Sasuke cautiously entered the room where Orochimaru resided.
Once he confirmed no one else was around, he began a frantic search.
"That guy Sumu said Orochimaru possesses a divine artifact of the same ranking as Itachi Uchiha!"
"It must be in this room, it must be..."
"If I can obtain it, I can find Itachi Uchiha and get revenge!"
Far away in the courtyard, Orochimaru was observing everything in the room with his divine sense.
Sasuke's every move was within his sight.
"Alas..."
"I also quite wanted to retrieve that Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword, but I gave it to Sumu back then..."
"The weapons I have now are becoming increasingly unsatisfactory..."
Orochimaru shook his head helplessly and turned to leave, letting Sasuke ransack his room.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
After Sasuke searched every corner of the room, he slumped to the floor in despair.
Not finding the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi sword made him quite distressed.
Originally, it was Orochimaru who had asked him to come and become stronger.
Now, he had come.
Not only did Orochimaru not teach him ninjutsu, but he also made him practice meditation and head-wrapping every day.
Thinking of the deep-seated blood feud he carried, Sasuke's tears began to fall uncontrollably.
"Yo, already crying?"
A muffled voice suddenly came from the side.
Sasuke abruptly raised his head and saw a man wearing a spiral mask looking at him with amusement.
"Who are you?"
Sasuke asked coldly, staring at the man.
The masked man did not answer Sasuke, but sighed as he looked around the environment, "How can a place like this, where not even birds and dung are found, house people?"
"It's truly a hardship to have you come here."
"I'm asking you, answer me!" Sasuke suddenly lunged at the masked man.
The masked man did not dodge, letting Sasuke pass through his body, and then his right hand tightly gripped Sasuke's neck.
"What!" Sasuke looked at the masked man with shock, his breathing suddenly rapid, and a red mark quickly appeared on his neck.
"If you wish to get revenge, perhaps I can help."
A faint laugh came from beneath the mask.
Sasuke stopped struggling, his face filled with confusion, "How do you know I want revenge..."
The masked man slowly loosened his right hand, "What if you knew?"
"If you want revenge, wait for the opportune moment for now. Before that, let me take you somewhere."
Although Sasuke was full of questions, upon hearing that he could get revenge, he decided to follow the masked man and temporarily leave the courtyard.
In a certain underground cave of the Sound Village.
The masked man picked up a torch and led Sasuke into the darkness.
A stench of decay immediately assailed them. Inside the cave, besides bats hanging from the ceiling, rats swarmed the narrow paths on both sides, which was truly rampant.
"What is this place?"
Sasuke asked cautiously, following the masked man.
"This is Orochimaru's former underground experimental base in the Sound Village. Various experimental subjects are held here." The masked man stopped at a fork in the path.
The faint torchlight swept across the surrounding air.
Immediately, Sasuke drew the long sword from his waist in shock.
Countless venomous snakes began to crawl slowly towards them.
"Fire Style..."
"Great Fireball Jutsu..."
The masked man slowly raised two fingers, and the surrounding flames instantly engulfed all the venomous snakes.
Sasuke was stunned. He looked at the masked man's back and seemed to be thinking about something.
"Fire Style..."
"Are you from the Uchiha clan?"
The masked man ignored Sasuke and walked along the right path to a stone door.
The two opened the stone door with a mechanism nearby.
The moment Sasuke stepped into the laboratory, he was utterly dumbfounded.
Countless glass containers were neatly arranged along the walls of the laboratory.
The green liquid inside had not been changed for who knows how long. In the sealed room, the foul, fishy odor in the air became even more pungent.
And in some containers, there were human organs, or even entire bodies were stuffed inside.
From the outside, it was impossible to tell if they were alive or dead.
Seeing Sasuke's unworldly appearance, the masked man let out bursts of laughter.
"How is it? You should feel fortunate. If Orochimaru were still the same as before, you would probably be in one of these containers right now."
"I never thought this guy would turn vegetarian so suddenly. I quite admire him."
"But looking back at his past masterpieces, even I, a pervert, find them perverted."
Sasuke swallowed hard, cold sweat trickling down his forehead, "Then... what's your purpose in bringing me here..."
Seeing Sasuke's bewildered look, the masked man sighed, "Want revenge? Relying on you alone?"
"Itachi Uchiha is now a renowned figure on the ninja world's 'Weapon Rankings'. If you want to make a move against him, you first need to have your own force."
"With your current two-tomoe sharingan, you can't even defeat a dog."
Sasuke clenched his fists in anger, but because what the masked man said was reasonable, he had no excuse to refute.
The masked man inserted the torch he was holding into a rack on the wall.
Then, he turned and stopped in front of a white container.
This container seemed different from the others. The liquid inside was a normal color, but from the outside, there was nothing visible within.
The masked man unlocked the chains at the top of the container and, with a raised finger, broke the outer seal.
The liquid in the container gradually formed the shape of a person.
"The air outside is fresh. I haven't smelled it in a long time..." In a few seconds, a pool of water suddenly transformed into a living person.
He had white hair, purple eyes, and sharp teeth.
When he emerged from the container, he was naked.
"Hozuki clan, Suigetsu."
"He possesses the ability to liquefy any part of his body. In his youth, he was known as a prodigy, a reincarnation of a demon."
"His weakness is a fear of lightning style ninjutsu."
"I believe what I said is correct, right?"
The masked man stroked his chin and looked thoughtfully at Suigetsu.
"Tch..."
Suigetsu glanced at the masked man with disdain and then turned to leave.
"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen are all dead now. I heard their weapons are unclaimed..." The masked man merely said this casually.
Immediately, Suigetsu stopped and turned back, "Where?"
The masked man chuckled, "You're quite like your older brother. However, he seemed more outstanding than you, but he died too early from illness..."
At this moment, a surge of anger ignited within Suigetsu. He pointed at the masked man and said fiercely, "Don't mention that bastard in front of me! He doesn't deserve it at all!"