Meanwhile...
Inside a conference room in the Hokage Building...
Minato Namikaze, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura sat facing one another.
Minato sat on one side, with the other three opposite him.
Their seating arrangement gave the faint impression of a standoff.
And that was exactly what it was.
After Minato used the current upheaval to purge spies from other villages and began moving against Orochimaru, Hiruzen and the other two rushed over.
They did nothing but chat with Minato.
They discussed the village's future development, how to handle disputes between villages, and other topics that were utterly irrelevant at that moment.
Clearly, chatting was only a pretext. Their real purpose was to keep Minato occupied.
Although Minato was the current Hokage, he could hardly disregard the former Hokage and two advisers and simply walk out.
That was how this standoff had come about.
Why was Hiruzen trying to keep Minato occupied?
The reason was simple: he did not want anything to happen to Orochimaru.
Yes, Orochimaru had done many horrific things, but how could any of that compare to the bond between Hiruzen and him?
Besides, a Kage-level powerhouse was worth far more than some civilians and a handful of low-ranking ninja.
What?
You thought Orochimaru would no longer belong to Konoha once he defected?
Heh!
How naive.
Given the right conditions and a willingness to sacrifice a little dignity, even a rogue ninja could return to the village.
Just think about it. In another timeline, hadn't Orochimaru escaped punishment even after the Fourth Shinobi World War?
And by then, Orochimaru had killed both the Third Hokage and the Fourth Kazekage and carried out the so-called Konoha Crush Plan.
What about now?
He had merely conducted a few experiments!
In a world as twisted as the shinobi world,