"Although my thoughts so far are just inferences, you should have noticed that something is wrong, right?"
Minato looked at Hiruzen and said in a deep voice.
On the day the village was attacked, Hiruzen wondered where Orochimaru had gone.
After investigation by Jiraiya-sensei, it was found that Orochimaru was involved in the mission of protecting civilians in the rear.
However, he had been behaving strangely in recent days, and Minato was sure that he was not the only one who had noticed it.
If the Third Hokage didn't even realize this, he wouldn't have been called a great ninja and wouldn't have sat firmly in the position of Hokage for decades.
However, Orochimaru was his most valued disciple, and perhaps this fact influenced Hiruzen's judgment.
Hiruzen was silent for a moment when he heard this.
He did not deny Minato's inference, which meant that he had realized something abnormal.
"In any case, Orochimaru-senpai left the village on a mission without my permission. He must be recalled."
Minato still lacked evidence, so he could not take overly tough measures to deal with this matter.
Although this mission was entrusted by an important figure from the Land of Fire, in the end, it was most likely fabricated to allow Orochimaru to leave the village.
But before making any decisions, they must at least clarify these questions.
Hiruzen nodded, approving Minato's idea.
Minato's gaze immediately fell on Uchiha Yoruki and the others, and he said:
"Order half of the ANBU squad leaders to leave the village immediately and recall Lord Orochimaru to the village!"
With the level of ordinary ANBU, it would be impossible to find the whereabouts of a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber.
"Yes!"
Uchiha Yoruki responded, and his dark pupils immediately turned scarlet, with the three tomoe in them slowly rotating.
With the insight of the Sharingan, given this time difference, he should be able to find Orochimaru!
After the ninjas left, Minato didn't know what to say to the Third Hokage.
"Jiraiya-sensei..."
He pondered inwardly, and realized there was no trace of Jiraiya-sensei in the village either.
Orochimaru's sudden departure from the village could definitely not be hidden from Jiraiya's eyes.
That's why Minato only sent a small number of ANBU elites to track down Orochimaru.
Whoosh!
Orochimaru's murderous intent suddenly erupted, and the powerful chakra fluctuations caused the air to tremble slightly, shaking several leaves off the giant tree where he was standing.
In front of him, Jiraiya's pupils suddenly shrank, and his face was full of disbelief.
Because Jiraiya would never have imagined that Orochimaru, whom he regarded as his most important comrade and fellow Legendary Sannin, would one day show murderous intentions towards him.
"Orochimaru, are you crazy? We are comrades!"
Jiraiya still had no wariness towards Orochimaru and growled in confusion.
"I've always thought you're really annoying!"
Orochimaru's eyes were filled with murderous intent and he quickly formed hand seals.
"Boom! Boom!"
The ground between the two giant trees standing opposite each other immediately shattered, and then two huge pythons emerged from it, opened their bloody mouths, and lunged towards Jiraiya.
It was not until this moment that Jiraiya truly came to his senses.
Orochimaru no longer cared about their past friendship and was trying to kill him!
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
His face was still full of disbelief, as he formed seals with both hands.
The ground at the roots of the giant tree also cracked at this time, and a huge earth barrier rose up.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two giant snakes crashed into the earth wall simultaneously, causing it to shatter immediately, with huge rocks flying everywhere and raising clouds of dust.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!"
After the giant snakes broke through the earth barrier, Jiraiya disappeared behind it. At this time, on the ground, Jiraiya's other jutsu was quickly completed.
"Splash!"
The originally hard ground suddenly turned into a large area of quagmire. The two giant snakes suddenly lost their balance and rolled over. Due to their weight, they sank deeper and deeper.
However, Jiraiya naturally did not dare to relax at this time. Just when he trapped the two giant snakes with the Swamp of the Underworld technique, he suddenly looked sideways and saw a figure appearing beside him.
It was Orochimaru.
At this time, the hand seals of the jutsu in his hands had been completed.
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
Orochimaru opened his mouth, and arcs of electricity burst out uncontrollably.
"Crack!"
The lightning immediately condensed into spears, then pierced through space in the blink of an eye and shot towards Jiraiya.
In Jiraiya's eyes, the lightning spears rapidly grew larger, and he no longer had time to form hand seals or release a jutsu to counter it.
As two of the Legendary Sannin, there was not much difference in strength between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
However, the former attacked with murderous intent and showed no mercy at all.
Not only was Jiraiya caught off guard at first, but he was also forced into a defensive position.
If two masters fight in this state, it will be extremely dangerous!
"Odama Rasengan!"
Looking at the oncoming lightning spears, Jiraiya moved towards them, and suddenly a deep blue chakra sphere condensed in his palm.
The moment before the lightning spears pierced Jiraiya, the Giant Rasengan was formed.
"Boom!"
When the two collided, the lightning spears had such terrifying penetrating power that cracks appeared on the Big Ball Rasengan in an instant.
However, under this powerful impact, most of the chakra in the lightning spears was consumed.
When Orochimaru saw this, his pupils shrank.
"Is this Minato Namikaze's jutsu?"
He was not afraid of Jiraiya. With the latter's strength, it would be difficult to defeat him. But if he wanted to leave, Jiraiya would not be able to stop him.
However, having Jiraiya observe him should have been an order from Minato Namikaze.
Now that Jiraiya had found his laboratory, Minato Namikaze had the evidence to act against him.
In addition, Minato was proficient in space-time ninjutsu. Although Konoha was in a special period at this time, there was no guarantee that Minato wouldn't teleport here using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
If that were the case, there would be no way he could escape on his own.
Even if Minato Namikaze himself didn't come, if Jiraiya hadn't handed the evidence to him yet, and Orochimaru left the village without permission,
Minato Namikaze, who had already begun to doubt him, would definitely send people to retrieve him.
In Konoha today, apart from Minato himself, if anyone other than Hatake Sakumo or Uchiha Yoruki came, it would be difficult for Orochimaru to escape.
So, he couldn't be delayed here by Jiraiya for too long.
"Boom! Boom!"
Under continuous impact, the Big Ball Rasengan blocked Orochimaru's False Darkness technique, but Jiraiya's palm was temporarily damaged by the lightning chakra and became slightly numb.
At this moment, Orochimaru completed another set of hand seals.
He lay prone on the ground with his mouth wide open as if it was split open, which was simply impossible for a normal human being to do.
Countless thin snakes gushed out of his mouth like a tide.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
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