After defeating the Sound Five, Zoro simply leaves them there. As he said, he doesn't kill minors. His standard for minors is below 18 years old even though 16 years old is already considered as an adult here.
So Zoro won't kill anyone below 18 years old. It doesn't mean he won't beat them up though, but at least he won't kill them. That's a line he has made since he became an adult himself.
Anyway, he returns to Konoha even though he hasn't finished destroying Otogakure's bases. They are spreading all over the country and there are even bases in other countries. Going to each one of them will take too much time, so he decides to return.
Besides, he is sure that Akatsuki won't just let him destroy all those bases. While Otogakure is led by Orochimaru, Akatsuki still uses them too for many things like how they use Amegakure. So they can't let Zoro destroy everything and kill their ninjas.
After all, while Orochimaru's death reduces their power a lot, it also benefits them because now they can fully control Otogakure. They also have access to Orochimaru's research data.
Orochimaru never gave them full access to Otogakure's operation and would do many secret research. While it was his right because he did all of those personally, the organization still wants to get the fruits of his labor.
But well, Orochimaru is smart. He has hidden all of his important research data and made sure that Akatsuki won't find them. Maybe only Kabuto has access to them, but even Orochimaru won't give him full access.
Talking about Kabuto, Zoro actually almost forgot about him. Zoro wanted to kill Kabuto actually because it will change the world war. After all, Kabuto is the one who will bring many dead fighters back to life as Edo Tensei zombies.
So if Zoro can kill Kabuto now, then there won't be any Edo Tensei zombies which will weaken the enemy's power significantly. But he can't find Kabuto and doesn't know where that guy hides, which is quite annoying.
Well, he can take care of the future problems in the future. For now, he just needs to do what he should do in the present. He has a much bigger responsibility since he decided to raise Hiyori, after all, and he has more things to do because of that.
After arriving in Konoha, Zoro tells the Hokage and the advisors about what happened to Orochimaru. He also asks them to find a way to take Orochimaru's soul from his body but none of them can find a way.
They say that the seals that Orochimaru use to keep the souls of the people whose bodies he stole are very strong and complicated. It involves many things about souls from the results of Orochimaru's research that they don't know.
Even Kushina, a Master of Seal Technique who has learned almost every study about seals from Uzumaki Clan that is famous for their powerful Sealing Technique can't find a way to break Orochimaru's seals.
So Zoro has no way to get Orochimaru's soul out of his body. But Minato says that if they can get some information about Orochimaru's Seal Techniques, then they can surely find a way to help Zoro.
That means Zoro will need to find Orochimaru's research data for them to find a way. But it's too much work and he doesn't want to give a village, even if it's Konoha, the dangerous data from Orochimaru's research.
He already found another way if they can't help him now, after all, so he doesn't really need to depend on them. Zoro only needs to find Sasuke's team, Taka. Jugo, Suigetsu, and Karin.
After all, they were the ones who awakened Orochimaru from Sasuke's body. So they should know how to do it. Though, it would be really bad for him if it's actually Sasuke who knows the method in the series because now Sasuke won't have any chance to defect and learn anything from Orochimaru.
'Hmm, well, if those 3 don't know the method, that means I need to find Kabuto. He sure will know how to do it. I don't know if he will tell me willingly, but I can think about that later.'
After deciding to find those 3 young shinobi, Zoro tells Hiyori that they will leave Konoha soon. She understands it quickly because they actually have planned to leave earlier, but Zoro got a commissioned job to do.
So now they make some preparations for their journey. They buy supplies for their trip, especially Hiyori's daily necessities. They will keep moving around, so she needs a lot of things, especially because she is still not used to long travels through wilderness.
After they gather enough supplies, they finally leave Konoha. They are going to Otogakure's hideouts. It won't be too dangerous for Hiyori because Torao will be there to protect her. This is also a good chance for her to get used to Zoro's job because she will see him fight a lot.
Zoro already bought information about where the 3 Taka members are detained now. So he is going to their locations. The first one he will look for is Jugo in The Land of Sound's Northern Base, not too far from their main HQ that he destroyed last time.
This base looks quite grand with tall giant rocks covering it. The base is also bigger than most of Otogakure's bases. But Zoro doesn't sense many people inside this big base.
He wants Hiyori to wait outside, but she is adamant on following him. So he tells her to stay on Torao's back so Torao can protect her anytime. Then they enter the base to find Jugo. They follow the sources of the human presence that Zoro sensed.
"Oh? I didn't think I would find you here." Zoro smirks when he sees Kimimaro there.
Kimimaro flinches and gets into his battle mode immediately. But he suddenly coughs some blood and the other teen boy behind him who has orange hair grabs him worriedly. Zoro can guess that the orange-haired kid is Jugo.
"Calm down, kid. I'm not here to kill you. If I wanted to do that, I would already do it last time. Besides, it's not like you can fight me even in your best shape. You should've realized that already. Though I'm sure I didn't hurt you too much back then. So did you fight someone else?" Zoro acts as if he doesn't know about Kimimaro's terminal illness.
"Y-you're the one who defeated Kimimaro and the Sound Four? Are you here to kill us?" Jugo asks warily. At least he knows that they aren't Zoro's match because Kimimaro has told him about Zoro.
"Well, I did defeat them a few days ago when I was destroying Orochimaru's bases. But it was never my purpose to fight them. I just wanted to destroy Orochimaru's bases, or in Otogakure's bases to be exact. You see, that snake tried to take my body, but he failed. The problem is, now his soul is trapped in my body and I can't get him out, so I need to find a way to get him out of me. I don't know much about this kind of thing, so I try to find the way by ransacking his bases. Maybe he hides the method somewhere in these bases."
"What?!" Both Kimimaro and Jugo are surprised to hear what happened to Orochimaru.
Zoro can see that they look quite sad when hearing about Orochimaru. Well, they follow Orochimaru out of their own will, so this is not a strange reaction.
For Kimimaro, Orochimaru gave him a purpose to live after his clan's destruction even though that purpose was fucked up. Well, Kimimaro believed that his purpose as a shinobi is to be a tool to be used and Orochimaru gave him that purpose, to be a vessel whose body would be taken.
He is just like Haku in this matter, who thinks that they are just tools that can be disposed of anytime. But at least Zabuza still has some fatherly love for Haku even if the guy didn't realize it, while Orochimaru just simply used Kimimaro and everyone else as tools.
As for Jugo, Orochimaru is his hope to find a way to cure his condition caused by his Senjutsu where he would turn into a 'monster' sometimes and go on a rampage after losing himself.
So Orochimaru's "death" really affects their lives. Well, it also affects Zoro's life because now Orochimaru's soul is trapped in his body. It really is disgusting when he remembers that some souls are trapped in his body, Orochimaru's soul and the souls of Orochimaru's previous bodies.
"Right, why don't you guys help me find the way to release that snake's soul? Maybe you can meet your beloved snake master again later if we succeed."
"W-what if we refuse?" Jugo asks because he is still very wary of Zoro.
"Do you think you can?" Zoro smirks, indicating that they cannot refuse. After all, instead of a request, it's more of an order.
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Chapter: 184. Minato's Effect
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