Three days passed quietly.
At night, two dark figures stood above Mount Hokage, looking down at the village of Konoha with cold expressions. One was wearing a black robe with bizarre, swirling patterns, and the other was adorned with a white crescent moon emblem.
They were no longer Konoha ninjas, but… Phantom God! Moon God!
Inside Orochimaru’s experimental base, all the expensive equipment and research materials had been cleared out, leaving behind only a large amount of useless drafts to mislead the eye.
Orochimaru picked up the VIP card for Heaven's Hot Spring from the table, then, without a second glance, detonated his laboratory!
With a deafening roar, a section of the dark Konoha village was engulfed in flames. The violent explosion shattered the peaceful dreams of countless people in the night, including Hiruzen Sarutobi!
“What happened!”
Upon waking, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of dread. His brow furrowed, and he didn’t hesitate to put on his battle attire, leap onto the rooftops, and rush towards the blaze.
He had a bad feeling about this!
Meanwhile, in the secret room of the Hokage building where the Forbidden Scroll was kept, two guards clutched their throats and fell to the ground. One of them grabbed Orochimaru’s trouser leg, saying with unwillingness, “Orochimaru! We are Danzo-sama’s subordinates, how dare you…”
With a crisp snap!
Orochimaru ignored the splattering fluid on his pants, dispelled the seal on the door, and soon emerged holding a massive scroll. His figure then vanished from the spot.
A short while later, alarm bells began to ring.
“Enemy attack! Enemy attack!”
“The Forbidden Scroll has been stolen!”
“The thief is suspected to be one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru!”
The explosion of Orochimaru’s experimental base and the intrusion into the Hokage building made it difficult not to link the two events.
Minato Namikaze, putting on his Hokage robe, rushed from his home to the scene overnight. Looking at the bodies of the two ninjas on the ground, he gravely addressed the surrounding ninjas, “Notify the barrier personnel to strictly guard against suspicious individuals entering and exiting. Inform all ninja departments to form teams and search the entire village.”
“Be warned, the intruder can easily break the seal I set, their strength is immense. If found, immediately transmit a signal!”
“And! Designate Orochimaru as the primary suspect!”
“Yes!”
The ninjas who arrived dispersed, including Kakashi and Might Guy.
“Minato! What happened? I heard on the way here that Orochimaru’s laboratory exploded. How is he now?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi, arriving slightly late, landed beside Minato, his voice filled with worry and fear. He dreaded hearing a disappointing answer!
Minato Namikaze said, “Third Hokage-sama, the Forbidden Scroll has been stolen, and two guards were murdered. As for the suspect… the possibility of it being Orochimaru is very high!”
Minato felt a pang of guilt. What ‘possibility is very high’? He had learned from Senior Lin Yu a few days ago that Orochimaru was planning to defect.
Although surprised at the time, he had agreed to the proposal for the sake of the village’s stability. Moreover, Minato was not an old fuddy-duddy. When he learned from Lin Yu that Orochimaru could invent many “new technologies,” his eyes lit up!
Such talent was too constrained in Konoha Village; it was a waste. It was better to let Senior Lin Yu tinker with him!
Then he would only be responsible for promotion and reception, and at that time, Konoha Village would surely be more prosperous!
As for whether he would be ripped off by Lin Yu, that was not within his consideration. If it were Jiraiya, he would seriously consider it!
“What! This is impossible! How could Orochimaru do something like this! I don’t believe it!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s eyes widened in disbelief that Orochimaru would betray the village.
“No! I have to see it for myself!”
Before Minato could stop him, Hiruzen Sarutobi disappeared from his sight with a few leaps.
Minato rubbed his forehead in exasperation, “It seems I can only hope Senior Lin Yu doesn’t make too much of a mess, otherwise, it will be difficult for me to clean up.”
“What a headache!”
The scene shifted. Orochimaru, holding the Forbidden Scroll, was cornered by Konoha ninjas at the entrance to the Forest of Death’s barrier. Seeing more and more ninjas gathering around him, Orochimaru maintained a calm exterior, but cursed Lin Yu inwardly.
Why didn’t I just take the Forbidden Scroll directly? I had to copy the contents, wasn’t that unnecessary?
It led to him being discovered by Konoha ninjas while copying, and he couldn’t even break through the barrier yet!
However, this was also within Orochimaru’s expectations. He had intended to be discovered by the Konoha ninjas. If he didn’t have the Eternal Organization to back him up, Orochimaru might have fled in secret, but now that he had a safety net, Orochimaru wanted to defect openly!
An older Jonin stepped forward and addressed Orochimaru, “Orochimaru! Why are you doing this! Do you know that your actions are no different from betraying the village!”
“I am merely pursuing my own path.”
Although Orochimaru didn’t recognize the person, he still answered, as waiting was boring anyway.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
More ninjas arrived successively after seeing the signal. Kakashi, wearing an ANBU mask, landed on a tree branch, standing guard with the surrounding ANBU to prevent Orochimaru from escaping.
“Orochimaru, surrender! You’re not getting away today!”
“Orochimaru, hand over the Forbidden Scroll!”
“Orochimaru, we’re waiting for Konoha ninja reinforcements, what are you waiting for?” Among the shouting ninjas, a sallow-faced Chunin, seeing a figure descend, provocatively shouted at Orochimaru.
Just as Orochimaru was about to reply, he was roared at by the newly arrived Hiruzen Sarutobi, “Orochimaru! Do you know what you’re doing?! Come back with me immediately, hand over the Forbidden Scroll to Minato, and confess to the dead ninjas! Strive for a lighter punishment!”
The moment he saw Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s heart ached. It was truly his disciple, Orochimaru, who was betraying the village!
Orochimaru’s golden vertical pupils flickered, and he said softly, “Teacher Hiruzen, you are old. You don’t understand my pursuit. Konoha is just an obstacle to me, limiting my development.”
“What nonsense are you talking about! If you have something you want to do, you can discuss it with me!” Hiruzen Sarutobi said heartbrokenly.
“What if I wanted to conduct human experimentation with the First Hokage’s cells? Would you agree then?”
Hiruzen Sarutobi’s heart sank to the bottom. He trembled and said, “What did you say? You want to conduct human experimentation? Do you know what you’re saying! Orochimaru!”
“I have thought very clearly, Teacher Hiruzen.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and said, “You are making an enemy of Konoha! Are you sure you can leave safely?!”
Orochimaru shook his head, “I don’t know, but we’ll find out by trying!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to try and persuade him further, but was interrupted by the surrounding ninjas, “Third Hokage-sama, why are you wasting so much time talking to him? He killed our village’s ninjas, and he must pay with his life!”
“Yes, that’s right! Orochimaru has already defected, we don’t need to show him any mercy anymore!”
“Let’s capture him first. The Forbidden Scroll must not be lost!”
Facing the indignant shouts of the many ninjas, Hiruzen Sarutobi, the retired Hokage, had no reason to stop them, so he said, “Capture him first and retrieve the Forbidden Scroll. Do not harm him, there might be another reason!”
Hiruzen Sarutobi truly appreciated Orochimaru as his disciple, and even at this point, he was speaking for him.
“Haha, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time! Everyone, attack together!”
In an instant, dozens of ninjas eager to capture Orochimaru for credit rushed forward impatiently. In their eyes, Orochimaru, surrounded by hundreds of Konoha ninjas, had no chance of escape!
Just as Orochimaru’s pupils turned cold and he was about to deal with these ants, his gaze swept over two figures leaping through the air. A cold smirk appeared on his lips, he hadn’t expected them to be acquaintances.
“Retreat!”
A powerful repulsive force crushed the dozens of Konoha ninjas, instantly sending them flying back the way they came, with an added bonus of broken ribs.
Puff puff puff!
Blood splattered on the ground.
Two figures in black robes landed in front of Orochimaru, confronting the Konoha ninjas. Orochimaru took a step forward and sneered, “Hehehe, didn’t someone ask who we were just now? I’ve been waiting for them!”
“The Eternal Organization!”