Chapter 39

Ever since the last Shinobi World War ended, his interest in Konoha had steadily faded. It wasn't as though he had never considered deserting the village.

The shock on his face now wasn't because he feared for his future, but because his own teacher had shifted the blame onto him without the slightest qualm.

Orochimaru was inwardly miserable. What did I even do wrong?

Weren't you the ones who told me to ** do it?!

Xuan Zhe was secretly enjoying himself.

Normally, Hiruzen Sarutobi really wouldn't have thrown his once-favorite student under the bus quite so readily.

But now, Minato Namikaze, that obedient pawn, had already taken his place, and Orochimaru's relationship with him was growing increasingly distant.

Besides, this mess was simply too big to cover up. Someone had to clean it up.

Hiruzen Sarutobi refused to step forward himself, and there was no way he would make Danzo take the fall.

That left only Orochimaru to shove out in front.

How miserable~

Granted, the crimes this fellow would commit in the future were enough to get him shot eight hundred times over.

But this current mess had all been orchestrated behind the scenes by Shimura Danzō and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Yet he was the one left taking the blame.

What rotten luck. It almost made him worthy of sympathy.

Forced to accept reality, Orochimaru barely steadied his emotions before asking again:

"Don't you intend to show me a way out, Xuan Zhe?"

Xuan Zhe's gaze shifted. "Oh? Isn't your defection just for show? Those two aren't actually going to kill you. Do you really need my help?"

"You underestimate me, Xuan Zhe."

Orochimaru regained his usual manner and ran his tongue over his lips.

"You're almost at the end of your patience with the current Elders Council too, aren't you? Don't tell me you've never thought about wiping them all out in one go~"

"...Would you be interested in a Konoha Crush Plan?"

After a few seconds of silence, Xuan Zhe lowered his voice.

Orochimaru defected.

Almost ten years earlier than in the original timeline.

Only a handful of people knew about it.

Orochimaru had maintained such a low profile over the past few years.

So low that even after he had been gone from the village for so long, no one noticed anything amiss.

Even Tsunade, who had trained under the same teacher, hadn't imagined that Orochimaru's earlier visit to Xuan Zhe would be the last time they saw each other.

An entire month passed.

Good news came from the Uchiha Clan-

Uchiha Mikoto, the wife of clan head Uchiha Fugaku, was pregnant.

Xuan Zhe heard about Uchiha Itachi from Nawaki.

He silently spat inwardly. What a filial son. Truly something else.

Honestly, Xuan Zhe had no interest in the man and couldn't be bothered to judge him. However complicated human nature might be, it was no excuse to murder one's own parents. He only hoped that if he ever had a son, the boy wouldn't turn out like that, or he'd splatter him straight onto the wall.

By comparison, Uchiha Sasuke, who had "show-off" engraved into his very bones, actually seemed a little more normal.

Uchiha Fugaku was grinning from ear to ear over the addition of a son.

He suddenly remembered the genius from his clan who had been left in Orochimaru's care-Shisui Uchiha. He decided that he had to raise the boy into a capable aide who would support his son in the future.

"I was just about to talk to you about that, Fugaku."

Facing Uchiha Fugaku, who had come to ask how Shisui was doing, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep drag on his pipe. Smoke streamed from his nostrils, his brows tightly knitted.

"Shisui... is gone. Orochimaru did it. By the time our people arrived, he'd already defected."

Beside a stream outside Konoha, a campfire crackled.

A wild boar nearly the size of a hippopotamus was roasting over the fire. Fat dripped into the flames, sending up a savory, charred aroma. Xuan Zhe casually tossed another piece of wood onto the fire, thinking, Uchiha Fugaku is probably stamping his feet in fury at home right now.

A figure suddenly emerged from the woods behind him-it was Orochimaru, now labeled a "rogue ninja" by Konoha.

"Teacher Sarutobi's political maneuvering is even more ruthless than I expected. He's pinned the whole Uchiha affair on me."

As Orochimaru spoke, even someone like him couldn't suppress the anger in his voice.

"How did it go?" With his back to him, Xuan Zhe tore off a boar leg. "Did the Akatsuki take you in?"

"Those three brats Jiraiya took in back then have made something of themselves." Orochimaru licked his lips. "Unfortunately, Xuan Zhe, things didn't go as you hoped this time. They refused. After all, I'm a rogue ninja, and I once proposed killing them."

He paused, lowering his voice a little.

"But I truly never expected one of those three brats to have eyes exactly like the Sage of Six Paths."

Xuan Zhe remembered giving Orochimaru a suggestion when he fled-seek refuge with the Akatsuki. But judging from what Orochimaru said, it hadn't worked out.

That wasn't surprising.

Yahiko was still leading the Akatsuki, and Nagato hadn't taken that step yet. Asking them to shelter a rogue ninja, especially one who had once wanted them dead, really wasn't very realistic.

"That's a shame." Xuan Zhe tossed the last bone to the drooling ninja dog crouched beside him and turned around. "In that case, how about keeping an eye on the Akatsuki for me?"

"These people will change the course of this world someday."

Ten days passed, and Orochimaru licked his lips before speaking in a hoarse voice. "Even without you bringing that up, the fact that the red-haired kid has the Rinnegan was enough to make me want to try my hand at him."

Then he changed the subject. "Xuan Zhe, when are you planning to put that scheme to bring down Konoha into action? I'm getting a little impatient."

Xuan Zhe knew that even he, a transmigrator, couldn't quite figure out what Orochimaru had really wanted when he attacked Konoha back then.

Sasuke had certainly been one reason, but when Kakashi sealed the Cursed Seal of Heaven, Orochimaru could easily have snatched him away. Yet he hadn't acted.

Afterward, he had merely sacrificed the use of both hands to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi, without doing any serious damage to Konoha.

It was impossible to figure out what he had been after.

But the snake before him wasn't truly a cold-blooded beast.

He was a human, not a snake, after all. Taking a backstabbing without retaliating simply wasn't Orochimaru's style.

Xuan Zhe countered, "I'm even more impatient than you, but impatience won't help. You've spent so long dealing with the Elders Council. You should understand that better than I do."

Orochimaru gave a couple of sinister chuckles. "If there's a chance to send Teacher Sarutobi a little 'gift,' remember to let me know."

With that, he stepped back several paces, his figure disappearing into the shadows of the woods again.

A full day passed, and Konoha erupted. The news spread as though it had grown legs, reaching every street.

Ordinary civilians and ninja alike wore expressions of panic and disbelief.

Minato Namikaze had just returned from a C-rank mission with Kakashi, Obito, and Asuma when he heard a string of remarks from the villagers.

"I heard Orochimaru defected!"

"That genius from the Uchiha Clan is dead!"

"Then who's going to become the Fourth Hokage?"

Obito went pale with fright. "**, what's going on? We were only gone for a day! Did the sky fall?"

Kakashi looked just as bewildered. "Lord Orochimaru... defected?"

Asuma frowned, his eyes scanning the surroundings as though searching for Kurenai Yuhi.

Minato Namikaze's expression turned frighteningly grim. He immediately dismissed the team and sprinted toward the Administration Building.

Ten days passed.

Xuan Zhe finished his usual training, covered in dust and sweat.

Dragging a wild beast behind him, he headed back along a forest path.

"Uncle!"

A short little fellow with white hair just like his suddenly called out.

Xuan Zhe looked up.

The next second, a bedraggled Minato Namikaze burst out of the woods with Kakashi and Obito.

"Where's the other one?"

Xuan Zhe asked.

"Asuma... something happened to him."

Minato Namikaze's face was full of apology. "I'm sorry. I didn't handle it properly."

Xuan Zhe froze for a moment. "You lost to Orochimaru?"