Naruto: I Confronted the Five Kage Before the System Arrived

Chapter 273: Too Bold!

At this moment, Jiraiya felt both shocked and incredulous.

Orochimaru had implanted a curse mark on the son of the daimyo.

This was something that neither he nor many other ninjas could have imagined.

It was well known that in this world, ninjas were not to act against the daimyo or engage in rebellious acts against their superiors.

"Orochimaru is too bold!" Jiraiya finally squeezed out this sentence after a long pause.

"He is indeed bold," Tsunade nodded.

It was one thing to place a curse mark on other ninjas, but for Orochimaru to place it on the future daimyo was quite another matter.

When Konoha received this news, they found it extremely troublesome.

As a unique technique of Orochimaru, Konoha could not remove the curse mark. At most, they could temporarily seal it like they did with Anko and Sasuke using the Evil Sealing Method.

Even so, the curse mark carried risks of revolt and uncontrollability, as well as physical burdens and hidden dangers.

If anyone else were affected by the curse mark, Konoha could simply control or imprison them.

But the son of the daimyo had a noble status.

Imprisonment was out of the question.

Even with the Evil Sealing Method, the presence of the curse mark would periodically cause burdens and pain, which a pampered prince could not endure.

Moreover, the son of the daimyo was not a ninja. Under the erosion of the curse mark, he would most likely end up like those failed curse mark experiments of Orochimaru, with his cells collapsing and his entire body turning into a pile of sludge.

As the nominal superior of Konoha, holding the financial reins of the Land of Fire, the daimyo would not allow such a thing to happen, repeatedly and sternly demanding Konoha solve his son's problem, and that it be done perfectly.

The daimyo was already being very reasonable.

Given that the perpetrator was a rogue ninja from Konoha, a former disciple of the Third Hokage, Konoha had already failed by not resolving this threat over the years.

Now the rogue ninja even dared to target the daimyo's son.

The daimyo had not reduced Konoha's funding in anger but merely demanded a solution for his son. That was quite courteous.

"What now? Has the village found a way to solve the curse mark?" Jiraiya asked.

Tsunade shook her head. "If we had, Mitarashi Anko wouldn't still have hers..."

At this point, Tsunade paused.

She suddenly remembered that Anko's curse mark was already gone, most likely thanks to...

Tsunade lowered her eyes and continued, "Actually, there is one way, but it wasn't discovered by Konoha. Orochimaru himself provided it."

"Orochimaru provided it himself?" Jiraiya was puzzled.

Tsunade gave a signal to the daimyo's son.

He took a deep breath, still visibly shaken, and said, "That guy called Orochimaru told me some things after he placed the curse mark on me."

"He said that when the curse mark on my neck feels extremely hot, I should go to Konoha. If I go there before that, he will make the curse mark explode, killing me."

"Additionally, he told me to inform Konoha, that is, you all, that there is only one way to solve my curse mark, and the steps are..."

The daimyo's son, his voice trembling, recounted the steps Orochimaru had provided.

He might not understand them, but as ninjas, Tsunade and Jiraiya did.

"Orochimaru actually placed a fragment of his soul into this child's curse mark!" Jiraiya exclaimed after listening, looking at Tsunade in shock. "He wants us to release his soul fragment. Why would Orochimaru do this? Isn't it redundant?"

"Perhaps Orochimaru's main body is already dead," Tsunade shared the conclusion reached by Konoha's intelligence unit.

Hagoromo Gengetsu had visited Konoha and dealt with Anko's curse mark.

Clearly, her curse mark also contained a fragment of Orochimaru's soul.

Gengetsu likely did this to deal with Orochimaru.

As for whether Orochimaru was still alive...

Even the Great Toad Sage had fallen to Gengetsu, so it was unlikely that Orochimaru had escaped his grasp.

"If we want to save the daimyo's son, the only way now is the method provided by Orochimaru."

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya and stated her decision, "Given the crucial time of alliance among the Five Great Nations and Villages, there must be no rift between Konoha and the Land of Fire. Moreover, to deal with Hagoromo Gengetsu, we need Orochimaru's Reanimation. Additionally, there is animosity between Gengetsu and Orochimaru."

"Given the reality, I've decided to revive Orochimaru!"

"I have no objections," Jiraiya said slowly, looking at the daimyo's son and nodding.

Even without the current situation, due to the special status of the daimyo's son, Konoha could not just watch him die under the curse mark's erosion. They would ultimately choose the only solution.

It could be said that Orochimaru had chosen his target too "appropriately."

"Then let's begin!" Tsunade decisively ordered, "Jiraiya, you will handle the removal of the curse mark and the revival of Orochimaru. The time is almost here, I need to attend the Five Kage Summit now."

Jiraiya nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it here."

Tap! Tap! Tap!

With the sound of her heels echoing, Tsunade quickly left.

Jiraiya turned his gaze to the anxious daimyo's son, patting his shoulder and assuring him the problem would be resolved soon.

Finally, his eyes fixed on the curse mark on the daimyo's son, his expression complex as he murmured:

"Orochimaru..."

When Tsunade arrived at the video conferencing room, the nine already active screens displayed the image of the daimyo of the Land of Fire, who promptly asked upon seeing her:

"Tsunade, how is Kohito now?"

Kohito was the daimyo's son.

Tsunade nodded. "Don't worry, he is being treated right now. He will soon be cured and safe."

"That's good! That's good!"

The daimyo of the Land of Fire sighed in relief, raising his fan to cover half of his face.

"Hokage, this grand meeting wasn't convened to discuss your internal matters of the Land of Fire, was it?" At this moment, Onoki's voice rang out.

Tsunade turned her head.

While she and the daimyo were conversing, the other four nations' daimyos and Kages had already arrived.

Onoki was not in a good mood.

Konoha had received information from the Cloud and Sand villages, and so had he.

The capture of the One-Tail, Two-Tails, and Eight-Tails on the same day shocked Onoki. Moreover, his own village's Four-Tails Jinchuriki Roshi and Five-Tails Jinchuriki Han had been missing for a long time. He suspected the worst.

"A storm is coming!"

Having lived since the Warring States Period, Onoki sensed an unprecedented crisis.

Sure enough.

When Tsunade explained the reason for the meeting, revealing the destruction of Mount Myoboku, Hagoromo Gengetsu's intention to collect all the tailed beasts to form the Ten-Tails, everyone before the screens could not stay seated.