Inside the commander's tent at the Konoha camp.
Qingye saw Minato Namikaze again.
Orochimaru tried hard to force a smile onto his face, but after several attempts, he gave up. "Minato, Qingye, since you're both here, I can leave without worry."
"Orochimaru-senpai..."
Minato Namikaze hesitated.
What could he even say?
Reassigning Orochimaru and sending him here had been the Third Hokage's order.
Moreover, Orochimaru had been recalled because his human experiments on Kirigakure bloodline ninja prisoners had been exposed. As for human experimentation itself, Minato Namikaze did not know what stance he should take.
"Don't worry about me. I, Orochimaru, don't need anyone's comfort."
Orochimaru waved a hand and said coldly, "With the two of you here, stopping Kirigakure's invasion should not be a problem."
As for himself...
The war was probably nearing its end.
This time, he had been recalled because of the exposed human experiments. Afterward, the other fronts likely would not need him either.
"Sarutobi-sensei, what exactly am I to you now?"
Watching Orochimaru leave, clearly filled with resentment, Minato Namikaze truly did not know what to say.
"Orochimaru-sama seems to have quite a problem with you coming here, Sensei," Kakashi said quietly as he watched Orochimaru's retreating figure.
Was it because they were competing for the Hokage's position?
"...Sigh."
Minato Namikaze sighed. "Actually, although I do hope to become Hokage, I don't necessarily have to become the next Fourth Hokage."
At his age, waiting another term would not be a problem at all.
"Heh, don't say that in front of Orochimaru."
Qingye shook his head with a smile. "With Orochimaru's pride, he would never accept you yielding the Hokage position to him."
"..."
Minato Namikaze was speechless.
What else could he do, then?
Competing was wrong, but yielding was wrong too.
Even his teacher, Jiraiya, would