Chapter 268: At the Summit

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: At the Summit

At that moment, Shinno politely asked Shinichi, "And this is...?"

Shinichi knew that he had to give Akatsuki an explanation for Hyuga Kagami’s identity. Otherwise, there would be no way to arrange for Kagami to slip into the site of Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual.

So he replied, "She’s my subordinate. She’s been undercover in Konoha until recently."

Shinno nodded as he sized up Hyuga Kagami.

Although everyone present was a ninja of firm resolve who had endured countless hardships, the appearance of Kagami’s current body was simply far too striking. Even Shinno couldn’t help taking a few extra glances at her.

Shinichi then looked toward the woman standing behind Shinno and asked, "Who’s she? How come I’ve never seen her before?"

Shinno smiled. "Oh, she’s a new research assistant I recruited."

The moment Shinno mentioned experiments, Shinichi instinctively furrowed his brow.

Out of curiosity about Hiruko and Shinno’s experiments, Shinichi had once observed one of them firsthand. But back when the Chimera Technique had yet to be perfected, the sheer brutality of the human experimentation had far exceeded anything an ordinary person could imagine.

Even Shinichi, who was long accustomed to life and death, had been left utterly dumbfounded—and thoroughly sickened—by what he saw.

Thus, even now, whenever Shinno mentioned experiments, Shinichi still felt his stomach churn.

The two sides weren’t particularly close to begin with, so after exchanging a few simple greetings, Shinichi said nothing more. He walked straight past Shinno and headed deeper into the secret base.

But just as Hyuga Kagami brushed past the woman standing behind Shinno, she smiled and asked, "What’s your name?"

Hyuga Kagami paused for a moment, then stopped and looked at her.

"My name is Uchiha En. And you?"

The woman licked her lips and chuckled softly. "An Uchiha, huh? You can call me Oto!"

Hyuga Kagami nodded, then hurried after Shinichi.

Only after they had put enough distance between themselves and Shinno did Shinichi lower his voice and say, "That guy just now is called Shinno. He claims to be Hiruko’s partner, but really, he’s nothing more than one of Hiruko’s subordinates. Out of everyone in Akatsuki, he’s the one least worth paying attention to."

Hyuga Kagami asked, "You’ve never seen that woman called ’Oto’ beside him before?"

"Yeah, this is my first time seeing her too." After a brief pause, Shinichi warned, "I sensed this faint trace of malice coming from her. The way she looked at the two of us was strange. Be careful."

After awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, Shinichi had developed an extraordinary level of perception, so Hyuga Kagami took his judgment seriously.

But after walking a few more steps, Kagami suddenly froze.

He had finally remembered why that woman called ’Oto’ had seemed so strangely familiar.

That person was none other than Orochimaru, who had switched bodies using the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique!

In the original timeline, the appearance of Orochimaru’s new body had only been revealed once—during the Konoha Crush, when he fought the Third Hokage at the Chunin Exams.

That was why Hyuga Kagami’s impression of this particular appearance had been so faint, preventing him from recognizing Orochimaru immediately.

"No wonder his eyes practically lit up the moment he saw Shinichi. He’s probably still coveting Shinichi’s Mangekyo Sharingan."

After thinking this, Hyuga Kagami recalled the way Orochimaru had looked at him earlier and realized that he himself had probably already become one of Orochimaru’s hunting targets as well.

For Orochimaru to appear within Akatsuki at this particular moment, disguised as Shinno’s assistant, his objective was most likely the same as Hyuga Kagami’s—to observe Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual firsthand.

Clearly, although Orochimaru looked down on Hiruko whenever he spoke of him, he had always maintained a certain degree of interest in Hiruko’s Chimera Technique.

As for how Orochimaru had gotten mixed up with Shinno, there was hardly any need to think about it. After all, Orochimaru and Shinno had already been secretly working together before either of them joined Akatsuki.

Upon arriving at the secret base’s rest area, Hyuga Kagami met Shinichi’s partner, Juzo Biwa.

Juzo showed no particular reaction to Hyuga Kagami’s appearance.

Within Akatsuki, most official members had at least a few subordinates of their own. Shinichi was the only one who had always operated alone.

So now that Shinichi had recruited a subordinate, there was nothing unusual about it.

The days passed one after another, and before long, the day of Hiruko’s Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual arrived.

The location Hiruko had chosen for the ceremony was not within the Land of Rain, where Akatsuki’s main base was located. Instead, it was situated atop a towering mountain in the neighboring Land of Earth.

Following Shinichi, Hyuga Kagami also made his way to the summit.

Accompanying them were several official Akatsuki members—Juzo Biwa, Sasori, Kakuzu, and Shinno—as well as Orochimaru, who followed behind Shinno while disguised as his research assistant.

Hyuga Kagami’s gaze swept unobtrusively across the Akatsuki members present as he thought to himself, "Looks like everyone in Akatsuki has mobilized except Obito, Pain, Konan, and Zetsu. No... Obito and Zetsu might be nearby as well. They simply haven’t shown themselves."

Before long, the group arrived at the platform atop the mountain.

At that moment, an array of enormous mirrors, each dozens of meters tall, had been erected around the summit platform.

These gigantic mirrors had been positioned at specific angles, seemingly designed to gather all the light shining down from the sky and concentrate it upon the center of the platform.

And there, at the very center, Hiruko sat alone in silence.

His expression appeared calm, but anyone could tell that he was desperately suppressing the madness and excitement surging within him.

The faint trembling of his hands alone made that perfectly clear.

Just as Hyuga Kagami was examining the arrangements for the ceremony atop the mountain, the previously clear sky suddenly darkened.

Masses of storm clouds seemed to materialize out of nowhere, spreading across the sky above everyone’s heads. Before long, a fine drizzle began to fall.

The rain clouds had appeared far too abruptly, causing Hyuga Kagami to wonder, "Could this be Pain’s Rain Tiger at Will Technique?"

Sure enough, a moment later, Pain and Konan descended from the heavens like gods, landing upon the summit platform.

Hyuga Kagami stared at the pair of eyes in Pain’s sockets, covered in concentric rings, and thought, "So those are the Rinnegan...?"

Pain’s imposing gaze swept across the Akatsuki members one by one.

His eyes paused briefly on Hyuga Kagami before finally shifting toward Hiruko at the center of the platform.

"There are no observers nearby. You may begin whenever you’re ready."

Hiruko nodded, then raised his head and looked toward the sky, seemingly waiting for something.

With Pain having dispelled the Rain Tiger at Will Technique, the sky had already returned to being clear.

Hyuga Kagami’s expression grew slightly solemn.

"Even Pain and Konan came. Does Akatsuki really place that much importance on Hiruko’s experiment?"

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Hyuga Kagami swept his gaze across the surrounding area, attempting to locate Obito and Zetsu.

But just then—

His gaze suddenly collided with Orochimaru’s, who happened to be looking over from the other side...