"Gua-kun."
"What do you think?"
Gua: ...
This left him feeling a little overwhelmed by the favor.
Orochimaru, aren't you being a bit too...
Doting...
Pfft, no!
Orochimaru loves science, not you, Gua. You're overthinking it!
Gua pushed those thoughts aside.
He collected himself and said,
"I'm fine, so I'll be leaving now."
He really didn't want to stay here. The longer he stayed, the bigger this mess became.
At first, it had only been a conflict between Itachi and Karui. Then it became him against Karui, then him against those burly men from Kumogakure, then Anbu member Kakashi against those men. Finally, even Orochimaru and Samui had shown up...
If this kept escalating,
the two villages would be blasting each other.
Just thinking about it gave Gua a headache.
If I can't afford to mess with them, can't I at least avoid them?
With that, Gua turned and left.
Itachi froze for a moment.
He's just leaving?
Itachi glanced back at Orochimaru, then at the Kumogakure group behind him, before quickly following Gua.
Izumi naturally followed right behind them.
Uchiha Nai and Uchiha Oyama also hurried after their son.
Only Orochimaru and Kakashi remained where they were.
The corner of Kakashi's mouth twitched beneath his mask. He's just leaving...
Yes, Gua really had left.
As though this whole affair had nothing to do with him...
Orochimaru felt a little awkward too. He glanced at Kakashi.
They were on the same side now, so exchanging a look wasn't too much to ask.
Both saw bewilderment in the other's eyes.
"I'll leave this to you, Kakashi-san."
Orochimaru dumped the headache on Kakashi and slipped away himself.
Kakashi: ...
Wait, what?
They made this huge mess, and now they've all left?
Fuck!
I-I-I-how am I supposed to resolve this?
Kakashi stood in