[Naruto : Yellow Flash] Chapter 641 - 645

Chapter 641: The Battle of the Legendary Sannin

"Although my thoughts so far are just inferences, you should have noticed that something is wrong, right?"

Minato looked at Hiruzen and said in a deep voice.

On the day the village was attacked, Hiruzen wondered where Orochimaru had gone.

After investigation by Jiraiya-sensei, it was found that Orochimaru was involved in the mission of protecting civilians in the rear.

However, he had been behaving strangely in recent days, and Minato was sure that he was not the only one who had noticed it.

If the Third Hokage didn't even realize this, he wouldn't have been called a great ninja and wouldn't have sat firmly in the position of Hokage for decades.

However, Orochimaru was his most valued disciple, and perhaps this fact influenced Hiruzen's judgment.

Hiruzen was silent for a moment when he heard this.

He did not deny Minato's inference, which meant that he had realized something abnormal.

"In any case, Orochimaru-senpai left the village on a mission without my permission. He must be recalled."

Minato still lacked evidence, so he could not take overly tough measures to deal with this matter.

Although this mission was entrusted by an important figure from the Land of Fire, in the end, it was most likely fabricated to allow Orochimaru to leave the village.

But before making any decisions, they must at least clarify these questions.

Hiruzen nodded, approving Minato's idea.

Minato's gaze immediately fell on Uchiha Yoruki and the others, and he said:

"Order half of the ANBU squad leaders to leave the village immediately and recall Lord Orochimaru to the village!"

With the level of ordinary ANBU, it would be impossible to find the whereabouts of a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber.

"Yes!"

Uchiha Yoruki responded, and his dark pupils immediately turned scarlet, with the three tomoe in them slowly rotating.

With the insight of the Sharingan, given this time difference, he should be able to find Orochimaru!

After the ninjas left, Minato didn't know what to say to the Third Hokage.

"Jiraiya-sensei..."

He pondered inwardly, and realized there was no trace of Jiraiya-sensei in the village either.

Orochimaru's sudden departure from the village could definitely not be hidden from Jiraiya's eyes.

That's why Minato only sent a small number of ANBU elites to track down Orochimaru.

Whoosh!

Orochimaru's murderous intent suddenly erupted, and the powerful chakra fluctuations caused the air to tremble slightly, shaking several leaves off the giant tree where he was standing.

In front of him, Jiraiya's pupils suddenly shrank, and his face was full of disbelief.

Because Jiraiya would never have imagined that Orochimaru, whom he regarded as his most important comrade and fellow Legendary Sannin, would one day show murderous intentions towards him.

"Orochimaru, are you crazy? We are comrades!"

Jiraiya still had no wariness towards Orochimaru and growled in confusion.

"I've always thought you're really annoying!"

Orochimaru's eyes were filled with murderous intent and he quickly formed hand seals.

"Boom! Boom!"

The ground between the two giant trees standing opposite each other immediately shattered, and then two huge pythons emerged from it, opened their bloody mouths, and lunged towards Jiraiya.

It was not until this moment that Jiraiya truly came to his senses.

Orochimaru no longer cared about their past friendship and was trying to kill him!

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

His face was still full of disbelief, as he formed seals with both hands.

The ground at the roots of the giant tree also cracked at this time, and a huge earth barrier rose up.

"Bang! Bang!"

The two giant snakes crashed into the earth wall simultaneously, causing it to shatter immediately, with huge rocks flying everywhere and raising clouds of dust.

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"

After the giant snakes broke through the earth barrier, Jiraiya disappeared behind it. At this time, on the ground, Jiraiya's other jutsu was quickly completed.

"Splash!"

The originally hard ground suddenly turned into a large area of quagmire. The two giant snakes suddenly lost their balance and rolled over. Due to their weight, they sank deeper and deeper.

However, Jiraiya naturally did not dare to relax at this time. Just when he trapped the two giant snakes with the Swamp of the Underworld technique, he suddenly looked sideways and saw a figure appearing beside him.

It was Orochimaru.

At this time, the hand seals of the jutsu in his hands had been completed.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

Orochimaru opened his mouth, and arcs of electricity burst out uncontrollably.

"Crack!"

The lightning immediately condensed into spears, then pierced through space in the blink of an eye and shot towards Jiraiya.

In Jiraiya's eyes, the lightning spears rapidly grew larger, and he no longer had time to form hand seals or release a jutsu to counter it.

As two of the Legendary Sannin, there was not much difference in strength between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.

However, the former attacked with murderous intent and showed no mercy at all.

Not only was Jiraiya caught off guard at first, but he was also forced into a defensive position.

If two masters fight in this state, it will be extremely dangerous!

"Odama Rasengan!"

Looking at the oncoming lightning spears, Jiraiya moved towards them, and suddenly a deep blue chakra sphere condensed in his palm.

The moment before the lightning spears pierced Jiraiya, the Giant Rasengan was formed.

"Boom!"

When the two collided, the lightning spears had such terrifying penetrating power that cracks appeared on the Big Ball Rasengan in an instant.

However, under this powerful impact, most of the chakra in the lightning spears was consumed.

When Orochimaru saw this, his pupils shrank.

"Is this Minato Namikaze's jutsu?"

He was not afraid of Jiraiya. With the latter's strength, it would be difficult to defeat him. But if he wanted to leave, Jiraiya would not be able to stop him.

However, having Jiraiya observe him should have been an order from Minato Namikaze.

Now that Jiraiya had found his laboratory, Minato Namikaze had the evidence to act against him.

In addition, Minato was proficient in space-time ninjutsu. Although Konoha was in a special period at this time, there was no guarantee that Minato wouldn't teleport here using the Flying Thunder God Technique.

If that were the case, there would be no way he could escape on his own.

Even if Minato Namikaze himself didn't come, if Jiraiya hadn't handed the evidence to him yet, and Orochimaru left the village without permission,

Minato Namikaze, who had already begun to doubt him, would definitely send people to retrieve him.

In Konoha today, apart from Minato himself, if anyone other than Hatake Sakumo or Uchiha Yoruki came, it would be difficult for Orochimaru to escape.

So, he couldn't be delayed here by Jiraiya for too long.

"Boom! Boom!"

Under continuous impact, the Big Ball Rasengan blocked Orochimaru's False Darkness technique, but Jiraiya's palm was temporarily damaged by the lightning chakra and became slightly numb.

At this moment, Orochimaru completed another set of hand seals.

He lay prone on the ground with his mouth wide open as if it was split open, which was simply impossible for a normal human being to do.

Countless thin snakes gushed out of his mouth like a tide.

"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Chapter 642: Two Pairs of Mangekyō

"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

A tide of countless thin snakes rushed madly towards Jiraiya, and with a swift movement, they threatened to cover him completely.

The dense hissing sounds were enough to make one's heart tremble just by listening to them.

Jiraiya suddenly raised his eyes, and the expression in his eyes at this moment was almost pained.

His expression was not because he was afraid of Orochimaru's deadly technique.

A shinobi of his caliber had already become extremely resilient in character. No matter what kind of crisis he faced, if he became frightened before the battle, he had already lost half the fight.

"Why!?"

Until this moment, Jiraiya's heart was still reeling. He didn't understand why the companion who grew up with him and Tsunade, and the partner who fought side by side with him countless times, would now try to kill him.

Just now, due to the False Darkness technique, Jiraiya's palms were temporarily numb.

His hands were shaking as he formed seals at the fastest speed possible in his current state.

"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"

Just before the tide of snakes covered Jiraiya, his long white hair suddenly grew and wrapped around his entire body like a protective cocoon.

"Boom!"

The terrifying snake tide covered him and immediately caused violent vibrations throughout the dense forests of the Land of Fire.

Swish!

A dark shadow suddenly passed through the woods.

Suddenly, there were slight vibrations and sounds coming from far away.

This slight fluctuation was so faint that it would be impossible to detect with the senses of ordinary people.

But the black shadow immediately stopped moving forward, and in its scarlet eyes, three black tomoe slowly rotated and transformed into a flame pattern, capturing every detail.

"Is it there?"

This person was naturally Uchiha Yoruki, who was ordered by Minato to leave the village and retrieve Orochimaru.

After sensing the aftermath of a battle coming from far away, he immediately changed direction and rushed toward it.

"Whoosh!"

But before he could travel far, a vortex-like distortion emerged from the space in front of him.

Uchiha Yoruki became alert instantly and stopped again.

In front of him, the masked man still wearing the wide hooded black robe appeared.

"It's you again!"

When Uchiha Yoruki saw the person blocking his way, his face immediately darkened and murderous intent suddenly flared in his eyes.

The masked man seemed to ignore Uchiha Yoruki's hostile intent.

Uchiha Yoruki drew out the weapon from behind him and held the sword in one hand.

After the last fight, he already knew that the masked man in front of him possessed superior eye power.

Therefore, when facing such an opponent, one must never waste chakra on unnecessary dōjutsu techniques.

However, through the battle that day, he also had gained a good understanding of the abilities of the man in front of him.

Uchiha Yoruki could not find any information about these abilities in the clan's records.

Swish!

The next moment, Uchiha Yoruki suddenly disappeared from the spot.

There was also a slight flicker in the masked man's eyes.

"Slash!"

A blazing flame-covered blade immediately slashed towards his vital points.

However, with his ability, the masked man could simply ignore this kind of attack.

The blade passed through his body. The masked man glanced sideways slightly, then turned around, focusing his dojutsu in a certain direction.

"Buzz."

Wherever he looked, the space began to distort.

However, the moment before the distortion occurred, the black figure had already retreated.

"That's a pretty quick response."

The masked man murmured. Although his dojutsu was superior to Uchiha Yoruki's, the latter also possessed the Mangekyō Sharingan after all.

Just now, Uchiha Yoruki used the insight of the Mangekyō to predict in advance the position where his dōjutsu would be focused, and then used a high-speed body flicker technique to avoid it.

Uchiha Yoruki stopped and looked at the masked man in front of him. Although his expression was still solemn, fighting with him now was far less strenuous than before.

This was naturally because he had information about the masked man's abilities.

However, there was one most important point.

Although this person's dojutsu and abilities were quite strong, he still had great weaknesses.

That is, his combat awareness and basic qualities as a ninja were not very outstanding.

Although the top shinobi in the ninja world almost all mastered powerful jutsu and techniques,

To reach that level, one must rely on more than just powerful ninjutsu.

Just like Minato, even if he did not rely on the Flying Thunder God Technique, his speed was still unmatched in the ninja world.

Therefore, with this foundation, combined with space-time ninjutsu, Minato was able to surpass the other shinobi of the contemporary ninja world.

This is why the masked man is difficult to defeat even though he could battle against top-tier shinobi.

Because one cannot become a truly strong person simply by relying on the strength of one's abilities.

Therefore, through these observations, Uchiha Yoruki could rule out the possibility that the masked man was Uchiha Madara.

Because although he possessed eye power stronger than Uchiha Yoruki's Mangekyō, if he was really Uchiha Madara, his combat awareness and basic qualities would never be so ordinary.

The First Hokage and Uchiha Madara dominated the world in their time, and what they relied on was definitely not just powerful eye techniques and chakra.

However, even though he was aware of this, Uchiha Yoruki knew very well that his abilities were not enough to defeat the masked man.

Even Minato could only suppress him, not defeat him outright.

The key to countering the masked man's ability was to create a flaw in his technique.

But in this fight, the masked man probably just wanted to hold him back.

Uchiha Yoruki stared at the masked man intently. In this case, he could only hope that Jiraiya could stop Orochimaru.

"Boom!"

The huge tide of snakes knocked down all the giant trees within a radius of dozens of meters, and even the ground seemed to have been shaved off a layer.

Amidst the chaos, only Jiraiya, who was wrapped in the Needle Jizō technique, appeared intact.

His hair, as hard as steel, was stained with blood, and all around him were the corpses of pierced snakes.

The snake tide ended, and the long white hair slowly gathered together, revealing Jiraiya's figure.

"Huff... huff..."

Jiraiya knelt on one knee on the ground, his eyes slightly drooped, and he was breathing heavily.

Orochimaru's Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands was not a technique that could be easily defended against.

In order to defend against this attack, Jiraiya had consumed a large amount of chakra.

With his strength, he shouldn't have been in such a dire state, but the enemy he was facing was his former best friend.

He had no way to fight with all his strength. He had been in a defensive situation since the beginning of the battle.

"Hiss."

At this moment, Orochimaru suddenly appeared in front of Jiraiya. His right hand suddenly stretched out and transformed into two large snakes, which then entangled Jiraiya and lifted him up.

The two looked at each other. Orochimaru stuck out his tongue, licked his lips, and said in a hoarse voice:

"You are still as naive as before. Do you really think I won't kill you?"

Chapter 643: Catering to His Interests

"Do you really think I won't kill you?"

There was not a trace of emotion in Orochimaru's eyes at this moment, and his voice was cold.

He would really kill Jiraiya; he was not just saying harsh words.

However, at this moment, there was only sadness in Jiraiya's eyes.

A small snake slithered around Orochimaru's arm and darted toward Jiraiya.

After a moment, the little snake returned and bit off the ninja tool pouch hanging on Jiraiya's lower back.

"Clink! Clink!"

Ninja tools kept falling to the ground. Orochimaru glanced at them out of the corner of his eye, and his pupils shrank slightly.

He did not find the special kunai engraved with the Flying Thunder God mark that Minato Namikaze usually used among Jiraiya's possessions.

"Don't worry, I didn't bring the thing you are looking for." At this time, Jiraiya suddenly laughed.

Orochimaru's pupils shrank when he heard it.

Jiraiya continued to laugh, his expression full of self-mockery.

In his current state, he could no longer stop Orochimaru.

Before leaving, Jiraiya had deliberately left Minato's special kunai in the village.

The consequence of doing this was that he might die here today.

But Jiraiya didn't regret it at all.

The two giant snake heads that were tightly holding Jiraiya were positioned on the left and right sides of Jiraiya's head.

Now, if Orochimaru moved even slightly, he would be able to take his life.

The expression in Orochimaru's eyes flickered a few times.

"Hiss."

The two giant snakes that were tightly wrapped around Jiraiya gradually loosened their restraints and released him.

Jiraiya fell to the ground, his body beginning to go numb.

That was the poison that Orochimaru had injected into Jiraiya's body earlier.

After all, although Jiraiya's chakra was severely depleted, he had not lost his ability to move.

As one of the Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru knew that things would become very troublesome if Jiraiya continued to delay him.

Because Konoha's pursuers should be arriving soon.

"Why don't you kill me?"

Jiraiya asked as his consciousness began to fade.

Orochimaru turned around slowly and ignored him.

Swish!

In Jiraiya's fading vision, Orochimaru's figure suddenly disappeared.

His consciousness gradually became heavier, and then he fell into unconsciousness.

"Clash!"

Elsewhere, the battle between Uchiha Yoruki and the masked man was still going on.

If possible, the masked man wanted to defeat Yoruki today. His eyes were rare in the history of the Uchiha clan.

However, Uchiha Yoruki had already grasped the weaknesses of the masked man's abilities and was sometimes able to counter effectively.

The masked man feared he alone was not enough to defeat his opponent.

As the two continued to fight, a huge pitcher plant extended out from the trees not far away.

"It's over." A voice came from the pitcher plant.

"Faster than I expected."

The masked man chuckled, and then light blue chakra surged from his eyes as he immediately transformed into a half-complete Susanoo.

"Boom!"

At the same time he summoned Susanoo, in front of him, there was also a surge of deep red chakra, which also condensed into Susanoo from Uchiha Yoruki.

When the two Susanoos appeared, the leaves on the surrounding trees immediately fell off from the pressure.

"Swish!"

A red light burst out from Uchiha Yoruki's left eye, and a sword flashed by.

Slice!

However, his target at this time was not the masked man, but the person in the pitcher plant on the tree behind him.

The Rekka no Ken fell down, directly cutting through the giant tree and the pitcher plant together.

"You don't even care about your companions?"

Uchiha Yoruki looked at the masked man in front of him. With the masked man's dojutsu, he was definitely capable of distorting the space around the pitcher plant when the Rekka no Ken fell.

"Haha, do as you like."

However, the masked man in the light blue Susanoo shrugged, and the space around him began to distort, drawing him in.

After staring warily at the direction where the masked man disappeared for a few seconds, Uchiha Yoruki dashed to the pitcher plant that he had cut down.

But there was nothing inside it.

Uchiha Yoruki's expression flickered. The speed of the Flame Sword was so fast that ordinary ninjas could not dodge it at all.

Those who could serve as companions of this masked man were indeed not easy to deal with.

Then he looked towards the place where the aftermath of battle had just occurred.

He had also heard the voice coming from the pitcher plant just now, and his eyes focused on the direction.

Swish!

Immediately, Uchiha Yoruki's figure flashed and disappeared from his current position.

The terrain within a few dozen meters of where Orochimaru and Jiraiya had been fighting was significantly altered, making it extremely easy to find.

Uchiha Yoruki quickly found this place. With a quick glance, he discovered Jiraiya lying in the center.

"Master Jiraiya!"

Uchiha Yoruki quickly landed beside Jiraiya and lifted him up.

He immediately noticed Jiraiya's purple lips and the abnormal color of the blood vessels on his neck and palms.

It was obvious that Jiraiya had been poisoned.

Uchiha Yoruki's eyes flickered. With Jiraiya's level of skill, he shouldn't have been defeated so easily by Orochimaru.

But considering the relationship between the two, Uchiha Yoruki sighed slightly.

He looked ahead. Orochimaru should have gotten quite far by now.

Although if he followed immediately, he might still be able to find Orochimaru's trail, but if he did so, Jiraiya would be in danger as the poison was spreading through his system.

So, after hesitating for a moment, he carried Jiraiya on his back and headed back towards Konoha at full speed.

Orochimaru rushed towards the border of the Land of Fire at full speed, but of course, he couldn't travel in a straight line.

"Whoosh!"

When he landed on a hill, the space in front of him began to distort again.

The masked man's figure emerged.

"You managed to get rid of Jiraiya so quickly. You are truly impressive."

The masked man laughed, but Orochimaru ignored him and continued moving forward.

"It's a pity that you didn't kill him."

As soon as he finished speaking, Orochimaru paused, then turned his eyes and glanced at him.

There was a hint of murderous intent in those eyes.

"You are such a cold guy. Anyway, I helped you stop Konoha's pursuers." The masked man shrugged.

"I didn't ask you to help me."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly, not wanting to say any more to him, and turned around to leave.

The masked man knew that Orochimaru was different from anyone he had ever met before.

But even such a person had his weaknesses.

"Haha, you don't want to pay attention to me, but I think you should be very interested in the secrets of Minato Namikaze, right?"

Chapter 644: Orochimaru's Defection

"What do you mean?"

Orochimaru stopped and looked sideways at the masked man, his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Haha, since you even know that I have Hashirama's power, then you must also want to know what secrets Minato Namikaze has, right?"

The masked man chuckled. Someone like Orochimaru wasn't even afraid of the threat of death.

The only leverage was what interested him.

"It seems that you've noticed it too?"

Orochimaru was slightly stunned at first, as he thought he was the only one who had noticed something unusual about Minato Namikaze.

However, when he carefully recalled the details of the masked man's attack on Konoha, he began to understand.

It seems that although their plan to attack Konoha failed this time, they did not leave empty-handed.

"Even if you can achieve immortality by yourself, if you want to know the answer, you'll have to wait until Minato Namikaze dies."

Judging from Minato Namikaze's current age and abilities, his future achievements might reach the same level as the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.

"But whether you can uncover his secrets at that time is another matter."

The masked man said calmly, and Orochimaru in front of him hesitated for a moment.

"You've said so much, but you just want to use me."

After pondering for a while, Orochimaru said that although he was quite interested in the secrets of Minato Namikaze,

He was not the kind of person who could be manipulated by simple trickery.

"It's not exploitation, it's just a coincidence that our goals are the same." The masked man shrugged.

"Oh?"

Orochimaru smiled faintly and said, "I agree with what you just said. I am indeed very interested in Minato Namikaze's special physique."

"It's just that, for the time being, you and your companions won't be able to create opportunities for me to achieve my goals in a short period of time, so our cooperation can only begin when you have enough strength."

"No problem."

The masked man said that he had never intended to directly win Orochimaru over.

It is more dangerous to let such a person get too close to you and know your true purpose.

"Good luck to you then."

The masked man said that after Uchiha Yoruki found Jiraiya, Konoha would no longer try to bring Orochimaru back.

The latter would also become a wanted criminal on Konoha's wanted list.

After the conversation, Orochimaru ignored the masked man. Since he dared to leave Konoha like this, he must have had a plan.

Even though Konoha was very powerful now, it was almost impossible to capture Orochimaru, who was once one of the Legendary Sannin.

"Whoosh!"

The space in front of the masked man's eyes distorted immediately, and then his body was directly pulled in.

After he left, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly.

Because he had studied the power of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, he was able to sense the secret of this masked man.

But even Orochimaru, who had some information, could only infer that this person was not Uchiha Madara.

He also had doubts about the final outcome of the battle in the Valley of the End.

Everyone believed that the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, won the final victory and Uchiha Madara died there.

Is this really the truth of history?

After Uchiha Yoruki returned to the village, he didn't even have time to report to the Hokage's office, but sent Jiraiya directly to the Konoha Hospital.

"This is Orochimaru's poison. What happened?"

When Tsunade saw Jiraiya, her expression suddenly changed.

"I cannot tell you about this yet. I will leave it to you, Jiraiya-sama. I must report to the Hokage first."

Uchiha Yoruki said, and then disappeared and headed towards the Hokage's office.

Hokage's office.

"Is Jiraiya-sensei okay?"

When Uchiha Yoruki informed Minato of the basic situation, the latter suddenly stood up from his seat.

The relationship between Minato and Jiraiya had long surpassed that of master and disciple. In the former's heart, the latter was like a father.

No matter what Orochimaru did, Minato absolutely could not bear to see Jiraiya get hurt.

"Notify the Third Hokage to go to the Konoha Hospital. I will handle the rest of the matters there." Minato gave instructions to the people below and suddenly disappeared from the spot.

Not long after, Minato arrived at Jiraiya's ward, and from what he sensed, the latter's breathing was no longer in danger.

It was obvious that Tsunade had already removed the poison from his body.

"Minato, can you explain to me what is going on?"

Tsunade asked. She spent almost all her energy on the continuous improvement of the medical ninja system, so she knew most of the things happening in the village very late.

So she knew nothing about the abnormalities in the village in recent times.

"Tsunade-sama, how is Jiraiya-sensei doing?"

Although there was no problem with his perception, Minato still asked one more question.

"Although the poison has been cleared, the nerve paralysis will still take some time to heal," Tsunade replied.

Only after getting her answer did Minato feel truly at ease.

He pulled Tsunade out of Jiraiya's ward, and during that time Minato gave Tsunade a brief explanation.

Not long after, the Third Hokage arrived.

At this moment, the old face of Hiruzen was filled with an expression of disbelief.

"Lord Third, I'm sure you already know this," Minato said in a deep voice.

"Why would Orochimaru do such a thing!?"

Hiruzen gritted his teeth and said that Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade were all disciples he had trained and were the pride of his life.

But he could never have imagined that one day they would actually fight each other with lethal intent.

"I'm sorry, but I think my previous suspicion was correct."

Minato said, before pulling out a torn scroll and a damaged Konoha forehead protector.

These were all found by Uchiha Yoruki near the place where Jiraiya and Orochimaru fought.

"I asked Jiraiya to observe Orochimaru before. Now it seems that he found the evidence."

"It's just that he still had illusions about his former companion and tried to dissuade him, but failed."

Minato also felt very sorry. Although he did not have a very good impression of Orochimaru, the latter was a Konoha ninja and had made great contributions in two Ninja World Wars.

Until now, no matter how much Hiruzen and Tsunade struggled, they had to accept this fact.

"After Jiraiya wakes up and makes a final confirmation of the matter, I will issue an S-rank wanted order for Orochimaru."

Chapter 645: Investigating Orochimaru

The Third Hokage and Tsunade both had extremely complicated expressions at this moment.

Even those with strong minds could not accept the defection of their most proud disciple and former comrade-in-arms.

But that was the fact—Orochimaru had attacked Jiraiya, and he was connected to the broken forehead protector and scroll.

"Let all the ninjas who are still searching in the village stop."

Minato looked at Uchiha Yoruki behind him, his golden brows furrowed. Although he didn't know the purpose of Orochimaru kidnapping the Chunin and Genin in the village, he feared that those people had already been killed.

What he knew clearly was that Orochimaru's second act of kidnapping the village's ninjas was probably intentional. His purpose was to disperse the power of the ANBU and buy time for today's escape.

"ANBU ninjas are searching the places where Orochimaru has been active in batches. They should be able to find something."

Although he already knew that there was not much hope, Minato was still unwilling to give up his last hope.

The most important thing was that since Jiraiya-sensei was able to get these items, it meant that there should be Orochimaru's secret base somewhere in the village.

"But I think all of this will become clear once Jiraiya-sensei wakes up."

Minato sighed and looked at Hiruzen and Tsunade beside him.

"Yes!"

Uchiha Yoruki responded and then disappeared from in front of the three people.

"I also have things to deal with, so I'll take my leave now."

Minato said that the crisis caused by the attack on the village had not yet subsided, and now Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, had rebelled against Konoha.

If this news was not suppressed as soon as possible, it would be very disadvantageous for Konoha.

The rest of the ninja villages and major countries were all waiting for this moment.

However, this matter probably could not be concealed for too long, because the one who blocked Uchiha Yoruki's way was the masked man who had attacked Konoha.

The latter would probably spread the news quickly.

Thinking of this, the murderous intent in Minato's azure eyes could not be suppressed.

Hiruzen nodded, and Minato moved to his office again.

"Hokage-sama, Jiraiya-sama has awakened."

Two hours later, an ANBU ninja came to report.

Upon hearing this, Minato moved to the Konoha Hospital again.

In the ward, Tsunade was sitting next to Jiraiya, who looked gloomy and had his head lowered.

"Sensei."

At this moment, Minato's figure appeared at the window, in front of Jiraiya's bed.

Jiraiya raised his eyes and looked at Minato, then looked away for a moment, his eyes flickering.

"I'm sorry, Minato," Jiraiya said suddenly.

Minato had ordered him to observe Orochimaru, and he did find something abnormal about the latter.

According to common sense, he should have reported this to the village as soon as possible.

"It's not your fault."

Minato said that he had learned some time ago that after Jiraiya followed Orochimaru out of the village, he didn't even bring the Flying Thunder God kunai that Minato had given him.

Minato knew the reason in his teacher's heart. In fact, Jiraiya probably knew how serious what Orochimaru had done this time was.

He was unwilling to see his best friend executed and was even willing to sacrifice his own life for it.

Minato asked himself, if it were him, he might make the same decision as his teacher.

"You don't need to comfort me. No matter what, I have disobeyed the orders of the Hokage, and I am willing to accept any punishment for it!" Jiraiya said.

"Alright, sensei, but you have to tell me first, what was Orochimaru doing?" Minato said in a deep voice.

Jiraiya's eyes changed, a look of extreme disappointment flashed across his face, and then he whispered, "The missing ninjas in the village were captured by Orochimaru. He used these living people. It seems that he was conducting human experiments."

"Human experiments?"

Minato's pupils suddenly shrank.

"Does this mean there are no survivors?"

"...Yes."

Jiraiya struggled to respond, saying that if it was entirely from the perspective of the Konoha ninja, Orochimaru deserved to be executed ten times for what he had done.

Using living people for experiments is against moral ethics in itself, let alone the Konoha ninjas from the same village.

This was a sin that could never be forgiven, even more serious than killing a companion.

"Have you told this to Lord Third?" Minato asked.

"Sarutobi-sensei has already gone to Orochimaru's laboratory," Jiraiya whispered.

"I see."

Minato said, and Tsunade, who was standing beside him, was almost unable to suppress the anger in her heart.

"I'm going to find that guy. I'm going to kill him myself!" Tsunade clenched her fist slightly, and the sound of bones rubbing against each other was heard.

She had established a medical ninja system and spent all her efforts to improve it, all in order to reduce the death rate of Konoha ninjas when performing missions.

And now, Orochimaru had actually hurt his companions. With Tsunade's fiery temper, she could not tolerate this kind of thing.

"Tsunade-sama, please wait a moment." After Tsunade said this, she was about to go out, but was stopped by Minato.

"Minato, I don't think you can accept this kind of thing, right?" Tsunade said angrily. In this village, Minato cared about his companions' feelings as much as anyone else.

"Yes."

Minato nodded, then he changed the subject and said: "But now the village is in a special period. It has just suffered an attack. Ninjas of your level have extraordinary significance to the village."

"What do you mean?" Tsunade naturally knew what Minato meant.

"I know that Lord Third is just as unwilling as you are at this moment."

Minato said: "After you leave the village, I'm afraid he will be even more worried. This will greatly weaken the power of Konoha."

He knew that after Orochimaru's defection, it would be impossible for Lord Third to stay in the village peacefully.

If Tsunade still wanted to leave at this time, then Konoha would be equivalent to losing the power of all three Sannin at the same time.

After hearing the reason, Tsunade's face changed, and then she looked at Jiraiya.

Minato now turned his gaze towards Jiraiya.

"Sensei, since you feel that you have made a mistake, then I will leave the investigation of Orochimaru's affairs to you as a way to make up for your mistakes!"

The Third Hokage and several ANBU who accompanied him found Orochimaru's underground laboratory.

Under the dim light, the bloody scenes in the laboratory and on the experimental bench made the expressions of everyone present flicker with horror.

At this moment, the Third Hokage seemed to look much older.

His already slightly hunched body was trembling slightly.

A muffled groan was heard, and blood flowed out from the corner of Hiruzen's mouth.