Orochimaru Here

The sky was dim, thick dark clouds obscuring the sun and casting shadows over the earth.

It was a cold winter. The tranquil forest was filled with killing intent.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Several Kumogakure Anbu clad in black flashed through the trees, converging on an open clearing after a few leaps.

A few days earlier, Blue Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, had suddenly gone berserk for no apparent reason. Although the Third Raikage had suppressed him, Kumogakure still suffered enormous losses, and Blue Bee himself died as a result.

The Third Raikage had been furious, believing that an enemy must have been behind it, and ordered the Kumogakure Anbu to investigate with all their strength.

Today, their squad had finally found a trace of a lead.

"Report your status!"

The squad captain swept his gaze over the members, confirmed that everyone was present, and immediately gave the order.

"No traces found to the southwest."

"No traces found to the southeast."

Several members reported in succession. None had found anything suspicious.

The captain then said:

"My Ninja Hound hasn’t caught the scent of any enemies either."

Of course it hasn’t. It’s already dead.

This "captain" thought silently to himself.

No one knew that the real captain had died long ago. The one here was merely an impostor.

"Then we’ll expand the search area and continue looking."

The "captain" calmly issued the order while secretly signaling his teammates with the hand signs unique to the Kumogakure Anbu—

"Twelve o’clock directly ahead of me. At the water pool at three o’clock. Operation Plan Four."

These were combat signals exclusive to the Kumogakure Anbu. The other Cloud Ninja noticed nothing unusual and harbored no suspicions.

"Scatter!"

At the command, the Kumogakure Anbu used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the clearing, leaving only flowers and grass swaying in the gusting wind.

Not a single one had truly left. After moving some distance away, they circled back.

They hid in every place around the clearing where one could conceal oneself—behind tree trunks, atop branches, in the shadows behind rocks, and amid dense bushes.

Concealment was a required subject at the Ninja Academy, and as elite ninja, the Anbu members were all masters of it.

There was not a sound or a hint of abnormality. Everyone blended perfectly into nature, yet they could still see one another, allowing them to react in time if a teammate was attacked.

The "captain" narrowed his eyes and ran his tongue over the corner of his lips.

Originally, he had planned to order the squad to hide.

That way, so long as they vanished from their teammates’ sight, he could assassinate them one by one without alerting anyone.

However, this squad’s exceptional tactical discipline had ruined his plan, leaving him no choice but to switch to a backup plan.

After some time, every member still held their breath, watching the water pool at three o’clock from the corners of their eyes.

They knew that some powerful ninja were extremely sensitive to others’ gazes.

The silent forest seemed safe enough.

Suddenly, a figure with deathly pale skin and a green vest emerged from the water pool.

The Kumogakure Anbu understood at once. Using water to wash away one’s scent could prevent enemies from tracking it.

Ninja experienced in counter-tracking often used such methods.

The instant the figure appeared, three ninja blades pierced through him at once.

Yet no blood splattered. Instead, with a bang, he turned into a puddle of water and fell to the ground.

"Careful! It’s a Water Clone!"

A seemingly older ninja gave the warning, but in the very next instant, a blade pierced his chest.

The "captain" had exploited the trust between them to launch a sneak attack. Unfortunately, that ninja had warned the others, but no one had been able to warn him.

"Damn it! The captain has betrayed us!"

One of the two remaining Kumogakure Anbu shouted urgently, but he heard no reply from his companion.

Turning around, he saw that his teammate had already been tightly coiled by a giant snake. Its fangs were viciously sunk into his neck, and he had gone silent.

"You’re not the captain! You already murdered him!"

Only then did the last Kumogakure Anbu realize that the person before him was not their captain.

Their captain’s Summoning Beast was a Ninja Hound, yet it had never appeared from the start.

Their captain did not play with snakes.

"Who are you? Where is the captain? Was this your trap?"

The Kumogakure Anbu tried to draw information out of him. If his corpse was fortunate enough to be found by the village, they could gather this intelligence from his brain.

And if his body fell into enemy hands, the seal in his mind would destroy all memories the instant anyone tried to read them.

In the world of ninja, even the dead could speak.

The Kumogakure Anbu tactical hand signs the "captain" had acquired earlier had likewise been obtained from the brains of Root ninja from Konohagakure after their Sealing Jutsu had been broken.

The "captain" clearly had no intention of continuing to entertain him. He licked his lips.

Hell Viewing Technique!

The Kumogakure Anbu trembled all over, as though he had seen the horrific sight of his own death.

"What other forces are nearby? How many Jōnin? Their locations, appearances, distinguishing traits—tell me everything you know."

He had deliberately been left alive in order to obtain intelligence.

After the information had been successfully extracted and it was confirmed that there were no Cloud Ninja nearby, this last Kumogakure ninja met the same end as his comrades, buried in a snake’s belly.

The "captain" suddenly reached up and peeled off his face, revealing a pale, young, handsome face.

This was a B-rank ninjutsu developed by Orochimaru: the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique.

That was right. This "captain" was Orochimaru in disguise.

He had assassinated and replaced him as early as the day before.

Using the captain’s identity, he had arranged this tightly interlocking trap.

The Eight-Tails’ rampage in Kumogakure had also been Orochimaru’s doing. His spoils were one of the Eight-Tails’ horns, which would surely make excellent research material.

Orochimaru had incited the Eight-Tails’ rampage for revenge!

On the battlefield in the Land of Rain, his beloved disciple Nawaki had died in an Explosive Tag trap laid by Cloud Ninja.

To avenge his disciple, Orochimaru used the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to infiltrate Kumogakure. After spending months waiting for the right chance, he finally caused the Eight-Tails to rampage, though he was also injured by the Eight-Tails.

In truth, if not for his serious injuries and the need to avoid worsening them through intense combat, destroying this small Kumogakure squad would have been effortless for Orochimaru.

Orochimaru had not consumed much Chakra in this battle, because he needed to reserve more for unexpected situations.

The Water Clone had used water from the pool. His main expenditures had only been summoning a snake and using a Genjutsu.

It’s been several days since I came to this world. I’ve fully absorbed the original owner’s memories and methods. It’s time to return to Konohagakure.

Orochimaru looked up at the sky and thought silently.

Yes, the Orochimaru of this moment was no longer merely Orochimaru.

A few days earlier, after being wounded by the Eight-Tails, he had escaped Kumogakure. But his injuries were too severe, and he had passed out in his hiding place. When he awakened, he had already fused with a soul from Earth, becoming a new Orochimaru.

But… it seemed that more than just that soul had arrived.

Orochimaru contemplated the black-hole-like presence in his mind.

Previously, the black hole had continually absorbed inexplicable white specks. Now, however, it had stopped absorbing them, as though some condition had been met, and had transformed into a sparkling white point of light.

Orochimaru had not studied it closely before because he had yet to escape danger. Now that he knew no Kumogakure ninja were nearby, he could more or less confirm his own safety. It was time to investigate this strange object in his mind.

Orochimaru carefully probed the white point of light within his mind.

The white point trembled softly, like a treasure chest shaking before it was opened.

It was a golden pearl—the Dragon Yuan from Wind and Cloud.

At that moment, the Dragon Yuan lay quietly in Orochimaru’s hand, emitting a golden glow as though it were breathing. Orochimaru could clearly sense the immense power contained within it.

Yet Orochimaru’s attention was not on the Dragon Yuan for the moment.

The instant he touched the point of light, Orochimaru understood that this was his cheat— the Power of Spacetime Fantasy carried by a high-dimensional soul.

He now lived in a world from an anime. To the soul from Earth, wasn’t this anime world a high-dimensional existence?

The Power of Spacetime Fantasy could randomly create an item imagined by high-dimensional beings. However, it came with certain conditions. It could not create things from nothing; he needed to exert a significant influence on this world. The greater the influence, the more spacetime energy he could obtain. Once that energy reached a certain threshold, an item would be generated.

The moment the Dragon Yuan appeared in Orochimaru’s hand, the white point of light reverted to its black-hole-like state, absorbing only the tiniest white speck after long intervals. Those white points were, in fact, spacetime energy.

The Power of Spacetime Fantasy would create another item only once the white points completely filled it.

But clearly, Orochimaru at this place and time had not yet affected the future of the entire world. The points it had absorbed did not seem to have changed the black hole in the slightest.

Orochimaru looked at the Dragon Yuan in his hand. He knew that perhaps he would become a new wind, setting the rotten windmill of the Shinobi World in motion.