Konoha, Hokage Building, conference hall.
"Hmph, Hiruzen, you actually let Orochimaru defect. You must know Orochimaru's standing in the village — he knows many secrets about the village."
"Letting him defect like this, if he intends harm to the village, what will you do?"
"I suggest dispatching ANBU to hunt him down! He must be eliminated!"
Shimura Danzō leaned back against the chair, his voice icy cold; he was full of hatred toward Orochimaru.
All because of some kid, Orochimaru actually refused his proposal.
Hmph — if he can't get his way, then he must be removed. And there's that kid...
"At the same time, I suggest detaining Orochimaru's disciple, Gekko Chizan."
"Have the ANBU interrogate him and see if we can obtain any information about Orochimaru."
Those words silenced the veteran officers present. Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened like the bottom of a pot.
He never expected Orochimaru to be so alert, to escape so decisively, without any warning at all.
It was as if it had been premeditated, yet he had believed his own precautions were airtight. How did the information leak?
As for Gekko Chizan, Hiruzen had no intention of touching him — the title of Konoha's twin star was currently very prominent; to act rashly against him would provoke various negative reactions within the village.
Although Gekko Chizan was Orochimaru's student, it didn't necessarily mean he was in cahoots with Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru is Orochimaru, Gekko Chizan is Gekko Chizan, Danzō — these two cannot be conflated."
"Besides, ANBU have already been sent to the front to call them back. Once they return, we'll know."
Danzō fell silent after speaking; in any case, Orochimaru's defection was now a fact — as long as he could seize the initiative, that would be enough.
As for Gekko Chizan—hmph, without Orochimaru's protection, bringing him to Root would be child's play.
"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, Gekko Chizan have already returned."
Suddenly an ANBU entered the conference room and reported that the three had come back.
Hiruzen nodded, then had them brought in.
Jiraiya could hardly contain himself; upon entering the conference room he spoke first:
"Old man, did Orochimaru really defect?"
"Could the information be wrong?"
"I absolutely will not believe that Orochimaru would defect!"
Jiraiya's face was extremely agitated. Although he and Orochimaru did not get along, they had been comrades, teammates for many years — well, even if that teammate had tried to kill him more than once.
But that was no reason for him to defect.
"Impertinent, Jiraiya. See where you are."
"Withdraw — you were called back only because we need your help to pursue him."
"As for Orochimaru's defection, it has already been verified; there's no need for doubt."
Danzō reprimanded Jiraiya sharply — a rebuke that even Hiruzen had not expected.
Goodness, who is the Hokage here? Danzō had retreated half a step, and now he was pushing his luck.
"Danzō, you've gone too far. I'm the Hokage — if you have something to say, wait your turn."
"Jiraiya, don't get worked up. This has already been verified; Orochimaru did indeed leave the village."
Hiruzen's mood was very poor; he glared fiercely at Danzō, who acted as if he hadn't seen it and continued to lean back in his chair.
Hiruzen glanced at the still highly agitated Jiraiya and sighed softly.
Jiraiya was his student; Orochimaru was also his student. If it were possible, he wouldn't want to believe Orochimaru had left the village.
If he had simply chosen not to be a shinobi anymore, that might be one thing — but those series of forbidden experiments...
Orochimaru, you've lost your senses...
"This matter was going to be brought to you anyway. Orochimaru's engagement in forbidden research has already crossed the village's bottom line."
"We originally intended to wait until after the war to investigate his responsibility, but it seems he must have heard some rumor and prepared to leave the village early."
"This action can no longer be called mere leaving the village — it is defection."
The three immediately showed expressions of shock; even Gekko Chizan looked the most convincingly startled, his terrified gaze darting left and right, leaving everyone present momentarily stunned.
One thought: it seems this kid truly didn't know what his teacher had been doing.
But not everyone believed that — Danzō, for one, sneered inwardly as he watched Gekko Chizan's jaw drop.
"Gekko Chizan, as Orochimaru's disciple, do you truly not know of your teacher's actions?"
"If my information is correct, you even assisted Orochimaru with research."
"Don't put on that act — I won't believe it."
Those words immediately focused everyone's attention on Gekko Chizan.
He put on a face that said, How could you think this of me!
"I'm innocent, Hokage-sama, councilors, clan elders."
"I, Gekko Chizan, current head of the Gekko clan — though our clan is down to just me and my younger brother."
"But I'm planning to expand it!"
"Although Orochimaru was my teacher and I did act as his assistant, you all know I'm not interested in research at all."
"As for being an assistant... well, if taking apart things counts as sabotage, then yes, I did that."
As he spoke, he began taking things out from his bosom.
One scroll after another, the sight left everyone dumbfounded.
"I'm truly wronged, Hokage-sama. At most I took a bunch of stuff from his laboratory."
"These are medicines, these are weapons I took."
"These are all herbs that can be sold."
"Because of these, Orochimaru nearly beat me to death!"
He wept and pleaded with tears in his voice.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the table of items with the corners of his mouth twitching.
This disciple is really devoted — does he see his teacher as some kind of rich man?
"Ahem ahem, I think I can vouch for him."
"When Chizan first took Orochimaru as his master, he even went through the formal ceremony..."
"Besides, we've seen more than once how Orochimaru would rebuke him..."
What a godsend — Minato's words were a perfect assist. But what he said was true: when Chizan first began helping with research, Orochimaru often chased him off, and because he kept taking experimental materials, Orochimaru had drawn his sword at him more than once.
"Ahem ahem, Chizan, first put all that stuff away."
"You've already proven you aren't involved in... ahem, proven you truly didn't know about these things."
Hiruzen nearly let the truth slip, and he wasn't the only one thinking so.
Judging by this table of materials alone, any teacher possessing such things would age ten years.