"Since he betrayed the village, then send people to hunt him down. What else is there to say?"
Orochimaru glanced at her and said lightly, "The village has its own system for dealing with runaway ninja. Just follow the rules."
Seeing Orochimaru's shrugging off responsibility as if he had nothing to do with it, Utatane Koharu's face instantly darkened.
Clearly, he could just bow his head, admit his fault, and make amends, and no one else would say anything. But this behavior is truly disappointing, a waste of her trying to give Orochimaru a way out.
"Orochimaru, what are you pretending to be ignorant of?"
Utatane Koharu rebuked, "Kabuto is your subordinate."
"I know."
Orochimaru showed a strange expression, "But after learning of the mistakes he made, I didn't try to defend him or cover him up. Instead, I acted according to the village's rules. What more do you want?"
"This..." Utatane Koharu was momentarily speechless.
Yes, Orochimaru didn't act impulsively or try to cause trouble this time. Instead, he seemed to be listening to the village's arrangements.
His attitude was even very good. He didn't say things like 'Root deserved to be destroyed' or 'That poisonous tumor should have been removed long ago.' Continuing to pressure him might be a bit...
Thinking of this, Utatane Koharu was shocked. Seeing that the expressions of the people present had softened a bit, as if they agreed with what Orochimaru said, she felt even colder.
When did they start taking it for granted that Orochimaru being well-behaved was something to be thankful for?
But Kabuto's desertion and killing of comrades couldn't be let go just like that.
It wasn't just a matter of personnel losses, but also the resulting drop in reputation. The village had to find someone to take responsibility.
"Orochimaru, do you think this is the end of it?"
Utatane Koharu glared. The calmer Orochimaru was, the angrier she became. It wasn't because of personal grudges, but because this guy had no sense of responsibility and didn't take the village seriously enough.
"Then what do you say we should do?" Orochimaru drooped his eyelids, still with a hateful attitude.
Utatane Koharu said angrily, "Kabuto is your subordinate. His betrayal is undoubtedly your responsibility, and you must pay the price for it."
Konoha is, after all, a military organization. Even if there isn't a clearly stated system of guilt by association, what should be done will definitely be done. Orochimaru has no justification.
Back then, during the Nine Tails' rampage, why did the entire village reject the Uchiha? It was because of the Sharingan tomoe in the Nine Tails' eyes.
Anything related to the Sharingan is related to the Uchiha. Lax discipline, mismanagement... Even if the mastermind behind the scenes wasn't a member of the Uchiha clan, but an outsider who had obtained the Sharingan, the Uchiha would still have to take the blame.
Going back to the Kabuto incident, it's the same principle.
It's just that this time, the only loss was Danzo's Root, which is why the Clan leaders present are so calm. Otherwise, it would be even more intense.
At this time, the silent Danzo suddenly spoke. He looked at Orochimaru with a gloomy expression,
"Kabuto's attack on my Root is very suspicious. It's possible that Orochimaru ordered it."
Although it was just a hunch, Danzo strongly believed in his judgment.
Kabuto had reason to take revenge on him, but deliberately destroying Root instead of targeting him personally... To say that this method of revenge had no influence from Orochimaru is impossible.
And Danzo's words were like a drop of cold water in a pot of hot oil, causing an uproar in the meeting room.
Everyone showed strange expressions. Although they didn't speak out, they frequently exchanged glances, flashing with mysterious meanings.
In their opinion, there was a hidden agenda behind Kabuto's unprovoked attack on Root.
To say nothing else, they had seen Kabuto in the meeting room a few months ago and knew that his strength was only that of an ordinary Chunin, or even weaker.
And now, Kabuto could actually go head-to-head with an organization like Root and might have even destroyed Root if it hadn't been for the village's support.
The reason behind this change was truly intriguing, which is why so many Clan leaders came today.
They didn't lose anything from Kabuto's desertion, but standing on the sidelines gave them the opportunity to hear this secret information. Why not? Even Uchiha Fugaku thought so.
Kabuto did what he had always wanted to do, and now he wanted to know how Kabuto did it.
Danzo's words weren't too outrageous. If the process of Orochimaru giving Kabuto power could be replicated...
All sorts of thoughts and guesses floated in everyone's minds, but their gazes converged on Orochimaru.
"Danzo, absurd and baseless. Don't talk nonsense without evidence."
Unexpectedly, it was Utatane Koharu who defended Orochimaru. Her eyes turned sharp and she said coldly,
"This isn't a place for you to speak carelessly. You need to provide real evidence."
She was eager to convict Orochimaru and firmly place the blame on his head, but at the same time, she wouldn't allow anyone to amplify the blame for no reason.
"Evidence? You're asking me for evidence?"
Danzo's eyes were grim as he coldly looked at Orochimaru, "He left the village not long before Root was attacked. It was clearly a deliberately chosen time to clear his name."
"It's just a coincidence."
Utatane Koharu stared directly at Danzo, "You know very well why Orochimaru left the village."
Although only a few people were present to discuss how to handle 'Guroya,' Nara Shikaku, as the representative of the Jonin squad, had the responsibility of connecting the higher-ups and subordinates.
Therefore, although the circle was small, the Clan leaders present knew about Orochimaru's sacrifice in this matter.
Now, after hearing Utatane Koharu's words, they couldn't help but nod in agreement.
"It's not a coincidence!"
However, to everyone's surprise, Orochimaru actually refuted Utatane Koharu, who was standing on his side.
"It's indeed not a coincidence."
Orochimaru looked around at the people with different expressions and smiled, "This timing was indeed specially chosen, but it wasn't chosen by me, but by Yakushi Kabuto."
"He knew very well that as long as I was around, he wouldn't have any chance at all."
These words were domineering, as if Kabuto, who had half destroyed Danzo's Root, could be easily dealt with in his hands.
After all, even Jiraiya, one of the 'Konoha Sannin,' had returned in defeat.
But somehow, this strong confidence made them unable to refute it.
"In your eyes, Yakushi Kabuto might be difficult to deal with, but I taught him all his Sage Techniques."
Orochimaru was calm and composed, as if he was just talking about ordinary things,
"Even on the night he attacked Root, if I had wanted to, even while negotiating with Kumogakure, I could have taken his life."
As he spoke, he looked at Jiraiya,
"You should understand that learning Sage Techniques and signing a summoning scroll adds another layer of restraint."
"If you had told us this information earlier, instead of deliberately delaying it, giving Kabuto the opportunity to go to Ryuchi Cave to lift the contract..."
"He would have been caught long ago."
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