MTLNOVEL Chapter 327: Disaster-Stricken Iwagakure
Traveling at full speed, Minato only needed half a day to reach Takigakure, where he saw the remnants of the battlefield that had turned into ruins.
With Minato's vision, he could almost instantly see the traces of the battlefield.
There were remnants of Gamabunta, Katsuyu, Yamata no Orochi, and even traces of Sage Mode.
He could tell that a fierce battle had taken place here!
In other words, Obito didn't defeat Jiraiya with a sneak attack but directly defeated the three Konoha Sannin?
Had he really become that strong after obtaining dual Mangekyo Sharingan?
Minato looked around but didn't see Obito.
"Didn't we agree to come here to exchange hostages? Are you joking around? Is that traitor insane?"
Fortunately, after sensing Minato's arrival, the White Zetsu clone that had been left behind here slowly emerged from the ground.
"Isn't this the Fourth Hokage, Lord Minato? You've finally—"
White Zetsu had just emerged and hadn't finished speaking.
*WHOOSH!*
Minato had already teleported in front of him and extended his Kyuubi Chakra arm to grab the entire White Zetsu.
The latter didn't even have time to react!
"Where is Obito? What have you done to Jiraiya-sensei?"
Minato asked coldly, with a hint of killing intent between his brows.
The White Zetsu clone didn't feel pain and wasn't afraid of death. Even as half of its body was nearly crushed by Minato, it still wore a sly smile on its face.
"Lord Minato, don't be so agitated! Obito is still handling something. Wait here for a while, he'll be back soon."
"What's going on?"
Minato didn't believe it. For Obito, what could be more important than reclaiming the Rinnegan?
"I don't know, then."
"I'll give you one chance! Speak!"
Minato was very displeased and tightened the grip of his Kyuubi arm slightly, ready to crush the White Zetsu clone on the spot at any moment.
The White Zetsu clone pretended to feel pain but still answered firmly:
"Maybe he went to capture the other Jinchuriki? I'm not sure!"
"Lord Minato, could you wait a little longer, or go visit another village? Even if you kill me, I can't give you an answer!"
White Zetsu was like a dead pig unafraid of boiling water, and Minato had no good solution.
He already knew that these clones had no individual consciousness and were just byproducts of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, controlled by the real White Zetsu.
Killing them was pointless.
However, White Zetsu's answer only made Minato frown more deeply.
Since Obito wasn't here, he must be pursuing a more important target.
And this sly White Zetsu clone wouldn't tell the truth.
So the information it revealed must be misleading! It wanted him to stay where he was or trick him into going to another village.
Then Obito's real goal became clear: "Damn it!"
"Your target is Konoha! It's Kushina!"
Minato's expression changed drastically, mistakenly thinking Obito was going to attack Konoha!
This made sense and explained why Obito wasn't here and why he had to deceive him.
Hearing this, a flash of panic appeared on White Zetsu's face, as if Minato had truly seen through his plan.
This small "flaw" further confirmed Minato's suspicion.
So, Minato immediately took action.
He took out a scroll, activated a sealing technique, and sealed the White Zetsu clone in front of him into the scroll. Then he prepared to rush back to Konoha immediately.
Of course, Minato knew that even if Obito invaded Konoha, he might not be able to capture Kushina, who was guarded by Fugaku.
But he didn't dare to gamble!
Especially since Obito had actually defeated the Sannin, even Minato couldn't estimate how strong he was now?
This was what was meant by "overworrying leads to confusion."
❂❂❂❂❂
Fortunately, just as Minato was about to return, he was stopped by a figure that suddenly appeared.
Orochimaru appeared with a pale face and a somewhat embarrassed demeanor. He seemed to have been hiding nearby for a long time.
"Orochimaru?"
"Minato, it's me!"
"Wait, prove it!"
Minato didn't trust him and remained vigilant.
What if the enemy was disguised?
Fortunately, the Kyuubi inside him didn't sense any malicious intent, so Minato didn't rush to take action.
Orochimaru was also very straightforward. He bit his finger and clapped his hands.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"
A snake appeared beside him.
Other aspects could be faked, but this was a spiritual contract signed with the Ryuchi Cave, which couldn't be forged.
At this moment, Orochimaru was the only one in the entire ninja world who could communicate with Ryuchi Cave, which was enough to prove his identity.
"It really is you!"
Minato felt relieved and quickly asked: "Orochimaru, what happened? What happened to you?"
"We were indeed defeated. Jiraiya and Tsunade were captured by Obito. However, they are still alive and not in immediate danger of death." Orochimaru got straight to the point and explained quickly.
If it weren't for a number of life-saving secret techniques, Orochimaru might have fallen into Obito's hands.
He had to admit that Minato's student was indeed tough!
"It's good that you're still alive. There's still a chance to save them! Let's return to Konoha first. You'll need to tell me more details on the way."
Now that things had come to this, there was no point in regretting.
Minato could only find a way to make up for it. This time, the mistake in judging Obito's strength and calculations was Konoha's and his own fault.
Now he just wanted to rush back to the village to prevent the enemy from succeeding again. "You can't go back!"
"Huh?"
"Minato, you've been deceived. Or rather, misled!"
"What do you mean?"
"Obito and the others aren't targeting Konoha, but are heading to Kirigakure."
"How do you know?"
Orochimaru waved his hand.
Soon, a small white snake crawled out from under the ruins of Takigakure and returned to Orochimaru's hand.
Although he had been defeated and escaped, he still had a backup plan.
Relying on this small white snake, he eavesdropped on almost all of Obito and White Zetsu's plans and knew their goals and calculations.
Seeing Minato being misled, he immediately stepped forward to stop him.
In terms of cunning and caution, few people in the entire ninja world could compare to Orochimaru.
This was also the reason why Jiraiya still tried so hard to talk to Obito and gather information from him even after being captured.
Although he himself couldn't leave any information behind, he knew that Orochimaru must have a way to eavesdrop.
The tacit understanding that had formed between the three of them over decades wasn't just exaggerated.
Basically, once Orochimaru twisted his waist, Jiraiya knew how to use his strength.
Hearing this, Minato suddenly realized something and became even angrier.
Obito had truly taken advantage of his familiarity with his teacher's personality traits and deliberately left a White Zetsu clone to mislead him!
The once cheerful and kind-hearted boy had now become so dangerous, cunning, and full of evil schemes!
If they weren't enemies, Minato would have been happy to see Obito become more cunning.
Unfortunately, being enemies now was even more uncomfortable.
"The other party probably wants to tire you out. By the time you return to Konoha, they might have already captured Kirigakure's Jinchuriki."
Minato nodded, "I know!"
"But even if we rush to Kirigakure now, we probably won't make it in time, right?"
"So the best course of action now is to head straight to Iwagakure and set up an ambush first. To catch the enemy off guard!"
Orochimaru licked his lips and conveyed his plan with sharp eyes.
After being defeated by Obito, he naturally wanted revenge.
If he could defeat Obito, the Mangekyo Sharingan and the strange black lines on his body would make Orochimaru drool, and he would want them badly!
"We're going to Iwagakure again?"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's indeed a good idea."
Minato couldn't explain in detail, after all, in Parallel World 3, Iwagakure had just been wiped out.
Iwagakure in Parallel Worlds 1 and 2 had long been destroyed by Madara and Tobirama.
Now it seemed that Iwagakure in our world couldn't escape either!
How tragic for Iwagakure!