I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 111 Orochimaru's Defection

The Hokage's office.

In the oppressive atmosphere, the Third Hokage's powerful chakra surged wildly in anger. At this time, he was not yet the frail old man he was during the Chunin Exams. The oppressive feeling of his powerful chakra filled the ANBU who were secretly protecting him with pressure.

"Effective today, you are suspended from your position as head of the Dark Division. The position will be taken over by the deputy head! Effective immediately!"

The Third Hokage's roar echoed in the office, and he angrily ripped off his Hokage robe, revealing the black, tight-fitting combat suit underneath.

In a fit of rage, the Third Hokage slammed his Hokage hat onto the table and put on his combat hat, which featured green, layered armor plating on both sides and two extra-long straps at the back.

The combat uniform features silver protective gear that extends from the shoulders to the back, with the character "fire" inscribed on the back. It also has two vertical ninja tool pouches on the back, tied at the waist with a purple ribbon, and mesh wrist guards on the arms and calves.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, donned his armor once again after the Nine-Tails' Nightfall, and the person he was loudly reprimanding in his office was the head of the Anbu, who was also his eldest daughter-in-law.

At this moment, his eldest daughter-in-law's face was filled with resentment, and she said aggrievedly, "Third Hokage, I! I did all this for Konoha!"

"Shut up!"

Enraged, Hiruzen Sarutobi roared and pointed directly at his eldest daughter-in-law, shouting, "Your ambition is too great! To actually cooperate with Danzo of Root, I misjudged you."

"You two come with me!"

In his rage, Hiruzen Sarutobi showed no respect for his eldest daughter-in-law, and with a shout at his two guards, the three of them vanished from the Hokage's office.

Watching the disappearing figure, the Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law, wearing an Anbu mask, was filled with resentment. "Old man! Do you cherish your disciple more than your son? I'll ruin your disciple this time! Let's see how you show favoritism then!"

Jealousy drives people mad. The Third Hokage's favoritism towards Orochimaru filled her with jealousy. Instead of trying to smooth things over, she turned to her trusted confidants and said in a deep voice, "Go! Expose the news that Orochimaru is secretly abducting village ninjas for human experimentation, and also expose Orochimaru's base..."

The departed Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, probably never imagined that the development of this matter would exceed his expectations and even exceed everyone's control.

……

In the dimly lit underground base, three figures appeared outside the secret room, seemingly appearing before the wooden door.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi, clad in armor, had an extremely gloomy expression, and the sounds of operations inside could be clearly heard even through the wooden door.

Hiruzen Sarutobi squatted outside the gate with a solemn expression, gesturing with his fingers. Two ANBU guards nodded solemnly, ready to rush in.

In the research room, a small snake suddenly flicked its tongue and crawled over, slowly making a coded message on the table. When Orochimaru saw this, a hoarse smile appeared on his face.

"Hehe, it seems you teachers are ready to close the net."

Just then, with a loud crash, the wooden door behind them was kicked open, and two ANBU guards rushed in from the left and right with lightning speed, accompanied by the footsteps of the Third Hokage.

At this moment, master and disciple met again. Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at the bottles and jars in the research room with an iron-blue face, and Orochimaru, his disciple, who was facing away from him.

The sight of a lifeless figure on the operating table was a visual shock.

"They've finally found out."

The hoarse voice echoed in the research room. Orochimaru showed no panic. Instead, he calmly turned his head to look at his teacher with a smile.

"it's a pity."

Seeing Orochimaru's eerie smile, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked on in disbelief. "Orochimaru, what's going on?!"

Danzo and the others had Orochimaru restart the Wood Release project, but the things in this research lab have absolutely nothing to do with Wood Release. On the contrary, some of the odds and ends terrified him.

"Recently, people from the village, from genin to chunin, and even jonin from the ANBU, have been going missing one after another. In addition, there have been reports that your behavior is suspicious."

After a moment of shock, one of the ANBU guards slowly stated a fact, while another ANBU member, somewhat incredulous, exclaimed, "Lord Orochimaru, why would a ninja like you do such a thing?"

The tone of these two ANBU members reveals just how powerful Orochimaru's reputation was in Konoha at that time.

"Heh heh, I'll kill you too!" Orochimaru chuckled hoarsely in response to the Anbu's questioning, his golden snake eyes coldly staring at the two of them as if he were speaking casually.

However, upon hearing these words and seeing Orochimaru's cold, serpentine eyes, the two ANBU members were instantly jolted.

"Orochimaru! So it was you who did this! What are you doing here?!"

Even though it was already confirmed, Hiruzen Sarutobi couldn't help but question it, as everything was beyond his control.

At this moment, facing his teacher's questioning, Orochimaru seemed to have shed all pretense and revealed a relaxed smile.

"Now that I've been discovered, there's no use pretending to be a good person anymore. As you can see, I'm developing ninjutsu!"

Develop ninjutsu!

The four large characters echoed in the dim space. The Third Hokage's pupils contracted. The two Anbu members were shocked and filled with anger upon hearing this. Just to develop ninjutsu, they had to attack their own comrades in the village?

At this moment, the Third Hokage was shocked, and his suspicions were confirmed! Forbidden technique! Danzo and his group actually gave such a dangerous forbidden technique to Orochimaru, damn them!

"Orochimaru, what exactly are you trying to do?!"

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared angrily at Orochimaru, as if he were seeing his disciple for the first time. How could he be researching such a dangerous forbidden technique? Didn't he know that researching forbidden techniques without permission was against the village's rules?

"Everything!" Orochimaru's face gradually revealed a fanatical and perverse smile in response to Hiruzen Sarutobi's question. "I want to master all ninjutsu and understand all the truths of this world, just like the first person to blend yellow and blue together and create a new color that he named green."

"I just want to do the same thing. If blue is chakra, then yellow is the seal, and green is ninjutsu. Just like the infinite variety of colors, there are thousands or tens of thousands of ninjutsu in this world. But to master all ninjutsu and the truth, one must spend a long time, a long period of time. Only those who understand everything are qualified to be called the ultimate individual."

"For me, the lifespan of the physical body is too short and too meaningless."

At this moment, Orochimaru seemed to be reciting his own ninja way, his face filled with a strange smile that the world could not understand, while he himself was intoxicated and excitedly spreading his arms.

"Even if you are called Hokage, it's all over once you die."

Seeing Orochimaru's crazed and intoxicated expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils contracted in shock. He knew that Orochimaru had truly gone astray this time.

"Haha, you guessed right, it is the technique of immortality!" Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression, Orochimaru roared even more wildly this time, his eyes filled with tears.

"Isn't this exactly what you wanted to see?"

Isn't this just you trying to find a reason, like White Fang, to damage your reputation and completely lose your eligibility for the Hokage competition, so as to achieve your goal of a peaceful village?

Seeing Orochimaru heading towards madness, Hiruzen Sarutobi was filled with both rage and boundless fury. How could this be! How could he have such delusions!

"Orochimaru! You've strayed into darkness. This is a ninjutsu that's simply impossible to execute!"

With a furious roar, Hiruzen Sarutobi swiftly formed hand seals and slammed his hands together. Instantly, a burst of spiritual white smoke appeared, and the Monkey King, Enma, made his appearance.

In Hiruzen Sarutobi's mind, any ninjutsu that claimed immortality was utter nonsense, impossible. It was nothing more than a dark and seductive art. If such a ninjutsu truly existed, how come even the Sage of Six Paths had disappeared? And the God of Shinobi—he had personally witnessed the existence of that power, yet even such a powerful figure was eroded by the passage of time.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was the Hokage of the Five Great Ninja Villages, his knowledge was always limited to what he already knew. Just as Orochimaru said, people only accept green, which is the fusion of yellow and blue, once it appears. When this color (ninjutsu) is not present, no one will believe it exists.

Orochimaru's ninja way has gone from nothing to something, completely exceeding what the normal ninja world can accept.

"Sarutobi-sensei! Are you going to stop me?"

As Orochimaru laughed maniacally, his hands rapidly formed hand seals. Instantly, an invisible wind blade swept through the secret room, shattering all the bottles and jars in the research room, while blood splattered onto the walls.

In the dimly lit secret room, beneath Hiruzen Sarutobi's struggling face, he realized that it was all because he had indulged Orochimaru and Danzo that things had come to this. He watched in agony as Orochimaru cruelly murdered two Anbu members.

At that moment, Orochimaru appeared behind Hiruzen Sarutobi. The two stood back to back, neither looking at the other.

The golden snake eyes turned, giving its teacher a wicked look. A single, unidentified tear slid down its cheek. "Sarutobi-sensei, isn't this all something you tacitly agreed to?!"

At that moment, Orochimaru seemed to sever his last remaining attachment to Konoha. Then, the legendary Sannin, wearing a Konoha Jonin vest and a headband, disappeared into the dimly lit tunnel without looking back.

Meanwhile, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, closed his eyes in pain. Enma, standing beside him, roared, "Sarutobi, you'll regret letting Orochimaru escape like this!"

Upon hearing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi trembled and slowly opened his eyes. He took a deep breath and stared at the cruel laboratory, muttering to himself, "Orochimaru, you have gone astray. To lay a hand on a fellow villager is unforgivable."

When Orochimaru unleashed his ninjutsu and killed two Anbu members right in front of him, he knew that Orochimaru was not coming back. This completely severed the bond between them, master and disciple.

The initial plan was merely to damage Orochimaru's reputation, much like White Fang did, but how did it escalate to this point?! Orochimaru actually severed everything in pursuit of this evil ninjutsu! He chose to defect!

Orochimaru has already made everything clear. He chose not to resist the bond between master and disciple. "Your superiors told me to do research, so I will do research. I will bear the infamy, and I will not fight for the title of Hokage. I have also severed all ties with Konoha."

At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi roared in anguish, "Danzo!"

All of this was caused by his indulgence; Danzo and the others were causing trouble behind the scenes, completely beyond his control.

……

Within the forest, a large crater was filled with the echoing sound of hurried footsteps. Orochimaru escaped directly from the tunnel, now wearing a Jonin green vest and a headband, with a few drops of blood on his face.

However, Orochimaru, who had just escaped from the tunnel, suddenly stopped. Looking at the four figures that appeared in the dark forest before him, an evil smile appeared on his face.

"H-Master Orochimaru!"

It was Uchiha Yoru, Uchiha Shisui, Hatake Kakashi, and Might Guy who rushed over. The four of them stared in shock at Orochimaru's panicked escape, a sight that completely overturned their understanding of the world.

"Heh, so these are my students and my subordinates. Are you also going to ambush me?"

Orochimaru's wicked smile was masked by a hint of madness in his snake-like eyes. At this moment, having experienced such a thing, his emotions had also reached their peak.

The term "subordinates" is also correct. Shisui, Kakashi, and Might Guy all served in the 7th Division, so they were naturally Orochimaru's subordinates.

"Teacher! How! How could this happen!"

Uchiha Yoru, who had arrived late, looked on in disbelief and shock, while Orochimaru chuckled hoarsely and evilly, "How could this be? Shouldn't it be like this? The ending was predetermined from the beginning. Just like Sakumo Hatake, those who are uncontrollable yet possess great power must naturally be restricted."

White teeth!

When this name echoed in Kakashi and Might Guy's ears, they were both shocked and incredulous. Why!

They knew perfectly well that although Lord Orochimaru's research was cruel, it was also carried out under orders. How could this happen!

Orochimaru, holding a kunai, stared at the four of them with his manic snake eyes, exuding a dangerous aura. At that moment, a python that had been summoned from around the secret base for vigilance slowly slithered down from the treetop, flicking its tongue.

Slowly climbing onto Orochimaru's body, unaware of his surroundings, he instead gripped the kunai in his hand and laughed wickedly, "As you can see, the evil research has been discovered. Justice is about to descend, and naturally, evil will be driven back. Isn't that how it has always been throughout history?"

However, at that moment, the python suddenly opened its mouth, revealing the explosive tags inside. Orochimaru's pupils shrank, and before he could react, a loud bang rang out, and blood splattered onto the faces of the four men.

"Lord Orochimaru!"

As the smoke from the explosion dissipated, Orochimaru's waist was covered in crimson, and he couldn't help but laugh, though this time his smile was even colder.

"The third generation!"

Clearly, this move was a trap set by the Third Hokage when he infiltrated the base, using genjutsu to confuse the giant snake. It was a truly deadly move, delivered when the snake was most relaxed.

(End of this chapter)