If possible, Orochimaru even hopes that Sarutobi Hiruzen will follow him to rebel against Konoha.

Or he could return to serve as Hokage, so that he might still be able to stay in Konoha.

Unfortunately, no if.

“It’s Orochimaru~ You haven’t come to see me for a long time.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen was a little surprised.

This Danzo went to Kirigakure, Mitomon was transferred to Sunagakure, and he was the only one left in Konoha Village.

Usually, he was bored and wanted to catch up with his apprentice, so he invited Orochimaru to his home for tea to avoid a boring life after retirement.

Today is something strange, Orochimaru came to the door himself.

As time goes by, people become more shrewd. Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately guessed that his eldest disciple might have encountered some trouble and wanted this old man to shine and contribute some strength.

Thinking of this, Hiruzen poured two cups of tea for himself and Orochimaru.

I took a sip first.

“Teacher, I…”

“Did something happen?”

Sarutobi Hiruzen took the initiative and said, “With your current ability, is there anything in the village that can stump you?”

With Orochimaru’s achievements in the Ninja War, he now has everything he wants in Konoha. Sarutobi Hiruzen couldn’t imagine that he would come to him for help with anything.

unless……

“Yes, teacher.” Orochimaru said calmly, stating the fact that he had been treated unfairly: “I was targeted by the Fourth Hokage.”

“Minato? Targeting you?”

Sarutobi Hiruzen laughed and shook his head: “I have personally examined Minato. I have praised and criticized him without any difference. Whether it is his ability or his character, he is worthy of being called a reliable Hokage.”

“I feel relieved to leave Konoha in his hands.”

“Could there be some misunderstanding?”

Orochimaru listened silently to Sarutobi Hiruzen’s praise of Minato, and felt an inexplicable sour feeling in his heart.

He calmly told the story of what happened to him in the Hokage Building.

I didn’t exaggerate, because those lies didn’t work well on the wily third generation.

Hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen frowned and said, “Uchiha Fugaku… In terms of ability, he is qualified to take on such an important blitz mission.”

“Maybe the Yondaime has his own political ideas.”

He did not ask how the “Lightning Attack Kusanagi” combat plan that bypassed the daimyo’s rebelliousness was formulated. He did not meddle in matters that were not his business, and analyzed the matter for his beloved disciple based on the facts.

“But in the eyes of the Yondaime, it seems that there is no place for me at all.”

“Even though it has been confirmed that Uchiha Fugaku will be the commander of the blitzkrieg operation, he still summoned me to the Hokage Building just to humiliate me.”

“I’m very angry about this.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen remained silent, having heard the strong dissatisfaction in his beloved disciple’s words.

This is not a good sign.

The Hokage had a conflict with the village’s second most powerful person. If this matter was not resolved, it was possible that there would be big problems in the future.

Besides, Minato really went too far this time.

If you want to refrigerate it, just refrigerate it. Why do you have to call Orochimaru to the Hokage Building and first give him hope and then despair?

This was quite disheartening for an old hero who wanted to leave the village and contribute to it.

Sarutobi Hiruzen spoke to comfort him:

“You go back first, Orochimaru. I will discuss this matter with the Yondaime.”

“After all, he is still young and has little experience in governing, so it is inevitable that he will have some ideas of his own.”

“I will give you a satisfactory answer later.”

“Then…I’ll leave it to you, teacher.”

Seeing that he had achieved his goal, Orochimaru stood up, and with his snake eyes he gave Sarutobi Hiruzen one last deep look, as if he wanted to carve the old man’s image into the depths of his heart.

Orochimaru had a vague premonition that since he had already embarked on the path to immortality, he should no longer have human emotions.

But if he cries again, it must be because of Sarutobi Hiruzen…right.

This may be the last look.

One glance for thousands of years.

Until the end, Orochimaru turned around without any reluctance, walked to the entrance, and put his hand on the door handle.

The tall figure paused for a second: “I’m leaving, Sarutobi-sensei.”

“Let’s go…”

Sarutobi Hiruzen looked at Orochimaru’s back and silently withdrew his slightly raised hand.

He shook his head with a smile: “It seems that I have really reached the age that an old man should be. There is no way Orochimaru will leave. I will ask him to come for tea in a few days.”

About ten minutes passed after Orochimaru left.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat alone on the balcony in the backyard, holding a pipe in his mouth and squinting at the Hokage Rock in the distance.

He seemed to be thinking about how to communicate this matter with Minato Namikaze.

As children grow older, they will always have their own ideas. If his communication method is too tough, it may even provoke Minato’s rebellious psychology.

Being a Hokage is so difficult.

But who made the teacher pass the position of Hokage to him during that breakout?

But what Sarutobi Hiruzen didn’t expect was that instead of him going to see the Shadow, the Shadow would come to see him.

dong dong dong-

The slow and steady knock on the door was like the knell of death, and an invisible hand grasped Hiruzen’s heart.

“Who is it~”

“It’s me, Sandaime-sama.”

“It’s Minato, come in.”

Walking into the water gate at the back of the house, I immediately saw the teacups placed on the coffee table next to the Sandaime.

One cup of tea was empty, but the other one… was still emitting a faint steam.

Didn’t drink a single sip?

Minato’s eyes moved slightly. Through the cup of tea, his sight seemed to transcend time and space, and he saw the determination to betray the village deep in Orochimaru’s heart.

“It seems that Orochimaru-senpai has come to see you, Sandaime.”

Minato sat on the other side of the coffee table, carrying the file.

Looking at Sarutobi Hiruzen’s kind face, he felt a little uncomfortable. He wondered how upset the Sandaime must have felt after seeing the evidence in his hands.

“what is it today?”

“You two came to me, an old man, one after the other to complain?” Sarutobi Hiruzen said half-jokingly, “Did you have a conflict?”

Sarutobi Hiruzen still wanted to treat the matter with the same gentleness as an adult would treat a child, and use the common reasoning of “just a conflict between children” to cover it up and reconcile the conflict between the two.

“Personally, I still have great respect for Senior Orochimaru.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen’s eyes narrowed. Personally speaking…

In other words, what had Orochimaru done wrong to the village? The next second, what Namikaze Minato said made Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart skip a beat.

“However, as far as the village is concerned, I, as the Hokage, cannot have even the slightest respect for Orochimaru-senpai anymore.”

“Having committed these mistakes, he can no longer call himself a Konoha ninja.”

Sarutobi Hiruzen realized that Minato was here to call him to task, and considering his personality, Orochimaru might really…

Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly felt a little scared, and his eyes subconsciously looked at the file bag in Minato’s hand.

He didn’t even notice that his voice was trembling: “Orochimaru, what did you do wrong?”

“Sandaime…please take a look.”

Minato sighed and handed over the solid evidence in his hand.

Sarutobi Hiruzen took the file, turned the pages with trembling fingers, and read it word by word. From time to time, Minato’s finishing blows could be heard in his ears:

“When Orochimaru-senpai first came to your place, I personally went to investigate the scene.”

“Just the ones I found, there are ten bodies of ninjas from our Konoha…”

“They are all ninjas who were reported missing three months ago. Their deaths were… miserable. Orochimaru was conducting live experiments on them.”

“Among them, there are many Chunins with bright futures and hopes of promotion. They should have been able to pass on the everlasting will of fire as the flying Konoha.”

Ah… the will of fire…

Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart felt like it was stabbed by a knife.

As an old generation of Konoha ninja of the Red Flag who believed in the will of fire all his life, he was attacked by his closest disciple after ten thousand years…

Hiruzen’s hands were clenched on both sides of the file, his fingers trembling. The originally neat paper began to show ugly wrinkles, and there was a risk of being torn at any time.

“puff–“

The shocking words, coupled with the will of fire in Namikaze Minato’s body, were like the giant hand of the god of death squeezing Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart.

A mouthful of blood was sprayed on the white paper file.

“Sandaime!”

Minato was a little worried and was about to go forward to check the injuries, but Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his hand to stop him.

“Sixty people! That’s a full sixty people!”

Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart was cold. How hot his love for the Will of Fire was, just as severe was the trauma he suffered in his heart.

The everlasting will of fire values ​​the bond with its companions the most.

Killing even one fellow Konoha Villager is a serious crime punishable by death. But what did Orochimaru do? Sixty people died in his hands!

I was shaking with anger, trembling all over, and my heart was cold.

The detailed description in the intelligence had already made Sarutobi Hiruzen half-believe it, and with Namikaze Minato as a witness, he had to believe it no matter how much he had illusions about Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, who carries the lives of sixty Konoha people on his shoulders, is the most vicious criminal in the fifty-one years since the establishment of Konoha Village.

How could he not understand by now why Orochimaru approached him and wanted to become the leader of the blitzkrieg force?

He wanted to take advantage of this chaotic situation and seize the opportunity to leave the village and become a Konoha renegade! Based on Sarutobi Hiruzen’s understanding of Orochimaru, he might kill two Konoha ninjas from the blitzkrieg unit during his defection and take them away as experimental materials.

After these things get out, how bad will Konoha’s image in the ninja world and the reputation I will leave for future generations become? !

Is he trying to trick Sarutobi Hiruzen into thinking he is Sakuchi?

Hiruzen raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth, and growled through gritted teeth: “Orochimaru… How could he! How dare he?!”

“Does he still have even a little bit of me, his teacher, and the village that gave birth to him and raised him in his heart?! The village raised him, and he wants to destroy the village!”

“And Danzo, Danzo clearly knew that Orochi Temaru was committing this taboo mistake in secret, but instead of stopping him, he even secretly covered for him and opened the door for him to do so!”

As he was speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up from the coffee table.

The anger and despair under the double blow of his best friend and beloved disciple filled his heart with murderous thoughts.

“Minato… Fortunately, you are here.” Sarutobi Hiruzen suppressed the murderous intent in his heart, walked slowly towards his locker room, turned his back to Namikaze Minato, and put on his ninja armor again.

“If you hadn’t discovered this, I really don’t know what kind of disaster my evil disciple would have brought to Konoha.”

“Sandaime…”

“I have sown the seeds of evil, so I must personally bear the consequences.”

“Minato, you don’t need to say more. I will arrest the evil Orochimaru myself, and I will bring him to justice after the foreign military operations are over…”

Several old men in a row fully demonstrated the anger in Sarutobi Hiruzen’s heart.