"It's been such a long time. Why, if you don't stay in your own laboratory, why are you here?"
In the living room of the northern stronghold, Orochimaru met with the core member of the same organization as himself - Beilihu.
With his back leaning on the soft sofa, Orochimaru smiled at Beiruhu. He was obviously a little curious about Beiruhu looking for him.
Just like himself, Bei Liuhu is obsessed with the research on the blood inheritance boundary. He never takes another step towards the door. If there is nothing particularly important, he will never leave his laboratory.
Beiruhu did not answer Orochimaru's question directly, but twitched his nose slightly and frowned slightly.
"The smell of blood here is still as strong as ever."
Although they are both researchers, Bei Liuhu does not like this kind of experimental place that smells of blood.
Orochimaru's place was different. Even if he sprayed a lot of disinfectant and freshener, the bloody smell was still difficult to remove.
It is not difficult to see that this stronghold suffered an extremely cruel 'bloodbath' not long ago.
"There is no way. I have disposed of a batch of experimental subjects before and haven't had time to clean it up. Besides, this stronghold is almost abandoned, so I haven't thought about cleaning it up. But if you like it, I can give this stronghold to you. "
Orochimaru spread his hands.
"No, conducting research in a place like this will make you feel bad. Let's not talk about these things, Orochimaru, the purpose of my coming to you this time is to purchase some experimental raw materials from you. ."
Bei Liuhu said without hesitation.
"Didn't I just buy a batch for you half a year ago? You ran out of it so quickly?" Orochimaru raised his eyebrows.
Although they are both researchers, Beilihu has not developed the power of the Ninja Village like him, so many things need to be done by himself.
There is quite a lack of channels for purchasing various experimental materials and instruments.
"The materials have been used up long ago, and the synthetic beast consumes more resources than imagined."
"You should be sparing. In recent years, the raw material market has been very difficult. It has been monopolized by big countries. It is difficult for scattered people like us to get a piece of meat from this market."
Orochimaru sighed helplessly.
With the reserves of Oto Ninja Village, there is indeed no shortage of funds to purchase raw materials for experiments. However, the companies that have raw materials on the market basically cooperate with big countries.
Firstly, big countries have more sufficient funds, and secondly, establishing cooperative relations with big countries can provide a strong guarantee for the company's subsequent business development.
A small ninja village like Oto Ninja Village, which is not even ranked in the rankings, can occupy very little share.
The Kingdom of Ghosts alone monopolizes nearly 30%, and the other big countries take a total of 60%. The remaining 10% of raw materials are left to the small countries.
However, the Tian Country that the Sound Ninja Village is backed by is just one of the small countries. The remaining 10% has to be divided equally with all the small countries that need raw materials. It can be imagined that the raw materials purchased every year are definitely unsatisfactory. share.
As for snatching the share of raw materials from big countries, Orochimaru would never dare to think about such a good thing.
Regardless of whether it is the Kingdom of Demons that is currently at its peak, or the other major countries that are slightly declining, they are still an unshakable behemoth to the Sound Ninja Village.
What's more, now he is being completely targeted by Kumogakure's ninjas.
Kumo Hidden wanted to use him to find Akatsuki behind him and take back the second tail, obviously treating him as a soft persimmon.
Although in front of the extremely powerful Kumogakure, as one of the three ninjas, he does belong to a vulnerable group.
"I have no choice but to find you. In the past, there was a merchant alliance on the isolated island, and you could find some ways from them. However, the merchant alliance on the isolated island has long been taken away by the Kingdom of Ghosts. Other than that, the only other options are from Look for it on the black market."
However, the price on the black market is a huge figure that Beilihu cannot bear alone.
The price of the same amount of raw materials is dozens or hundreds of times the market price, which is simply a money grab.
"I understand, but I don't have many raw materials that I can give you. You still need to find a way for the remaining raw materials yourself."
"That's enough. By the way, I forgot to tell you that on the way here, I discovered that it's not just the Kumogakure ninjas who are looking for you, the Iwagakure ninjas seem to have also joined the action."
Beiruhu stood up from the sofa, suddenly remembered something, and gave Orochimaru some advice. "Iwagakure?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
Yunyin was eyeing him, which didn't surprise him.
But Iwagakure stared at him at this time, which surprised Orochimaru. "I remember that they are now being restrained by the Kingdom of Demons..."
"It is precisely because they are trapped that they need to find the missing tailed beast even more. The Tsuchikage-sama does not seem to want the situation at the border. He has been passive. It is they who want to find the lost tailed beast. The only turning point. Be careful, I don't want to hear the news that you were suddenly killed one day."
After saying that, Bei Liuhu stood up from the sofa, patted the wrinkles on his clothes, his figure swayed, melted into the air and disappeared.
"It seems that we can no longer stay in this stronghold. We have to find a more secluded stronghold." Beiruhu left, but the news he brought made Orochimaru have to pay attention.
I originally planned to stay at this base for a while until Sasuke's practice of senjutsu was completely stabilized before moving to another base.
But now it seems that it must be transferred in advance.◎
"The above, the regular meeting in February ends here. Do you have any questions to ask?"
In the conference room, Shiraishi, who was presiding over the meeting, said this in a calm tone.
There were about twenty people sitting on the seats, all high-ranking personnel in the military system of the Kingdom of Ghosts.
These people respectively manage important tasks such as combat, logistics, medical care, and research in the military system.
Therefore, not all those involved are jounin. There are even some who are not even ninjas, but have extremely smart brains, rich knowledge, and are authorities in the field of research. Their role in the military is beyond the reach of ordinary ninjas. Alternative high-end talents.
However, under normal circumstances, these senior executives who are biased in the research field will not express any opinions at meetings.
If they express their opinions at the meeting, then it is basically related to the organizational adjustment of the research department.
At this regular meeting, as expected, they reported this month's work in a simplified form and sat there quietly, waiting for the end of the meeting.
Generally speaking, military meetings in the Kingdom of Ghosts, unless there are special circumstances, will only have a regular meeting at the end of each month, which lasts about three to five hours to summarize the work progress of the month. By the way, let me know The connections between various departments should be prevented from becoming too distant, which is not conducive to scheduling and organization.
After glancing around and making sure that everyone present had no problems, Shiraishi nodded.
"Since everyone has no new questions, this month's regular meeting will officially end here. However, I want to say one more thing. This is a critical period. Please don't relax in the future work. The meeting is adjourned."
After Shiraishi said these words, he stood up from his seat, organized the documents reported by various military departments in front of him, tucked them under his arm, and left the conference room first.
Everyone has long been accustomed to Shiraishi's vigorous and resolute attitude, and has even become accustomed to it.
Although for active senior executives, this kind of simple and straight-to-the-top meeting lacks a somewhat lively atmosphere, for the senior executives of the research department, where time is of the essence, they are undoubtedly die-hard supporters of Shiraishi's meeting style.
The long corridor has an inorganic white wall on one side and a ventilation window on the other side. It is not a completely enclosed corridor.
Shiraishi stood at the window, looking out at the scenery.
Spring is just around the corner, but the thaw days are colder than usual. "You look worried, are you worried about something?"
Liuli came out of the conference room, came to Shiraishi, looked at the scenery outside the window with him, and asked aloud.
"It's not that I'm worried. I just feel that it's a troubled time right now. I have always been against other big countries as opponents before, so I seem to be able to do it with ease. But I don't think the next action will be so smooth."
Shiraishi breathed a sigh of relief, because the current situation was partially different from the strategy that had been planned in the past.
It should be the problem caused by Myobokuyama's over-involvement.
In the original blueprint set by him and Yagura, there was actually no place for Mount Myoboku. Likewise, the Fourth Ninja War was not included in the calculation.
The excessive reaction of the Fire Nation and other major countries was beyond his expectation.
Although the Kingdom of Ghosts relied on its superior strength to obtain the fruits of victory in this war, it also exposed too much strength and showed it on the bright side.
Shiraishi does not want to use these powers in such a meaningless war. Meaninglessness is Shiraishi's evaluation of the Fourth Ninja War.
It is true that in the eyes of outsiders, the Kingdom of Ghosts was the winner of the war. It tore off a piece of flesh from the four major countries, especially the Kingdom of Earth, which was completely suppressed by the Kingdom of Ghosts. At the same time, This war also changed the international landscape.
No matter how you look at it, it should not be called a meaningless war.
But an unplanned war, in Shiraishi's opinion, has no benefit at all except premature consumption and exposure of the power of the Kingdom of Demons.
In this way, many methods will become invalid in the future, which is not conducive to layout.
"Everything in the world cannot happen as you imagined. Now the Kingdom of Ghosts is strong enough to resist those unknown risks."
Liuli said so.
"Of course I know this kind of thing. Fortunately, there was no accident in Konoha. As long as this remains unchanged, we will occupy a dominant position and we can make good use of this."
Looking at the scenery outside the window, Shiraishi said meaningfully.◎
Sasuke locked himself in the room alone. After reading the information Orochimaru gave him, he threw the scroll recording the information in the trash can and ignored it.
Then he lay on the bed without saying a word, with his hands behind his head, looking at the white ceiling. Perhaps stimulated by this information, he began to fall into deep thought, recalling bits and pieces of the past.
The images of his parents, clan members, Itachi, Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and others all flashed through his mind, making him unable to help but be immersed in these past memories.
Even though I understand that recalling these things is meaningless to me at this time, as soon as I calm down, the faces of these people will appear in my mind, and I can't get rid of them.
Subconsciously, Sasuke took out a hand from behind his head and put it in front of his eyes. He opened his red Sharingan and observed the textures on his palm.
Next, I will use these hands to take revenge myself. All the efforts I make now are preparations for revenge.
And Sasuke felt that the day before killing his enemy was approaching.
I am no longer the naive guy from Konoha who plays boring bonding games with those Konoha ninjas.
I learned to control natural energy, mastered Orochimaru's curse seal, opened the three Magatama Sharingan eyes, and is now still exposed to more advanced celestial arts...
When he thought of this, Sasuke felt that his heart was not as excited as he imagined, but instead very calm.
Suddenly, a knock on the door broke the silence of the room, causing Sasuke to wake up from his thoughts.
"who?"
Sasuke's red Sharingan turned slightly, looked towards the door, and made a faint sound.
"It's me, Sasuke. I saw that you didn't come out after you returned to the room, so I'm a little worried. Besides, it's already time for dinner."
Zhongwu's gentle voice came from outside the door.
Sasuke looked out the window and saw that the sky outside had turned dark.
Exhaling softly, Sasuke adjusted his body condition, then got out of bed and opened the door.
Chongwu, who was almost a head taller than him, was standing outside the door waiting for him.
Different from the berserk Jonggo, in the normal state, Jonggo not only has a gentle voice, but also the temperament on his face, which has a kind flavor. Although he is unsmiling, at first glance, people will feel that this is a person who never smiles. A gentle boy from the inside out.
"Sasuke, are you okay?"
Perhaps due to his sensitive nature, Jugo noticed an inexplicable change in Sasuke's state of mind.
"It's okay. I've adjusted myself. It won't hinder tonight's practice." Sasuke replied calmly. "I'm afraid that won't work."
Jugo hesitated and said, "What's wrong?" Sasuke frowned and raised his head slightly to look at Jugo.
Jonggo thought for a while and said, "Mr. Kabuto came to me just now and said that he would move the base tomorrow. He told you and I not to practice tonight, but to prepare for the ceremony."
"Transfer base?" Sasuke frowned deeper.
We haven't stayed in this stronghold for long at all, so why do we need to move it now?
"Yes, I heard that Lord Orochimaru has been targeted by a group of troublesome ninjas. This kind of not-so-hidden stronghold has become unsafe and needs to be replaced."
Chongwu explained.
Sasuke began to ponder. How could Orochimaru move his base so quickly? It seemed that the ninja who was targeting him had a lot of background.
An ordinary ninja would not be able to force Orochimaru to run away in such a panic. "I understand. Anyway, let's go have a meal first." Sasuke didn't think for long and walked towards the restaurant.
"good."
Jugo followed Sasuke like a loyal guard.◎
In the spacious underground space, a huge wooden man rises from the ground, with ten fingers pointing upward, and chains on his hands and wrists, as if he is imprisoned.
——The Heretic Golem.
Nagato and Konan stood under the demon statue, jumped lightly, jumped on two of the fingers, and stood firmly.
Immediately afterwards, Nagato formed a seal with his hands, and on the other eight fingers, the air began to vibrate slightly, and rainbow-colored ripples immediately appeared.
These rainbow-colored ripples, after a brief swaying, condensed into a human shape on the finger, either male or female, and was firmly fixed on the golem's finger.
"Hmm? Is the meeting here this time?"
Kisame was quite surprised when he noticed that it was not a remote cave, or the snake nest provided by Orochimaru, but the underground space of the tower of Amegakure Village. Appearing here as a rainbow phantom, he then regained his composure.
"Long time no see, everyone."
Under the gaze of the others, Nagato said hello calmly.
"It's really troublesome. I'm in the middle of a very important religious ceremony, and you really know how to pick the time."
After Nagato said hello, Hidan's irritable voice sounded in the empty space. I believe that if he hadn't been concerned about Nagato's strength, he would have cursed.
"It doesn't matter what happens to that kind of thing." Xie said coldly. He had no interest in religion at all.
"Hey, Scorpion, are you looking for trouble? Believe it or not, I will curse you to death for being an atheist?" Hidan pointed at Scorpion, very dissatisfied with Scorpion's blasphemy.
"I'm just telling the truth. It's a long and meaningless wait anyway. Moreover, even if you are immortal, you can't move if you are poisoned."
Xia smiled lowly and glanced at Hidan with an incomprehensible look.
Hidan felt a chill in his heart, feeling that Scorpion's gaze had become extremely scary. "Scorpion, don't attack your fellow members of the organization." Nagato gave Scorpion a sideways glance and warned him.
"Isn't this interesting? I'm actually also interested in immortality. Hidan, do you have any idea of coming to my place for an experiment?"
Orochimaru chuckled and extended an invitation. He was also interested in Hidan's immortality.
"Anything is fine, let's get to the point quickly. I have to purchase unsupplied experimental raw materials next, so I don't have time to waste here."
Beiruhu's impatient voice sounded, urging Nagato to hurry up and get to the point of the meeting.
He had just left Orochimaru's stronghold less than half a day ago, and was currently out purchasing the remaining experimental raw materials. It could be said that he was not prepared at all for this sudden organizational meeting.
Kisame grinned and didn't say a word. He just paid attention to everyone's words and expressions and found it very interesting.
Itachi kept his face paralyzed and ignored the communication between these people, and his sense of presence with Kisame continued to decrease.
"Okay, now let's get to the point of this meeting."
Nagato nodded, with no emotion in Samsara's eyes. He waited until everyone's attention came to focus, and then spoke in a calm tone:
"That is, regarding the order of capturing the tailed beasts next, I have already made a plan and will make adjustments that are different from before. Then I will assign the remaining tailed beasts to the appropriate groups. Therefore, I will Please remember the following content of the meeting..."
