"Sorry, Minato. You only just took office, and the people in my clan are already impatient to make trouble for you…"
"No. If we are talking about responsibility, then I also have to bear some blame for the current situation. During the negotiations, I failed to take a strong enough stance and exchange Shisui and Hyuga Makoto back."
Looking at Minato Namikaze's serious expression, which did not seem fake at all, Fugaku Uchiha shook his head with a bitter smile and said self-mockingly,
"If you put it that way, then as the clan head who watched Shisui get taken away, I'm the one who should bear the most responsibility, Minato… We both fought Rei Kaguya and lost. There's no need to be this polite with each other anymore, right?"
"We still have to be mindful of it."
Minato shook his head, thanked Mikoto Uchiha as she served tea beside him, then said,
"After all, this problem cannot be solved in a short time. If we cannot properly soothe the emotions of the various factions inside the village, it will be bad if outside enemies seize the opportunity."
"Yes. But some people just do not understand that."
Fugaku stared at the green tea in front of him and said in a low mood,
"In truth, the hawks also know it is impossible for us to take Shisui back by ourselves. But they have to put on a tough posture to maintain their position inside the clan. They even went so far as to use the Military Police Force's privileges to arrest members of the Hyuga clan whose opinions differed from the hawks."
"The current situation is already bad enough. Instead of trying to draw closer to the Hyuga clan, who are facing the same trouble as us, they pushed the Hyuga even deeper into conflict with us…"
"What about the clan members whose attitudes are not so hardline? Can you not rely on their voices?" Minato looked at Fugaku and asked in a deep voice.
"Impossible. Although the clansmen outside the hawkish faction do not appear as hardline on the surface, in reality, they absolutely cannot accept the Sharingan falling into another village's hands either. The Uchiha are proud. At most, they will stay silent. But they will never voice any agreement with abandoning Shisui."
"Then I can only trouble you to pay more attention to the Police Force, Fugaku. Do not let them continue abusing their authority like this."
Minato stood up with a sigh, his expression heavy.
"There are already many people in the village who are dissatisfied with the fact that the Konoha Military Police Force has become the Uchiha clan's private territory. If they are allowed to keep abusing their authority just to make their stance clear, Fugaku, even with the good relationship between us, I will still be able to make the decision to disband the Police Force."
"I'll do my best."
Fugaku, whose own stance was not that firm to begin with, sat on the sofa and responded with a complicated expression.
"Sorry to disturb you, Fugaku, Mikoto."
Minato nodded to Fugaku and Mikoto, then turned and walked toward the door.
But before he could leave Fugaku's living room, he and Fugaku, who was sitting on the sofa, both froze in place.
The reason was simple.
At that very moment, the Yamanaka clan Anbu beside Hiruzen Sarutobi was using the Mind Transmission Technique to pass a message to every shinobi in the village at special jonin rank and above.
Orochimaru had defected.
"Orochimaru… defected???"
Minato's expression went blank for a moment.
Before coming to the Uchiha clan compound to visit Fugaku, he had already thought of Orochimaru, the person in the village closest to Danzo Shimura, because of the troublesome figure Shikaku Nara had mentioned.
But no matter what, he had never imagined that even with the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, personally stepping forward to resolve the problem, Orochimaru would still be forced to the point of defection.
That was one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha.
The personal disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The jonin who had completed the most high-difficulty missions in the village.
Orochimaru.
For something like this to happen at such a sensitive and troublesome time, Konoha, which had only just stabilized a little with great difficulty, would soon fall back into surging undercurrents again, wouldn't it?
After exchanging a glance with Fugaku and confirming that the voice they had just heard in their minds was not an auditory hallucination, Minato immediately said,
"I'll leave the Uchiha clan's defense and mobilization to you, Fugaku. I have to return immediately."
"When you formulate the specific pursuit plan, be sure to include the strength of our Uchiha clan."
"Of course."
Minato instantly vanished from Fugaku and Mikoto's sight with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Fugaku also swept away his earlier dispirited and depressed expression. After quickly changing into his jonin uniform, he began summoning the jonin inside the Uchiha clan compound who could be deployed.
…
While the entirety of Konoha was thrown into agitation by the earth-shattering news of Orochimaru's defection, Orochimaru himself did the opposite of what one might expect.
He quietly returned to one of his less-public laboratories and began methodically organizing the various research materials he had accumulated over the years.
Orochimaru was not worried about whether he could escape Konoha safely.
After spending so many years as a shinobi of Konoha under the title of one of the Sannin, the escape routes Orochimaru had mastered were absolutely not something that could be blocked off with a simple order to seal the whole village.
Even if the Third Hokage and possibly Jiraiya were chasing him from behind, he was fully confident that he could escape.
The only thing he needed to think about was which retreat path he should choose after leaving the village.
"If I want to build my own shinobi village, I should head north… If I want to hide my identity for the time being and observe the situation, I should go south… If I want to seize the government of a small country and operate in the shadows, I should go west… If I want to chase my dream, I should head east… Hehehehe. Which one should I choose?"
As he sealed his treasured data into scrolls, Orochimaru analyzed the benefits and drawbacks brought by each retreat path in his mind.
Only after packing away every valuable item in the laboratory and stuffing them all into the belly of a summoned giant snake did he lightly tap his palm and make his final decision.
"As expected, I should first establish my own village… Going to meet a collaborator as a stray dog who lost his home would be far too disgraceful. Although the leader of a village cannot call himself a Kage, at least I will not become a complete subordinate the moment we meet."
After making his decision, Orochimaru used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough on his laboratory.
After watching the raging wind ruin all kinds of equipment in the laboratory until nothing remained in proper shape, he pushed open the laboratory door, ready to leave this village that could no longer contain him.
Then he temporarily stopped because of the girl standing in front of the laboratory door, crying until her face was covered in tears.
"O-Orochimaru-sama…"
Mitarashi Anko raised her head with tear-blurred eyes.
Facing Orochimaru's cold gaze, she choked out in a muddled voice,
"The people outside said… you defected. They said you are a terrible person who betrayed the village…"
"I… I didn't believe it. So I came here and waited for you. I thought that if you had not betrayed the village, then today or tomorrow, you would eventually come back to check on your experiments…"
"I… I waited long enough to see you… That's great…"
Looking at the only disciple he had accepted in Konoha, Orochimaru narrowed his golden vertical pupils, which were even colder and more ruthless than a snake's, and said indifferently,
"Oh? Anko, did you come here to wait for me because you believed I had not defected?"
"N-No. No…"
Mitarashi Anko shook her head hard.
Tears and snot flowed everywhere because of the movement, but her voice became much firmer than before.
"I came… to find you, Orochimaru-sama…"
"I just wanted to know… to you, do I still have any value or meaning?"
"If I still have even a little value that can be used… can you please not leave me alone?"
"What a clever way to put it, Anko."
Orochimaru bent down, pinched Anko's tear-stained chin, and stared into her eyes as he asked,
"You still decide to be loyal to me, correct?"
Mitarashi Anko stopped sobbing and nodded hard.
"Then I will give you a mission."
"Before anyone has noticed you, leave the village. Head east. Keep going until you reach that small country known as the Land of Waves. Help me meet the man who claimed he was willing to give me a place to stay."
"Use your fastest speed. Go there with everything you have. If you can meet that man, then to me, you still have value worth using. Do you understand?"
"The Land of Waves…?"
Mitarashi Anko sniffed, then nodded hard.
"I will definitely reach that place and help you meet that person, Orochimaru-sama."
"Very good… Then let me pay part of the mission reward to you in advance."
After speaking, Orochimaru's neck suddenly stretched.
Before Mitarashi Anko could react, he left a scorching wound in the shape of three tomoe on her neck.
"Oro… chi… maru… sama… It's so hot… It hurts…"
Mitarashi Anko clutched the wound and collapsed to her knees.
While desperately enduring the pain brought by Orochimaru's gift, she spoke to him in broken fragments.
"Take my token and go meet Rei Kaguya."
Orochimaru coldly left Mitarashi Anko behind.
He allowed the girl to roll across the cold ground behind him, trembling and convulsing like a pitiful small animal whose arteries had been filled with venom.
"Meet him alive, and you will have the qualification to continue staying by my side… If you die under the incomplete Cursed Seal of Heaven, then let Konoha write your name on the Memorial Stone as a hero who resisted the rogue ninja Orochimaru."
"Either outcome is better than slowly rotting beside a decaying old man while suffering the prejudice and abuse of others."