The moment Orochimaru spoke, Tahara Rokuro knew the man was planning to run—and most likely, he had already moved the bulk of his assets elsewhere.
"Lord Orochimaru, do you really have so little faith in the village?"
"Heh... it's not the village I doubt, it's my teacher," Orochimaru replied with a nostalgic look in his eyes. "He's old now. No longer the legendary shinobi he once was."
That faint melancholy in Orochimaru's gaze caught Rokuro off guard—it was a side of him he'd never imagined.
In Rokuro's impression, Orochimaru had always been one of those rare villains one couldn't entirely hate. Even back when Rokuro read about him in manga, he actually found the man intriguing.
After all, Orochimaru was one of the few who truly walked his own path to the very end—unlike Nagato or Obito, who wavered back and forth, only to entrust their dreams to others in the end.
From the start, Orochimaru firmly believed that science could change the world, that knowledge was the ultimate power of creation.
Everything he did—every experiment, every sin—was built on that belief. Even the Konoha Crush plan was no exception.
After all, under Sarutobi Hiruzen's leadership, Konoha had already fallen to its lowest point in history. If the Third Hokage had continued leading, there was no doubt that by the Fourth Great Ninja War, Konoha would've been utterly crushed—perhaps even erased from existence.
With Hiruzen's obsession with control, he never would have allowed Naruto to train under Jiraiya or go to Mount Myōboku to learn Sage Mode.
Without Sage Mode, Naruto's strength would've fallen far short—even Killer Bee would have surpassed him. There's no way he could have stood against Ten-Tails Obito or Sage Madara.
In other words, Naruto's rise as the world's savior required Hiruzen's death.
Seen that way, Orochimaru's "Konoha Crush" was less a disaster and more like a surgical operation—cutting away the tumor before it killed the patient.
Even so, Rokuro had always kept a cautious distance from Orochimaru.
In his eyes, Orochimaru lacked one crucial thing—empathy for his own kind.
True, compassion and leadership seldom coexisted in war. Orochimaru, once a commander on Konoha's front lines, had long grown numb to life and death. But coldness was not the same as cruelty—and cruelty was no excuse for his inhuman experiments.
Orochimaru wasn't cold-blooded because of war. He was born that way. Anyone who could dissect a living person for the sake of research... was not someone Rokuro ever wanted as a friend.
"Lord Orochimaru, I appreciate your offer," Rokuro said evenly. "I have my issues with the village too—but I still believe it can change for the better."
"Heh... you're still too young, Rokuro. You haven't seen the true rot beneath Konoha's surface. But no matter... since you won't come with me, I won't force you. I only hope our cooperation can continue."
"That's not a problem," Rokuro replied calmly. "Even if one day, Lord Orochimaru stands against Konoha, we can still remain business partners."
Orochimaru's eyes glinted, a mix of amusement and calculation. He hadn't succeeded in recruiting Rokuro, but at least their transactional alliance would remain intact.
More importantly, he had no power to detain Rokuro by force. That unpredictable Flying Thunder God technique alone made confrontation suicidal.
If he couldn't win by strength, then the only sensible path was to part ways peacefully.
When Rokuro returned home that night, he lay awake, turning over everything that had just happened in his mind.
"Judging by Orochimaru's tone, most of his assets must've already been moved. Whatever's left in that lab probably isn't worth much."
He frowned, then smirked to himself. "Still... even scraps from Konoha's top biologist could keep me busy for months. I haven't even begun my medical ninjutsu training yet—these notes could be invaluable."
"Yeah... I'll plunder what's left. But my real priority now is to gain battle experience."
In Rokuro's plans, the Uchiha Massacre loomed ahead—a crisis that would change everything.
And the two enemies of that night, the Dutiful Son and Uchiha Obito, were both monsters of legend, wrapped in the narrative's own invisible armor.
Even with his arsenal of ninja tools and his pseudo–Kage-level strength, Rokuro knew he was still lacking in combat experience.
The only reason he'd managed to kill Kakuzu before was because of his overpowered tricks—Shinra Tensei and Banshō Ten'in. Those two jutsu wouldn't cut it against someone like Itachi or Obito.
"Obito's intangibility is practically invincible—for now, I have no counter. And Itachi... well, he's Kishimoto's golden child. When he's at full health, he's wrapped in protagonist-tier plot armor. I can't afford to underestimate him."
Edo Tensei Itachi had sealed Nagato himself. Even if the Itachi of the massacre night wasn't quite that strong, the gap wouldn't be large.
Which meant Rokuro had to level up fast. And the best way to do that—was to fight the strong.
"If things unfold like the original timeline, Orochimaru's defection should happen any day now. Hiruzen will personally try to stop him—and since he intends to let Orochimaru go, he'll fake an injury. Several ANBU will also get hurt in the process... that's my window."
Rokuro's eyes gleamed. "If I play my cards right, I might even get a one-on-one with the Third Hokage himself."
He recalled that iconic scene from the Konoha Crush—Orochimaru trapping the Third Hokage inside a blazing barrier.
"The Four Violet Flames Formation... it's a sealing technique. With my current skill in fūinjutsu, I can replicate it—even without tools. Time to borrow a page from Orochimaru's playbook."
He sat up, expression sharpening. "But just the barrier won't be enough. Unlike Orochimaru, I don't have the luxury of a teacher-disciple bond. Hiruzen won't pull his punches. And then there's the ANBU..."
From his recent intel, Kakashi was currently leading one of the ANBU squads—and many members were near his level.
Their collective strength was no joke. If Rokuro planned to make his move, he'd have to be prepared.
"Time's short," he muttered. "Judging by Orochimaru's tone earlier, he'll defect within a day or two at most. I have to act fast."
And indeed, his instincts were right.
While Rokuro was making his plans, Shimura Danzō was already setting his own in motion.
In a remote forest seldom visited by Konoha's citizens, several Root operatives gathered. One of them knelt and began forming hand seals.
The ground trembled as soil churned and rolled—until a large pit yawned open before them.
Another Root ninja pulled out a scroll, performed a quick sequence of seals, and with a puff of smoke, several corpses appeared on the ground.
"Bury them. Quickly. Lord Danzō doesn't like to wait."
The Root members moved with silent precision, dumping the bodies into the pit and sealing the earth once more before vanishing into the night.
Two days later, when the ANBU thought the earlier rumors had faded, a new one began to spread through the village.
"Did you hear? In the southern forest—they found bodies. Multiple bodies. They say there were clear surgical marks on them. The rumors were true all along!"
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
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