Orochimaru smiled, but seeing that Lei Luo couldn't get rid of the sand in his eyes, he simply spread his hands and said: "Forget it, I'll just say it straight..."
After pondering for a moment, Orochimaru's face became a little more serious and he directly stated his purpose: "Lei Luo, I want to form a team with you. Let's treat this as a meeting gift."
"Also..." Orochimaru showed an expression that he understood, and pointedly said: "I have already reported your situation to Elder Menyan, and you will definitely be interested in that reward!"
Orochimaru's purpose was completely beyond Lei Luo's expectations, which also caused the atmosphere in the venue to be silent for a second or two.
Lei Luo opened his mouth in slight surprise, but before he could say anything, Jiraiya beside him couldn't hold it in anymore:
"Hey! Orochimaru!"
"If you team up with Lei Luo, what should Nao Shu do? Have you forgotten Tsunade's instructions at that time?"
Jiraiya had an angry look on his face. Obviously, his indifferent look just now was just a cover-up, but he had actually been eavesdropping on the conversation between Lei Luo and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru did not look back at Jiraiya, seemingly ignoring the other person's opinions and just looking at Lei Luo intently.
But after a few seconds, even though his back was still turned to Jiraiya, Orochimaru still gave an answer:
"The rope tree can be transferred to your team or Tsunade's team. All you need is to free up a spot. I think Tsunade will find a way."
Orochimaru's tone seemed a little careless. He seemed to be thinking about the rope tree, but the irritability that vaguely appeared in his expression was clearly visible to Lei Luo.
It's a pity that Jiraiya can't see Orochimaru's expression.
"I also have my own pursuits, and I can't play ninja games with a group of children every day." Orochimaru continued, this time revealing a bit of the truth.
This mission with Lei Luo made Orochimaru deeply aware of the fact that he was still very weak.
Even though he didn't want to admit it, without Railo, Orochimaru estimated that he would have died at least twice: once at the hands of the sea snake, and once during the siege of the rain ninjas.
This cruel fact suddenly woke up Orochimaru, who had been addicted to the "halo of genius" all day long.
Therefore, Orochimaru is no longer willing to waste time: no matter how lofty a dream he has, if he wants to realize it, strong power is essential.
Orochimaru wants to become stronger because he thinks that his current level is not enough, far from it.
Therefore, teaming up with Lei Luo to perform difficult tasks together and seek breakthroughs at the critical moment of life and death is undoubtedly the most efficient method.
Just like this mission: facing danger twice and finally surviving, Orochimaru truly experienced his own growth.
From another perspective, not only can experts save lives at critical moments, but they can also hone their practical skills, so why not?
Therefore, Orochimaru's next sentence directly dismissed all Jiraiya's thoughts, which can be called merciless:
"The fact that I have been able to lead the Rope Tree for so long has given Tsunade a lot of face. You'd better not make it difficult for me."
"You!" Jiraiya stretched out his hand tremblingly, pointed his index finger at Orochimaru, and kept roaring:
"Orochimaru, do you still want to show off your face?"
"Tsunade's ability to hand over the rope tree to you shows her trust in you!"
"How long has it been before you give up? Is this how you plan to repay her?"
Jiraiya's barrage of questions seemed to be to defend Tsunade, but even Lei Luo, who was watching the excitement from the side, felt a strong "sour smell".
A cold light flashed in Orochimaru's eyes, obviously he was angered by Jiraiya's "unreasonable" behavior.
Not everyone is interested in Tsunade, at least he, Orochimaru, doesn't have any feelings for Tsunade, so naturally he can't understand Jiraiya's "flower-protecting messenger" mentality.
Therefore, Orochimaru started to counterattack straightforwardly.
I saw him first pretending to chuckle, and then in a calm tone, he taunted crazily:
"Jiraiya, calling you stupid is just flattering you."
"You worked so hard to protest Tsunade's injustice, do people ever remember you?"
After speaking the above words slowly, Orochimaru seemed to think it was not enough, and finally added:
"I advise you, it's better to honestly change your crush and don't act like a different person inside and outside all day long."
Orochimaru had already understood Jiraiya's little thoughts every day without looking up, but he was just too lazy to say them out.
Now that Jiraiya wants to be stubborn, Orochimaru doesn't mind arguing with him to see who can outshine whom in the end?
The little privacy in his heart was exposed on the spot by Lei Luo and Orochimaru one after another today, and was even used to ridicule by Orochimaru. Jiraiya thought he couldn't bear it anymore.
Suddenly standing up, Jiraiya walked towards Orochimaru without saying a word. From the look of it, he felt that he could not keep up his words and wanted to have a "more intense" debate.
Lei Luo sat on the bedside, originally watching Jiraiya and Orochimaru's "interaction" with great interest, but unexpectedly the conflict was about to escalate, and he quickly yelled:
"Hey! I told you to go out and fight!"
After all, this is Lei Luo's residence, and there are many ninjutsu scrolls piled around it. A few ninjutsu scrolls may be completely destroyed.
The most important thing is that he hasn't finished reading some of them yet.
Jiraiya ignored Lei Luo's warning at all, and walked forward, expecting to grab Orochimaru's collar, but unexpectedly received an old punch in the face.
bump!
Jiraiya was suddenly hit hard on the face. He felt dizzy and dizzy for a moment. He sat down on the ground and did not recover for a long time.
Orochimaru leisurely retracted his hand, bent his arms slightly, put his clenched fists in front of his chest, and said condescendingly to Jiraiya:
"Are you blinded by anger?"
"But you seem to have forgotten the gap between you and me."
Seeing Orochimaru subdue Jiraiya, Lei Luo also breathed a sigh of relief, and the gray light in his eyes disappeared. It turned out that he had been ready to take action just now.
He frowned and glanced at Jiraiya, especially the red and purple fist mark on the other person's cheek, which stayed for a while. Even with Lei Luo's ferocity, he couldn't help but sigh at the cruelty of Orochimaru's attack.
This can simply be said to be a disgrace.
Jiraiya seemed to be still in a certain "confused" state, covering his cheek with his left hand and supporting the ground with his right hand, looking at Orochimaru blankly.
Lei Luo judged that Jiraiya must have been stunned and lost his combat effectiveness in a short period of time. He immediately retracted his sight and focused on Orochimaru again.
After thinking about his words for a moment, Lei Luo said in a deep voice: "Although I really want to see the "reward" you mentioned, Orochimaru, there is one thing you need to understand..."
After a moment of pause, Lei Luo narrowed his eyes slightly, his attitude becoming a little more serious:
"The decision to choose who to form a team with is not in my own hands."
"So, even if I accept your kindness, I'm afraid I can't guarantee that your goal will be achieved."
Lei Luo didn't say it clearly, he believed that Orochimaru could understand what he meant.
"Danzo, right?" Orochimaru answered as if he had expected it. Then he returned to his calm demeanor and said with a smile:
"I can open up the relationship there, as long as you have no problems here."
When Lei Luo saw this, he didn't say anything more. It didn't matter to him who he teamed up with, as long as his teammates didn't hold him back.
In this joint operation with Orochimaru, Lei Luo also silently watched the other party's performance:
Although Orochimaru's hard power is lacking and he always likes to be cautious when doing things, his ability to obey his own commands and execute orders without hesitation still has merit.
Compared to those rigid and sluggish Gen-nin, Orochimaru is undoubtedly far superior to that group of people in terms of strength, potential, and IQ.
Lei Luo did not object to adding a member like Orochimaru to his team, not to mention that the other party also showed "sincerity", Lei Luo had no reason to refuse.
However, the primary and secondary relationships after the team is formed must be clarified, and this must not be ambiguous.
Therefore, Lei Luo made his request straightforward.
"Don't worry." Orochimaru smiled, and later said with emotion: "Your performance in the previous mission, to be honest, really surprised me."
"I have no dissatisfaction with handing over the command to you."
The last bit of doubt dissipated, and Lei Luo walked down from the bed. He picked up the cloak that was thrown on the ground, frowned and put it on himself.
"Let's go, let's go find Mito Menyan."
"I want to see what kind of rewards he can give."
After saying this, Lei Luo walked straight out of the tent.
Orochimaru was about to follow, but suddenly a deep voice came from behind him:
"Orochimaru, what is your purpose?"
It was Jiraiya. He still didn't get up from the ground, but remained in a half-lying position, slowly wiping the blood from the corners of his mouth with his palms, his eyes full of gloom and confusion.
This kind of expression is rare on Jiraiya.
Jiraiya is not a fool, even if he was before, he woke up after being punched.
Therefore, he quickly realized that the decision Orochimaru made today seemed to be different from any previous one.
That feeling, Jiraiya couldn't describe for a moment.
"Haha." Orochimaru chuckled, stopped temporarily, turned his head, and looked down at Jiraiya from the corner of his eye.
The light from outside the door shone in, making Orochimaru's figure somewhat blurry. Only his vertical pupils seemed to be emitting an extremely dazzling light.
"My purpose is simple, just to become stronger."
Although the other party only showed the corner of his eyes, Jiraiya could still read Orochimaru's firm will and determination not to regret from the changes in his expression.
But this made Jiraiya even more puzzled: "Why? Will following Lei Luo make you stronger?"
"What's the point?"
Not learning new ninjutsu, not practicing a new round of taijutsu, not even expending energy to enrich knowledge...
Instead, he teamed up with a Gen-nin who was not easy to mess with at first sight. What was Orochimaru trying to do?
It was hard for Jiraiya to understand.
Orochimaru turned around and was silent for a while, leaving a dark figure behind Jiraiya.
He didn't bother to explain anything, but answered the question:
"If you want to gain power, you must pay the price."
"I just seize it decisively when I see an opportunity."
As he finished speaking, Orochimaru's back gradually faded away, and soon disappeared from Jiraiya's sight.
Jiraiya stood up from the ground with difficulty, breathed lightly for a moment, and murmured to himself: "Tsunade too, Orochimaru too, what changes have happened to you?"
What on earth are you thinking about?
In the end, it is like this every time. In the end, I am the only one who understands nothing...
Jiraiya smiled bitterly, raised his hand and rubbed the side of his face that had begun to swell, while he kept thinking about the rope tree in his heart.
Jiraiya had feelings for the rope tree, and even if Tsunade's identity as younger brother was excluded, the other person's character was very much to his liking.
If Orochimaru wants to form a team with Lei Luo, his existing team will inevitably be disbanded, and all the members will be placed in other teams one after another. This is a common practice.
Although these two people belong to different "departments" and are both extremely powerful, the possibility of teaming up together is extremely low, because strictly speaking, this situation is a "waste of resources."
But there are exceptions to everything, and Jiraiya intuitively felt that Orochimaru could accomplish this. Although he didn't know the connection between Orochimaru and Danzo, let alone the various hidden actions of the senior officials, he had this feeling.
In this case, Jiraiya had to consider how to arrange the landing of the rope tree.