Akio studied the look in Sarutobi Shinnosuke's eyes carefully but saw no hint of deceit.
"Orochimaru defected…"
The news sounded absurd no matter how he turned it over in his mind.
Unlike in the original timeline, this was wartime. Orochimaru had more than enough experimental subjects, there was no reason for him to pick a fight with his own comrades. Where would a "defection" even come from?
Yet Shinnosuke's words were unwavering, and the fact that Hiruzen still hadn't appeared made it harder to dismiss.
"When did it happen?"
"Half an hour ago. My father left the village right away. Fifteen minutes ago, the ANBU reinforcements departed."
Akio sighed.
"Just missed them, huh… but I can still make it."
He glanced toward Tenten, who was still playing with the sulking Fat Cat. Smiling faintly, he vanished from sight, leaving the poor feline behind as a temporary offering to Tenten's enthusiasm.
"Meow?"
Sensing Akio's chakra vanish, the cat sprang out of Tenten's arms.
"Huh? The red-haired uncle?" Tenten blinked, realizing he was gone. "Poor kitty… did your owner abandon you?"
Fat Cat: "..."
It was exhausting having such a master.
Northwest of Konoha, Akio reappeared after a few rapid flickers.
Expanding his sensory range to the limit, he picked up over a dozen chakra signatures among them, one that belonged to Sakumo Hatake.
That had to be the ANBU squad Shinnosuke mentioned.
"So even Hiruzen called for backup… interesting."
Akio moved in their direction but didn't reveal himself. He wanted to watch, to see Hiruzen getting beaten by Orochimaru would be quite the spectacle.
By the time he reached the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Fields, the air trembled with clashing chakra.
To his surprise, it wasn't just Orochimaru versus Hiruzen, Jiraiya was there too.
So, two against one, and Hiruzen had still called for reinforcements?
"Orochimaru… how can he be this strong?!"
Hidden within space, Akio's eyes widened.
Hiruzen wielded the Adamantine Staff, Enma in its transformed form while Jiraiya stood with the Two Great Sage Toads on his shoulders. They were fighting with everything they had.
Yet Orochimaru seemed perfectly calm. He, too, had entered Sage Mode, but hadn't even bothered to summon a single creature.
"Orochimaru! Why are you doing this?!" Jiraiya shouted, disbelief and frustration in his voice.
Hiruzen swung Enma's staff and leapt back as spikes of earth erupted before him Orochimaru's Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation.
Panting, Hiruzen planted the staff into the ground. His expression was a mix of pain and reluctant admiration.
"Orochimaru, your power… I didn't expect it to have grown this much. But why suddenly betray the village?"
Yes suddenly. It had come out of nowhere.
Just an hour ago, in the Hokage's office, Hiruzen had received a letter from Orochimaru stating his intent to defect.
At first, he didn't know whether to believe it. But he couldn't ignore it either. Jiraiya happened to be in the village, so the two decided to investigate.
At Orochimaru's home, they found another letter.
"I'll be waiting at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Fields."
Trusting his strength, the Third Hokage hadn't feared a trap. With Jiraiya by his side, even if it were an ambush by Akatsuki, they could retreat safely.
That was the ideal.
Reality was much harsher.
At the border, they'd found Orochimaru already waiting, his forehead protector scratched clean through.
Before they could even ask why, Orochimaru had attacked.
Now, to Hiruzen's disbelief, he and Jiraiya together still couldn't subdue him.
Ever cautious, Hiruzen had signaled the ANBU for backup, leading to the chaotic scene Akio was watching now.
"Orochimaru! Answer me!" Jiraiya shouted, his Sage Mode already fading.
The battle was clearly ending, both Hiruzen and Jiraiya were at their limits, nearly overwhelmed.
Akio frowned deeply within his dimensional hiding place.
"Something's off. Way off. There's no way Orochimaru should be this powerful, not even with Sage Mode."
Throughout shinobi history, there had been monsters stronger than this, but they'd all been "cheating" one way or another.
His curiosity burned almost uncontrollably. Just as he was about to reveal himself, Orochimaru finally spoke.
"Sensei… you're too confident. You came after me with only this fool by your side."
Jiraiya ignored the insult and shouted back,
"Orochimaru, were those letters really from you?!"
"Ah, yes," Orochimaru answered lazily. "I truly intend to defect."
Jiraiya's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Why? We just fought side by side, Sand, Iwa, and Kumo are still attacking our borders! You choose now to betray us?!"
Orochimaru didn't attack again. Instead, he calmly sat cross-legged on the ground.
"This is an experiment," he said. "And the two of you alone aren't enough participants."
"An… experiment?" Hiruzen's face darkened.
He recalled ANBU reports of Orochimaru capturing enemy shinobi for testing, and his heart sank.
"No, not those experiments," Orochimaru said coldly. "I've lost interest in such things."
His tone deepened.
"This is something else, an experiment to test a certain jutsu. And for that, you two aren't nearly enough."
He paused, then added,
"There's another, even more important experiment but I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you."
Just then, a dozen ANBU appeared on the battlefield, led by Sakumo Hatake.
"Lord Hokage," Sakumo called, quickly scanning the area. Seeing the battered state of Hiruzen and Jiraiya, he grew alert, searching for unseen enemies. The tension in the air spiked.
"Cough…" Hiruzen cleared his throat, embarrassed. "The enemy is only Orochimaru."
Sakumo froze for a moment, then his face grew even grimmer.
Even with his prosthetic arm, Sakumo knew he couldn't easily win against either Jiraiya or Hiruzen one-on-one. And Orochimaru had overpowered both.
Orochimaru smiled faintly.
"White Fang… perfect timing. Let's see how my new technique performs."
He clasped his hands together.
From his vantage in space, Akio narrowed his eyes.
"That technique… so it's that one."
Orochimaru's voice rang out:
"Impure World Reincarnation!"
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