The reunion of the Konoha Sannin

(Bonus chapter 6/6, please subscribe!)

Just as the Fourth Kazekage approached the secret base.

A burst of violent and evil Chakra erupted from the secret base of Sunagakure. The Sunagakure Ninja guarding the base fled desperately, while a fat tanuki chased after them frantically.

The Fourth Kazekage cursed, "Damn it, it's out of control again!"

He waved his hand, and golden Gold Dust rushed One-Tail Shukaku, Shukaku retaliated with pale yellow sand. The two powerful sand manipulators engaged in a fierce battle.

In the end, the Fourth Kazekage emerged victorious, resealing the One-Tail Shukaku, which had been sealed away for a long time and suppressed by Gaara.

Rasa, a strong contender for the weakest Kage-level Ninja, was so exhausted that he couldn't even stand up. He could only lie flat in the Gold Dust and wait for the Kazekage Guard Platoon to rescue him.

In despair, he thought: [Forget it, I'll give up and just accept it.]

Even if Konoha is strong, it's none of my business. If I don't provoke the Hokage, what can he do about my ally?

Kirigakure, well, Kirigakure is still embroiled in internal strife.

The Fourth Mizukage's brutal rule continues, and his response time to external intelligence is practically zero.

The Mist Ninja knew nothing and continued their frenzied slaughter in the Kirigakure and the Land of Water, with Ninja Clans Ninja killing Civilian Ninja and Civilian Ninja killing members of the Ninja Clans.

Throughout the entire Land of Water, apart from a few people around Genji, no one felt safe at all.

After arranging accommodations for Former Otogakure in Konoha, Shazo generously allowed Orochimaru to roam freely.

During this pursuit, he truly realized that Orochimaru, and Tsunade were Jiraiya the same; their so-called carefree life was a result of the Third Hokage's deliberate indulgence.

First, after mobilizing the Ninja of the Inuzuka Clan, Aburame Clan, and Hyūga clans, finding Orochimaru's whereabouts was not difficult at all.

Secondly, while there may be few Konoha Ninja who can defeat Orochimaru, he would have a hard time dealing with seven or eight Konoha Jonin together.

When Shisui Uchiha the team, Jonin Squad of six Squad Leader Jonin, Orochimaru didn't even have the thought of resisting until he was cornered at the largest and most important base.

Finally, Orochimaru built a vast and powerful Otogakure, boasting numerous talented young people and comprehensive facilities.

This doesn't mean you can't build up wealth from scratch in ten years, but it's impossible to do so silently.

Only a powerful force like Konoha, with its extensive resources, could quietly support such a large operation.

Now that he has seized all of Orochimaru's assets, Shazo not only doesn't feel threatened by Orochimaru, but he's not even worried that Orochimaru will escape again.

If you keep running away, you'll really end up like Himiko, holed up in the wilderness, lacking food and clothing for decades, unable to even complete a single research project.

Orochimaru can definitely endure hunger, but he absolutely cannot stand a life without experimental facilities; he would go insane.

Now free, Orochimaru took the initiative to settle his children; he had some affection for them.

After all, he was a genius that had been painstakingly collected and patiently nurtured for so many years. Even a group of kittens would become close to him, let alone a human cub that trusts and depends on him wholeheartedly.

Moreover, Orochimaru truly felt Shazo's magnanimity and his joy at these children joining Konoha. He believed that these children would not be treated differently by Shazo, but rather as one of Konoha Ninja.

Therefore, the achievements of these children in Konoha in the future will determine their future influence in the Konoha.

He had no choice but to take it seriously.

After settling the children in, Orochimaru didn't return to his "home." Instead, he leisurely strolled to the tavern and entered a private room inconspicuously.

The two people in the private room were already quite drunk.

Orochimaru sighed, "Tsunade, Jiraiya, I arrived fifteen minutes early. When exactly did you two start drinking?"

Jiraiya, his eyes glazed over with drunkenness, mumbled, "Well, it wasn't long. We started drinking after breakfast."

Orochimaru: "So you mean you've been drinking since after breakfast—and now it's dinnertime."

Tsunade laughed heartily, "So it's already time for dinner?"

"Perfect, now that I'm full, I can go home and sleep."

She raised her eyes and asked curiously, "Orochimaru, were you also captured by the Fifth Hokage?"

Orochimaru chuckled and said helplessly, "The Fifth —he's very powerful. I don't want to die, so I have no choice but to obey his orders and return to Konoha."

For some reason, Tsunade was touched by Orochimaru's words and sighed, "Yes, the Fifth Hokage Shazo, is very powerful."

Her face flushed slightly, but no one noticed because she was drunk.

Jiraiya laughed loudly, "The Fifth Hokage is amazing! Now we can all rest assured."

Orochimaru sat down, poured himself a glass of wine (which was unusual for him), toasted his two old classmates, and then drank it all in one gulp.

He then crushed the glass and placed it on the table, indicating that he would no longer drink.

Orochimaru glanced at his two classmates and said seriously, "Tsunade, it seems you've decided to settle down in the village from now on?"

Tsunade put down her wine glass, propped her right elbow on the table, rested her chin on her hand, and said frankly, "You said it yourself, the Fifth Hokage is powerful, I can't beat him, and I can feel his determination to kill me, so of course I have to obey orders."

Orochimaru nodded. "I felt it too. Lord Shazo Zuo's domineering attitude of 'die if you don't submit' is like the feeling of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha combined."

Jiraiya exclaimed in surprise, "Why are you all saying that? I didn't think he was that fierce at all."

Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya, and said worriedly, "That's the problem. Didn't the Fifth Hokage speak to you?"

Jiraiya, and after thinking for a moment, he replied, "That seems to be the case. I've been back for quite some time now, and the Fifth Hokage has never met with me alone."

"Apart from the Konoha Jonin Assembly, I have never met him."

We've never met, and of course, we've never spoken.

At this point, Jiraiya realized the problem.

Konoha Sannin, Tsunade of Konoha, who had left the village, was persuaded to return by the Fifth Hokage.

Orochimaru, an S-rank Rogue Ninja who defected from the village, was forcefully suppressed by the Fifth Hokage and brought back to Konoha.

The Fifth Hokage refused to even meet with Jiraiya, Jiraiya was considered to have always served Konoha. No matter how you look at it, the message this conveyed was extremely dangerous.

Orochimaru suddenly spoke up, asking, "Tsunade, Jiraiya, where are your Forehead Protector?"

Tsunade paused for a moment, then reached into her robes and pulled out Konoha Ninja Forehead Protector, asking, "Here it is? What happened?"

Jiraiya pointed to the character for "oil" on his forehead and said, "Haven't I always worn it on my head?"

Orochimaru sighed, "Ah, I know what's going on."

Orochimaru was groomed to be the Fourth Hokage for a long time. Among the Konoha Sannin, his abilities and status were higher than Tsunade and Jiraiya.

When he said he knew what had happened, Tsunade immediately stopped thinking and asked, "What exactly happened?"

Orochimaru pointed to the "oil" character Forehead Protector on Jiraiya's head and said, "That's the identification mark of Mount Myōboku. How can the Fifth Hokage think of him wearing someone else's Forehead Protector Jiraiya that?"

"They must think that Jiraiya no longer considers himself Konoha Ninja."

Jiraiya looked completely bewildered. "I'm Jonin Konoha. I just don't wear the Konoha Forehead Protector because I'm used to it, to avoid getting myself into trouble."

Orochimaru hissed coldly, "If you want to avoid trouble, just do what Tsunade and I do and don't wear Forehead Protector. Why do you insist on wearing the Forehead Protector from Mount Myōboku?"

Jiraiya: "----Um, I, I don't know."

Orochimaru & Tsunade: "----"

Orochimaru said helplessly, "In short, if you continue wearing Forehead Protector that doesn't belong to Konoha, don't even think about the Fifth Hokage accepting you. This isn't the era of Teacher Sarutobi being Hokage anymore."

Jiraiya laughed nonchalantly, "Haha, it's alright. With such a powerful Fifth Hokage in Konoha, they don't need my help anymore. I can now focus all my energy on finding the Child of Destiny."

That concludes the discussion.

Jiraiya and Tsunade had little understanding of politics and were used to the Third Hokage's indulgence, so they thought it was no big deal.

Orochimaru, however, knew that the Fifth Hokage was no ordinary man.

On his way back, he learned from his conversation with Kakashi Hatake that Shazo had reorganized Konoha as soon as he took office.

Through reorganization, the Fifth Hokage seemingly distributed the power of the Hokage, but by binding power and responsibility and balancing power, he seized all personnel authority and became a super Hokage with real power.

Furthermore, he also eliminated the influence of the Third Hokage and subtly marginalized Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.

After doing all this, Shazo immediately stopped Tsunade from leaving the village and forced her to return to Konoha.

Then, he cornered Orochimaru and, through a battle of gods, completely defeated Orochimaru, forcing him to return to the village.

Would the Fifth Hokage Shazo, allow Jiraiya to continue wandering the country?

Orochimaru didn't believe it at all.

That was a monster who could fight the First Hokage with Wood Release, a battle Mars with Earth. He was also a ruthless person who could talk eloquently about politics and the balance of power with the Second Hokage.

Orochimaru did not try to persuade Jiraiya.

We're all 48 years old now, and we've long since developed our own ways of dealing with people. How can we possibly persuade each other with words?

Although Orochimaru didn't know how Tsunade was persuaded, he knew how he was persuaded.

So he decided to let Jiraiya experience the Fifth Hokage's ruthlessness firsthand, hoping it might bring this brainwashed fool from Mount Myōboku back to his senses.

The Konoha Sannin gathered, and after a banquet, Tsunade and Jiraiya completely drunk.

The next morning, after sobering up, Jiraiya packed his belongings and walked towards the walls of Konoha as if nothing had happened.

But to his surprise, he found that around the gap in the Barrier he often entered and exited, there were more than a dozen Konoha Ninja, all of whom were wearing the Barrier Team's insignia.

Led by a Jonin and a Chunin, they demonstrated to the other young Konoha Genin how to detect and repair vulnerabilities in the Barrier.

Jiraiya stared in disbelief, and asked blankly, "Why are you starting to repair the Barrier?"

Among the Ninja in the Barrier Team, the Jonin was a middle-aged man who was noticeably older. Upon seeing Jiraiya, he greeted him with a smile, "Lord Jiraiya."

"After the Fifth Hokage took office, our Barrier Team finally received normal funding and manpower. You see, these are all the young graduates newly assigned to our Barrier Team."

The Chunin the Barrier Team chimed in, "With enough money and new recruits, we should definitely speed up the Barrier maintenance work that's been delayed for decades."

"Otherwise, we would be letting down the Fifth Hokage's trust and support."

What could Jiraiya say? Was he supposed to admit he came here illegally?

He could only awkwardly say, "Okay, okay, it's so good to have money and connections, haha."

"You guys go ahead with your work, I'll go take a look around somewhere else."

Without waiting for a response from the Barrier Team Ninja, Jiraiya ran away in a flash.

He circled around Konoha and was horrified to find that all the known flaws in the Barrier had been repaired, or were crowded with Barrier Ninja maintaining them.

Finally, after much difficulty, a loophole was found, only to discover that Ninja from the Inuzuka Clan was on guard duty.

Jiraiya stared at the leader, Inuzuka Ryō, for a long time until the other man sensed his presence from thin air, at which point he had no choice but to leave.

Jiraiya walked somewhat bewildered through the streets of Konoha, unsure of what to do next.

He could certainly leave through the Main Gate, but Konoha Ninja passing through there would need the appropriate procedures and documents.

These documents, which used to require the Third Hokage to issue, are now handled by the Ninja Administration Department.

Logically, this should make things easier, but Jiraiya know how to submit his application. Should he leave the village to search for the Child of Destiny?

Some things, if you don't weigh them, they're nothing; but once you do, they're incredibly heavy.

Konoha Ninja, a Jonin Konoha, Jiraiya one of the Konoha Sannin, actually left Konoha to carry out a mission at Mount Myōboku.

When the Third Hokage was not only inactive but also helping to cover for them, everyone could turn a blind eye.

However, the Fifth Hokage had just taken office and was making a big show of reorganizing Konoha's administration. Jiraiya he were to investigate this, it would be a clear case of Jiraiya betraying the village.

Jiraiya was carefree, he wouldn't be so foolish as to leave Konoha through the Main Gate with such a reason.

He didn't want to become missing-nin of Konoha.

That's why Jiraiya wanted to follow the old path and leave unnoticed through the loophole in the Barrier, leaving no trace behind.

Without solid evidence, the Fifth Hokage couldn't do anything to him.

After all, Jiraiya one of the Sannin, the Superstar of two wars fought in Konoha, and a disciple of the Third Hokage; he certainly had that much influence.

He subconsciously forgot that Tsunade and Orochimaru had been completely subdued by the Fifth Hokage, and he also forgot about Hiruzen Sarutobi's mysterious drowning in the courtyard.

Jiraiya wandered aimlessly through the streets, gradually taking in the changes that had taken place in Konoha.