I, Uchiha: Split Konoha

Chapter 113 Jiraiya Pursues Orochimaru

The Hokage's office.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, stared in shock at Danzo Shimura, while Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane nodded awkwardly. He almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Danzo, you!"

This time, Shimura Danzo finally got his revenge. He gritted his teeth, took out a scroll from his pocket, and threw it directly at the Third Hokage.

"Open your eyes and take a good look at this scroll. Did I send it to you from the root, and then you had the people from the root bring it back to me intact?"

"Take a good look at when I ever planned something that everyone knew about. Don't I regret what happened to White Fang? Don't I know how much damage it would do for the village to lose a Kage-level fighter? Now the village is full of your Sarutobi clan. Oh, and your ambitious and arrogant eldest daughter-in-law who only wants to be the Hokage's wife did it too."

This time, Shimura Danzo showed no mercy. He had planned to win Orochimaru over after Sarutobi abandoned him again, making him a weapon in his hands. But now, things have gone awry. The weapon has lost its hilt and is now all blades, hurting people everywhere.

At that moment, he saw the scroll that Danzo threw at him. After opening it, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face turned red. He had been careless! He had been far too careless!

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado knew at this moment that this was not the time for infighting, and said in a deep voice, "Now is not the time to shirk responsibility, but to figure out how to deal with Orochimaru's matter."

When the topic of Orochimaru came up, Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane, the three legendary ninja, all looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi.

When the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, faced the gazes of the three, he turned pale and even seemed somewhat lost, slumping into a chair.

"Too late! Orochimaru has already fallen into darkness. He's researching the forbidden techniques you gave him! He wants to develop an immortality ninjutsu! He's even made a move against my Anbu."

"What!" The three were shocked, but seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's dejected state, they knew that things were really going to get serious this time.

The three of them felt a chill run down their spines. Shimura Danzo cursed, "Damn it! Orochimaru has defected? The Hokage candidate has defected? It would be a miracle if nothing happened to the village. We need to find Orochimaru right now!"

"How are we going to find him?" Upon hearing this, Koharu Utatane stomped her foot in anger. "This is pushing us too far. If Orochimaru defectes, it will be no small matter. The entire Land of Fire will be in turmoil, and it may even trigger a chain reaction."

"Sarutobi! This time you need to really give your Sarutobi clan a good talking-to!"

All three spoke up. Originally, according to the plan, they wanted to suppress Orochimaru and manipulate his reputation. The Third Hokage himself was in great pain, realizing that he had been careless and had never expected that Orochimaru would actually fall into such a dark ninjutsu.

After all, immortality ninjutsu is impossible in the minds of ordinary ninjas; if one could truly be immortal, then one would be a god.

Even the entire ninja world acknowledged that Orochimaru, with his extraordinary talent, had exceeded everyone's expectations, plunging headfirst into the abyss and never being able to get out.

Furthermore, driven by ambition, a woman made the matter even more public, spreading it far and wide, leaving Orochimaru no way out.

Once the ins and outs became clear, the Third Hokage quickly calmed down, realizing that the entire village was about to undergo a change.

"Pass down the order: two squads from the Anbu are to be dispatched to pursue Orochimaru!"

"Root will cooperate unconditionally. Orochimaru may be injured, but he's definitely not someone to be trifled with. Danzo, you can't escape responsibility this time either!"

After glaring fiercely at Danzo, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, temporarily suppressed all his emotions and looked at the three of them, saying in a deep voice, "We cannot bear the consequences of a Hokage candidate defecting, nor can the entire Hidden Leaf Village bear them. Issue an order to pursue Orochimaru with all our might throughout the Land of Fire!"

At this point, there was no way to salvage the situation, so he had no choice but to make a painful decision: either capture Orochimaru or keep him within the Land of Fire, in order to minimize the damage.

The blow to Konoha was truly devastating when Orochimaru, a defector who had hidden himself in the ninja world, became a stark contrast.

Upon hearing this, Shimura Danzo snorted coldly. He secretly made a plan in his mind. This was clearly the work of the Sarutobi clan. If Orochimaru successfully defected, it would be a good opportunity to damage your reputation. At that time, it seemed that he would also have a chance.

As for Sarutobi Shinnosuke? Hmph, what a woman's perspective. He's made such a big deal out of this. But he understands the Third Hokage's purpose. The Third Hokage would never tolerate someone who caused so much damage to the village just for the Hokage position and still holds a high position.

Suddenly, Danzo realized that this was actually to his advantage, and he sneered inwardly, "Sarutobi! This time it's your fault, don't blame me."

Orochimaru was caught red-handed by the Third Hokage while conducting human experiments, but he escaped!

This news swept through Konoha like a hurricane, shocking countless ninjas. Many couldn't believe it—how could this be!

However, everyone fell silent after the official arrest warrant was issued. Although he had not yet been defined as a rogue ninja, it was already a fact.

Orochimaru's experiments on the village's ninjas, and the news of his inhumanity, began to spread like wildfire.

It seemed as if a huge force was secretly pushing all of this forward. Although the Konoha leadership had noticed and hurriedly tried to stop it, too many interests were involved. Many people saw that the wall was about to collapse and began to secretly add fuel to the fire.

The Sarutobi clan spared no effort in their pursuit of their own interests and the hope that another Hokage would emerge from their clan.

Next came the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. Although the three clans usually kept a low profile, they knew the principle of "if you don't kill the snake, you'll suffer the consequences." They were from the Hokage's faction, and the Hokage's faction had clearly abandoned Orochimaru.

The three races of pig, deer, and butterfly also want the current stability, and many people have begun to secretly work to continue spreading this news.

With Orochimaru gone, Shinnosuke Sarutobi will no longer have any rivals in Konoha. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio will continue to maintain stable political interests.

As things escalated, the interests involved in the Hokage's rebellion became too vast. Over the years, with the Third Hokage in power, this had almost formed a huge network of relationships, so intimidating that it was suffocating.

With the covert manipulation, Konoha's higher-ups were horrified to discover that things were out of control. They experienced firsthand the terrifying power of public opinion.

The White Fang incident was the first time they used the power of public opinion. They didn't need to spend much resources to stir up public opinion. At that time, they didn't know how to control it. They just felt a sense of fervor. They were excited and satisfied. They completely destroyed White Fang's reputation with almost no cost.

However, it was only when White Fang committed seppuku that the higher-ups of Konoha began to fear this power—it had actually forced a powerful Kage-level shinobi to his death!

While Orochimaru had his own reasons this time, it was also due to the tacit approval of the Hokage's higher-ups. Completely despairing of the village, Orochimaru plunged headlong into the pursuit of immortality ninjutsu, choosing to sever all ties with the village.

It's truly a cruel twist of fate; no one could have predicted such an ending.

Even within the Sarutobi clan's territory, fear flickered across the face of the Third Hokage's eldest daughter-in-law. She realized they were out of control; public opinion was spiraling out of control, completely out of control. She wanted to destroy Orochimaru with a single blow, but only in terms of reputation; she had never considered the possibility of Orochimaru defecting!

From the beginning, her plan was simple: completely destroy Orochimaru's reputation so that he would never have a chance to recover, and then her husband would take over, and Orochimaru would be exiled to guard the border. Wouldn't that be better?

……

Uchiha Yoru was unaware of the tremors that had occurred in Konoha. He had already chased after the enemy out of the village and was now in a vast forest.

Despite clutching his severely injured waist, Orochimaru wore a unique smile on his pale face. "Heh, Night Lord, it seems you want your teacher to prove your strength this time."

It's obvious that Orochimaru misunderstood. At this time, his emotions were extremely sensitive. He had been abandoned by his teacher and the village, and he had cut off everything without any resistance. But it would be a lie to say that he didn't resent it.

Knowing full well the terror of forbidden arts, they still gave it to him, all to scheme against him. How could he not resent it? Now, as you wished, he has discovered a new world, but no one recognizes his talent.

"Orochimaru-sensei, Jiraiya-sama is coming!"

Uchiha Yoru looked at his disheveled teacher and said these words. Orochimaru immediately smiled, but this time his smile was a little hurried.

Jiraiya! With his student added to the mix, it seems he's really in grave danger this time.

"Hehe, Ye Jun is indeed more like a snake than I am, lying in wait for so long, only preparing to make a move when he is absolutely certain of victory."

It was clear that Orochimaru was aware of his student's ambitions. He believed that Uchiha Yoru wanted to use his name to gain fame and at the same time take over his inheritance in the village.

Orochimaru!

Just then, with a loud, angry roar, Jiraiya descended from the sky. He was wearing combat metal plate armor and was filled with rage as he looked at Orochimaru's disheveled appearance.

"Aren't you going to reconsider, Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya's initial rage vanished upon seeing Orochimaru's severely injured state, replaced by endless sorrow in his eyes. He uttered his final, unwilling question: Why! Why did you betray the village!

Orochimaru turned his head and revealed an evil smile. I looked at Jiraiya chasing after me, my hand already clenched tightly on the kunai.

"Ridiculous! Even jokes have their limits! We're just one step away! The research has reached its final stage. I'm going to get everything. My capacity is beyond what Konoha can contain! For this purpose! From now on, I will use any village or whatever it may be!"

Orochimaru was extremely frantic at this moment. He had clearly found the direction, but he was unwilling to give up!

Jiraiya's face showed grief; his comrade Orochimaru had actually come to this, and he clenched his hands tightly involuntarily.

However, at that moment, in Jiraiya's eyes, this aloof Uchiha boy, who was also the first time he had seen Orochimaru's newly recruited disciple, stood in front of him.

"Orochimaru-sensei! You go first. Take this ninjutsu with you. Don't trust Root during your escape, and also!"

At this moment, Uchiha Yoru, gripping the Kusanagi sword and crackling with electricity, coldly stared at Jiraiya. He casually tossed a scroll to Orochimaru, his voice hoarse as he said, "I will fight with all my might to stop Lord Jiraiya! And escape! Only if you, Sensei, escape will you have a chance to prove yourself!"

Stunned! Shocked!

Jiraiya was shocked that Orochimaru's disciple, this Uchiha brat, was actually trying to stop him. Orochimaru, on the other hand, was astonished that his student seemed to give him a sense of trust similar to that between Jiraiya and the other three legendary Sannin.

He had always known about his student's ambition. He had thought that the student would hold him back for personal gain, but he never expected that the student would hold back the pursuers for him at the last moment.

Upon seeing the word "substitute" on the scroll in his hand, Orochimaru's pupils shrank, and his shocked expression gradually turned into a sickly smile.

"Heh, Jiraiya, it seems I've taken on a decent disciple this time."

Orochi-style Substitution Technique!

Orochimaru knew about this ninjutsu; it was an idea proposed by his student some time ago. It was a ninjutsu that perfectly transferred injuries, like a snake shedding its skin. At that time, he excitedly agreed that the concept of this ninjutsu was feasible, but he simply didn't have the time. He never expected that his student would actually develop it on his own.

In the original story, Orochimaru spent a lot of effort to escape Konoha's pursuit after being injured during his defection. From this, we can infer that Orochimaru had not developed this ninjutsu at this time.

This is a real world, and he couldn't guarantee that things wouldn't change. In addition, he also needed this ninjutsu, so he exchanged for it in advance.

This would be a perfect opportunity to give to Orochimaru as a favor, as Orochimaru, who had severed all ties with the world, was at his most emotionally sensitive at this time.

"Jiraiya, it seems you can't stop me this time."

Orochimaru was never the type to show his emotions on his face. Instead, he turned to Jiraiya, shook the scroll in his hand, and gave him an evil smile.

However, upon witnessing this, Jiraiya burst into laughter in exasperation. "Orochimaru, you've sent this brat to hold me back? Aren't you afraid I'll lose this disciple?!"

As Jiraiya said this, his powerful chakra aura surged forth, and blue chakra could even be seen flowing across his body. Only a ninja with a massive amount of chakra could create such a sight.

An overwhelming sense of chakra pressure swept over him, and a powerful gust of wind whipped his long hair wildly. Orochimaru glanced meaningfully at his student, a hint of disappointment in his golden snake eyes.

"It's a pity, Master. I'm afraid I won't have time to see how strong you are this time. But I'll give you one last helping hand when it comes to dealing with Jiraiya."

Orochimaru instantly began forming hand seals, and Jiraiya, seeing this, reflexively began forming hand seals as well.

Hai-Xu-You-Shen-Wei!

Orochimaru and Jiraiya quickly formed the same hand seals, and finally slammed their hands heavily onto the ground.

(End of this chapter)