"So, what are you going to do next?"
After calming down his slightly fluctuating mind after talking with Orochimaru, the masked man looked at Orochimaru in front of him and said.
"Leave Konoha."
Orochimaru said indifferently, without any emotion in his expression or tone.
It was like leaving a strange place instead of the hometown where he was born and raised.
This kind of calmness was beyond the emotional range of normal people.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple."
The masked man said: "As far as I know—"
"The Fourth Hokage has begun to suspect me, right?" Orochimaru interjected.
"He asked Jiraiya to observe me secretly. The reason why he hasn't taken any action yet is that he hasn't found any definite evidence."
How could Orochimaru, who was called a rare genius in decades by the Third Hokage, be so focused on experiments and know nothing about the things around him?
"It seems you already have your own plans."
The masked man said that since Orochimaru had noticed all this, it meant that he was already prepared.
"If you run into any trouble, I'll help you solve it."
"After all, from my perspective, it would be beneficial for me if you leave Konoha."
Having said this, the masked man no longer tried to hide anything. Even if he didn't say it, both parties knew the truth.
"As you like."
Orochimaru said, neither agreeing nor refusing.
After all, even he was not completely sure that his plan would succeed smoothly.
He had known for a long time how difficult Minato Namikaze was to deal with.
The reason why both sides were still safe and sound now was only because Minato was hindered by Orochimaru's status and military achievements.
At that time, he might really need the masked man's assistance.
However, Orochimaru naturally knew this person's purpose.
After their attack on Konoha failed, they attracted great attention from the village and the entire ninja world.
So at this time, they needed to do something to divert attention.
Although he didn't know what their real purpose was, Orochimaru was not interested in them for the time being.
In today's Konoha, there were only two things or people that could arouse his interest.
The first was the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, and the second was the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.
Orochimaru had vaguely felt something abnormal about Minato a long time ago.
This time when someone attacked Konoha, Minato used barrier ninjutsu to protect the entire village and still had energy left to fight off the enemy.
Orochimaru conducted a special investigation on this.
More than ten years ago, when Minato was a teenager, he formed a team with Hatake Sakumo, Suzuka, and others to go out of the village to carry out a confidential mission.
During that mission, Minato was seriously injured, but afterwards his body recovered at an unusual speed.
These abnormalities were stimulating Orochimaru's curiosity.
But now he had no way to conduct research because that man was much stronger than him.
However, he was not completely without chance.
Because he was not the only one targeting Minato Namikaze.
"Good luck to you."
With each of them having their own thoughts, the masked man murmured softly, and the space in front of him began to twist in a vortex, sucking his body in.
After the masked man left, Orochimaru turned around and looked at the corpse on the experimental table. An intriguing smile appeared on his overly pale face.
In the evening, in the Hokage's office.
After finishing the documents in his hand, Minato stood in front of the window of his office, overlooking Konoha which was gradually regaining its prosperity.
But now he couldn't be happy at all, because the several ninjas who mysteriously disappeared in the village had not been found yet.
"Knock, knock!"
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Minato turned around and said, "Come in."
In addition to a Konoha ninja in Chunin uniform, there was also a young man wearing the uniform of a high-ranking retainer of the Land of Fire who walked into the office.
Minato recognized the pattern on his clothes. The master of this servant in front of him was a powerful figure in the Land of Fire and had significant influence.
"Hokage-sama." Both of them said respectfully first.
His eyes fell on the young man, and Minato asked: "Are you here to request a mission?"
The young man nodded and said, "A few days ago, the head of the family was targeted by assassins in his mansion. Although fortunately, he was not seriously injured, he was still worried. He thought that the guards in the mansion were too weak, so he wanted to seek help from the Konoha ninja."
"Is that so?" Minato nodded.
The young man in front of him took out a document from his sleeve and handed it to Minato.
"This is the mission request letter drawn up by my master."
Minato opened the document and after reading it briefly, his golden brows frowned slightly.
Because this minister of the Land of Fire had specifically requested Orochimaru to be responsible for his protection.
"What's the matter? Lord Hokage, is there anything wrong with this request letter?" the young man asked.
"No, it's just that for a mission of this level for Lord Orochimaru, I still need to discuss this with the previous Hokage before approving such a mission outside the village."
Minato was confused, but this was of course just an excuse for him to delay this man for a while.
Because some things that happened around Orochimaru recently seemed a little abnormal, and at this time someone came and asked him to leave the village and perform a guard mission.
Moreover, this minister of the Land of Fire seemed to have always been quite close to Danzo.
However, all of his suspicions remained just speculations and there was no evidence.
But he couldn't let Orochimaru out of the village so easily.
Minato didn't want to alarm the Third Hokage because, no matter what, Orochimaru was the latter's most proud disciple.
But now that things had come to this, some things must be clarified.
"Okay, please hurry up."
The young man seemed calm and composed, and spoke to Minato with a little impatience despite his respectful manner.
Minato nodded, and then said to the Konoha ninja beside him: "Let's temporarily arrange for the guest to stay."
The Konoha Chunin nodded, then escorted the young man out of the Hokage's office.
After the two left, Minato hesitated for a moment and then ordered someone to inform the Third Hokage.
But the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was wrong.
"Go check. Is he the only retainer who came to the village today?"
He ordered an ANBU ninja who was skilled in speed to rush to the gate of Konoha and retrieve the registration book for entering and leaving the village.
The ANBU quickly returned to the office and reported to Minato.
Minato took the registration book, glanced at it, and then his deep blue eyes suddenly became stern.
Because about ten minutes ago, Orochimaru had left the village with a letter of authorization from an important official from the Land of Fire!
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