Chương 188: Time Is on My Side

"Oh? I thought you'd be hoping my path would fail so I'd eventually end up making the same choice you did."

"No." Orochimaru shook his head.

"If there were only one road to immortality, that would be a tragedy."

"Maybe. But that's a discussion for another day. Where's what I asked for?"

"Heh. It's not too early. Time passes faster than most people realize." With that, Orochimaru opened his mouth as though preparing to spit something out. Knowing exactly how this man operated, Dongye zhen immediately held up a hand.

"No, no, no. Orochimaru-senpai, don't. You know Summoning Jutsu exists, right? Do you absolutely have to pull everything out of your mouth?" A wicked grin curled across Orochimaru's lips. Ignoring Dongye zhen's disgust, he obediently formed hand seals and summoned a scroll.

"Danzo has always been meticulous. He rarely leaves behind hard evidence. This is merely a portion I intentionally preserved. Hopefully it'll be of some use." After examining the contents, Dongye zhen nodded.

"This is enough. I'm not planning to move against him yet. And I'm sure he'll come looking for you again in the future." He closed the scroll and smiled.

"When that happens, you know what to do, don't you, Orochimaru-senpai?"

"You needn't tell me." As expected, cooperation between two master schemers always came with insurance policies. Orochimaru possessed Danzo's dirt, and Danzo undoubtedly possessed Orochimaru's. Unfortunately for Danzo, Orochimaru's defection had severely diminished the value of his leverage. At best, he could threaten a few of Orochimaru's hidden assets still left in Konoha.

Accepting the scroll, Dongye zhen added casually,"As thanks for a pleasant collaboration, here's a free piece of information from your junior."

"The Third informed Jiraiya before deciding to move against you. You may run into your former teammate sooner than expected." He paused.

"Try not to get killed. If your main body dies, I won't let you resurrect through Anko's body." Orochimaru seemed utterly unconcerned. Rising to his feet, he turned to leave.

"Don't worry." Confidence radiated from his voice.

"Jiraiya that fool could never bring himself to kill me." Fair enough. Jiraiya was a lot like Naruto in that regard. He never cared what dreams his closest friend pursued. All he wanted was to drag that friend back home and keep him by his side. Even if he had to break a few bones to do it. Kill him? That was something he'd never be able to do. Dongye zhen made no move to stop Orochimaru's departure. Truthfully, he'd never intended to kill him in the first place, even if the man had nearly abandoned his humanity.

His sense of justice simply wasn't that overwhelming. Everything he'd done since arriving in the shinobi world had ultimately been for one purpose—to live a life worth living. This was a supernatural world. A world where immortality existed. Just as he'd told Orochimaru earlier, his White Natural Energy had already shown him a path toward it. Though still young, he could vaguely sense the ongoing transformation of his body. As natural energy continued reshaping him, his lifespan would become extraordinarily long.

At the very least, he doubted he'd fare any worse than the sages of the Three Great Holy Lands. The problem was everyone else. He didn't know whether he'd eventually discover a method to extend the lives of his family and friends. If he couldn't... Then one day, they would leave him behind, one after another. And immortality would become nothing more than an endless road toward eternal loneliness. The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Keeping Orochimaru alive at least guaranteed that somewhere in the distant future, he'd still see a familiar face. A small comfort. Of course, if he didn't want Orochimaru—or perhaps Auntie Snake by then—to become the only acquaintance left alive, he'd need to keep searching. There had to be a way. After all, Fukasaku and Shima had survived for centuries beside the Great Toad Sage. The Three Snake Princesses serving the White Snake Sage were ancient beyond measure as well.

If they could do it, there was no reason humans couldn't. One of Dongye zhen's Shadow Clones was currently directing ANBU operatives through an underground laboratory hidden beyond Konoha's back mountains. Drawers were overturned. Cabinets dismantled. Every corner searched. Unfortunately, the facility yielded little beyond grotesque experimental subjects and cryptic research notes. The evidence was more than sufficient to convict Orochimaru. The problem was that he had already defected. He couldn't care less.

As for connections to Danzo, there was almost nothing. Orochimaru would never leave that sort of evidence behind for Konoha to discover. No matter what happened, he and Danzo still needed each other. Until both men had squeezed every last drop of usefulness from their partnership, they'd continue protecting one another. If not for the fact that he couldn't beat Dongye zhen and couldn't escape him either, Orochimaru never would've surrendered those documents so obediently.

Inside a sealed laboratory chamber stood a metallic operating table. Or rather, what remained of one. A massive tree had erupted from its surface. Its growth was wild and violent, roots and branches tearing apart equipment and crushing the room's structure. Near the base of the trunk, a vaguely human silhouette could still be discerned. The exposed head remained intact. Its mouth opened and closed rhythmically, as though breathing. Yet Dongye zhen could clearly sense the truth. The man was long dead.

His soul had vanished completely. Only the body's astonishing vitality remained, continuously nourishing the monstrous tree. The surrounding ANBU stared at the scene with visible discomfort. The sight was profoundly unsettling. Dongye zhen found a specimen tube and carefully collected samples from the human remains, the tree itself, and the area where the two had fused together. He had no interest in conducting experiments. These were merely reference materials. Useful data for developing his own Wood Release.

Late that night, every ANBU unit involved in the operation delivered their recovered documents to the Hokage Building. After reviewing several reports, Hiruzen's expression darkened. For the first time, genuine regret surfaced. He regretted letting Orochimaru escape. The evidence before him painted a picture he could no longer deny. The beloved disciple he still hoped might return. The student he wanted to save. That person had already abandoned his humanity and plunged into bottomless darkness.

What remained could scarcely be called human. He should have ended it when he had the chance. Tsukikage Kumomi spoke first.

"Third Hokage-sama, what are your orders?"

"Orochimaru possesses a vast number of Konoha's secrets." Hiruzen's voice was firm.

"His defection poses a grave threat to the village." He looked across the room.

"I hereby order all ANBU forces to pursue him at full strength."

"Capture him before he leaves the Land of Fire." A brief pause followed.

"If capture proves impossible..."

"Kill him."

"Yes, sir!" The assembled ANBU vanished immediately. The hunt had begun. Unfortunately, half the night had already passed. Given Orochimaru's abilities, he was undoubtedly long gone. Finding him now would be like chasing a shadow across the horizon. Among the crowd, Dongye zhen's Shadow Clone silently rolled his eyes. The one who let him go was you. Now you're the one demanding his capture. Old man, make up your mind.

Back in Konoha, Dongye zhen's real body flashed directly outside Minato Namikaze's home via Flying Thunder God. Something this significant ensured that neither Minato nor Kushina had gone to sleep. Both were waiting. Only Naruto remained blissfully ignorant, already lost in dreamland. Upon entering, Dongye zhen tossed the scroll onto the table. Minato opened it. The further he read, the deeper his frown became.

"Orochimaru?"

"Defected." Dongye zhen shrugged.

"The Third failed to stop him. I think he hesitated." A heavy sigh escaped Minato. For perhaps the first time, even Konoha's ever-bright golden hero felt dissatisfaction toward the Third Hokage. The man's indecisiveness was becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. Someone like Orochimaru should never have been allowed to defect. A shinobi of the Sannin's caliber possessed countless village secrets. Releasing him into the world was inviting disaster. Kushina crossed her arms and snorted.

"The old man has really gone senile. If I were him, I'd retire already and let Minato handle things." Minato smiled helplessly.

"And then we'd just end up back where we started. What would that accomplish?"

"Huh? How would it not accomplish anything?" Minato chose not to answer. Dongye zhen did it for him.

"Kushina-sensei, if the Hokage's authority keeps getting divided and diluted, it won't matter who's sitting in the chair."

"Anything they try to do will face resistance."

"Eh? It's that complicated?"

"It is." Dongye zhen nodded.

"The Third struggled with this problem during his own tenure."

"After Minato-senpai became Hokage, it only got worse."

"I can tell the Third has spent the last year or two trying to fix it." He paused.

"But after today's incident, I'm starting to think he no longer has the resolve necessary to finish the job."

"Homura and Koharu are manageable."

"The real problem is Shimura Danzo."

"And Root."

"They need to be removed completely." Kushina's sharp mind immediately produced a solution.

"Then just kill him."

"Is he that strong? Even you and Minato together can't do it?" Minato shook his head.

"We can."

"But we can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because the Hokage must uphold Konoha's rules." Dongye zhen answered calmly.

"We benefit from those rules ourselves."

"If we start solving internal problems through assassination like Danzo does, then everything falls apart."

"The Hokage's actions have to be legitimate." Whether in his previous life or in the shinobi world, people who relied on political assassinations against their own side rarely ended well. Even Rasa, when he wanted Pakura dead, had used Kirigakure's hands rather than acting openly himself.

"What a pain." Kushina rubbed her temples. Then her eyes landed on the documents.

"Legitimate?" She waved the papers.

"Isn't this evidence?"

"It is." Minato nodded.

"But there's no rush."

"Let's allow the Third to handle it first."

"I believe he already knows about everything Danzo has done." Having once held the title of Hokage himself, Minato understood something essential. For those at the top, patience was often the most important weapon. And he was still young. He had plenty of time. No matter how things unfolded, the initiative remained in his hands. Given a choice, Minato would rather avoid tearing apart relationships with the older generation. Time, after all, was on his side.