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For well-known reasons, Haori couldn't follow Orochimaru. The possibility of the mad scientist Kiryuин и and his high-profile assistant Christina teaming up was nipped in the bud from the start.
To a certain extent, Haori still needed to be constrained by Konoha. Openly violating Konoha's ninja system was not advisable. So, Haori couldn't confront Jiraiya. He could only confront Orochimaru. And he couldn't be too obvious about his intention to help the latter escape.
"Return to your original position!"
Jiraiya reacted instantly after just confirming the condition of the clone. He had already thought about the most likely scenario in this situation.
Orochimaru might not have left the spot at all… until they arrived here, Orochimaru had once again deceived Jiraiya's innocence.
But even if they returned to the original spot now, there would be no chance of finding any traces.
Orochimaru had still run away, but this couldn't be blamed on Haori. There was nothing strange about his actions. On the contrary, he was quite proactive in his actions. At most, his problem was that he was a little too anxious when he made his move.
In this situation, there was no way to confirm when Orochimaru had switched the clone and the real body. So, rather than dwelling on Haori's responsibility, Jiraiya thought it was more likely that he had been careless.
Konoha's pursuit of Orochimaru continued for a whole night. Even the Hyuga clan, who started acting later, really put a lot of effort into the mission. But they still couldn't find any trace of Orochimaru.
Actually, for a ninja like Orochimaru, once your eyes leave him for a minute, the possibility of finding him again is extremely low.
For the next three days, the search for Orochimaru around Konoha continued. But they didn't find him. The Third Hokage had to accept this reality: Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, had truly become a rogue ninja.
And with Orochimaru's strength, he was a genuine S-rank rogue ninja. At the same time, he was the second most powerful ninja to defect from Konoha in its history, besides Uchiha Madara.
Konoha's bad luck this year could no longer be described as bad luck.
"What have I done wrong?" The Third Hokage probably asked himself this question many times.
Rogue ninjas often hold some of the village's intelligence. So, if they deliberately wanted to retaliate against the village, it would be easier to cause great destruction.
Eliminating these kinds of ninjas was always a top priority for the village. So, even though he was his own disciple, the Third Hokage still had to send ANBU to pursue Orochimaru.
The Third Hokage, swayed by his feelings, was one step too late in making his decision. Now, pursuing Orochimaru was pointless.
......
"You want to go bring Orochimaru back yourself?"
The problem now was Jiraiya's persistence. He hadn't given up on Orochimaru.
Faced with such a disciple, the Third Hokage could only ask in surprise. Was there any possibility of bringing Orochimaru back?
"Orochimaru has been obsessed with various ninjutsu since he was a child. Although his actions this time were excessive, I think it was just a temporary lapse in judgment… This is precisely why I have to bring him back." Jiraiya said.
People can only see what they want to see. With the number of Konoha ninjas Orochimaru had disposed of, could it really be explained with just the words "lapse in judgment"?
Jiraiya either didn't want to understand the real situation, or he understood it but still held this view.
"This will take a lot of time." The Third Hokage said.
He knew Orochimaru's strength well as his teacher. If he deliberately wanted to hide, the entire ninja world, which is neither big nor small, would take a lot of time and effort to find him.
"I'm prepared for that."
"What about the front lines and the war?"
Before this, Jiraiya had been in charge of the front lines. If he went after Orochimaru, what would happen to the war?
"Based on the general trend and the tacit understanding between the two sides that the war is coming to an end, both we and Kumogakure are reducing our forces on the front lines. In fact, the self-governance of the Land of Tea is being restored. Small-scale conflicts may still exist, but large-scale battles are impossible… So, my necessity in the war has dropped to the lowest point."
Jiraiya's judgment of priorities wasn't unreasonable. In fact, it was probably correct. But to leave the war and then chase after another old man… Even if this argument was full of rationality, it still sounded awkward.
"I'll think about this carefully…"
The Third Hokage could only give this answer for now.
Haori didn't know what judgment the Hokage would make, or even whether Jiraiya would go after Orochimaru. But he could easily see the outcome of this matter as an outsider: Orochimaru, who had left the village, would never be able to return as a Konoha ninja.
But these things didn't concern Haori much. It was just that the overall atmosphere in Konoha made him feel strange. It wasn't the tension of war, nor the ease of peace. It just had a feeling that made him uncomfortable.
So, even though Orochimaru had just defected, Konoha was very tense both inside and outside. But when he didn't have any missions, Haori would rather stay in Shikkotsu Forest, which had a worse climate, than stay in Konoha.
So, he really stayed in Shikkotsu Forest.
But this time, Haori brought Mirai… He figured that the child couldn't possibly die in his hands, so he could safely keep her by his side.
As for bringing Naruto, he wanted to, but it wasn't feasible according to the agreement.
At this time, Haori was in a wooden tower in Shikkotsu Forest. Looking out the door, he could see three pairs of eyes, on three brown dog heads, looking curiously inside.
It was rare for the Split Dog to be lying quietly at the door.
As for Haori, he was sitting cross-legged on the ground. In front of him were scrolls spread out all over the floor.
And to his right was a one-meter-long Slug split body. Haori had placed Mirai on top of it.
Actually, the child rarely cried. This was one of the reasons why Haori was willing to bring her.
"Haori, what are you going to feed this child?"
As the only two beings in this space who could speak, Haori and the Slug would occasionally have a conversation or two.
"If you don't have anything prepared, do you think… my slime would be good?" So, was the Slug offering this out of love, or was it trying to corrode the baby?
"Um… please rest assured, I've made sufficient preparations. Slime… I think the nutritional value and protein ratio are too high. The baby probably wouldn't be able to handle it. You should keep it for yourself and fulfill your intended purpose."
"Feeding babies is obviously not within its scope of use."
Haori quickly stopped this brutal idea. As a mollusk, it shouldn't be thinking too broadly.
Was it an illusion? After being rejected, Haori felt an emotion called disappointment in the Slug…
Let's not talk about the Slug suddenly thinking broadly. As a human, Haori's occasional brain farts couldn't be restricted.
A long time ago, he had an idea. What would happen if he mixed Lightning Release and the electrocution user?
Or how could he use ninjutsu while using his ability?
This kind of experiment is simple, but Haori never did it… Now, he's going to try it.
The steps are not complicated, but they are quite dangerous.
First, Haori made a clone with hand seals. Then, his clone's left hand glowed with Chidori. And his real body's left hand was the electric current that was the manifestation of the electrocution user's ability.
It wasn't holding hands, and it wasn't right hand holding left hand. It was just Haori's real body and clone having a bland, polite handshake.
You have to know that, without any verification, this kind of experiment is very unwise.
His arm injuries had only healed recently. Was he going to start doing reckless things again?
Fortunately, he knew to switch hands… although it was useless. It was just taking turns suffering.
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