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  The three Genins of Team Guy stood in the middle of their training ground and looked at their sensei.

  Might Guy looked at his team with a big smile and gave them all a thumbs up. "Alright team since we've pleted another k mission, there won't be any missions for you for a few days. So take the few days to train on your own and improve your skills and if you need any help just e to me."

  "Yes sensei!" Came the reply from Lee, Neji aen.

  "Um, sensei, do you think the otion st night was resolved?" Tenten asked the green spandex wearing Jonin. Their team had reture st night from the mission and saw that the vilge was on high alert. After rep to the Hokage of their arrival the three Genins and Joniheir separate ways.

  "Yes. There roblem at the prison and the inmates escaped. The vilge was on lockdown to capture them. I'm happy to say that the situation is resolved." Guy nodded and replied with a grin.

  The Genins were satisfied with that answer but before they could ask anything else a Jonin appeared near Guy. He whispered something ieacher's ear and the students saw Guy's face turn to shock.

  "Is that true?" Might Guy couldn't help but ask Raido.

  "It seems so. You o get to the tower."

  "I uand." Guy nodded and Raido vanished with the body flicker jutsu. The bowl cut Jonin turo his student and they saw the serious expression on the man's face.

  "What is it sensei? What's wrong?" Lee asked with .

  "I'm afraid I 't say. I might not be avaible for the couple of days. So you'll o train on your own. Dismissed." Guy disappeared without saying anything more which puzzled the Genins.

  "Something serious must have happened in the vilge." Neji spoke up.

  "But what?" Tenteioned.

  "I don't know…" Neji didn't say anything more. He was keeping a close eye on his teacher's expression ahought he saw fear on the man's face for a split sed. 'What happened for seo have that kind of rea?'

  —-

  Kakashi was walking down the road reading his favorite book when he suddenly sensed a familiar chakra rushing towards him. 'Raido? It seems he's in a hurry too.'

  The moment the Hokage guard appeared and spoke with the silver haired Jonin. Kakashi's visible eye widened as he heard the shog news. "To think Orochimaru would do such a thing."

  "Yeah. This might as well be his decration of war against the vilge." Raido spoke. "You o get to the tower quickly. The Hokage is putting together a team to iigate."

  Kakashi o Raido and the Jonin vahe silver haired ninja pocketed his book a out a deep breath of air. He had ohought at the moment.

  'I wonder what Daichi is going to do?'

  The instant the copy ninja vanished from his spot. His destination: The Hokage Tower.

  —-

  At this time several other Jonins were also being informed of the situation and they were immediately making their way to the tower.

  Hokage Tower.

  "Reason wo... To use Tsunade sensei as an experiment."

  When Hiruzen heard those words it was as if his strength left his body. All sounds from the surrounding disappeared for him and the old leader felt numb. For some reason the memories he had of Orochimaru from his childhood days to the day he betrayed the vilge rushed to the forefront of his mind.

  Fshback.

  A young Hiruzen and a pre teen Orochimaru were standing atop the Hokage mo and looking at the vilge below, both bathing in the golden hue of the setting sun. Orochimaru was only 10 years old yet his intelled genius talent caught Hiruzen's attention.

  The young child asked his teacher a question that's been on his mind. "Sensei. Do you think we bee stronger by quering our fears or by uanding them?"

  Hiruzen gazed at the young child thoughtfully, pting the profound question. After a few moments of silence he began to reply with a calm and measured tone. "Orochimaru, the path tth is not a singur journey. In my opinion it's a delicate baween quering and uanding our fears. Each approach has its p our journey as a shinobi and the key lies in knowing when to employ each."

  The young Orochimaru tilted his head and looked at Hiruzen since he didn't fully uand the answer. Hiruzen smiled and began to expin.

  "quering fear is like sharpening a bde. It involves fag your fears head-on, summoning your ce, and pushing through the barriers that hold you back. By quering fear, you gain a sense of empowerment and mastery over yourself. It give you the fideo face physical aal challenges, allowing you to tap into hidden reservoirs of strength."

  Orochimaru listeo every word Hiruzen spoke and engraved them in his mind.

  Hiruzen tinued. "However, uanding fear is also equally essential. It is like studying the oppo's movements in a battle. To uand fear, you must look within yourself and delve into the root causes of your aies. This introspe grants you insight and trol over your emotional responses. It allows you to anticipate and adapt to fear, making you more resilient and strategi your as."

  "I see." The young child finally grasped what the man was trying to impart to him.

  "So, Orochimaru, remember that true strength arises from the interpy between quering and uanding fear. The two are not mutually exclusive but rather plementary. Embrace both approaches, and you will find harmony and bance."

  Soon that memory vanished from Hiruzen's mind and aook its pce. It was shortly after Team Hiruzen had their first difficult mission and Orochimaru had his first kill. The team was sent to kill a rogue ninja and his bandit group. They pleted the mission but Orochimaru was forced to take a life.

  Tsunade and Jiraiya stayed to support their teammate but as night fell Hiruzehem home. Now Orochimaru and his teacher remaihe two were sitting in front of a small fire beh the starry night sky.

  "Sensei… What is the true purpose of our abilities as a shinobi?" Orochimaru asked as he looked at the man.

  Hiruzen could see that the first kill had shaken the young Genin. He looked at the boy with passion and uanding. He began to reply, his voice carrying the weight of years of experiend ption, "Orochimaru, the true purpose of our abilities as shinobi is a question that has haunted many geions, and it's ohat we must grapple with throughout our lives. Our talents, our teiques, and our strength are tools, much like a kunai or a jutsu. They be used food or for ill, depending on the heart that wields them."

  Hiruzen paused, letting the words sink in before tinuing, "As shinobi, we are entrusted with the prote of our vilge and its people. But our true purpose goes beyond mere duty. It is about preserving the delicate bance of this world. It's about uanding that power alone is not enough. It's about responsibility, empathy, and the ce to make the right choices, evehey are the hardest."

  "Delicate bance huh…" Orochimaru was quiet for a while and then he looked at his teacher. "Sehat man's purpose was to exploit people weaker than him for his own good. But now he died because he was weaker than me."

  "What are you getting at Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked curiously.

  "Is power the key to uanding life ah?"

  Hiruzeurned his gaze to the night sky, as if seeking guidance from the stars. "Your question, Orochimaru, is a plex one. Power grant us knowledge, but it's not the sole key to uanding the plexities of life ah. True wisdom es from a deeper uanding, ohat enpasses not only our abilities but also our retionships, our experiences, and our capacity for passion."

  Hiruzen tinued, "Life ah are iwined, like the roots of a great tree that sustains all of existeo uand them fully, we must look beyond the surfad seek the es that bind us all. Power be a stepping stone on that path, but it should never be the destination. It is through the pursuit of knowledge, the nurturing of our bonds with others, and the choices we make that we e closer to unlog the mysteries of life ah."

  He then turned back to Orochimaru, a gentle smile on his face, "Remember, Orochimaru, as shinobi, we have a duty to proted serve, but our true purpose lies in striving for a world where power is banced by wisdom, where strength is tempered by passion, and where the pursuit of knowledge leads to harmony rather than chaos. It is in this pursuit that we find the true essence of our abilities as shinobi."

  Orochimaru nodded as he listeo his teacher. "I uand sensei."

  Fshbad.

  That memory vanished and soon several others pyed in Hiruzen's mind. The many days he trained his students. The tless hours he spent discussing his aspirations with Orochimaru, teag him various jutsu.

  Orochimaru's fasation with snakes ailes was evident even then, as he would often bring small snakes he had found to show Hiruzen. Their versatied from the ethics of warfare to the nature of power itself. Orochimaru's thirst for knowledge was evident even then, as he sought to uhe hidden truths of their world. Hiruzen admired Orochimaru's intelled his ability to make him questiohing they were taught. It was a time of innod dreams, and Hiruzen even sidered Orochimaru as a son.

  Soon the happy memories vanished and the ohat haunts him to this very day started pying in his mind.

  Fshback.

  The night of the dark revetion remaiched in Hiruzen's memory with vivid crity. It was a moonless night when he received reports of Orochimaru's suspicious activities. With a heavy heart, he followed the leads that took him deep into the forests surrounding Konoha. There, in a hidden underground boratory, he discovered the horrifyient of Orochimaru's experiments. Hiruzen and his two Anbu guards were shocked at what they saw.

  The chamber was filled with cages taining creatures fused with unnatural chakra-infused substahe wails of agony echoed through the room as Hiruzen fronted Orochimaru.

  "Kukukuku… So you finally caught me huh… That's a shame…" Orochimaru turned around and looked at his teacher with a malicious grin.

  "Expin yourself Orochimaru. What's the meaning of this?" Hiruzen looked at his former student with anger and demanded.

  The Snake Sannin sighed and looked at his teacher. "After all the trouble I went through to pce those booby traps to give me warnings, I wasn't expeg anyone. But I suppose I should have known that you'd be able to avoid them… Sensei… Kukuku…"

  An Anbu stepped forward with his sword down. "Several people have gone missing from the vilge. From Genins to even Anbu. Reports say that most of them were seen with you. And you've been ag strange for the st several weeks."

  Another Anbu also had his ons drawn and was ready to fight. "You. How could you do something like this?"

  Orochimaru chuckled as he listeo the accusations. "Deadmen don't need any answers. I'll kill you two as well."

  "Is that an admission of guilt, Orochimaru?" Hiruzen asked with a hardeone.

  The Snake Sannin grinned as he looked at the Hokage. "Why ask questions you already know the ao."

  "So all this is your doing. But why? What exactly are your iions?" Hiruzen asked the man.

  Orochimaru gazed at the man and replied after a few moments. "Oh well, there's no point iending now I suppose… This is all part of my research. I'm developing jutsu."

  "What kind of jutsu would have you do inhumahings like this?" One of the Anbu asked with anger.

  "It's forbidden jutsu you're after, isn't it?" Hiruzen asked with narrowed eyes. He uood the nature of Orochimaru's work as soon as he id eyes on it. "What do you want, Orochimaru?"

  The smile on the Snake Sannin's face vanished. "I want everything."

  "What do you meahing?" Hiruzen asked, having an ominous feeling in his heart.

  "I want to know every jutsu in the world. Even those that have not yet been discovered. Just as there are tless shades of color in the world, there must be tless jutsu out there. I want to master them all."

  Hiruzen uzzled. "But something like that… It would take decades if not turies… You 't aplish that task even in several lifetimes."

  Orochimaru smiled as he looked at his teacher. "Very true sensei. Our mortal existence is too fleeting. Owo or even three lifetimes is simply not enough for me to aplish my goals."

  "Exactly what kind of forbidden jutsu are you after?"

  "e now sensei. I think you've already figured it out." Orochimaru spoke as he looked at his teacher.

  "I want to hear it from you, Orochimaru." Hiruzen ched his fists and spoke.

  "Eternal youth, immortality jutsu. That's what I'm creating."

  Hiruzen had no words as he looked at his student. The air was heavy with a sense of betrayal and foreboding.

  With a heavy heart, the Third Hokage spoke, his voice trembling with a mix of sorrow and disappoi, "Orochimaru, is this the path to power you've chosen?" His eyes bore into Orochimaru's, searg for any remnants of the young, ambitious Genin he had oaught.

  The traitorous ninja, surrounded by the eerie apparatus of his experiments, met Hiruzen's gaze with an uling ess. His eyes, once filled with curiosity and potential, were now cold and devoid of the innoce that once defined him.

  He replied, his tone chilling, "Sensei. I have e to uand that true power lies in transding the limitations of the human body, in mastering life ah itself. It is a path paved with sacrifices, but it is the only path to ensure my survival aerence."

  Hiruzen's heart sank further as he realized the depths to which Orochimaru had fallen. He spoke with deep sadness, "Orochimaru, paihrough such means is not true power. It is a twisted perversion of the very essence of what it means to be a shinobi. Our abilities are meant to proted serve, not to it atrocities in the name of personal gain."

  Orochimaru's sinister smile sent shivers down Hiruzen's spine. "Sensei, you always were too narrow-minded. You fail to see the grandeur of my vision. I will achieve power that transds the limitations of this world, and I will not be bound by the feeble morality that restricts ordinary shinobi."

  Hiruzen, his heart heavy with sorrow and resolve, khat he had a duty to stop his former student's dest into darkness. "Orochimaru, as your teacher and as the Hokage, I ot allow you to tinue down this path." With a heavy heart, he decred.

  "What are you going to do sensei? Kill me?" Orochimaru took a step forward and asked his teacher with an evil grin.

  Hiruzen immediately went through several seals and smmed his palm onto the ground. "Ninja art: Summoning Jutsu."

  Orochimaru chuckled seeing the Monkey King Enma pop ience. "I wonder… you really gh with it.. Sarutobi sensei?"

  Fshbad.

  A short csh ensued between the ninjas but ultimately Hiruzen couldn't bring himself to kill someone he once saw as his own child. Seality aions won id cold hard facts.

  And thus, on that night Orochimaru the Sannin escaped the Hidden Leaf vilge and became one of the most dangerous criminals in the world.

  Author's Note.

  I wao show Orochimaru's path from a good guy to a bad guy. I took one se from the anime and Gave it my own twists. The rest is inal.

  I agree that letting Orochimaru escape was a bad idea but in my opinion people hold Hiruzen to an absurdly high standard. From my perspective every man has a weakhat they would promise their ideals for. For most it's family, for some it's money or power... Yes. Because Hiruzen is the Hokage, he is held to a higher standard but he is also human. And humans have moments of weakness... At least this is my view

  Anyway, what are your thoughts guys?

  On the chapter will see Daichi taking a.