Preparations (Second Update)

"A dead last will always be a dead last…"

Orochimaru clutched the wound in his abdomen and looked at Jiraiya lying on the ground, his face full of cold indifference.

"This time, I’ll spare your life for now."

As he spoke, he covered his wound and headed outside. First, he had been injured by the hidden traps upon leaving the base, then he had run into Jiraiya.

Had the former dead last really become capable of fighting him?

"Orochimaru!"

Jiraiya, who had been knocked down, tried several times to get up but failed each time. Watching Orochimaru’s departing back, his eyes were filled with pain and grief.

Held back by their old friendship, he had gone easy on Orochimaru after he was injured by the trap. Yet that single opening had been enough for him to be completely subdued!

Damn it, why had things come to this?

But after Orochimaru left, accompanied by the sound of something cutting through the air, Xu Yue arrived beside the injured Jiraiya with the unconscious Kakashi on his back.

Seeing that Jiraiya was all right, Xu Yue seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. After setting the unconscious Kakashi down nearby, he crouched beside Jiraiya and began treating him with the Mystical Palm Technique.

"Luckily, Senior Jiraiya didn’t suffer any serious problems. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t know how to explain it to Senior Brother Minato."

Facing the dejected Jiraiya, Xu Yue spoke with a bright, sunny smile. It seemed to infect Jiraiya as well, easing his mood somewhat.

"Why are you here? Are you still planning to capture your teacher and take him back?"

Feeling a little better, Jiraiya shifted slightly and leaned against the trunk in a more comfortable position. He spoke weakly.

"Sorry, but it’s just the opposite. No matter what, he’s still my teacher. At the beginning, I even stopped Lord Third Hokage."

As Xu Yue treated him, he kept Jiraiya talking to distract him from the itchy, numb discomfort of the treatment.

"You stopped your teacher? You really dare to say that…"

A trace of understanding appeared in Jiraiya’s eyes. His teacher probably hadn’t been able to bring himself to act either.

"I came after him now because I was worried Teacher might hurt someone. If that happened, the sin would be far greater. As his disciple, I should at least clean up after him."

Xu Yue spoke somewhat bashfully, as though his teacher had caused them trouble.

Jiraiya’s impression of him improved greatly. He was someone who valued the bonds between teacher and disciple, yet he also had principles. Sunny, dependable—Orochimaru had truly taken in a good disciple.

No wonder even Minato had always praised him so highly.

After healing Jiraiya, Xu Yue left Kakashi, who had been the first to stop Orochimaru and had been knocked unconscious as a result, in Jiraiya’s care. Xu Yue then said he would take his leave for the moment to see whether Orochimaru had caused any further trouble, and to say goodbye while he was at it.

Naturally, Jiraiya expressed his understanding.

Even the Third Hokage himself had deliberately gone easy on him. How could they blame his disciple…

"Teacher Orochimaru, it seems I really was right."

Having set out later but arrived first, Xu Yue waited at a cave entrance ahead of Orochimaru. As he watched the injured Orochimaru approach, he still wore that warm, reassuring smile.

But the somewhat bedraggled Orochimaru could not help but look at Xu Yue with a trace of gloom in his eyes.

"This time, you won the bet. These are the scrolls containing the foundational knowledge required before learning the Impure World Reincarnation. Don’t forget your promise."

As he spoke, Orochimaru flung over a scroll, which Xu Yue caught directly in his hand. So this counted as completing the prerequisite task for Impure World Reincarnation. Now he only had to wait until next time…

"Actually, Teacher Orochimaru, Jiraiya went easy on you just now. If you keep focusing all your attention on external matters, Senior Jiraiya will surpass you in strength."

After receiving the scroll and the notification, Xu Yue smiled and offered the reminder.

This time, the usually arrogant Orochimaru did not offer much of a rebuttal. During the battle, he had sensed that Jiraiya had been distracted.

But his ambitions lay elsewhere to begin with. After Xu Yue had awakened the heart of a great scientist within him ahead of time, he had become even more infatuated with the path of science—the more he researched, the more insignificant he felt.

Countless Forbidden Jutsu, the truth of the world, and immortality—those were what he sought!

Then, silently clutching his wound, he walked toward the cave behind Xu Yue.

As they passed each other, Xu Yue seemed to murmur softly,

"Won’t Teacher weigh his disciple’s abilities one last time…?"

"You signed my contract for Ryūchi Cave summons."

Orochimaru replied without concern. Xu Yue might be able to hide his Sage Mode from anyone else, but never from Orochimaru!

"Actually, Senior Jiraiya can use it too."

Xu Yue did not forget to provoke Orochimaru a little more.

Hearing that Jiraiya had mastered Sage Mode, something even he had never mastered, and that Jiraiya had not used Sage Mode at all during their earlier battle, Orochimaru fell silent.

But he still continued into the cave…

"It’s rare for me to come out like this. Judging by the time, I should be able to make it over there now. If I arrive too late, wouldn’t all that waiting have been for nothing?"

Watching Orochimaru leave, Xu Yue stretched. The next moment, he activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and vanished from the spot…

At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Grass, Xu Yue suddenly appeared amid a field of scattered boulders.

A Flying Thunder God Kunai he had left behind earlier was embedded in the ground.

Looking at this rocky area that had "buried" Obito, Xu Yue spread his Force Sense as far as possible.

"The story said the place where Obito was buried wasn’t far from where he was hiding. With the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path there, it couldn’t be too well concealed…"

As Force Sense spread at full power, the entire world changed in Xu Yue’s eyes. Abundant natural energy surrounded him, as though a mere thought would allow him to draw it into his body.

The whole world seemed to come alive.

Yet within this naturally harmonious world, deep beneath the earth at one location, there was an incomparably violent and terrifying power.

Merely sensing it made Xu Yue’s entire body tremble with a sense of insignificance.

With Xu Yue’s current strength, something that could make him feel so small and worthless could only be the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!

"Looks like I’ll have to do some digging. There isn’t even an entrance. Does Madara not need to eat, drink, piss, or shit like White Zetsu…?"

After loosening up, Xu Yue began preparing for the physical labor ahead…

An elderly man, withered like dead wood, on the verge of death, his long hair trailing all the way to the ground.

He was teaching Obito Uchiha, passing on the Six Paths techniques that combined the powers of the Senju and Uchiha Clan.

Obito, who had likewise already completed the fusion of Senju and Uchiha powers, was studying with a level of seriousness he had never shown before!

His progress during this time could only be described as terrifying.

He had transformed far too quickly, from a dead-last genin into the beginnings of a future great boss.

There was naturally a reason Madara Uchiha had chosen him!

Yet at that moment, Madara, who had been teaching Obito, slowly raised his head and looked toward the ceiling, where a little dust was falling.

A rather strange White Zetsu with a spiral-patterned face emerged from the ground and said to Madara Uchiha,

"That most troublesome guy has come over. Are you sure your choice was the right one? No matter how I look at it, that guy seems much more terrifying."

Tobi, the ace among White Zetsu, kept muttering even in front of Madara Uchiha.

"So he really found this place…"

Crack—

Cracks began spreading across the ceiling. At last, accompanied by the sound of collapse, a figure leaped down through the broken opening…

Second update~ The third update will be coming shortly~