manynovel Chapter 163 Orochimaru Leaves the Village
Chapter 163 Orochimaru Leaves the Village
With the Nine-Tails being sealed away once more and the heroic sacrifice of Minato Namikaze and his wife, this series of events brought an unprecedented and enormous shock to Konoha Village. The departure of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, meant that the various clans that had previously supported and invested in him had wasted their efforts. Moreover, they might face retaliation and retribution for offending Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had now regained power and status.
With the Hokage position vacant, the interest group led by Hiruzen Sarutobi will once again seize control of Konoha. More importantly, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is now completely under Hiruzen's control, undoubtedly giving him more leverage and confidence. However, it's difficult to find other shinobi with Kage-level strength within Konoha at present. Although Orochimaru, as Hiruzen's prized disciple, possesses considerable prestige and the ability to rival him, many clans still place their hopes on Orochimaru, expecting him to step forward and contend for the Hokage position. Regrettably, Orochimaru has been absent from the public eye for quite some time.
The following morning, sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell upon the land of Konoha Village. An important meeting was about to begin—the Konoha Conference.
A tense and serious atmosphere filled the conference room. Hiruzen Sarutobi sat on the platform, his weathered face radiating authority and confidence. Leveraging his accumulated prestige and the immense power he now wielded, Hiruzen Sarutobi had successfully reclaimed the Hokage position, becoming the acting Hokage.
The other family representatives sat silently in their seats, knowing full well that they could not resist this decision. Although they may have felt some dissatisfaction, they could not find any reasonable reason to refuse. Thus, they had no choice but to accept the outcome.
Upon regaining the Hokage throne, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately took action. His first task was to purge the clans that had once strongly supported Minato Namikaze. Among them, the Uchiha clan, who had the closest ties to Minato, was the first to be targeted, becoming the object of his purge to establish his authority and make an example of them.
Hiruzen Sarutobi pointed out that the Sharingan had appeared in the Nine-Tailed Fox's pupils, therefore the Uchiha clan must take responsibility for this. He strongly demanded that the Uchiha clan move away from the center of Konoha Village to a vacant area on the village's outskirts near the prison. Furthermore, the Uchiha clan would be subject to close surveillance and control by Konoha Village.
This decision plunged the Uchiha clan into a predicament. They felt incredibly wronged and angry, believing it to be an unwarranted accusation and punishment. However, they were powerless against the powerful authority of the Hokage. Left with no other choice, the Uchiha clan had to obey and begin their arduous migration.
With the Uchiha clan forced to leave the heart of Konoha, the entire village's dynamics subtly shifted. People discussed the matter extensively, filled with worry and uncertainty about the future. Hiruzen Sarutobi, however, firmly believed that this method would maintain Konoha's stability and peace. But had he truly made the right choice? Only time would tell.
Next, he turned his attention to the Aburana and Akimichi clans. Surprisingly, both clans resigned from their positions in Konoha without hesitation. Furthermore, even the Nara and Yamanaka clans, allied with the Akimichi clan, simultaneously chose to withdraw from Konoha's upper echelons.
Even more unexpectedly, the Ayuna and Yamanaka clans were forced to send their most talented members to Root. This decision undoubtedly put immense pressure on the Ayuna clan, but faced with such a forceful order, they seemed to have no choice but to stall for time, hoping that Konoha would welcome a new Hokage.
Many clans pinned their hopes for the future on Orochimaru, leaving him as the only remaining candidate for Hokage in Konoha. Hiruzen Sarutobi was well aware of this—in terms of both strength and status, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the best choice for the new Hokage. However, having regained power, Hiruzen didn't want to lose it again; he truly didn't want to experience a situation similar to Minato Namikaze's. When Orochimaru learned of this, he made no reaction, remaining engrossed in his laboratory. Knowing Hiruzen deeply, he knew the latter would soon turn against him, offering no opportunity for him to become Hokage. Even though he had clearly stated he had no interest in the Hokage position, Hiruzen would never allow him to remain safely in Konoha. As expected, not long after, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the ANBU members trained by Minato Namikaze into Orochimaru's laboratory, carrying out an arrest operation on charges of secretly detaining Konoha ninjas and conducting human experiments.
Faced with the menacing arrival of Hiruzen Sarutobi and his Anbu, Orochimaru temporarily ignored them, his fingers merely tracing the experimental equipment before him, a hint of regret in his expression. He had made a significant breakthrough in his research on Hashirama Senju's cells; with a little more time, a simplified transplantation of Hashirama's cells would be successful. However, he had already obtained all of Konoha's advanced knowledge from Danzo Shimura. He had initially thought his Hokage teacher would consider his reputation and give him more time to achieve the final breakthrough in his research on Hashirama's cells, but he had underestimated Danzo's eagerness.
Well, Orochimaru had now made up his mind to find Hyuga Kanan and have a deep conversation with him. After all, he had recently been painstakingly researching many strange objects and phenomena, and he urgently needed to discuss and refine them with Kanan in order to obtain more ingenious answers. Konoha was now nothing more than a cage for him; if he wanted to explore and understand more unsolved mysteries, he had to leave Konoha and venture into the vast and boundless world.
Orochimaru glanced around the laboratory once more, finally fixing his gaze on his master, whose mind was clouded by the lust for power. A slight, mocking smile played on his lips as he slowly spoke, "Sarutobi-sensei, your hasty arrival has quite surprised me!"
"Orochimaru, I never imagined you'd become like this. You've been conducting unauthorized human research and even attacked the village's ninjas. What are you after?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi appeared heartbroken, his words filled with regret and blame for Orochimaru. He hadn't even conducted a thorough investigation before accusing Orochimaru, leaving him no room to defend himself. What he needed now wasn't to capture and interrogate Orochimaru, but to force him to defect from Konoha, denying other clans any chance to win him back.
That ninja village didn't conduct human experiments, and most importantly, all of Orochimaru's test subjects were delivered by Root ninjas; Orochimaru didn't have time to capture them. Given the relationship between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, Orochimaru didn't believe his Hokage teacher was completely unaware, yet the Hokage still pinned all the blame on him.
Listening to Hiruzen Sarutobi's insincere words, Orochimaru's lips curled into a slight, undisguised contemptuous smile. However, despite his inner disdain, he still decided to obey his mentor, who had cared for him deeply and provided him with countless acts of kindness since childhood.
Back then, Orochimaru was just a lonely child. If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't taken him under his wing and taught him so carefully, he probably wouldn't have received so many resources and care, let alone grown up. Therefore, Hiruzen Sarutobi was truly a person who had done Orochimaru a great favor.
Now, seeing his master make such a request—to betray Konoha—Orochimaru, though filled with bitterness, ultimately chose to agree. After all, the master's kindness was as heavy as a mountain, and as a disciple, the only thing he could do now was to obey his master's wishes and fulfill his final expectations, as a way of repaying the kindness of his past upbringing. This was the last gift he could give his master.
“Sarutobi-sensei, I have found the path I have always dreamed of. Konoha has become a cage for me. Now I want to go out into the world to pursue it.”
Orochimaru spoke to Hiruzen Sarutobi in a deep, husky voice, a hint of reminiscence in his eyes. He seemed to see himself in the past, learning intimately from his teacher, Hiruzen guiding him like a father, always watching him grow with expectant eyes. But Orochimaru quickly snapped back to reality; the teacher before him was no longer the renowned ninja, but a politician consumed by lust for power.
Upon hearing Orochimaru's words and seeing the wistful look in his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a pang of regret. Orochimaru's words were telling him that Hiruzen had long wanted to leave Konoha, but hadn't left because of the last vestiges of their bond. Hiruzen's arrival today was the blade that would sever that bond. Furthermore, Hiruzen's complete lack of rebuttal to the charges Hiruzen had leveled against him, and the wistful look in his eyes, proved that Hiruzen was using his final act of bearing these charges to completely sever their bond.
Hiruzen Sarutobi even considered retracting his order and allowing Orochimaru to remain in Konoha. However, remembering how Minato Namikaze had once treated him with great respect but ultimately seized power from him, he decided that he couldn't allow the power he had so painstakingly regained to be threatened again. Orochimaru's presence in Konoha was clearly the greatest threat.
With a wave of his hand, Hiruzen Sarutobi's ANBU immediately sprang into action, drawing their ninja swords and charging swiftly towards Orochimaru, preparing to take down the infamous and ruthless Orochimaru.