Naruto: Konoha’s Trickster, Starting as the Seven-Tails Jinchūriki-Chapter 751 - 751: Trouble Again in Sunagakure?

Konan and Yahiko were frozen in shock, unable to snap out of it. Mostly because Kazuyama's behavior was just too erratic.
But once they recovered, both felt a difficult-to-describe admiration rise toward him. This man was truly daring.
Konan followed his words and suddenly understood many things.
"I get it now. No wonder you never let Yugito show herself in public. No wonder Terumi ended up becoming the Mizukage."
"Kazuyama, to me, you're not just powerful—you're a full-blown schemer."
Kazuyama answered Konan's praise with loud laughter.
Konan simply shook her head in resignation. They'd boarded a pirate ship from the very beginning. But thinking about it now, it wasn't so bad. After all, the biggest schemer was on their side.
"I still need to go see my sensei."
"Mm. He's still in that snake pit of his, doing experiments. But thanks to the massive supply of potions he produces, the overall strength of Takigakure and Amegakure's lower-ranked ninja has improved dramatically."
Yahiko and Konan genuinely respected Orochimaru. He really was a scientist—everything he made worked frighteningly well.
Kazuyama soon arrived at Orochimaru's research base.
Kimimaro stood guard at the entrance. When he saw Kazuyama, he immediately bowed slightly.
"Lord Kazuyama, you're here."
"Oh, Kimimaro. How's your body lately? Nothing wrong, I hope?"
Kazuyama smiled at him. He had always held high expectations for the last descendant of the Kaguya clan. A sharpened blade like him deserved attention, which was why Kazuyama had warned Orochimaru about Kimimaro's health long ago.
"My body did have some issues, but they've been resolved."
Kazuyama nodded. Of course they were. He had told Orochimaru ahead of time about the potential illness and even offered several helpful suggestions from the perspective of natural energy. Seeing the Cursed Seal of Heaven on Kimimaro, he understood that Kimimaro's treatment was essentially a matter of suppressing the virus within him using stronger, more efficient energy.
"Hehehe… Kazuyama-kun, you're here."
"The ninja world has been very lively lately, hasn't it?"
Orochimaru kept working on his experiment, but his appearance had changed drastically. He had abandoned his old look in favor of a younger form.
"Tsk tsk, Sensei, you've gotten young again."
"Living Corpse Reincarnation really is something."
Orochimaru's development of forbidden techniques had far surpassed anything in the original story—but then again, he had an excellent student.
Instead of being pleased by the compliment, Orochimaru let out a helpless sigh and reached his right hand backward. His arm shot out suddenly and grabbed Kazuyama's shoulder.
"Kazuyama-kun, after all these years, how much have you stolen from my lab? When will you fix this habit?"
"Aren't you afraid those potions might be unfinished? What if they harm you?"
The moment Kazuyama stepped into the lab, the restless blood in his body began to stir again. After greeting Orochimaru, he had gone straight for the cabinet of potions, picking out bottles left and right.
Caught mid-theft, Kazuyama only offered a sheepish grin and didn't feel the slightest guilt.
"Sensei, without me testing your potions all these years, would they work as well as they do now?"
"Besides, with my current constitution, ordinary poison can't kill me. I'm perfectly safe."
"What's this one for? Looks good. I'll take a few bottles."
He brushed Orochimaru's hand aside and stuffed bottle after bottle into his pockets. Orochimaru was exasperated but didn't stop him.
"Kazuyama-kun, how did you know the Kaguya clan's Shikotsumyaku came with a congenital disorder?"
"If not for the complete Cursed Seal of Heaven combined with medicinal suppression, Kimimaro would probably be sick by now."
"I must say, natural energy has enormous untapped potential in healing."
Seeing Orochimaru's excited expression, Kazuyama shook his head. His sensei always became like this when encountering new knowledge. He was used to it.
As for Kimimaro—how could he not know?
"I discovered it after practicing Senjutsu. In Sage Mode, when communicating with natural energy, perception becomes vastly sharper."
"And I could sense the unusual qualities of natural energy. That's how I detected Kimimaro's condition."
"Looks like I ended up doing something good."
Orochimaru saw nothing strange in his explanation. His own research also confirmed natural energy had strong restorative properties—he himself had used natural energy to treat Kimimaro.
"The Five Kage Summit is happening?"
"Yes."
"What do you need me to do?"
Orochimaru got straight to the point. No need for master and student to tiptoe around.
"Just join Takigakure's delegation."
"Takigakure will handle everything involving Konoha. You don't need to worry."
"You know my identity already, Sensei. If this battle fails, you'll lose your excellent student."
Orochimaru had long known Kazuyama was a Jinchūriki. So he fully understood the danger posed by Akatsukigakure capturing Jinchūriki and tailed beasts.
"Understood. I'll move with Takigakure's forces."
"And one more thing, Sensei. Unless it's absolutely critical in the war, don't use Impure World Reincarnation."
Orochimaru froze. Why not let him use it? He'd spent years developing that technique.
"If you don't mind being chased around by Jiraiya, Tsunade, or even Hiruzen, then go ahead and use it."
"But we're allies now. There's no need for that kind of jutsu. What if something goes wrong?"
Just imagining his two fellow Sannin plus his former teacher made Orochimaru's head hurt. Jiraiya had never stopped looking for him all these years. A troublesome man indeed.
"…Fine. I get it."
"But you'd better help me shake those pests off when the time comes."
"I've finally had peace for years. I don't want them showing up to ruin it."
Kazuyama agreed, then returned to Konoha.
As soon as he landed, he saw Gaara and his two companions, along with Michihito and Senko. The moment they saw him, they hurried over.
"Sensei, something's happened in Sunagakure."
"What?"
Something happened in Sunagakure? What could've gone wrong? And wasn't Shukaku, the most important guardian, standing right in front of him?