Orochimaru’s Magic Lamp

As the Hokage's deputy, Nara Shikaku is responsible for bridging the upper and lower levels of leadership. He's studied the personalities of Konoha's top brass extensively.

Leaving Jiraiya and Tsunade aside for now, it's clear that Orochimaru has little regard for the village.

Even before the Fourth Hokage took office and the Nine-Tails' attack, Orochimaru had already shown signs of wanting to break ties with Konoha and go rogue.

Although he's recently contributed a lot to the village, none of these incidents have truly cost him anything.

Fame, honor—those mean nothing to someone like Orochimaru. They're just fleeting illusions to him.

By contrast, the two elder advisors—Koharu and Homura—have been visibly shaken during meetings, often losing their composure when provoked by Orochimaru. Danzo fared even worse, nearly collapsing under the pressure.

Now, seeing Elder Koharu consider Orochimaru's opinion first is almost unthinkable, something that would have been impossible just a few months ago.

Still, Nara Shikaku doesn't reject Orochimaru having a voice in the council. For now, his ideas do align with the village's interests.

What's unsettling is that no one can quite grasp Orochimaru's true intentions.

It seems we'll need to pay closer attention to the so-called "Ninjutsu Selection Center," Shikaku thought.

Just like Kakashi suspected earlier, Shikaku planned to gradually increase his involvement within Orochimaru's circle. Only by being close to real operations could he hope to catch glimpses of Orochimaru's true goals.

Amid the curling smoke, Hiruzen Sarutobi put down his pipe and spoke slowly.

"Our intel is lacking. Your proposal feels too risky for now. We'll need further verification."

He turned toward the two elder advisors.

"Danzo's intelligence network is in your hands now. It's the perfect time to put it to use. Send someone to gather intel from Kusanagi Village."

Koharu and Homura both nodded in solemn agreement.

"As for the request from Kusanagi Village's Hanazono School…" Hiruzen paused. "Decline. Say that Konoha doesn't interfere in the internal affairs of other villages."

After all, Konoha is just the Hidden Leaf of the Fire Country—not some global peacekeeping force. It has no duty to crush another village's ambitions in the name of justice.

If they want help, the proper way is to request a formal mission and pay for it.

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Despite sounding like a rejection, Hiruzen's response effectively meant Konoha would stay on the sidelines and observe.

It was also rather awkward for Koharu and Homura, now in charge of intel, to try and uncover information that even Kusanagi's own natives couldn't obtain.

"Today's meeting—" Hiruzen began, but he was interrupted as an Anbu appeared in the room and quickly whispered something in his ear.

"Well, perfect timing."

Hiruzen's brows lifted. "Bring them in."

The Anbu gave a slight bow and disappeared in a blur.

"What's going on, Hiruzen?" Koharu asked.

"A delegation from Takigakure has arrived. They're here to request aid," said the Third Hokage with a frown. "According to them, one of the rogue ninjas who assisted Kusanagi in capturing the Seven-Tails' jinchūriki was originally from Konoha."

He glanced toward Orochimaru. "White hair, snake-like eyes. Name: Yakushi Kabuto."

The room grew tense.

It hadn't even been two months, yet once again, an incident seemed to tie back to Orochimaru.

Previously, they had decided to wait and see regarding Kusanagi's moves. But now, Takigakure had come knocking, demanding answers. It was hard to ignore.

After all, by common standards, a village is responsible for dealing with its own traitors.

Orochimaru remained calm under the scrutiny and smiled slightly. "Just a small issue. I'll handle it later."

He already knew that it wasn't just Kabuto who attacked Takigakure—Sasori of the Red Sand and Kakuzu, the rogue from Takigakure itself, were also involved.

Once the full picture emerged, the others would understand that this wasn't a matter Konoha needed to jump into right away.

Soon, a pair of ninjas from Takigakure arrived—one adult, one child—and began explaining how Kabuto had aided Kusanagi.

Before long, the younger one burst into tears, snot and all.

Understandable. His father had died drinking the Hero's Water while trying to fend off the invaders.

Orochimaru, however, seemed unimpressed. He found the display tiresome.

Sympathy was fine, but lying wasn't.

According to Kabuto's mission logs, he barely lifted a finger during the entire operation—just played a role, posed dramatically, and coerced Shisha into handing over half the Hero's Water at the end.

As the Takigakure ninja's story became increasingly exaggerated, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow and interrupted.

"What kind of jutsu did Kabuto use? Can you describe it?"

He narrowed his eyes.

"Before you start spouting nonsense, let me remind you—Kabuto was once my student. I know every jutsu he's learned."

The Takigakure ninja froze, visibly shaken.

And under Orochimaru's gaze, even the boy named Shiki, the son of Takigakure's leader, stopped his crying.

Konoha's senior officials weren't exactly convinced by the boy's story to begin with, but now their doubts deepened.

With a little pressure, the truth came out—what actually happened in Takigakure was far different from the tale they'd spun.

---

Meanwhile, on the streets of Konoha...

Tagorihime, who had been wandering around all day, began sampling Konoha's street food—one stall at a time.

Kakashi paid for everything, of course.

He wasn't short on cash. With all the S-rank missions he'd done, he had more than enough to afford this. He even raised eight ninja dogs. "Broke" wasn't in his vocabulary.

But Tagorihime wasn't an ordinary woman—and neither was her appetite. Though she said she was just "tasting," the quantity of food she consumed could rival that of a dozen average adults.

And she didn't just stick to one store—she sampled every street, every stall. Even Kakashi began to feel the burn in his wallet.

Can I expense this? he thought, staring blankly as he sat in front of Ichiraku Ramen, watching her devour bowl after bowl.

"You've got quite the appetite, miss," said the cheerful ramen vendor, handing out yet another bowl without missing a beat.

"It's been a long time since I had something this delicious," Tagorihime said, licking her lips.

Stacks of empty blue-and-white bowls rose beside her, nearly half the height of an adult.

"As long as the customer's happy," the vendor said with a smile. He gathered the bowls and passed them to his daughter, Ayame.

Watching the young girl work diligently at the sink, Tagorihime nodded with praise. "What a well-behaved, lovely girl."

"Indeed," the vendor replied, sighing. "Compared to my good-for-nothing son, she's much more dependable."

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