Chapter 173: Selfishness and Half a Person to Care About
"Jiraiya," Koharu said, "you must already know what the village has been through. Konoha now needs to use every means to accumulate its strength. It is not the time to be causing trouble. Though the Shikkotsu Forest contract scroll has indeed been lost, Tsunade herself may not be in the Hidden Cloud. She may be in some gambling den somewhere in the ninja world."
"Are you kidding me?!" Jiraiya slammed his fist on the table.
"Watch yourself, Jiraiya!" Homura roared.
"Myself?" he shouted back, his anger growing. "All I know is that if Sensei were still here, he would not have just sat by and done nothing!"
"And you know that Hiruzen is gone?!" Homura's beard trembled with rage. "Where were you during the Night of the Purple Moon? Where were you when the village was under attack? Where were you when Hiruzen was fighting for his life against Yotsuki Dana?! Do you know that we almost had the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki and Yotsuki Dana?! If the village had just one or two more high-level combatants, the outcome might have been completely different!"
Jiraiya opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"It was Hiruzen who spoiled the three of you," Homura continued, his voice dripping with contempt. "That's why you are the way you are now. Do you know what the crime is for a ninja to leave the village for almost a year without permission? It's treason! There is a limit to selfishness! Did you and Tsunade tell anyone when you left? You've been disappearing every now and then since before the war, under the pretext of 'traveling the world.' And all because you had a good teacher!"
Koharu stopped the emotional Homura. "Jiraiya," she said, "we have already confirmed with the Senju clan that Tsunade took the Shikkotsu Forest contract scroll herself. And like you, she left without a word. The only reason she has not been declared a rogue ninja is out of respect for Hiruzen."
Jiraiya clenched his fists. "Tsunade would never... betray the village."
"Jiraiya," she continued, "the village is at its most difficult time. No matter what Tsunade's true situation is, what we should be doing now is accumulating our strength. The Cloud's nature... you know it. Even before the war, negotiation was rarely useful. And now? Are we supposed to go and storm the Hidden Cloud? Calm down. Don't be so selfish."
Jiraiya left the Hokage's office, dejected.
Sakumo, who had been silent all this time, breathed a sigh of relief. In his position, it was not appropriate for him to say anything to Jiraiya. But in reality, his thoughts were similar to Homura's. He was a pure ninja. Jiraiya's habit of "traveling the world" without notice was something he could not accept.
But he also felt that the two elders had been a bit too emotional today. They could have first calmed Jiraiya down and then slowly persuaded him.
In a secret underground laboratory, deep beneath Konoha.
Danzo brought a dozen or so children to Orochimaru. They followed him in a daze, clearly under a genjutsu. "Orochimaru," he said, "this is the first batch of test subjects."
"A fine work, Lord Danzo," Orochimaru said, looking at the apathetic children, the youngest only about three, the oldest no more than ten. "To be able to provide so many at once. So ruthless."
To be honest, he was a little shocked. Though his own experiments and research had involved human subjects, and even live ones, it had always been done in secret. He had never had such an abundant supply. It wasn't until he had chosen to cooperate with Danzo that he had realized how much power he had, and how ruthless he was.
"They are just orphans, gathered from all over," Danzo sneered. "If they do not become test subjects, they will just be weeds in the wind, starving to death in some gutter. Better to serve some purpose. Orochimaru, you don't have such a useless emotion as pity, do you?"
"Of course not," Orochimaru said, licking his lips. "I am just amazed at your power, Lord Danzo. It seems that choosing to cooperate with you was the right choice."
"In all of Konoha," Danzo said, noncommittally, "only I can give you everything you want. But all the experimental results must not leave this base."
He then handed him a test tube.
Orochimaru held it up to the light. Inside was a piece of milky-white flesh, which seemed to be squirming.
"After all these years," he said, amazed, "it's still active! Incredible!"
Danzo turned to leave. "Use them sparingly," he said, glancing at the children. "The contents of this test tube are far more precious than these few test subjects."
"I'm still surprised that the village would allow such a project," Orochimaru said, his attention still on the test tube.
"Our new Hokage only cares about the things that happen in the light," Danzo sneered. "He does not know that it is the things in the dark that truly protect Konoha. If you wish to continue to have such a lenient research environment, it would be best not to let any word of this reach his ears."
Orochimaru watched him leave, a thoughtful look on his face. Just not to the Fourth's ears?
He sorted the "test subjects" and then, suppressing his curiosity, put the test tube away. The preparations for the experiment were not yet complete. To start now would be to waste the precious material.
After tidying up, he left the Foundation's laboratory. It was guarded by Root ninja, who were, of course, also there to watch him.
As he was approaching his house, his eyes narrowed. He was a very alert person. He could tell someone had been inside.
His snake-like pupils flickered. He showed no emotion and entered as usual, but he was ready for a fight.
But after a few steps, he relaxed.
A tall, white-haired figure was sitting dejectedly at his entrance.
"When did you get back?" Orochimaru said with a sigh.
"Just today," Jiraiya said, forcing a weak smile. But the smile quickly faded. "Orochimaru," he said, his voice grim, "do you know what happened to Tsunade?"
"If you're referring to her taking the Shikkotsu Forest contract scroll and leaving the village without permission," Orochimaru said, his face a blank mask, "then yes. The village elders questioned me about it months ago."
Jiraiya sighed and told him what he had discovered in the Land of Lightning.
Orochimaru also found the situation to be very troublesome.
Since Hiruzen's death, there were very few people or things in this world that he cared about. Jiraiya and Tsunade... they were each about half a person.