Chapter 150

Orochimaru defected!

On the last day of January in Year 47 of Konoha, three days after meeting Fujinaka Genma.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, made a final appeal to Orochimaru in his laboratory, but failed—and Orochimaru escaped.

Of course, Fujinaka Genma knew perfectly well that Hiruzen Sarutobi had hesitated to act, allowing Orochimaru to flee.

Though powerful, Orochimaru was still no match for Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Then, Hiruzen Sarutobi’s Anbu black ops began hunting Orochimaru.

But in reality, every single hunter sent out eventually became Fujinaka Genma.

The Anbu ninja were easily subdued by Fujinaka Genma’s genjutsu, then replaced by his Shadow Clones, who continued the pursuit of Orochimaru.

Yet Fujinaka Genma had no intention of killing Orochimaru—he only wanted to leave a Flying Thunder God mark on him.

He knew full well that Orochimaru would likely swap bodies soon and become Snake Auntie.

But better safe than sorry.

After inflicting only minor injuries on Orochimaru, Fujinaka Genma ceased pursuit, watching from afar as Orochimaru vanished into the night.

“Why didn’t Itachi stop him?”

Jiraiya rushed over in a panic.

Fujinaka Genma resumed his true appearance and shook his head. “Leaving him in Konoha means only one thing: death.”

“He has no room to survive in Konoha.”

“Konoha has become a cage for his ambitions.”

Jiraiya fell silent, remembering the dream Orochimaru had once spoken of.

Fujinaka Genma continued: “Besides, we need someone inside the Akatsuki.”

“The Akatsuki?”

Jiraiya snapped back to attention, displeased. “Itachi and Orochimaru have already made a deal?”

Fujinaka Genma chuckled lightly. “Jiraiya, don’t accuse me falsely.”

“I haven’t collaborated with a traitor who abandoned Konoha.”

As he spoke, he winked at Jiraiya.

Jiraiya fell silent, gazing at the endless night sky and sighed. “I thought the Legendary Sannin would reunite… but now…”

First it was Tsunade leaving; now Orochimaru… such is the unpredictability of fate.

Seeing Jiraiya’s melancholy, Fujinaka Genma felt uncomfortable and quickly changed the subject. “By the way, Jiraiya, Itachi’ve prepared your hero-saves-beauty routine, right?”

The tactic worked instantly. Jiraiya’s eyes lit up, his expression turning naturally lecherous—he forgot Orochimaru entirely. “Hahahaha, of course! I’m Jiraiya the Toad Sage! This kind of thing is child’s play.”

“Then once Minato-sensei forms the Special Emergency Response Team, we’ll start. Perfect chance to test it out.”

Fujinaka Genma grinned at Jiraiya. “When the time comes, Jiraiya, Itachi’d better give it your all—or Itachi’ll suffer terribly.”

Jiraiya thought of this kid’s monstrous abilities and swallowed hard, then crossed his arms and snorted. “When the time comes, I’ll activate Sage Mode. Don’t let me defeat Itachi, Genma.”

“We’ll see about that!”

Fujinaka Genma smiled, then vanished.

“This brat didn’t even bring me back…”

Jiraiya watched Fujinaka Genma fly off, muttered under his breath, then glanced at the direction Orochimaru had taken, sighed, and turned back toward Konoha.

Orochimaru’s defection had a major impact on Konoha—he was one of the Legendary Sannin, famed throughout the ninja world, once leading Konoha’s forces single-handedly during the Great Ninja War.

This meant Konoha’s strength had been severely weakened.

Other ninja villages rejoiced, while Konoha’s morale inevitably dipped for a time.

In response, Konoha issued only an S-rank bounty.

Orochimaru was too powerful—ordinary jonin sent to hunt him would only die.

At least someone like Jiraiya was needed.

But Konoha had too few such individuals, and lacked both the manpower and the necessity to pursue him.

Thus, Orochimaru’s defection was handled quietly.

Moreover, Konoha had no time to chase Orochimaru right now.

As the Uchiha and Hyuga clans aligned themselves with the Hokage’s faction, Minato Namikaze’s authority strengthened further, and previously planned reforms accelerated rapidly.

First came reform of the Security Force: splitting responsibilities.

For example, arrest, trial, and detention were separated.

More complex, but manpower usage didn’t increase much over the old system.

Next, the Uchiha’s influence in the Security Force was diluted: Mura Kyojuro was transferred in as Uchiha Fugaku’s deputy.

Then, “sand” was mixed in—some civilian ninja and ninja from other clans were drawn into the force.

Most were genin or near-retirement ninja; after all, the Security Force’s main duty henceforth would be maintaining village order.

These changes naturally stirred discontent within the Uchiha clan.

But Uchiha Fugaku suppressed it all.

And as proven, no one escapes the “True Aroma” law.

Soon.

After the Security Force reform was completed in February, some Uchiha clan members were reassigned to Konoha’s outermost perimeter patrol duties.

Konoha had established many observation posts deep within its dense forests.

These required rotating guards.

Of course, this alone wasn’t enough to make the Uchiha’s hardliners say “True Aroma.”

After reestablishing the first line of defense, Minato Namikaze began forming the Special Emergency Response Team.

This unit differed from Root and Anbu—it wasn’t permanent, but like Root and Anbu, it was elite.

Thus, many Uchiha clan members with three-tomoe Sharingan and Hyuga clan members were selected.

Though not permanently active, any member of this team, if present in Konoha during an invasion, would respond instantly and become the strongest force confronting enemies after they breached Konoha’s first and second defenses.

The team’s leader was naturally the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze; his deputy—the one managing daily operations—was Hyuga Hiashi.

Though not permanent, the unit maintained constant operation through two squads rotating patrols of Konoha.

That was why Hyuga Hiashi became deputy.

Only the Byakugan could survey the entire battlefield and mobilize forces rapidly without relying on the Barrier Team to intercept and pursue invaders.

Of course, this was likely the only point the Uchiha clan members resented.

After all, as Konoha’s two great houses, the Uchiha and Hyuga naturally competed.

Some Uchiha even felt their clan head should simply step down from Security Force command and take the deputy role in the Special Emergency Response Team instead.