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Sasuke's feelings towards Itachi and Kagaya were complex.
On one hand, he wanted nothing more than to kill them both immediately to vent his hatred. On the other hand, he harbored a faint, reluctant sense of... unwillingness.
But regardless, Sasuke knew that if he continued training step-by-step in Konoha, he would probably never be able to defeat Kagaya and Itachi in his lifetime, let alone decide whether to kill them.
Sasuke had to gamble everything, to desperately increase his strength by any means necessary. Only then would he have the right to even consider whether to kill those two.
Orochimaru represented an opportunity. No matter the cost—even his own life—as long as Orochimaru helped him get revenge, it would be enough. Because without doing this, Sasuke might not even have the qualification to see Kagaya and Itachi again.
Clenching the wooden Sharingan in his hand, Sasuke muttered softly, "Orochimaru..."
He would go to Orochimaru. He needed to know why Kagaya had invaded Konoha. He needed to know why Itachi had slaughtered their clan. And he would kill them both!
Sasuke had firmly decided to seek out Orochimaru. What he didn't know was that even if Orochimaru obtained his body, it would be extremely difficult to kill Itachi. As for Kagaya, with the appearance of the Eternal Mangekyō, it could be said without exaggeration that Kagaya was currently the one true deity in the ninja world. If Orochimaru went after him, he would stand absolutely no chance of winning; escaping with his life would be considered a good outcome.
Meanwhile, the argument between Naruto and Tsunade had ultimately transformed into a bet, just like in the original story: a bet on whether Naruto could learn the Rasengan.
In truth, part of the reason for Jiraiya's return to the village was to check on Naruto. After all, Jiraiya had been searching for the "Child of Prophecy" spoken of by the Great Toad Sage.
The Great Toad Sage was a toad who had lived since ancient times. His dreams could foresee the future with great accuracy. On one occasion, he had told Jiraiya that in the future, Jiraiya would take the "Child of Prophecy" as his disciple, and this child would save the world.
During the Third Great Ninja War, Jiraiya had once believed Minato was the "Child of Prophecy," the one destined to save the world. Even the Fourth Raikage had believed that no ninja could defeat Minato.
At that time, Minato's fame was truly unparalleled. The moniker "Yellow Flash" had crushed the spirits of countless ninjas. In that era, merely hearing the words "Yellow Flash" was enough to make numerous ninja flee immediately, let alone actually fight him.
During that period, Jiraiya had wholeheartedly believed that the "Child of Prophecy" mentioned by the Great Toad Sage was either Minato or Nagato, whom he had taken as a disciple during the Second Great Ninja War and who possessed the Rinnegan. The Child of Prophecy had to be one of them.
But what Jiraiya never expected was that the unparalleled, ninja-world-intimidating, unprovokable Yellow Flash would die in the Nine-Tails attack just a year after becoming the Fourth Hokage.
This death had shocked the entire ninja world. Everyone shared the same thought: The Yellow Flash... died just like that?
In the later parts of the original story, the Fourth Raikage lamented several times that Minato's death had been worthless.
In fact, it wasn't just the Fourth Raikage. At least seventy percent of the ninja world felt the same way. One must understand that Minato's reputation back then was comparable to Madara's in the late stages of the Great Ninja War. Then, one day, someone tells you Madara had an accident while traveling and got sealed away. Wouldn't you be utterly baffled? Of course you would.
Therefore, Jiraiya had found Minato's death very hard to accept. Now, hearing that Minato's son had become a genin, Jiraiya wanted to see for himself if this descendant of the man he once believed was the "Child of Prophecy" possessed the potential to become one himself.
Thus, teaching Naruto the "Rasengan" was a natural step. He wanted to see if this "demon fox brat" could potentially become the "Child of Prophecy."
Not far from Konoha, Itachi and Kisame stood quietly.
For a period after the invasion ended, Itachi had been keeping an eye on Kagaya, fearing something might happen to him. Naturally, he couldn't neglect watching over Sasuke either.
To prevent Jiraiya, after taking charge, from "cleansing" Sasuke as a remaining "scourge" of the Uchiha clan, Itachi had been periodically approaching Konoha during this time. By now, this would likely be Itachi's last time getting close to Konoha, because...
Itachi turned to look at Kisame. "Let's go, Kisame."
...because Itachi had already discerned that Sasuke intended to seek out Orochimaru.
Outwardly, Itachi maintained his usual cold demeanor. But inwardly, he couldn't stop thinking: If Sasuke went to Orochimaru, wouldn't that mean Orochimaru would try to take over Sasuke's body? In that case, Itachi had to be fully prepared to prevent Orochimaru from succeeding.
Moreover, the Heaven Curse Mark on Sasuke's neck remained a troublesome issue. Orochimaru's power might be hidden within it, posing a potential threat to Sasuke in the future. Before his own death, Itachi had to eliminate the power within that curse mark on Sasuke's neck, cutting off any future troubles for his brother.
Fortunately, Itachi's Totsuka Blade possessed sealing abilities. Perhaps in the future, he could use it to seal Orochimaru, thereby eliminating the possibility of Orochimaru harming Sasuke after his own death.
As for preventing Orochimaru from taking Sasuke's body...
'Perhaps I can ask Kagaya for this favor.'
Kagaya was relatively close to Orochimaru; he should be able to stop him.
Thinking this, Itachi made a subtle move. Unnoticed by anyone, a crow not far away suddenly took flight, heading towards the sea near the Land of Waves.
*****
Several days later, Sasuke defected from Konoha. During this weakened period, Konoha's forces were concentrated on defending against external threats, leaving internal security lax. Sasuke escaped easily. The Sound ninja waiting outside Konoha immediately began assisting him. Soon after, Orochimaru received the news.
On Konoha's side, Jiraiya didn't ignore Sasuke just because he was an Uchiha. Jiraiya believed Sasuke was, regardless, a member of Konoha, likely just deceived by Orochimaru for now. Therefore, Konoha quickly dispatched a team of genin to retrieve Sasuke.
Of course, the main reason for only sending genin was that Konoha simply didn't have many people to spare. Moreover, while Jiraiya hadn't ignored Sasuke, he didn't consider him a high-priority mission either, so he didn't deploy stronger forces.
Otherwise, if it were Naruto running away, not just genin—Jiraiya himself would probably have to step in.
Several more days passed. At sea, Kagaya received the message Itachi had sent via the crow.
"'Prevent Orochimaru from taking Sasuke's body,' huh?"
Kagaya, his eyes still covered by white cloth, smiled slightly. In his recollection, before Sasuke arrived, Orochimaru would be forced to perform a reincarnation. Afterwards, for several years, Orochimaru would be unable to attempt to take Sasuke's body, having to wait for the technique's cooldown to end. However, by the time the cooldown was over, Sasuke would have already gained the power to resist the ailing Orochimaru.
So, generally speaking, Kagaya didn't need to worry about Sasuke. Besides, Kagaya had an agreement with Orochimaru not to interfere with his actions towards Sasuke and Itachi.
But...
Kagaya raised a hand and gently touched the cloth covering his eyes.
"I can feel it. The eyes are gradually stabilizing. The adaptation period is almost over. It's about time to go ashore."
But... considering everything that happened, there would be no harm in going to take a look, would there?