Chapter 31: Divine Might Cannot Hide Tears

Konoha Building, ANBU Base.

With silver hair and no mask, Kakashi stood silently among the many ANBU ninjas wearing various animal masks, silently pressing a medicinal patch onto the wound on his forehead.

Immediately after Orochimaru fled, he had gone after him, encountering Orochimaru outside the village's barrier.

However, Kakashi had not yet emerged from the shadow of Rin's death; he was somewhat mentally distracted, and the heavy exhaustion of his Sharingan had significantly weakened his combat effectiveness.

Consequently, he was no match for Orochimaru and failed to detain him.

Nevertheless, the explosive tag left by the Third Hokage had wounded Orochimaru.

It was also because Kakashi's three-tomoe Sharingan was a transplant that the injured Orochimaru had not thought to seize it, letting Kakashi go instead.

After being stared down by those serpentine eyes, Kakashi did not continue the pursuit but instead returned to the village.

*Creak—*

The heavy ANBU gates slowly opened.

As the Third Hokage and Danzo emerged one after the other, Kakashi lowered his hand and donned his white cat mask.

Under the moonlight, Hiruzen Sarutobi took two steps forward and spoke sternly to the ANBU ninjas below the stairs: "This emergency assembly is to capture Orochimaru, who slipped through our fingers during the previous operation, as quickly as possible."

"According to intelligence, Orochimaru is injured. We must capture him before he leaves the borders of the Land of Fire!"

"Listen well! The intelligence, knowledge, and technology Orochimaru possesses are extremely precious assets to Konoha!"

"I hope you will do your best to bring him back alive!"

"Once he leaves the Land of Fire, it will be a devastating blow to Konoha!"

"Therefore, he must be captured before he crosses the border! Everyone! You must search with everything you have!"

"Dismissed!"

As the speech by the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, concluded, dozens of elite ANBU ninjas dispersed!

Hiruzen turned around and walked toward the interior of the ANBU building.

"Even a figure like you can fail," Danzo's voice rang out.

The halting Hiruzen did not respond.

"I will assist the capture operation with all my strength," Danzo added at the end. "For the sake of Konoha."

Hiruzen closed his eyes. "Then I shall leave that to your efforts."

Having said that, Hiruzen opened his eyes again and walked slowly into the ANBU building.

Danzo remained standing behind him like a vulture, his single eye staring at the flickering lights of Konoha Village under the night sky.

Outside the village.

Twenty ANBU ninjas were striking out in all directions.

Including Root, the ANBU consisted of a total of over seventy elite ninjas.

Naturally, it was impossible to deploy them all.

The ones Hiruzen had deployed this time were primarily squad leaders and division commanders, with the lowest rank being Special Jōnin.

He knew all too well that his disciple was not someone an ordinary ninja could handle.

Even within the ANBU, they operated in pairs and carried signal flares; once Orochimaru's tracks were discovered, they would immediately fire a flare to call for reinforcements from nearby ANBU.

Combined with the fact that Orochimaru was currently injured, they had a chance to capture him alive.

Soon, the twenty ninjas tracked Orochimaru's direction of escape from Konoha, as sensed by the Barrier Team.

Some ran through the forests, some searched along the rivers, and some even submerged themselves in the water, attempting to find Orochimaru's trail.

Meanwhile, as Kakashi raced through the woods alone, he was somewhat lost in thought.

*He didn't take me seriously at all...* Kakashi recalled his encounter with Orochimaru; even after being wounded by the explosive tag, the man had looked right through him, walking past him with indifference.

Yet Kakashi had been so terrified by those cold, serpentine eyes that he hadn't dared to move.

Only after Orochimaru vanished did he feel a sense of relief.

*Next time! I will definitely...*

Kakashi landed, his hands rapidly forming seals, before slamming his right hand against the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

*Poof!*

As a cloud of white smoke dissipated, eight ninken appeared, led by Pakkun.

"Yo, what's up, Kakashi?" Pakkun asked, sitting atop a large dark brown dog with a grumpy expression.

"I need you to help me track Orochimaru's scent!" Kakashi said, standing up to address Pakkun and the others.

Hearing this, Pakkun's already grumpy expression deepened, and he complained, "Snakes are hard to find because they don't sweat."

"Orochimaru is injured; he bled a lot," Kakashi said, remembering the explosive tag.

"In that case, it might be worth a look." Pakkun was the first to leap out.

The other seven ninken also sprang into action, searching the forest for Orochimaru's scent and the smell of blood.

————

On the branch of a large tree on the outskirts of Konoha, a spatial vortex slowly distorted, and Obito's figure emerged.

From here, one could overlook the Konoha Hokage Building.

"My, my, so many ANBU deployed. Someone who didn't know better might think Konoha was under attack by mysterious ninjas again."

"It seems Orochimaru has defected."

Zetsu, appearing like a pitcher plant, seeped out from the tree trunk and said to Obito with a chuckle, "It looks like Kakashi is injured too."

"That guy better not die," Obito glanced at Zetsu.

He then asked, "Did you find out the details?"

The pale White Zetsu to the left of the pitcher plant spread his hands exaggeratedly and spoke: "We lost four White Zetsus. The approximate path was from around the Root base to the orphanage, and then to the main gates of Konoha."

"Root..." Hearing this path, Obito immediately suspected Danzo.

*Could Danzo and Orochimaru be conducting some experiment? Did they capture a powerful ninja only for them to escape?* However, because Root was inherently secretive, Obito had very little intelligence on them.

He asked again, "What about that kid at the orphanage?"

"Oh, I almost forgot since you didn't mention it," Zetsu patted his head and muttered, "I heard he was adopted, but the specific location is unknown."

"Are you saying White Zetsu lost the target?" Obito's voice beneath the mask was slightly angry.

For White Zetsu to actually lose a target.

"Well, we didn't expect such an accident. I've already notified the other White Zetsus; as long as that kid is still in Konoha, we'll definitely find him," Zetsu shouted. "But, if he was caught by Danzo for experiments, then it's hard to say."

"Hmph, then he's just unlucky." Obito didn't care about the child's life or death; he only wanted to watch the drama of brothers killing one another.

By his count, the child was only about three years old. Could he really stop his revenge against Konoha, or his Eye of the Moon plan?

"Continue investigating the situation in Konoha. I have other matters to attend to." As he spoke, Obito's figure gradually vanished into the Kamui vortex.

"My, he certainly knows how to boss people around," Zetsu let out a meaningful smile.

Konoha Cemetery.

Under the cover of night, Obito arrived before Rin's tombstone and laid down a bouquet of flowers.

This was the place he visited every time he returned to the village.

Looking at the young girl's smiling face in the black-and-white photo on the tombstone, the Sharingan beneath Obito's spiral pattern trembled slightly.

"Wait a little longer... Rin... wait for me..." As Obito's Kamui activated, a single tear fell onto the inscription.