Homura Mitokado was sweating profusely.
Although he dared to confront Jiraiya, he was quite timid about directly clashing with Tsunade.
On one hand, compared to Jiraiya's temper, Tsunade was the type of person who wouldn't reason with you once she got angry.
If you made her mad, her sandbag-sized fist would smash right into your head.
Who could withstand that?
In any case, Homura Mitokado, with his self-proclaimed old bones, definitely couldn't handle it.
Secondly, Tsunade was, after all, the Princess of the Senju Clan.
Although the Senju Clan had perished, the name Senju still held profound influence in Konoha.
If word got out that Homura Mitokado had fallen out with the Senju Princess, who do you think the Villagers would side with?
Not to mention, Tsunade was also the granddaughter of the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju.
As Senju Tobirama's disciple, could Homura Mitokado really bully his teacher's granddaughter?
Thus, Homura Mitokado immediately backed down.
Even when Tsunade pointed at his nose and scolded him, he just lowered his head without speaking, looking completely resigned to whatever she decided to do.
Seeing this, Tsunade naturally felt a surge of frustration she couldn't vent, and could only give up.
As for Ye Chen, he was eager to go home to draw prizes and open blind boxes, and didn't want to stay here with this group of people.
Seeing Tsunade cease her attack, he immediately continued playing the recording.
I won't describe the content of the recording, lest the readers accuse me of padding the word count (hahaha).
In short, Orochimaru was constantly conducting experiments in pursuit of immortality.
From animal experiments to Human Experiments, from experimenting on the dead to experimenting on the living.
Finally, it escalated into secretly capturing Ninja from the Village for live experiments, highlighting his utter audacity.
This was also due to Danzo Shimura cooperating with him later on and making things extremely convenient for him.
Without Danzo Shimura's involvement, Orochimaru's experimentation progress wouldn't have been so rapid.
After the recording finished, everyone in the Hokage Office looked at each other, unsure what to say.
When Danzo Shimura appeared in the recording, they were all very calm, showing no surprise whatsoever.
Because long before, when Danzo Shimura was eliminated and the Root Base was destroyed, everything Danzo Shimura had done was already recorded in the files.
The process of his cooperation with Orochimaru, along with a series of experiment records, were all stored in the Root Base.
Everyone present had seen these files to some extent.
So they were mentally prepared.
After the recording finished, Ye Chen saw that everyone looked preoccupied and smiled:
"Alright, you've finished watching the intelligence. Now it's time to choose your reward."
"You have two choices. One is the Wish Reward obtained when you answered all five questions correctly the first time."
"You can make any wish, and as long as it doesn't exceed the scope this world can bear, it can be fulfilled."
"Or, the reward obtained during the second quiz, which will be doubled."
"So, tell me your choice!"
As soon as Ye Chen finished speaking, Jiraiya impatiently jumped out and addressed the crowd:
"Listen to me, everyone."
"I want this Sir to erase all of Orochimaru's bad memories and then send him to Konoha."
"That way, Orochimaru won't make mistakes anymore."
"On the contrary, he can become a Konoha Ninja again. What do you all think?"
Jiraiya looked earnestly at everyone, a hopeful expression on his face.
"This..."
Minato Namikaze was stunned, not expecting Jiraiya to suddenly propose such an idea.
When they first discussed the wish together, the preliminary decision was just to imprison Orochimaru and send him to Konoha; no one had mentioned accepting Orochimaru back as a Konoha Ninja.
No one had even considered this possibility.
Because no matter what, the crimes Orochimaru committed against the Konoha Villagers and Konoha Ninja were not easily forgivable.
When Orochimaru defected, Konoha continuously sent Anbu to track him.
It was very much a 'never-ending pursuit' kind of attitude.
This was a political statement.
Although, given the strength of a few Anbu, it's debatable whether they could even catch Orochimaru.
Even if they caught up, they wouldn't go up and commit suicide; most of the time, they just took a look from afar, reported the intelligence to Jiraiya, and that was it.
But this stance had to be taken, otherwise, it wouldn't be justifiable to the Villagers.
Think about it: Orochimaru captured people in the Village for Human Experiments until he was discovered and fled.
How many people tragically died on Orochimaru's operating table in the interim?
Ten? A hundred? A thousand?
The bodies of those who died tragically couldn't even be recovered.
Could the families of the victims just let it go? There were Ninja among them!
What, Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple killed my family using such cruel methods, and you let him run away without a word?
And that's it? The matter is finished just like that?
What do you take us for?
From the moment Hiruzen Sarutobi let Orochimaru escape, the Villagers' resentment focused on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
They forced him to list Orochimaru as a Rogue Ninja and send Anbu to hunt him down.
Now, suddenly, they want Orochimaru to return to Konoha, and even become a Konoha Ninja again?
If the Villagers found out about this, wouldn't they cause an uproar?
"Jiraiya-sensei, I'm afraid this kind of thing won't work."
Minato Namikaze thought for a moment and advised:
"After all, Orochimaru committed so many crimes. If we let him off so easily, the Villagers won't agree."
Although the blame lay with Hiruzen Sarutobi, Minato Namikaze had taken the position of Hokage.
Therefore, he inevitably had to clean up Hiruzen Sarutobi's mess.
"That's right, Jiraiya."
Hiruzen Sarutobi also spoke up, saying:
"I understand how you feel, but the conditions for Orochimaru to return to Konoha no longer exist."
"We must consider the feelings of the Villagers."
Jiraiya waved his hand and shook his head:
"That's not what I meant."
He looked earnestly at Hiruzen Sarutobi:
"I mean, wipe all of Orochimaru's memories clean, and then let him return to Konoha."
"But I'm not saying we should just let him off and pretend nothing happened."
"Instead, we should make him spend the rest of his life atoning, whether that means locking him up in prison or sending him to the battlefield."
"If we simply execute him, wouldn't that be pointless? The Villagers he killed are already dead; killing Orochimaru won't bring them back to life."
"So why don't we let Orochimaru take on their burden and use all his strength to protect Konoha and the Villagers?"
Jiraiya had been thinking about this from the start.
Deep down, he felt that what Orochimaru did was evil and unforgivable.
But he was unwilling to simply kill Orochimaru.
On one hand, it was due to his affection for Orochimaru; on the other, he hoped Orochimaru would spend the rest of his life atoning for the crimes he committed.
The dead are dead, and nothing will bring them back.
So why not just let Orochimaru guard Konoha on behalf of those who died!
Orochimaru:???
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