"Orochimaru!"
Everyone present was shocked, looking at the man with the elongated neck!
This man...
Is he really undying or what!
Every time people in the Ninja World thought Orochimaru was dead, even feeling emotional over his passing, or just about to forget him, he would inexplicably reappear, making people realize he was still alive.
"You're still alive!"
Jiraiya's face showed a hint of surprise, and he intentionally started a well-meaning lie: "We have been unable to find any trace of you, thought you might have died in that huge explosion..."
"Thank you then..."
Orochimaru's body bent like a snake, slowly sliding from the window into the ward, swiftly returning to human form. A mysterious smile appeared at the edge of his mouth: "I've been following behind you all, seems like you never really intended to look for me..."
"Hahahaha..."
Jiraiya scratched the back of his head, laughing sheepishly: "The situation was urgent, surely you can understand..."
"It's alright, I can forgive."
The smile at Orochimaru's mouth grew deeper: "Because I've been following behind you, also wanting to see if you would be pursued..."
"You bastard!"
Jiraiya got angry on the spot, immediately showing double standards!
"Alright."
Orochimaru lightly chuckled, not wanting to argue about this with Jiraiya; he came here also with an important message to remind Jiraiya: "According to the intel I've obtained, Akihara Kagura already has another way to obtain the Rinnegan..."
"Between Uchiha Sasuke and Uchiha Itachi, there's a high chance they might both own a pair of Rinnegan. The Rinnegan is the Uchiha Clan's evolution of the Sharingan, but Akihara Kagura doesn't care about this pair, he had already prepared an alternative plan..."
"!!!"
Everyone's face present changed.
If this is the case, what should they do?
"First, control Sasuke..."
Jiraiya proposed a plan.
"You came back too late."
Tsunade's face darkened, her brows furrowed, and her face showed some unconcealable worry: "Jiraiya, shortly after you left Konoha, the entire Root force moved out in full force, to pursue Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Obito. I also sent several squads to support them..."
"..."
Everyone fell silent.
"So it is..."
At this point, Orochimaru couldn't help but squint his eyes: "That little guy, when Jiraiya headed to the Land of Rain, had already initiated his plan, with two plans implemented simultaneously, at least one will succeed..."
"And there's another troubling issue..."
"Among those I sent, there's also Team 7..."
Tsunade's eyes twitched, as if she thought of something terrifying: "If Akihara Kagura's aim also includes the Tailed Beasts..."
Then...
She personally delivered the Nine-Tails into Akihara Kagura's hands!
"The Nine-Tails is the top priority."
Nagato, lying on a hospital bed, softly reminded: "Akihara Kagura would surely want to take the Nine-Tails if he desires to resurrect his war weapon..."
"I will immediately dispatch the four previous Hokage!"
Tsunade planned to get up and leave, speaking sternly: "With the four previous Hokage around, whatever Kagura plans to do..."
"Wait a moment..."
Jiraiya quickly stopped her, mentioning another trouble: "Kagura always claims the four reanimated previous Hokage are under his control. The first thing we need to do is to seal them to prevent them from being manipulated by Kagura to attack us..."
"That's impossible!"
Tsunade quickly shook her head, couldn't believe this situation: "Based on my observation, the past Hokage and Akihara Kagura don't seem to get along well..."
To put it bluntly...
The four previous Hokage never agreed with Akihara Kagura's proposals.
Of course, most of it was due to Akihara Kagura's ideas being too terrifying.
Naturally.
The four previous Hokage didn't often agree with Tsunade's ideas either.
These four previous Hokage possessed far richer governance experience than her or Akihara Kagura, and their policies and proposals were more in line with Konoha's interests.
"I actually believe this..."
Orochimaru slightly smiled, offering an intriguing perspective: "During my collusion with Akihara Kagura, I personally witnessed him reanimating the four Hokage; they couldn't escape his control..."
"!!!"
Everyone present gave Orochimaru a peculiar look.
This guy...
What he said seems odd?
Orochimaru spread his palms, gently reminded Tsunade: "If the four Hokage broke free of Kagura's control, why didn't they disclose our collusion to you?"
"..."
Tsunade fell silent.
Indeed...
Orochimaru got to the key point.
If the past Hokage knew about Akihara Kagura and Orochimaru's collusion, why not tell her, at least keep her on guard about Akihara Kagura...
"Moreover..."
"If nothing unexpected happens..."
Orochimaru glanced at Tsunade, pursued: "Is Akihara Kagura in Konoha claiming that Danzo is still alive, that he always respected Danzo?"
"Yes."
Tsunade nodded.
Jiraiya couldn't help but furrow his brow, speaking in a deep voice: "That guy Danzo has had too deep an impact on Akihara Kagura, which is why he's become like this..."
"Ha..."
Orochimaru let out a sneer, mocking his two old friends: "Since I caused the Konoha collapse incident back then, has anyone seen Danzo?"
"This..."
Tsunade recalled what Akihara Kagura had mentioned about Danzo, explaining in a steady voice: "That guy Danzo colluded with you to kill the old man, which is why he hid away in the Root..."
"Danzo has been dead for a long time."
Orochimaru shook his head, sneering coldly: "The Konoha collapse incident was something orchestrated by me, Shimura Danzo, and Akihara Kagura together!"
"Without the cooperation of Konoha's strongest force, how would I dare have the audacity to launch the Konoha collapse plan! The purpose of the plan was to let Akihara Kagura take the Hokage position!"
"However, mid-way the results of this plan were snatched by Tsunade, and on the night the Konoha collapse incident ended, Danzo was made into a sacrifice to resurrect the old man by Kagura, and the past Hokages were already resurrected that night!"
"I also knew about this..."
Nagato cautiously opened his mouth to supplement: "When Danzo died, the Akatsuki liaison White Zetsu Awei reported this to me..."
"!!!"
Tsunade's eyes widened, taking a deep breath, suppressing the surge of her temper: "This matter... was approved by the higher-ups before Kagura resurrected the past Hokages... The purpose was to prevent you from using the Reanimation Jutsu to control the past Hokages to attack Konoha..."
"That's a lie..."
Orochimaru chuckled lightly, looking at his old friend Tsunade as if she was a naive girl: "In fact, when you were chosen to succeed as Hokage, Kagura had already thought of how not to be affected by you..."
"For this reason..."
"Before you rushed back to Konoha to succeed as Hokage, Kagura had me and Kabuto take Katou Dan, resurrected with the Reanimation Jutsu, to attack you. He even clearly understood the relationship between you and Katou Dan; the purpose of all this was to make you believe one thing..."
"That he must be allowed to use the Reanimation Jutsu to resurrect the past Hokages..."
"Otherwise, I would control the past Hokages to threaten Konoha."
"After you succeeded as Hokage, he pretended to have just resurrected the four past Hokages, beginning to secretly use their identities to control the political situation in Konoha..."
"That bastard!"
Tsunade swung her fist, smashing it into the hospital wall!
Bang!
The entire wall was abruptly broken by a single punch!
However, none of the people present spoke, they merely flinched slightly, understanding the feelings of this Hokage.
All understood...
All understood...
As someone who ascended to the position of Hokage, she was planned to become a puppet even before she succeeded, being led by the nose at every step...
After completely destroying the hospital wall with one punch, Tsunade's mood still couldn't calm down for a long time, recalling when she first met Akihara Kagura...
Back then...
Having just succeeded as Hokage, she thought about how to cooperate with this Hokage Assistant, working together to protect Konoha...
Even after the four Hokages were resurrected to participate in politics, the Hokage Assistant would always support her proposals, even proactively helping her handle troublesome matters that were inconvenient for the Hokage.
At that time...
Tsunade even understood why Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to use Shimura Danzo.
And the result?
The Reanimation Jutsu of the four Hokages was his scheme.
Their involvement in politics was also his scheme.
The decisions made by the four Hokages were still his scheme.
That bastard!
When the four Hokages were resurrected, she thought they would support her, making it easier to govern Konoha, but she was constrained in every way...
"So that's how it is..."
Tsunade stood before the broken wall of the hospital, overlooking the scenery of Konoha, squinting her eyes and speaking in a cold voice: "Before I even stepped into Konoha, I had already fallen step by step into that guy's trap, yet I was completely unaware..."
"Actually, it's not entirely a bad thing, is it?"
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, who seemed on the verge of rage, chuckling lightly to comfort her: "Regardless, at least Kagura did solve many troubles for Konoha while he was there, and Konoha has indeed come as far as it has due to his presence..."
If not for Akihara Kagura, Konoha would just be a fortunate Great Country Hidden Village occupying fertile land, always coveted by other Ninja Villages...
It is due to Akihara Kagura that Konoha has been able to hold its head high, even continuously subduing the Hidden Sand and Hidden Mist Villages, and forcing the Hidden Rock and Hidden Cloud Villages to bow their heads to Konoha...
"I will immediately dispatch the Sealing Squad!"
Tsunade looked at everyone present and spoke in a deep voice: "Dark Department personnel must also be mobilized collectively, first find a way to seal the four previous Hokages, to prevent them from becoming tools for Akihara Kagura to attack Konoha!"
"I quite agree with this suggestion..."
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, smiling as he continued: "The combat power of the four past Hokages, especially the strength of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, is enough to destroy the entire Konoha Village..."
"..."
Tsunade felt her head would explode, but she had to forcefully execute this task first: "Even so, we cannot stand by idly, we cannot keep being led by the nose by Akihara Kagura; we must find a way to first seal the four past Hokages..."
"That won't be easy..."
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade, smiling as he presented his perspective: "To seal them, we must first break the bodies of these Reanimators..."
"Among the four past Hokages, the Second and Fourth Hokages excel in the Flying Thunder God Jutsu. If they want to leave, they can easily escape..."
"But..."
Jiraiya interrupted Orochimaru, stating something advantageous to them: "Moreover, I believe the four past Hokages definitely still want to protect Konoha, Kagura likely hasn't extinguished their wills; I think they will definitely cooperate with us to be sealed..."
"Konan and I can also help..."
Lying on the hospital bed, Nagato voluntarily offered: "Although the Pain Six Paths has been almost completely destroyed by Kagura, I have revived them..."
"Besides..."
"This matter is also a mess we've created..."
Nagato looked at everyone present, voluntarily admitting fault: "If it weren't for our intent to collect the Tailed Beasts to create a war weapon, this matter wouldn't have been exploited by Akihara Kagura..."
"This isn't your fault, Nagato."
Salamander Hanzo wrapped his arms around his shoulders, coldly offering comfort: "If one must speak of it, the reason why you came up with such a thought is also because of the previous Konoha Hokage Assistant Shimura Danzo's threat, who conspired with me to kill Yahiko..."