resolving Shinno's threat, otherwise, even if the villagers were evacuated, there is a high possibility that they wouldn't have been able to escape the pursuit of the Ghost Army.
With these thoughts in his mind, Kuroto quietly came to his secret laboratory.
To be honest, Hiruko's success in the Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual about ten years earlier than it was supposed to happen has really disrupted all of Kuroto's plans, making him feel exhausted and troubled for the past few months.
And what worries him more is that as Hiruko's strength and fame rise more and more, people all over the shinobi world will also try to get their hands on Chimera Technique, because the potential of Chimera Technique if succeeds is too high, so no one will deny that this technique is really capable of changing the Shinobi World.
"I have to obtain this Chimera Technique as soon as possible!"
Initially, Kuroto was not in a hurry, because there was always Shinno who would be willing to sell this technique to Shinichi or someone else with enough of a price.
But since Kuroto as 'Uchiha Tsukihi' disrupted Shinno's plan of swallowing Shion, as well as injured Shinno quite a lot, so Shinno would be unwilling to sell Chimera Technique to Shinichi, because it was Shinichi's subordinate who disrupted his plans.
As such this direct channel is obviously not going to work.
"I still have that one option, but it would be best to visit Orochimaru prior to that, firstly I will be able to confirm his state before commencing that plan, and maybe try to see if Orochimaru is willing to give Chimera Technique to me at a low price" – muttered Kuroto.
After making up his mind, Kuroto created a Shadow Clone to cover for his absence and then secretly left the village.
…
Two days later, Land of Sound.
Kuroto was walking through a dense forest of the Land of Sound.
At this moment, Yakushi Kabuto came out from behind a tree, and after greeting Kuroto, he said, "Orochimaru-sama is waiting for Kuroto senpai, please follow me."
Kuroto nodded, and then followed Kabuto.
Not long after Kuroto was in the underground laboratory of Orochimaru, and saw Orochimaru sitting on a stone chair with bandages wrapped all over his body.
Although Kuroto did not activate his Byakugan, it did not stop him to sense the strangeness within Orochimaru. Kuroto was able to sense the presence of some sort of discomfort within Orochimaru's body.
This kind of feeling may have been difficult for others to detect, but not for Kuroto, as he is already very familiar with the soul and body. Whenever there is aversion between body and soul such a feeling of discomfort arrives.
'It seems Orochimaru has suffered more than I expected!' – thought Kuroto.
"Cough-cough…" – Looking at Kuroto's thoughtful face, Orochimaru coughed to attract Kuroto's attention and said in a hoarse voice, "Kuroto-kun, I wonder why you suddenly decided to pay me a visit?"
Kuroto asked tentatively, "What happened to your body?"
Orochimaru chuckled, "Sigh, the kid from Uchiha Clan is the cause."
Although Orochimaru seems to laugh it off as something casual, Kuroto, however, was able to sense Orochimaru's gloomy aura when he said so.
"Uchiha Itachi, huh…?" – after a pause, Kuroto Said, "He is obviously not an ordinary Uchiha."
Kuroto's words seemed to bring back some painful memories, and an indescribable expression flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. But this expression was fleeting and soon disappeared.
At this time, Orochimaru asked, "I wonder why you suddenly came here?"
Kuroto directly expressed his reason, "For Chimera Jutsu!"
Orochimaru said with a smile, "I shouldn't be surprised, you came to look for me in such a hurry, it must have been for the Chimera Technique."
There was no need to hide his intentions, and Kuroto nodded with a smile, "So, you have it, right?"
As far as Kuroto understands Orochimaru, it is obvious for Orochimaru to have it. Even if Orochimaru disdains Hiruko he wouldn't mind getting his hands on a magical technique like the Chimera Technique which is capable of plundering others' Kekkei Genkai.
This fact can be clearly highlighted from Orochimaru's actions, when he personally went to observe Hiruko's ritual, even if as a woman.
Orochimaru weighed Kuroto's words, then said, "Right, I do have the original version of Chimera Technique, but I have to warn you that the success of Hiruko in plundering other's Kekkei Genkai is not solely because of this technique, other techniques were also involved."
Although Kuroto knows this, he still asked curiously, "He also developed other Kinjutsu to help him?"
Orochimaru shook his head contemptuously, "No, being able to create something like Chimera Technique took most of his time so I don't think he had enough energy left to develop other Kinjutsu. Hehehe… I also heard that he lost to old man this time even after succeeding in his ritual, which is ridiculous…" – After mocking until here, Orochimaru continued, "He was able to survive until the end and complete the ritual because of two other Kinjutsu, one of them being Secret Technique of Physical Regeneration which he got from Shinno while the other being, Dark Medical Ninjutsu that he obtained from someone named Yomi from Land of Demons."
Kuroto thought, 'Hiruko used both the Techniques? I thought it was only Dark Medical Ninjutsu, but it appears that I was wrong…'
After pondering a little, Kuroto asked, "What price do I have to pay to get 'Chimera Technique' as well as 'Dark Medical Ninjutsu'?"
…
Meanwhile in the Land of Rain, at Amegakure, inside Akatsuki's Base.
Tendo Pain looked into the distant sky and asked, "So, the objective was a failure this time?"
Madara shrugged helplessly.
Pain said indifferently, "Stop doing such meaningless actions."
In Tendo Pain's eyes, the actions of Madara to induce civil strife in Konoha are all meaningless. Pain's philosophy is pretty simple, that is, to suppress all forms of dissatisfaction and conflicts with absolute strength, pain, and fear. Only when people experience's others' pain can they ever hope to understand other's pain and only then will peace prevail over war.
Madara didn't answer Pain's words, instead, he said, "Shinno is hiding something, for that 'something' he decided to carry out unauthorized actions which exposed him to the people of Konoha and gave away the presence of the third party, so overall, it was because of his actions that the plan failed."
Pain frowned, and said, "I will have Hiruko investigate him."
When Hiruko was mentioned, Madara thought a little and said, "Hiruko seriously lacks in combat experience, you would better send him to perform some tasks, the way he lost this time was too ridiculous… I don't want to see his potential being wasted."
Standing at the top of the Rain tower, Pain lifted both of his hands and said, "It does not matter, soon Gedo Mazo will be ready, and we can finally start collecting the nine Bijuu… once Juubi is resurrected nothing will stop Akatsuki from bringing peace to the Shinobi World."
Madara reminded, "Do not forget Amatsukami, they have remained silent for a while now, and I wouldn't be surprised if they act suddenly… they have already declared that their next goals are the nine Bijuu, we will need as much manpower as we can to deal with Amatsukami."
.
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Read up to Chapter - 565 on P.a.t.r.e.o.n.. Page: p-atreon.com/Milta_translations