Hokage Building, Anbu's base.
Kakashi, with silver hair and without his Anbu mask, stood silently among the numerous Anbu's Ninjas wearing various animal masks. He quietly pressed a medicinal patch onto the wound on his forehead.
After Orochimaru escaped, Kakashi went to chase him immediately and encountered Orochimaru outside the village's barrier.
However, the current Kakashi had yet to emerge from the shadow of Rin's death. His mind was still clouded, and the strain of his Sharingan had significantly weakened his combat ability.
As a result, he was no match for Orochimaru and failed to stop him.
However, the explosive tag left by Hiruzen had also injured Orochimaru.
Fortunately, Kakashi's Three-Tomoe Sharingan was transplanted, so the wounded Orochimaru had no interest in taking it and spared Kakashi.
After being stared at by those snake eyes, Kakashi didn't pursue further and instead returned to the village.
Creak…
The heavy door slowly opened.
When Hiruzen and Danzo emerged one after the other, Kakashi lowered his hand and put on his white cat mask.
Under the moonlight, Hiruzen took two steps forward and solemnly addressed the Anbu's Ninjas below the steps: "This emergency assembly is to swiftly capture Orochimaru, who escaped during the earlier operation."
"According to the intelligence, Orochimaru is already injured. We must apprehend him before he leaves the Land of Fire's borders!"
"Listen carefully! The intelligence, knowledge, and techniques Orochimaru possesses are invaluable assets to Konoha!"
"I expect you to bring him back alive at all costs!"
"Once he crosses the Land of Fire's borders, it will deal a severe blow to Konoha!"
"So, Orochimaru must be captured before he leaves! Everyone, spare no effort in the search!"
"Disperse!"
As Hiruzen finished his speech, dozens of elite Anbu's Ninjas scattered into the night!
Hiruzen turned and walked towards the interior of the Anbu's base.
"A man of your stature… to think you'd slip up." Danzo's voice rang out.
Hiruzen paused but did not respond.
"I will fully support the capture operation." Then, Danzo added after a moment: "For Konoha."
Hiruzen closed his eyes. "Your concern is… appreciated."
After saying that, Hiruzen reopened his eyes and slowly stepped inside.
Danzo remained behind like a vulture, his lone eye fixed on the flickering lights of Konoha Village under the night sky.
…
Outside the village.
Twenty Anbu's Ninjas fanned out in all directions.
The Anbu, including the Root, has a total of more than seventy elite Ninjas.
But of course it is impossible to mobilize all of them.
This time, Hiruzen had mobilized mainly squad leaders and division leaders, each with a minimum rank of Special Jonin.
Because he knew very well that his former student was not someone that an ordinary Ninja could deal with.
Even the Anbu's Ninjas work in groups of two and carry signal flares with them. Once they find Orochimaru's trace, they will immediately fire the signal flare to let the surrounding Anbu's Ninjas come to support them.
Combined with Orochimaru's injured state, there is indeed a chance to bring him back alive.
Soon, the twenty Ninjas began their search in the direction where the Barrier Team had detected Orochimaru's escape.
Some dashed through the forests, others scoured the rivers… some even diving underwater in pursuit.
Kakashi, who was acting alone, seemed a little absent-minded while speeding through the woods.
'He didn't even regard me as a threat…'
Kakashi recalled his clash with Orochimaru. Even after being wounded by the explosive tags, Orochimaru had simply walked past him with cold indifference.
But Kakashi had been frozen in place, paralyzed by those cold snake eyes.
Only after Orochimaru vanished did he finally exhale in relief.
'Next time… I swear I'll—'
Kakashi landed, quickly formed hand seals, and then slammed his right palm onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
Bang!
A cloud of white smoke dispersed, revealing eight Ninken led by Pakkun.
"Yo, what's up, Kakashi?" Pakkun sat atop a large brown dog, with his usual grumpy expression.
"I need your help tracking Orochimaru's scent!" Kakashi stood up and said to Pakkun and the other Ninken.
Hearing this, Pakkun's already sour face twisted further in annoyance: "Snakes are tricky to track… they don't sweat, you know."
"Orochimaru's injured. He's bleeding heavily." Kakashi recalled the explosion tag's aftermath.
"Well, in that case, we might have a shot." Pakkun leaped forward, taking the lead.
The other seven Ninken fanned out, sniffing through the forest for traces of Orochimaru's scent and blood.
…
On the outskirts of Konoha Village, on the branch of a big tree, space twisted into a vortex as Obito's figure materialized.
From here, he had a clear view of the Hokage Building.
"My, my… So many Anbu were mobilized. One might think Konoha's under attack again by some mystery Ninja."
"It seems that Orochimaru has defected."
The venus flytrap-like body also emerged from the tree trunk, and said to Obito with a grin: "And Kakashi's injured too, you know."
"That guy better not die." Obito muttered, glancing at Zetsu.
Then he asked, "Have you checked it out?"
The pale half of Zetsu dramatically threw up his hands, "We lost four White Zetsu. The trail goes from the Root's base perimeter to the orphanage, then to the village gates."
"Root..." At the mention of the path, Obito's first suspicion fell on Danzo.
'Could it be that Danzo and Orochimaru are conducting some kind of experiment? Have they captured some powerful Ninja who escaped?' However, with Root's notorious secrecy, Obito had little intel to work with.
He then asked, "What about the kid from the orphanage?"
"Ah, right, I would have forgotten if you hadn't mentioned it." Zetsu smacked his forehead and muttered, "I heard that he was adopted by someone, but I don't know the exact location."
"You're telling me White Zetsu lost him?" Obito's voice behind the mask sounded slightly angry.
For White Zetsu to lose track of a target was unthinkable.
"After all, I never thought that such an accident would happen. I have already informed the other White Zetsu. As long as that kid is still in Konoha, we will definitely find him." Zetsu chirped: "But if he is captured by Danzo for experiments, it's hard to say."
"Tch. Then he's out of luck." Obito scoffed. He didn't care about the child's fate, and he just wanted to see the drama of brothers turning on each other.
After all, the child is only three years old. Can he stop his plan of revenge against Konoha and his Eye of the Moon Plan?
"Continue to investigate the situation in Konoha, I'll go do some other things first." As he said that, Obito's figure gradually disappeared in the vortex of Kamui.
"Ah, you really know how to order people around." Zetsu said, his lips curling into a knowing smirk.
…
Konoha Cemetery.
Under the veil of night, Obito appeared before Rin's gravestone and laid down a bouquet.
This was his mandatory stop every time he returned to the village.
Staring at the black-and-white photo of the girl's smiling face, his Sharingan trembled behind the spiral mask.
"Just a little longer… Rin… Wait for me…"
As Obito activated his Kamui, a single tear fell onto the epitaph.