Chapter 397: Chapter 395 : Spiritual Space!!
"Message from Konoha?"
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes as he stared at the envelope.
"Who sent it?"
Even as he asked, his gaze was already fixed on a unique sky-shaped seal on the envelope.
He had already guessed the general idea.
And he had a good idea of who sent it.
"It seems someone from the Uchiha Merchant Association left it at one of our secret drop points," Guren explained.
In her opinion, only someone familiar with them would know such a hidden location.
"Genya, huh? What could he want from me?"
A faint smile appeared on Orochimaru’s face, no longer carrying the eerie coldness of the past.
For some reason, Orochimaru always felt he could converse easily with Genya.
Lately, Genya even said he had reserved a spot for him in the Atsukara’s Zodiacs.
Being appreciated like that by Genya, Orochimaru felt genuinely satisfied.
Though somewhat tempted, he hadn’t decided to join Atsukara yet.
However, if he could succeed in creating artificial humans, maybe then he would.
He took the envelope.
It felt like something small was inside—very small.
"What is it...? Something worth Genya sending someone personally?"
Orochimaru’s curiosity deepened.
He opened the envelope.
Inside was a ring—ancient in style, delicate in craftsmanship.
On its surface, a single word was engraved: "Snake."
"A ring... similar to the Akatsuki’s?"
Orochimaru rubbed his fingers along the ring’s texture, a smirk forming at the corner of his lips.
Indeed.
This seemed to be a ring much like the ones used by the Akatsuki for contact.
It seemed even this kind of ninja tool had been developed by Genya.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
"What is this thing?"
Guren’s eyes flickered with surprise.
She couldn’t sense anything unusual about the ring.
To her, it looked just like an ordinary object.
In fact, she thought it might be some kind of status symbol.
"A fascinating little item," Orochimaru said with a low chuckle, rubbing his fingers over the ring.
The corner of his mouth curled into a smile.
Finally, with a calm and deliberate motion, he slid the ring — engraved with the symbol of a snake — onto his finger.
"Not bad at all. It’s much more refined than the Akatsuki’s rings."
As for any further discussion, Orochimaru said no more.
That night, Orochimaru continued his experiments deep into the evening.
Suddenly... he felt a faint warmth from the ring on his finger.
It was subtle,
But a strange kind of energy began tugging at his spiritual consciousness.
As if...
Something within the ring was calling to him.
"Genya... is this how you confirm I’ve accepted the ring?"
Orochimaru rubbed the surface of the ring again.
This time, he allowed his spiritual energy to flow into it.
In an instant, Orochimaru found himself drawn into a unique space.
The surroundings were beautiful — birds chirped, flowers bloomed.
It all felt vividly real.
The strength of the mind that created this space was incredible — even the Akatsuki’s leader couldn’t have accomplished this.
Beneath a pavilion in the middle of this world,
Several figures had already taken their seats.
Illusions formed by spiritual projection.
Orochimaru didn’t hesitate.
He stepped forward.
From their forms alone, he recognized the ones gathered in this mental realm.
Phantom Tiger — Uchiha Shisui.
Wood Ox — Senju Hayashi.
And, sitting there with a carefree smile — Genya.
The moment Genya saw Orochimaru arrive, his smile never faded.
"Orochimaru, you’re here."
He had given Orochimaru the ring precisely to bring this eccentric man into the fold.
Despite his odd personality, Genya understood something very clearly —
If Orochimaru succeeded in creating artificial beings with Kekkei Genkai...
Then aside from Genya himself, Orochimaru would be the most knowledgeable ninja in the world when it came to Kekkei Genkais.
The artificial humans Orochimaru was developing — though not perfect in any single field — were versatile and highly skilled across the board.
That alone was enough to stand at the peak of the shinobi world.
He was also worthy of being a legendary figure in his own right.
"Orochimaru!"
"Orochimaru?"
When Shisui and Hayashi looked over at Orochimaru, there was already a hint of wariness in their eyes.
Neither of them had a good impression of Orochimaru, especially Hayashi, who had been... experimented on during one of Orochimaru’s research phases.
That experience had left a bit of a psychological shadow.
"Haha... your ring is quite nice," Orochimaru said casually, completely unfazed by their reactions as he calmly took a seat and replied with an ambiguous comment.
"Haha..." Genya also laughed. He understood that Orochimaru had just indirectly accepted his invitation.
What followed was a casual conversation between them.
They talked about a few trivial things, and slowly, the tense atmosphere began to ease.
Only then did Genya shift his gaze toward Hayashi and Shisui.
"I asked you to look for the tailed beasts’ whereabouts. How did it go?"
"But the Akatsuki got there before us," Uchiha Shisui shook his head, clearly dissatisfied. "We encountered them. They’re tricky opponents."
"Tricky?" Genya frowned. "They didn’t manage to injure any of you, right?"
The Akatsuki... unless Pain himself made a move, the organization shouldn’t have been a match for either of them.
"No, that’s not it. We ran into them twice. Once, we were at a slight disadvantage. The second time, they fled after being defeated," Shisui replied with a touch of frustration.
"The first time... we faced six individuals who all had Rinnegan. Every single one of them was strong, almost unkillable," Hayashi chimed in immediately after. "The one who captured the tailed beast was insanely powerful. He was even immune to genjutsu!"
"The two of us went all out," Hayashi continued, "but we were still overpowered and had no choice but to retreat."
Shisui added, "They possesses a jutsu that can repel attacks and absorb all forms of chakra. It’s somewhat similar to one of your abilities."
"Pain’s Six Paths," Orochimaru began, "they’re Akatsuki’s elite force. Each one possesses the Rinnegan. Illusions are useless against them."
"Rinnegan, huh... it really is a natural counter to your abilities, Shisui," Genya said thoughtfully.
"Especially that pair of Rinnegan. It’s like genjutsu’s worst enemy. No wonder you were forced to retreat."
Shisui’s strongest ability had always been genjutsu.
But now that genjutsu was ineffective...
It was like losing his trump card.
The Six Paths of Pain shared the same vision and could coordinate seamlessly.
In terms of speed, it was almost on par with Shisui’s Body Flicker technique...
No—maybe even stronger.
And their chakra reserves were nothing to scoff at either.
If they wanted to win... it would be incredibly difficult.
"Is that so?" Shisui’s voice carried a trace of dejection.
Since his return, he hadn’t faced such a complete defeat—
Well, except when fighting Genya.
Genya didn’t try to comfort him further.
A little setback might actually be a good thing.
After all, it helped them realize their shortcomings...
And motivated them to grow stronger.
In the future, Shisui might not necessarily be any weaker than Nagato.
"Then the second encounter—did you run into them again?" Genya asked.
"No, the second time it was three different people. There was Tobi... and two others we didn’t recognize."
Hayashi shook his head, then continued.
"Their bodies could transform into some kind of crystalline diamond. Extremely hard—almost indestructible. And their strength was insane. In pure physical power... I was actually overpowered."
"Hmm... a unique kekkei genkai?" Genya narrowed his eyes slightly.
So, the Akatsuki had recruited new members again?
And if they could escape from Shisui’s group unharmed...
They clearly weren’t ordinary opponents.
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