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[— Manga Scene —]
On one of Konoha's rooftops, several shinobi were watching the unfolding situation as the sounds of battle began spreading throughout the village.
One of them asked:
"So… what sort of man is this Orochimaru?"
The other answered:
"He was formerly… the Third Hokage's student."
"How did he end up becoming a rogue shinobi…?"
The man continued:
"You see, back then… when they were selecting the Fourth Hokage… it's said that Orochimaru put his own name forward for consideration…"
"But in the end, he wasn't chosen."
He added:
"Shortly after that, he fled the village…"
"And ever since… it's been said that Orochimaru holds a grudge against the Third Hokage."
The other man's eyes widened.
"A grudge…?!"
"Most likely."
Silence fell for a moment.
Then an old memory surfaced in the shinobi's mind.
'Long ago, when I was still a child, I looked at him and had only one thought.'
Orochimaru's face appeared in his memory, surrounded by an ominous shadow.
'He wasn't human… He was merely something that had taken human form.'
His expression stiffened.
'He scared me…'
…
"Reporting!!"
A shinobi landed in front of them.
"Giant snakes have appeared near the East Gate! Following them, roughly a hundred shinobi have infiltrated the village!"
The men immediately rose to their feet.
"Order every shinobi patrolling that area to converge on the site of the attack!"
"And alert the commander of the East Gate sentry unit!"
The forces quickly sprang into action.
One of the men remained still for a moment, his expression grim.
'It's finally happened!'
And beneath them…
Konoha was beginning to turn into a battlefield.
[— End Scene —]
It didn't take long for whispers to fill Konoha's Art Store.
Only one chapter ago, everyone had watched Orochimaru tear away the false Kazekage's face in front of Hiruzen.
And now the manga posed the question that had been lingering in many minds ever since his appearance.
Who is Orochimaru?
But the answer it offered was far from simple.
The Third Hokage's student.
A former candidate for the position of Fourth Hokage.
A rogue shinobi.
And a man whose face alone had left such a deep impression on someone as a child that, years later, he still remembered him as something that hadn't seemed human.
…
Jiraiya's eyes lingered on one particular sentence.
Orochimaru put his own name forward for consideration as the Fourth Hokage.
"Hokage, huh…"
His tone wasn't as mocking as one might have expected.
For a moment, he glanced toward where Orochimaru was sitting, then returned his gaze to the page.
He knew his companion's ambition.
But now he was seeing where one branch of that ambition would eventually lead.
From a man who might have led Konoha…
To a man leading forces invading it.
"What a terrible joke…"
…
Tsunade read the same line, but what bothered her was what came afterward.
He wasn't chosen. Shortly afterward, he fled the village.
Her brows furrowed.
"That's a ridiculous oversimplification."
Jiraiya looked at her.
"They make it sound like he fled because he didn't become Hokage."
"Exactly."
Tsunade's fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the volume.
"Orochimaru may truly be devious… but I don't believe that simply not being chosen as Hokage is enough to explain all of this."
It wasn't a defense of him.
It was a rejection of an answer that was far too easy.
…
Beside her, Dan remained silent.
He looked at Orochimaru on the page, then at the invading forces beginning to enter Konoha.
"A candidate for Hokage…"
He murmured the words.
Then added:
"And clearly, that isn't how the future remembers him."
Tsunade turned toward him.
Dan spoke quietly.
"That's what happens when the end of the road becomes more powerful than its beginning. People remember what you became… and easily forget what you could have become."
Tsunade gave no answer.
…
Nawaki, on the other hand, was far less interested in analyzing it.
"Wait!"
He raised the volume slightly.
"Orochimaru-san could have become the Fourth Hokage?!"
He looked at his sister.
Then at Jiraiya.
Then back at the page.
"Seriously?!"
Tsunade pressed a finger against his forehead.
"Lower your voice."
"But that means he was incredibly strong!"
"The Hokage isn't chosen based on strength alone."
Mito's voice came from nearby.
Nawaki turned toward her.
Mito smiled faintly, though her eyes remained on the page.
"And that is precisely why this detail may be more important than you think."
…
Sakumo didn't dwell for long on the story of Orochimaru's candidacy.
What caught his attention was the man who remembered seeing Orochimaru as a child.
He scared me.
"Old fears linger for a long time."
He said it quietly.
Kakashi raised his head toward him.
"Even for shinobi?"
Sakumo looked at his son.
"Especially for shinobi."
Then he returned his gaze to the dark image of Orochimaru.
"We learn how to hide fear, not how to stop feeling it."
Kakashi remained silent.
But his eyes instinctively shifted toward the real Orochimaru.
…
Minato was more interested in the timing of the events.
The Fourth Hokage.
Orochimaru not being chosen.
His departure afterward.
Then, years later, his return at the head of an attack on the village.
"The information is arranged in a way that encourages the reader to connect the events."
Minato said.
Kushina leaned toward him.
"But you don't think it's that simple."
"No."
He smiled faintly.
"The manga said that people believe he holds a grudge. It didn't say that was the real reason."
Kushina blinked.
Then she looked at Orochimaru on the page.
"Well… whatever the real reason is, a hundred shinobi and giant snakes are a pretty terrible way to express your feelings."
A brief smile appeared on Minato's face.
"I can't argue with that."
…
Danzō didn't seem interested in the word grudge at all.
"A shallow explanation."
He said it without raising his head.
He knew that men like Orochimaru did not build a village, forge an alliance, infiltrate a Great Shinobi Village, and risk an entire war over a simple personal grievance.
But another detail remained in his thoughts.
A candidate for the position of Fourth Hokage.
He read the sentence again.
If Orochimaru's name had made it that far…
Then his genius in the future had never been in question.
The problem had been something else.
'Another rival for the Hokage's seat…' Danzō thought coldly.
____________
Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
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Chapter 250: Enemy of Konoha!
Chapter 251: I Want to Set the Wheel in Motion!
Chapter 252: You Anticipated Your Last Moments!
Chapter 253: The Beginning of a Battle of Life and Death! (The End of the Volume)
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