After fleeing more than ten kilometers away from the arena, Orochimaru finally stopped running.
After dismissing the First and Second Hokage back into their coffins, Orochimaru stood atop a tree, gazing at the chaotic state of Konoha in the distance with a thoughtful expression.
This time, his return to Konoha during the Chunin Exams had never involved many goals, and he had basically completed all of them.
One was planting the Curse Mark on Sasuke and, while he was at it, visiting Anko, who had carried the Heaven Curse Mark for many years. The other was carrying out the Konoha Crush Plan, giving the old man a somewhat dignified ending.
Even as a rogue ninja who betrayed Konoha, he still hoped the village could become stronger and continue producing excellent experimental materials.
Besides, the current Hokage was that idiot Jiraiya. If Jiraiya wanted to secure his Hokage position, he would need the assistance of geniuses like him—such as eliminating every competitor capable of threatening the Hokage seat.
After sighing softly, Orochimaru suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked toward a figure several kilometers away. A playful smile appeared on his face as he remained where he was, quietly waiting for the black dot to approach.
Dozens of seconds later, Jiraiya, dressed in the Hokage battle robe, appeared before Orochimaru. In his hand, he held the Fourth Kazekage—more precisely, the Edo Tensei body of the Fourth Kazekage.
The Fourth Kazekage was one of the Five Kage, but his combat ability was not considered particularly outstanding. He was no match for Jiraiya at all.
However, facing an immortal Fourth Kazekage with the ability to fly had still given Jiraiya a massive headache.
Gamabunta, Gamahiro, and Gamaken had all been summoned one after another, yet they still failed to defeat the Fourth Kazekage. In the end, Jiraiya relied on Fukasaku and Shima Sage and entered Sage Mode to finally suppress him.
Defeating the Fourth Kazekage was a good thing, but a living Kazekage would obviously have been more useful than a dead one. Jiraiya understood that much.
"Orochimaru, you actually killed Kazekage Rasa beforehand!"
Jiraiya placed the sealed Fourth Kazekage down and stared at Orochimaru as he questioned him.
Sensing the lingering Sage Chakra on Jiraiya, Orochimaru felt a bit envious of Jiraiya's talent in senjutsu. Back at the Ninja Academy, Jiraiya had clearly been the dead last, yet his strength had continuously caught up with him—and he had even become Hokage.
Hearing Jiraiya's question, Orochimaru chuckled and said:
"I dealt with the Fourth Kazekage. Isn't that a good thing for Konoha? Without the Kazekage leading them, Sunagakure will lose the ability to remain an independent major power. Eventually, together with the surrounding small nations, it will become Konoha's largest vassal state."
"That's Danzo's plan, not mine. Still, you do owe me a favor this time."
Jiraiya shook his head lightly. His own idea had been to capture the Kazekage alive and turn Sunagakure into Konoha's most important ally, rather than shattering Sunagakure into loose sand and forcing Konoha to face pressure from Iwagakure and Kumogakure alone.
Still, Orochimaru's proposal had indeed moved him a little.
If Sunagakure truly became a de facto vassal state, the long-term benefits for Konoha would be enormous.
Orochimaru and Sunagakure's joint invasion of Konoha had also, to some extent, solidified Jiraiya's position as Hokage. Ever since becoming Hokage, he had not achieved any particularly impressive accomplishments.
But why would Orochimaru help him? That didn't benefit Orochimaru at all.
Orochimaru saw through Jiraiya's thoughts and said with a smile, "Jiraiya, after becoming Hokage, you've changed a lot. You're becoming more and more like the old man in his later years."
Like the Third Hokage… Jiraiya frowned. That was definitely not a compliment.
When the Third Hokage was young, he had led Konoha into its golden age. But as he grew older, he became increasingly indecisive and foolish, almost dragging Konoha into the abyss.
"I'm nothing like the old man. And if I'm becoming like him, then wouldn't that make you the new Danzo?"
After pondering for a moment, Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru and then said:
"Still, if you're willing to return to the village, I can accept you back in the name of the Hokage—on the condition that you stop those human experiments."
Facing Jiraiya's persistent invitation, Orochimaru gently shook his head.
"Unfortunately, I'm not suited for Konoha's rules and restrictions. Wandering the ninja world suits me better."
"However, even if I can't return to Konoha, we can still cooperate privately. Besides, to congratulate you on becoming the Fifth Hokage, I've also specially prepared a gift for you."
"A gift?" Jiraiya asked suspiciously, confusion filling his eyes.
"Just some insignificant little things, but they'll be very useful for your future path as Hokage…"
Jiraiya's gaze turned dangerous.
"What exactly is this 'gift' you're talking about? Why can't you hand it over personally? Did you attack the village's ninjas again?"
"You'll know once you go back and take a look."
Orochimaru deliberately kept him in suspense before continuing:
"Or do you want to fight me right now? I have more Edo Tensei than just the Fourth Kazekage. Konoha is still under attack from Sunagakure. Are you really sure you want to fight at a time like this?"
Jiraiya's expression changed slightly as he sensed several enormous chakra signatures nearby.
If Orochimaru were alone, he would naturally have confidence in winning. But if additional Edo Tensei were involved, things would become difficult—and the rest of the village was still in crisis.
After a brief silence, Jiraiya said coldly:
"Orochimaru, if you continue threatening Konoha, then even if we used to be friends, I will never let you go."
After saying that, Jiraiya used the Body Flicker Technique and rushed back toward the village.
Watching him leave, Orochimaru's eyes carried a trace of nostalgia as he muttered softly:
"You really are becoming more and more like him… but I hope you'll like the gift I prepared for you. It'll keep you awake at all times."
"After all, once a Hokage becomes arrogant, death isn't far behind."
After Jiraiya left, Kabuto Yakushi emerged from the nearby bushes.
After escaping from Kakashi and the others, he had hurried here to regroup with Orochimaru-sama, but unexpectedly witnessed the conversation between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
"Lord Orochimaru, I didn't expect you'd cooperate with the Hokage. It seems the Third Hokage's death wasn't undeserved."
Orochimaru glanced at his capable assistant Kabuto and casually replied:
"That's not entirely true. Jiraiya didn't know I was attacking the old man… but he'll know very soon."
Kabuto nodded in understanding before asking:
"Lord Orochimaru, what's our next destination?"
Orochimaru glanced at the distant sky absentmindedly and said:
"Of course, we'll be accepting the inheritance Danzo left behind in Konoha. Though most of that inheritance has already been taken over. As for you, I have a special mission."
"Lord Orochimaru, please give your orders."
"Go contact Sasori of the Red Sand, the missing-nin from Sunagakure. Find a way to infiltrate the Akatsuki organization and gather intelligence on them for me."
Join the Akatsuki organization…
Kabuto had heard a little about Akatsuki. It was supposedly a mercenary group active on the black market, but in reality, it was an organization made up of numerous S-rank rogue ninjas. Orochimaru himself had once been one of its members.
The chances of surviving a mission of this level were extremely slim.
But no matter how dangerous the mission was, he would never refuse it. Only by following Orochimaru-sama could he find meaning in his existence and avoid losing his purpose in life once again.
...
Meanwhile—
After several minutes of rushing back, Jiraiya arrived near Konoha. The moment he saw the ruined buildings around him, an inexplicable sense of dread filled his chest, as though some terrible omen had come true.
Suppressing his darkening expression, Jiraiya continued forward and soon found Tsunade among the ruins.
Tsunade's complexion looked terrible. Her pale face carried obvious exhaustion as she directed the encirclement and suppression of the remaining Sunagakure forces. Not far away, Naruto and Shisui sat casually with crossed legs, leisurely watching the scenery like tourists at a festival.
"Tsunade, I just ran into Orochimaru. Did the old man defeat him?"
Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya before shaking her head.
"The teacher is dead. He died at Orochimaru's hands. Orochimaru used Edo Tensei to summon Uncle Hashirama and Tobirama, and together they killed Sarutobi-sensei."
"Orochimaru killed the old man?!"
It felt like a lightning bolt had struck him.
At that moment, Jiraiya finally understood what Orochimaru had meant by "gift."
Orochimaru had killed the Third Hokage and handed the teacher's corpse to him as a congratulatory gift for becoming Hokage.
Orochimaru was completely insane.
Recalling Orochimaru's smiling expression earlier, Jiraiya's face turned utterly livid, and he instantly regretted not attacking Orochimaru on the spot.
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