As for Soji's whereabouts, Minato's public explanation was that he had gone off on a secret mission.
As for the details of that secret mission, even the Third Hokage did not know.
Of course, Minato had no choice but to arrange things this way.
After all, Soji was currently in the future timeline and simply could not return.
How could he possibly tell the public something like that directly?
Therefore, Minato could only handle it this way.
Otherwise, setting everything else aside, the Hyuga Clan would definitely descend into chaos!
Orochimaru's sudden arrival in Konoha, with one of his purposes being to search for Soji's whereabouts, truly put Minato in a difficult position.
He really could neither say anything nor stay silent!
So, the only thing Minato could do for now was fool Orochimaru first.
Hearing Minato's counterquestion, Orochimaru raised a brow.
At that moment, Orochimaru detected something unusual in Minato's response.
After all, Orochimaru knew that Minato was aware of the master-disciple relationship between himself and Soji.
Under normal circumstances, Minato would never hide Soji's whereabouts from him.
But the current situation was clearly wrong!
Orochimaru could not help but wonder whether something had happened to Soji.
Thinking of that, Orochimaru's expression darkened.
Although his relationship with Soji was somewhat tenuous, there was no denying that genuine affection between master and disciple existed between them!
Therefore, it was only natural that Orochimaru was not in a good mood after considering the possibility that something had happened to Soji.
"What's wrong? Did something happen to Soji?"
Minato was not sure whether it was an illusion, but he vaguely sensed a trace of violence in Orochimaru's words.
However, Minato soon understood.
After all, Orochimaru was Soji's teacher.
It was not surprising for Orochimaru to show his emotions when he believed something