"Lord Orochimaru!"
Minato was both surprised and delighted. Lord Orochimaru was a senior he deeply respected, and a powerhouse his teacher, Jiraiya, often spoke of.
"I'm so glad to see you here!" Minato said happily.
"I'm glad to see you, too." Orochimaru's manners were impeccable. "So, Minato, could you explain the situation to me?"
Orochimaru looked toward his teacher.
Only to find that his teacher happened to be glancing over at him from the corner of his eye, though his gaze seemed a little evasive...
"..." Orochimaru seemed to have guessed what was going on.
"We're trying to suppress the Five-Tails, but this boy's appearance was a bit sudden..."
The situation was urgent, so Minato skipped the unnecessary background and just explained the key points.
Mission: Suppress the Five-Tails and seal it.
Key point: A Uchiha boy had suddenly appeared and was currently trading blows with the Lord Third.
"..."
Orochimaru felt like he'd solved the case.
He looked at his teacher again and felt inexplicably disappointed.
He'd thought Ruohuo had figured out his teacher's little secret, too...
"My insects can't get close to him."
Aburame Shibi, who had been trying to support the Third from the flank, suddenly spoke up.
"I didn't prepare heat-resistant Kikaichū. They die from the heat just by getting close."
"I just don't know how that boy is withstanding it..."
Minato drew in a breath. "Let me go!"
Lord Hokage was getting on in years. A chakra clash like this took too much out of him. They couldn't let it drag on!
But just as Minato was about to move, the pressure on his shoulder suddenly increased, accompanied by a sharp pain. Orochimaru forcibly held him back!
"Lord Orochimaru!?" Minato turned to him in astonishment. "What are you..."
"I'm doing this for your own good,