"Regret?" Orochimaru's face twisted into a mocking grin as he laughed: "Seeing you now, sensei, looking so frail and aged, I'm beyond grateful for the choice I made back then!"
The Third, his expression filled with sorrow, pressed: "Hidden Leaf is the place that raised you. To turn it into scorched earth for the ambitions in your heart—was it worth it?"
Orochimaru's demeanor calmed: "The village, friendship, morality, humanity—these are merely shackles that bind us! Sensei, these things only restrain us, make us weak!"
The Third was momentarily speechless: "You…"
Orochimaru continued: "The First and Second I summoned with Impure World Reincarnation were indeed some of my proudest creations. But if you wanted to escape, they shouldn't have been able to harm you, right? To lose the arm you use for hand signs just to deal with two walking corpses—let me ask you, was it worth it?"
The Third's voice was heavy: "I am the Hokage!"
Orochimaru's face once again flashed with mockery: "Being Hokage means people die!"
The Third shook his head, saying no more.
From their brief exchange, he realized Orochimaru had gone too far. This was no longer just a clash of interests but a complete betrayal of ideals.
In other words, Orochimaru had utterly forsaken the Will of Fire.
Though both he and Danzo had long been accustomed to tweaking the Will of Fire, adding their own agendas, at least on the surface, the Will of Fire, passed down by the First, was the unchangeable foundation of Hidden Leaf.
Now, Orochimaru openly rejected the Will of Fire—a crime unforgivable in the eyes of Hidden Leaf.
At that moment, the Third stepped aside and called over Kakashi, the first to arrive at the battlefield, asking: "What exactly happened here?"
Kakashi quickly recounted how Akatsuki's 'A' and Orochimaru had clashed in a fierce battle, how 'A' subdued Orochimaru, and then left the scene.
The Third turned to look at Orochimaru, pinned to the ground by black rods: "What are those?"
Kakashi shook his head: "The intelligence team is still analyzing them. Preliminary findings suggest they're some kind of chakra construct with sealing properties."
The Third fell into thought.
Orochimaru had once been part of Akatsuki before defecting, so it wasn't hard to understand why 'A' targeted him.
What puzzled the Third was why 'A,' having subdued Orochimaru, didn't kill him and instead left him on the battlefield.
Wasn't that essentially handing Orochimaru over to Hidden Leaf?
After much thought, only one explanation made sense: 'A' couldn't kill Orochimaru!
Considering the near-unkillable 'Upper Moon' organization that had appeared in the shinobi world before, and Orochimaru's long history of secretive human experiments, it wasn't unthinkable that he'd gained some ability to defy death.
Kakashi added: "I suspect 'A' didn't kill Orochimaru because he couldn't eliminate him quickly, so…"
Before Kakashi could finish, the Third nodded.
Clearly, Kakashi had reached the same conclusion.
After a moment's pause, the Third ordered: "Have the sealing team take over. Lock Orochimaru up with a seal for now. Once the sealing is complete, remove the black rods and hand them to the intelligence team for analysis!"
"Yes!"
Kakashi acknowledged.
The Third coughed lightly twice, then asked: "What about the losses?"
Kakashi's expression darkened instantly.
The Third frowned: "Did something happen to Naruto?"
Kakashi shook his head: "Naruto and Sasuke are unharmed. But the One-Tail Jinchuriki from Hidden Sand, Gaara, was attacked and killed, and the One-Tail was taken by Hiruko. The Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from Hidden Waterfall, Fū, is currently missing—likely abducted by Hiruko."
The Third's face paled: "What!?"
Of the three Jinchuriki in the village, one had been killed and another abducted by Akatsuki. How was he supposed to explain this to the Fourth Kazekage and Hidden Waterfall?
Kakashi explained: "Because Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to summon the First and Second, our defenses were thrown into chaos. A large portion of our forces was tied up dealing with their Impure World bodies."
The Third nodded.
Orochimaru's surprise move was indeed something he hadn't anticipated.
Kakashi continued: "Additionally, a new Akatsuki member named Ranmaru survived Hiruko's Bloodline Limit fusion ritual. His Bloodline Limit includes Transparent Release, which allowed him to easily breach our defenses. We still haven't determined where the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki was attacked."
The Third raised an eyebrow: "Transparent Release!?"
Knowing what the Third was wondering, Kakashi clarified: "Their Transparent Release is highly advanced—my Sharingan couldn't even see through it!"
Sigh.
The Third let out a long breath.
Internally, Orochimaru's summoning of the First and Second's Impure World bodies, and externally, an unexpected enemy infiltrating and attacking—these two factors far exceeded the Five Kage's prior plans. The sudden collapse of the village's defenses and the loss of the One-Tail and Seven-Tails were, in hindsight, understandable.
Despite the reasons, the losses were massive, and the only result was Orochimaru, deliberately left behind by 'A.' No matter how you looked at it, this was unacceptable.
With a grim face, the Third said: "Have the intelligence team thoroughly analyze Akatsuki's motives. Why did Akatsuki's 'G' and 'F' attack their own member, Ranmaru? Why did 'A' fend off Hiruko and attack Orochimaru? I want to know the reasons behind this!"
"Yes!"
Kakashi nodded.
The Third's doubts mirrored his own urgent questions.
Though he'd long had a hunch that the letter-coded Akatsuki members weren't aligned with Nagato's group, there'd been no definitive proof until now.
At this critical moment of vying for the Tailed Beasts, the letter-coded Akatsuki turning on Nagato's group confirmed Kakashi's judgment—they weren't on the same side.
If this was true, it gave the Five Great Shinobi Villages much more room to maneuver. Playing one faction against another was something the village leaders were all too skilled at.
At that moment, the Third waved over a team of Anbu and ordered: "Immediately locate the ninja army led by the other four Kage and find out why their reinforcements haven't arrived!"
"Yes!"
The Anbu saluted and, one by one, used the Body Flicker Jutsu to vanish from the spot.
The Third then turned his gaze to the distance.
If Orochimaru and Ranmaru were two unexpected variables, the absence of the agreed-upon elite ninja army was the third surprise he hadn't anticipated.