Plans

Qi had not only begun paying attention to Anko recently. Back when he had served under Orochimaru, he had already heard Orochimaru mention this disciple many times.

Although he had not followed Orochimaru for long, that did not mean Qi lacked a certain degree of understanding of his mentor who had first guided him onto the path of ninjutsu.

He was a complicated man. From an organizational perspective, Orochimaru had not set a good example for those who came after him. After using the organization to obtain power beyond the reach of ordinary people, he had then betrayed that very organization.

In a ninja world that advocated loyalty to one's clan and organization, such behavior was despised.

Yet from a personal perspective, Qi could understand Orochimaru's choice. He also believed that it had been Orochimaru's last resort. After all, Orochimaru was not someone completely without principles. On the contrary, his professional ethics were rather strong. That much was clear from the fact that, even after defecting from Konoha, he had not leaked Konoha's intelligence.

In the original story, only three people knew Konoha's defensive system well enough to enter and leave it as though it were unguarded: Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, and the masked man who called himself Uchiha Madara. There was no need to mention the first two. Even the masked man, based on what Qi knew of the original plot, should have had deep ties to Konoha. At the very least, it was unlikely that his profound understanding of Konoha had come from Orochimaru, because even the older generation of Konoha ninja today did not possess such an intimate knowledge of the village.

Therefore, Qi believed that, given Orochimaru's principled and proud nature, he must have tried to fight for his dream before abandoning the organization. He had simply