Ever since Orochimaru left Konoha, he has been very mysterious. It has been over thirteen years, but the number of public appearances he has made can be counted on one hand. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he rarely appears in the Shinobi World, and even when he does, it’s difficult to determine if it’s really him. By the ti people figure out his presence and involvent, Orochimaru is already gone.
In simple terms, it has been very difficult for Konoha to keep track of Orochimaru’s whereabouts and activities. Initially, the village had assigned Jiraiya to monitor Orochimaru, but with the ergence of Amatsukami and Akatsuki, especially Akatsuki, Konoha could no longer spare Jiraiya to pursue Orochimaru.
This situation has led to Konoha being partially unaware of matters related to Orochimaru. "Partially" because Konoha does have knowledge of so matters involving Orochimaru, but not all. For instance, Konoha knows that Orochimaru appeared in the village on the night of Akatsuki’s Konoha Collapse Plan and that soti before that, he made another appearance in Konoha to kidnap Yuhi Kurenai. They are also aware that he briefly joined the Akatsuki Organization before betraying them.
However, Konoha doesn’t know that Orochimaru’s base of operations is the newly founded Otogakure in the Land of Sound. They are unaware of his involvent in Shimura Danzō’s Kekkei Genkai Absorption Ritual and that Orochimaru died for a while before being brought back to life.
In the eyes of Konoha’s senior managent, Orochimaru appears sporadically with so objective, and completes that objective before disappearing again. Whatever he has done so far hasn’t caused any much trouble for the village so far. Although Orochimaru briefly joined Akatsuki, he soon betrayed the organization and went his own way. He did sothing to Mitarashi Anko, but it didn’t have any major impact. Moreover, the fact that Orochimaru kidnapped Uzumaki Naruto and Hyuga Hinata on the night of Akatsuki’s Konoha Collapse Plan actually helped the Shinobi World, as Akatsuki did not get their hands on the Jinchuriki of the Nine-tails. The incident with Yuhi Kurenai was not of much concern either as she returned back to the village unhard; Orochimaru kidnapped her to use her but failed because of Amatsukami’s involvent and lost interest afterward, not bothering her again.
In short, although Orochimaru is Konoha’s S-Rank traitor listed in the Bingo Book, he hasn’t done anything major to harm Konoha or its interests. Because of this, and due to his identity as Elder Hiruzen’s ‘beloved’ disciple and the Godai Hokage’s sensei, the village is willing to overlook him. This is another reason why Konoha doesn’t spare the manpower to pursue him.
Of course, even if Konohagakure isn’t trying to capture or eliminate him, this doesn’t stop the village from speculating. That’s what Jiraiya was doing at the mont. He was speculating whether there was a connection between Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu of Agakure and Orochimaru based on all the information they had.
Feeling that he might be onto sothing, Jiraiya continued, “We know that for a while, Orochimaru was part of the Akatsuki Organization. That was over seven or eight years ago, or maybe even earlier than that, but that tiline seems to fit perfectly. The trio of Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu appear to be twelve or thirteen years old, which ans Orochimaru might have taken them under his wing when they were four or five years old. He could have taught them for a few years and then left them to their own devices when he betrayed the Akatsuki Organization.”
"By that logic, the three of them could be connected to any of the mbers of the Akatsuki Organization," Tsunade-hi said disapprovingly, questioning Jiraiya's speculation. "Why do you think it’s Orochimaru specifically?"
Jiraiya replied, "It’s because Raijin seems to be on good terms with ‘Shiore’ of Kusagakure. If they had been taught by soone else from Akatsuki, they would likely be on bad terms with Akatsuki since Orochimaru betrayed the organization."
“That doesn’t necessarily have to be the case…” said Tsunade-hi shaking her head, and asked doubtfully, “Moreover why would Orochimaru teach three children and then leave them to their own devices? Unlike you, he is not an idiot. Why would he leave behind the children he taught at Agakure? If it’s him, he would have definitely taken them with him.”
Jiraiya shrugged and said, “Who knows? Maybe it was because of the Akatsuki. Based on the information Uchiha Shinichi has given us, Orochimaru’s betrayal was abrupt and occurred while they were confronting Suijin of Amatsukami. Perhaps he hadn’t intended to leave behind the three of them, but circumstances left him with no other choice. After betraying Akatsuki, he probably couldn’t go back to Agakure, which left Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu to their own devices.”
Tsunade-hi was speechless. "Well..."
Kakashi asked Jiraiya doubtfully, "But Jiraiya-sama, why would Orochimaru teach three orphans from Agakure? What reason would he have to teach them?"
Tsunade-hi nodded, saying, "If it’s Orochimaru, he would have preferred to end the lives of three miserable orphans, just like he tried to do back then..."
Jiraiya shrugged. “Who knows? Maybe he noticed sothing extraordinary in the children, or perhaps there was another reason. The reason I stayed behind at Agakure and taught Ninjutsu to Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan is that I noticed Nagato’s Rinnegan and believed that he was the Child of the Prophecy. Maybe Orochimaru also saw sothing extraordinary in them.”
Hearing Jiraiya’s words, a thought appeared in the minds of Tsunade-hi and Kakashi: the possibility that soone among the trio of Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu might have the Rinnegan. But they quickly discarded the idea as absurd. ‘No, that’s not possible. There can’t be another Rinnegan out there.’
Knowing Orochimaru, if he had noticed sothing as absurdly powerful as the Rinnegan in the eyes of either Raijin, Samsara, or Tengu, he would have tried to poach it for himself. Therefore, there’s no way any of them have the Rinnegan. Not to ntion, they have already seen the faces and eyes (through photographs) of Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu, and none of them have the lavender ripple pattern of the Rinnegan.
Kakashi said, “If Jiraiya-sama is right and the three of them were indeed taught by Orochimaru, then maybe Kuroto might know sothing about them.”
Tsunade-hi recalled the last information she had heard about Orochimaru from Kuroto—how Orochimaru had experienced ‘death,’ sothing nobody in the entire Shinobi World knew about. She felt that Kakashi’s words were indeed correct and said, “Yes, if the three of them are indeed connected to Orochimaru, Kuroto might have so knowledge about it.”
Jiraiya imdiately asked Kakashi, “What did Kuroto say when you ntioned the three of them possibly having a connection with the Akatsuki?”
Kakashi recalled his conversation and said, “Well, he was a little surprised by my inference and agreed with the idea of keeping an eye on the three Agakure Genins, but he didn’t say anything about them possibly having a connection with Orochimaru instead of the Akatsuki.”
“He didn’t say anything, huh?” mumbled Tsunade-hi. She pondered for a while before continuing, “Well, this can an one of three things: either he does know of Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu’s connection with Orochimaru but doesn’t want to speak about it, he has no idea about it, or the third possibility, this entire speculation is wrong, and the three of them don’t have any connection with Orochimaru.” She paused and added, “Any of these could be true… I’m not really sure which one is correct.”
Even if Tsunade-hi didn’t want to accept the idea of Orochimaru being the master of Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu, she couldn’t completely deny the possibility. Soone had to have taught them, and Orochimaru is perfectly capable of imparting that knowledge. If Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu are not connected with the Akatsuki, then Orochimaru might indeed be the one who imparted that knowledge to those children during his stay at the Akatsuki.
Kakashi was also a little uncertain. He had initially believed that the three Agakure Genins might be part of the Akatsuki and had co to Konoha to capture the two Jinchuriki. Now, it seems that things might be different from what he was thinking.
Understanding Tsunade-hi and Kakashi’s thoughts, Jiraiya said, “Well, firstly, we have to confirm the speculation before reaching any definitive conclusion. It’s possible that I am wrong, and things are different, so it’s best to keep a watch on their actions…”
Tsunade-hi and Kakashi agreed, “Yes…”
Once the discussion about Raijin, Samsara, and Tengu’s connection to Orochimaru or the Akatsuki was finished, Jiraiya changed the topic. He looked at Tsunade-hi and asked about sothing that had been bugging him from the mont he saw her after returning back to the village from Agakure, “By the way, Tsunade, you seem to have changed a lot recently. How did that happen?”
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