Takemi asked, "It's you guys, what's up?"

"Hehe, I told them to come together."

Naruto suddenly chuckled, then pulled out a pre-prepared gift box and handed it over.

"Here, Takemi, although sometimes you're a jerk, happy birthday!"

"Happy birthday, Takemi."

All the other rookies also took out their gifts, which made Takemi himself a bit flustered.

He really hadn't expected Naruto to do something like this, but soon he slowly broke into a smile.

"Thank you all."

"So, today is my birthday..."

— — —

"Cough, cough, cough, cough..."

The arrival of the New Year seemed to plunge the entire Ninja World into an indescribable calm.

However, in the Land of Rice Fields, inside Otogakure, Orochimaru, who was flipping through documents, frowned when he heard a cough.

"Is the situation getting worse?"

The coughing sound naturally came from Kimimaro, which also made him feel somewhat annoyed.

Last time, he wanted to find Tsunade to see if Kimimaro's problem could be solved, but he didn't expect to encounter Jiraiya.

Such bad luck truly annoyed him, especially when he thought of Danzo, which made his gaze turn dangerous.

He basically concluded that as long as he had gone to Amegakure, Danzo would definitely give his intelligence to Jiraiya.

"He might even give Jiraiya's intelligence to me, leaving Jiraiya empty-handed, and he would gain credit for intelligence due to my appearance, tsk tsk..."

One could only say that he was indeed someone who almost became Hokage, some tricks couldn't escape his eyes.

"But considering you pay quite diligently, I'll let it slide this time."

Orochimaru glanced at his brand new laboratory and finally decided not to bother Danzo for now.

Danzo could still be used, and he was also a 'major shareholder' of Otogakure. Orochimaru decided to leave it at that for now.

But he had already noted this down!

"It's just that Kimimaro's problem is a bit troublesome."

Standing up, he walked to Kimimaro's side, which immediately made Kimimaro try to stand up.

"Orochimaru-sama..."

"Don't move, just sit."

Orochimaru pressed Kimimaro down with one hand, then began to carefully examine the situation within Kimimaro's body.

"Is it getting worse?"

Feeling the uncontrolled, wildly erupting Yang Release Chakra within Kimimaro, Orochimaru had a headache.

This power was strong, but the stronger it was, the more fatal.

He had considered, just like when dealing with Hashirama cells, using the Sharingan to neutralize the problem to solve Kimimaro's difficulty.

"The key is that it seems impossible to find something suitable to match it, and this power is getting stronger and devouring more intensely. If this continues..."

Orochimaru basically sentenced Kimimaro to death. He probably wouldn't live more than one or two years.

This somewhat depressed him. This was a vessel he had meticulously cultivated, yet it was going to be ruined by a so-called Kekkei Genkai disease?

"What a pity. If you could grow up, perhaps you could deal with Jiraiya's new disciple."

Orochimaru sighed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about such a matter.

And thinking of Jiraiya's 'new disciple', he also felt somewhat unenthusiastic, that kid was truly not simple.

He actually defeated the Fourth Raikage, even severing his arm!

"Flying Thunder God Technique, Sage Mode, tsk tsk, truly an extraordinary kid, especially Sage Mode. This technique requires an unusual amount of Chakra, and he actually..."

Orochimaru subconsciously licked his lips, then suddenly thought of something.

"A lot of Chakra?"

He lowered his head to look at Kimimaro, feeling the Chakra constantly devouring life within Kimimaro's body, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

"Perhaps, my approach was wrong. Perhaps, I can try some other methods?"

Since this Chakra was absorbing so fiercely, why not try to follow its absorption?

Why not see what it would be like when it devoured everything in the end?

Although this would likely kill Kimimaro, it had already reached this point, and Kimimaro only had one or two years left to live.

So, why not take a gamble and try?

"Besides, something that matches this power is hard to find, but powerful Chakra without an owner can still be found..."

As Orochimaru was deep in thought, in the Land of Rain, Yahiko, who had been completely repaired by the Naraka Path, glanced at the phantom in front of him, then spoke indifferently.

"Since everyone is here, let's begin..."

"Tch, what kind of troublesome thing is it this time?"

On the palm of the Gedo Statue, Hidan's phantom was as talkative as ever. However, he glanced at Pain, then grinned.

"Also, I heard you guys lost, tsk tsk, you went to ambush someone and still lost?"

Hidan's words made Kisame raise his eyebrows, while Itachi and Pain remained as calm as usual.

Because the two of them knew very well what kind of mental state Hidan was in.

Instead of paying attention to this lunatic, it's better to consider other things.

"This mission failed because of some unexpected events that led to our premature exposure, and we also underestimated Takemi's abilities."

Pain spoke indifferently, his body completely restored through the Naraka Path, he said coolly.

"However, we did achieve our predetermined goal, but we still need to be careful. Now is not the time to confront Konoha."

"Tch."

Upon hearing this, Hidan pursed his lips. He wanted to say that they were still so arrogant after losing.

But thinking about it carefully, he seemed to have lost too, so he simply shut up.

"Besides this matter, we also need to continue carrying out missions to distract Konoha, and we also need new members."

Seeing that no one was speaking, Pain simply continued.

"Deidara's mission failed, and our personnel are still incomplete. If there's anyone worth recommending and recruiting, I hope you can provide some suggestions."

Not having enough powerful ninja greatly affects the execution of future missions.

Nagato was very clear about this point, but he hadn't yet decided who exactly to recruit.

There were many rogue ninja in the Ninja World, but honestly, there weren't that many powerful rogue ninja who met their standards.

Of course, to him, it was all pretty much the same, but he also needed to consider and be responsible for their actions.

"There are no recommendations for now, but there are people who can be considered."

Black Zetsu being in charge of intelligence, spoke after thinking.

"Many ninja have defected from Kirigakure, and quite a few of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen have also defected. Perhaps we can start with them."

"Furthermore, there are some deeply hidden and capable individuals, including Konoha rogue ninja."

"These people might all be potential recruits."

Konoha rogue ninja?

Upon hearing this, Pain glanced at Itachi , and at the same time, he thought of Orochimaru and Obito.

He suddenly realized that the defection rate of Konoha ninja was really quite high.

"I'll leave the assessment to you. You'll be responsible for determining who is suitable, and we will recruit them."

"No problem."

Black Zetsu nodded. Pain didn't dwell on it and looked at Kakuzu and Sasori.

"How are you two recovering?"

"Although I've mostly recovered, I'm still lacking some key materials."

Seeing Pain look at him, Kakuzu spoke after thinking for a moment, "I need to find a suitable, powerful ninja with Wind chakra nature. This isn't easy, so it will take time for me to fully recover."

"Wind Chakra nature?"

Upon hearing this, Sasori turned his head and glanced at Kakuzu.