Chapter 557

"Then I wonder why Lord Bai Ye has come here..."

Su Xiao raised his hand, cutting Kabuto off.

"Drop that disgusting fake smile when you speak to me, or I'll slaughter you."

Zzz—

The sound of metal wires retracting came, and Su Xiao stood up, drawing his blade.

Checking Zhan Long Shan slowly unsheathed, its snow-bright edge exceptionally striking in the night.

Cold sweat seeped from Kabuto's temples; he could see that Su Xiao was not joking and was indeed prepared to slaughter him.

"Apologies, Lord Bai Ye, Lord Orochimaru is right..."

Clang!

A blade aura about two meters in diameter was unleashed. The speed of the blade aura was incredibly fast, reaching Kabuto in an instant.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."

A dense swarm of snakes surged from the nearby jungle to block in front of Kabuto. The blade aura severed a large swath of venomous snakes, ultimately grazing past Kabuto's side and slicing through a giant boulder.

Boom—

The boulder hit the ground, and the cold sweat on Kabuto's temples dripped down.

Kabuto was not considered strong during this period, not even a match for Kakashi; it was only later, after obtaining Orochimaru's blood and the inheritance of the Snake Sage's power, that Kabuto truly became strong.

"Mr. Bai Ye, are you intending to kill my subordinate in front of me?"

A man with a pale complexion and long black hair draped over his shoulders walked out from the forest. Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Ninjas, had arrived.

However, it was useless. If Su Xiao used his full strength, even if he couldn't kill Orochimaru, he could beat the man until he was incapacitated.

Orochimaru's soul had been sealed in his hands by the Third Hokage, preventing him from using most ninjutsu; he could only fight relying on Soft Physique Modification and Summoning Jutsu, unable to use any ninjutsu requiring hand seals.

Fighting with Soft Physique Modification meant having to engage Su Xiao in close quarters. Although Orochimaru's survival ability was extremely strong, the outcome of engaging Su Xiao in close quarters was generally not good—for instance, Jiraiya, Gaara, or Kakashi.

If Su Xiao were to duel Jiraiya, he would lose even with his energy shield, but if he were to duel the current Orochimaru, the result would be in his favor.

After a moment of hesitation, Su Xiao felt that since he couldn't kill Orochimaru, the fight would be meaningless, so he sheathed Checking Zhan Long Shan.

Taking a bite of an apple, Su Xiao chewed with a 'crunch, crunch'.

"Something up?"

Su Xiao's personality, which flipped faster than a book, clearly shocked Orochimaru. After a moment of stunned silence, a smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.

"I heard Mr. Bai Ye obtained a Sharingan. I am very interested in that Sharingan."

"Oh? You're well-informed."

"You flatter me."

Orochimaru's ability to gather intelligence was beyond doubt; it had only been a few days, and he already knew Su Xiao had seized Kakashi's Sharingan.

"This eye already has a buyer, and that buyer is willing to pay any price."

Although trading with Orochimaru was a decent choice, Obito was wealthier; that guy had inherited Madara's legacy, which Orochimaru could not compare to.

Rejected by Su Xiao, Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, as if preparing to seize it by force.

"I advise you to abandon that thought. Although I cannot kill you, I have no problem slicing you into pieces a dozen times."

Su Xiao continued to munch on his apple, his expression relaxed.

"Hehe, since Mr. Bai Ye is unwilling to trade, then so be it. However... Mr. Bai Ye is waiting for someone here, aren't you? And you've been waiting for three days."

"Yeah."

Su Xiao nodded. After tossing away the apple core, he pulled another apple from his robes. The pure, natural apples in the Naruto World tasted quite good.

"This is my territory. If you are looking for someone, why not tell me about it?"

It seemed Orochimaru was still coveting that Sharingan. Kakashi's Sharingan was different from others; Orochimaru might have discovered this long ago.

Furthermore, after being instantly defeated by Itachi, Orochimaru had a near-maniacal obsession with the Uchiha bloodline.

"Telling you is fine. The person I'm looking for is about thirty years old, has a scar on his face, and his eyes..."

"One eye is blind."

Before Su Xiao could finish his sentence, Orochimaru stated the other characteristics of the rule-breaker.

"To be precise, that eye isn't blind, but has had a special organ transplanted, right, Mr. Bai Ye?"

Su Xiao stood up and threw away the half-eaten apple in his hand.

"It seems the person is in your hands."

"Yes, captured five days ago. For this, I paid the lives of dozens of my subordinates."

The rule-breaker Su Xiao had been searching for so bitterly was actually in Orochimaru's hands. This was normal; that rule-breaker might have been eyeing Orochimaru's laboratory, waiting for Orochimaru to die.

But this was Orochimaru's territory. Before Orochimaru could be killed by Sasuke, that rule-breaker had been captured by him.

"Can we trade now, Mr. Bai Ye?"

Orochimaru felt he had the upper hand, but he didn't notice that Su Xiao's gaze was somewhat off.

"Of course... we can trade."

As Su Xiao spoke, the soil beneath Kabuto's feet exploded with a roar.

Boom!

The explosion wasn't powerful; Kabuto only stumbled. Just as he prepared to jump away, several white snakes formed from alchemy bombs emerged from beneath his feet, quickly wrapping around his legs. In less than a second, one of the white snakes was coiled around Kabuto's neck.

"You've seen Deidara's explosive clay, right? This stuff has similar properties."

Kabuto, who had just been about to move, stopped. If these snakes exploded, he would be blown to smithereens.

Orochimaru's expression turned as gloomy as water. Kabuto was very important to him; his arm's soul was sealed by the Third, and now he relied entirely on Kabuto's medicine to sustain himself.

"The trade is fair: exchange that person for your subordinate's life. You've been monitoring me for three days—do you take me for a blind man?"

Orochimaru was acting with ill intent, as Kabuto had been monitoring him for three days. Su Xiao initially didn't want to cause extra trouble; Orochimaru was, after all, a local powerhouse.

But who would have thought these two guys would push their luck? After learning Su Xiao possessed a Sharingan, they appeared directly to 'trade' with him.

Su Xiao didn't really trust the trade Orochimaru spoke of. Kabuto was a double agent, and Orochimaru was a Konoha traitor and a traitor to the Akatsuki.

It was true that Orochimaru pursued science, but this guy would stop at nothing for eternal life, having used the lives of thousands or tens of thousands for experiments. Could such a person be trusted?

Su Xiao only considered himself a villain, not a trustworthy guy. Orochimaru was similar to him, so he didn't trust Orochimaru. The logic was that simple.

"It seems Mr. Bai Ye has misunderstood. That person can be handed over to you, but I will decide the location of the trade..."

Before Orochimaru could finish, Su Xiao pulled the Boundary Line. One of Kabuto's ears was sliced off. Kabuto's face twitched in pain, but he gritted his teeth and dared not move; he was already firmly bound by the Boundary Line.

"Next time, it'll be your hand."

The smile on Orochimaru's face vanished. A kunai appeared in his hand, and he threw it, aiming directly at Kabuto's heart.

Puchi.

The kunai pierced into Kabuto's body, but Kabuto managed to turn slightly to avoid the vital spot.

"Although this is a very important subordinate of mine, Mr. Bai Ye should understand that I have many more such subordinates."

Orochimaru's ruthlessness was evident here.

"Oh? Then slaughter him."

Su Xiao tightened the Boundary Line, preparing to slice Kabuto into dozens of pieces.

"Wait."

Orochimaru spoke, staring intensely at Su Xiao.

"That person can be handed over to you, but you must also bring out something of equal value."

Su Xiao nodded; this was the true attitude for a trade. Before, Orochimaru had been trying to pull a 'black-on-black' double-cross.

"How about Tailed Beast blood?"

"Tailed Beast blood? How could Tailed Beasts have blood?"