Naruto: Orochimaru's Disciple

Chapter 606: Chapter 606: Prepare a Pledge of Loyalty for Jiraiya

Chapter 606: Prepare a Pledge of Loyalty for Jiraiya

Kenichi had no idea that Kaguya was already aware of what he had done to her consciousness fragment.

If he knew, he would have immediately chosen to run.

And not merely retreat a little.

He would run as far and as fast as possible, preferably using the time machine to return directly to his original timeline.

After all, with Kaguya around, Kenichi doubted Isshiki would be able to withstand her fury.

At that point, most of this world’s crisis would already be resolved.

The only remaining problem would be for Hagoromo to figure out how to seal Kaguya again afterward.

Unfortunately, Kenichi knew none of this.

Right now...

He was eating hot pot.

”Big Brother, you haven’t come out much lately.”

Naruto looked curiously at Kenichi while swishing a piece of tripe through the boiling broth.

”Have you been busy with something?”

Kenichi smiled.

He had indeed been extremely busy recently.

In fact, he was still busy even now.

But the collection of materials and various metallic elements for his experiments was already underway, and there was little he personally needed to do while waiting.

So Kenichi had stolen a rare moment of free time to come out, eat something, and relax.

Besides, he planned to check the latest intelligence Jiraiya had sent back afterward.

”I’ve been busy figuring out how to become stronger.”

Kenichi rubbed Naruto’s head.

Then he casually picked up a piece of cooked beef and placed it into Sasuke’s bowl.

Sasuke immediately grabbed it with his chopsticks and stuffed it into his mouth, looking almost impatient.

Beside him, Hinata covered her mouth and giggled.

She had already noticed Naruto’s expression change the moment Kenichi gave Sasuke the beef.

He looked as though he wanted to snatch it straight out of Sasuke’s bowl.

Kenichi could only smile helplessly.

With Kushina’s help, as well as Kenichi’s own forceful ”counseling,” Naruto had already begun reconciling with Kurama.

He could now use the power of the Tailed Beast Cloak.

Minato had also returned the other half of the Nine-Tails’ chakra that had been sealed within himself.

As a result, Naruto’s current strength had already far surpassed what the original Naruto possessed at the same age.

”Sasuke.”

Kenichi turned toward him.

”How has your brother been lately?”

Sasuke still possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan.

However, Kenichi knew Itachi had been considering giving his own eyes to Sasuke so that Sasuke could obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

Kenichi thought that was completely unnecessary.

He had already found another solution.

Clone Sasuke.

That was all.

Cloning technology was no longer a problem for Kenichi.

He had simply been too busy with his other experiments to get around to it.

”My brother is doing well.”

Sasuke looked sincerely grateful.

”Thank you, Brother Kenichi.”

His gratitude was genuine.

Without Kenichi, Sasuke would still have been an orphan.

He would never have learned the truth about how much Itachi had done for him.

Fugaku and Mikoto would still be dead.

Itachi’s terminal illness might also have eventually taken his life.

Kenichi himself did not think much of it.

He had simply overturned the entire board ahead of schedule.

He had already spent years developing slowly in his original world.

If he had to repeat that same slow process after arriving in this timeline, it would have been unbearably boring.

After looking at Naruto and Sasuke, Kenichi turned his attention toward Hinata.

Her situation was somewhat different.

Compared with Naruto and Sasuke, there were fewer obvious routes for Hinata to rapidly increase her strength.

Fortunately, Kenichi had already found one.

The Tenseigan.

If Hinata could successfully master the power of the Tenseigan, her strength could immediately rise enough to catch up with Naruto and Sasuke.

Then, when the truly important battles arrived in the future, she would not be reduced to standing on the sidelines and cheering for them.

”Big Brother, here!”

Naruto enthusiastically picked up a piece of tripe and placed it into Kenichi’s bowl.

”Eat this!”

Kenichi looked at the tripe and smiled.

He dipped it into the sauce before putting it into his mouth.

It tasted excellent.

While eating, Kenichi watched Naruto and Hinata with considerable amusement.

There were already obvious sparks between the two.

That inevitably left Sasuke sitting beside them looking like a third wheel.

Kenichi found it rather funny.

Still, this version of Team 7’s relationship was slightly better than the original one.

After finishing lunch with the three youngsters, Kenichi headed toward the Hokage Building.

There was something important to deal with today.

In fact, it was one of the reasons Kenichi had deliberately come out of the laboratory in the first place.

Jiraiya had sent back intelligence concerning Isshiki.

Kenichi cared greatly about any information related to Isshiki.

The man was unusually dangerous and troublesome.

The more comprehensive their intelligence became, the more preparations Kenichi could make before the eventual confrontation.

”Kenichi, you’re here.”

When Kenichi entered the Hokage’s office, Minato looked toward him.

”Let’s begin the meeting.”

There were not many people present.

But every person sitting inside had once been famous throughout the Shinobi World.

Madara and Hashirama were chatting with each other as though no one else existed.

Tobirama, meanwhile, was lecturing Tsunade.

Tsunade listened with an expression of complete helplessness.

Her temper was normally far from mild.

But there was nothing she could do.

Tobirama was her granduncle.

When an elder of that generation started lecturing her, she could only endure it.

”What intelligence did Jiraiya send back?”

Kenichi glanced around, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

He looked curiously toward Minato.

Jiraiya still had not returned to Konoha.

Apparently, he was genuinely attempting to infiltrate Kara as an undercover agent.

Kenichi found that rather amusing.

Jiraiya really was an interesting man.

Still, Kenichi hoped his luck would hold.

If Isshiki discovered what he was doing, Jiraiya would most likely die at his hands.

”The intelligence Jiraiya sent back is limited.”

Minato’s expression turned serious.

”But he mentioned that Kara seems to possess another hidden base.”

”And inside that base, there is apparently something that can ’change the world.’”

Kenichi frowned.

Something capable of changing the world?

Another base?

But in the original world...

Kenichi suddenly fell silent.

After thinking about it carefully, the possibility was not unreasonable.

In his original timeline, Kenichi and the others had known very little about Isshiki.

Black Zetsu had only discovered him through an absurd stroke of luck.

If Black Zetsu had not accidentally stumbled upon Isshiki’s hidden base, Kenichi might not even have known that such a dangerous figure was hiding somewhere in the Shinobi World.

Unless he later used genjutsu on himself to examine memories of the original Naruto and Boruto storyline, he might have remained completely ignorant of Isshiki’s existence.

”So what now?”

Tobirama frowned.

”Do we need to search for this other base?”

Kenichi immediately shook his head.

”That would be extremely difficult.”

Finding even one of Isshiki’s bases was already close to impossible.

Even now, Kenichi would not dare claim that he could reliably locate Isshiki whenever he wanted.

Searching blindly for another base that Isshiki had deliberately hidden would be even harder.

Rather than waste resources searching the entire world, it would be better to wait for Jiraiya to obtain more concrete information.

Once they had an approximate location, searching would become far more practical.

Still, Kenichi did not have particularly high expectations for Jiraiya’s infiltration.

Although Jiraiya had joined Kara, that did not mean Isshiki trusted him.

Unless Jiraiya obtained Isshiki’s recognition, he probably would never be allowed anywhere near the organization’s deeper secrets.

Recognition...

Kenichi suddenly paused.

Recognition?

A bold idea appeared in his mind.

The entire Shinobi World was already cooperating against Isshiki.

Under those circumstances...

Why not arrange a convincing proof of loyalty for Jiraiya?

If they deliberately created an incident that allowed Jiraiya to prove his loyalty to Kara, Isshiki might begin trusting him.

Once that trust was established, everything afterward would become much easier.

Kenichi considered the idea carefully.

It was certainly feasible.

All it required was coordination.

The real problem was deciding exactly what sort of proof of loyalty would be convincing enough to satisfy Isshiki.

That was the difficult part.

Isshiki’s circumstances were too unusual for an ordinary staged betrayal to necessarily work.

”I think we can arrange a proof of loyalty for Jiraiya.”

Kenichi voiced his idea.

”If we make Isshiki believe Jiraiya has genuinely crossed a line he can’t come back from, it may help him earn Isshiki’s trust.”

Madara did not respond.

He had little interest in schemes like this.

In his opinion, it was far simpler to gain overwhelming strength and crush the enemy directly.

Minato, however, began seriously considering Kenichi’s suggestion.

This type of operation was not exactly his specialty either.

But that did not matter.

Every major village maintained specialized tactical advisers and experienced officials precisely for situations like this.

Konoha had people whose entire role was strategy.

The most obvious example was the head of the Nara Clan.

So, at Minato’s suggestion, Nara Shikaku was called in to participate in the meeting.

...

Meanwhile, inside Kenichi’s laboratory...

”What is your name?”

Orochimaru licked his lips as he stared with obvious interest at the unfamiliar young man who had suddenly appeared in front of him.

Toneri raised his head and looked at Orochimaru.

His expression remained almost completely emotionless.

He was currently on a break.

Kenichi had given him limited free time and allowed him to wander around certain areas of the laboratory on his own.

That was how Toneri happened to encounter Orochimaru.

”My name is Toneri Otsutsuki.”

Toneri spoke calmly.

”It is the name Teacher gave me.”

There was the faintest hint of pride in his voice.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.

Teacher?

As far as Orochimaru knew, the only person in this laboratory who could plausibly be Toneri’s teacher was Kenichi.

If so...

That was rather ironic.

In another world, Orochimaru himself was Kenichi’s teacher.

Yet here, Kenichi had already taken a student of his own.

Then perhaps...

A faint sneer appeared on Orochimaru’s face.

Still, whether his idea could actually work required further observation.

He quickly suppressed the expression.

”My name is Orochimaru.”

He spoke slowly.

”Do you know Kenichi Amamiya?”

”He is my student.”

Orochimaru paused.

”Or rather, he is my student in another world.”

He carefully observed Toneri’s reaction.

The instant Kenichi’s name was mentioned, Toneri’s pupils contracted slightly.

But the reaction disappeared almost immediately.

His face quickly returned to its usual calm state, as though the words had not affected him at all.

That confused Orochimaru.

Normally, hearing that one’s teacher came from another world should provoke at least some surprise.

Why did Toneri barely react?

Had Kenichi already told him the truth?

”Aren’t you curious?”

Orochimaru could not help asking.

”Why would your teacher know another version of me from a different world?”

Toneri glanced at him.

Then he silently closed the door.

He was indeed somewhat curious.

But he also understood something very simple.

Orochimaru had suddenly approached him and deliberately started talking about Kenichi.

That almost certainly meant he wanted something.

So Toneri decided the safest choice was not to interact with him at all.

Orochimaru stared at the closed door for a long moment.

He currently knew almost nothing about Toneri.

Even if he wanted to convince the young man to stay and listen, he had no idea what Toneri actually cared about.

The only point he had managed to grasp was Toneri’s connection to Kenichi.

And yet Toneri had simply walked away before Orochimaru could exploit it.

Orochimaru fell silent.

His current existence was worse than death.

Every day passed without purpose.

He did not know what he could do.

He did not know what he was still capable of doing.

Every day was painful.

He wanted to escape.

He could not.

At times, he even wanted to die.

Yet he could not accomplish that either.

Still...

He had finally spoken with Toneri.

That alone gave Orochimaru something new to think about.

He could repeatedly examine every word and every reaction from their conversation.

Perhaps, with enough thought, he could extract some useful information.

But just as Orochimaru was preparing to analyze the encounter...

The door opened.

Two of Kenichi’s Shadow Clones walked inside.

They looked at one another.

Neither said anything.

Then they silently walked toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru stared at the two approaching figures.

And immediately understood what was about to happen.

...

”Hmm?”

Kenichi suddenly frowned.

”He died?”

Orochimaru was dead.

But only a moment later, Kenichi put the matter out of his mind.

To him, it was hardly worth mentioning.

Whether this Orochimaru lived or died made little difference.

Perhaps death was even a form of release for him.

The only thing Kenichi had not expected was for Orochimaru to attempt to manipulate Toneri into helping him.

That was precisely why the two Shadow Clones secretly monitoring Toneri had decided to intervene.

”Anyway, Sensei has no research value left.”

Kenichi thought about it indifferently.

”If he’s dead, then he’s dead.”

Kenichi had no emotional attachment to this Orochimaru.

The Orochimaru he was accustomed to was the one from his original timeline, the version whose appearance had changed after taking a new body and who had gradually become a genuine research partner and teacher to him.

This alternate Orochimaru was different.

Originally, Kenichi had preserved him merely for observation and experimentation.

But if Orochimaru insisted on courting death, then there was nothing to complain about.

Kenichi quickly put the matter behind him.

This version of his teacher had become dispensable.

If he died, he died.

At worst, Kenichi could simply find another experimental subject.

He looked back toward the others in the meeting.

”So where were we?”

Kenichi resumed the discussion as though nothing important had happened.

Meanwhile, somewhere on the outskirts of Konoha, a tombstone bearing Orochimaru’s name was erected.

....

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