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Homura and Koharu were running desperately towards the Forest of Death. Unbeknownst to them, someone had already arrived there ahead of them.
After the "processing" by the First Hokage, the current Forest of Death had become even more luxuriant, truly resembling a primordial forest. Towering trees that seemed to scrape the sky were everywhere. Simply walking into this forest evoked a sense of insignificance, as if one were a speck of dust in this world—tiny and inconspicuous.
Jiraiya looked at the drastically changed Forest of Death, his brow furrowing even deeper.
This bizarre transformation left Jiraiya wondering how Orochimaru had achieved it. In Jiraiya's memory, it seemed only one person was capable of such a feat.
"But... that person has long since passed away."
That was the source of Jiraiya's confusion. In his view, only that person could cause such massive changes. The problem was, that person was no longer among the living.
With a sigh, Jiraiya stopped dwelling on the forest's transformation. Right now, the priority was to find Orochimaru quickly.
'Old man, I'm here. Hold on. Don't give up at the last moment.'
Thinking this, Jiraiya set out to find Orochimaru.
Although the Forest of Death had changed dramatically, its overall area hadn't expanded much. Within such a limited scope, finding Orochimaru wouldn't be difficult for Jiraiya; in fact, it was relatively straightforward.
Therefore, it didn't take long before Jiraiya located Orochimaru.
At this moment, Orochimaru was being supported by Kabuto, who had arrived, slowly making his way out of the Forest of Death.
Seeing Orochimaru's feeble state, along with those strange purple hands, a terrible premonition surged in Jiraiya's heart. He immediately demanded, "Orochimaru! Where's the old man?!"
Ultimately, Jiraiya still held feelings for Orochimaru. Even though Orochimaru was now blatantly invading Konoha, upon first seeing him, Jiraiya still didn't choose to attack.
Orochimaru hadn't noticed Jiraiya. Hearing Jiraiya's voice suddenly, Orochimaru's eyes widened in alarm. In his current condition, if he faced Jiraiya, he stood absolutely no chance of winning. Kabuto beside him might be able to hold Jiraiya off for a while, but once Jiraiya got serious, Kabuto wouldn't be able to withstand him either.
'Damn it!'
Orochimaru's mind raced. He had to find a way to divert Jiraiya's attention, make him leave, so he could make his own escape.
But how to divert Jiraiya?
He couldn't show weakness! If he suddenly acted submissive towards Jiraiya, it would be too strange; even an idiot would sense something was off. He also couldn't act friendly; he had never particularly liked Jiraiya. He had to maintain his usual demeanor to avoid raising Jiraiya's suspicions.
At the same time, to give Jiraiya a reason to abandon him—or rather, a hope!—he needed to provide Jiraiya with something.
Thinking this, Orochimaru turned his head, his snake-like pupils staring coldly at Jiraiya.
"Oh, Jiraiya. I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. It seems I'll have to expend a little more effort to stop you here."
As he spoke, Orochimaru, with Kabuto's support, began slowly walking towards Jiraiya, putting on the appearance of preparing for a fight.
But Jiraiya frowned. He knew perfectly well that in this state, Orochimaru couldn't possibly defeat him. So why, in this condition, would he still choose to fight?
'Stop me... stop me... stop me...'
Jiraiya suddenly lifted his head. "The old man is still alive, isn't he, Orochimaru?!"
Orochimaru let out a cold laugh. "Well, who knows? Kabuto, hold off Jiraiya!"
Kabuto immediately responded,
"Yes!"
With that, Kabuto released Orochimaru and charged at Jiraiya.
But Jiraiya had no intention of engaging Kabuto. He immediately left the area.
If Orochimaru wanted to stop him, then perhaps the old man still had a breath of life left. If he got held up by Orochimaru, no one would be able to save the old man!
Even though Orochimaru before him appeared so weak, so feeble that Jiraiya could capture him without much effort, Jiraiya still didn't dare to gamble. He didn't dare waste even a single second. He had to save the old man!
Orochimaru watched Jiraiya's departing figure, a slight smile forming in his heart.
Yes, the reason Orochimaru gave Jiraiya to abandon him was precisely this—the notion that the Third Hokage was still alive, urgently needing Jiraiya's rescue, a situation where not a single second could be wasted!
However, such a thing couldn't be told to Jiraiya directly; that would be far too suspicious. Orochimaru had to put on an act, letting Jiraiya deduce the "correct answer" himself.
In reality, the Third Hokage was already long dead.
"Kabuto! Let's go, quickly!"
Orochimaru urgently spoke to Kabuto. They had to leave Konoha swiftly, before Jiraiya discovered the Third's death. Otherwise, Orochimaru would face Jiraiya's wrath.
"Yes!"
Kabuto, fully aware that the Third was already dead, naturally saw through Orochimaru's ploy at a glance. He immediately returned to Orochimaru's side, supporting him as they hurriedly left the Forest of Death.
Within the Forest of Death, there were other Konoha shinobi. However, most were busy suppressing the two tailed beasts. Those who weren't occupied had been dispatched earlier by the Third Hokage to rescue the two elders.
Thus, Orochimaru and Kabuto encountered no obstacles along their way.
But for Kagaya and Kisame, the situation was far from comfortable.
Kisame raised the Samehada sword, crushing a Konoha shinobi with a heavy blow, speaking with clear impatience.
"Where are all these small fry coming from?!"
During their pursuit of the elders, Kagaya and Kisame kept encountering Konoha shinobi blocking their path. Their strength wasn't impressive, but the problem was their sheer numbers. A few would appear, then a few more, and then more again. It was practically driving Kagaya and Kisame mad with annoyance.
In fact, these were the shinobi the Third Hokage had sent to protect the elders. On their way back to the Hokage Office, they had encountered the two elders. After learning the situation, they began intercepting Kagaya and Kisame.
However, when you got down to it, these were ultimately the shinobi deemed useless for suppressing the tailed beasts. How strong could they possibly be?
Indeed, not very strong at all. The strongest among them were only at the level of average Jōnin. In the eyes of Kisame and Kagaya, they truly were a bunch of small fry.
It's just that there were so many of them. For Kagaya and Kisame, these weaklings weren't even worth their time or effort. Yet they kept popping up to block the way. Dealing with one or two was fine, but once the numbers piled up, annoyance was inevitable.
By the end, driven to irritation, the two simply killed their way through. Any shinobi they encountered was slaughtered.
Along their path, bodies continuously dropped from rooftops and other places, a horrifying sight.
Wherever Kagaya and Kisame passed, no shinobi survived. Their killing intent soared to the heavens!
Under normal circumstances, Kagaya wouldn't have been so violent. But today marked the official start of his revenge. Four years of accumulated darkness erupted completely on this day. Anyone daring to block his path now—be it a bunch of Konoha shinobi he'd never met, or even Itachi himself—Kagaya would not hesitate to kill.