Ranmo's gaze turned cold as he thought silently to himself.
The others were visibly startled by what he'd said. Without delay, they escorted him to the central office of the Hidden Leaf Village—to meet the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Inside the spacious office, the Third Hokage paced anxiously. On the side, Tsunade stood stiff, her palms already covered in cold sweat. No matter how many scenarios they'd imagined, none of them had anticipated that Orochimaru would resort to human experimentation.
Hiruzen's sharp eyes gleamed with layers of emotion.
Ranmo stepped into the office. Though only five years old, he calmly scanned the surroundings without uttering a word.
Hiruzen turned to the ANBU present and asked, "Any news of Orochimaru?"
"None. We're still searching."
"Good. No matter what, bring him back alive," Hiruzen sighed, then sat down heavily in his chair. "You're Hyuga Ranmo, right? Weren't your eyes supposed to be blind?"
He remembered this child clearly—a war orphan, the son of fallen heroes. Though from the Hyuga clan, Ranmo lacked the Byakugan.
"My vision works at night. The doctor said it's a rare condition called crystalline lens anomaly," Ranmo replied smoothly, deliberately revealing a fabricated diagnosis to conceal his Rinnegan.
"Ah, I see… I must've overlooked that," Hiruzen nodded. "Then, can you tell me in detail what happened tonight? Especially about that girl."
Clearly, his top concern now was Orochimaru's activities.
"Alright…" Ranmo began recounting everything he had experienced, including the night of the Nine-Tails' attack, when Orochimaru had taken him to a secret lab.
However, he deliberately left out the parts about killing Orochimaru or awakening the Mirror System. Instead, he claimed Orochimaru had suffered a seizure, collapsed suddenly, and that he had used the opportunity to escape.
When he finished, Hiruzen stared at him in disbelief. "You're saying that Orochimaru captured you the night before last?"
"Yes. I didn't know who he was at the time. Later, that sister"—he pointed at Shizune—"showed me a photo, and that's when I realized… he was the one who grabbed me."
His tone was calm, without hesitation, his story airtight and convincing.
"Orochimaru… Orochimaru!!" Hiruzen clenched his fist and slammed the desk.
He had been Hiruzen's own student, the pride of Konoha, one of the Legendary Sannin, and yet had strayed so far off the right path… using children in experiments?
Over the past few months, several children had gone missing in the village—at first, only from outside settlements, but now even Leaf Village children were being targeted. And not even a child with a visual disorder was spared…
To make matters worse, Orochimaru had even enlisted outsiders to abduct the boy!
It was beyond forgiveness.
His fury grew, and he could hardly remain seated. Hiruzen looked at Ranmo again, then turned to Shizune. "Take him back home."
"Lord Hokage," Shizune said worriedly, "That girl who tried to take him hasn't been captured yet. What if she comes back for revenge? This is already the second time they've tried to abduct him."
Tsunade, hearing that, turned her attention to Ranmo. She stepped forward, crouched down, and began using Medical Ninjutsu to examine his body.
Ranmo simply watched her without speaking.
After a moment, Tsunade's eyes widened in surprise. "You… you already have chakra?"
Ranmo felt a pang of frustration.
Having chakra but being unable to suppress it properly… what a hassle.
Now they've noticed too.
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