Orochimaru's Defection

Three days later, news spread across the Ninja World that Pakura, an elite jonin of Sunagakure known as the "Scorch Style" user, had defected after killing fellow sand ninjas and Kirigakure ninjas, effectively inciting conflict between the two nations.

Inside Iwagakure, Kitsuchi was studying a pair of antique-style orange bracers with the village's top brass.

Upon receiving the intelligence regarding Pakura's defection, he spoke solemnly to the leader of his village, the Third Tsuchikage Onoki—his own father.

"Lord Tsuchikage, Pakura and I are of the same kind. Since she has defected, this is our opportunity. We should consider taking her in secretly!"

Onoki crossed his arms over his chest and watched the busy research ninjas calmly before speaking up, "What, do you think absorbing a rogue ninja is more important than antagonizing Sunagakure?"

"Pakura is a chosen one like me; her future value is far beyond what a common ninja village can compare to!" Kitsuchi said with ironclad certainty. "You and the village ninjas have also studied the Earth-Walking Bracers I brought back. The technology and power contained within them are as insignificant as dust before the existence behind us..."

Thinking of this, Kitsuchi offered a bitter smile, "The Ninja World is currently facing a period of transformation, and we must seize the opportunity!"

"You brat, you've grown quite a bit after going out for training. Since that's the case, go and represent the village to make contact with her!" Onoki chose to trust the son he had raised himself.

"Thank you, Father!" Kitsuchi could not help but feel a surge of joy.

Meanwhile, in a secret laboratory in Konoha Village thousands of miles away, a small snake crawled onto Orochimaru's palm and spat out a scroll. Orochimaru read it quickly and immediately burned the intelligence. He then offered a wicked smile.

"Pakura, is it? Have you also felt the decay of the ninja villages? Then, it is time for me to sever all of this as well!"

"Bang!"

The laboratory door was kicked open with force. A squad of Anbu ninjas surrounded the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was dressed in his combat gear, as they entered the lab.

Seeing that some of the equipment in the lab clearly contained human organs, Hiruzen looked at his disciple before him with grief and asked, "Orochimaru, the recent unexplained disappearances of village ninjas—this was your doing, wasn't it?" Although it was a question, his tone carried a hint of certainty.

Orochimaru licked his lips, "As you can see, Teacher Hiruzen, they have become the assistance I need for my ninjutsu research."

"Surrender now and come back with me to face judgment," the Third Hokage said sternly.

"Teacher, a dragon that has seen the vast ocean will never return to a narrow pond."

Orochimaru removed his forehead protector, extended his tongue to hold a kunai, and gently sliced through the swirl symbol of Konoha!

"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen's heart sank. "Are you intending to betray the village?"

"Nothing can bind me on the path I walk! If something like a village stands in my way, then I shall destroy it!"

"Orochimaru, do you know what you are saying!" Hiruzen Sarutobi was heartbroken by his disciple's betrayal.

"Hiruzen, there is no point in talking more. Let's take him down first," said Enma, Hiruzen's summoning beast, as he grabbed his long staff and swung it toward Orochimaru.

Facing the heavy, powerful strike, Orochimaru did not dodge or evade, for he had already heard the reminder in his ear.

[Custom teleportation service countdown ended. Initiating teleportation. Teleportation method: Negacion!]

The roof of the laboratory was suddenly pierced by a beam of warm yellow light, and the golden radiance passed through the roof to envelop Orochimaru inside the lab.

Enma's staff, carrying terrifying force, struck exactly at the position of Orochimaru's head, which was covered by the yellow light.

Yet, it eerily passed straight through his head! The gust of wind from the staff left the laboratory equipment outside the yellow light in shambles, but it could not stir a single strand of Orochimaru's hair...

Orochimaru's lips curled slightly. Feeling the suction of the Negacion beam, his violet, bewitching pupils emitted a mysterious glow; this mysterious power made every cell in Orochimaru's body tremble with excitement.

The Konoha ninjas were all stunned. This unknown light enveloped Orochimaru, causing all of their attacks to miss! Whether it was ninjutsu or ninja tools, everything seemed to strike empty air, unable to harm Orochimaru in the slightest.

Enma had already retreated to Hiruzen's side and said in surprise, "Hiruzen, this unknown ninjutsu is likely space-time ninjutsu. All of our attacks have been nullified."

At this moment, Orochimaru, who had slowly risen into mid-air, looked down at the Konoha group calmly with a wicked smile.

"The moment the Negacion was activated, we were already in two absolutely different spaces. Inside and outside this beam, there can be no interference."

"Orochimaru!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a step forward and looked up at his increasingly unfamiliar disciple, his feelings impossible to put into words.

"My most valued disciple, have you also become corrupted?"

"Teacher Hiruzen, the word 'corrupted' is very hypocritical! What is corruption? Is it defined by you? Heh, I know what I am doing. From now on, I will walk my own path alone. Goodbye, old man!"

Orochimaru's figure rose higher and higher, passing through the roof and ascending into a void that had opened in the sky. In the deep, dark void, like a giant mouth opened by the world, there were countless scarlet lights in the endless darkness watching everything outside the hole...

Hiruzen Sarutobi watched Orochimaru's receding figure and whispered to himself:

"The path you chose yourself? Orochimaru, what exactly did you see?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi returned to the Hokage's office with his questions. After dismissing everyone, he took a small snail from his drawer. On the back of the palm-sized snail sat a tiny phone; Hiruzen activated the Den Den Mushi to contact someone.

"Brrr-brrr, brrr-brrr..."

The Den Den Mushi emitted a prompt. A moment later, the snail's sleepy eyes became alert, and its entire face strangely transformed into the image of a blonde, spiky-haired person.

"Lord Third, are you looking for me?... Eh? Eh? Naruto, stop messing around..."

The blonde Minato avatar simulated by the Den Den Mushi looked as if someone had grabbed its cheeks, pulling them very, very long...

"Naruto, ouch, ouch, ouch!"

"Hee hee hee hee"

The sound of a baby's laughter came from the other side of the Den Den Mushi...

Hiruzen Sarutobi listened kindly to the interaction between Minato and Naruto, then smiled and said, "Minato, why don't you leave Naruto with Haruna for a while? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Understood, Lord Third. Please give me a moment."

About ten minutes later, Minato appeared in the office wearing casual home attire.

"Lord Third, you summoned me?"

Minato's hair was still a mess, as if he had just stepped out of his role as a stay-at-home dad.

"Minato, your Flying Thunder God has already surpassed Master Tobirama."

The Third Hokage took a slow, unhurried puff from his pipe.

Minato waved his hand, saying sincerely:

"Not at all, not at all. There is still much I can learn from the Second Hokage. However, I will strive to become even stronger!"

The Third tapped his pipe and delivered news that left Minato stunned:

"Orochimaru has defected from Konoha."

The Third then detailed Orochimaru's human experiments on fellow villagers and the bizarre circumstances surrounding his escape.

Minato fell into deep thought after hearing this. In reality, he was querying the Main God Sub-System within his mind. The Main God Assistant bound to the depths of his soul quickly displayed the search results:

[Negacion, a custom service of the Main God Space. Can be used outside of reincarnation missions. Official reincarnators may spend points to teleport matter within the current world to their private room in the Main God Space. Points are deducted based on the mass and energy level of the teleported matter. Note: Cannot be used if the reincarnator is in combat.]

The final note had, of course, been added by Zhu Shen. Otherwise, he felt Orochimaru was exploiting a bug to use it as a mere show-off tactic, turning it into a convenient escape card for reincarnators. If they didn't work hard to earn points, what would happen? Thus, Zhu Shen stepped in personally to patch it online.

Seeing the description of Negacion, Minato realized that Orochimaru was undoubtedly a reincarnator just like him. Although he didn't know how Orochimaru had used Negacion during combat, such an ability was something that would only appear on a reincarnator!

Minato's expression turned grave as he exhaled and said to Hiruzen:

"What I can confirm is that Orochimaru is of the same kind as I am. Regarding his defection, I do not suggest the village send people to hunt him down. It is not a matter of whether we should, but whether we even can..."

For some reason, Hiruzen felt a sense of relief in his heart and replied:

"So, you were also forced into an unimaginable organization just like him? In that case, we shall simply list him as an S-rank missing-nin..."

Hiruzen turned to the window, gazing at the peaceful, tranquil Konoha Village under the night sky, and fell into deep thought. After a long while, he turned back to Minato. "How did the investigation into the Nine-Tails incident go, the one you mentioned last time?"

Minato, who had been pondering the explosive news of Orochimaru being a reincarnator, snapped back to reality and said solemnly:

"That is also what I wished to inform you of. The suspect can basically be confirmed as someone from the Uchiha Clan. The masked man that night possessed the Uchiha Clan's unique ocular technique—the Mangekyō Sharingan—and had awakened a signature technique: Kamui, which can shift all attacks into a different dimension..."

Minato then briefly shared the information he had retrieved from the Main God Space regarding Kamui. This information did not involve the Main God Space itself, so it did not violate any rules.

"Mangekyō Sharingan..." A sharp glint flashed in the Third's eyes. A figure who once looked down upon the Ninja World crossed his memory. He asked slowly, "Do you have any suspects?"

"I can only be certain that it is not an Uchiha from within the village."

Minato shook his head. "I left a mark on that masked man. I can sense it within a certain range, but I have been back in the village for some time now and have yet to detect him."

In truth, after learning about Orochimaru, he had another guess: perhaps a reincarnator had exchanged for the Mangekyō Sharingan. However, Minato felt that a reincarnator capable of exchanging for such a bloodline shouldn't be as "weak" as the masked man had appeared, having his abilities figured out within a few moves.

"The Uchiha Clan, huh..."

The Third silently raised the level of scrutiny on the Uchiha Clan in his mind and said to Minato:

"By the way, regarding Naruto, let's do as you said. To protect him, let him take his mother's surname for now. Are you really not going to show yourself?"

Minato wore a kind smile. "No need. My identity is too sensitive. The Ninja World is not peaceful right now, and I hope to quietly investigate some information.

Besides, I know that as the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, Naruto will inevitably face more challenges and hardships as he grows. As a father, I am already filled with regret that I could not stand before him to shield him from the wind and rain... But I don't think that day will be far off. I have already been resurrected, so I will certainly succeed in resurrecting his mother as well! It won't be too late for me to reveal myself once the situation in the Ninja World becomes clear."

"If that is your wish, then so be it. By the way..."

Just as the Third was about to continue questioning Minato, Minato's aura suddenly shifted, radiating a heavy, solemn pressure.

All of this was because the mysterious reincarnation mission from the Main God had arrived once again!