"For the position of Hokage?"
"Is the Hokage seat truly that important? I will step down sooner or later. Can you not even wait that long?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face darkened as Orochimaru's appearance surfaced in his mind.
Along with scenes from the days when he and Orochimaru had spent time together.
"Have Orochimaru come here."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
When the ANBU shinobi arrived before Orochimaru, a trace of unease involuntarily surfaced in Orochimaru's heart.
"Sarutobi-sensei wants me to go over? Did he say what it was about?"
The ANBU shinobi shook his head.
"Fine. I understand. I'll go over shortly."
After watching the ANBU shinobi leave, Orochimaru first went to find Danzo.
Orochimaru did not completely trust Danzo. But regarding this current matter, Orochimaru felt that Danzo and he were on the same side. Danzo might be able to provide some reference.
"Orochimaru?"
"Danzo-senpai, Sarutobi-sensei has asked me to go see him. What do you think his intention is?"
Danzo frowned slightly.
"Hiruzen took the initiative to look for you? That is rare. I remember he has not taken the initiative to look for you in a long time. If he is looking for you now, it must be something important."
Orochimaru mentioned that he had gone to see Jiraiya before Jiraiya disappeared.
"Clearly, Hiruzen suspects you, Orochimaru."
Danzo said, "Hiruzen is extremely suspicious by nature. Take me for example—I obviously did nothing to Kakashi, yet Hiruzen firmly believes I attacked him."
"At first, he believed I killed Kakashi and acted privately."
"After receiving news that Kakashi was still alive, he still believed that I had tried to kill Kakashi but failed—not only acting privately, but proving incompetent as well."
"What kind of joke is that?"
"If I made a move, could Kakashi possibly escape? In his dreams!"
"And what reason would I have to attack Kakashi?"
"The rumors outside say that he, Hiruzen Sarutobi, persecuted Konoha's White Fang. Not me."
Danzo poured out his bitterness.
Only when Orochimaru began to grow impatient did he continue.
"Right now, Hiruzen must be suspecting that Jiraiya's disappearance is related to you."
"Either he suspects you killed Jiraiya, or he suspects you said something to Jiraiya, incited him, and directed this disappearance."
"But no matter how much he suspects you, suspicion is still only suspicion."
"Before there is concrete evidence, Hiruzen will not personally attack you. Even if he wants to harm you, he will only borrow someone else's hand."
Orochimaru nodded.
"Danzo-senpai, thank you."
After saying goodbye to Danzo, Orochimaru finally headed to the Hokage Building.
Danzo watched Orochimaru's back, a hint of schadenfreude appearing in his eyes.
"I'm not the only one being treated like that by Hiruzen."
"That does make me feel a little better."
"Now, with all these things, true and false mixed together, even I can no longer tell whether some of them are actually related to Hiruzen."
"But Jiraiya's disappearance is not exactly a bad thing for me."
"After all, the more Hiruzen suspects Orochimaru, the more Orochimaru will rely on me as his ally."
Arriving at the Hokage Building, Orochimaru entered the Hokage's office.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Orochimaru, forcibly suppressing his negative emotions and squeezing out a smile.
"Orochimaru, you're here? Sit."
Orochimaru nodded and sat down opposite Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Sarutobi-sensei, may I ask why you called me here?"
A nostalgic look appeared on Hiruzen Sarutobi's face.
"Thinking back to those days, the three of you were still so small, having only just graduated from the Ninja Academy. In the blink of an eye, I have already grown old, and you have all changed as well."
"Time passes so quickly."
"As if it were only an instant."
"Tsunade developed hemophobia because of the deaths of Kato Dan and Nawaki."
"Jiraiya suffered grievous injuries in his battle with Rasa."
"Come to think of it, ever since you led the village's ninja army to defeat Iwagakure's army, the two of us have not sat down like teacher and student to chat like this in a long time."
Orochimaru lowered his head slightly.
"Sensei…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Orochimaru, but saw nothing.
After that, the nostalgic expression on his face faded.
"Orochimaru, I heard you went to visit Jiraiya. What did the two of you talk about? Did Jiraiya ever tell you where he was going? Do you know where he is now?"
Orochimaru's heart stirred. He knew Hiruzen Sarutobi truly suspected him.
"Sarutobi-sensei, I did indeed visit Jiraiya. Jiraiya mainly talked to me about Rasa. He told me some intelligence about Rasa and reminded me what I should pay attention to."
"Other than that, he said nothing else."
Orochimaru did not take out that slip of paper.
Taking it out would not prove that he was innocent and that Jiraiya was the one with a problem.
It would only make Hiruzen Sarutobi suspect him even more.
"That's all?"
"Yes."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared at Orochimaru.
After a long time, Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "Orochimaru, what do you think of the current situation in the shinobi world?"
Orochimaru said, "Reporting to Sarutobi-sensei, I believe the war has not truly ended. Iwagakure remains unwilling to accept its defeat at Konoha's hands. Sunagakure keeps provoking Konoha, and surely they are not provoking us merely for amusement."
"Kumogakure obtained the Byakugan last time. Their appetite will only grow greater in the future."
"Kirigakure has fallen from its position as a great shinobi village, but to the Land of Water, they may view this as a good thing. Therefore, other great nations may very likely develop similar ideas."
"Konoha cannot sit and wait for death."
On this point, Hiruzen Sarutobi agreed.
But his thoughts were different from Orochimaru's.
What Orochimaru was thinking was that with the shinobi world about to fall into the quagmire of war once more, Konoha had to prepare itself and guard against danger before it came.
What Hiruzen Sarutobi was thinking was that under the current circumstances, Danzo and Orochimaru were both plotting against him, and because of several previous rumors, his reputation had suffered enormous damage.
In such a situation, launching a war outward could provide some relief.
Once internal problems existed and could not be solved, then one could create an even greater external problem and shift everyone's attention outward. The internal problems would naturally shrink—or disappear.
In addition, he could assign Danzo and Orochimaru to difficult and dangerous tasks where it was hard to gain merit.
Meanwhile, other shinobi could be assigned to simpler and safer tasks where earning merit was easier.
That way, he could cultivate individuals capable of contending against Orochimaru and Danzo.
Only then could Konoha return to the proper path.
After Orochimaru left, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked in the direction he had gone, his gaze flickering continuously.
"Orochimaru… could it really be you?"