In Naruto as Zhongli-Chapter 61: INAZ - 60

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Just as Shinji was carefully examining the room, several shuriken suddenly shot towards him, accompanied by a few ninjutsu.

"Impregnable Defense." Following Shinji's whisper, a golden shield appeared around him. Faint, intricate patterns surfaced on the shield, and the skeletal frame of Geo chains formed around it, supporting the entire structure. The incoming kunai, shuriken, and even the ninjutsu were all completely blocked by the Jade Shield.

"Lord Orochimaru, arranging such a welcome ceremony right upon arrival isn't very appropriate, is it?" Shinji watched as the mechanisms stopped launching new attacks, then waved his hand to dismiss the Jade Shield.

"Fufufu, Boss Shinji, this is just a little gadget I recently tinkered with. Just happened to need someone to help test it," From the adjacent room, a door opened, and Orochimaru stood at the doorway watching Shinji.

"Only you could come up with such a place. Clearly, there are so many houses in the small mountain village outside, yet you insist on creating a place like this. Indeed, Lord Orochimaru still prefers these dark, damp places," Shinji complained somewhat speechlessly. Can only say, truly worthy of being Orochimaru.

"Only these quiet places are suitable for me to focus more on research. Come, this room is where I rest," Orochimaru chuckled lightly, then opened the room door, signaling Shinji to enter and talk.

As soon as he entered, Shinji found this place was basically less a resting place and more a replica of the laboratory back in Konoha. Rows upon rows of shelves held various organs. If an uninformed person came in, they might think it was some kind of biological laboratory.

"Alright. Lord Orochimaru, this place is actually quite nice, isn't it? If I'm not mistaken, you've already reached an agreement with the Daimyō of the Land of Rice Paddies?" Shinji chuckled lightly. The numerous guards outside looked like they were borrowed from the Daimyō of the Land of Rice Paddies.

"Yes. Boss Shinji's suggestion was quite reliable. This place initially had no ninja village, making it relatively convenient to control," Orochimaru licked his lips. Previously, he hadn't actually decided where to go. The Land of Rice Paddies was first mentioned to him by Shinji.

"The Land of Rice Paddies is quite acceptable. But... Lord Orochimaru, what are your plans here?" Shinji's gaze suddenly focused on Orochimaru's hand.

"That depends on the subsequent experimental arrangements. But what I most want to research now is what I discussed with Boss Shinji before: immortality," Orochimaru's current goal was still set on immortality. freēnovelkiss.com

"Immortality... But Lord Orochimaru, it seems you've already had contact with the Akatsuki organization," Shinji's gaze just now was focused on Orochimaru's right hand. Originally, Orochimaru didn't wear any rings, but now there was a red ring on it, engraved with the character 'Sky'.

"This? Didn't expect Boss Shinji to even know about the Akatsuki organization," Orochimaru wiggled his finger. The ring on it was now very conspicuous.

"Know some. It should have been Pain who contacted you, right?" Shinji sorted through some memories in his mind. If he remembered correctly, Orochimaru was invited into the Akatsuki organization by Pain. But this historical process seemed somewhat accelerated.

"Yes, it was Pain. I'm becoming more and more curious now, where does Boss Shinji get all his information? I only joined Akatsuki last month. And the matter of the Akatsuki rings, probably most people don't know, right?" Orochimaru didn't take any other actions towards Shinji just because he knew some things. After all, for Orochimaru, Akatsuki was just a stepping stone to get closer to the Rinnegan. After arriving in the Land of Rice Paddies, Orochimaru was focused on establishing a small village within the Land of Rice Paddies.

Although there weren't many people now, at least it was starting to take shape. And just last month, Pain suddenly came. And it was the Deva Path Pain. Upon seeing the Rinnegan, Orochimaru immediately became interested and went straight for a basic attack. However, facing the peak Pain at that time, Orochimaru was still beaten badly. But Pain couldn't kill him either.

Instead, he directly invited Orochimaru. And in order to obtain some data on the Rinnegan, Orochimaru directly chose to join the Akatsuki organization! Moreover, due to his strength, Orochimaru directly received the 'Sky' ring, representing a core member of Akatsuki. Of course, most Akatsuki members didn't stay in Amegakure all the time. Besides missions, they were quite free.

"Looks like Lord Jiraiya will be able to collect a double bounty chasing you in the future," Shinji stated calmly.

"Jiraiya?" Orochimaru was somewhat puzzled. Why did Jiraiya get brought into this?

"Don't you know? Jiraiya has been investigating the Akatsuki organization all this time. Of course, another mission is to bring you back to Konoha. Isn't that double pay? Sigh, but your hospitality here is really..." Shinji looked at Orochimaru showing no reaction, clasped his hands, and a tea table and chairs made of Geo element appeared in the middle. Some teacups and other items were also placed on it.

"Sorry, I don't have much time for such leisure..." Orochimaru pointed with one finger, and a flame appeared under the kettle. Soon, Uchiha clan tea leaves were put in, and a leisurely tea aroma began to appear in the room, counteracting the smell of formalin.

"That's fine. But Lord Orochimaru, how do you plan to organize this ninja village?" Shinji finally felt more comfortable after drinking a cup of tea. It was really difficult to discuss things without tea.

"Isn't this the purpose for calling you here? Boss Shinji, I still need to learn properly about this matter," Orochimaru licked his lips. Actually, Shinji came here because Orochimaru had sent a message to Shinji through his former subordinates still in Konoha. That's why Shinji came here.

"You want me to guide you on how to manage a village???" Shinji looked puzzledly at Orochimaru. This was really? Found the right person? Shinji, as a transmigrator, still had some insights into managing a place.

"Actually, I wanted to invite Boss Shinji to move the All-Purpose Shop here. That way, doing anything would be much more convenient," Orochimaru said with a chuckle.

"We'll talk about that later. Lord Orochimaru, your village doesn't have many people yet," Shinji wouldn't move the village here just because of a few words from Orochimaru. Remember, although there were disadvantages in Konoha, the advantage was that Shinji knew the historical process, and could take precautions against many things in advance. If he were here, being completely blind would really be difficult.

"It will gradually become more populated in the future," Orochimaru looked towards the direction of the village. Although his view was currently blocked by the mountain wall, Orochimaru seemed able to penetrate it.

The current Orochimaru still had some humanity left in him. And he himself knew that researching immortality was a very long-term endeavor. And at this time, having a place like the Land of Rice Paddies, and the beginnings of a village. Then, Orochimaru also hoped to do this well.

"Then... the name of the village, has Lord Orochimaru already decided?" Shinji picked up the teapot and poured a cup of tea for Orochimaru. Orochimaru accepted the teacup Shinji handed over, finished drinking, and then said slowly.

"The name... let's call it... Otogakure (Village Hidden in Sound)!"

'Indeed, still Otogakure.' Shinji complained silently in his heart. Looks like no matter when, Orochimaru's taste remained consistently unique. Although he didn't know what impact his whim, causing Orochimaru to build Otogakure so many years earlier, would have on him. But Shinji felt a bit interested.

"Otogakure? Truly a good name."

"Hehe, Boss Shinji doesn't seem too fond of my taste?" Orochimaru, being astute, understood from Shinji's expression just now that Shinji didn't seem very satisfied with this name.

"How could that be? I wouldn't say anything about Lord Orochimaru's decisions," Shinji chuckled lightly, then steered the conversation away.

"Boss Shinji, what do you think is the most crucial thing for managing a village well?" Orochimaru asked, seemingly hinting at something.

"Managing a village well? I can't give you an answer for that. But putting people first, that is the crux of the matter." Shinji controlled the Geo element, causing figures to rise from the tea table, forming small villages.

"Putting people first?" Orochimaru licked his lips. This was the first time he had heard this answer.

"Letting the villagers eat well, dress warmly, and be able to resist external enemies, isn't that the true meaning of a village's existence?" Shinji's fingers unconsciously tapped the tea table. This question seemed like a question, but actually wasn't. A village, without people, is nothing.

"But I don't want to waste so much time on this?"

"Then find some people you can trust to manage it. Lord Orochimaru, a person's energy is always limited. If you try to manage everything, the most likely result is that nothing gets managed well."

"Boss Shinji means... my dear teacher, Teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi?" Orochimaru seemed to hear the shadow of Hiruzen Sarutobi in Shinji's words.

"Is it or isn't it? That requires Lord Orochimaru to research himself. But... Lord Orochimaru, you didn't specifically call me over just for village matters, right?" Shinji didn't believe Orochimaru would specifically send someone to deliver a message for him to come here just for such a small matter.

"Of course not. Boss Shinji, come here. I found something very interesting," Orochimaru chuckled fufufu, then reached out and tapped a protrusion on the wall. Soon, following a rumbling sound, a door suddenly appeared behind Shinji.

After the door moved aside, an even larger space appeared in Shinji's eyes. And inside, rows of bodies appeared before Shinji. These bodies were all soaked in formalin, seeming to be some research Orochimaru was conducting. And among these bodies, a figure somewhat unexpected by Shinji appeared.

An orange-haired youth was currently quietly squatting on the ground. Around him were some already shattered human preservation tanks, large amounts of formalin flowing on the ground. And the orange-haired youth seemed completely unresponsive, just quietly squatting in that corner. Seemingly, nothing could disturb this quiet, handsome man.

"This is?" Shinji actually already had a name浮かぶ (ukabu - floating/coming to mind) in his heart, but to prevent Orochimaru from having other thoughts, Shinji still asked aloud.

Seemingly sensing the sound here, the orange-haired youth tilted his head towards Shinji. Gentle orange eyes quietly looked at Shinji and Orochimaru. Seemingly, everything was so harmless.

"This is someone I encountered by chance. It seems... there is some strange energy within his body," Orochimaru looked with interest at the orange-haired youth. The energy within this youth's body interested him greatly.

"Where did Lord Orochimaru encounter him?" Shinji asked somewhat puzzledly. Logically speaking, this orange-haired youth should be Jūgo. And the first person Jūgo met was Kimimaro, only later being persuaded by Kimimaro to defect to Orochimaru. So, Orochimaru actually found Jūgo so quickly; honestly, Shinji was somewhat surprised.

"Not far from here, in a small northern country. The villagers there seemed frightened by him. He would erupt from time to time and kill people wantonly. It's said he's usually very stable. Locals call him 'Jūgo of the Scales'," Orochimaru looked smilingly at Jūgo, seemingly discussing some wild beast.

"And then, what did you discover after researching here?" Shinji asked with some interest. In the original story, Jūgo of the Scales was known as a man possessing a Sage Body since childhood.

"Haven't started researching yet. I'm currently calculating the eruption period of the energy within his body. Looks like... it erupts every few tens of days. Then that energy..." Orochimaru suddenly stopped talking, instead staring continuously at Jūgo's direction.

"Sage chakra, right?" Shinji chuckled lightly. He knew Jūgo's ability best.

"Truly worthy of Boss Shinji, knowing everything," Orochimaru didn't seem surprised at all that Shinji could say the term 'sage chakra'. Although he didn't know where Shinji got all this information, Orochimaru wouldn't doubt it.

Shinji took a few steps forward, seemingly wanting to get closer to Jūgo.

"Boss Shinji, sage chakra isn't so easily blocked," Orochimaru reminded him. However, he didn't stop Shinji's actions.

"Don't come near me!" Just as Shinji intended to continue approaching Jūgo, Jūgo suddenly began trembling all over, seeming to be suppressing something, letting out an inhuman roar. At the same time, amid Jūgo's roar, waves of energy seemed to begin condensing on his body. The surrounding human experiment tanks seemed unable to withstand this energy and began to shatter one after another.

Watching his experimental subjects continuously slide out, Orochimaru's face showed no trace of unhappiness. Instead, he watched this scene with great interest. In Orochimaru's heart, the current Jūgo was several times more important than all these experimental tanks combined.

After all, sage chakra wasn't experimental data easily obtained. By collecting the sage chakra leaked by Jūgo, Orochimaru had already made some other progress in other experiments.

"Don't come near me! Don't come near me!" Jūgo shouted loudly, seemingly giving himself more confidence this way. At the same time, black patterns began to surface on Jūgo's body. These strange patterns seemed to be the prelude to sage transformation. Following the appearance of these black patterns, waves of sage chakra began to fill the entire laboratory.

"This is the feeling. Boss Shinji, you need to be careful," Watching Jūgo exert force, a large smile split Orochimaru's lips, seeming very much looking forward to what happened next.

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