Chương 92

Rei didn't bother to humor them and join this facade, his Mind's eye Kagura had already picked up the target. And it was almost time for him to move. Thus he looked at the twin brothers, who were now looking at the surroundings and didn't seem that surprised that were dead bodies around. What did catch their eyes were the ANBU get-up of these men, and couldn't help but smirk. Their master has really been having fun around.

"Your friends?" Gozu asked.

"Something like that. Had a good chat with them." Rei replied. Both of them nodded in approval.

"Make it look like Kirigakure missing-nin did this. Use your chains, make wounds where necessary, leave tracks leading toward the eastern border and remove any indication that Konoha shinobi were involved." The brothers exchanged glances before grinning. This was something they were very good at. Several minutes later the clearing looked entirely different. The corpses now carried wounds that matched Kirigakure assassination methods while several false trails had been planted around the area.

Even the trees had been deliberately damaged to make it appear as though a squad of rogue Mist shinobi had passed through the forest. One of the brothers even went as far as carving old Kirigakure markings into a nearby trunk.

"Too much?" he asked.

"A little." The mark disappeared a second later. Rei inspected everything one final time and nodded. Anyone investigating later would immediately start looking toward rogue Mist shinobi. Root might suspect otherwise but suspicion and proof were two very different things. And if they suspect Rei's influence on that, he would handle it.

"Good work." The brothers looked pleased at the praise. And then he sent the brothers back. The very next moment Rei vanished into the trees. For the next several hours Rei continued moving deeper through the forest without slowing down even once. His destination wasn't Konoha anymore but the border separating the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Fields. Unlike before, he made no effort whatsoever to suppress his chakra.

It spread around him like a beacon in the darkness, announcing his presence to anyone capable of sensing it. Under normal circumstances such a thing would've been idiotic, but today it was exactly what he wanted. As the final stretch of forest gave way to the borderlands, Rei finally came to a stop.

"You really came." Several figures stood waiting for him. The Sound Four. And lying against a tree behind them was Orochimaru himself. His robes were torn, his hand turned purple due to them being sealed. The sight of it did put Rei a huge smile. But of course none of them could recognize Rei as he was in his full suit with covered face mask. Rei was more than happy to see this. Didn't he boss him around? Didn't he act all high and mighty?

Now he was in the trenches and from the looks of it the story went as well as he expected.

"Who are you?" Orochimaru asked under his raspy breath. He was breathing heavily as the seal on his hands were not only painful but also excruciating even to his soul. He needed treatment as fast as possible.

"Hehe.." The sudden laugh echoed through the silent borderlands, but instead of answering Orochimaru, Rei slowly turned his head toward a massive tree standing several dozen meters away. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

"... You have been staring for quite a while now." The Sound Four frowned.

"What?" Kidomaru instinctively looked around while Sakon immediately took a defensive stance, yet none of them sensed another presence. Orochimaru however narrowed his eyes. as Rei raised his hand. A kunai flew through the air with terrifying speed and buried itself deep into the trunk. BOOM! The entire tree exploded apart and a strange black and white figure was forced out from within the shattered wood, his eyes widening in genuine surprise.

"Well, well..." The white half smiled awkwardly.

"Looks like I was found."

"Zetsu." Rei muttered.

"You know me..." Zetsu pupils shrunk as he looked at this unknown boy standing in front of him. Zetsu being the guy who would spy everywhere knew that Konoha was in trouble. He had been waiting at the border, waiting to gather intel on Orochimaru and also see if he could rope the dangerous man in again and help them with their plans and Akatsuki, after all he was once their member. Where there were interests, one could always gain something.

But never in his wildest dreams did he expect that someone unknown to land and even ambush him perfectly.

"Black Zetsu and White Zetsu.. Member of Akatsuki... You have quite the balls to arrive here. Sorry I am sure you don't have balls either.."

"You bastard.." White Zetsu was incensed.

"Leave him. He is trying to instigate you.." Black Zetsu felt a certain chill in his spine as he looked at the two eyes beyond the mask. He didn't know who this person was but the fact that Rei, indirectly, knew that he wasn't human, didn't sit well with him. His origin was only known to himself and half truth was pushed to Obito and Madara, so this foreigner wasn't normal for sure. Rei didn't bother to speak as Zetsu wasn't his aim at the moment.

He took out a blade and used Shunshin to arrive fast at Zetsu's location. His blade slashed downward, aiming straight for the creature's neck.

"So fas—" Before the blade could separate his head, Zetsu's body suddenly melted into the earth. The blade struck nothing but empty ground.

"Tch..." The soil rippled for only a brief instant before becoming completely still.

"He escaped." Rei clicked his tongue in annoyance while staring at the ground. He had expected it, yet it was still irritating. That creature really was one of the hardest beings in the world to kill. He needed to be faster and devastate everything around to get a chance to kill him. But then again, should he kill him. That woman was the least of his problems, in fact he hoped to establish truce with her and then go on fight her family members, but that conversation would happen later.

Behind him neither Orochimaru nor the Sound Four spoke. They weren't looking at the hole anymore. They were looking at Rei or in their perspective, whoever this person was.

"It seemed your old friends still hasn't left you. Such deep love between old friends I see." Rei said. Of course his voice had changed in order to hide his identity.

"I don't have friends.." Orochimaru hissed as the tongue made a swipe over his lips, looking creepy and ugly.

"Oh! The last I checked you wanted to be great friends with Sasuke Uchiha." Rei replied. The response he got from Orochimaru was narrowed eyes. And before he could reply, one of the Sound Four moved. Jirobo. The large man had been silently observing everything until now and after witnessing Rei's speed, he came to a simple conclusion. Fast opponents only remained troublesome until you got your hands on them.

"Got you!" The ground beneath Rei exploded as Jirobo appeared beside him. His massive hand shot forward and wrapped around Rei's wrist with crushing force while his other hand immediately reached toward Rei's head.

"Now die!" His fingers clamped around Rei's skull as he laughed loudly.

"Fast? So what? If you can't escape my grip then all that speed means nothing. Let's see how long your head lasts before I crush it." The remaining Sound Four watched with small smiles while Orochimaru observed silently. Jirobo's physical strength was among the greatest in Otogakure and once he caught someone head-on, very few escaped. They were expecting a scream and also wanted to see who this person was beneath them but sad to say that were disappointed. No, they were actually horrified with what happened next.

"... Finished?" Rei asked calmly.

"What?" Before Jirobo could understand, Rei's free hand suddenly grabbed the almost bald man's head. He was able to reach his head easily while Jirobo continued pressing on the skull of Rei. Then he squeezed. CRACK!

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Jirobo's scream echoed across the border as every vein on his face bulged violently. He tried pulling away but Rei's fingers didn't even move. It felt as though his head had been caught inside an iron vice.

"Impossible!" He punched Rei's arm repeatedly but it didn't budge an inch. The gap in physical strength was so overwhelming that despair slowly appeared in his eyes.

"You wanted to compare strength?" Rei chuckled.

"Against an Asagrdian? Someone who could take Hulk's punch and walk it off?" Rei wasn't finished as suddenly blue lightning erupted. CHIIIIIIIIIIII. The chirping of countless birds filled the surroundings before the current surged directly into Jirobo's body. Unlike Chidori, Rei wasn't aiming to pierce him. He simply let the lightning course through every muscle, every organ and every nerve.

After receiving Thor's physique and his abilities, his nature transformation of lightning had reached new heights and he had been practicing different ways to control and use lightning jutsus, inventing new ones.