Chapter Fifty-Two: The Ruler of the Ideal State

While Orochimaru was inquiring about the moving fortress, deep within a nearby forest, an old man wearing a tall hat walked ahead with vacant eyes, leading the way. Behind him followed two men clad in black robes adorned with red clouds.

"Itachi, is your eye alright?" Kisame glanced at Uchiha Itachi beside him.

Itachi's left eye was wrapped several times in white bandages, stained with seeping blood.

"I'm fine," Itachi replied dispassionately.

Kisame curled his lip. Starting a mission right after a transplant—of course he’d say he’s fine, even with blood still oozing. But this was Shisui’s eye. For Orochimaru to persuade Itachi to willingly replace his eye with that of his deceased friend—remarkable.

Kisame looked at the old man ahead, then turned to the one-eyed Itachi. "Hey, is the Grell Stone really as powerful as you say?"

They weren’t following "Uchiha Madara’s" orders to prepare for the Fourth Ninja War, but had instead set out in search of the Grell Stone’s veins.

Itachi’s brow furrowed in irritation, turning his head away. "Can’t you just be quiet?"

Kisame shrugged. "Is that how you talk to a comrade? I thought you valued your companions."

After the destruction of the Leaf Village, Itachi’s behavior had changed; everyone knew he hadn’t truly let go of the Leaf. The previous massacre of the Uchiha clan and his defection from the village were thus open to speculation—there was clearly more beneath the surface.

Itachi sighed, helpless. "Kisame, you’re starting to sound like Hidan."

"Hahaha," Kisame said, unfazed. "I’m not nearly as talkative as him. Besides, with just the two of us, someone has to speak, or we’ll die of boredom."

He continued, "Even after transplanting Shisui’s left eye, you’re still not enough? You need the Grell Stone’s power too? Is Orochimaru really that formidable?"

Shisui’s eye was extraordinary; with it, he had earned the title "Shisui of the Body Flicker" in the ninja world. Itachi himself was powerful—together, their strength wasn’t just a simple sum.

Itachi’s expression grew solemn. "Orochimaru is truly powerful, perhaps even more so than we realize. I worry we’re still underestimating him. You saw his Sound Village—armies of Byakugan, Sharingan, and Blood Dragon Eyes... Without those forces, I wouldn’t have known that the Sharingan and Rinnegan are evolutionarily linked. As the mastermind behind all this, Orochimaru must be even stronger."

Previously, Itachi and Kisame had infiltrated the Sound Village, witnessing its development and coming to many realizations.

Kisame nodded, growing serious. While Itachi was shocked by the relationship between the Sharingan and the Rinnegan, Kisame was more stunned by the mass production of Jinchuriki. If Jinchuriki could be manufactured, his self-proclaimed "tailless Tailed Beast" status would offer him no advantage.

He looked at the old man ahead, still under the influence of Sharingan genjutsu, leading them. "Once you obtain the Grell Stone, what will you do?"

The Grell Stone possessed immense chakra, but as a dead object, it only held value if properly utilized.

Itachi’s eyes narrowed, a flash gleaming within. "Is the Sharingan’s only path to evolve into the Rinnegan? I don’t believe so. I want to continue evolving as the Sharingan, without changing its form!"

This was another path—evolving further without altering its nature, pushing the Eternal Mangekyo even beyond.

Kisame nodded. "You use it to enhance your ocular power. What about me? How am I supposed to grow stronger?"

His last words were muttered to himself, and at that moment, the great sword Sharkskin on his back stirred slightly.

...

Elsewhere, Orochimaru’s gaze was cool as he followed the limping Timmsy out of the cave. In the distance, a group approached with a rumbling advance, led by puppet soldiers.

It was the Ideal Nation’s Lord Hyde and his retinue.

"That’s... Timmsy!" The Ideal Nation’s lord spotted the cave’s entrance and saw Timmsy emerging.

Timmsy was disheveled, battered, limping badly—his leg clearly damaged, and one arm missing, the sleeve hanging empty.

"What happened?"

The lord’s eyes chilled; he noticed a man with a sinister expression following behind Timmsy.

"Go," he signaled with a glance. Two female knights at his side immediately rushed forward with puppet soldiers, heading straight for the cave.

"That’s... Orochimaru?!"

Behind the Ideal Nation’s lord, Shikamaru, Sakura, and Rock Lee were bewildered—encountering Orochimaru here?

FFFFFFF!

At the cave entrance, the battered Timmsy, seeing his lord arrive with soldiers, hope surged in his eyes. He turned and sneered at Orochimaru, "There you have it—the Ideal Nation’s Lord Hyde, whom you’ve been seeking!"

Orochimaru looked past Timmsy, eyes falling on the advancing puppet soldiers, then on Hyde himself, and finally on three individuals whose faces were concealed behind veils.

"So this is the Ideal Nation’s lord? That saves me some trouble." Orochimaru was quite pleased with their arrival.

Timmsy, emboldened, declared, "If you want the secrets of the Grell Stone, ask Lord Hyde yourself!"

At that moment, the two female knights and their puppet soldiers charged, wielding iron balls, spiked clubs, and other intimidating weapons.

Especially the two leading female knights—special power radiated from them, dazzling and imposing.

"Summoning: Eight-Headed Tail."

Orochimaru simply raised his hand and swung forward; his arm instantly transformed into a massive white tail, slamming down.

With a thunderous crash, all the puppet soldiers were annihilated, leaving the two female knights barely alive.

Orochimaru retracted the Eight-Headed Tail, his arm returning to normal. He walked over and effortlessly killed the two knights, extracting the Grell Stone embedded in their chests.

"Three now."

Apparently, these things could be mass-produced.

Orochimaru carried out these actions with such ease that Timmsy, who had just sneered, was left stunned, as were Hyde and his entourage as they approached.

"I..."

Timmsy was at a loss for words—he hadn’t expected Orochimaru to be so strong. Sending him to see the lord was tantamount to delivering Hyde to his doom.

This scene also caused Hyde and his group to halt, no longer moving forward.

"Then I shall ask personally," Orochimaru said, responding to Timmsy’s earlier remark as he smiled and walked towards Hyde’s group.

Hyde, though arrogant, was no fool. Seeing Orochimaru casually wipe out all his subordinates with a single blow, he mentally cursed Timmsy.

What kind of enemy have you brought me? Didn’t you say you’d discovered a vein of Grell Stone? Where did this enemy come from?

Words failed to capture his feelings at that moment.

Hyde took a deep breath, calmed himself, straightened his expression, and put on a flattering smile as he approached Orochimaru. "Greetings, sir. My name is Hyde. Did my subordinates offend you? They deserve punishment, truly."

The abrupt shift left Shikamaru, Sakura, and Rock Lee dumbfounded; even Timmsy, now regretful, was frozen in place.

The once untouchable Lord Hyde—now...