Rinjin had no desire to engage with Orochimaru.
Or rather, Orochimaru was the kind of person one could only observe from a distance but never truly befriend.
Perhaps in the not-so-distant future, Rinjin might cross paths with Orochimaru again, but he hoped their interactions would remain strictly business-related.
As silence enveloped the two, a faint sound reached Rinjin's ears, followed by a surge of fragmented memories.
A shadow clone had been dispelled.
"Orochimaru," Rinjin said calmly, "Go notify Tsunade and Jiraiya. Someone is attacking the village from the northeast."
With those words, he pushed off the ground, his figure vanishing in an instant.
Orochimaru glanced at the deep footprints Rinjin had left behind, his golden eyes widening slightly.
Such speed... Is that purely taijutsu?
But now wasn't the time to dwell on such thoughts.
In a flash, Orochimaru formed hand seals and performed a Body Flicker Technique, disappearing from the spot.
Rinjin moved like a phantom in the pitch-black night, his speed astonishing.
In less than two minutes, he had reached the location where his shadow clone had been dispelled.
From a distance, he could sense several distinct chakra signatures, none of which belonged to the Uzumaki Clan.
Three of the signatures were notably strong, while the fourth was much weaker.
At the moment, these four chakra signatures were moving swiftly out of the village.
Rinjin made no attempt to pursue them. Instead, he stopped in front of a house with its front door wide open.
Entering the house, he surveyed the scene under the faint moonlight.
On the floor lay the lifeless bodies of a man and a woman, presumably the parents.
Judging by the household's layout, there should have been a child as well. It seemed the child had been kidnapped.
For now, however, the most important thing was to regroup with Tsunade and the others.
Incidentally, Rinjin had deliberately dispelled his shadow clone earlier.
Before doing so, he had instructed the clone to mark the kidnappers with a Flying Thunder God Technique seal before ending itself.
After all, these culprits were not first-time offenders.
The villagers who had been abducted could be rescued—Tsunade and her team could handle that.
What mattered most to Rinjin was that he neither excelled at nor enjoyed interrogation.
After some time, Tsunade and her team arrived, following the markers Rinjin had left behind.
Accompanying them was a group of Uzushio Village's higher-ups.
Calling Orochimaru over with a wave, Rinjin relayed the information he had gathered:
"There were four kidnappers—three jonin and one genin. It's also possible they have accomplices waiting nearby.
The child from this household was taken, and they headed south.
Oh, and I think I saw a headband from Kirigakure, but it was too dark to be certain."
Hearing this, Orochimaru nodded calmly.
At that moment, the young village chief, Kaishō Uzumaki, suddenly stormed into the house.
He let out an enraged roar before charging back out, looking as though he was ready to go to war with the kidnappers.
To the untrained eye, he might have appeared to be a leader who deeply cared for his people.
"You! Did you see them?" Kaishō demanded angrily.
Unfazed, Rinjin nodded nonchalantly.
Tsunade and her teammates exchanged helpless glances.
Big guy, could you not be so blunt?
Kaishō's face twisted with fury. He lunged forward, grabbing Rinjin by the collar and shouting:
"Then why didn't you stop them? Why didn't you save the child? He's just a kid!"
The moment those words left his mouth, Rinjin's brow furrowed sharply.
Like a bolt of lightning, his right hand shot out, seizing Kaishō's neck and lifting him off the ground.
"Watch your tone, boy. Don't presume to order me around!" Rinjin growled.
Kaishō clawed desperately at Rinjin's iron grip, but it was no use. His face quickly turned crimson from lack of oxygen.
"Let... let go of my brother! Is this how Konoha's shinobi carry out missions?" a young man from the crowd shouted, his voice trembling with both fear and anger.
Hearing this, a mocking laugh escaped from beneath Rinjin's mask.
"I'm just a hired ninja. Push me any further, and..."
Mid-sentence, a terrifying aura erupted from Rinjin's body, as if an ancient beast had been unleashed.
The oppressive energy radiated death, bloodlust, and terror, freezing everyone in their tracks.
The crowd fell silent. Uzushio's so-called higher-ups collectively took a step back, none daring to speak up.
With a cold snort, Rinjin released his grip.
Kaishō's unconscious body crumpled to the ground like a ragdoll.
As he observed the cowering crowd, a cold sneer played across Rinjin's lips.
The Uzumaki Clan's leadership has rotted to the core. If that's the case, don't blame me for being greedy.
Without hesitation, Rinjin turned and began pursuing the kidnappers.
Tsunade and her team exchanged glances before quickly following him.
No matter what, they were a team, and one personally commissioned by Hiruzen Sarutobi.
This meant that, while on the mission, the only people they could fully trust were their teammates.
As they caught up to Rinjin, Orochimaru found himself studying Rinjin's broad back, lost in thought.
Rinjin—Rinjin Sakata—had been his classmate, though they'd never been particularly close.
Rinjin had always been closer to Jiraiya. Then, one day, he had vanished without explanation.
For some reason, Orochimaru couldn't shake the feeling that Rinjin's earlier confrontation with the village chief wasn't as simple as it seemed.
There had to be more to it—Rinjin was undoubtedly plotting something.
Soon, the four of them reached the sea, skimming across the water's surface at high speed.
Meanwhile, on a small island no larger than 500 square meters, the four kidnappers—dressed in Kirigakure attire—had just arrived.
The group made their way to the island's sole cave.
The cave entrance was narrow, and the interior wasn't very deep. At the far end, however, there was a vertical pit.
Inside the pit, seven or eight emaciated children huddled together, trembling in fear as they stared at the four shinobi.
The genin casually tossed the unconscious child he was carrying into the pit.
The child landed with a heavy thud, letting out a faint groan of pain.
Unbothered, the genin walked over to the fire pit, where the leader—Puhara—was seated.
"Boss Puhara, how much longer do we have to keep this up?" the genin complained.
Puhara frowned, taking a sip from a leather water flask.
"I don't know. However long it takes for the Konoha shinobi to find us, we keep going."
"But... Boss Puhara, we're running out of food!" the genin said hesitantly, his brows furrowing.
Puhara let out a heavy sigh, passing the water flask to the person next to him.
"Next time, grab some extra supplies along the way.
No matter what, we cannot let the elders down!"
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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