For obvious reasons, Hagoromo couldn't exactly follow Uncle Snake and defect. The possibility of the mad scientist Hououin Kyouma and the highly attractive assistant Christina teaming up was killed in the cradle from the very beginning.
To a certain extent, Hagoromo still needed to be constrained by Konoha. Openly violating the ninja system wasn't advisable, so he couldn't attack Jiraiya directly; he could only attack Orochimaru. Furthermore, his intent to help the latter escape couldn't be too obvious.
"Back to our original positions!"
After merely stepping forward to confirm the status of the clone, Jiraiya instantly reacted. He had already figured out the most likely scenario under these circumstances.
Orochimaru probably never left his original spot... Up until the moment they arrived here, Uncle Snake had once again deceived Jiraiya's innocence.
But even if they returned to the original location now, there was absolutely no possibility of finding any traces anymore.
Orochimaru had still managed to escape. However, this couldn't be blamed on Hagoromo. There was nothing bizarre about his actions; in fact, he had been rather proactive. At worst, his only fault was being slightly too eager to attack.
Under the current circumstances, it was impossible to determine exactly when Orochimaru had swapped his main body for a clone. So, rather than harping on Hagoromo's responsibility, Jiraiya blamed it on his own carelessness.
Konoha's pursuit of Orochimaru lasted throughout the entire night. Even though the Hyuga clan, mobilizing a step later, deployed in large numbers for the mission, they couldn't find a single trace of Orochimaru.
In reality, for a ninja like Orochimaru, the moment you take your eyes off him for a single minute, the chances of finding him again drop to near zero.
Over the following three days, the search for Orochimaru around Konoha continued, but finding nothing meant finding nothing. The Third Hokage was forced to accept reality: Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, had truly become a rogue ninja.
Furthermore, given Orochimaru's strength, he was a S-rank rogue ninja. Simultaneously, he became the second strongest ninja in Konoha's history to defect, second only to Madara Uchiha.
The sheer bad luck Konoha had experienced this year could no longer be described with just the phrase "a streak of misfortune."
"Where exactly did I go wrong?" This was a question the Third Hokage likely asked himself countless times.
Rogue ninjas often possess significant intelligence regarding their former villages. If they harbor intentions of revenge, they can easily cause catastrophic damage.
The elimination of such ninjas was always a top priority among a village's duties. Therefore, even though Orochimaru was his own disciple, the Third Hokage still had to dispatch the Anbu to pursue him.
Swayed by his emotions, the Third Hokage's resolve had arrived a step too late. Pursuing Orochimaru now was an exercise in futility.
"You want to go retrieve Orochimaru personally?"
The current problem lay in Jiraiya's stubbornness; he hadn't given up on Orochimaru.
Faced with such a disciple, aside from his astonished question, the Third Hokage temporarily found himself speechless. Was it still possible to bring Orochimaru back?
"Since he was a child, Orochimaru has been obsessed with various ninjutsu. Although his actions this time were extreme, I believe it's merely a temporary lapse in judgment... and precisely because of that, I must bring him back," Jiraiya stated.
People only ever see what they want to see. Given the number of Konoha ninjas Orochimaru had dissected, could "a temporary lapse in judgment" possibly cover the gravity of it?
As for what reality truly entailed, Jiraiya either refused to understand it, or understood it but stubbornly clung to this viewpoint anyway.
"This will require a massive amount of time," the Third Hokage said.
As his teacher, he knew Orochimaru's capabilities perfectly well. If the man intended to hide, the ninja world was neither too big nor too small. Finding him would inevitably demand vast amounts of time and energy.
"I have already made my resolve."
"And what about the frontlines and the war?"
Up until now, Jiraiya had been in charge of the frontlines. If he left to pursue Orochimaru, what would happen to the war?
"Considering the overall situation and the mutual understanding that the war is entering its final stages, both we and Kumogakure are reducing frontline forces. In reality, the Land of Rice Paddies is currently restoring its own governance. Small-scale skirmishes might still occur, but large-scale combat is no longer possible... Therefore, my necessity in the war has dropped to an absolute minimum."
Jiraiya's judgment of priorities wasn't completely unreasonable; it could even be called accurate. However, pulling away from a war to chase after another middle-aged man... even if the reasoning was perfectly sound, it still sounded incredibly awkward.
"This matter... I will consider it carefully."
For now, this was the only answer the Third Hokage could give.
What decision the Hokage would ultimately make, and whether Jiraiya would actually go after Orochimaru, Hagoromo didn't know. But as an outsider, the outcome of this matter was crystal clear to him: Orochimaru, having left the village, would never return as a Konoha ninja under any circumstances.
However, these matters had little to do with Hagoromo. It was just that Konoha's overall atmosphere felt rather strange to him—different from the tension of war, and different from the relaxation of peace. In short, it exuded an uncomfortable vibe.
So, even though Orochimaru had just defected and things both inside and outside Konoha were tense, whenever Hagoromo didn't have missions, he preferred staying in the harsher climate of Shikkotsu Forest over staying in Konoha.
And so, he truly did spend his time in Shikkotsu Forest.
However, this time, Hagoromo brought Mirai along... At this point, he estimated that no matter what happened, he couldn't possibly accidentally raise the child to death in his hands, which was why he felt safe keeping her by his side.
As for bringing Naruto, he wanted to, but according to the agreement, it was prohibited.
Right now, Hagoromo was inside one of the wooden towers in Shikkotsu Forest. Looking through the doorway, one could see three pairs of eyes atop three reddish-brown canine heads, peering inside with curiosity.
In a rare display of tranquility, the Multi-Headed Dog lay quietly at the door.
As for Hagoromo, he sat cross-legged on the floor, surrounded by unfurled scrolls covering the ground before him.
To the right of his body lay a one-meter-long Katsuyu clone, upon which Hagoromo had placed Mirai.
Speaking of which, this child rarely cried or fussed, which was another reason Hagoromo was willing to bring her along.
"Hagoromo, what do you plan to feed this child?"
As the only two entities capable of speech in this space, Hagoromo and Katsuyu would occasionally exchange a few words.
"If you haven't prepared anything, what do you think... about my mucus?" So, was this Katsuyu's offering of love, or did it want to dissolve the baby?
"That... please rest assured, I have made ample preparations. As for the mucus... I imagine the nutritional value and protein ratio are far too high for an infant to handle. You'd better keep it for its proper use."
"Feeding infants is clearly outside its intended scope of use."
Hagoromo hastily shut down this ferocious idea. As a mollusk, it shouldn't let its imagination run too wild.
Was it just an illusion? After rejecting the offer, Hagoromo sensed an emotion that could only be described as "disappointment" radiating from Katsuyu...
Setting aside Katsuyu's momentarily broadened horizons, as a human being, Hagoromo's occasional bursts of wild imagination were equally unrestrained.
A long time ago, he had a thought: What would happen if Lightning Style and Electromaster abilities were mixed together?
Or rather, how could he use ninjutsu while simultaneously using his esper abilities?
Conducting such an experiment was simple, but Hagoromo had never actually done it... Now, he was going to give it a try.
The steps weren't complicated, but they carried a considerable degree of danger.
First, Hagoromo wove signs to create a Shadow Clone. Then, a Chidori ignited in the clone's left hand, while the main body's left hand crackled with the materialized electrical currents of his Electromaster ability.
It wasn't a case of a small hand holding a big hand, nor a right hand holding a left hand. It was simply Hagoromo's main body giving his clone a lukewarm, polite handshake.
One must understand that without any prior verification, conducting such an experiment was an incredibly ill-advised endeavor.
The injuries on his arm had only just healed; was he already going back to courting death?
Fortunately, he had at least thought to use his other hand... Although it didn't really matter; he was just taking turns suffering.