Late Night Conversation

Hidden Leaf Village, late night.

In the dense forest, a furtive figure quietly lay prone in the bushes, bright eyes scanning the surroundings warily through the gaps between the leaves.

He had maintained this posture for a long time.

Finally, footsteps came from the woodland path, the last patrol of guards, the evening breeze carrying fragments of conversation.

"Hey, have you heard? The Uchiha made trouble again today. A loser in the Clan Head battle murdered Uchiha Chiri's Younger Brother, but was killed in return!"

"Of course, I know. An Uchiha produced a Wooden Style kid; even Lord Hokage is shocked by this."

"The Uchiha have been restless lately; their Clan Territory was inexplicably destroyed. Pity the brothers patrolling the West District; they're really suffering."

"Is that the point? Damn, Wooden Style! That's First Lord's Secret Technique! Even Princess Tsunade didn't master that power, yet someone from the Uchiha did! Isn't that explosive enough!"

"Now that you mention it, that's true. The first Wooden Style in Uchiha history, and I heard he awakened the Sharingan. This kid's future is limitless."

"Don't jump to conclusions without knowing the whole story. This kid isn't the first Wooden Style user in the Uchiha."

"Listen to our Elder Kosuke bragging again."

"Alas, you haven't been on the battlefield, so you don't know..."

"Don't know what? Hahaha, I say, Elder, if you put as much effort into training as you do into bragging, you wouldn't be called the 'Eternal Genin,' hahaha..."

They passed by as usual, not lingering, their fading laughter drifting away.

A moment later, an inconspicuous bush rustled slightly, and a figure quickly jumped out, leaves fluttering down.

He was dressed in black, wearing a mask, his long white hair tied into a neat ponytail, his eyes cautious, looking like he was "going for something big tonight."

He quickly crossed the path, skillfully bypassing all the hidden outposts, passed through layers of trees, and finally arrived at a moss-covered boulder.

"Phew~"

At this moment, all was quiet, only the rustling of leaves in the wind and the chirping of summer cicadas. He took a deep breath, a hint of excitement appearing in his eyes.

He was Hiruko.

After more than a year of investigation, repeated Earth Release surveys, and countless days and nights of careful mapping, he had grasped the full picture of this underground chamber.

Through repeated deliberation and verification, he was basically certain that at this moment, behind this bluestone, which was almost everywhere in Hidden Leaf Village, was the entrance to the underground chamber!

He began to form hand seals, gently placing his palm on the bluestone, "Earth Release: Earth Motion Wave."

A wave of Chakra rippled across the surface of the bluestone, then completely merged into the earth and stone. Hiruko closed his eyes, extending his perception inward.

It was a wonderful feeling; at one moment, he even felt that this stone was part of his body.

"Hollow!" He suddenly opened his eyes, following his inner sense, and punched a certain spot, knocking three times in a row.

The subtle vibration frequency triggered a mechanism. After about a few breaths, the bluestone slowly cracked open in front of him, fine sand falling down, and the stones on both sides shifted backward, the gap widening into an opening as tall as an adult.

With the faint moonlight, a dark staircase could be seen, the bottom connecting to a long passage.

Hiruko couldn't hide the excitement in his heart, unconsciously swallowing, his heart thumping, just about to step in.

Just then, a hand suddenly grabbed his wrist. His heart jolted, and he only had time to make out the person's pale skin before being tackled far away by the other party, falling together into the bushes beside the road.

"Shh!"

A head of shiny black hair and a pair of golden vertical pupils appeared in his vision.

Orochimaru pressed down hard on Hiruko's mouth, picked up a few pebbles, and flicked his hand towards the wide-open bluestone.

Three pebbles shot out, colliding with each other in mid-air, and successively struck the same point!

Then, in Hiruko's eyes filled with unwillingness and disillusionment, the bluestone vibrated and closed, returning to its original state.

"You!"

He stared at Orochimaru with some resentment, obviously not knowing what the other party's purpose was, and why he could skillfully operate the bluestone mechanism.

"Don't move!" Orochimaru said in a breathy voice, his tone serious.

Suddenly, the bluestone vibrated again, and a chilling sound of footsteps came from the gradually opening hole!

Hiruko's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.

In his almost terrified gaze, two ninja wearing Hidden Leaf Headbands walked out of the bluestone, they were silent, and their faces were covered with heavy dark circles.

The two in the bushes held their breath, not daring to make the slightest noise, until the people outside walked away and the bluestone closed, they both breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's going on with you? Why do you know the information here? And why are you following me?"

Hiruko asked first, like a string of firecrackers.

"It's a little slow to ask at this time, Hiruko-kun." Orochimaru smiled slightly, "I've been following you since the first day you used Earth Release to survey the map."

"What!"

Orochimaru said in a low voice, "Don't be shocked yet, if I hadn't been diverting the guards for you every day and secretly dealing with threats and obstacles, do you really think that you, a mere Genin, could have found the entrance to the secret room unscathed?"

"I..." Hiruko was dumbfounded, his mind seemed to be *exploding* with muffled thunder, and he felt a burst of numbness from head to toe.

He suddenly had a bad feeling, "Could it be that you want to use my hand to find the predecessor's treasure, and then take it for yourself!?"

"Don't be silly, Hiruko-kun, the predecessor did propose a trial, but I don't remember him limiting the number of people." Orochimaru's eyes were calm.

"You... what do you mean?" Hiruko asked blankly.

"You're not a fool, can't you understand? If you want to get the predecessor's approval, you can only cooperate!"

Hiruko finally reacted, "Then why didn't you come to me earlier? Instead of letting me explore the way alone?"

"Because there was no need to cooperate at that time, I didn't think you would succeed." Orochimaru said as a matter of course, "But now, you have proven your ability."

"You..."

"What you? I predicted the entrance two days ago and used means to survey it. This place..." Orochimaru took a deep breath, his eyes burning, "is not empty, secret personnel come in and out every night!"

"You mean... this place is guarded?"

"Compared to guarding, I prefer the word 'research'." Orochimaru glanced at the bluestone, pointed to his feet, "Combining what the predecessor said about the path of evolution, this place... is very likely a laboratory."

Hiruko struggled to get up, "How can I believe you?"

"You have no choice, the two of us are now on the same boat, we share the same glory and suffer the same losses, you don't want to be discovered, do you?" Orochimaru let out a contemptuous sneer.

Hiruko's eyes flickered, obviously struggling, but soon he made a decision, "This is not a place to stay for long, let's retreat first. You can tell me the details later. Since we are going to cooperate, we must share the information we have."

"I have no objections."

The two retreated from the bushes one after the other, quickly scanning their surroundings, and then retreated in the same direction.

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