Chapter 30
Chapter 30
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 30
Chapter Title: Taking Over Orochimaru's Secret Base
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Jeweled Celestial Maiden used her ribbons to roll up the scroll, shook it lightly in midair to fling off the disgusting mucus, then handed it over to Uzumaki Menma.
Taking the scroll, Menma infused it with chakra to sense its contents. A vast life force was indeed sealed within the storage scroll, surging like tides.
Though Orochimaru was utterly mad when it came to human experimentation, as long as someone was his equal in strength or a potential ally, the man had credibility.
Menma watched Orochimaru vanish into the woods before departing the area himself, Third Death God and Jeweled Celestial Maiden in tow.
If it really came to a fight, Third Death God's scythe wouldn't just absorb chakra—it could also strike at the soul itself.
Against a soul-mutilated Orochimaru, it was a perfect counter.
When Menma landed, a masked White Tiger leaped out from the forest and stopped before him, crouching low.
It lowered itself to let Menma mount, then bounded off into the woods.
Around the Hidden Leaf Village, Orochimaru had many secret bases—some even Danzo didn't know about.
Now that Orochimaru had fled, all those bases would be abandoned.
Menma had no intention of letting the opportunity slip away.
Before long, White Tiger halted at a hidden entrance perched on a cliffside.
From the rocky platform outside the entrance, one could overlook the Naka River and, ten kilometers distant, the Naka Shrine.
That was the Uchiha Clan's sacred ground and secret gathering place. The shrine's basement housed a stone tablet said to have been left by the Sage of Six Paths—later tampered with by Zetsu.
"This secret base has a nice view."
Menma withdrew his gaze and descended the dim passageway.
Jeweled Celestial Maiden and Third Death God floated ahead, clearing the traps and mechanisms lining the tunnel for him.
The base was compact but fully equipped: cultivation tanks held unfinished test subjects in suspension, while the independent power system hummed steadily.
White Tiger, Celestial Maiden, and Death God—the three summons—began sweeping out Orochimaru's traps and snakes from the base.
Menma, meanwhile, entered a lounge and found some experiment logs inside.
This didn't seem to be Orochimaru's main lab; the logs were sparse, just a few scribbled pages. Still, they gave Menma a solid grasp of the facility.
White Tiger's keen senses had already sniffed out three of Orochimaru's secret bases one after another. They would all become Menma's property.
Suddenly, a burning pain like a brand flared from the seal at Menma's waist.
"It's here?"
Menma set down the experiment log and swiftly formed hand seals.
He slammed his palm against the small of his back.
"Caged Bird Seal!"
A pale curse mark flickered briefly on his skin before fading into dormancy.
In the forest outside the Hidden Leaf Village.
Wearing Akatsuki's black robe with red clouds and a spiral-patterned mask, Uchiha Obito stood atop a massive tree, brow slightly furrowed.
"Obito, something's up in Konoha. The infiltrating White Zetsu reported they're on high alert—tons of sensor ninjas out scouting everywhere."
Zetsu seeped halfway out of a pitcher plant on the trunk, his white half's face speaking.
"Outside, call me 'Madara-sama'!" Obito said coldly.
"Got it, Obito-sama."
White Zetsu kept up his incessant chatter.
Menma was used to the bickering. Ever since Uchiha Madara had saved him and confined him underground, White Zetsu was his only company. Even when Zetsu spouted nonsense, Obito just ignored it at worst.