At another battlefield, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had just been transferred there, looked at Orochimaru before him with an expression that was somewhat out of control.
Orochimaru stood there quietly, with two coffins beside him.
Kakashi had just told him part of the truth. This was most likely a conspiracy behind the Uchiha clan's departure from Konoha.
Yet Orochimaru's presence cast the entire matter beneath another shroud of impenetrable fog.
"Orochimaru, was all of this a conspiracy you planned? I truly was too merciful back then. I never should have let you leave Konoha."
Orochimaru's expression was not like it had been in that future. Instead, it carried a trace of complicated emotion. Over the past few months, he had obtained everything he had ever wanted.
Immortality!
Yet after gaining the power of immortality, Orochimaru had instead fallen into confusion. Because he remembered that this had never been what he wanted in the beginning.
All he had wanted was to learn every ninjutsu in the world.
No matter what, his goal in life had already been achieved. Like Chuanhe, Orochimaru had now opened his eyes to this world anew.
Killing his teacher was indeed something Orochimaru did not wish to do.
But just as Hiruzen Sarutobi acted for Konoha, Orochimaru now had to cut away the rotten branches so that Konoha could take root and sprout anew.
It was also to bid farewell to the teacher he loved.
The Hiruzen Sarutobi of the past had been so high-spirited and bold beyond measure. Now, he was nothing more than a decayed, withered tree.
If he truly fell into Chuanhe's hands, Orochimaru knew that, just like the group of people he had once handed over to Chuanhe, he would be tortured to death until not even scraps of his soul remained.
That was