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Danzō’s face darkened. He had just been mocked by Shin.
“Even if Minato Namikaze dies, you still won’t become Hokage.” Shin said, ignoring Danzō’s expression.
Wasn’t that what happened in the original story? After Minato died, Hiruzen became Hokage again. Danzō still couldn’t become Hokage.
“And you said you’ll pay 3 billion ryō. Do you even have that much money, Danzō?”
3 billion ryō was a huge sum. Root was already expensive to maintain, and it relied on Hiruzen’s funding. Where would Danzō get that kind of money?
“As long as I become Hokage, I’ll be able to pay.” If he became Hokage, he could squeeze out the money.
“…..”
“Then it seems there’s no deal.”
Shin turned to leave. Danzō couldn’t become Hokage, so he couldn’t pay. And even if Danzō could pay, Shin wouldn’t necessarily help him. Shin wasn’t short on money.
Money was useless to him. With his strength, he could get as much money as he wanted.
Danzō watched him leave, his face grim.
“I thought it was something important, but it turned out to be this.” Shin said after leaving the Root base. He was disappointed.
He decided to stay in Konoha for a few days before returning to the Land of Whirlpools.
——
Two days later, something major happened in Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi led the Anbu to arrest Orochimaru.
Hiruzen had found concrete evidence that the missing villagers were indeed related to Orochimaru.
And after tracking him down, they found the base where Orochimaru was conducting his experiments. Hiruzen’s eyes were filled with rage as he looked at the villagers and children who had been captured and experimented on.
“Sensei, you found me.” Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen and the Anbu, his expression calm. He had expected this.
“Orochimaru, I can’t believe you did this. You harmed the villagers.”
Hiruzen was furious. His most prized student had fallen so far.
He wanted to give Orochimaru a chance to redeem himself, but there was no going back. Human experimentation was a taboo; Orochimaru was beyond redemption.
“Since you’ve found me, there’s nothing left to say. Are you going to kill your own student, sensei?”
Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen. Although he appeared unconcerned, he was actually wary of Hiruzen.
He had to admit he wasn’t a match for his teacher.
Hiruzen wasn’t the old man he would become in the future. He was still at his peak. Even two Orochimarus wouldn’t be enough to defeat him.
“Even if it’s you, I have to stop you.”
Hiruzen summoned Enma. He was serious.
“Hiruzen, what’s going on?” Enma asked, sensing the tension.
“Orochimaru conducted forbidden experiments and harmed Konoha’s villagers. He’s a traitor now,” Hiruzen said with a heavy heart.
Enma looked at Orochimaru seriously. “Don’t hold back, Hiruzen. If he escapes, there will be trouble. Don’t let your feelings for him cloud your judgment.”
Hiruzen nodded and had Enma transform into his staff.
“Sensei, do you think I haven’t prepared for this?” Orochimaru said with a sinister smile.
“Orochimaru, if you surrender, I…”
“Don’t bother, Sensei. Even if I surrender, Konoha won’t let me off.” Orochimaru knew that even if he survived, he would be imprisoned for life.
“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands—!”
Orochimaru unleashed countless snakes towards Hiruzen. The Anbu were also blocked by the snakes.
After blocking Hiruzen, Orochimaru didn’t linger and escaped through a secret passage.
“Fire Style — Great Fireball Technique!”
After Orochimaru escaped, Hiruzen used Fire Release to eliminate the snakes.
Animals were afraid of fire, especially snakes. Hiruzen’s Great Fireball Technique incinerated a large number of snakes, and the rest fled.
“Pursue Orochimaru! And spread the word! Orochimaru is now an S-rank missing-nin!” Hiruzen ordered the Anbu.
After everyone left, Enma transformed back into his monkey form and asked Hiruzen, “Did you deliberately let Orochimaru escape?”
As Hiruzen’s partner, Enma knew Hiruzen’s strength. If Hiruzen had tried his best, Orochimaru wouldn’t have been able to escape.
Hiruzen was silent for a moment. He didn’t deny it.
If he had attacked with his full strength, he might not have been able to capture Orochimaru, but he wouldn’t have let Orochimaru escape so easily.
“He’s my student after all.” Hiruzen said after a long silence.
“Hmph, I knew he wasn’t a good person. You’ll regret letting him go.”
Enma returned to the summoning realm. He seemed to be disappointed in Hiruzen’s soft-heartedness.
“Regret?” Hiruzen sighed. He didn’t regret it now. As for the future, he didn’t know.
——
The Anbu pursued Orochimaru, but they couldn’t catch him. Instead, several of them were killed by Orochimaru.
Now that he was a missing-nin, Orochimaru didn’t hesitate to kill Konoha Shinobi.
Orochimaru successfully defected. By the time Minato and Jiraiya received the news, it was already too late.
“Old man, what happened? Why did Orochimaru defect?” Jiraiya asked Hiruzen angrily.
Although he didn’t approve of some of Orochimaru’s actions, they were still close friends. At least Jiraiya thought so.
“Orochimaru conducted forbidden experiments and harmed Konoha’s villagers,” Hiruzen said with a dark expression.
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