Chapter 13: Orochimaru's Defection
Kaito temporarily abandoned his regular after-school training and devoted himself entirely to mastering the Clone Jutsu.
He would only rest and meditate after his chakra was completely depleted each day.
It took him three full days to successfully create his first clone.
But he was absolutely horrified by what appeared! His immediate thought was: I never imagined I'd create a clone even worse than Naruto's pathetic attempts!
A week later, he was finally able to produce a more presentable clone.
He continued practicing intensively for another week, refining the technique until he could execute it at reasonable speed.
After that accomplishment, he began learning the Transformation Jutsu.
The Transformation Jutsu would be a crucial skill for his plans.
He intended to use it to disguise himself so he could train outside the village without attracting unwanted attention or questions.
The Transformation Jutsu also served as practical preparation for infiltration missions.
If anyone caught him training in restricted areas, he could use "practicing infiltration skills" as a plausible excuse.
It took him another week to perform the Transformation Jutsu correctly to a basic degree.
He could already transform into the general appearance of his classmates, but it wasn't perfect—there were still numerous flaws.
And this was only in terms of physical appearance. He hadn't yet managed to alter his scent or chakra signature as described in the scroll.
He thought with frustration, This is genuinely difficult. Just getting the appearance accurate is already challenging, let alone replicating someone's unique scent and chakra signature.
However, Kaito felt that with more practice, he should eventually be able to change his scent somewhat, though perfectly replicating someone else's specific scent would be extremely difficult.
Then again, if he remembered correctly, even Naruto during the Chunin Exams couldn't replicate scents accurately, as Kiba Inuzuka could easily identify him by smell alone.
So Kaito concluded this aspect would be quite difficult to achieve at his current level.
Even Academy graduates weren't required to master scent alteration for their final exams.
Kaito decided he could work around this limitation by transforming into someone from his previous life—a face no one here would recognize—and using cologne or perfume to mask his natural scent.
This way, he could at least successfully disguise himself as an unknown stranger.
He continued his training regimen.
However, the next morning when he woke to begin his usual exercises, he immediately noticed the atmosphere throughout the village seemed extremely tense.
Although it was still quite early, many people were already awake and moving about.
Numerous shinobi were rushing through the streets.
Most of these ninja wore very grave expressions.
Kaito wondered what could have happened overnight.
After classes started, he noticed that children from several major clans looked noticeably nervous and anxious.
He approached Senju Teru and asked why everyone seemed so on edge.
Teru looked somewhat surprised and asked, "Has no one told you the news yet?"
Kaito was genuinely curious now. He responded, "No, what news?"
Teru said seriously, "Last night, Orochimaru—one of the Legendary Sannin—betrayed Konoha and fled the village. He's now classified as a missing-nin!"
Upon hearing this revelation, Kaito's expression became appropriately serious.
After a few seconds of feigned shock, he said gravely, "That is indeed terrible news, and quite unexpected!"
Teru agreed emphatically, "Yes! Who would have thought that a direct student of the Third Hokage would betray Konoha? I heard he conducted horrific illegal experiments and caused the deaths of many villagers. Who could have imagined that such a respected shinobi would betray us? What a disgrace to the village!"
Kaito nodded solemnly and walked to the back bench to sit down. He thought to himself:
Damn, it's genuinely hard to feign surprise when you already knew this would happen! However, events are unfolding similarly to the series. The outcome of the Third Shinobi World War, the Nine-Tails attack and Minato Namikaze's death, Itachi graduating a year early, and now Orochimaru's defection.
Kaito knew the next major event would likely be Kumogakure's attempt to kidnap Hinata and the resulting death of Hyuga Hizashi.
That move by the Hidden Cloud Village did make strategic sense from their perspective.
After all, Minato was dead, Orochimaru had defected, and the remaining two Sannin—Jiraiya and Tsunade—were not currently in the village.
Konoha appeared weakened.
Then again, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been truly spineless for eventually handing over Hizashi to them as a scapegoat.
However, Kaito currently had no ability to intervene in or access detailed military intelligence about relations between Konoha and Kumogakure.
Besides, even if he possessed the capability, he might choose not to interfere since it didn't directly concern him.
That said, Orochimaru's departure was definitely good news from Kaito's perspective.
If he had to identify the people he most wanted to avoid before becoming significantly stronger, Danzo Shimura and Orochimaru would be his top two choices.
With Orochimaru gone from the village, half that danger was eliminated.
Now he just hoped to avoid attracting Root's attention, otherwise his life would become exponentially more complicated.
Still, Kaito couldn't help wondering whether Hiruzen had let Orochimaru escape intentionally, as implied in the series, or if Orochimaru had managed to flee on his own.
If it was the former, then it represented a catastrophic failure of judgment by Hiruzen.
Simply because of Hiruzen's soft-heartedness and inability to act decisively against his own former student, how many people would ultimately die at Orochimaru's hands?
Damn it, even all the deaths caused by Kabuto's use of Impure World Reincarnation during the Fourth Shinobi World War could be traced back to Hiruzen's mistaken decision not to eliminate Orochimaru when he had the chance.
Thinking about this, Kaito sighed quietly.
Although Kaito didn't feel particularly uneasy—and was even somewhat relieved about Orochimaru's defection—nearly everyone else in the shinobi world was extremely tense about this development.
Inside the Hokage's office, Hiruzen wore an exceptionally grave expression.
Besides the Third Hokage, Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane were also present and clearly worried. Danzo Shimura was there as well.
Danzo criticized the Hokage harshly, "Hiruzen! You've grown weak. You allowed someone who poses such an enormous threat to this village to escape."
Before Hiruzen could respond, Koharu reprimanded him as well, "I agree completely. Orochimaru knows countless Konoha secrets. If he reveals any classified information to enemy villages, it will be a nightmare for us."
Hiruzen sighed heavily. "It's deeply regrettable that he chose defection, but I genuinely believe he won't do anything to deliberately harm Konoha."
Danzo scoffed derisively, "Yes, just like you believed he would never betray Konoha in the first place. He not only escaped from your custody but also killed dozens of our shinobi who pursued him. Who knows what else he's capable of now."
Homura tried to calm the heated discussion, "Alright, we can debate culpability later. The immediate problem is determining our course of action. Given the sheer number of village secrets he possesses, even the clan heads are extremely nervous."
Danzo stated firmly, "We must officially classify Orochimaru as a rogue ninja, dramatically increase the bounty on his head, and dispatch an elite hunter squad to pursue and eliminate him."
Hiruzen retorted, "Sending a pursuit squad would likely only result in their needless deaths. And we're already severely short-staffed as it is."
Koharu questioned, "But surely we cannot simply leave him alone, can we?"
Danzo and Homura both agreed with Koharu's concern.
Hiruzen then announced, "I will send Jiraiya to pursue him."
Simultaneously, he thought privately, I hope Jiraiya can somehow persuade Orochimaru to return, to find his way back to the light.
Danzo questioned suspiciously, "Will Jiraiya also let emotions cloud his judgment like you have? I strongly suggest sending Root operatives to accompany him."
But Hiruzen didn't trust Danzo's true intentions and dismissed the suggestion curtly, "They would only interfere with his mission."
The tense discussion among the four old teammates continued for some time.
That afternoon, an emergency meeting of Konoha's leadership council was convened.
During the meeting, all the clan heads appeared extremely anxious.
Orochimaru had collaborated with virtually all of them at various points and possessed intimate knowledge of many clan secrets and techniques.
If such information leaked to enemy villages, it would be catastrophically disadvantageous.
Several clan heads openly accused Hiruzen of being far too lenient with his former student.
The council ultimately classified Orochimaru as an S-rank missing-nin, increased his bounty by 50%, and officially dispatched Jiraiya to apprehend him.
The clan heads expressed considerable doubt about whether Jiraiya would truly pursue his former teammate with lethal intent, but they genuinely had no better alternative available.
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