Chentian's Goal

Only Chentian, Minato, and Kushina knew Orochimaru's whereabouts. No one knew what he was doing.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others asked, Minato only said that Orochimaru had been imprisoned and that quite a few ANBU jonin had been assigned to guard him.

Although Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat worried, he had never personally involved himself in those matters, so he temporarily set it aside.

But someone else could not remain as calm as Hiruzen Sarutobi. That person was the former Hokage's assistant, Danzo Shimura.

Orochimaru had been exposed because Danzo had deliberately leaked information, and Orochimaru knew almost everything Danzo had done over the years.

Therefore, Danzo had no doubt that Orochimaru would expose him.

So, upon receiving the news, Konoha's massive underground Root had already begun operating.

"Listen up, everyone. Your mission tonight is to rescue Orochimaru!"

After gathering all Root personnel, Danzo began laying out the plan.

His dream was to become Hokage. If his past deeds were exposed, forget becoming Hokage—he probably would not even survive.

After thinking it over, Danzo realized that he had to rescue Orochimaru.

Even if he could not, he at least had to kill him!

Before long, Danzo had assigned tasks to his subordinates, then secretly left Konoha alone.

At the same time, he constantly reviewed his plan, trying to find any flaws in it.

First, all Root members would assemble. A total of twelve jonin would carry out the rescue operation, while over a hundred chunin would be secretly stationed throughout Konoha to support them.

The remaining thousand-plus genin would disguise themselves as ANBU after the rescue succeeded, creating chaos in Konoha and making it harder for the ANBU to pursue them.

But all of this depended on someone drawing Minato's attention and luring him out of Konoha.

Otherwise, with his speed and strength, not a single Root member would survive!

If he had enough time, Danzo would certainly have sought partners or hired some wandering ninja to carry out the job.

Unfortunately, there was no time, so he could only act personally and lure Minato out.

To clear himself of suspicion, a Root member had already disguised himself as Danzo and returned to the Shimura clan compound.

After reviewing it several times, Danzo confirmed that his rescue plan was feasible.

Minato and the others would surely suspect him, but as long as they could not produce solid evidence, Danzo had nothing to fear.

As he pondered, Danzo had already left Konoha. After waiting quietly for half an hour, his appearance changed into that of a stranger.

"Wind Release—Great Breakthrough!"

"Wind Release—Vacuum Bullets!"

After successfully using the Transformation Technique, his hands flashed at once, and five or six Wind Release ninjutsu roared forth, crashing into Konoha's streets.

The next moment, without even looking at the destruction he had caused, Danzo turned and moved away from Konoha.

However, he kept his speed at the level of a jonin.

"Boom!"

In the Hokage's office, Minato, who was working overtime, changed expression upon hearing the explosions. He put down the document in his hand and shouted toward the door, "All ANBU, come with me!"

As he spoke, eighteen masked figures appeared inside the Hokage's office.

Seeing that everyone had assembled, Minato did not hesitate any longer and led them in pursuit.

In only a few moments, they spotted Danzo's retreating figure. Though they did not recognize him, that did not stop them from giving chase.

"I'll go after him first. Catch up as quickly as you can!"

Leaving those words behind, Minato abruptly accelerated, instantly closing the distance between himself and Danzo and leaving the ANBU behind.

Having left Konoha, Danzo had completed the first step of his plan.

After hearing the disturbance in Konoha, someone who had been watching the Hokage's office all along saw Minato leave and hurried back to Root.

"My lord's plan has succeeded. The rest depends on us!"

"Yes!"

All twelve jonin arrived at Konoha Prison and charged in without saying a word.

Hardly anyone knew the people in Root. Once they changed clothes, they did not fear being recognized.

Besides, they had so many seals placed on them that even if they died, no one would learn their identities.

"They're here!"

Inside Konoha Prison, Kushina abruptly opened her eyes and spoke to Chentian, who was resting with his eyes closed beside her.

"Mm." Stretching lazily, Chentian said, "Then what are we waiting for? Kill them!"

The moment he spoke, Orochimaru, who had been as silent as a venomous snake beside them, instantly rushed out.

That was right. This had all been Chentian's plan. Originally, he could not be bothered to deal with Konoha's mess.

But now that his big brother was Hokage, anyone who dared extend their claws would find Chentian more than willing to chop them off.

And Danzo Shimura was the first target!

Though it was impossible to kill him outright, crippling more than half of Root would not be a problem.

Kushina had long since set up sealing techniques around Konoha Prison. No matter how loud it became inside, no sound would reach the outside.

With Orochimaru and Kushina attacking together, the twelve Root jonin did not even have the ability to resist. They were utterly crushed by the two.

Looking at the cards on the ground, each one glimmering with an enticing light, Chentian was practically drooling with desire, yet he could not pick up a single one.

This plunged Chentian into depression once again.

But now was not the time to think about that. What mattered most was what came next.

"Uncle Snake, collect all their bodies. Tomorrow, show them to the villagers. So many unidentified ninja broke into Konoha—if not for the Fourth Hokage, who knows how many people in Konoha would have died!"

"You're really ruthless. You even make use of the dead." Though he said that, Orochimaru's hands did not slow in the slightest. He quickly collected all the bodies.

That was right. Orochimaru was not a rogue ninja now. He was still one of Konoha's Legendary Three Ninja.

How could Chentian possibly let a research talent like Orochimaru become a rogue ninja!

In Chentian's eyes, forget human experimentation—even if Orochimaru destroyed one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, Chentian would still take him in.

His value was even greater than that of the protagonist, Naruto Uzumaki, because Orochimaru was someone capable of changing the ninja world.

As a modern man who had received a complete nine years of compulsory education, Chentian was deeply dissatisfied with this world.

No one knew how many people starved to death every day, while even a random genin could do whatever he pleased in front of ordinary people. It was simply absurd.

With Orochimaru at his side, Chentian could begin developing Konoha and use economic trade and other methods to gradually bring this world closer to his previous life.