Naruto: Starting from the time when the Six Paths of Pain was Kira Yoshikage

Chapter 91 The people of Konoha...so forgetful...

As the villagers' conversation deepened, the topics became increasingly inappropriate, especially when they discussed how their Fourth Hokage had surpassed his predecessors... even mentioning the legendary Sannin...

"The Fourth Hokage is so young yet already possesses such great abilities. I think even the legendary Sannin might not be his match!"

"The Legendary Sannin? They're just fancy names! Lady Tsunade is addicted to gambling and her whereabouts are unknown. Lady Jiraiya is idle all day and left the village long ago. As for Orochimaru, although he's still in the village... I've heard he has a very strange personality, and I've never heard of him making any contributions to the village. How can he compare to the Fourth Hokage's illustrious achievements?"

"In my opinion, the so-called legendary Sannin are just three ordinary ninjas... their fame is all hype."

These words reached Mitarashi Anko's ears in the alley not far away. She clenched her fists so tightly that her knuckles turned white. Anko's cheeks flushed red, and her almond-shaped eyes widened, as if anger was about to burst from their sockets.

She felt indignant about the unfair treatment her teacher received.

Orochimaru was once a highly respected ninja in Konoha. The title of the Legendary Sannin laid the foundation for Konoha's victory in the Second Shinobi World War. At that time, Orochimaru was the pride of Konoha. He was spirited and exceptionally talented, far surpassing his peers in both ninjutsu and combat skills.

Every ninja in the village, regardless of rank, gave him a thumbs up, and some even considered him the most ideal successor to the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.

But that was all in the past...

Just over a decade later, the villagers had forgotten his achievements and instead worshipped the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze.

The current situation is that Orochimaru's teacher, the Third Hokage of Konoha, did not choose him as the Fourth Hokage, but instead nominated Minato Namikaze.

Humans are very forgetful creatures; sometimes it only takes ten years, a few years, or even a few months for them to forget many things.

For example, among the villagers of Konoha today, who still remembers the White Fang of Konoha who, during the Second Shinobi World War, wielded a chakra dagger, was invincible on the battlefield, tore apart the Sand Village's battlefield defenses, made the Sand Puppet Masters unable to raise their heads, buried countless excellent puppeteers, and laid a solid foundation for Konoha's victory?

If you were to ask these villagers now, they would most likely give you one answer.

White Fang? Who is that? What did he do? Is he that great? How does he compare to the Fourth Hokage?

After all, this ninja was criticized and verbally abused by the villagers simply because of his choice of mission, and ultimately, unable to bear the pressure of public opinion, he chose to commit suicide.

His life ended before he was even forty.

White Fang is like that... the Legendary Sannin are like that... and many more ninjas in the future will be like that... even the Fourth Hokage, whom they talk about the most right now, his achievements and his life story will be forgotten many years after his death.

The people of Konoha... are so forgetful...

"How could these people do this!" Hongdou couldn't hold back any longer. She took a step forward, wanting to rush over and argue with the villagers, to let them know how much Orochimaru had contributed to the village. But just as she was about to rush out, a large hand pressed down on her shoulder.

That hand was warm and strong, carrying a unique sense of composure.

It's Orochimaru.

His face remained expressionless, as if those harsh words hadn't even reached his ears, or perhaps he simply didn't care.

"Orochimaru-sensei!" Anko's voice was tinged with grievance and anger. "They went too far, talking about you like that!"

Orochimaru shook his head slightly, his face devoid of any emotion. His voice remained his characteristically hoarse tone, yet it betrayed no hint of joy or anger: "We still have some experiments to conduct today. We should go."

Orochimaru believed that arguing with these villagers was pointless. He had long seen through their true nature: ignorant and foolish.

Ignorance, and pathetic. They only saw the glitz and glamour before them, forgetting those who had given everything for the village. And Konoha, in this atmosphere, gradually decayed.

Orochimaru's eyes were very calm, but only he knew the disappointment behind that calm.

He witnessed his disciple Nawaki die on the battlefield, his young life falling like a shooting star; he watched his comrade-in-arms, Kato Dan, sacrifice himself to protect the village, his body never even returning intact; and he even watched Konoha's White Fang, the former hero, drown in the villagers' spittle and ultimately self-destruct.

These events, like needles piercing Orochimaru's heart, gradually made him see through the fragility of life and the complexity of human nature. He began to doubt whether it was truly worthwhile to dedicate himself wholeheartedly to the village. Perhaps, instead of wasting time and energy on this decaying village, he should do something that interests him and pursue his dreams.

So he chose to collaborate with Danzo, stepping from the forefront to the background. He began to focus on his experiments, trying to find a way to break through the limits of life. To others, he became increasingly eccentric and unapproachable, but only he knew that this was a choice made after his disillusionment with the village.

Orochimaru's gaze slowly fell on Anko, and his unique, husky voice returned: "Don't worry about what others say, just be yourself..."

To outsiders, the voice sounded no different, but Anko, who was familiar with Orochimaru, detected a subtle emotion in his tone.

It's as if it's saying... whatever, I'm tired.

Perhaps even Orochimaru himself didn't realize that deep in his eyes lay a profound disappointment that was hard to detect.

Disappointment with the village, disappointment with the villagers, disappointment with my teacher.

If he hadn't been disappointed, he wouldn't have built a ninja village himself years later, a village that went from nothing to something and dealt a devastating blow to the future Konoha, the Sound Village.

Red Bean opened her mouth, a thousand words stuck in her throat, but she couldn't utter a single one. But when she met Orochimaru's gaze, all those words ultimately coalesced into a single sentence...

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei."

She was so well-behaved that it was completely unlike Red Bean's original personality.

Orochimaru looked at Anko, his lips twitching slightly, as if speaking to Anko, or perhaps talking to himself: "I recently invented a new secret technique, and I hope you will like it... I've named it the Cursed Seal of Heaven."

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei."

The sunlight remained bright, bathing the two in its glow, casting long shadows on the ground. Orochimaru turned and walked forward, Anko silently following behind him, their figures gradually disappearing at the end of the alley.

The villagers continued their argument, still enthusiastically discussing the achievements of the Fourth Hokage and recounting the greatness of the Third Hokage, as if the little incident from earlier had never happened.

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