Orochimaru's eyes flickered.
Yes.
When it came to his mentor, Sarutobi Hiruzen, his feelings had always been complicated.
Honestly speaking—
He could understand Hiruzen.
The Sarutobi clan was weak.
Even if Senju Tobirama had personally appointed him as the Third Hokage, ruling a village as vast as Konoha was never something that could be achieved through words alone.
Not to mention powerful clans like the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyūga—
Back then, smaller clans such as the Sarutobi and Shimura were not even comparable to the Ino–Shika–Chō alliance.
So even after becoming Hokage, why should those great clans obey Sarutobi Hiruzen?
They wouldn't.
Which meant—
If one truly wanted to control Konoha, the wealthy clans had to be destroyed.
Under such circumstances, the genius Senju Nawaki withered away.
Even the last hope of the Senju clan—Senju Tsunade's younger brother—was blown apart by a ridiculous explosive tag.
After the Senju withdrew from the center of power, Sarutobi Hiruzen seemed to finally grasp the "truth."
Soon after—
The Uzumaki clan was annihilated.
The Uchiha descended into chaos.
If not for the rise of Uchiha Kai, the Uchiha would have already been exterminated.
And it was easy to imagine—
Even if the Uchiha were destroyed, clans like the Hyūga, Ino–Shika–Chō, and others would not escape the same fate.
Only then—
Orochimaru truly understood.
He could understand Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But understanding did not mean acceptance.
Senju Nawaki had been his disciple.
Tsunade and Jiraiya had been his comrades.
Watching Nawaki die.
Watching Tsunade leave Konoha alone.
It broke him.
Even back then, he had already begun to feel—
Humans were far too fragile.
That was why he turned to immortality.
Especially when Danzo approached him, asking him to research Hashirama's cells—
And when Orochimaru saw the terrifying vitality contained within those cells—
He was moved.
Truly moved.
And after Jiraiya—his last remaining friend—also left Konoha, the final warmth in his heart faded day by day.
Short lives had no meaning.
So what if someone became Hokage?
A hundred years later, they would still be nothing but dust.
So—
Even knowing that Sarutobi Hiruzen never truly desired to be Hokage, Orochimaru could only sneer.
In essence, he didn't take it seriously at all.
Yes.
Perhaps he had once considered becoming Hokage.
But after immersing himself in the study of Hashirama's cells and immortality—
He had long since lost all interest in such trivial power.
As for killing the Sarutobi clan?
He had no reservations whatsoever.
If it were Sarutobi Hiruzen himself, Orochimaru might still hesitate.
After all, there was still some lingering bond between teacher and student—at least for the version of him who hadn't completely discarded his humanity.
But the Sarutobi clan?
He felt nothing for them.
The only conscience he had left was reserved solely for Sarutobi Hiruzen.
And so—
Orochimaru smiled.
He didn't waste words.
"Danzo-sama, don't worry."
"When the time comes, I'll act with you."
"Of course, I hope you'll give instructions to preserve the integrity of the corpses as much as possible."
"Our experiments have entered a critical stage."
"We urgently need a large number of ninja corpses."
"Ordinary civilians are completely useless."
"So tonight—"
"This is a feast."
"Just thinking about so many shinobi corpses…"
"It's truly exhilarating."
As he finished speaking, Orochimaru's snake-like eyes gleamed with excitement.
He even unconsciously flicked out his tongue, licking his lips.
Danzo: "..."
A chill ran down his spine.
Staring at Orochimaru with a stiff expression, even Danzo—who was no stranger to cruelty—felt genuine unease.
This man wasn't just sinister.
He was insane.
If Danzo was ruthless, then Orochimaru was a complete psychopath.
Even Danzo couldn't help the corner of his mouth twitching.
For a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Only silence followed.
Seeing that Danzo didn't speak, Orochimaru naturally didn't bother either.
He simply sat there quietly, that eerie smile never leaving his face.
From time to time, he licked his tongue again.
It made Danzo feel physically uncomfortable.
If he could—
Danzo truly wanted to blast Orochimaru straight out.
But… forget it.
Thinking about tonight's operation, Orochimaru's assistance was indeed indispensable.
So—
Endure it.
However, as time passed, Danzo grew more and more irritated.
It was already past two in the morning.
Why hadn't Koharu and Homura returned yet?
Did they have no sense of time?
Just as his impatience reached its peak, Orochimaru suddenly spoke again.
"Danzo."
"It's time to act."
"Since the two elders haven't come back, there's a high probability something has happened."
"One person might encounter an accident."
"But two at the same time?"
"That's extremely unlikely."
"However—"
"Tonight is special."
"We don't have the luxury to investigate."
"Isn't our plan more important?"
"This opportunity—"
"With the Hokage leaving the village—is extremely rare."
"And this time, none of the four of us attended the Five Kage Summit."
"That alone would already have alerted my teacher."
"If you miss this chance, it'll be very hard to find another."
Orochimaru spoke with a calm smile.
Yes.
Unlike Danzo, his mind was extremely sharp.
Even if he wasn't quite on the Nara clan's level, he wasn't far behind.
In fact—
When both elders failed to appear at the same time, a certain figure couldn't help but surface in his mind.
The young man sitting calmly in the Uchiha section during the jōnin meeting two days ago.
Uchiha Kai.
There was no evidence.
But his intuition still whispered—
This had something to do with him.
Of course—
That didn't matter to Orochimaru.
As long as it didn't interfere with his research, he couldn't care less.
Let alone the two elders—
Even if Danzo himself died, Orochimaru wouldn't bother lifting a finger.
Danzo frowned deeply.
He hadn't expected Orochimaru to say something like this.
But after thinking it through—
It made sense.
Under normal circumstances, he would have investigated first.
But tonight was different.
This was a rare, golden opportunity.
So—
Forget it.
After closing his eyes and thinking for a moment, Danzo let out a heavy sigh.
He stood up and walked out of the office.
The moment the Root operatives saw him, they all dropped to one knee.
Danzo's voice was cold.
"A1."
"Notify everyone."
"The feint unit's objective is to attack key village locations—the Hokage Building included."
"Delay the village forces as much as possible."
"Fifteen minutes after contact is made—"
"All Root units move out."
"The sealing unit acts first."
"Ensure that the Sarutobi clan cannot transmit any information tonight."
"As for the rest—"
"I have only one requirement."
"Preserve the bodies as completely as possible."
"And kill."
"Kill as many as you can."
"The minimum target—"
"At least half of the Sarutobi clan."
"Move out."
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