Chapter Eight: The Real Threat

When Orochimaru hurried back, the standoff was still ongoing.

Kabuto was trapped in a genjutsu, tormented by Itachi who stabbed him over and over, breaking his spirit. Jiraiya tended to the Third Hokage and his companions. The Third Hokage was silent, no longer displaying the calm assurance of his old self. In front of his students, he had exposed his vulnerability; age had already withered him, and now he seemed on the verge of departing this world. He could barely stand, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face.

The Hidden Leaf Village was gone.

Jiraiya did not weep, his expression remained steadfast as he tried to comfort the old man. Naruto, on the other hand, sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to the Third Hokage. The village was gone, his dream was gone, it felt as if the sky had collapsed, and the future loomed dark and uncertain.

Sasuke sat on the ground, utterly lost. The moment he saw Itachi, he charged at him, only to be subdued with little effort. Itachi told him he was too weak to be worth killing, urging him to continue to hate. Sasuke hated so much he wished he could die.

Meanwhile, Tsunade and Kisame had already revealed themselves; hiding any longer was pointless, especially since Orochimaru wasn’t among them.

Tsunade asked, “Is everything alright?” She referred to the genjutsu Itachi had cast on Kabuto.

Itachi replied coolly, “No harm done.” He had no intention of killing Kabuto, only of inflicting torment. Soon he would release him; as long as no one died, neither side would be forced into open hostility.

As for Kabuto’s claim that three people had rescued one, Itachi ignored it—he believed Kabuto wouldn’t risk actually killing the Third Hokage and his two companions. Once the hostages were dead, they would lose all value.

Tsunade pressed further, “What should we do? Are we really going to agree to work for Orochimaru?”

Itachi offered no response; this was a difficult matter to resolve.

Just then, Hinata came running. The expressions of Itachi and the others grew serious at once. From Hinata, they sensed undisguised killing intent—it was Orochimaru!

Naruto was still crying, but when he saw Hinata approach, he called out naïvely, “Hinata? Are you alright? Come here!”

Before he could move, Jiraiya held him back. “Orochimaru is here,” Jiraiya said.

Naruto was bewildered. Orochimaru? Where? Because Jiraiya blocked Orochimaru’s killing intent from reaching him, Naruto had no inkling of any connection between Hinata and Orochimaru.

Sasuke, seated on the ground in a daze, also had Jiraiya shielding him from the killing intent, but in an instant, he understood the link between Hinata and Orochimaru.

He looked up at Hinata, hope rising in his eyes.

Orochimaru could make him stronger, couldn’t he?

He was certain of it!

…

From the mark on Hinata’s neck, Orochimaru extended a serpent’s head—an actual snake’s head. Hinata was terrified, though not as badly as the first time.

“Let Kabuto go,” Orochimaru commanded.

Itachi, expressionless, released the genjutsu. Kabuto collapsed to the ground, eyes wide and drenched in sweat. In the world of illusion, Itachi had stabbed him again and again—a suffering beyond words.

“Heh heh heh heh ha ha ha…” Suddenly, Kabuto staggered upright, his face twisted with both pain and excitement. Even such indescribable agony was not enough to break him.

“That’s enough, Kabuto. Come here,” Orochimaru called.

At Orochimaru’s words, Kabuto suppressed his manic expression and, trembling, walked to Hinata’s side. The genjutsu had clearly left its mark on him.

Upon reaching Hinata, Kabuto gazed at the snake emerging from her neck. “Lord Orochimaru, I’m sorry. I failed my mission.”

Orochimaru had entrusted this task to him, yet he’d ended up in a stalemate and even got caught in Itachi’s genjutsu, requiring Orochimaru himself to intervene. In his eyes, he had failed in his duties.

Orochimaru shook his head, unconcerned. “You tampered with Sarutobi-sensei and the others, didn’t you? Undo it.”

“Huh?” Kabuto was stunned, wondering if he’d misheard—Orochimaru wanted him to release the restraints on the Third Hokage and his companions?

Seeing Kabuto’s confusion, Orochimaru shook his head again and repeated, “Undo it.”

“Yes.” Suppressing his doubts, Kabuto went to remove the chakra virus from the three elders.

Orochimaru’s actions made the pupils of Itachi, Jiraiya, Tsunade, and the others constrict sharply. Was this some new scheme?

They voiced their suspicions.

“A scheme? You overestimate me. I have no need for such tricks,” Orochimaru replied indifferently.

Jiraiya took a step forward but was stopped by Itachi. Jiraiya, facing Orochimaru, would surely lose his composure; only Itachi could maintain control. That was why, for this mission, Itachi was in command.

Itachi fixed his gaze on the serpent’s head. After a long silence, he asked, “Orochimaru, what are you really after?”

The snake’s mouth curled into a sinister smile, both terrifying and grotesque.

Orochimaru said, “Kabuto has already told you—I want you to work for me.”

Itachi’s eyes narrowed. “Do you really think that’s possible?”

Orochimaru chuckled. “I’m not negotiating. I’m informing you—prepare to receive your orders.”

Itachi glanced to the side; Kabuto had already injected the antidote into the three elders.

In a blink, Itachi was standing right before Orochimaru’s serpent head.

“Orochimaru, do you think you’re qualified to say that when you have no hostages?”

Even if there were hostages, the three of them would never obey Orochimaru’s commands. Threats go both ways; one side never holds complete power over the other.

“Oh, is that so?” Orochimaru was unfazed. In fact, another reason he’d come was to test the Byakugan’s effectiveness against the Sharingan’s illusions.

He said coolly, “You have a brother. I do not. My sole aim is to kill Sasuke—do you really believe you can protect him?”

After the battle at the Hidden Leaf, where Orochimaru summoned four Kage-level fighters, his name had spread far and wide. Itachi was confident he could escape a siege by four Kage-level opponents, but he could not protect Sasuke forever.

He fell silent.

Orochimaru continued, “I won’t lay a hand on Sasuke, Sarutobi-sensei, or any of Konoha’s captives. They’re right there—rescue them if you wish. But I promise you, if you rescue one, I’ll send four Kage-level fighters after you immediately. Tell me—do you dare?”

In that instant, everyone’s eyes widened.

At this point, they all understood why Orochimaru was so fearless—barefooted, with nothing to lose. He had no hostages to protect; he was the one with nothing.

Kabuto’s eyes lit up; he finally understood the real reason Orochimaru had entrusted him with this task. It was indeed a threat to the lives of the Third Hokage and his companions, but not through something as crude as a chakra virus. Instead, it was a direct challenge: go ahead and try to rescue them. If you do, I’ll kill them. Do you dare?

It was an unanswerable threat—unless Orochimaru was killed.

Itachi was silent, clearly grasping the real reason now. It wasn’t a difficult leap, but Kabuto’s use of the chakra virus as a threat had distracted them from the true danger, only now revealed by Orochimaru’s blunt admission.

“So, Orochimaru, do you really think you can’t be killed?”