Chapter 121 - Orochimaru's Counterattack (2)
As time went on, the news spread further and wider.
Not long ago, the villagers who had shunned Kazane and Orochimaru now deeply regretted their actions.
They couldn't understand how they had allowed themselves to be so blinded—to treat the village's heroes like that.
The very next day, before dawn, all the filth smeared on the walls of Kazane's home had been cleaned off by the villagers, entirely of their own accord.
That morning, after finishing his daily training, Kazane had just stepped out of his house when he was blocked by a group of villagers, each carrying various offerings—fruits, vegetables, meats.
Everyone feared that Kazane still remembered their recent behavior, so they brought the best things from their homes, hoping to make amends.
Kazane, of course, didn't accept them. Firstly, they need it more than him and secondly he simply doesn't care—but this was only the beginning.
From then on, no matter where Kazane went to buy things, the shop owners refused to take his money. Even when he went to eat, it was the same.
And not only that—the same food Kazane ordered always came in larger portions, often accompanied by exquisite side dishes.
Orochimaru received similar treatment. Everyone in the village wanted to make up for the way they had wronged these two heroes.
Support for Orochimaru to become the Fourth Hokage reached a new peak.
The villagers were simple folk. They had endured the pain of war—many had lost friends and family on the battlefield.
So when they heard that handing over Kazane could prevent another war, they had—despite knowing Kazane was innocent and a hero—tried to push him away.
They hoped that Kazane would willingly sacrifice himself, allowing the village to continue enjoying hard-won peace.
But now that Kazane and Orochimaru had resolved the crisis, people began to reflect on how the other hidden villages had been dealt with.
While Hiruzen Sarutobi responded to pressure with appeasement, even going so far as to consider handing over Konoha's own shinobi…
Kazane and Orochimaru had instead gone straight to the Five Kage Summit and eliminated the threats themselves.
The villagers weren't stupid. They now knew exactly who they should support.
After all, Konoha's citizens carried their own pride.
Many of the village elders had lived through the Warring States era.
They knew it was their First Hokage and Uchiha Madara who had pacified the entire shinobi world.
Even the Tailed Beasts had been distributed by the First Hokage—Konoha was the first great hidden village.
That pride had never faded. To them, Konoha was the undisputed leader of the shinobi world.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's weakness in the face of the other villages had long sparked dissatisfaction, though many had kept silent for the sake of peace.
But Kazane and Orochimaru's bold approach reminded them of the era when the First Hokage was alive—that sense of security, that feeling that no matter how bad things got, someone strong would stand and bear the burden.
Naturally, they wanted Orochimaru to be the Fourth Hokage. Nobody wanted a coward as the village's leader.
And all of this had, in fact, been part of Orochimaru's backup plan. Even before Danzo made his move, Kazane had already predicted this outcome based on his father's experience.
So he and Orochimaru had discussed their countermeasures early on.
At the time, Orochimaru had still been emotionally attached to his teacher-student bond with Hiruzen Sarutobi, unable to bring himself to take decisive action.
He could only watch helplessly as Danzo manipulated public opinion, dragging both him and Kazane through the mud.
That was why Orochimaru felt such deep guilt toward Kazane.
He had been willing to sacrifice himself, hoping that Sarutobi would, after his death, treat Kazane better and clear his name.
But he failed to consider that his teacher had not even treated the orphaned son of the Fourth Hokage—Minato Namikaze—kindly, despite his sacrifice to seal the Nine-Tails.
Instead, Sarutobi had tried every method to brainwash Naruto and make the entire village shun him—leaving himself as the only one who treated Naruto "kindly," all to control him.
Such a pure politician—how could he possibly honor Orochimaru's dying wish and vindicate Kazane?
Unless he found a way to control Kazane, Sarutobi would never restore his name.
But after the events in the Land of Iron, Orochimaru finally lost all faith in Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When faced with the other Kage, Hiruzen hadn't spoken a single word to defend Orochimaru or Kazane.
Not even one sentence.
Instead, he questioned why Orochimaru had even gone there.
That was when Orochimaru truly saw his teacher for who he was.
Only then did Orochimaru steel his heart, directing Uchiha Fugaku and other loyal shinobi to guide public opinion in their favor.
And since Sarutobi and Danzo were both out of the village—and the Root and Anbu only took orders from them—the two elders left behind had no real means of stopping them.
Even though the elders had already used a secret technique to alert Sarutobi and Danzo…
The distance between the Land of Iron and Konoha was vast. By the time they returned, it would already be too late.
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Nightfall.
At Mitokado Homura's residence—
The two remaining elders in the village had gathered.
"Homura, did you receive a reply from the message you sent to Hiruzen?" Koharu asked anxiously. Orochimaru's counterattack had been far too fierce.
And ironically, the public backlash Danzo stirred up earlier now worked in Orochimaru's favor.
They had only returned to the village a single day—and already it was starting to become Orochimaru's domain.
If Hiruzen stayed in the Land of Iron for the full seven days of the Five Kage Summit, he might return only to find Orochimaru already named the Fourth Hokage.
"He said he's already on his way back," Homura replied, visibly agitated. "But even at the earliest, he won't arrive until tomorrow afternoon. He told us to find a way to stall Orochimaru in the meantime."
Homura's heart was in disarray. Find a way to stall him? What way?
There were no shinobi left in the village who obeyed their orders.
Back when Sarutobi took office as Hokage, he claimed Homura and Koharu held the same rank as him—as village elders.
But in practice, Danzo had Root under his command. And while Homura and Koharu were technically in charge of the village's major decisions and governance…
What major decisions ever needed their input?
Everything was dictated by Hiruzen: "We'll do this," "We'll do that"—all they ever did was vote yes. They couldn't even object.
The village's administrative system was laughable. All departments operated out of the Hokage's building.
Whether it was the Anbu, the Intelligence Division, or the Finance Department—they were all personally led by the Hokage.
Homura and Koharu were just figureheads. The department leaders were all elite jōnin—none of them listened to the elders.
Compared to Danzo, their situation was even more pitiful.
Danzo always did whatever he wanted, regardless of Sarutobi's opinion.
And no matter what Danzo did, Sarutobi always cleaned up after him.
But the two of them?
They sat at home every day, only called upon when Sarutobi's position was threatened.
Sharing hardship, never the rewards. How typical.