A special thank you to my patrons:
—Cain, kevin Williams, Jose Sierra, Salim, Archer, Acedia, kurtis newman, Nhoxious, Tom89, Nithin Samuel, Soumya Ranjan Pathy, Bob.
You can read 30 chapters ahead of everyone on p@treon.
P@TREON - [email protected]/lessaservantofcosmos
(just replace the "@" with "a")
ps: Please support me on P@treon. I can really use your help!
—————————————————————
Who was it that promised not to run around and to stay in the village and manage things?
Well, well. The main force had barely arrived at the front-line camp, and you, the Acting Hokage's who was supposed to be holding down the village...
Left a shadow clone to fool me!
Then you single-handedly charged into the Land of Earth, activated the Susanoo, and destroyed Iwagakure's camp.
Do you have any idea what you've done?
Shikaku was already terrified!
So, every day, he had to personally verify whether the person in the Hokage's office was the real one or just a shadow clone.
Otherwise, he couldn't rest easy.
Believe it or not!
Shikaku didn't believe him, and Kazuki didn't care.
As long as no major issues arose in the coming situation, he wouldn't easily leave Konoha again.
Confirming that the person sitting before him was the real one, Shikaku breathed a sigh of relief. He took out several intelligence scrolls and placed them on the desk.
"I brought these from the Intelligence Division. According to Anbu investigation, Iwagakure doesn't seem to be making much of a move."
"That's because I only had Orochimaru steal money and forbade him from killing indiscriminately." Kazuki spoke while eating his comped breakfast.
"If he had killed everyone in his path, you'd see Ōnoki hopping mad."
"Orochimaru's reputation is even more tarnished now..." Shikaku never dreamed that Kazuki and Orochimaru would pull such a stunt.
Besides plundering resources, they were stealing money everywhere.
It threw the Land of Earth into a state of panic. In villages and towns across the land, many wealthy people packed up their families and money and fled toward the Daimyō's capital.
They were terrified that their own villages or towns would be visited by Orochimaru.
Fortunately, Orochimaru only stole money and didn't kill indiscriminately.
As long as you didn't put up too much of a fight, there was a bottom line: hand over your money, and you could keep your life.
Money was important, but life was more important.
"Has his reputation ever been good?" Kazuki found this amusing.
"Ever since he missed out on the Fourth Hokage position, Orochimaru's reputation has never been good. Actually, to be precise, it was after his student Nawaki died that Orochimaru embarked on a path of no return."
Not becoming the Fourth Hokage wasn't the root cause of Orochimaru's fall. Nawaki's death was.
Orochimaru had already carried significant psychological scars from his parents' death.
Nawaki's death directly exacerbated this change, leading Orochimaru down a dark path from which he never returned.
Hearing this, Shikaku sighed.
"Truly, fate is unpredictable."
After finishing breakfast and sipping some hot tea, Kazuki finally spoke.
"Although quite a lot has been stolen, aside from internal domestic pressure, Iwagakure hasn't actually lost anything substantial. That's why Ōnoki can sit calmly in his Tsuchikage's office. If they had killed while stealing, Ōnoki would likely have mobilized immediately to hunt down Orochimaru."
"....."
If not for seeing it with their own eyes, who would believe that the once brilliant Sannin Orochimaru had sunk to the level of running around stealing money?
Or sunk to being... neither male nor female...
Thinking of Orochimaru overly feminine aura and delicate face, Shikaku's hair stood on end.
Unacceptable.
Do your experiments, but why turn yourself into this?
No wonder Shikaku reacted so strongly.
Orochimaru's current state would creep anyone out. He could only be described as "Orochi-hime."
"Don't look at me like that. Orochimaru needs enough funding for his research. I've tried to persuade him, but it's useless. He's still pursuing his so-called immortality jutsu. That's why he's turned himself into this. I don't even know whether to call him Orochimaru or call her Orochi-hime anymore."
Alright, stop. I'm already creeped out enough.
Shikaku quickly waved his hand. Could we talk about something else? Why must we discuss Orochi-hime?
"Oh, right. This is a letter Tsunade sent back. Take a look. Our Lady Hokage has gone completely wild."
Tsunade had taken Shizune on a trip to the ruins of the Land of Whirlpools, staying there for a few days. Then they moved on to another location.
At least she had a conscience. In the letter, she said that with Kazuki holding down the village, she felt reassured. The village need not worry; she would return soon.
"The Sannin—not a single one is reliable." Shikaku couldn't help but complaint.
Look at what the three Sannin were doing now.
Tsunade, the Hokage, had abandoned the village and gone out to play.
Orochimaru, who had turned himself into something neither male nor female, was robbing people in the Land of Earth to fund his research.
And Jiraiya, the supreme commander of the camp, had abandoned his post and wandered off to the Land of Wind's battlefield.
Worse, he'd been spotted by Sunagakure's Rasa.
If Rasa hadn't sent word to Konoha, they wouldn't even have known Jiraiya had gone that far.
"Ha ha ha... Maybe he thought that since Tsunade, the Hokage, could abandon the village, and Orochimaru could run off to the Land of Earth to rob people, he, Jiraiya, could also go out for a stroll." Kazuki laughed heartily.
"He was just unlucky. The moment he stepped into the Land of Wind, Rasa spotted him."
And you can still laugh?
Shikaku's mouth twitched. Truly, not a single one is dependable!
How can you laugh?
Look at what you've done first.
As the Acting Hokage, you were supposed to hold down the village. Instead, you left a shadow clone without a word and charged off to the camp in the Land of Earth.
When Shikaku received the news, he thought he was hallucinating from overwork.
Then he ran to the Hokage's office and was dumbfounded. This really is just a shadow clone!
Is it just my bad luck to always end up dealing with you unreliable people?
Shikaku had long wondered about this question.
In the early days, he had been good friends with the Fourth Hokage, Minato. When Minato became Hokage, he promoted Shikaku.
Coupled with his father's intentional grooming, Shikaku succeeded to his father's position.
Shikaku represented the Ino–Shika–Cho clans. Though he was very young at the time, Minato still chose to promote him, and the Third Hokage also expressed support.
Just when it seemed things were getting better, the Nine-Tails incident happened. Minato was gone.
Then the Third Hokage retook power. Under the "Council of Four's" power-sharing, Shikaku, the Jonin Commander, was reduced to a mere figurehead.
After a long struggle, Tsunade finally came to power, and Shikaku's talents began to shine.
But before he could shine for long, Tsunade ran off.
Fine. Tsunade ran off, but Kazuki could still stabilize the situation.
But Kazuki's talent for causing trouble left Shikaku utterly defeated.
Leaving aside Tsunade's direct flight, when it came to causing trouble, Tsunade was just a little sistter compared to Kazuki—a weak little sister.
"Alright, I won't say anything more. I have only one request: Lord Advisor, please sit quietly in the Hokage's office. Please, no more ideas. My heart can't take it. My blood pressure is prone to spike. Don't test me anymore."