After receiving a positive response from Hiruzen, Orochimaru was very happy. To be honest, he had no solid plan for finding Ryūchi Cave on his own; he just wanted to try his luck and see if he could succeed.
To put it plainly, after he learned that a place called Ryūchi Cave existed, it had been nagging at him, like a thorn in his side. He felt that if he didn't go, he would definitely regret it.
If Hibari hadn't existed, Orochimaru would have still gone, but he would have had no idea what he was doing on the journey. Fortunately, he would have eventually gotten lucky. Regardless of anything else, he would have at least signed the summoning contract with Ryūchi Cave.
[AN: Actually, the matter of whether Orochimaru could use Senjutsu should be a contradiction. Later, Kabuto Yakushi said that when Orochimaru found Ryūchi Cave, his body was no longer his own, so he couldn't learn Senjutsu. This is a contradiction. During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru had already started summoning giant snakes, which clearly meant he had already found Ryūchi Cave. At that time, his body should have still been his own, not a reincarnated one. He hadn't even become twisted enough to research these things yet. So, I will make some changes to the future events regarding Orochimaru's Senjutsu.]
But now, Hibari exists, and Orochimaru has a good relationship with him. All this time, although Orochimaru hadn't mentioned it much, he was grateful to Hibari. In his most obscure days, Hibari was the first to see his potential and help him in a practical way. He himself didn't know how much money he had spent on books from Hibari, but it was definitely at least over ten million ryo.
Orochimaru didn't even know that if he hadn't been so good at spending money, he wouldn't have forced Hibari, a rich young master, to start a side business, a 'hot pot restaurant,' to make money. He also wouldn't have shown those talents and been noticed by Hitenn, who then insisted on working with Hibari.
So, ultimately, the emergence and growth of the Mitsumine Group can be traced back to Orochimaru, which is indeed a bit funny.
In any case, Orochimaru had always considered Hibari his benefactor and was one of the few people he respected. Now that he had to ask Hibari for help to search for Ryūchi Cave, he felt a little guilty. After all, Hibari had helped him a lot all this time, but he had never given anything in return. This was a point of guilt in his heart.
However, the good thing about Orochimaru was that he was never indecisive. Although he felt a little guilty, after making up his mind to find Ryūchi Cave, he decided to trouble Hibari one more time. At the same time, he also believed that in the future, he would definitely have the ability to repay his 'Hibari-aniki.'
Besides, from what his Third Hokage-sensei said, Hibari seemed to be very interested in Ryūchi Cave, too. So they could be considered kindred spirits. If he could help Hibari in any way while searching for Ryūchi Cave, he would be able to repay some of that kindness, right?
So, after confirming all this, Orochimaru didn't hesitate. He immediately decided to leave with the Mitsumine Group's supply team tomorrow and go to the Land of Hot Water to find his 'Hibari-aniki' and help him.
After that, Orochimaru and Hiruzen chatted a bit more, which helped strengthen their relationship. Hiruzen also once again imparted some of his insights and experiences to Orochimaru. As a fellow genius, although Hiruzen hadn't achieved much in developing ninjutsu, he had indeed developed some powerful ones.
In his early years, he had worked under Tobirama, the Second Hokage, and although he hadn't done it himself, he had seen it being done. Later, he even developed an S-rank Collaboration forbidden jutsu with Hibari. He could be considered a 'master.'
At least for Orochimaru at the time, Hiruzen's insights and theories were all precious and rare experiences. He listened with great interest, and many of his blocked questions were enlightened and resolved by this explanation.
After a long time, Hiruzen was a bit tired after working all day and explaining so much to Orochimaru. Although Orochimaru still wanted to learn more, he stopped his 'greed' and said, "Sensei, you should also rest more. I won't bother you today..."
Hiruzen saw that Orochimaru was so sensible, so he smiled, nodded, and said, "Compared to me, your Hibari-aniki is the real master in these areas. He has received the true teachings of our mutual teacher, the Second Hokage. When you go to the Land of Hot Water, you can discuss some of the difficult problems regarding ninjutsu development and study with him. I'm sure he'll give you a pleasant surprise."
Orochimaru also nodded with a smile and said, "I was thinking the same thing. I used to want to learn from Hibari-aniki, but then the war broke out, and everyone in the village was busy. Hibari-aniki also rarely left the house. Given my status, it wasn't very convenient for me to visit the Senju clan. After the war ended, I graduated from the shinobi academy, had to perform some basic missions, and take the Chunin exam. By the time I finished all that, Hibari-aniki had disappeared again... This time, when I see him, I must properly seek his advice."
"Hahahaha, that's right. That guy looks like he's always doing nothing. As the commander of the Anbu, I, the Hokage, can't even find a trace of him. But if you were to say he's been idle, he hasn't been. He's just been busy with who knows what... It's truly impossible to understand his thought process. Perhaps that's just what geniuses are like..." Hiruzen said with a laugh.
Orochimaru also nodded with an understanding expression. Just then, he seemed to remember something and asked, "Third Hokage-sensei, have there been any changes to the Anbu's system?"
The reorganization of the Anbu, although a very important matter, would not be announced to the public. It was an internal adjustment within Konohagakure's high administrative units, which was to refine the division of labor and allow more departments to specialize in their work, making them more organized.
So the outside world had no idea about any of this. After all, the Anbu was a very mysterious organization that did all the dirty work. How could they have much exposure?
As a disciple of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, Orochimaru was a semi-'insider.' While he wasn't completely ignorant like the outside world, he didn't know the full details and could only notice these things through some changes in his daily life.
Hiruzen heard Orochimaru's question and asked with interest, "There's nothing I need to hide from you. That's right. After a series of discussions among our higher-ups, we have indeed adjusted some of the Anbu's affairs. Why are you suddenly asking me about this? Are you interested in joining the Anbu?"
Orochimaru first nodded, then shook his head, and said, "I did think about joining the Anbu before. That way, I could be closer to Hibari-aniki and ask him questions in a timely manner. However, after learning about the... lax state of Hibari-aniki in the Anbu, I have already extinguished that thought."
Hiruzen, upon hearing Orochimaru's words, gave a helpless laugh, then said, "Couldn't you have the thought of serving your sensei? I'm a little jealous..."
Orochimaru's mouth curled up slightly, and he made a rare joke, saying, "If Sensei needs me to serve, I will not refuse, whether I am in the Anbu or not..."
"That makes me very happy..." Hiruzen also said with a smile.
Then he continued to ask, "Since you no longer want to join the Anbu, why did you suddenly ask this question?"
Orochimaru was silent for a moment, then said, "Not long ago, I received an invitation from Danzō-sama to join an organization called the Root. In that conversation, I roughly understood that the Root is an organization that trains and educates members of the Anbu, but it is also separate from the Anbu. Its structure is very special, so I was a little curious and wanted to ask about it."
"The Root? Hmm... The Root was originally part of the Anbu, but due to the reorganization and other related reasons, it has now become an independent and brand-new department. While it trains the Anbu, it also takes on some similar responsibilities... That's the general idea," Hiruzen said after some thought.
The Anbu was a force that belonged exclusively to the Hokage, specifically for solving problems that could not be solved through conventional means, commonly known as 'dirty work.' It was impossible for other high-level Konoha officials, such as advisers, to deploy the Anbu. Especially when Hibari was in charge, even if Koharu and Homura knelt and begged him, he wouldn't necessarily budge.
But there would be darkness in the higher ranks. The Anbu couldn't solve their needs and were not allowed to help them according to regulations. Who told them that the Anbu was directly under the Hokage's command?
So the higher-ups also needed a department similar to the Anbu to do their 'dirty work.' The Root was such a presence. Danzō also seized this point to convince those troublesome advisers to sign off on the Root's plan.
"I see..." Orochimaru murmured softly.
"What's wrong? Are you interested in joining the Root?" Hiruzen asked with a smile.
After a moment of silence, Orochimaru replied softly, "Perhaps I will consider it in the future..."
This surprised Hiruzen a little, but he didn't ask anything else. Instead, he nodded and said with a smile, "In that case, I will ask Danzō to take good care of you."
In fact, this wasn't the first time Orochimaru had received an invitation from Danzō. He had refused before, but he had just run into Danzō on his way out of the Hokage Residence.
Organizations like the Root held no appeal for Orochimaru, but now Danzō had the approval for the 'Wood Release Kekkei Genkai Research Project,' which was very appealing to Orochimaru. So after Danzō revealed a bit of information about it, Orochimaru was tempted.
This is why the current situation arose. If it were a normal person, Danzō wouldn't care so much. He would just give you an order, and you would quickly go report to the Root tomorrow.
But Orochimaru was different. First, he was the disciple of his good friend, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, so his identity was very special. Secondly, Hibari, who had a very good relationship with him and also held a lot of power in the village, with a backing that could be said to be even more powerful than Hiruzen, the Hokage, also thought highly of Orochimaru.
For all these reasons, it was impossible for Danzō to be too harsh with Orochimaru. He could only use invitations and 'seduction' to rope this guy in.
Mentioning the Root naturally made Hiruzen think of the Wood Release kekkei genkai plan. Mentioning that plan naturally made him think of Hibari. Thinking of Hibari and looking at Orochimaru, who was preparing to go find him tomorrow, Hiruzen also felt that he should properly inform Hibari about this matter.
The Wood Release kekkei genkai research project was clearly a top-secret matter. Therefore, the fewer people who knew about it, the better. So, not many people in Konoha's higher ranks knew about it.
Because of this, it was best not to go through the intelligence department, as there would be a risk of the information being passed on. It would be best to find a trustworthy person to go and meet Hibari directly and tell him the news orally.
Coincidentally, Orochimaru was just such a person who was both trustworthy and was going to find Hibari. So, thinking of this, Hiruzen said, "By the way, since you're going to find Hibari tomorrow, I have something I want to tell him. This matter is extremely confidential, and I can only rest assured if I entrust it to you..."
Orochimaru's expression became a little more serious when he heard Hiruzen's words, and he said, "Please speak, Sensei."
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