The man who appeared before Orochimaru was none other than the Third.
The Third was clad in armor, with the summoned Enma at his side. Summoning Enma meant that he was fully prepared for battle.
His heart lurched!
Orochimaru instinctively took half a step back. He knew his teacher's strength; he was nowhere near capable of taking him on as he was now. Although his teacher had not fought in years, his power was still formidable.
If possible, he did not want to fight the Third, because he could not win.
Gripping his Kusanagi Sword, Orochimaru regained his cold expression. He stared at the Third, with no intention of answering his earlier question.
The Third seemed to have expected Orochimaru's silence. Even before taking him as a student, he had known that Orochimaru was poor at expressing his feelings. He kept himself closed off, nowhere near as lively as Jiraiya.
He had once tried to make Orochimaru more cheerful, but eventually gave up. Back then, despite his cold demeanor, Orochimaru had shown concern for his comrades in other ways.
But at some point, Orochimaru had changed. For the sake of researching jutsu, he had even targeted the village's ninja. Even after the Third explicitly forbade it, he had continued conducting human experimentation on the villagers.
Just as the Third was about to resort to physical persuasion, Orochimaru spoke softly. "Third, this village no longer suits me."
The Third noticed the change in how Orochimaru addressed him. He understood that a rift had formed between teacher and student, and between Orochimaru and the village. Like a broken mirror, such a rift was difficult to mend.
With a bang, a Fūma Shuriken appeared behind the Third. As he hurled it, he swiftly formed hand seals and shouted in a low voice, **"Shuriken