Naruto and Sasuke

Boom!

Crimson Lightning thundered across the sky.

At the border of the Land of Fire,

Jiraiya and Orochimaru faced each other from a dozen meters apart.

"Come back to the village with me, Orochimaru!"

Jiraiya stared at Orochimaru, his expression much like Naruto's when he first faced Sasuke at the Valley of the End.

"Go back for what?"

"To die?"

Orochimaru looked calm. He had already noticed the Crimson Lightning descending in the distance.

He knew his junior fellow student was coming after him.

He had little time. He had to get out of the Land of Fire immediately.

With that, Orochimaru turned away without hesitation.

"Orochimaru!"

"Stop!"

Jiraiya shouted, forming a Rasengan in his hand.

"I'm not going back with you."

"If you want to kill me, do it here and now."

Orochimaru kept walking.

All he could do was gamble that Jiraiya was as naive as their teacher.

The Iburi could not hold Kazan off for long.

If his junior fellow student caught up, he was as good as dead.

Even though he barely knew Kazan, Orochimaru could tell he was not one to let sentiment sway him.

Then his only choices would be to die here or die back in the village.

He did not want to die. He wanted to uncover the secret of eternal life.

"Orochimaru!"

Jiraiya called out again, but in the end, he did not take a single step forward.

He simply watched Orochimaru disappear into the distance.

Elsewhere,

Kakashi had arrived, looking somewhat worse for wear.

He had briefly fought Orochimaru, who had spared his life.

"Which way did Orochimaru go?"

"I see. Wait here for the ANBU and take these people back to the village. Those are Minato's orders."

With his instructions given, Kazan was about to take to the