From Danmachi to God of Ninja

Chapter 85: Chapter 85

If Kiriya had to describe his current mood, it would probably be something like this:

Like an old man on the subway, staring at his phone with question marks all over his face!

Orochimaru wanting to stop being human was his own business.

Why was he telling Kiriya all this?

Did he really think Kiriya would be tempted?

If Kiriya were truly a native of this world, limited by his vision and resources, then perhaps he really might have been brainwashed by Orochimaru’s theory.

But the problem was...He was a transmigrator!

Across the countless worlds, there were endless resources and power ready to grab.

He had plenty of opportunities to search for the so-called path of longevity and eternity.

Why should he lower himself and work with Orochimaru, stubbornly grinding away at ninjutsu alone?

"Hehe. Kiriya-kun is still young, and you are already a brilliant young talent with a boundless future. Naturally, my words won’t mean much to you now. But I believe that once you’ve experienced enough, you’ll understand my good intentions."

Orochimaru spoke with deep meaning, looking rather confident.

"Ahem. Orochimaru, you’re joking."

Kiriya’s face was full of sincerity.

"I was simply so shaken by the magnificent future you described that I was too moved to speak for a moment. In truth, I’m very interested."

"Although I’m still young, as you said, human life has its limits. I also need to make plans for my future."

"Oh? For you to possess such foresight at such a young age, Kiriya-kun, is truly admirable."

Joy appeared on Orochimaru’s face, and his words carried unconcealed appreciation.

"Not at all. you are the one with grand ambition and the world in his heart. I should be learning from you."

Kiriya looked perfectly humble.

The two of them exchanged another round of polite nonsense before reaching the Five Principles of mutual respect, non-aggression, non-interference, equality and mutual benefit, and peaceful coexistence.

They agreed that once Kiriya had grown stronger, they would work together on the great cause of immortality.

Kiriya made the promise with a straight face.

Orochimaru listened with a straight face.

As for whether either of them believed it... Only gods knew.

Once Orochimaru truly left, a cold smile appeared on Kiriya’s face.

He sneered at Orochimaru’s claim that he wanted to ease their relationship.

Kiriya would sooner believe a wolf had stopped eating meat and switched to shit than believe Orochimaru had changed his nature.

These so-called investments and plans for a great shared cause were nothing more than excuses to numb Kiriya’s guard. In the dark, Orochimaru would still lurk like a venomous snake, waiting for his chance.

Kiriya believed that as soon as he showed decline or weakness, that bastard would be the first to rush out and swallow him whole, skin, bones, and all.

So not only would Kiriya not relax his guard, he would raise it to the highest level.

Of course, vigilance was vigilance.

As for the notes and scrolls Orochimaru had delivered, Kiriya had no intention of letting even one of them go.

Benefits this large were free if he took them.

The only issue was that he had to verify whether they were genuine before truly using them.

So he did not immediately begin training.

Instead, he used the Summoning Jutsu to summon a small toad, placed all the scrolls into the little creature’s mouth, and had it deliver them to Jiraiya.

As one of the Sannin, Jiraiya’s vision and theoretical foundation naturally could not be questioned.

Whether or not there were problems hidden in these things, he should be able to tell.

Kiriya was in no hurry.

Once Jiraiya sent back a definite reply, it would not be too late to start training.

...

After Kiriya settled down on the border between the Lands of Wind and Fire, the Suna-nin began having an increasingly miserable time.

In the past, they only needed to bring along specially prepared poisons of various kinds, lure Konoha shinobi into taking the bait, and then release the toxins.

In an instant, they could injure or kill a large number of people.

Many Konoha shinobi would die because their injuries were too severe to treat.

For a time, Konoha’s side had been frightened of every shadow.

Against Sunagakure, they were always restrained and afraid to fight freely, leaving them passive everywhere.

But now, the situation was completely different.

As soon as the Suna-nin released poison, a pretty boy would appear among the Konoha forces.

He would casually pat the poisoned shinobi a couple of times, and those shinobi whose faces had turned blue, black, purple, or pale white would quickly recover.

Then, as if injected with adrenaline, they would roar and charge forward.

Instead, it was the Sunagakure side that kept being caught off guard because of their shock, suffering heavy losses again and again.

Intelligence from every battlefront soon gathered at Sunagakure’s forward command headquarters, drawing great attention from the commanders.

A meeting was held overnight to discuss the matter.

"There is no doubt that Konoha has produced a powerful medical-nin. His skill in detoxification is already no worse than Princess Tsunade’s."

After reporting the situation, one of the staff officers at headquarters made that judgment.

For a moment, the atmosphere inside the meeting room became extremely heavy.

Sunagakure, located in a barren land, was inferior to Konoha in manpower, material resources, and financial strength.

Their one advantage was their difficult-to-guard-against poison methods.

But now, their greatest killing move had been easily countered by the enemy. It was like Sunagakure had lost an arm, and the feeling was indescribably uncomfortable.

Of course, they had not yet seen Kiriya use the Flying Thunder God Technique. What they had seen so far were only Kiriya’s shadow clones.

Otherwise, what they felt would not be frustration.

It would be despair.

"Granny Chiyo, what do you think?"

The commander-in-chief asked tentatively, looking toward the woman seated first on his left.

Chiyo.

Sunagakure’s top puppeteer, poison master, leader of the Puppet Corps, and also the person with the highest seniority and strongest ability on Sunagakure’s side of the Wind-Fire front.

Most of the deadly poisons that had previously made Konoha tremble came from her hand.

"Impossible. Absolutely impossible."

Chiyo pressed her clasped hands against her chin and kept muttering to herself.

"Other than Tsunade, there shouldn’t be anyone else capable of neutralizing my poisons."

"No, that’s not right. Even Tsunade couldn’t do it that effortlessly."

"What exactly is the principle behind that medical ninjutsu?"

The commander-in-chief slapped a hand against his forehead, feeling a headache coming on.

Ever since the intelligence came back from the front line, Chiyo had been like this. It was as if her entire worldview had taken a direct hit.

Although he could somewhat understand how hard it was to accept being defeated by some brat in the field one was most proud of, now was not the time for pessimism.

They had to come up with a solution quickly.

"Granny Chiyo?"

The commander-in-chief could not help raising his voice, finally making Chiyo lift her head.

"Do you have any good ideas?"

"Don’t call me granny! It makes me sound ten years older."

Chiyo casually snapped back, then pressed both hands against the table and stood up.

"Don’t worry. Stay calm. I’ll make a move."

"Hm?"

Whether it was the commander-in-chief or the other staff officers and high-ranking officials, all of them raised their eyebrows.

"Lady Chiyo... you mean?"

"I’ll go meet that little brat."

Chiyo stood with her hands behind her back, and an invisible aura spread from her body.

It was the presence of someone who had already reached the peak in a certain field and looked down on all others.

"If possible, I’ll get rid of him."