127 To Kill the Man, First Attack the Mind

After a few twists, the giant python finally stilled its head, pressing down toward a fixed point.

"Hiss..."

Its black and red tongue flickered, spraying saliva mixed with a foul stench. Sensing the crushing pressure looming so close, everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound.

Yet, in the midst of this, a loud cry suddenly rang out, shattering the oppressive silence.

The red-haired woman’s expression shifted rapidly as she desperately tried to soothe the child in her arms. While adults might learn to read the room, a child only follows her instincts. She was terrified; the warmth of her mother's body offered no sense of safety before this horrific giant snake, and her wails grew even louder.

The python seemed drawn by the noise, lowering its head slightly. Its cold, reptilian eyes locked onto the mother and daughter, flickering with cruel and bloodthirsty intent.

Feeling the snake’s maw drawing closer, the red-haired woman could not even retreat. She stood dazed, frozen in place, two streams of tears flowing down her face. Both mother and child were crying—the child loudly, the mother in silent, flowing misery. The mixture of vitality and impending death together defined the very essence of "despair."

Witnessing this scene, those present instinctively felt a surge of pity. Even the cold-blooded and ruthless elder of the Grass Village could not help but pause for a moment.

But soon, he thought to himself: *Perfect.*

Bullying the weak—while "strength" has many definitions, the category of the "weak" is much narrower: the elderly, fragile women, young children. What could be more impactful, more capable of epitomizing the phrase "bullying the weak," than Orochimaru using his snake to commit a heinous act and devour a mother and child?

Oh... perhaps there was one thing. It might have been even more effective if it were an old woman and a child instead.

The Grass Village elder thought viciously. Then, amidst the crying, he heard Orochimaru’s voice—hoarse yet magnetic:

"There are many variables, but I have finally found you."

What did that mean?

Under their suspicious gazes, a long snake extended from Orochimaru’s sleeve, coiled around the red-haired woman’s waist, and lifted her onto the python's head.

Was she the one Orochimaru was seeking revenge against?

The masked elders of the Grass Village exchanged glances, both seeing the astonishment in the other's eyes. He recognized the woman—though he didn't recall her face, the vibrant red hair was enough to identify her heritage: the Uzumaki clan.

This made perfect sense. Who else but someone with such a background could offer a reward tempting enough to move the Legendary Sannin of Konoha? What right would an ordinary Grass ninja have to make such an enemy?

Although there were still some lingering questions, the situation unfolding this way was not bad at all. Let Orochimaru be branded as a bully; it would damage Konoha’s reputation in the ninja world, bolster the cohesion of the Grass Village, and increase its appeal to rogue ninjas. The price paid was merely an outsider. He had expected at least one Jonin to die.

As the Grass Village elder calculated the business and political gains in his mind, the situation atop the python shifted once more.

Orochimaru set the red-haired woman down steadily and placed a hand on her shoulder to support her. This caught everyone watching the pair off guard.

"Don't be afraid. I have no intention of killing you; I am here to save you."

Orochimaru’s lips curled, a faint smile appearing on his face. He was mimicking the facial expressions of a "saintly" deity. But this did not put the mother and daughter at ease; instead, it made them feel even more terrified. Visibly, the child’s wails grew even shriller.

Orochimaru clicked his tongue. "...In the end, I can’t pull off that saintly look as well as he does."

However, he had other methods. He tapped a finger on the child’s pressure points, causing her to fall into a deep sleep, and used his other hand to press lightly on the woman’s neck, depriving her of the ability to speak.

*Stockholm Syndrome: a psychological complex where a victim develops feelings for their captor, sometimes even aiding them.* Orochimaru wasn't sure if this woman had developed psychological issues from the persecution of the Grass ninjas, so it was safer to keep her silent for now.

This rapid sequence of actions made the two Grass Village elders feel that something was wrong. The woman from the Uzumaki clan was clearly not the target of Orochimaru’s vengeance. If it wasn't her, then who was?

A sudden, intense sense of crisis washed over them, as if disaster were imminent. But before they could act, Orochimaru spoke.

Unhurried and eloquent, he began to recount the crimes the Grass ninjas had committed against the women of the Uzumaki clan. Cannibalism, treating a human being as an animal, as a living medical blood bag—these were heinous sins, no matter where they occurred. He spoke quickly and urgently, yet every word was clearly delivered to everyone present.

As he spoke, Orochimaru revealed the scars on her body, proving that his words were no lie.

By now, the pity the crowd had felt for the mother and daughter deepened. Whether it was the oblivious villagers of the Grass Village or the outsiders who had come to the village’s "black market" to take on missions, everyone turned to look at the Grass ninjas emerging from the medical facility with strange, judgmental eyes.

Bullying the weak... the "weak" remained the same, but the "strong" now carried a different definition—one whose actions were far more repulsive than Orochimaru’s.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the Grass ninjas, both those severely and lightly wounded, turned pale. It was as if all the blood in their bodies had rushed to their faces, and their eyes became bloodshot.

This was not merely the anger of having their crimes exposed; it was, more significantly, a profound sense of guilt.

Can bad people feel remorse? Can they regret their actions? When a person is swept up in a group, doing evil as a matter of course, they selectively ignore their actions and never doubt them. But when these acts are dragged into the light, subject to the judgment of a larger collective, fear and panic set in—followed by self-doubt.

They could not deny reality because these were concrete crimes. They hadn't noticed before because they hadn't thought about it, but now, forced by public opinion to reflect, they were horrified by what they had done.

At this stage, most collapsed—the severely wounded on the ground fainted, unable to withstand the emotional turbulence—while a few became hysterical, launching suicide attacks at Orochimaru. Naturally, those who lost their sanity were swiftly swallowed by the snake.

However, there were others—ninjas who had known of this evil from the start and had firmly carried it out—who simply retreated. They had long since rehearsed this scenario in their minds.

"Orochimaru! The Grass Village and you are irreconcilable enemies!"

The two elders of the Grass Village, their eyes splitting with rage, unleashed their ninjutsu and led the Grass Village ANBU in a direct assault.

Orochimaru smiled lightly and summoned a python to swallow the mother and daughter for protection.

"Just in time!"