Orochimaru answered without changing his expression.

"No wonder you look more and more gloomy now. You almost didn't recognize it. I tell you, it's better not to do those studies."

Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru's increasingly sinister temperament, coupled with his candle-like transparent skin and snake-like vertical pupils, he was simply a dangerous person.

"Jiraiya, even you, don't try to interfere with my decision. This is the dream I have pursued throughout my life."

Orochimaru snorted slightly, expressing his dissatisfaction.

"In other words, you haven't given up on your unrealistic dream of immortality yet?"

Jiraiya remembered something.

Orochimaru had revealed this ultimate ideal to him and Tsunade more than once in the past.

"On the road of pursuing truth, I will not give up easily."

Orochimaru said firmly.

"How can a person live forever? Passing our will to the next generation and letting them complete what we have not completed is what ninjas are."

Jiraiya shook his head boredly, feeling that Orochimaru, who he hadn't seen for a long time, was getting nervous.

Amidst the familiarity, there is an unconcealed sense of strangeness.

"You still have such naive ideas. Now that Minato has died for the village, where is the child of the prophecy you mentioned?"

Orochimaru asked rhetorically.

Jiraiya didn't answer, he just ate barbecue in a depressed manner, probably because he couldn't find anything to say to refute Orochimaru.

"Compared to my dreams, the child of prophecy in your mouth is truly out of reach."

Orochimaru stood up from his seat and looked at Jiraiya who continued to bury his head there.

He knew that Minato's death had made Jiraiya very painful and upset now.

When he regretted why the Nine-Tails rioted, he was not in the village.

"Nothing's wrong, I'll leave first. Also, let me remind you, if the three disciples of Sakumo are behind the Nine-Tails incident, don't rush over without caring about anything when your head gets hot, you will definitely die.

.”

After saying words similar to advice, Orochimaru stood up from his seat and walked out of the private room.

◎

After separating from Jiraiya, Orochimaru felt very irritable.

He did not choose to return to the laboratory, but wandered aimlessly in Konoha Village to disperse the annoyance in his heart.

Away from the hustle and bustle of the night market in the center of the village, the edge areas of the village seemed extremely peaceful. Orochimaru felt that his heart had become quieter with this peaceful environment.

Just as he was about to turn back, he suddenly heard the sound of metal colliding deep in the woods.

That was the unique sound made after the shurikens collided with each other.

Orochimaru quickly stopped and looked towards the source of the sound deep in the woods.

Passing through a dense jungle, it has not been artificially mined.

The shadow of the trees obscured Orochimaru's figure. As one of the three ninjas, even the jounin could not detect his presence as long as he did not want to expose his presence.

With the help of the shade of the trees, the boy who was practicing in the open space in front was naturally unable to detect Orochimaru's aura.

The boy is about five or six years old, wearing long sleeves and trousers with the symbol of a round fan embroidered on them.

The Uchiha clan? Moreover, I seem to have seen this child somewhere before. Orochimaru thought to himself.

In the woods under the moonlight, the boy's face looked extremely calm, not at all like the expression a child should have.

A large number of kunai and shurikens were scattered messily in the simple training ground in the open space, with numerous gaps and stains. Every kunai and shuriken had experienced strong impact, and then

Shot to the ground.

On the trees around the boy, criss-crossing steel wires were arranged, connecting countless traps.

The boy was holding his breath with a calm look on his face, a kunai appeared in each hand, and it was obvious what he wanted to do.

He threw the kunai away at lightning speed and cut the wire, thus triggering a chain of traps.

From the dark depths of the forest, dense raindrops of kunai and shurikens were shooting towards the boy.

The boy seemed to be frightened and stood there without moving.

Orochimaru's expression changed slightly when he saw this scene. There was naturally no danger to him at this level.

But for a five- or six-year-old child, it is already seriously out of line.

However, before Orochimaru could rescue him, the boy had already disappeared from the spot, escaping the first round of kunai and shurikens.

The boy jumped into the air, turned his body, pressed his fingers towards the ninja bag on his waist, drew out a kunai from it, and moved it gorgeously in front of his eyes.

Every step was just right to dodge the kunai and shuriken, and every blow was just right to knock down the kunai and shuriken flying towards him.

All the kunai, shuriken, and attack trajectories induced by the trap were basically seen through by the boy in an instant.

A few seconds later, a batch of broken and chipped kunai and shuriken appeared on the ground again.

The boy landed lightly and silently on the ground, panting slightly.

There were also several cuts on his clothes, made by kunai and shurikens without noticing.

The boy frowned slightly, couldn't he avoid it all at this level?

In other words, I still have room to grow, and I am far from reaching my limit.

So, he began to rearrange traps and continue to hone his dodge and counterattack abilities.

Orochimaru, who spied this scene in the shade of a tree, was a little stunned.

Subconsciously, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked it gently on the side of his mouth, his eyes showing an evil light.

Uchiha...

The boy who was practicing there shivered violently.

Without hesitation, he turned around and shot out the kunai in his hand.

Two leaves fell down in the deserted place.

Is it an illusion? The boy was slightly confused when he saw only two leaves falling but no figure.

The feeling of being peeped on was very disgusting to him. It was as if a snake was licking his body with its tongue, making him feel physically repulsed and disgusted.

Orochimaru has left the woods.

He stood outside the woods, staring into the woods, with a meaningful smile on his lips.

"Interesting kid, I didn't expect that I could do this without opening the Sharingan. If I awaken the Sharingan in the future... I'm really looking forward to this child's future. Maybe..."

The evil light in Orochimaru's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

While he was thinking, a shuriken suddenly flew through the air, carrying a sharp strong wind.

Orochimaru staggered away without thinking, but the breath of wind wrapped around the shuriken still opened a wound on his face, bleeding.

Orochimaru stared at a certain place with a gloomy expression, and there were two figures standing there.

Both of them were wearing black coats and looked at each other with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru Yin sneered and said: "Oh my, who did I think it was? Isn't this our beloved Danzo-sama? Why are you here suddenly when you have time?"

The leader of the two is naturally Danzo Shimura, the leader of the Roots. Standing meticulously next to him is Ryoma Aburame, the deputy commander of the Roots. Danzo's right-hand man is also one of the top combat power in the Roots.

"You are. If you are not in your laboratory, what are you doing in a place like this, Orochimaru?"

Danzo's face was calm, and it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Don't get me wrong, I just go out for a walk occasionally...but I didn't expect to find such an interesting child. I remember his name is Uchiha Itachi, is that the right name?"

Orochimaru chuckled.

Aburame Ryoma narrowed his eyes and stared at Orochimaru with murderous eyes.

"What do you want to say?"

Danzo asked calmly.

"You two can't be here to follow me, so the purpose of appearing here is obvious. That child must be very important to you... no, to the roots."

Orochimaru seemed to have guessed something.

Danzo remained unmoved, but took a step forward and said to Orochimaru: "Don't forget our agreement. Exposing everything will not be beneficial to both of us."

"Of course I know this. But the way you look like you want to kill someone and silence them is really scary."

"Huh, there are some things that you can't interfere with."

"So, are you still going to disobey Sarutobi-sensei's orders and handle Uchiha affairs according to your own ideas? That kid is indeed very good, but he is not qualified to deal with the powerful Uchiha clan."

"This is nothing you need to worry about. If there is nothing else, just go back to your base and continue research."

Danzo issued an eviction order.
To be continued...