Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

The door to Yugito Nii's room burst open. She had been tidying up inside, but upon hearing A's shout from outside, she froze for a split second.

Then, her face flushed red from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, her eyes practically shooting daggers of fire.

She dashed out of the room at such a blistering speed that the Sunagakure Jonin in the courtyard only saw a blur flash past their eyes.

An instant later, her fist was already in A's face.

Before A could even react, Yugito's punch connected.

*Bang!*

A's body flew backward, launching like a kicked stone before crashing into the wall behind him.

The wall was made of thick stone, but the impact of A's body instantly shattered a massive hole through it, sending rubble flying and kicking up a thick cloud of dust.

A tumbled through the hole and landed in the open clearing outside the courtyard, rolling twice before finally coming to a halt.

Yugito stood in the center of the courtyard, her fist still held in its striking posture. Her chest heaved violently, her pretty face flushed red, and she glared fiercely in the direction A had flown.

"You bastard! What nonsense are you spouting?!"

Her voice was so loud that the entire street could hear her.

Lying on the ground, A was a bit dazed, his head ringing.

After regaining his senses, he slowly picked himself up and touched his face, feeling a red mark where she had struck him.

His body was otherwise fine—the Raikage's physique was far beyond that of an ordinary person—but he was slightly dizzy.

He shook his head to clear the dust from his hair before standing up straight.

He looked at Yugito, sizing her up from head to toe. Then, his expression shifted from anger to a strange sense of disappointment.

"You're not pregnant?"

"It's been so long! You still haven't managed to take down that brat?"

He spoke with absolute seriousness, as if he genuinely cared about the matter. It was as though the state of Yugito's womb was the most pressing national issue for the Raikage.

Yugito's face grew even redder, so flushed it looked ready to bleed. White steam practically billowed from the top of her head.

"You absolute idiot!"

Her voice reached a deafening pitch, causing all the Sunagakure shinobi in the courtyard to cast sidelong glances.

"Shut your mouth!"

She roared again, raising her fists as she prepared to charge at him once more.

The commotion had already attracted quite a bit of attention.

Sunagakure shinobi poked their heads out of their rooms. Seeing Yugito chasing after the Raikage to beat him up, they all wore bizarre expressions.

Some had their mouths hanging open, some frowned, some had twitching lips, and others turned their heads away, pretending they hadn't seen a thing.

The Iwagakure delegation was staying at the other end of the street. Hearing the noise, several of them ran over to watch.

Kitsuchi stood at the street corner with his arms crossed, watching Yugito and A with a very subtle expression.

A few Iwagakure Jonin beside him were also watching. One couldn't help but laugh out loud before quickly covering his mouth.

The Kumogakure shinobi arrived as well.

A had run ahead on his own after entering the city, leaving the Kumogakure Jonin trailing behind, and they had only just caught up.

Seeing their Raikage being chased and beaten by a woman, their faces turned rather grim.

One of them tried to step forward to help but was held back by a comrade.

"That's Yugito," the man holding him back whispered.

The first shinobi froze for a moment before retracting his hand.

Kumogakure's Jinchuriki beating up the Raikage—this was a domestic dispute they couldn't interfere with, nor did they dare to.

Everyone's eyes fell on Yugito. Some were curious, some were surprised, and some were struggling to hold back their laughter.

Those gazes pricked her like needles, making her face flush even deeper. The redness spread from the base of her neck to the tips of her ears, turning even the skin beneath her collar a bright pink.

Noticing the stares, her body stiffened slightly. She turned her head, seeing the Iwagakure shinobi laughing, the Sunagakure shinobi watching her, and the Kumogakure shinobi sizing her up with strange looks.

Yugito's lips trembled with a mix of shame and fury.

Then, she saw Uchiha Taiga.

Taiga was standing in the doorway of his room, his hands stuffed in his pockets. His expression was calm, but the corners of his mouth were slightly curled up as he watched her.

Seeing that look on his face only fueled Yugito's rage.

"What are you looking at?!"

She yelled at Taiga.

Taiga's mouth twitched.

He shifted his gaze away from Yugito, looking up at the sky, then at a small tree in the courtyard—anywhere but at her.

"Ahem, nothing. Carry on, I won't disturb you."

After saying that, he took a step back, retreating into his room.

The noise outside died down a bit, but he could still hear A shouting loudly about something, Yugito chasing him, the Sunagakure and Iwagakure shinobi laughing, and the Kumogakure shinobi trying to break up the fight.

Standing behind the door, Taiga rubbed his chin.

'Fierce women are not to be messed with.'

The farce in the courtyard continued, but beyond the chaos, another group of people was approaching from the other end of the street.

Leading the group was a slender man wearing white Hokage robes, the hem embroidered with red cloud patterns.

Orochimaru.

Behind him followed several Konoha shinobi, all wearing standard flak jackets with their forehead protectors securely tied.

Some carried scrolls, some wore backpacks, and others had bulging ninja tool pouches at their waists. Their expressions were stern, their eyes sweeping both sides of the street with high vigilance.

Orochimaru arrived at the entrance of the Sunagakure lodgings and came to a halt.

Seeing the chase in the courtyard—Raikage A being pursued all over the place by Yugito—the curve of his lips deepened.

His gaze swept across the courtyard, but he didn't find the person he was looking for.

Then, Orochimaru spotted Taiga standing behind the door and instinctively licked his lips.

"It has been a long time, Taiga."

Hearing the voice, Taiga stepped out from behind the door and saw Orochimaru outside.

As if sensing something, Taiga's expression shifted slightly. His gaze swept from Orochimaru's face down to his body, examining him closely.

"Huh, interesting."

Taiga raised an eyebrow, a hint of surprise in his tone.

"How did you get younger?"

He was speaking the truth.

Orochimaru looked significantly younger than the last time they had met.

During their previous encounter, Orochimaru's face had shown signs of aging—fine lines around his eyes and skin that wasn't quite as taut.

But now, his skin was smooth, without a single wrinkle around his eyes. He looked like a man in his early twenties.

"And your body..."

Taiga paused, his gaze lingering on Orochimaru.

"It gives off a rather unique feeling."

His sensory abilities were far superior to an ordinary person's. He could feel that the chakra fluctuations radiating from Orochimaru were different from before.

It wasn't a matter of the fluctuations growing stronger or weaker; their very nature had changed, as if he were an entirely different person.

Recalling Orochimaru's personal research, the answer was obvious.

The surrounding onlookers were confused by Taiga's words. They had no idea what he was talking about, nor did they know what changes had occurred in Orochimaru's body.

But Orochimaru knew.

He looked into Taiga's white eyes, the smile on his lips deepening.

"As expected, nothing escapes your eyes."

His voice was soft, carrying a sense of satisfaction, much like someone who had carefully prepared a gift and was pleased to see it appreciated by a connoisseur.

He opened his mouth, preparing to say something else.

Then, a massive explosion echoed from the distance.

*Boom!!*

The sound was deafening, so loud that the entire city shook. The houses lining the streets trembled, and some people who couldn't keep their balance fell straight to the ground.

Everyone froze.

Yugito stopped her pursuit, standing in place and turning her head toward the distance. A also stopped; his clothes were covered in dust and a red mark still stained his face, but his attention was entirely focused on the horizon.

Onoki walked out of his room and stood in the doorway, looking up at the distance. The wrinkles on his face deepened as his expression shifted.

Rasa also emerged from his room. He walked to the center of the courtyard, shielding his eyes from the sun with one hand as he squinted in that direction.

Mifune ran over with a few samurai. Having moved swiftly at the sound, he stood in the middle of the street, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, his face grave.

Everyone looked in the exact same direction.

On the distant horizon, two colossal behemoths were locked in a standoff.

One was entirely deep blue, shaped like a human but countless times larger.

It had a head, a torso, and limbs. Its body was clad in thick chakra armor, a Tengu mask covered its face, and massive wings sprouted from its back.

Its form gleamed with a deep blue light under the sun, looking like a giant statue carved from solid ice.

The other was made of wood, equally massive and entirely brown—a giant formed from countless massive logs.

Its body was even larger than the blue one, covered in bark, branches, and leaves. On its chest was a human face with a stern, furious expression.

The two giant figures stood face-to-face, separated by nearly a hundred meters. Neither moved, but the intense atmosphere of their standoff could be felt by everyone in the city, even from such a great distance.

The deep blue colossus raised its hand.

The wooden giant also raised its hand.

Then, two voices boomed from afar.

The voices were incredibly loud, as if amplified by a megaphone, so loud that every single word was crystal clear.

"Madara!"

"Hashirama!"

Standing in the doorway, Taiga looked at the two distant behemoths, his mouth twitching.

He knew something was bound to happen at this Five Kage Summit, but he hadn't expected things to escalate this wildly right off the bat.

Seriously, how did those two even show up, and how did they end up fighting each other?

Thinking this, he cast a glance at Orochimaru.

The latter, at this moment, was also completely dumbfounded.