Orochimaru's Twisted Sense of Humor

The Senju, one of Konoha's founding ninja clans, had actually left Konoha?

It sounded downright absurd!

Senju Hashirama hurriedly asked, "Orochimaru, was it? Can you tell us more about Peach Country?"

Orochimaru glanced at Sasuke. "Are you interested?"

"It's fine. Go ahead. I'd like to hear about it too."

"Heh. Speaking of Peach Country, we have to talk about Yoshijo. Although I don't like praising others, he is the one exception."

Orochimaru's expression was somewhat strange. He had always regarded Shiraishi Yoshijo as someone he had to surpass, so he had investigated him extensively and knew this former classmate very well.

"Yoshijo's childhood could be described as extremely miserable. It was that misery that shaped his twisted personality. Sarutobi-sensei, if you had eradicated the problem at its roots back then, perhaps there wouldn't have been so much trouble later."

Sarutobi Hiruzen said somewhat awkwardly, "During the period when I had just become Hokage, the village was rife with open and covert struggles. Although the Shide Clan had only Shiraishi Yoshijo left, many ninja clans were willing to help him, especially after he displayed his talent as a ninja. Moving against him would have been like stirring up a hornet's nest. Besides, I was the Hokage. The more outstanding ninja there were in the village, the more prosperous Konoha would become. He was still a child then. I thought that as long as I could reform him... but things went against my wishes. Danzo can't entirely be blamed either. There were some things I tacitly allowed."

"Sarutobi-sensei, your coordination with Danzo was hardly brilliant. Danzo played the villain while you played the good guy. Anyone with even a little experience could see through that routine. You wanted to win Shiraishi Yoshijo over for your own use not merely because of his