Chương 44: [Confrontation (Part 1/2)]

Not far away from the Land of Fire capital, a group of merchant caravans advanced along the road. The group had a single music note carved onto the sides of the caravan and on the headbands of the ninjas guarding them.

At its forefront, a group of figures, with their faces obscured by hoods, led the way.

"We approach the capital soon. Remember, no unnecessary actions. Lord Orochimaru's plans must remain intact," one hooded figure spoke up, his voice devoid of emotion.

"Oh, spare us the lecture, bonehead. We're not that dumb, you don't have to worry about us."

One of the figures beside him disgruntled by his words, shot back a reply laced with sarcasm.

"That's enough, Sakon."

Another figure spoke up in a deep voice as he tried to stop the man named Sakon from making the situation any more tense.

"Tsk."

Sakon clicked his tongue in annoyance, as he turned his head to the side and faced the forestry surrounding the road- realising that he shouldn't escalate the situation any further.

Whilst they were talking amongst themselves, the group arrived at the capital. The merchants from the caravan walked towards the outer city as they prepared to sell their stock.

A few people, including the hooded figures, walked off towards the inner city- drawn closer to a lone manor.

The building seemed normal enough as the exterior seemed well maintained along with the surrounding foliage.

However, the piercing silence of the area and the inherent stillness of the building gave off a rather eerie feeling.

Undeterred by the uncanny appearance of the building, the hooded figures entered the house and found themselves before the stairs down to what seemed to be the basement.

As they descended the stairs, they remained unaware of a certain someone watching them from behind.

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Sasuke watched on carefully as the group he was following entered the basement of the house.

He had been tailing the group before they had even entered the capital, as they split off- he sent clones to follow the merchants whilst his main body followed after the group of hooded figures.

'They should be members of the Sound Four along with Kimimaro...

But why exactly are they here?'

Sasuke had heard the previous argument between them, allowing him to identify the person leading them as Kimimaro.

The fact that one of the figures was called Sakon seemed to indicate that he and the others were part of the Sound Four.

After hesitating a bit, Sasuke began to head down the stairs as he trailed behind the people he was following.

He wanted to figure out their aim for coming to the Land of Fire and he also realised it would be difficult for them to harm him in any shape or form because of his strength.

However, it didn't take long for him to realise that the descent downwards was taking much longer than he had expected- the descent seemed almost endless.

'What are they hiding here? Is it necessary for this to be so deep underground?'

Whilst Sasuke thought about what could be hidden under this house, he soon found that his surroundings had begun to brighten up.

Squinting his eyes slightly, Sasuke looked around and found himself in a massive underground laboratory.

Whilst trying to make sure he remained hidden, Sasuke began to analyse the room he was in. He could vaguely make out the appearance of the room with the help of the dim ceiling lights.

Everywhere, groups of people cloaked in lab coats could be seen bustling about as they performed their tasks.

The lab overall looked far more advanced than the one he had previously found in Kusagakure and far surpassing it in scale too.

Sasuke could see huge chambers on the walls of the lab filled up with a strange blue fluid, with vague human silhouettes hidden within them.

"Have you brought it?"

The words spoken by one of the scientists caught Sasuke's attention.

"Yes. However, Lord Orochimaru asked me to remind you that if you don't come up with any results soon, he will cease funding this project."

The hooded figure whom Sasuke had assumed to be Kimimaro replied.

'Interesting...

What project could they be talking about?'

Sasuke thought to himself as he heard their conversation. However, he was shocked to see what Kimimaro took from his storage scroll.

A body?

The individual seemed to still be alive, though he remained in a comatose state. Furthermore, this individual had strange black-and-white markings that stretched across his body.

'Hidan?!

No, that's not Hidan...'

Despite the similarity between Hidan and this person, they were nonetheless different as the markings on this individual were vastly less complicated than those on Hidan from his memory of the anime.

"What an amazing sample..."

The scientist whom Kimimaro was talking to had his eyes glued to this strange body, his eyes glowing with fervour.

After confirming that he had handed over everything he was meant to, Kimimaro and the hooded figures prepared to leave the lab.

However, that was something Sasuke couldn't allow. He needed answers to what was happening.

How did Orochimaru get involved with the Cult of Jashin?

What else was being researched in this lab?

What were those bodies in those large chambers?

Sasuke's eyes flickered as he surveyed the room and began to think about the most efficient way to incapacitate everyone in the room.

Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death

This Genjutsu wasn't exactly lethal but was perfect for restraining targets. Furthermore, with the help of the Soul Dissociation Seal, his spiritual strength increased greatly along with his proficiency in Yin Release.

This is because Yin Release is the manipulation of spiritual energy, so more spiritual energy means casting a more potent Yin Release Jutsu like Genjutsu.

Everyone in the lab felt their blood run cold as they saw a tree branch begin to entwine around their bodies, they realised that this base may have become compromised.

Despite everyone else being restrained, one person managed to break free from the Genjutsu- Kimimaro.

This surprised Sasuke, as from his memory of the anime Kimimaro should only possess Jonin-level strength which isn't something that would allow him to resist a B-Rank Genjutsu cast by Sasuke no less.

Kimimaro then removed his cloak and revealed his appearance beneath it. He had silver-white hair, with two scarlet dots etched onto his forehead, his eyes a dull green and he donned a loose-fitting lavender robe.

However, what was more eye-catching were the several black lines that marked his body- something very familiar to Sasuke.

'Cursed Seal?

Oh, right...'

It didn't take long for Sasuke to realise what had happened. Unlike the others, Kimimaro's reaction speed was fast enough to activate the Cursed Seal. This allowed him to break free from the Genjutsu as the new source of chakra disrupted the Genjutsu.

"Who are you?

How did you find this place?"

Kimimaro asked the masked figure standing opposite him, reining in his shock at how the masked man had managed to restrain everyone else in the lab simultaneously.

Sasuke didn't answer, instead, he maintained a stoic silence as he thought about something.

'After absorbing those Zetsu, I haven't fought properly yet. I guess I could try out the progress of my physical strength now along with my chakra-enhanced strength training.'

Deciding to make use of this temporary opportunity to go all out with his Taijutsu, Sasuke struck first.

He used the Body Flicker Jutsu to appear next to the still-confused Kimimaro and punched him in the stomach- sending Kimimaro crashing into a desk nearby.

Sasuke winced as he saw the destruction he caused.

'I probably shouldn't destroy those lab documents and experimental materials...'

Sasuke dashed forward, grabbing the downed Kimimaro and dragging him along to another room- one that was filled with prison cells containing a variety of heavily mutated creatures.

Sensing something, Sasuke looked to see Kimimaro in his hands growing bones around his body with the black lines engraved on his body glowing orange.

Flinging Kimimaro at the floor in front of him, Sasuke analysed the changes in his sparring partn- *Cough* his opponent.

It didn't take long for Kimimaro to stand back up, the lines on his body had grown more dense and bone spurs now covered his body like some sort of armour.

Whilst steadying himself, Kimimaro once again stared at Sasuke though this time he didn't ask any more questions and simply stared at his foe with an unwavering ferocity.