The only ones who knew where Orochimaru had gone were Sora, Minato, and Kushina. No one else had any clue what he was doing.
When Hiruzen asked about him, Minato simply stated that Orochimaru was under secure detainment and had been placed under heavy guard by a team of elite Jōnin and Anbu.
Though Hiruzen had his suspicions, he hadn't personally gotten involved in the situation before, so he chose to set the matter aside—for now.
However, not everyone could remain as calm as Hiruzen. One man in particular couldn't sit still: the former "advisor" to the Hokage, Shimura Danzo.
The truth was, Orochimaru had only been exposed because Danzo had deliberately leaked the information. And over the years, most of the shady operations he'd conducted had been witnessed by Orochimaru.
Danzo had no doubt that Orochimaru would eventually sell him out.
The moment he received word of Orochimaru's capture, the vast underground base of the Root organization was set in motion.
"All units, listen up! Tonight's mission is to rescue Orochimaru!"
Standing before his operatives, Danzo laid out the plan.
Becoming Hokage had always been Danzo's lifelong dream. If the truth about his past actions were to come to light, he wouldn't just lose his chance at power—he might not even survive.
After careful deliberation, Danzo concluded that he had no choice but to either rescue Orochimaru—or eliminate him.
He quickly assigned roles and missions to his Root agents, then quietly slipped out of Konoha alone.
As he traveled, Danzo reviewed the plan over and over in his mind, searching for any flaws.
First, all Root members were gathered—twelve elite Jōnin would launch the rescue. Over a hundred Chūnin had been secretly stationed throughout the village to provide support and cover. The remaining thousand Genin would impersonate Anbu during the chaos, creating further confusion and hindering pursuit.
However, all of that hinged on one crucial factor: someone had to draw Minato's attention and lure him out of the village.
Without that, none of the plan would succeed. Minato's speed and strength alone would be enough to wipe them out.
Under normal circumstances, Danzo would have reached out to collaborators or hired mercenary ninja to assist.
But there wasn't enough time now.
He would have to handle the distraction himself.
To create an alibi, he had one of his Root operatives use the Transformation Jutsu to impersonate him and return to the Shimura clan compound.
After double-checking every step in the plan, Danzo was confident: this mission was executable.
Minato and the others might suspect him—but unless they had solid proof, he had nothing to fear.
Half an hour later, far outside the village, Danzo's appearance shifted into that of a complete stranger.
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet!"
A barrage of wind jutsu exploded onto the Konoha streets.
Danzo didn't even glance at the destruction left in his wake. He immediately turned and fled the scene—but at a carefully maintained Jōnin-level speed.
Boom!
Inside the Hokage's office, Minato's eyes sharpened at the distant explosion. He immediately dropped the scroll in his hand and shouted toward the hallway.
"All Anbu—assemble! You're coming with me!"
In the blink of an eye, eighteen masked figures appeared around him.
Once everyone was present, Minato wasted no time. He led them out of the office in a flash.
Within moments, they caught sight of a lone fleeing figure in the distance. Though they couldn't immediately identify him, that didn't matter—they gave chase.
"I'll go ahead! You all follow as quickly as you can!"
Leaving that one command behind, Minato vanished, accelerating so quickly that he left the Anbu trailing far behind.
He had now left the village—exactly what Danzo needed.
Back in Konoha, hidden observers had been watching the Hokage's office closely.
The moment Minato departed, one figure rushed back to Root headquarters.
"Lord Danzo's plan has worked. The rest is up to us."
"Understood!"
Twelve elite Jōnin from Root immediately made their way to Konoha's prison, attacking without a word.
Most of them had no recognizable identity. After changing into different clothes, they weren't worried about being identified.
Even if they were captured or killed, they had so many seals and restrictions on their bodies that it was impossible to extract any information.
"They're here."
Inside the prison, Kushina suddenly opened her eyes and turned to Sora, who had been resting with his eyes closed nearby.
"Mhm~" Sora stretched lazily. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's kill them."
As soon as he spoke, Orochimaru—silent and snake-like—launched himself into action.
That's right. Everything was part of Sora's plan. Originally, he had no intention of getting involved in Konoha's political mess.
But now that his big brother was the Hokage, anyone who dared make a move against him... Sora wouldn't hesitate to chop off their claws.
And Shimura Danzo was the first name on his hit list.
He couldn't kill him outright—yet—but he could absolutely dismantle most of Root.
Around the prison, Kushina had already set up sealing formations. No matter how loud the battle got inside, nothing would leak out.
With both Orochimaru and Kushina attacking together, the twelve Root Jōnin stood no chance. They were crushed like ants.
As dozens of shimmering cards appeared across the ground, Sora stared with a watering mouth. Yet no matter what he tried, he couldn't pick up a single one.
Again, his mood dipped into frustration.
But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. He had other priorities.
"Orochimaru, collect the bodies. Tomorrow, we're going to show them to the villagers."
He narrowed his eyes. "Let the people see how many unknown ninja infiltrated the village. If it weren't for the Fourth Hokage, who knows how many would've died?"
"You really are ruthless. Even corpses, you turn into tools."
Though Orochimaru spoke mockingly, his hands didn't slow down. He quickly collected the remains.
That's right—Orochimaru wasn't considered a rogue ninja yet. He was still officially one of the Legendary Sannin.
And as far as Sora was concerned, there was no way he'd let someone like Orochimaru defect. A scientific genius like him was too valuable.
To Sora, it didn't matter if Orochimaru conducted human experiments—or even destroyed one of the Five Great Nations. As long as he stayed useful, Sora would keep him.
Orochimaru's value was arguably higher than even Naruto's. Because Orochimaru had the potential to reshape the entire shinobi world.
As someone who'd received a full modern education back in his original world, Sora found many aspects of this world intolerable.
People starving to death every day, and low-ranking shinobi abusing civilians with impunity—it was outrageous.
But with Orochimaru's brilliance in hand, Sora could begin transforming Konoha. Through trade, economics, and technological advancement, he would gradually reshape this world to resemble the one he'd left behind.