Chapter 158: Reminiscing Old Affection, A Fugitive’s Path
Sarutobi Hiruzen narrowed his eyes as he looked at Orochimaru, who had transformed into the Eight-Headed Serpent, and quickly made hand signs, “Earth Style – Swamp Vortex Technique.”
With his move, the Adamantine Prison Wall’s soil turned into a mudflow vortex, spinning rapidly. Despite the Serpent’s astonishing brute strength, at this moment, it seemed powerless and under the powerful suction, it gradually sunk.
In the end, its huge body was submerged in the mud. Only the eight heads were visible. Even after using such large-scale earth-style ninjutsu, Hiruzen showed no signs of fatigue. He stared at Orochimaru and sighed, “Orochimaru, is there something you want to say?”
Orochimaru gave up struggling and stared at Hiruzen with his snake eyes. His sensei’s face was filled with wrinkles and his hair had turned grey, showing how far along in years he was. But as his disciple, no one knew better than him how powerful Hiruzen was.
The title of the strongest Hokage was not for show. It was something Hiruzen earned during the First Great Ninja War and the early stages of the Second Great War. The present situation was proof enough. Even though Orochimaru had used his trump card of the Eight-Headed Serpent, Hiruzen could restrain him.
The two looked at each other and time seemed to stand still. The atmosphere was silent for a while. Hiruzen understood this disciple well. Seeing his silence, he knew that Tonan’s allegations were true. Orochimaru was conducting human experiments.
Hiruzen sighed, “Orochimaru, stop your ninjutsu and return to Konoha for trial.”
Among the Konoha sannin, the most important one for Hiruzen was Orochimaru. In terms of strength alone, only a few people could defeat him. Even though Orochimaru had stood on Danzo’s side recently, Hiruzen didn’t resent him.
Orochimaru finally spoke, “Sensei, can I still live if I go back with you?” The question silenced Hiruzen for a while. After a long time, he weighed in, “You are, after all, my student. I’ll try my best to plead for you. Moreover, I guess, with your relationship with Danzo, he won’t just watch you die. This is a critical matter so the various clan patriarchs will participate in the trial. The worst outcome will be your execution.”
A sneer appeared on Orochimaru’s face, “What’s the best outcome?” Hiruzen was silent again for a long time before sighing softly, “You’ll be imprisoned in Konoha’s prison for a lifetime.”
Orochimaru took a deep look at Hiruzen and then glanced at the Anbu members surrounding him. He immediately nodded, “Alright.”
After speaking, he retracted the Eight-Headed Serpent mode and Hiruzen dispelled the earth-style ninjutsu. The Adamantine Prison Wall that trapped Orochimaru wasn’t removed, it just shrunk, and like a cage, imprisoned him. “Sensei, I’ve shown my sincerity. Why don’t you put this thing away?”
Hiruzen shook his head, “To be on the safe side, let’s wait until the ninjas of the Nara and Yamanaka clans arrive.”
Orochimaru stared at Hiruzen and flicked his tongue out, “Sensei, you not only want to imprison me but also search my memories.”
A hint of hesitation flashed through Hiruzen’s face before he nodded, “You’ve committed a crime. I’m following the rules.”
“Sensei, do you truly think that I don’t know what you are thinking?” As he spoke, Orochimaru raised the Kusanagi Sword and swung it at the Adamantine Prison Wall.
Crack… Orochimaru cut open a big hole in the Adamantine Prison and immediately fled. The surrounding Anbu ninjas stepped forward to block him, but he dodged them easily.
The Adamantine Prison Wall turned back to its original appearance of monkey king Enma after Orochimaru escaped. Enma looked at his palm in disbelief. There was a deep wound on it. “It’s the Kusanagi Sword, the sharpest divine artifact in legends. Hiruzen, why don’t you chase after him?”
The Anbu members turned to Hiruzen as well. Without his command, they didn’t know whether they should go after Orochimaru or not. Hiruzen just stood there calmly, and his eyes were deep. No one knew what he was thinking.
After about half a minute, he took a deep breath and ordered, “Chase.”
Swish, swish, swish… The Anbu ninjas used the Body Flicker Technique, chasing in the direction Orochimaru had taken off in. For a powerhouse like him, half a minute was enough to run far away. Ordinary ninjas would never be able to catch up to him even if they wanted. Everyone realized in their hearts that Hiruzen considered his old relationship with Orochimaru and chose to let him escape.
At this moment, an Anbu member appeared behind Hiruzen and fell to one knee, “Hokage-sama, Uchiha Tonan is chasing after Orochimaru.”
“What!” Hiruzen narrowed his eyes, and said to Enma, “Transform into Adamantine Staff, Enma.” He picked up the Adamantine Staff and joined the chase. He had no intention to go after Orochimaru but he was worried about Tonan’s safety. After all, Tonan’s sense of justice was too strong. If he truly caught up with Orochimaru, he would try to stall him even if it meant his death. If by chance Orochimaru ruthlessly killed him, Hiruzen would regret it.
In the dense forest, the ancient trees were towering, covering the sky. In the dark corners of the night, it looked especially eerie and mysterious. The wind swayed the tree tops, making rustling sounds, disturbing the quiet. Orochimaru moved fast, no obstacles could hinder him. He had already shaken off the Anbu chasing after him.
Despite this, he didn’t dare relax. He continued to run wildly, looking straight ahead. Once captured, the outcome was certain death if his memories would be checked. He and Danzo had done much in private that was not limited to just this.
If Hiruzen were to know about these things, his consideration for their old relationship or the desire to save him would vanish. He would be the first person who would want to kill him. Orochimaru was sure about this because he knew that people like Hiruzen were the most selfish.
Hiruzen often talked about the Will of Fire, the interest of the village, and the like. But the reality was that if anyone truly threatened Hiruzen’s interest, he would not be merciful. Hiruzen said that he wanted to save him. That was because he thought he had just killed some civilians and ordinary ninjas in the village. Other people’s lives were of no importance to Hiruzen.
Among Orochimaru’s several crimes, only two were enough to make Hiruzen kill him. The first was that he had used Sarutobi clan members for experiments. Although the Sarutobis had no special bloodline limit, most of them could awaken various chakra attributes. The most extraordinary members were Sarutobi Hiruzen and his father Sarutobi Sasuke who possessed all chakra attributes.
As for the second thing, it was the source of his experiments’ funding. Almost all of it came from the Land of Fire’s Daimyo. The Daimyo had secretly sent several precious experimental materials to him as well and they had had too many dealings in private. Even Danzo was not aware of some of these.
Nearly everyone knew that the death of Hiruzen’s sons was related to the Daimyo. If someone said that Hiruzen was not hostile to him, Orochimaru wouldn’t believe it. Hiruzen hadn’t made any big moves because he knew he was old, and his deterrent power was weaker than before.
If he took action against the Daimyo, there was a good chance he would lose the thing he most cared about: power. In other words, once these things were exposed, not only Hiruzen, even Danzo might no longer protect him.
It seemed he could no longer stay in the Land of Fire. A cunning rabbit has three burrows. Orochimaru had many secret bases in other countries. As the matter stood, he had no regrets in his heart. Even if he could restart, he would do it all over again.
With the Daimyo’s funding, the progress of his experiments had advanced rapidly. He had already researched and developed many important things.
