Aftermath

For the Iwa ninja, the death of the Third Raikage was neither a good thing nor a bad thing.

The Third Raikage was perhaps one of the strongest enemies in the eyes of Konoha High-ranking officials, perhaps even the strongest. From this perspective, the existence of the Third Raikage was naturally a good thing for Iwa ninja. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.

However, from another perspective, the Third Raikage led the Kumogakure into its golden age, posing a significant threat to the Land of Earth, which is closest to the Land of Lightning and separated by the sea.

Yichen once speculated that in the original work, Ōnoki's attack on the Third Raikage was probably based on the same idea as the current Mist ninja: they were afraid that the Cloud ninja were too aggressive and coveted their territory.

So whether the death of the Third Raikage was more beneficial or detrimental to the Iwa ninja was hard to say, and the Iwa ninja and the civilians of the Land of Earth simply viewed the matter with the mindset of bystanders.

However, for Konoha, this had a huge impact. First of all, Jiraiya and Minato Namikaze, who carried out this action, became heroes in the eyes of the Konoha.

As for Orochimaru's actions, they were initially suppressed by Hiruzen Sarutobi, and were not widely reported within Konoha.

However, the ninjas of Konoha still harbored some resentment towards Orochimaru. Orochimaru himself didn't even bother to return to the village to explain. In fact, he even Hiruzen Sarutobi Orochimaru summon him.

Outsiders, including Yichen, were naturally unaware of this, but Danzo, who served as the Konoha's Hokage Assistant, was fully aware of it.

So, Danzo, who had been Danzo since suffering a great loss at the hands of the Cloud ninja, started making moves again.

In the original story, Danzo had considerable influence in Konoha at this time, and even after his defeat at the hands of Nagato, he still harbored ambitions for the position of Fourth Hokage. Therefore, Danzo's attitude towards Orochimaru at that time was one of courting and cooperation.

Whether it was courting or cooperating, Danzo always maintained the upper hand in his interactions with Orochimaru. Because of this, after the human experimentation incident, Danzo was able to shift all the blame onto Orochimaru and then disappear back into the shadows.

However, things were different at this time. Danzo's forces had been almost entirely destroyed by the Cloud ninja, and he had lost control over the cooperation with Orochimaru.

For an ordinary person, they might give up cooperation, or endure for a while and then take back control when the time is right. But Danzo is no ordinary person!

Danzo chose to give Orochimaru a push.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was Orochimaru's teacher, so he should have had a thorough understanding of Orochimaru. And that is indeed the case. It is said that Hiruzen Sarutobi did not choose to let Orochimaru succeed him because he saw ambition in Orochimaru's eyes.

However, in terms of understanding Orochimaru's inner thoughts, Hiruzen Sarutobi was no match for Danzo, who, like Orochimaru, was dissatisfied with the status Danzo. Danzo may not have realized that Orochimaru had long wanted to leave Konoha, but Danzo astutely noticed the change in Orochimaru's attitude towards Hiruzen Sarutobi and Konoha.

So Danzo turned his attention to Orochimaru.

Danzo's approach was to spread rumors about Orochimaru, since this tactic had a successful precedent; White Fang had fallen victim to it.

Calling it a rumor isn't quite right, because the rumors Danzo spread within Konoha about Orochimaru were all true. In fact, many of them involved projects that Danzo and Orochimaru collaborated on Third Shinobi War and during the Third Shinobi War.

For Danzo, it was far too easy to fabricate evidence, both true and false.

And so Konoha became lively.

Not only was the sneak attack that Hiruzen Sarutobi desperately tried to cover up exposed by Danzo, but rumors were also Danzo in Konoha that Orochimaru was experimenting on the bodies of ninjas and civilians. Various rumors were told in great detail, with pictures and evidence. Regardless of whether others believed them or not, Danzo himself believed them.

Orochimaru went from hero to executioner in an instant, and this news spread very quickly under Danzo's guidance. The enthusiasm for discussing this matter among Konoha ninjas and civilians far exceeded that for the death of the Third Raikage.

Of course, the discussion wasn't one-sided; Orochimaru still had many loyal subordinates who firmly believed Orochimaru had been wronged.

Others recalled White Fang from back then. Their attitude was relatively cautious; they neither completely believed nor directly refuted him. They were waiting for the Hokage's response.

Unfortunately, Danzo has evidence this time, so the prevailing rumors are still quite unfavorable to Orochimaru.

Such rumors, of course, did not escape Jiraiya's notice, who went to the hot springs Tenten to gather material. When he learned that his best friend might have gone astray, Jiraiya's first reaction was disbelief.

Sensing that someone was targeting Orochimaru, Jiraiya smashed the glass window of the Hokage's Office and jumped directly in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was engrossed in smoking.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at Jiraiya, but didn't stop smoking. He simply waved to the Anbu who had followed him in.

After the Anbu left, Jiraiya eagerly asked, "Old man, what's going on with Orochimaru? Who's targeting Orochimaru? Is the Cloud ninja retaliating against us? Why didn't you stop them?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Jiraiya again, took a deep drag on his cigarette, and then said, "Orochimaru didn't attack the Cloud ninja. If the Cloud Ninja Cloud ninja revenge, they should be targeting you. On the contrary, Orochimaru even launched a sneak attack on Kirigakure, helping the Cloud ninja vent their anger. Why should the Cloud ninja target Orochimaru?"

Jiraiya thought about it and realized he was right. He had been too concerned and made a mistake, but now, after Hiruzen Sarutobi's reminder, he understood that this didn't seem like the work of Cloud ninja. After a moment's thought, he said, "Could it be Danzo?"

In Jiraiya's heart, his best friend was naturally the most reliable companion. Although the two often bickered, Jiraiya felt that this was also a kind of fun.

What Jiraiya know was that in Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart, Danzo was also considered his most reliable comrade. Although Hiruzen Sarutobi also suspected that Danzo was very likely responsible, he didn't want Hiruzen Sarutobi's image in Jiraiya's Danzo to be too bad, and besides, Hiruzen Sarutobi had no evidence to prove that Danzo who did it.

On the contrary, Hiruzen Sarutobi also possessed detailed evidence of Orochimaru's series of human experiments.

Hiruzen Sarutobi that Jiraiya should look at the documents himself.

Jiraiya grabbed the documents Hiruzen Sarutobi handed him and immediately began reading them, ignoring the smoke in the Hokage's Office. The more he read, the deeper Jiraiya brow furrowed, because, based on his judgment, he also felt that the evidence was genuine.

With red-rimmed eyes Jiraiya finished reading the document, then stared at Hiruzen Sarutobi without saying a word.

Hiruzen Sarutobi felt a little uncomfortable under Jiraiya's gaze, Jiraiya after a while, he said, "Go to the Land of Whirlpools and bring him back."

"Alright." Jiraiya hearing this, Jiraiya jumped out of the window without another word. In fact, even if Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't said anything, he would have gone to the Land of Whirlpools anyway. He wanted to ask Orochimaru in person if there were any hidden secrets or hidden motives.

Hiruzen Sarutobi got up and walked to the window, watching Jiraiya's figure disappear straight down the road leading to the Land of Land of Whirlpools. He sighed. He knew Jiraiya definitely wouldn't go through the main gate; there was registration there, Jiraiya probably wouldn't want to wait even a second longer.

With a cough, Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned the Anbu and instructed them to inform the Barrier Team not to make a fuss about Anbu leaving the Barrier Team's restricted area Jiraiya permission.

After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi said to another Anbu, "Go and call Danzo."

Although he didn't respond to Jiraiya's words just now, he himself felt that Danzo was the biggest suspect behind this matter, and he wanted to ask Danzo in person.

What Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know was that Danzo had been waiting for him all along. When Danzo spread the rumors, he had already prepared for all sorts of possible developments in the situation.

Even before Jiraiya set off, Danzo had already informed one of Orochimaru's loyal subordinates. That Orochimaru had already left Konoha under the guise of a mission and was probably almost at the Land of Whirlpools by now.

Danzo was certainly not trying to kindly remind Orochimaru to destroy Orochimaru evidence. Danzo no longer needed evidence; the evidence he had spread within Konoha was enough to prove Orochimaru's crimes.

Danzo understood Orochimaru's personality. If Orochimaru didn't know that things had been exposed, he might have tried to cover it up for Jiraiya. But if Orochimaru knew in advance that things had been revealed, he wouldn't try to hide it from Jiraiya.

Danzo was right. Not only did Orochimaru fail to destroy the evidence before Jiraiya found him, but he Jiraiya, almost making Jiraiya question his existence.

As a result, the two parted on bad terms, Jiraiya and Orochimaru fought a fierce battle, which ended in Orochimaru's victory. During the battle, Orochimaru used some of the results of his human experiments to teach Jiraiya a lesson.

However, Orochimaru didn't kill him. Jiraiya and Konoha were both his bonds. At this point, he had no intention of destroying Konoha.

After defeating Jiraiya, Orochimaru returned to Konoha alone, leaving Jiraiya, who thought he was still in the Land of Whirlpools, to search the Land of Whirlpools.

After returning to Konoha, Orochimaru took away some experimental items he had placed in and around Konoha, and then planted the immature Cursed Seal Konoha had just developed on his beloved disciple Anko.

After finishing everything, he leisurely arrived at a Training Ground and waited quietly. This was a place he often came to when he was a teenager and was in Hiruzen Sarutobi's squad.

After a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with his Shadow Guard. The moment he saw Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that his disciple had made up his mind.

The day before, Hiruzen Danzo to his office to question him, but Danzo had ruthlessly shut him down. Hiruzen Sarutobi with resentment and originally wanted to have a good talk with Orochimaru, but at this moment he couldn't say a word.

Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's appearance, Orochimaru grinned dramatically, smiled silently, then turned and left Konoha without looking back.

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Orochimaru leave in silence, ignoring the urgent urging from his Shadow Guard and his Summoning Beast, Enma.

Hiruzen Sarutobi remained immersed in his grief, unable to pull himself out of it, until a cold voice interrupted him.

"Hiruzen, classify Orochimaru as S-rank Rogue Ninja, otherwise Konoha will have to take responsibility for whatever he does next."

Hiruzen Sarutobi snapped out of his daze upon hearing this, took a deep breath, and then turned to look at the three advisors who were approaching. His gaze swept over Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura before finally settling on Danzo, who had spoken.

He ordered his Anbu, enunciating each word clearly. "Classify Orochimaru as S-rank Rogue Ninja, and then notify the entire Ninja World."

After speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to leave, but Danzo wouldn't let him go so easily. He stepped forward and said, "Hiruzen, Orochimaru's trusted followers left in the village must be dealt with; they are a future threat."

Enraged, Hiruzen Sarutobi shouted, "Danzo, these people are all village ninjas, our comrades!"

Danzo remained unmoved and retorted sharply, "Hiruzen, don't be soft-hearted. You must make the decisions of a Hokage."