Chapter 296 Orochimaru’s defection

Even when he was surrounded, Orochimaru did not show any panic, even though he was facing the so-called ninja hero Sarutobi Hiruzen.

He licked his eyes with his long tongue as usual, and said in a low and hoarse voice, "Teacher Sarutobi, the second Anbu just died from your Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. It has nothing to do with me."

The Third Hokage's defense was completely broken. His eyes became extremely sharp, but in his eyes there was endless disappointment and sadness. Even his short body was trembling a little. "Answer me, Orochimaru, did you conduct human experiments on the ninjas and civilians in the village?"

It was pouring rain from the sky, and Sarutobi Hiruzen was feeling the same way. The person who was killing his companions was his own disciple!

The reason why he hasn't taken action yet is because he is waiting for a reason, a reason to convince himself.

Despite the irrefutable evidence, Sarutobi Hiruzen still refused to admit the fact. He wanted Orochimaru to tell him in person. Only words spoken by his most proud disciple could make him completely heartbroken!

Over the years, the disappearance of ninjas and civilians in the village has occurred from time to time. Ninjas usually disappear without a trace after leaving the village to perform missions, and villagers also disappear inexplicably when walking out of the village. At first, it was considered normal. After all, who can guarantee that they will not encounter accidents when they are out?

But as time goes by, the number of missing people increases, especially this year. In just over five months, the number of missing people has reached an astonishing more than 20 people, including men, women, boys, girls, the elderly, and babies of all ages. The whole village has fallen into panic, especially the civilians, who are so scared that they dare not leave the village.

Sarutobi Hiruzen has been asking the Anbu to thoroughly investigate the matter, but from Hatake Sakumo to Kato Dan, the two Anbu chiefs have never been able to find any results.

The matter was done so covertly that Sarutobi Hiruzen felt that it was most likely the Root's doing, so he went to find Danzo and confronted him face to face. Danzo asked the Anbu to search the entire Root base before he barely dispelled Sarutobi Hiruzen's doubts.

Sarutobi Hiruzen, who didn't find any results, became even more confused. Who was secretly killing the people of Konoha who left the village?

Until a week ago, the day Xuanwu came out of the laboratory after performing surgery on Minato.

Suddenly, rumors spread in the village that Orochimaru was the culprit for the missing people, and the rumors were very detailed. Not only did Orochimaru become an object of disgust for everyone, but under the guidance of some people with ulterior motives, many people became dissatisfied with the Third Hokage. Why would he teach such a heinous person who harmed his companions!

The rumor soon reached Sarutobi Hiruzen's ears. He was extremely angry after hearing it, because he knew that such a rumor could shake his rule, and Orochimaru was the fourth generation Hokage whom he favored. If this was true, it would directly affect two generations of Hokage!

Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately summoned Kato Dan and asked him to investigate and monitor Orochimaru.

This time, Kato Dan was very capable and found out Orochimaru's flaws in less than a week.

Orochimaru is no pushover either. As soon as the rumors started flying around, he started destroying the experimental materials and records.

He knew exactly who spread the rumor. It should be said that he had expected this day to come. If anyone was to blame, it was because he could not resist the temptation of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju's cells and was willing to step into the trap set by others.

Five days ago, when he found out that he was being monitored, he sped up the destruction process while also taking the risk of waiting for Xuanwu to come back, because he was not sure if Xuanwu could still reach a deal with him after he really became a rebel ninja. Today was his deadline, and if Xuanwu still didn't show up, he would have to give up. Fortunately, Xuanwu came back yesterday.

Originally, after destroying the last stronghold tonight, he planned to leave quietly, but he was found by his mentor.

It was unexpected but also reasonable. He knew that Danzo would not let him leave the village easily. After all, they had worked together for so many years and he knew too many of his secrets.

Orochimaru still felt a little guilty towards his mentor. Ever since Danzo found him, he knew who the final target of this trap was. He struggled for a long time before making the decision that would let his teacher down.

But he has no regrets!

Hence the situation of the master-disciple split today.

"If you want to blame someone, blame the teacher for not agreeing to let me kill him!"

After successfully hypnotizing himself, Orochimaru personally extinguished the remaining guilt in his heart.

He opened his arms and laughed wildly.

“Hahahahahaha…”

After laughing, the look in his eyes towards Sarutobi Hiruzen was cold, "Teacher, why do you have to ask when you already know the answer?"

Sarutobi Hiruzen gritted his teeth and yelled at him, "Answer me!"

The aura that Ninxiong exuded in an instant even stopped the torrential rain for a moment!

Orochimaru quickly formed seals with his hands, and at the same time he yelled hysterically:

"Yes!"

"Wind Escape, Hell Wind"!

Kakuzu's wind-attribute ultimate move reappeared, and the hurricane, accompanied by heavy rain, spread rapidly around, unstoppable wherever it passed. All the trees were crushed, and countless huge gullies were cut into the ground. Looking down from the sky, a large vacuum area was directly cleared out of the Death Forest.

The two Anbu ninjas who surrounded Orochimaru were killed by the hell wind.

Enma used his diamond body to barely block the attack for Sarutobi Hiruzen, but large and small cuts appeared on his body, and blood continued to seep out. Kato Dan hid behind Sarutobi Hiruzen and avoided being dismembered.

Seeing that Sarutobi Hiruzen was still hesitating, Sarumo reminded him: "Hiruzen, now is the last chance to kill Orochimaru, don't hesitate any longer!"

"Ape Demon, use Vajra Ruyi."

"change",

Enma's body turned into the Vajra Ruyi Staff and was held in the hands of the Third Hokage.

Orochimaru pulled out the Kusanagi sword from his mouth, his eyes full of teasing, "Teacher, are you going to kill your kawaii student here?"

Upon hearing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen took a step back unconsciously, and his originally determined heart began to waver again.

Orochimaru noticed the change in Sarutobi Hiruzen's mentality and seized the opportunity to escape into the air at high speed.

A big eye grew on the Ruyi Stick, "Huruzen, make up your mind. You know better than anyone that Orochimaru is a genius that only appears once in decades. If you miss this opportunity and let him become stronger, you may not be his opponent in the future!"

Sarutobi Hiruzen knew this very well, but he was unable to take even a step forward. He watched Orochimaru gradually go away, until Orochimaru's figure turned into a black dot and disappeared. He still looked up at the night sky for a long time, unwilling to look away, because he knew that this might be the last time he saw Orochimaru.

How he wished Orochimaru could fly back and admit his mistake to him!

At this point, Orochimaru defected from Konoha seven or eight years in advance.

Just when Sarutobi Hiruzen's attention was focused on the direction of Orochimaru who had already left,

"Puff",

A poisoned blade pierced his abdomen from behind.

...

Orochimaru flew for a while and was forced to stop, an old friend blocked his way.

...

Led by the Anbu ninja, Xuanwu came to the Uchiha base alone. As soon as he stepped into the gate, the triple "Uchiha Flame Array" rose up and blocked the entire base.

......