Orochimaru said he wanted to discuss something with Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Hiruzen Sarutobi became serious.
Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded: "Go ahead, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru told Hiruzen Sarutobi his thoughts.
The core idea of his proposal was that he was willing to exercise self-restraint and accept a certain degree of supervision in exchange for Hiruzen Sarutobi's support for his experiments.
While Orochimaru was speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi turned into a chimney, puffing on his pipe incessantly, which proved that Hiruzen Sarutobi's mood at this moment was not calm.
After Orochimaru finished speaking, the office fell into silence because Hiruzen Sarutobi did not answer immediately and continued to puff on his pipe.
After a while, not knowing if the pipe was finished, Hiruzen Sarutobi put it down and sighed: "Orochimaru, I am very gratified and very happy that you can talk to me so frankly."
It has been so long, and I don't know when it started, but we, master and student, seemed to drift apart, and a rift appeared between us. I had no idea what you were thinking or what you were doing, which made me very worried about you.
Before I answer you, I also have a question I want to ask you. What exactly do you want to achieve by conducting those experiments that can be called taboo?"
Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi and asked: "Teacher, do you remember? When I was small, you accompanied me to my parents' graves to offer flowers. On the way, we happened to encounter a white snake's shed skin. I asked you what it was, and you told me it was a white snake's shed skin. The white snake is a symbol of luck and rebirth, very precious, and finding it here was very lucky."
Hiruzen Sarutobi recalled it for a moment and nodded: "That's right, that did happen. You were very different back then compared to now, and I could feel the warmth in your heart."
Orochimaru replied: "That white snake's skin was the beginning, the starting point of my intellectual expansion. It made me no longer limit myself to the individual. Human life is too short. I want to learn all Ninjutsu, but these few short decades are simply not enough to do so. Everything I am pursuing is just to find a truth within it."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned and asked: "Truth? What truth?"
Orochimaru admitted: "I don't know. If I knew, perhaps I wouldn't be pursuing these things."
Hiruzen Sarutobi pondered for a moment and said: "I can support your proposal, but your research must be conducted without involving the safety of others' lives. The subjects of the experiments cannot be forced; they must be volunteers who accept the experiments willingly. At the same time, if the research you are doing involves any taboos, then it must not be taught to others and must be strictly sealed."
After the war ends, I will prepare to establish a department specifically for scientific research to standardize it, and Orochimaru, you shall be the top leader of this scientific department."
Subsequently, a smile reappeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face: "It's really nice to have this long-lost feeling back. I was very worried about you before, worried that you would walk down a wrong path, but it's good that you've figured it out yourself now."
I am your teacher; if there are problems, we can discuss and solve them together. Next time you encounter these things, don't keep it bottled up alone, understand?"
Orochimaru nodded and agreed: "Okay."
Hiruzen Sarutobi instructed Orochimaru: "Then, go find Danzo in a while. Under the pretext of becoming my Anbu, withdraw from Root immediately. When the next Hokage takes office, it will be time for Root to be rectified. Danzo is my old friend, and I can't bring myself to do it, so I can only let the next Hokage solve this problem."
Orochimaru asked in surprise: "The next Hokage... Teacher, do you already have a candidate? Is it Jiraiya?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said with a smile: "I already have a candidate in mind, but it is not Jiraiya. You also know Jiraiya's temperament; he is not suitable to be Hokage, nor would he be willing to be Hokage. However, Jiraiya's student, Minato, is a good candidate."
Minato has performed very well in this Ninja World war, turning the tide several times in difficult situations and changing the course of the war. At the same time, Minato has inherited the Will of Fire and is willing to sacrifice for the Village and his companions. Almost all the villagers trust Minato.
So in my opinion, Minato becoming Hokage will make him an outstanding leader."
Orochimaru nodded and said: "Jiraiya's student is indeed a good candidate. So when do you plan to have him succeed?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi replied: "Although Minato has a high reputation, he is still very immature when it comes to managing a Village, so he needs to learn properly. Therefore, after the war ends, I will have Minato study by my side, and then when the time is ripe, I will let Minato succeed to the position of Hokage."
And what about you? Orochimaru, how is the assessment of that child, Shen Dai, going? Although this child sometimes talks a bit out of turn, it is undeniable that he is an outstanding child. Shen Dai becoming your student should be qualified enough, right?"
At the thought of Shen Dai, Orochimaru couldn't help but 'tsk', frowning in disgust: "He is indeed qualified, but I still don't want him to be my student right now. He is too noisy."
Hiruzen Sarutobi was stunned for a moment, then burst into laughter.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's laughter made those passing by the Hokage Office somewhat confused.
What made Hiruzen Sarutobi so happy?
Since the war began, they had almost never seen Hiruzen Sarutobi smile; he had always had a very serious expression.
Hiruzen Sarutobi laughed until there were tears in the corners of his eyes, while Orochimaru's expression grew colder and colder.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was laughing so hard he was gasping for breath: "Sorry, sorry, Orochimaru, I really couldn't help it at that look of disgust you just had. He really is something, being able to make you show such an expression besides Jiraiya."
"However, Shen Dai is socially anxious; he only talks a lot with people he has a good relationship with. This is what Minato told me. So, if Shen Dai talks a lot with you, it means Shen Dai feels that he has a good relationship with you. Isn't that quite good? Orochimaru, your personality is too silent; I think it's quite good to have Shen Dai complement you."
Orochimaru didn't want to say anything more to Hiruzen Sarutobi on this issue.
Orochimaru was not resistant to Shen Dai becoming his student, but Shen Dai's mouth made him very resistant.
Therefore, Orochimaru had to weigh the pros and cons carefully. After all, if Shen Dai became his student, the time spent with him wouldn't be just a day or two.
"By the way, Teacher Sarutobi, that kid Shen Dai has some ideas about the Konoha orphanage."
Since he had already reached an agreement with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru could personally tell Hiruzen Sarutobi about those plans of Shen Dai.
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