Chapter 457: Scheming to Break Out of Prison
When Masahiko said he would cook for Rin for a month, he really did it for a month.
Back when Kushina was pregnant, Masahiko had taken such meticulous care of her, so he couldn't show favoritism now, could he?
During this period, Masahiko also got a general grasp of what had transpired in Konoha while he was away training.
First was the Hidden Sound Village. As Masahiko had predicted, apart from Guren and Hidan, basically everyone else was there. Moreover, they knew nothing about Orochimaru's attack on Konoha, and some didn't even know that their leader was Orochimaru.
Faced with this situation, the 'soft-hearted' Jiraiya, along with Itachi and Kiba, did a brief purge of the Hidden Sound Village and then let them off.
Afterward, Jiraiya didn't return to the village. His magnum opus, Violence Paradise, was finally completed, so he went to track down a publishing house to release it. Along the way, he also wanted to find Tsunade to seek a bit of comfort... The fact that Orochimaru wasn't dead left his heart feeling exceptionally complex.
However, the Hidden Sound Village didn't meet a good end either. The Hidden Sand Village, whose Fourth Kazekage had been assassinated, unleashed their vengeance upon them, and that village no longer existed on the shinobi world map.
Meanwhile, inside Konoha Village, the sparring between Kimimaro and Guy was neither stimulating nor joyful.
Facing the close-quarters invincibility of the Shikotsumyaku, Guy couldn't win at all without opening the Sixth Gate. But the Eight Inner Gates couldn't be used constantly, which left Kimimaro highly disgruntled.
On the other hand, if Kimimaro didn't use the Shikotsumyaku and fought purely with taijutsu, he could only use the Masahiko Divine Fist to contend with Guy. This made Guy even more disgruntled... because Kakashi always used that exact same kit against him.
Consequentially, Kimimaro shifted his target and locked his sights onto Itachi, which resulted in Karin getting to bite him to her heart's content...
As for Haku, after serving as the instructing Jonin for Team 11 for a mere few days, 'he' was substituted out by Kiba, turning into Team 11's sparring partner instead... This kind-hearted child simply didn't wish to disturb the two-person world of Karin and Kimimaro.
Aside from these matters, life in Konoha Village carried on just as before. Having finished serving Rin through her post-natal recovery month, Masahiko found himself at leisure and suddenly recalled a certain someone...
The Konoha Orphanage.
"I didn't expect the rumors circulating in the streets about your rejuvenation to be true." Kabuto pushed up his glasses. "Over five months have passed since the Chunin Exams, and I truly held a bit of a fluke mentality, believing that I hadn't been discovered by you back then."
Masahiko smiled. "Young man, what matter under the sun can be hidden from the Great Ancestor? Why... did you choose to throw in your lot with Orochimaru?"
"Lord Orochimaru saved my life," Kabuto spoke slowly. "When I was little, I was selected by Elder Danzo Shimura to serve as his subordinate and execute certain 'special' missions... It was Lord Orochimaru who requested my transfer from him."
"Danzo, huh... You're saying Orochimaru requested your transfer?"
"Perhaps it was a trade of mutual benefits." Kabuto pushed up his glasses again. "To say I feel ashamed is an understatement; after becoming Lord Orochimaru's subordinate, I merely transmitted some superficial intelligence. The only time I proved useful was during this Chunin Exam, and it even resulted in Lord Orochimaru's demise. Back then when he took me in as a subordinate, it must have been a thoroughly losing bargain for him."
Facing Masahiko, Kabuto held nothing back, answering exactly whatever was asked.
"A losing bargain?" Masahiko pondered for a long while, letting out a long, heavy sigh. "Orochimaru is anything but a person who would make a losing bargain... Among the five things he told me that destiny guided him to do back then, taking Kabuto as a subordinate was definitely not one of them. Don't tell me this is just a coincidence."
From Kabuto's words, Masahiko extracted a reality he was thoroughly reluctant to believe: Orochimaru had hidden things from him, and they were likely some incredibly monumental matters.
Silence blanketed the room. Masahiko fell into deep thought, reviewing every tiny shred of his previous encounter with Orochimaru, utilizing his water-filled left brain and his awakened right brain to continuously analyze where the anomaly lay.
After a long while.
"Orochimaru, the Best Actor. When it comes to acting skills, I, Masahiko Uzumaki, acknowledge you as the strongest!"
Kabuto: "...Senior..."
Masahiko looked up to flash a smile at him, then vanished via teleportation, leaving Kabuto completely dumbfounded on the spot.
"What on earth does this mean? Letting me off, or telling me to go... turn myself in?"
The Hokage Office.
The one Masahiko met this time was finally the Fifth Hokage, Obito. Hiruzen had successfully 'retired and returned to his home village'...
"Eh? Teacher, shouldn't you be at my house at a time like this?"
Masahiko spoke helplessly: "Are you treating your teacher as a nanny? Rin's body has already recovered perfectly fine!"
"Ah! I didn't mean that, I just... well... uh... Teacher, good afternoon!"
"Good afternoon to you too..." Masahiko dragged out his words. "I came because I wanted to ask you, what is the current situation with the Sound Four?"
"Them?" Obito paused. "They are currently locked up inside Konoha's detention facility. They aren't very well-behaved, having already schemed to break out of prison several times, though they were all successfully suppressed by us."
"Breaking out of prison, huh?" Masahiko muttered thoughtfully. The intelligence within the minds of these four had already been thoroughly extracted by Konoha, yielding nothing useful. They were clearly Orochimaru's discarded pawns; even if they were let out, Orochimaru in all likelihood wouldn't come looking for them...
"Hidan!" Masahiko suddenly recalled that when Orochimaru assassinated the Kazekage previously, Orochimaru had manifested a trace of nervousness when he appeared.
At the time, Masahiko assumed Orochimaru was nervous about him finding out that he was researching the Jashin Cult's curses. But thinking about it now, Hidan must have known some critical information that Orochimaru didn't want Masahiko to find out...
"Teacher, what's wrong with you?"
"Why didn't I think of it back then!" Masahiko pursed his lips. "Given Orochimaru's personality, after finding out about that garbage power of destiny, it's impossible for him not to want to research it... And the research materials could only be harvested from me!"
Masahiko felt a trace of anxiety; he was highly reluctant to see Orochimaru become an enemy... but judging by the current trajectory of events, it was highly likely to turn out that way.
For him to attack Tenten so coincidentally back then, could Orochimaru's hand be involved in that too?
"Teacher, exactly what is wrong with you?" Obito asked with concern once more.
"Phew... I'm fine." Masahiko waved his hand, his peripheral vision catching a document on Obito's desk: "The Chunin Exams are about to start again?"
Obito nodded: "This time it's just our own village's exam, not a joint exam, and the number of participants won't be high..."
"Where are the people?" Masahiko blinked. "I recall Konoha's Genin pool is very..."
"Everyone has witnessed the strength of Naruto and his peers. They will definitely participate this time, and their hopes of becoming Chunin are not small, so the other Konoha Genin will likely choose to avoid them," Obito explained.
"So that's how it is." Masahiko fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
"You're not still thinking about a preliminary round, are you? There's no need for that kind of trouble this time!"
"No," Masahiko smiled. "How about we arrange a highly exceptional Chunin Exam for the children in those five squads who haven't become Chunin yet?"
"Exceptional?"
"We won't occupy the promotion slots of the other Konoha Genin. Aren't the Sound Four currently scheming to break out of prison? Let them out, and have the kids execute a pursuit mission."
"Let them out?" Obito was startled. "Isn't that far too dangerous?"
"Hehe, it's not dangerous, not dangerous at all. Let your teacher meticulously scheme this out."
Masahiko was recalling the plotline of Sasuke's defection from the original story. If this could lure Orochimaru out, that would be for the best; if it couldn't lure him out, he would at least direct a Battle of the Final Valley between Naruto and Sasuke.
"Breaking out of prison, huh..."
☆☆☆
-> 30 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you