My Journey as Fourth Kazekage

Ever since Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure and Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails, was killed, the Tailed Beast within him, the Three-Tails, had perished alongside him.

Fortunately, Tailed Beasts cannot be killed permanently except through sealing, so not long after, the Three-Tails revived.

As for where it revived, Kirigakure naturally knew the location. After all, ever since the Sage of Six Paths created the nine Tailed Beasts, he also found them places to dwell—places that became their respective homes.

And this lake was precisely the dwelling that the Sage of Six Paths had chosen for the Three-Tails. However, even though Kirigakure knew that the Three-Tails had revived, they still made no attempt to recapture it.

The reason was simple: Kirigakure no longer had the strength to capture or seal a Tailed Beast.

At this point, Kirigakure's situation was even more pitiful than that of Sunagakure.

Sunagakure had always been poor, but Kirigakure had been different.

Despite having three powerful kekkei genkai clans and the formidable Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the chaos within the village led to the eradication of the bloodline clans, and the swordsmen defected one after another.

As a result, Kirigakure was now beset by internal strife and external threats.

If not for its geographic advantage, similar to that of Sunagakure, the village might have long since been devoured whole by the other great villages.

Still, while they lacked the ability to capture the Tailed Beast, Kirigakure at least stationed guards at the lake where the Three-Tails resided.

After all, the Three-Tails had been acquired from the First Hokage at great financial cost. If someone else captured it, Kirigakure would suffer a huge loss.

Unfortunately, those stationed guards were no match for Orochimaru. Within just a dozen minutes, all of them had vanished without a trace.

At the misty lakeside, Rasa and Black Zetsu stood waiting in silence for only a short time,

When Orochimaru emerged from the forest behind them, a hint of excitement on his face.

Though his arms were unusable, many techniques of Orochimaru's Serpent Style didn't rely on his hands. Dealing with those low-level shinobi had been effortless.

"Handled?"

"Mhm."

Orochimaru nodded.

At that moment, Black Zetsu slowly began to sink into the ground.

"I've fulfilled my promise and brought you here. The rest is none of my concern."

With that, he completely disappeared from sight.

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with interest.

He had already realized that this creature called Zetsu was far from simple, not just the silent informant he remembered from his time in Akatsuki.

"Well then, shall we?"

With that, Rasa and Orochimaru stepped onto the surface of the lake.

Roughly ten minutes later, the two had reached its center.

The area was thick with mist.

Both Rasa and Orochimaru could sense the vast chakra interwoven into the fog.

Orochimaru glanced around and dipped his hand into the water. His yellow, snake-like eyes stared deep beneath the surface.

"This should be it. I can sense the immense chakra of the Three-Tails."

Rasa sensed it too.

"Then I'll leave the rest to you, Orochimaru."

Rasa chose Orochimaru as a partner precisely because of the man's talents, it would save Rasa a great deal of trouble.

"Hehehe! Leave it to me!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru pulled out a scroll. Upon unfurling it, a glass vial appeared, filled with a viscous purple liquid.

"What is that?" Rasa asked.

Orochimaru gave a cold, sinister smile.

"A poison I've developed specifically for Tailed Beasts. It agitates them and drives them into a frenzy."

As he finished speaking, a small white snake slithered out from his sleeve, bit onto the vial, and dove into the water.

"All done. Now all we have to do is wait."

With everything in place, Orochimaru stood back up gracefully, looked at Rasa with great interest, and asked,

"It may take a while for the poison to take effect. Rasa-kun, may I ask you a question?"

"Go ahead."

"Hehehe, why did you choose me, Rasa-kun?"

Rasa naturally understood what Orochimaru meant. Staring out at the still lake, he calmly said,

"It's simple, Orochimaru, because you're not someone who bows to fate."

"!?"

Orochimaru was slightly taken aback.

"As Jiraiya's close friend, I'm sure you've heard him speak of that prophecy, haven't you?"

"Ah…"

Orochimaru made a small sound, as if something had just come to mind.

"In my eyes, you and Jiraiya are complete opposites. You refuse to bow to fate, while Jiraiya is someone driven by it. His entire life has been spent searching for the so-called Child of Prophecy."

At this point, Rasa suddenly shifted the topic.

"Orochimaru, do you believe in fate?"

A glint flickered in Orochimaru's eyes as he slowly replied.

"Rasa-kun, what exactly do you mean by 'fate'?"

Rasa thought for a moment before answering.

"Orochimaru, the reason you approached Sasuke and took him away from Konoha was to eventually take over his body using Living Corpse Reincarnation, right? But what if I told you… Fate means that no matter how hard you try, you'll never succeed in possessing Uchiha Sasuke's body. On the contrary, all your efforts will only serve to benefit him."

Under Orochimaru's slightly startled and skeptical gaze, Rasa slowly turned his head to look at him.

"From the moment you witnessed Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, when he subdued you with a genjutsu and sliced off your arm, your fate was already sealed."

In that instant, Orochimaru suddenly felt a chill run through his body, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

Because he suddenly realized: It was true.

Ever since that moment in Akatsuki when he witnessed the power of Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan and was defeated by the younger Uchiha, he had become obsessed with the Uchiha clan's power.

At first glance, that obsession seemed understandable. The Mangekyō Sharingan was overwhelmingly powerful. But looking back now, something about it felt off.

Orochimaru was by no means unfamiliar with the Sharingan. In fact, he had studied it in depth. After all, the Sharingan embedded in Danzo's arm was transplanted by him.

He was well aware of how powerful the Mangekyō was, but not to the point of developing this almost religious fixation on it, treating it as if it were divine.

Just then, as Rasa sensed an abnormal fluctuation in Orochimaru's chakra, he seemed to realize something and said with mild surprise,

"So that's it… Orochimaru… you've been manipulated."

Hearing Rasa's muttered words, and already deeply unsettled, Orochimaru asked hesitantly,

"Rasa-kun… did you discover something?"

"Yeah…"

Rasa quietly uttered words that made Orochimaru's blood run cold.

"Orochimaru… haven't you realized? You've been caught in a genjutsu all this time. And if I'm not mistaken, it should be the power of Shisui Uchiha's Mangekyō Sharingan, Kotoamatsukami."