In the Hokage's office, Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Nara Shikaku had all reached unanimous agreement that Konoha should dispatch operatives to hunt down Orochimaru.
Tsunade, who had originally made this suggestion, naturally supported this course of action as well.
In the past, Orochimaru had merely been classified as a rogue ninja from Konoha Village—admittedly one who had once held very high status and position.
However, after the execution of the Konoha Crush Plan, Orochimaru had become the sworn enemy of every single shinobi in Konoha Village, and virtually everyone wanted to see him eliminated permanently.
The reason no hunting parties had been organized previously was that Konoha Village had encountered too many consecutive crises and had been unable to spare sufficient personnel for such operations.
Now Konoha was no longer short of available manpower and could finally organize a dedicated ninja team to pursue Orochimaru.
Shihouin Naraku considered the situation carefully before speaking. "I agree completely with hunting down Orochimaru. This is absolutely what we should do. Even if we consider nothing else besides honoring the memory of the Konoha shinobi who sacrificed their lives during his attack, we cannot allow Orochimaru to escape justice."
"However, regarding the selection of members for the pursuit team, I have a specific recommendation."
"For the pursuit team composition, we should prioritize recruiting sensory-type ninja!"
"Sensory ninja?" Tsunade asked with obvious skepticism. "If we rely exclusively on sensing specialists, we won't possess sufficient combat power to actually defeat Orochimaru."
The other three participants nodded in agreement. Although everyone felt confident about the general concept of hunting down Orochimaru, they had to acknowledge that his individual strength was genuinely formidable.
Throughout all of Konoha Village, there were only a handful of people who could guarantee victory in a direct confrontation with Orochimaru.
Not to mention that if the hunting team consisted primarily of sensory ninja, even if they successfully located Orochimaru, they would essentially have no viable method to capture or eliminate him.
Orochimaru was still one of the legendary Sannin, after all!
Even though he frequently suffered defeats when engaging top-tier opponents and could be overwhelmed by truly exceptional fighters, he invariably managed to escape and continue operating freely. This represented Orochimaru's most dangerous capability.
"I understand your concerns," Naraku said, recognizing everyone's doubts and providing clarification. "What I'm proposing is that we organize a team of sensory specialists so that we can locate Orochimaru much more efficiently."
"They would only need to transmit intelligence back to the village, and then I would personally deploy to eliminate Orochimaru!"
"That seems unnecessary," Mitokado Homura objected. "Orochimaru is certainly very powerful, but as long as the ninja team we dispatch coordinates their efforts effectively, we should be capable of taking him down."
"Exactly," Utatane Koharu agreed. "We're planning to send people to conduct a coordinated assault against Orochimaru, not preparing for single combat!"
"Actually, Naraku's strategic thinking isn't wrong," Nara Shikaku interjected thoughtfully. "However, the sensory ninja may not be able to maintain contact with Orochimaru's location consistently, which could cause excessive delays in Naraku's other responsibilities."
"That's perfectly acceptable," Naraku replied. "Unless we definitively locate Orochimaru, I'll continue managing my regular duties. I'll only deploy when solid intelligence is confirmed. This approach won't cause any delays."
Naraku gestured dismissively and continued, "Also, don't forget this crucial factor."
"Compared to Orochimaru's combat strength, his apparent immortality presents a far more mysterious and troubling problem. Even if conventional ninja manage to kill Orochimaru, there's no guarantee he won't simply resurrect himself."
"I already eliminated him once previously, yet he still managed to revive and has been traveling throughout the shinobi world. He even engaged in combat with both Jiraiya-sensei and Tsunade-sensei."
"If we cannot eliminate him with absolute finality, even deploying a full ninja team to kill Orochimaru would ultimately prove futile."
"At this moment, I am the only person who possesses any confidence in completely destroying Orochimaru and preventing his resurrection."
"Of course, even I can only claim modest confidence in this outcome."
"Tsunade-sensei should understand exactly how difficult Orochimaru is to eliminate permanently. Unless we can identify and remove all the contingency plans and backup methods he has established, the probability of truly killing him remains discouragingly low."
Shihouin Naraku's assessment was absolutely accurate.
An enemy who specialized in resurrection techniques was indeed extraordinarily difficult to handle definitively.
If they dispatched a conventional ninja team, they would be fundamentally incapable of dealing with Orochimaru's most dangerous abilities.
"Another important consideration is that although Orochimaru's strength is negligible from my perspective, he still represents a very serious threat to ordinary jonin-level operatives."
"If the ninja team we deploy isn't extremely careful, we could suffer heavy casualties."
"Therefore, we should instead send out sensory ninja to form the hunting team. As long as they can identify his location, they can report directly to me."
"I may not be able to guarantee that I can completely eliminate Orochimaru, but he certainly cannot do anything meaningful to harm me!"
Shihouin Naraku's arguments convinced everyone present.
Indeed, at this point, Naraku taking direct action represented the most appropriate solution.
"I agree with this approach!" Tsunade declared.
"Naraku is definitely the most suitable choice!" Mitokado Homura added.
"This method can indeed minimize potential losses. I support it!" Utatane Koharu concluded.
Tsunade nodded decisively. "That settles it then. Naraku, the mission of hunting down Orochimaru is officially assigned to you!"
"This timing works out perfectly since you'll be managing both the Ministry of Education and the Mission Assignment Center during this period, so you won't be deployed on other missions!"
"You can directly select appropriate sensory ninja to form the hunting team. I'll also have ANBU coordinate with your efforts. Several of their operatives are extremely well-suited for this type of mission."
"Understood," Naraku confirmed.
"Advisor Mitokado, please update Konoha's wanted notice for Orochimaru and increase the bounty substantially. Whether someone provides useful intelligence or successfully eliminates Orochimaru, we will not be stingy with financial rewards."
"I understand," Mitokado Homura replied.
"Meeting adjourned!"
Following the conclusion of the meeting, Shihouin Naraku began the process of selecting personnel to form the hunting team, identifying many ninja with exceptional sensory abilities.
Ninja from the Yamanaka clan, ANBU specialists, members of the Inuzuka clan, operatives from the Aburame clan—essentially every ninja with outstanding perception capabilities was considered for inclusion.
"Aburame Shihui, you will serve as captain of the pursuit team!" Naraku announced.
"Yes, sir!" Shihui responded.
"Remember, your mission is not to engage Orochimaru in combat, but rather to locate his whereabouts and movements."
"As soon as you discover Orochimaru's hiding place, transmit that information to me immediately. I will appear at the location in the shortest possible time and eliminate Orochimaru."
"Yes, sir!" the team responded in unison.
The ninja selected for the hunting team were all experienced veterans, and they understood Orochimaru's capabilities perfectly well. An enemy who had successfully killed the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was definitely not a problem they could solve through direct confrontation.
However, if their mission was limited to tracking his movements, that was entirely manageable.
In this particular area of expertise, everyone present possessed complete confidence.
"Move out!" Naraku commanded.
Shihouin Naraku stood at Konoha's main gate and watched as the pursuit team disappeared down the distant road.
This was classified as an S-rank pursuit mission!
Even though they were only attempting to locate Orochimaru's whereabouts, their situation would involve considerable danger, and there was no way to predict how many casualties might occur before the mission was completed.
As the hunting team departed, Konoha's updated wanted poster for Orochimaru began circulating throughout the underground networks.
"My goodness, this bounty amount is absolutely staggering."
"This is what you'd expect from the wealthy Konoha Village—this is completely excessive!"
"Let me count exactly how many zeros are listed here..."
"Orochimaru has now been placed on wanted lists by two major ninja villages consecutively. Can he possibly survive this level of pressure?"
"Who knows? But I think a lot of people will start targeting Orochimaru specifically!"
"Ah! This bounty is making me excited as well."
"Hey, don't underestimate Orochimaru's capabilities. That guy managed to provoke two ninja villages and is still alive and operating freely. He's no ordinary target!"
"Hmph! No matter how powerful Orochimaru might be, he can't possibly survive attacks from so many different hunters. Don't forget, both Konoha and the Cloud Village have already dispatched ninja teams to eliminate Orochimaru. He definitely won't survive this coordinated effort."
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