Regarding the investigation mission assigned by the Third Hokage, Hagoromo's behavior went far beyond mere passive-aggressiveness. Calling it blatant insubordination wouldn't be an exaggeration. In fact, he had caused a certain degree of interference with the entire investigation, making the chances of Orochimaru's actions being discovered even slimmer.
However, Hagoromo couldn't just revolve his days around this one matter, and truthfully, Orochimaru didn't need him to do so either.
Regarding his presence in Konoha, Orochimaru had already adopted a "let things take their course" attitude.
A ninja leaving the village without cause is considered a rogue ninja. Yet, starting from a certain point, Hagoromo would frequently vanish from Konoha.
Of course, at this current stage, the volume of high-level missions had plummeted from the peak of the war's intensity. Missions like invading Kumogakure or scouting Hanzo were practically non-existent now.
Hagoromo disappearing from Konoha was obviously nowhere near the level of going rogue. Although he didn't submit detailed reports, he had provided a simple explanation to the Hokage.
"Going to Shikkotsu Forest to train." These few words were enough for the Hokage to understand exactly what Hagoromo was doing.
As for the Third Hokage's actual attitude toward Hagoromo's behavior, it was rather complex and hard to summarize in a single sentence. Regarding Hagoromo phoning in his current mission, the Third Hokage turned a blind eye. There was no shortage of ninjas executing the investigation. If that many ninjas couldn't find a clue, adding Hagoromo wouldn't make a difference... High combat power didn't necessarily mean Hagoromo could do the work of a detective like Shinichi Kudo.
In a certain sense, the Third Hokage's attitude toward Hagoromo was "out of sight, out of mind."
The shift in Hagoromo's attitude after the Nine-Tails incident wasn't deliberately hidden, so the Third Hokage naturally sensed it. Generally speaking, he felt somewhat detached from Konoha's system...
Although this attitude caused the Hokage some concern, it wasn't his primary focus right now. After all, Hagoromo's issue was the matter of one person, while the Hokage had to focus on the matters of an entire village... The missing ninja cases, the Uchiha's unrest, and similar issues were what truly gave the Third Hokage a headache.
So, when it came to imposing restrictive measures on Hagoromo, it hadn't reached that point. At most, Hagoromo simply didn't want to participate in some of Konoha's messy affairs; he wasn't plotting to blow Konoha up with a bomb.
The ones who wanted to plant a bomb were the Uchiha, and the one who wanted to betray Konoha was Orochimaru, not Hagoromo. Konoha couldn't even find a proper solution for the first two, so where would they find the time to focus on Hagoromo?
Furthermore, power is mutual deterrence; immense power is a threat. It was a blessing that a guy like Hagoromo wasn't actively causing trouble, so the smart move was to avoid pushing him into causing trouble.
But regardless, as long as the investigation continued, Orochimaru's secret would be exposed sooner or later.
The reason was that, by this point, Orochimaru no longer needed Konoha. Or rather, Konoha had become an obstacle, a restraint on his various endeavors. Leaving Konoha completely was his only path forward.
Regarding his forbidden jutsu research, not only did he stop trying to hide it, but he escalated his efforts... His demand for test subjects was growing rapidly.
During Hagoromo's fourth intermittent departure from Konoha, Orochimaru's whereabouts were finally discovered by the Anbu.
Based on the possibilities uncovered by the Anbu and estimating the severity of the situation, they reported directly to the Third Hokage, who then mobilized personally.
In the exact same place where Hagoromo had first found Orochimaru, the Third Hokage now appeared.
When the Third Hokage appeared, in terms of shock or terror, Orochimaru didn't show a single ripple of emotion. He had long anticipated his discovery.
Since Hagoromo could find this place earlier, there was no reason the Third Hokage couldn't. Just as he had when Hagoromo suddenly appeared, even when the Third Hokage arrived, Orochimaru remained entirely focused on his work.
But for the Third Hokage, the situation was obviously completely different. Orochimaru could remain calm, but the Third Hokage could not.
Orochimaru was the most talented of his three disciples. The Hokage simply couldn't comprehend why he would do such a thing. What happened to being the inheritor of the Will of Fire?
The reason was simple: precisely because Orochimaru was a talented ninja with such exceptional research capabilities, why shouldn't he be given free rein to research?
Whether it was out of shock from the sudden situation or a momentary bout of soft-heartedness preventing him from attacking his disciple, the situation at that moment turned out to be the Third Hokage doing absolutely nothing, allowing Orochimaru to walk away.
Once their paths crossed and separated, everything was completely different.
The Third Hokage's reaction was unexpected by the Anbu, unexpected by Orochimaru, and perhaps even unexpected by the Hokage himself...
Killing one's teacher is a fine tradition in this world. At that moment, Orochimaru was actually prepared for a life-or-death struggle. Defeat the Third Hokage? He didn't have much confidence in that, but he absolutely had to flee Konoha as quickly as possible.
Orochimaru had no intention of dying there.
Perhaps if Orochimaru's betrayal had occurred before the Fourth Hokage's death... assuming the Fourth Hokage were still alive... the Third Hokage's response might have been different. But this moment was entirely different from that hypothetical scenario.
Orochimaru even had the chance to bid a fond farewell to his underage female disciple before truly beginning his escape from Konoha.
And it was only at this point that the Anbu's operations and pursuit truly began... The Third Hokage had gone far too easy on him.
The main force of the pursuit wasn't the Third Hokage, who was suffering from psychological trauma, but the other Sannin who happened to have just returned from the frontlines and was in Konoha: Jiraiya.
Mediocre people tend to waver, while smart ninjas almost always stick to their own ideas—this was true for Orochimaru, and also for Hagoromo. So why did the Hokage favor personalities like Jiraiya and Naruto? The results speak for themselves. In the end, the ninjas capable of inheriting the Hokage's will were mostly people with Jiraiya's personality. Such people are accustomed to persisting in their "ninja way"; whatever color they are painted initially is the color they will stubbornly maintain until the end.
Once there was a peach blossom forest, lining the banks for hundreds of steps. A strange snake lived in the wild; if it bit someone, there was no cure.
When Hagoromo returned to Konoha, he had this completely mismatched, nonsensical thought. While still on the outskirts of Konoha, he sensed a fierce battle underway. After a moment's thought, he guessed exactly what was happening.
Konoha was, after all, a powerful ninja village. Although its strength had been severely discounted by now, a starved horse is still bigger than a donkey. In his current state, it was impossible for Orochimaru to break out of Konoha unscathed; in fact, he had indeed sustained significant injuries.
And behind Orochimaru, Jiraiya and a squad of Anbu were in hot pursuit, giving him absolutely no time to calmly treat his wounds.
Looking down from Hagoromo's vantage point, he could perfectly witness the standoff between the two Sannin, as well as... the persuasion Orochimaru treated as utter nonsense.
The gist of Jiraiya's words was that, no matter what, Orochimaru had to stay in Konoha.
Orochimaru's reaction was essentially: We're already at the tail end of July here; please stop preaching about how 'friendship is magic'.
The ship of their friendship had long since capsized, or rather, it was no longer necessary for it to exist.
Jiraiya still wanted to keep sailing that little boat, but even the most veteran captain couldn't manage it now... What Orochimaru needed wasn't a little boat, but a Nice Boat.
So ultimately, Orochimaru wasn't wrong, and Jiraiya wasn't wrong either. In short, It was just differing ideologies.
Faced with Jiraiya—who was strong enough to rival him—and surrounded by Anbu, Orochimaru was indeed in a crisis.
"It's a pity, Orochimaru, but you're not going anywhere, no matter what."
Jiraiya was also carrying injuries, but he was in better shape than the besieged Orochimaru. As for why he spoke with such confidence, it was clearly because he sensed the arrival of powerful reinforcements.
Hagoromo had arrived.
"Is that so? Heh."
Orochimaru, however, laughed inexplicably.
Jiraiya had misjudged the situation. He naturally assumed Hagoromo would join the effort to intercept Orochimaru, but... would Hagoromo do that?
Hagoromo did intercept, but he intercepted between Orochimaru and Jiraiya.
Come to think of it, Hagoromo had never actually fought Jiraiya before...