"A missing-nin from Konoha actually dared to come back? Did you have anything to do with our teacher's death?"
Jiraiya's face darkened. The Toad Couple stood on his left and right shoulders, still watching the scene gravely. The battles had been far too frequent lately.
Normally, they hardly appeared once in eight hundred years, but lately they had been showing up constantly.
Orochimaru wore a sinister smile and stuck out his long tongue, as though none of this had anything to do with him.
"Do I need to report in just to visit the village I once called home?"
"Orochimaru, didn't Pain kill you? How are you still alive?"
Uchiha Itachi stared hard at Orochimaru. Seeing that their conversation kept missing the point, he finally lost patience and asked outright.
Shimura Danzō cast a couple of glances at Uchiha Itachi.
"Uchiha Itachi, that's quite a novel look."
He found Itachi's appearance strange, but he also sensed that Itachi had grown stronger. If dressing like that could make him stronger too, Shimura Danzō would have done it without hesitation.
Strength had always ruled the world. Having lived through several major wars and countless smaller battles, Shimura Danzō understood that perfectly.
He was curious about what had happened to Uchiha Itachi. How had going undercover in another shinobi village left him looking like this?
With so many people present, the situation grew awkward.
They exchanged glances, unsure what to do. There was too much they wanted to say and too many questions they wanted to ask, but they feared the others might be plotting something. What if they were assassinated?
Orochimaru had planned to use the trump cards he had prepared after making his move, capturing or killing Tsunade and Jiraiya.
But now that he had been exposed right in front of