From Naruto onwards, I've become a dreamer.

Chapter 146 The Return of the White Death

The next day.

Hiruzen Sarutobi summoned Orochimaru.

During this time, he was busy fighting Danzo and seemed to have neglected this somewhat unruly disciple.

While waiting for Orochimaru to arrive, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair and carefully reviewed Orochimaru's regular reports. The progress on the Wood Release experiments had not been updated for a long time.

"Orochimaru, what are you thinking?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the report, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes.

If it weren't for Danzo's reminder, he wouldn't have even realized that Orochimaru had been hiding so much from his teacher!
The image of Orochimaru from the past unconsciously surfaced in his mind.

Full of curiosity, although she may appear indifferent on the surface, she actually has a passionate heart and maintains a positive and optimistic outlook on things.

But he didn't realize at some point that his disciple had changed.

They are no longer so positive and optimistic, and instead focus their attention on getting stuck in a rut, concentrating on research into immortality, which is completely unreliable.

Immortality. Is it really possible?

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, convinced that Orochimaru had gone astray.

As a teacher, he had to correct it!
dong dong dong.
A crisp knock on the door brought Hiruzen back to reality.

"Come in."

Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his eyes and adopted the imposing demeanor of a Hokage.

Orochimaru, dressed in a white kimono, pushed open the door and said indifferently, "Master, you wanted to see me?"

Looking at Orochimaru, Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and pointed to the report on the table: "I need an explanation, Orochimaru."

"What explanation?"

Orochimaru didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, his tone was icy, and he seemed completely indifferent.

"Orochimaru, even now, do you still want to lie to this teacher?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi wore a pained expression, slammed his hand on the table, scattering documents everywhere: "Tell me, why did you hide the news that the Wood Release experiment was successful?"

Orochimaru fell silent for a moment, his narrow, snake-like eyes reflecting the image of his once-respected teacher.

Ah, his face was covered with wrinkles, his eyes were deeply sunken, and there were dark circles around them. His energy and spirit seemed to have been worn away. He could no longer see any of the domineering aura that once belonged to him. All that remained was old age, weakness, pitifulness, and wretchedness.

Oh, he almost forgot that this highly respected Hokage has long been bewitched by Danzo.

Tsk. Just thinking about it made Orochimaru vaguely feel that something was wrong.

If he had never seen that church of bones before, and had never met 'that person', he might have really thought that Danzo turning into a woman was some kind of ninjutsu.

As for now, that's really uncertain.

"Speak! Orochimaru!"

Seemingly provoked by the various emotions flashing in his eyes, Hiruzen Sarutobi inexplicably felt a surge of anger, stood up, and roared, "I am the Hokage! I'm asking you a question! Answer me!"

"Because I don't think it's necessary."

Orochimaru's eyes showed a hint of disappointment, but it quickly disappeared. Facing the Hokage's questioning, he said in a calm tone, "Although he survived, his Wood Release is completely different from the First Hokage's Wood Release. I don't think there's any need to report such a failure. Any other questions, Hokage-sama?"

The final phrase, "Lord Hokage," subtly widened the distance between the two once more.

Hiruzen Sarutobi understood the implication in his words, and his face immediately darkened, his voice unconsciously filled with anger: "Orochimaru, regardless of whether he is like the First Hokage or not, he is the only surviving test subject. You need to report the progress to me instead of having someone else tell me!"

"other people?"

Orochimaru frowned slightly, then guessed who it was, and sneered: "So that's how it is. It was Danzo who said it? No wonder. Heh."

"What do you mean, Orochimaru?"

Whether out of guilt or some other ulterior motive, Hiruzen Sarutobi subconsciously avoided Orochimaru's eyes. "No, it's nothing."

Orochimaru slightly raised his eyelids, shook his head, and said indifferently, "If there's nothing else, I'll head back now, Hokage-sama."

Having said that, he turned and left without waiting for Hiruzen Sarutobi to speak.

As they reached the door, Orochimaru suddenly stopped, turned his back to the furious Hiruzen Sarutobi, and said calmly, "I almost forgot, you can have that failed Wood Release experiment subject. After all, it's an 'important asset of Konoha,' isn't it?"

Having said that, without caring how ugly Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was, he used the Body Flicker Technique to disappear from the spot.

"Orochimaru"

Having been provoked, Hiruzen Sarutobi sat in his chair, fuming with rage.

He simply couldn't understand why Orochimaru had become like this.

What exactly happened?
Was he really wrong?
A jumble of chaotic thoughts occupied his mind, and his blood pressure seemed to spike.

The days of hard work had made him feel genuinely overwhelmed and his energy was not what it used to be, whether it was government affairs or Danzo.

"It seems I really am getting old."

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back weakly in his chair, slowly emptying his mind, pinching the bridge of his nose: "We must decide on the next Hokage as soon as possible."

Two figures flashed through his mind in turn.

"Minato Namikaze. Danzo Shimura"

Finally, another figure appeared, inexplicably, as if instinctively welling up from the depths of my mind.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was somewhat surprised. Logically speaking, that person should never have appeared, but for some reason, he thought of this person.

"No, no, only him. Absolutely not!"

He shook his head, forcibly suppressing the 'bold' thought: "It's a pity about Uchiha Munetsuki."

Even if Orochimaru becomes Hokage, the Uchiha clan must never be allowed to take power!
Allowing the Uchiha clan to seize political power would bring disaster to Konoha; this has been a principle and decision upheld since the time of the Second Hokage.

Orochimaru, who was walking down the road, suddenly frowned.

He then quickened his pace, turned directly into an alley, and entered a hidden passage.

These hidden passages are not usually used, but they do exist throughout Konoha and are used to evacuate civilians and carry out ANBU operations in emergencies.

In the deserted, dark passage, Orochimaru stopped and said in a cold voice, "Come out. You've been following me for a long time."

Deep within the narrow, snake-like pupils, a sharp and murderous gaze seemed to pierce through the darkness and strike at the very depths.

After a while, a figure draped in a black robe slowly walked out.

He removed the black robe and hood, revealing short, silver-white hair and an ordinary, middle-aged man's face: "Long time no see, Orochimaru."

Looking at that person, Orochimaru's eyes flickered slightly: "It's you. Hatake Sagumo."

It turned out that the person secretly following him was none other than Hatake Sagumo, who had disappeared for a long time to carry out a secret mission.

"Didn't you go investigate something?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, a slightly interested expression on his face. "Judging from your expression, did you find it?"

"I came back this time precisely because of this matter."

With a blank expression and a furrowed brow, Hatake Sagumo said in a deep voice, "I have discovered that a mysterious organization is secretly influencing the entire ninja world!"

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and said half-jokingly, "The organization you're talking about, it wouldn't happen to be us, would it?"

After all, in a way, wasn't that mysterious Mr. 'Adam' secretly influencing the course of history and the future all along?
"No, it's another one."

Hatake Sai's voice was deep as he said, "Their name is 'Shell'!"

(End of this chapter)