"My mind has changed. I want to sit in that position too and see the view for myself."
Orochimaru certainly wasn't going to tell them the real reason. He casually made up an excuse to fob them off. He had considered asking Tsunade to work with him, but their ideals were incompatible. If Tsunade learned about his experiments, she'd be the first to cut him down. After all, Orochimaru had dug up her grandfather's grave. There was no way Tsunade would help him.
"I've decided to support Minato. I think he's more suitable than you."
Compared with Orochimaru, Minato was like Hashirama Senju compared with Madara Uchiha: one was sunny and warm, while the other was gloomy all the time. If you had to choose, which one would you pick?
"I expected this a long time ago."
Orochimaru acted as if he'd known all along and didn't seem to care at all.
The Sannin were now split into two camps: Jiraiya and Tsunade on one side, and Orochimaru standing alone on the other.
"Orochimaru, you'd better be careful. Don't lose to your juniors and start crying."
Jiraiya was delighted. With Tsunade's support, he seemed certain he'd already won, and he teased Orochimaru.
Orochimaru knew Jiraiya's personality and didn't take it to heart. To him, Jiraiya was a clueless fool who couldn't keep anything to himself—and a dear friend.
"Who knows what the result will be until the very end?"
Orochimaru said.
"That's right. No one knows the result until the very end."
Karot came over to the adults' table and spoke. He sat down right beside Orochimaru.
The score was tied, two to two.
The moment Tsunade saw Karot, her anger flared.
"Brat, are you supporting Orochimaru?"
"Looks like all that gambling has addled your brain, Tsunade-sama. I've always supported