As for whether Orochimaru was still alive, the village higher-ups inclined to believe he was.
Because only one 'Blade of Ninja Love' was left at the scene without being retrieved, this indicated that the others were collected by the Fourth Hokage.
If the battle situation had been a one-sided rout, the Fourth Hokage would not have had the opportunity to collect the remaining 'Blade of Ninja Love'.
Considering that the Second and Fourth Hokage not only possessed immortal Impure World Reincarnation bodies but also mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, if they were determined to flee, there was truly no one in the Ninja World who could stop them. Thus, that corpse was very likely a remnant product of some forbidden jutsu or secret technique.
Tsunade made the decision: "Shizune, go notify the Anbu. Find Orochimaru as soon as possible, at all costs!"
"Yes!"
Shizune responded, turned around, and hurried to relay the order.
Not long after, groups of Hidden Leaf shinobi formed into four-man squads, quickly left the village, and scattered to various places.
Because this time it was not about capturing Orochimaru, the Hidden Leaf shinobi not only searched for Orochimaru's traces themselves but also requested assistance from other ninja villages, and even utilized the black market systems of various countries, mobilizing almost all available forces.
Also, because the higher-ups determined that Orochimaru had already engaged with the Akatsuki organization, to improve efficiency in finding Orochimaru this time, strict secrecy was not maintained. Therefore, within a few days, the entire Ninja World was buzzing with rumors, and everyone knew the Hidden Leaf was searching for Orochimaru's traces.
Various grapevine news also began to circulate in the black market, even rumors that the Fourth Hokage had been summoned by Orochimaru via Impure World Reincarnation, and the half of the Nine-Tails sealed inside the Fourth Hokage had reappeared in the Ninja World.
Undoubtedly.
Many of these mixed rumors, both true and false, were intentionally released by people arranged by Shinji.
He had Karin handle the scene and leave traces of a great battle precisely to make the Hidden Leaf mobilize forces. Because only then could he fish in troubled waters, mixing the most important information within the rumors and silently transmitting it to Nagato and Obito.
Without this large-scale mobilization by the Hidden Leaf, even if Nagato and Obito learned of this information, they might not necessarily believe it.
In that case, his wink would have been thrown to the blind.
"With the Akatsuki organization's intelligence capabilities, finding Orochimaru shouldn't be difficult. It's just that snatching the Nine-Tails from the Fourth Hokage's hands will probably take some effort!"
After smiling, Shinji, who had completed the layout, collected his thoughts.
Sitting in the office of the Military Police Force Captain, while looking out the window, he thought to himself: "The Nine-Tails is resolved. To revive the Ten-Tails, only the Three-Tails on the Fourth Mizukage and the Eight-Tails on Killer B remain..."
The Fourth Mizukage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B were both tricky characters; snatching the Tailed Beasts from them would not be easy.
Especially after the last great battle, the Fourth Raikage and Killer B were almost inseparable, with a large number of Hidden Cloud elites guarding them. Unless it was a forceful attack initiating a new round of great war, there was simply no opportunity to strike.
As for the Fourth Mizukage, he disappeared directly after the great battle, even passing the position of Mizukage to Terumi Mei. No one knew where he was hiding.
Moreover, through the Hidden Leaf Medical Squad, Shinji learned that the Fourth Mizukage's injuries were extremely severe, his whole body burned by Amaterasu. An ordinary person would have died long ago, but the Fourth Mizukage was a Jinchuriki with vigorous vitality, so he managed to survive.
"There hasn't been any news for so long. I don't know how his recovery is going. If he dies unexpectedly, that would be troublesome!"
Shinji was somewhat anxious.
If a Jinchuriki died and the Tailed Beast inside was not extracted in time, the Tailed Beast would die suddenly along with the Jinchuriki.
Although the Tailed Beast could naturally revive in a few years, Shinji could not wait that long.
Let alone several years, Shinji couldn't even afford to wait one year. So he absolutely could not let the Fourth Mizukage die unexpectedly. Even if he had to die, he had to die at the hands of the Akatsuki organization!
"I can only let Haku think of a way!"
Shinji sighed.
The conflict between the Akatsuki organization and the Five Great Ninja Villages advancing, and the Fourth Mizukage not dying early as in the original timeline, all affected the current Hidden Mist.
It could be said that under the Fourth Mizukage's diligent governance, the Hidden Mist was managed more and more tightly. Traitors like Fuguki Suikazan completely lost the soil for survival, so even Shinji had no place to start with the current Hidden Mist.
Fortunately, he still had the card called Haku in his hand.
In the eyes of the Hidden Mist, Haku was an eye they had painstakingly planted in the Hidden Leaf, a trusted insider. As Haku entered the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force and accessed more and more Hidden Leaf intelligence, Haku's status in the Hidden Mist would inevitably rise with the tide.
So playing the Haku card well might yield clues to the Fourth Mizukage...
Land of Iron.
Inside the Akatsuki organization's secret base.
Sasori came before the Deva Path and Konan and reported: "Received news from the black market that Orochimaru succeeded in breaking out of prison, and the Hidden Leaf is searching for Orochimaru's traces with all its might."
Konan frowned: "That guy Orochimaru really lingers like a ghost!"
The Deva Path said: "Ignore him!"
Although Nagato also wanted to execute the traitor Orochimaru, he didn't want to waste the organization's precious manpower on Orochimaru at this critical moment.
Sasori smiled: "I also heard an interesting rumor."
Konan asked: "What rumor? Is it about Orochimaru?"
Sasori raised the corner of his mouth: "Mhm. It is circulating in the black market that the reason the Hidden Leaf is searching for Orochimaru so urgently is because Orochimaru deciphered the Uzumaki Clan's forbidden jutsu 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal' and summoned the Fourth Hokage, who was sealed inside the Shinigami, to the Ninja World using 'Impure World Reincarnation'."
Konan said: "Didn't he already use 'Impure World Reincarnation' on the Hidden Leaf's First and Second Hokage before? What's so strange about that!"
Sasori smiled and said: "The Hidden Leaf's Fourth Hokage is different. It is said that the Fourth Hokage used 'Dead Demon Consuming Seal' to split the Nine-Tails in two, sealing half inside himself and leaving the remaining half to the Hidden Leaf's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki Uzumaki Naruto."
Nagato instantly grasped the key point: "The Nine-Tails!"
Sasori nodded: "So I suspect the reason the Hidden Leaf is looking for Orochimaru so anxiously is because of that half of the Nine-Tails sealed inside the Fourth Hokage."
Konan's eyes lit up: "If we can find Orochimaru ahead of time, that half of the Nine-Tails will be ours!"
Nagato glanced at Sasori and said lightly: "Is the information reliable?"
"Hard to say, but I suggest giving it a try!"
For Sasori, who had long been unhappy with Orochimaru, he naturally wouldn't easily miss this opportunity.
Nagato pondered for a moment and instructed: "Find Orochimaru!"
Not dealing with Orochimaru before was just to avoid scattering energy before the great war. Now knowing that Orochimaru had half of the Nine-Tails in his hands, the situation was completely different.
When it came to clearing out traitors, the Akatsuki organization had never been soft-hearted!