It was common knowledge.
Orochimaru was the Kage-level rogue ninja who had orchestrated the Konoha Crush Plan.
In the past, Orochimaru had been deeply loved by the villagers.
Now, he was despised by all.
As the saying goes, the greater the love, the greater the hatred.
Under Orochimaru's planning, the terrifying Hollows and the Sand ninja had inflicted indelible damage upon Konoha.
Countless ninja were injured.
Countless homes collapsed.
No one could have imagined that the once-prosperous Konoha could fall into such a miserable state.
Even after the Konoha Crush Plan ended, other ninja villages had applied further political pressure on Konoha.
In their eyes, for Konoha to be pushed so far by the mere Sand Village, its strength was perhaps not as great as they had once believed.
Under these circumstances, life in Konoha was not easy.
It was only after the iron-fisted Tsunade took office that things improved slightly.
But during this period, the ninja of Konoha were all in an extremely busy state.
From time to time, they had to leave the village to carry out top-secret missions.
The majority of these missions were related to other ninja villages.
Tsunade was not like the Third Hokage, who was submissive to outsiders but came down hard on his own people. Anytime Konoha's interests were infringed upon, she would order a counterattack.
In places unknown to the villagers of Konoha, many bloody incidents were constantly taking place.
It was precisely because of Konoha's more aggressive attitude that the other ninja villages began to think twice before acting.
After all, Konoha now had two Kage-level powerhouses, Tsunade and Jiraiya.
And the Sand Village had recently formed an alliance with Konoha.
Konoha had temporarily entered a phase of peaceful development.
But the hatred left behind by Orochimaru would not be forgotten.
The villagers who had lost loved ones wished they could carve Orochimaru's name onto a pillar of shame.
It was for this reason that the current mission seemed particularly absurd.
Root was actually going to conduct a transaction with Orochimaru, the man who had tried to destroy Konoha?
It was the greatest joke in the world.
As someone in the know, Naruto was naturally aware that Danzo and Orochimaru had always been in collusion.
While laughing inwardly, he put on an expression of ignorance, tinged with confusion and indignation.
"Sensei, Orochimaru is the rogue ninja who carried out the Konoha Crush Plan. Are we really going to trade with him?"
Seeing Naruto's performance, Danzo sighed, put on a pained expression of worldly compassion, and said in a low, sorrowful voice, "Do you think I don't know this? Do you think I don't hate Orochimaru just as much as you do!"
"But, besides him, who else can give us information about the Hollows? Can you guarantee that Konoha will not be attacked by Hollows again in the future?"
"If it does happen, and we know nothing about them, the damage next time will be even greater."
Danzo's voice grew lower, and murky tears even began to well up in his eyes.
"I want to kill Orochimaru more than anyone. But I understand that the current Konoha cannot do without his intelligence. We need information on the Hollows, and we even need to control them."
"To immerse ourselves in darkness, to endure its pain, and to leave the light for others… this is the mission and the conviction of us in Root!"
"Sensei!!" After hearing Danzo's words, Naruto was deeply impressed. He said with great feeling, "Please entrust this mission to me. I will definitely master the core technology of the Hollows!!"
"It is enough that you have this resolve. Go back and prepare. You leave tonight," Danzo said with a satisfied nod.
After Naruto left, Danzo stood alone in the darkness and muttered to himself, "There are no such things as peaceful years, only those who carry the weight for you."
That night, three figures sped through the forest.
It was, of course, Naruto, Aburame Neri, and Rock Lee.
"For this mission, we need to go to Otogakure and negotiate a transaction with its leader, Orochimaru. We are to obtain intelligence on the monster, the Hollow, and bring one controlled Hollow back to Konoha," Naruto stated the mission details, his face devoid of expression.
"Orochimaru? The Orochimaru who destroyed Konoha??" Lee paused, stunned.
"That's right. The very same. One of the former Sannin of Konoha, the Cold-Blooded Orochimaru. The same Orochimaru who carried out the Konoha Crush Plan, and the same Orochimaru who created the monster known as the Hollow."
Naruto exchanged a meaningful look with Lee as he spoke.
Lee's expression immediately turned strange.
From his previous conversation with Naruto, he knew that Orochimaru was taking the fall for Naruto.
But it was also true that Orochimaru was currently conducting experiments on Hollows.
Naruto had also mentioned before that he needed to find a chance to go to Otogakure again. He hadn't expected the opportunity to present itself like this.
Except for Aburame Neri, everyone here was an "insider"!
"Orochimaru? Why would we be making a deal with Orochimaru?" Aburame Neri frowned, not speaking, her mind racing.
As a seasoned veteran of Root, she knew very well that Root often did inhuman things.
She had conducted research with Orochimaru in the past and naturally understood that his research style was extremely realistic and cruel.
It was normal for Root to rely on him.
But why a transaction involving Hollows?
Could it be that Root was also involved in the appearance of the Hollows in Konoha?
Sensing Neri's confusion, Naruto slowly explained, "First, let me tell you about the Hollows. A Hollow is a creature that is neither human nor a summoning beast. Its potential is immense. It does not fear pain; in fact, pain stimulates it. When the power in its body reaches a critical point, it can fire a small Tailed Beast Bomb, which is extremely powerful and can even kill a Jonin."
"Our mission this time is to obtain physical data on the Hollows, and to observe and understand them up close."
"We have already reached an agreement with Orochimaru. We will transport some experimental materials, and in the end, we will take one Hollow with us."
"This mission has a certain degree of danger, so you must remain vigilant at all times."
Aburame Neri's eyes lit up, her mind filled with images of the Hollow's exquisite physique.
She swallowed hard, her face full of longing.
The night passed without another word.
After traveling all night, they soon saw the nascent form of Otogakure.
After passing through the forest, the view opened up, and they saw the smoke curling up from the village's chimneys.
There were countless small ninja villages in the world, and Otogakure was one of them.
It had been established a few years ago, its leader unknown.
But no one would care about the leader of a small ninja village.
After all, even the leader of a village like Kusagakure, which wasn't that small, was only at the level of a Jonin.
No one would ever connect the leader of Otogakure with Orochimaru.
The atmosphere in the village was relatively peaceful. Villagers were engaged in their daily farming, and occasionally a few ninja would walk by.
In Otogakure, ninja were very rare.
The moment Naruto's team entered the village, they were detected. Several gazes locked onto them.
"As expected of the village founded by Orochimaru. It's certainly not simple," Rock Lee, with his keen intuition, immediately noticed the gazes and praised inwardly.
Beside him, although Aburame Neri appeared calm, the insects within her body were poised to strike.
If anything seemed amiss, she would act.
"It's Lord Naruto." The gazes fell on Naruto, and their owners were quite surprised. The hostility instantly vanished.
Lord Naruto was an existence who stood on equal footing with Lord Orochimaru, someone who communicated with him as an equal.