Sixteen Years Old, The Fourth Generation of Mizukage

"Orochimaru!!! Stop running away! Come back with me!"

Seeing Jiraiya chasing after him again with the support of Konoha's intelligence system, Orochimaru sighed helplessly, and finally stopped his escape, standing on a tree that had experienced countless Standing on the towering ancient trees in the wind and rain, he looked down at Jiraiya, who was wearing the Konoha Jounin uniform.

"You really don't want to give up, Jiraiya... to you, am I really someone worthy of your persistence and beating?"

"Does that even need to be said!?"

Listening to Orochimaru's question, Jiraiya roared at him angrily like a pissed off lion:

"We, the Sannin of Konoha, earned our title after fighting side by side and relying on each other for life and death countless times. How could I not value a friend like you who has entrusted each other with his life!?"

"Oh my friend……"

Hearing Jiraiya say this term so solemnly, even Orochimaru's eyes couldn't help but fluctuate a little, but soon he adjusted his emotions, shook his head and laughed:

"We are all adults who have found our own paths. Jiraiya, children's friend games cannot convince me..."

"How will you know the result if you don't give it a try!?" Jiraiya has no intention of giving up, "I will never watch my friend go down a path of no return!"

"Jiraiya, you are still so naive."

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya with pitiful eyes and said quietly:

"Why are you still looking at the world with the same set of things you learned from the ninja school? The never-ending war, the prophecies from immortals, the passing of old life, the birth of new life, these things, Isn't it enough for you to break away from your pure ninja identity and learn to see the world from a different perspective?"

"What do you want to say...what do you want to say, Orochimaru!?"

"Look, you and Sarutobi-sensei are both miserable people whose souls have been bound by the so-called nindo..."

Orochimaru shook his head and began to form psychic seals on his hands.

"Sarutobi-sensei intends to take away my memory, make me give up the results I have obtained through research, forget the different perspectives I gained through those studies, and become an idiot like you who only knows how to think in a ninja way. Continue Make sacrifices for the prosperity and development of Konoha..."

"Don't you think it's funny? When Danzo was alive, he could acquiesce to everything Danzo did in secret. Even if Danzo did something that crossed the line, he would only give a few verbal warnings, but actually let Danzo go. Having a power that is almost as strong as his Hokage...

But after Danzo died, he suddenly became selfless, suddenly he couldn't rub his eyes with the sand, and suddenly he had to liquidate me, a disciple who had collaborated with Danzo, and suddenly he had to make me do it for The mistakes I have made have to pay the price of sealing my memory..."

"He didn't give me the position of candidate for the Fourth Hokage, and he didn't give me the position of the second-generation leader of the Roots. Now, he wants to turn me into a fool like you who only thinks about the village and the way of ninja. , to continue to dedicate and sacrifice for the Fourth Hokage he chose..."

Looking at Jiraiya, whose face turned green and white, Orochimaru let out a long breath, and said with a gloomy and cold smile in a cheerful tone after venting his emotions:

"Whether it is a village or a country, it is true that someone needs to make sacrifices in order to stumble forward, but why should this sacrifice be me? It took me a lot of effort to understand the reality of this world. With the sacrifice of others, I found the path I expected. If I follow you back, wouldn’t those people who sacrificed themselves in my hands be wasted in vain?”

"That's enough, Orochimaru!"

Jiraiya shouted loudly, and rose up from the spot. With a complicated expression that no one could tell what the emotion was, he released the high-speed spinning Otama Rasengan with his right hand, and went all out to attack the big snake. Attack in the direction where the pill is.

"Is this your answer, Jiraiya? How disappointing...Rashomon."

The white smoke of the psychic technique exploded, and the huge Ghost Face Gate cut across the two people, blocking the attack of the Otama Rasengan.

Although Jiraiya's attack was quite serious, Rashomon's defensive power eventually offset the entire power of the Otama Rasengan, leaving only a tooth-wrenching sound of metal twisting, and under the Otama Rasengan's The moment the offensive dissipated, Orochimaru's counterattack followed——

"Wind Escape·Big Breakthrough!"

The fierce storm struck from behind the fallen Rashomon, directly hitting Jiraiya who had not made any defense for some reason. It tore the Konoha Jounin uniform on his body into a mess, tearing off his white lion-like body. The wild-haired Jiraiya was blown away far away, and after breaking many big trees one after another, he sat slumped on the spot without moving like a broken puppet.

Orochimaru showed a somewhat surprised expression at first, but then he shook his head, and with the same complex expression turned around and left the venue where the two briefly met, towards the place he had established during the execution of his mission earlier in the year. Go to a secret stronghold.

"Your heart is shaken very much, Jiraiya... I wonder if today's conversation will be the last straw that breaks your heart?"

"If you can, the name Konoha Sannin will be completely in name only, right?"

…

Jiraiya was lying among the ruins of the forest, staring blankly at the sky.

Every part of his body ached because he had just been sent so far by Orochimaru's Wind Release, but compared to the pain in Jiraiya's heart, the physical pain seemed a bit insignificant.

Before catching up with Orochimaru this time, he had thought very seriously about what he could do to stop Orochimaru from having so much resentment towards the village and the teacher if he could bring Orochimaru back to the village.

All mistakes were blamed on the dead Danzo, and Orochimaru tried his best to downplay Orochimaru's subjective initiative in the anti-human human experiments and research on forbidden arts. After all, everyone knows how much Orochimaru has done for the village and how much blood he has shed. It seems that as long as the top management does not take the initiative to publicize the mistakes Orochimaru has committed, time will soon dilute the negative public opinion about him.

As for the matter of sealing memories, Jiraiya has also made the decision to completely bind himself to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's memory does not need to be sealed. He can continue to conduct research and experiments without harming other people's lives. As the person who monitors Orochimaru, he is responsible for supervising his every move.

Although this idea may not completely convince Konoha's senior officials, it can at least allow them to see their own attitude. When the external environment of the village is not so good and cannot bear the loss of Kage-level combat power, including Sarutobi Hi Konoha's top brass, including Zhan, should be willing to take a step back and no longer be so aggressive in trying to trace Orochimaru's guilt...

"But now, how can you say this?"

Jiraiya recalled Orochimaru's look just now and closed his eyes with a wry smile.

There was no trace of nostalgia or recognition for Konoha in those eyes. Although Orochimaru's remarks about Sarutobi Hiruzen had personal grudges, for Jiraiya who also knew the development of the village over the years, the problems Orochimaru said did exist.

"Sarutobi-sensei... To you, Danzo should be like Orochimaru in my eyes, right? Although I know that he has taken the wrong path, I can't help but want to favor him, defend him, and let him go." Let him continue to be active in front of him in a reasonable capacity..."

"But if that's the case, I think it would be impossible to persuade Orochimaru to come back."

At this moment, chaotic thoughts emerged from the bottom of his heart. In Jiraiya's mind, for a while, he was thinking about Hiruzen Sarutobi's instructing him, Orochimaru and Tsunade, and for a while, he was fighting side by side with Orochimaru when he was performing a mission. Absolute trust, sometimes it was the argument between himself and the increasingly gloomy Orochimaru over the years, and sometimes it was Orochimaru's decisive cold eyes just now...

"Let's go out for a walk."

Jiraiya opened his eyes and sat up from the ground with a sigh.

He couldn't tell what he wanted to do now, and he didn't know what else he could do after being rendered speechless by Orochimaru. Now he just wanted to find a different environment to calm down for a while and let this person I have received too much information and intelligence for a while, so I can clear my head a little.

But where can you go to completely empty your mind?

The next moment this question popped up, two strange answers emerged uncontrollably in Jiraiya's mind.

One is the Akatsuki organization run by Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan, and the other is Kirigakure, who is also in a period of post-war reconstruction and change.

"Let's go to Akatsuki...at least, I should be able to understand Nagato and the others' thoughts."

Jiraiya shuddered and quickly eliminated the latter option, which was quite tempting but could easily lead to him being trapped in it, out of his mind.

"But if you want to stay in the Akatsuki organization for a while, you can't use your original appearance... Otherwise, if Kumogakure, Iwagakure and Sunagakure think that Akatsuki is supported by Kirigakure and Konoha, 'Peace organization', that would ruin things."

"Furthermore, Akatsuki has absorbed a large number of ninjas from various countries some time ago. As the strength increases, there will definitely be many problems. If I go to help, Kaguya Rei, that little brat, will no longer be able to laugh at me and say that I am a Is it irresponsible to abandon the teacher?"

"Well... let's do it."

Next, it’s time to join Akatsuki’s plot, eh