The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, wore a grim expression as he led Kakashi and Sparrow—two elite jonin—into the dim underground passage.
At that very moment, inside the secret base, the massive explosion had already startled Orochimaru out of his deep immersion in experimentation.
"Heh heh… I actually thought you would come much sooner, Sarutobi-sensei."
Orochimaru slowly turned around, his golden slit pupils glinting coldly under the fluorescent laboratory lights.
He was still dressed in his jonin vest, wearing the Konoha forehead protector. His serpentine gaze settled upon the three figures emerging from the corridor.
"Orochimaru… so it really was you…"
Hiruzen's eyes swept across the laboratory.
Everywhere were glass tanks filled with floating organs, rows of experimental equipment, and an air thick with antiseptic and the metallic tang of blood.
There were even several corpses wearing Konoha headbands lying on the floor.
Hiruzen had known that after the Third Shinobi War, Orochimaru had become obsessed with research—and had even begun cooperating with Danzo. But he still hadn't wanted to believe that his student would go so far as to perform human experiments on the village's own shinobi.
"To think you would trample on the Will of Fire like this…"
Such inhuman acts made Hiruzen feel deeply ashamed before the legacy of the previous Hokage.
More importantly, if word spread that the Third Hokage's own disciple had been capturing and experimenting on Konoha ninja, what would the clans and villagers think?
So no matter what—Sarutobi Hiruzen had to clean up his own mess.
Kakashi, wearing the white cat mask, and Sparrow instantly flashed to Hiruzen's front, kunai drawn, ready for battle.
Hiruzen's hands blurred through hand seals, moving so fast they left afterimages, before slamming his palms to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Bang!
A cloud of smoke erupted as summoning symbols spread outward. From within it emerged the massive form of the Monkey King, Enma, wearing a Konoha headband.
"Hiruzen, the enemy is—"
Enma began with his arms crossed, only to freeze when he saw the pale face lurking in the shadows.
"Forgive me for the unsightly situation, Enma," Hiruzen said bitterly. "This time, I must purge my own student."
"With just this, you won't be able to stop me… sensei."
Orochimaru smirked as he formed hand seals.
A shrill, high-frequency sound wave tore through the air like invisible blades, assaulting the eardrums of Hiruzen, Kakashi, Sparrow, and Enma alike. Hiruzen even staggered and fell to the ground.
By the time they recovered, Orochimaru had already flash-stepped behind them, reaching the exit of the corridor.
He glanced back once—his golden eyes filled with complex emotions as they fell upon his former teacher—before turning away without another word and sprinting out.
At the same time, the base's self-destruction mechanism activated. Explosive tags detonated one after another, and the entire underground facility was swallowed in chain explosions.
"Hokage-sama!"
Kakashi, Sparrow, and Enma immediately shielded Hiruzen from the collapsing structure.
Outside Konoha – The Forest Perimeter
Orochimaru dashed swiftly between the treetops.
'How laughably indecisive…' he thought, recalling Hiruzen's hesitation earlier, his lips curling in mockery.
'Still, it's a pity I didn't have time to transfer the equipment from my other laboratories. I suppose Danzo will be getting a nice windfall.'
He didn't care much about the apparatus itself—all of his true research was stored in his mind. With enough time and funds, rebuilding better labs would be easy.
But the thought of everything falling into Danzo's hands left a sour taste.
'That old fox will never let this opportunity pass…'
Pursuers would surely be on their way.
Orochimaru accelerated.
Soon, he neared Konoha's protective barrier.
But once he crossed it, the Barrier Corps would detect his exit. The village would immediately know the direction of his escape, and pursuit forces would swarm in.
Swish—
"Who's there?!"
Orochimaru abruptly leapt from a tree trunk into midair, hurling several kunai toward the presence he sensed.
The blades buried deep into the bark as he landed on another branch.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
Applause echoed from a shadow not far away.
Wearing a white three-eyed fox mask, Menma slowly stepped out, two eerie silhouettes hovering behind him.
The moment Orochimaru saw the three masked figures, his pupils shrank.
Even someone as secluded as him had heard rumors of the mysterious shinobi known as "Shura."
The one who had stormed Konoha, severely injured the Hyuga brothers, and later attacked Kumogakure—causing massive casualties and earning a staggering seventy-million-ryo bounty.
"Heh… so you must be a Konoha shinobi, then," Orochimaru said coldly, curiosity flashing in his eyes.
"Worthy of being one of the Sannin, Orochimaru," Menma replied lightly. "But you only guessed half right."
Behind him, the figures of the Third Death God and Jade Heavenly Maiden hovered like phantoms.
Orochimaru's reasoning wasn't unreasonable.
'Shura' had first appeared in Konoha, reappeared here again, and now accurately blocked his escape route. That suggested deep familiarity with Konoha's barrier system—strongly implying he was from within the village.
It even reminded Orochimaru of the mysterious attacker behind the Nine-Tails Incident three years ago.
Though much of that event had been classified, Orochimaru, as one of Konoha's upper echelon, knew more than most.
The identity of the person who had controlled the Nine-Tails was still uncertain—but many had clearly seen the Sharingan reflected in its eyes.
"Interesting… very interesting."
Orochimaru stared at the masked trio, a deep instinctive wariness toward the scythe-wielding figure stirring within him.
"A powerful individual capable of ravaging Kumogakure, yet lurking within Konoha for so long—and now precisely intercepting my escape…"
His mind raced at high speed. The thrill of this mental chess match made him unconsciously lick his lips.
"So then, what is it you want? Or rather… what do you hope to gain from me?"
Orochimaru understood clearly: this was not a fight he could afford.
If he were stalled here, Hiruzen and Danzo's forces would catch up in no time. And once they arrived, the masked man could simply disappear—leaving Orochimaru in dire straits.
The longer this dragged on, the worse it was for him.
"Ho? So cooperative?"
Menma chuckled softly before stating his demand:
"Hashirama cells."
"!!!"
Orochimaru's eyes trembled.
Only one person should have known he possessed them—Danzo.
"You're not working for Danzo!" Orochimaru immediately rejected his own assumption.
"Who I am doesn't matter," Menma replied casually. "What matters is that if you don't hurry, Kakashi and 'Kō' will be catching up soon."
The name hit Orochimaru like a lightning bolt.
'Kō!'
The only successful survivor of his Hashirama cell experiments—picked up later by Danzo. Even Orochimaru only knew him by that codename.
'Just how much does this person know…?!'
Without hesitation, Orochimaru's throat convulsed. Reaching inside his mouth, he pulled out a scroll coated in sticky mucus.
"This is what you want!"
He tossed the scroll toward Menma and immediately dashed toward the barrier.
The instant he broke through it, Orochimaru turned back one final time, burning the image of "Shura" into his memory.
One day—he would reclaim this humiliation.
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