Tenzo hadn't been burned by the Fire Release. When he was engulfed by the mass of snakes, he had encased himself in layers of wooden shells. However, not suffering physical harm didn't mean he hadn't suffered psychological damage... I'm still in "enemy territory," and you guys just set it on fire?
He was heartbroken, but unfortunately, no one cared about Tenzo's feelings at the moment.
The snakes piled up like a mountain of corpses, filling the forest with a nauseating stench. Tenzo covered his nose and mouth and crawled out of his wooden shell. The Third Hokage, with a grim expression, walked into the woods.
"Can you still sense Orochimaru's trail?" the Hokage asked.
But for a moment, no one answered. Were there no sensory ninjas among his subordinates? Habara had to step forward and say, "Lord Hokage, Lord Orochimaru has already escaped. I can't sense his chakra."
After a slight pause, Habara added another blow, "I think Lord Orochimaru anticipated this day long ago. It's safe to assume he had an escape route prepared."
"..."
The Third Hokage was undergoing "shock therapy."
His favorite disciple had suddenly defected from Konoha, and the Third Hokage's mood was already terrible. However, Habara was telling him that his mood could actually get even worse.
The Hokage stood there, his gaze unconsciously scanning his surroundings. He wasn't searching for anything, just trying to suppress his emotions. He looked left and right anxiously, and then he saw a bizarre and distorted corpse.
"This is... Orochimaru?"
The Third Hokage took two steps forward and recognized the corpse with a hole in its chest and a split mouth as Orochimaru.
No matter how Habara interpreted it, he felt like the Third Hokage's voice carried the tone of a white-haired person sending off a black-haired person. It wasn't Orochimaru the Hokage was calling, but rather crying out, "My son!"
To prevent the Hokage from losing control of his emotions, Habara quickly spoke, "Lord Hokage, this is actually the skin Lord Orochimaru shed. Because of the intense battles, he was already on his last legs when we encountered him. Then... I believe he performed a 'reincarnation'."
Habara then described what had happened earlier to the Third Hokage, though he conveniently omitted the fact that he had stabbed Orochimaru dozens of times.
"Reincarnation..." The Third Hokage subconsciously glanced at Habara. A long time ago, Habara had mentioned something similar. Daigo had survived thanks to Orochimaru's reincarnation technique. It seemed that Orochimaru's research on this technique had become even more profound.
Then the Hokage looked at Tenzo standing nearby. According to Habara's description, Orochimaru's method of directly discarding his original body and quickly creating a new one reminded the Third Hokage of the First Hokage's exaggerated vitality... So, Orochimaru had been planning this for a long time? The Hokage suddenly felt like he had never truly understood his disciple.
Well, this was the Third Hokage's misunderstanding. If someone hadn't mentioned "Sage Body" to Orochimaru, he wouldn't have had such "ingenious ideas" in the short term.
Orochimaru was definitely not dead. Not only was he not dead, he was even alive and kicking. So... what to do next?
"Habara, you guys go back and gather ninjas to deal with the situation here."
After a moment of contemplation, the Third Hokage gave this order to Habara.
"Lord Hokage, what about you...?"
"I'll try to pursue him a little further."
The Third Hokage decided to try a little harder. If he caught Orochimaru, then Orochimaru wouldn't necessarily die. He could sentence Orochimaru to 10,000 years in prison. But if other Konoha ninjas caught Orochimaru, there would be no room for sentimentality.
In other words, the Third Hokage was going to continue pursuing Orochimaru, while Habara was to find people to clean up this garbage dump.
However, just as the Third Hokage was about to launch a meaningless rescue operation, he seemed to suddenly remember something and stopped again, saying to Habara, "Oh, there's one more thing... Tell Kushina that your 'Akakammuri' team is responsible for dealing with the underground laboratory Orochimaru left behind. I think you understand what needs to be done."
Habara nodded. Of course, he understood. It was just about making sure things that shouldn't see the light of day don't see the light of day.
After giving his instructions, the Third Hokage, along with the ANBU ninjas, pursued in the direction away from Konoha, while Habara and Tenzo prepared to return to the village.
The two of them reeked of foot-bath water mixed with stinky tofu, and they were naturally eager to go home, change clothes, and take a shower. However, after running for a distance, Habara suddenly stopped.
"Wait a minute, did we forget something?"
"Did we? Oh, right, we should have sealed up Orochimaru's corpse," Tenzo said.
"Orochimaru's..." Habara slapped his forehead and then remembered, "Orochimaru's disciple is still lying in the wilderness."
Mitarashi Anko had probably been taken down by Orochimaru while pursuing him. And since Anko was a disciple with no special talent, Orochimaru certainly wouldn't take her with him when fleeing Konoha... To put it cruelly, what use was she? What reason did Orochimaru have to take her?
Orochimaru had left a curse mark on his disciple. If Anko couldn't withstand the curse mark, it only meant she was useless and her death would be meaningless. But if she could withstand it, it meant Orochimaru had at least a little bit of discernment when he accepted her as a disciple.
Habara couldn't really just leave Mitarashi Anko alone. So, the two of them turned around and returned to the place where they had found her earlier... Sure enough, she was still there.
"She looks really... really peaceful," Tenzo said after seeing Mitarashi Anko.
Okay, Tenzo's words were also a bit harsh.
"Stop talking nonsense, let's take her to the Konoha Hospital."
Habara and Tenzo came to Mitarashi Anko's side, and they noticed that the curse mark's encroachment marks on her body had receded.
Tenzo squatted down. He was originally going to carry Mitarashi Anko on his back, but before moving her, he suddenly noticed a problem. Then, Tenzo reached out and felt for her breath.
"Habara, this person seems to be dead. She has no heartbeat or breathing."
"Dead? That shouldn't be the case, right?"
Habara thought to himself, This person isn't that petty, is she? You guys didn't save me earlier, so don't ever come to save me?
Then Habara realized, it seemed that people who were implanted with a curse mark had to die once first, right? It's like adding a new module to a computer – you have to restart it to activate it.
Thinking of this, Habara said, "She shouldn't be dead. Why don't you try CPR?"
Out in the middle of nowhere, who knew what this guy was thinking.
"Not dead? I think it's better to take her to the hospital quickly." Tenzo, who had previously answered "I don't want her," had no such worldly desires.
"Then let's hurry. I'm not sure if she can withstand the curse mark's erosion on her own."
Habara urged Tenzo to hurry. Tenzo bent down, about to lift one of Mitarashi Anko's arms, and then... he just fell forward, straight down.
"...Uh, why are you saying one thing and doing another?"
Joking aside, Habara quickly went to Tenzo's side. He realized something might be wrong with Tenzo.
After a quick examination, Habara found two snake bite marks on Tenzo. This guy had probably been poisoned by Orochimaru's venomous snakes.
Looking at Tenzo's face, his lips had already turned purple.
Fortunately, it wasn't a big problem. They weren't far from Konoha.
They were fine originally, but after coming to rescue this downed ninja, Tenzo had also collapsed.
Habara first lifted Tenzo onto his back, and as he lifted Mitarashi Anko like stacking sandbags, he couldn't help but ask:
"Could it be that you're also a team-killer?"
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