Chapter 857 : Rescue Mission?

“What did you say?” Tsunade asked, her eyes widened in shock. She could barely believe her ears! Shizune was in shock as well.

Kakashi sighed sorrowfully, “I apologize, I couldn't stop him. Sasuke was kidnapped by Orochimaru and he escaped using the Reverse Summoning jutsu. We searched the entire area, but couldn't find any traces of him. We found the bodies of 4 of our Anbu ninjas. Orochimaru killed them earlier. One of them set off the signal.”

Tsunade's frown deepened as she thought, ‘I just learnt the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre, and soon after Sasuke is kidnapped? Sigh, to let his brother be taken from the village. How disappointing… Then again, his actions pushed Sasuke towards Orochimaru. Did Sasuke go voluntarily or was he kidnapped?’

Tsunade instructed, “Tell me everything that happened in detail.”
She paused before adding, “Call Jiraiya and Sensei here. Bring Fujin too.”

Three figures disappeared from the office. Kakashi reported, “When we reached the training ground, Orochimaru was crouching over Sasuke, who was lying on the ground. I noticed the curse marks on his body. I believe that must have something to do with his reverse summoning. My first thought was that Orochimaru used it to paralyze Sasuke, but my Sharingan observed that he was unconscious…”

Kakashi reported every little detail of the events that followed. After Orochimaru was reverse summoned, he ordered the Anbu ninjas to thoroughly search the place just in case Orochimaru was fooling them. Unfortunately, they didn't find anything other than the four bodies.

Tsunade's reinforcements reached the training ground too, but they were very late. Even if they had arrived earlier, they didn't include anyone as strong as Kakashi. After all, Tsunade never expected someone like Orochimaru to infiltrate the village. She had no reason to send someone like Jiraiya or Fujin.

Tsunade cursed internally, ‘That bastard! To think he'd be so obsessed with Uchiha Sasuke… I never expected him to take such a risk in his current state…’

She asked, “What is your view on Orochimaru's state?”
Kakashi thoughtfully answered, “It's difficult to say for sure. His movements were slightly slower but he could easily keep up with me. He also used a powerful Earth Release jutsu which also consisted of some aspects of Wind manipulation.
However, I could see he was struggling. His strength almost felt like a facade. I don't think he would have lasted very long. His arms may have healed a bit, but Orochimaru hasn't recovered entirely. That said…”

A complicated expression appeared on Kakashi's face as he added, “If he attacks and keeps using the Reverse Summoning jutsu, there's little we can do against him.”

Tsunade replied, “All rank S ninjas are difficult to deal with. Orochimaru might be the most difficult of all…”

Kakashi asked, “What about Sasuke?”
Tsunade answered, “We'll rescue him. Unfortunately, it won't be that easy. The only good thing is that he must have already changed his body to recover to this extent. Sasuke's life shouldn't be in danger for a few years at least. Let's wait for sensei, Jiraiya, and Fujin to come here…”

Tsunade hadn't been in the village for a long while. Though a lot was done to ensure she caught up with everything, there was only so much you could do in a few days. As such, Hiruzen and Jiraiya had far deeper insights into Orochimaru and could have better ideas than Tsunade. Though Fujin wasn't close to Orochimaru like the three of them, he had burned down the Land of Rice and destroyed hundreds of Otogakure bases. So, Tsunade valued his input as well.

A few minutes later, Hiruzen and Jiraiya arrived at the office. Both became serious on noticing everyone's solemn expressions. Jiraiya asked, “What is the issue? Why are so many ninjas moving around the village?”

Tsunade sighed and informed them about the events. Just like her, both were shocked to learn about Orochimaru's short visit.

Hiruzen frowned, ‘Just when I was about to guide Sasuke myself, he made a move… Sigh, this is almost a lost cause. I didn't expect Orochimaru to be so desperate for Sasuke that he'd take such a huge risk…’

Jiraiya had similar thoughts. Their attention moved towards Tsunade, who asked, “So, any good ideas to rescue Sasuke?”

Hiruzen glanced towards Jiraiya. After all, Jiraiya was the one who chased after Orochimaru when he went rogue. Jiraiya sighed and answered, “It's difficult… Very difficult. In all the years I chased after him, I only found him thrice before I gave up on making him return to the village.

And, that was when he wasn't injured and overconfident in his abilities. Now, he'll hide better and maintain several escape routes including the Reverse Summoning jutsu. Merely finding his location might take months, if not years. And, he might just escape if he detects us closing in on him.”

Tsunade frowned as Jiraiya continued, “Our best bet is for me to sense him with Senjutsu. Even that is risky as his instincts will warn him. However, if he doesn't escape quickly, we can launch a quick and all-out attack. Killing him will be difficult, but we will have a chance to reach Sasuke before he reverse summons him, which could allow us to break his contract forcefully.”

Tsunade asked, “Is there no faster way? Even though Orochimaru can't take over Sasuke's body for a few years, leaving Sasuke with him for several months is dangerous.”

Jiraiya shook his head. He had spent a long time chasing after his friend and knew very well how difficult it was. If he could narrow his search down to say the Land of Rice, then there could have been some hope of finding Sasuke more quickly. However, since Fujin destroyed Otogakure, Orochimaru could be anywhere in the ninja world.

He said softly, “Even what I said before is the most ideal situation. If we fail once, he'll raise his guard drastically, making any future attempts nearly impossible. Not to mention, he could brainwash and manipulate Sasuke, making the kid unwilling to cooperate with us. That would increase the difficulty of rescuing him by a notch…”

Tsunade sighed tiredly. She could see how hopeless the situation was. However, knowing what Itachi had sacrificed, she couldn't just let Sasuke be kidnapped by Orochimaru. The village held a duty to bring him back. Especially since Sasuke hadn't betrayed Konoha but was kidnapped by Orochimaru instead.

Kakashi's expression also dulled. Though Sasuke had been troublesome to deal with in the past few days, he was his student. Seeing him in such danger didn't feel good. He could only hope that the village didn't give up. His expression relaxed slightly as Tsunade said, “That complicates things, but we can't give up. Who would you need to help you with this mission?”

Jiraiya thought for a bit and answered, “No one while I'm searching for him. Once I find him, I'll need assistance from a few strong ninjas, preferably Elite Jounins or even stronger. I suppose Fujin and Kakashi would be perfect.”

Tsunade was about to nod when she suddenly felt something amiss. She looked around the room and asked, “Why isn't Fujin here?”

One of her guards appeared in front of her and reported, “Lady Fifth, Fujin's house has a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign. I tried knocking for a few minutes, but he didn't open his door.”

Tsunade frowned again, “Do not disturb? What the hell? Does he do it frequently?”

Her eyes moved towards Hiruzen. Even though she hadn't been in Konoha for a long time, she had grown up here. In all her years, this was the first time she heard something like this. Even Kakashi and Jiraiya were bewildered.

However, Hiruzen was well aware of it. He said, “Hmm, he does do it often. However, he always answers his door since if anyone disturbs him at this time, it implies that there's an emergency. For him to not respond is strange…”

Tsunade furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing what to make of the situation. She thought, ‘Having seen him so far, I don't think he'll wilfully ignore me or be insubordinate. What is he doing?’

Before she could say anything, her Anbu Guard added, “Actually, I talked with the Anbu Captain stationed at his compound. He said Fujin hadn't removed that sign for over three days. Fujin hasn't left his house ever since he put up that sign.”

Worry appeared on Tsunade's face as she muttered, “Three days? Don't tell me Orochimaru targeted Fujin before he targeted Sasuke!”

In almost a synchronized manner, Kakashi, Jiraiya, and Hiruzen shook their heads.
Kakashi said, “No, that can't happen.”
Hiruzen agreed, “It's impossible.”
Jiraiya added, “Even if he wasn't injured, Orochimaru wouldn't try that.”