The strong only appreciated the strong.
If their positions were reversed, Orochimaru felt that if he had been in Rasa's place, he would not have been able to accomplish what Rasa had.
When the village's situation had been extremely dire, sacrificing a single shinobi would have been enough to bring peace. Most people probably would have compromised under the banner of peace.
But Rasa had not.
That kind of loyalty, that kind of valuing one's comrades, was worthy of praise across the entire shinobi world.
It would have been impressive enough if he merely possessed great personal strength.
Yet he could also lead an entire village to become stronger.
Such a shinobi was an extremely rare existence in the entire shinobi world.
Even more outstanding than Konoha's Minato Namikaze.
Orochimaru and Minato Namikaze had been rivals, but Orochimaru acknowledged Minato.
Orochimaru and Danzo were collaborators, but deep down, Orochimaru looked down on Danzo.
"Even Sunagakure sent me an invitation?"
"Are they not worried about my terrible reputation from conducting human experiments?"
"What benefit would recruiting me bring them?"
Orochimaru opened the letter and read it carefully.
"They can give me the identity of a Sunagakure ninja."
"At the same time, they will support me in establishing a laboratory."
"They can give me opportunities to exchange ideas with other researchers."
"They can provide me with rare experimental materials."
"They can provide me with an interview opportunity?"
When Orochimaru saw this point, a subtle expression appeared on his face.
"An interview means little to me. Sunagakure wants to use this to strike at Teacher Sarutobi's reputation."
"But speaking of it, it isn't completely meaningless to me either."
"Teacher Sarutobi made my laboratory public. My reputation in the shinobi world is already utterly ruined. Those mediocre people do not understand the significance of my research at all. All they know is fear."
"Some of the things I did may indeed have been wrong."
"But that was because Konoha's situation was too terrible."
"If there had been a choice, I would also have preferred to proceed step by step."
"Science itself is not wrong."
The conditions Sunagakure offered were roughly equivalent to those offered by Kirigakure.
But Sunagakure had Sunagakure's advantages, while Kirigakure had Kirigakure's advantages.
If he went to Sunagakure, he could enjoy the convenience brought by a stronger shinobi village.
If he went to Kirigakure, the likelihood of being controlled would be smaller.
Orochimaru fell into hesitation.
Three choices lay before him.
Sunagakure, Kirigakure, or creating his own force.
Orochimaru raised his head and looked in the direction of the Land of Fire.
In Orochimaru's heart, there was actually a fourth choice.
He had grown up in Konoha. He had lived in Konoha for so many years, experienced so many things there, and still had friends, subordinates, comrades, and more. These things could not all be severed at once.
Orochimaru still cared about Konoha.
"But I no longer have any possibility of returning to Konoha, do I?"
Elsewhere.
"I've finally waited for a chance to catch you alone!"
Jiraiya's eyes flickered.
The next moment, he suddenly shot forward.
Opposite him stood Uchiha Fugaku.
But it was not only Uchiha Fugaku. It was a small squad led by Uchiha Fugaku, made up of three other Uchiha.
"Careful!"
"Enemy attack!"
The three Uchiha immediately went on guard, placing Uchiha Fugaku behind them.
"Fugaku-sama, be careful!"
Uchiha Fugaku and the other three had reacted at once.
But the one who had come was Jiraiya.
Even though he had lost both legs and one arm in his battle against Rasa, becoming crippled, Jiraiya had borrowed the strength of a toad.
He was using a technique similar to the Inuzuka clan's combination ninjutsu.
He had fused with the Iron-Armed Toad.
By doing so, he obtained the ability to move freely.
The only issue was that his appearance had become something monster-like, which still bothered Jiraiya.
"It's too ugly!"
The first time he used it, Jiraiya had looked at himself in the mirror and could not help complaining.
It was humanoid, but with a toad's head.
The skin on his body was dark red, covered in bumps and lumps like some kind of skin disease.
But now, Jiraiya could not care about that.
He had to attack Uchiha Fugaku and determine whether Uchiha Fugaku was the true mastermind behind the Nine-Tails' rampage.
For this day, Jiraiya had waited a long time.
"Die!"
The strength of these Uchiha ninja was actually quite decent.
But Jiraiya's fusion with the Iron-Armed Toad was far too powerful.
With just a single clash, one Uchiha ninja was sent flying backward, heavily injured, coughing blood. After falling to the ground, he had almost no ability to move.
The remaining two Uchiha were shocked.
"Fugaku-sama, we'll hold him back. You go first!"
One strike had gravely injured an Uchiha.
That kind of strength was simply terrifying.
It made the remaining two Uchiha judge that even if the four of them fought together, they might still not be a match for the attacker.
The two were deeply confused.
Why had someone this strong suddenly appeared to attack them?
Who had they offended?
Konoha?
Or the Uchiha led by Uchiha Yashiro?
But neither of those two sides should have had someone like this.
Moreover, any shinobi with such strength would have a name and reputation in the shinobi world, yet the person before them was someone neither of them had ever seen.
"He's truly ugly."
"It might be a Transformation Technique, used to hide his identity."
One Uchiha ninja thought of a possibility.
"Could it be Orochimaru?"
"Orochimaru likes conducting human experiments. They say there were corpses of our Uchiha clan in his laboratory. But how could corpses compare to living people?"
"If that's true, then we absolutely must protect Fugaku-sama. As for us, we must not be captured alive. If we can't escape, then we'll drag him down with us."
But Uchiha Fugaku did not leave.
Instead, he stood shoulder to shoulder with the two Uchiha ninja.
"We are already not far from Konoha. We fight while retreating. Only that way do we have a better chance of surviving. If we split up, we'll only give him the chance to defeat us one by one!"
"We will all survive."
"Not one of us will be left behind!"
Jiraiya looked at Uchiha Fugaku, a trace of admiration appearing in his eyes.
"These Uchiha aren't as unbearable as people say. He clearly has a chance to escape, yet for the sake of his comrades, his clan members, he chooses to stay. There is a reason why Uchiha Fugaku received Minato's approval."
"But there is another possibility."
"And that is that Uchiha Fugaku is hiding his strength. Even facing the strength I've shown, he is confident he can survive. That would mean he is the one who controlled the Nine-Tails on the night of the rampage."
Jiraiya's eyes sharpened.
The next moment—
Jiraiya's attacks became even more ferocious.
Wave after wave.
He gave Uchiha Fugaku and the others no chance to breathe.
Faster attacks.
Greater power.
"Uchiha Fugaku, show your true strength!"
"Stop hiding!"