Tobirama: My Disciple Betrayed Konoha Too?

This was already a concession to Tsunade. After all, Orochimaru had brought Ryuzetsu back, yet the two of them still had to compete for her on equal terms.

Orochimaru had learned his lesson from that incident. Whenever he met someone talented, he had to mark them as his own at once. He would never give anyone else the slightest chance!

But back to the matter at hand.

Hiruko showed signs of wavering. He could feel himself starting to be moved by Orochimaru's sincerity.

Being a rogue ninja held little promise. There were no resources to speak of, and he had to scrape together his research funding by taking missions himself.

If a good chance came along to return to respectable life, he wouldn't mind stabbing the Akatsuki Organization in the back on the spot.

As for loyalty... What a joke. They were rogue ninja!

Since when did rogue ninja have to worry about loyalty?

Of course, he would only betray the Akatsuki Organization if he saw a chance of Konoha defeating Pain. Otherwise, he had no intention of getting himself killed.

Seeing that Hiruko seemed to be wavering, Sarutobi Hiruzen said grimly, "Hiruko! You're nothing like Kakuzu! You're a rogue ninja from Konoha. Konoha will never take you back!"

"Once a rogue ninja, always a rogue ninja!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen had already found it difficult to deal with Orochimaru alone.

If Hiruko switched sides now, Hiruzen would die a humiliating death here before he even laid eyes on Uchiha Genya.

He had set out to defeat the great demon king. He absolutely could not accept being kicked aside like a stray dog by one of the demon king's underlings the moment he entered the castle!

Hiruzen's reminder seemed to calm Hiruko. His gaze on Orochimaru returned to its former impassive look.