"Who is it? Who is it this time?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi flew into a rage.
"The matter of Orochimaru conducting human experiments has already been made public. If not for that, I would have even considered giving Orochimaru another chance. And now they are saying Orochimaru was framed by me?"
"Are they saying I was the one conducting human experiments?"
"Damn it. Absolutely damn it!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately gave an order.
"Quickly. Publish everything found in Orochimaru's laboratory. Let them see exactly what Orochimaru did. Let them see clearly whether I should have expelled Orochimaru or not!"
Under Hiruzen Sarutobi's order, Orochimaru's laboratory was made public.
Some people saw certain things inside and immediately could not stop themselves from vomiting.
"Disgusting!"
"Too cruel!"
"He's simply inhuman!"
However, there were also an extremely small number of people who felt that even if Orochimaru had done such things, it still should not have led to his expulsion or his classification as a wanted missing-nin.
"Even if Orochimaru-sama did those things, he should still have been given another chance."
"After all, the Second Hokage also conducted research like this back then."
"He even developed a ninjutsu like the Impure World Reincarnation."
"Orochimaru-sama must have been doing it for Konoha's sake as well. Konoha's current situation is far too terrible. If we don't find some kind of solution, sooner or later we'll be defeated by Sunagakure and Kumogakure."
These words were being secretly pushed forward by Danzo.
Orochimaru had already left and had been branded a missing-nin. Returning to Konoha again would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
Since that was the case, Danzo did not mind speaking a few good words for Orochimaru.
Naturally, the true purpose of speaking on Orochimaru's behalf was not to help Orochimaru.
On one hand, it confirmed the fact that Orochimaru had conducted human experiments.
On the other, it struck at Hiruzen Sarutobi.
That way, Danzo himself would have a greater chance of obtaining the Hokage position.
"I refuse to believe that even this won't force Hiruzen down."
"The Hokage seat is mine!"
…
…
Iwagakure.
The expression on Onoki's face eased slightly. As the rumor about Hiruzen Sarutobi persecuting Orochimaru erupted and spread throughout the shinobi world, discussions about him had decreased significantly.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi truly is a good man."
"He's drawn all those unpleasant discussions over to himself."
"Here in Iwagakure, I'll finally have time to slowly straighten things out."
An ANBU shinobi arrived before Onoki.
"Tsuchikage-sama."
Onoki raised his head.
"Is there any news of Orochimaru?"
"Reporting to Tsuchikage-sama. Our people have already met Orochimaru and fully conveyed your intentions to him. Orochimaru said he needs to consider it."
Onoki frowned.
"He still needs to consider?"
This made Onoki somewhat displeased.
Given Orochimaru's current situation, describing it as terrible would not be an exaggeration. For Iwagakure to extend a helping hand at this time was already an enormous show of sincerity.
Did Orochimaru have a better option than Iwagakure?
"He doesn't know what's good for him!"
Kumogakure.
The Fourth Raikage's expression did not look very good.
Hiruzen Sarutobi being criticized made the Fourth Raikage very happy.
But Orochimaru directly rejecting Kumogakure's proposal made the Fourth Raikage very unhappy.
"He refused outright without even negotiating?"
"What does Orochimaru mean by that? Does he look down on Kumogakure?"
"Or has Orochimaru already reached an agreement with another force? Have we found any information?"
The intelligence shinobi below shook his head.
"Reporting to Raikage-sama. No. I suspect Orochimaru is currently waiting to see who offers the best terms."
The Fourth Raikage's face darkened.
"A mere missing-nin is trying to sell himself to the highest bidder? Truly ridiculous."
But in truth, Orochimaru's rejection of Kumogakure was not merely because of that.
It was also because Orochimaru worried that what he had done to Kumogakure back then might be discovered. If that happened while he was inside Kumogakure, he would be like a turtle trapped in a jar, with nowhere to run.
The Eight-Tails rampage in Kumogakure back then had been orchestrated by Orochimaru himself.
It had caused the deaths of an unknown number of Kumogakure shinobi.
Compared to Konoha's Nine-Tails rampage, it had not been much less severe.
That was different from facing each other on a battlefield.
But the Fourth Raikage's guess was not wrong either.
Compared with Kumogakure, Orochimaru did indeed have better choices.
The Land of Rice Fields.
Inside a dark underground chamber.
Orochimaru was hiding there.
Several documents lay in front of him.
Looking at those documents, Orochimaru revealed a subtle expression.
"I never expected myself, Orochimaru, to be this popular."
"Konoha expelled me, yet so many shinobi villages intend to recruit me."
Orochimaru directly ignored the invitations from the smaller shinobi villages.
"If I join one of these small shinobi villages, I might as well create a shinobi village myself. I would not be constrained by anyone, and it would be stronger than these small villages."
"Kirigakure is now somewhere between a small shinobi village and a great shinobi village. Its strength is acceptable, and the situation in the Land of Water is complicated. Aside from the forces of various shinobi villages, there are also many sailing groups."
"On top of that, with the silver mine being exploited, I won't lack funds."
"For me, it can be considered a decent choice."
Orochimaru placed Kirigakure's invitation to one side.
Then he looked toward Iwagakure's invitation.
"Iwagakure isn't necessary."
"Onoki doesn't have much sincerity. He isn't inviting me to join Iwagakure. He's merely offering me funds and resources while demanding equivalent research results in return."
"Rather than an invitation, it feels more like a transaction."
"Once anything goes wrong, he'll definitely sell me out at any time."
"And Onoki wants too much."
After that, Orochimaru picked up the third invitation.
"The Akatsuki… taking the salvation and transformation of this rotten shinobi world as their mission, aiming to create a world without war, a world of absolute harmony. Kakashi joined this organization."
"Besides him, there is also the underground bounty ninja Kakuzu, and Sunagakure's missing genius, Sasori of the Red Sand."
Orochimaru's eyes flickered slightly.
"I've never heard of it before. It appeared suddenly, and there isn't enough information for me to make a judgment. But can an organization without the support of a shinobi village really accomplish something like that?"
Orochimaru felt the chances were not high.
He understood the situation of the shinobi world fairly well.
There were only so many forces.
Once the shinobi villages were removed from the equation, not many remained.
This so-called Akatsuki could not possibly have many people. If they did not have enough people, then it meant they would have to rely on individual strength.
But how could that be done?
"Individual strength is limited, no matter how powerful someone is. Unless they reach the level of Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama from back then. But would someone like that really hide in the shadows?"
Finally, Orochimaru picked up the invitation from Sunagakure.
Konoha and Sunagakure were enemies.
But Orochimaru actually had a favorable impression of Rasa.