"Orochimaru... will he attack the Village?"
Jiraiya was a bit dazed; he really couldn't imagine his former best friend breaking through the gates of Konoha Village and carrying out a massacre inside.
This was a scene he simply could not envision.
"Could he have allied with another Ninja Village?"
Nara Shikaku suddenly spoke up.
His words immediately drew everyone's attention.
That's right!
Orochimaru alone might lack the strength, but if he brought in other Ninja Villages, he would certainly have enough power.
"Which Village would it be? Kumogakure? Iwagakure?"
"Those lunatics from Kumogakure have been watching us like hawks since their defeat, sending wave after wave of spies into the Village."
"That old fellow Ōnoki hasn't stopped coveting the Land of Fire's territory for even a moment."
"If anyone were to ally with Orochimaru to attack Konoha, it would definitely be one of those two!"
Homura Mitokado analyzed meticulously, his aged face furrowed with a frown.
At this point, the group was no longer thinking about whether Orochimaru would actually attack Konoha.
Their minds were filled with questions: Who would Orochimaru invade with?
Which Village's bastards were the most likely candidates?
How should they defend to minimize the risk when the time comes?
Should they strike first and crush that ungrateful bastard?
After all, Konoha was too important; no one wanted it to be in even the slightest danger.
While everyone was discussing animatedly, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly spoke:
"Alright! Stop arguing for a moment."
"If you have any ideas, we can discuss them slowly in a meeting later. The priority right now is to answer the questions properly."
"Besides, didn't it say that answering all five questions correctly allows for a wish? We can just wish to see Orochimaru's thoughts then, can't we?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's words reminded everyone, making their eyes light up.
"But, how should we answer?"
Kakashi Hatake asked.
This question plunged everyone back into deep thought.
Would Orochimaru really come to attack Konoha Village?
"I don't think so; Orochimaru isn't that kind of person."
Jiraiya spoke again, but this time his tone lacked the previous conviction.
His face wore a hesitant expression; forcing himself to speak was merely to comfort himself.
"Lords, please listen to me first."
At the critical moment, Nara Shikaku finally stepped forward.
This strategic Ninja, currently the most intelligent in Konoha Village, said:
"Based on the experience of the last three questions, I believe the questions are never without reason."
"Whenever a yes-or-no question appears, it must be because both outcomes are possible for it to become a question."
"Questions about things that definitely will or definitely won't happen have never appeared."
"Therefore, by deduction, Orochimaru must have the possibility of attacking Konoha. As for why he would have such a thought..."
"I hope the Previous Hokage, Lord Jiraiya, and Lady Tsunade—the three people most familiar with Orochimaru—can share their respective thoughts."
After Shikaku finished, he turned his gaze toward the three people he had just mentioned.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's entire face was hidden in smoke, making it hard to see clearly.
Jiraiya's face was a mix of complex emotions.
Tsunade, however, seemed to remember something and let out a cold laugh.
"No, I can't think of any reason why Orochimaru would want to attack the Village."
Jiraiya shook his head.
"Humph! Stop deceiving yourself, Jiraiya."
Tsunade suddenly spoke mockingly, giving a disdainful sneer:
"That guy Orochimaru has always harbored a grudge against the Village; don't you know that yet?"
"Back when the Fourth Hokage was being selected, wasn't that guy a popular candidate?"
"But at the critical moment, someone reported him for conducting human experiments, leading the Old Man to take men to arrest him."
"Although he eventually escaped, running for Hokage became impossible, and he was branded a Rogue Ninja."
"Isn't that reason enough?"
As soon as Tsunade finished speaking, everyone's eyes turned to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The Old Monkey's face showed bitterness as he couldn't help but recall the scene from back then.
It was the end of the Third Great Ninja War. The war had left everyone exhausted, and the Five Great Nations were barely holding on, competing to see who would collapse first so they could all pounce and feast on the remains.
At that time, there were occasional cases of missing villagers, but the investigations always ended in dead ends, becoming cold cases.
Later on, it wasn't just ordinary villagers disappearing; many Ninjas went missing as well.
This caught the attention of Konoha's high-ranking officials, who mobilized significant resources to find out what was happening.
Until one day, Hiruzen Sarutobi received intelligence that his disciple, Orochimaru, had a hidden laboratory in a corner of the Village, filled with the corpses of villagers and Ninjas.
Those corpses were exactly the people who had been reported missing.
In an instant, rage swept through Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind.
He couldn't imagine that the disciple he had painstakingly taught had become a demon who harmed his own kin.
Making a split-second decision, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the Anbu in a raid on that laboratory, catching Orochimaru in the act of experimenting.
The bloody scene and the experimental subjects still wailing on the operating tables made Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes nearly burst with fury!
On the spot, he wanted to strike down this disciple who had chilled his heart with a single blow of his staff.
With his strength at the time, Orochimaru was no match for him.
But in the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't bring himself to do it. He left an opening, allowing Orochimaru to escape.
Orochimaru's retreating figure and the cold glint in his eyes felt alien to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
The disciple he had painstakingly taught for over a decade had ultimately become a demon in human skin!
"If that's the case, I should have killed him back then!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's body was tense as he squeezed these words through his teeth.
Given the crimes Orochimaru committed back then, he should never have been forgiven; a death sentence was certain.
And according to the question, the escaped Orochimaru would actually make a comeback one day in the future and attack Konoha.
This was what Hiruzen Sarutobi found hardest to accept.
Because if that were true, he, who had let Orochimaru go, would become Konoha's sinner!
"Humph! Old Man, you were the one who let Orochimaru go back then, weren't you?"
"With your strength at the time, Orochimaru was no match for you at all."
"If Orochimaru really attacks Konoha in the future, it will all be your responsibility!"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's ashen face, Tsunade held back the reprimands she wanted to say.
But she still couldn't help expressing her attitude.
As the Princess of the Senju, Konoha was almost like Tsunade's family business.
Even if she didn't go home for years, she couldn't let her home be destroyed by someone else!
Now hearing that Orochimaru might attack her home, Tsunade was naturally displeased.
"If Orochimaru wants to harm Konoha, he'll have to get past me first!"
"Even if I have to risk my life, I will stop him!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's aged face showed a look of determination as he vowed.
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