CHAPTER 709: OROCHIMARU’S DOUBTS

Hokage Building.

Orochimaru, who had just returned to the village, was waiting for a summons from the newly appointed temporary Hokage. His memories, of course, had also been altered by Omnipotence.

In his memories, Naruto and Sasuke, who relied on talent and cheats to surpass his scientific advancements and win the Fourth Ninja World War, had become the current Seventh Hokage, Uzumaki Jigen.

Thus, when he learned that even the powerful Jigen had been defeated and killed by Sasuke and a few others, Orochimaru was naturally shocked!

Coupled with the village’s request for help and the fact that he hadn’t returned in a long time to see Mitsuki, he hurriedly came back, preparing to meet the newly appointed temporary Eighth Hokage.

Upon arriving, he was immediately pulled aside by Kakashi, the former Sixth Hokage and an old acquaintance, who privately advised him that Code had an aggressive personality. Kakashi hoped Orochimaru would restrain himself and avoid sparking conflict with the new Hokage.

Orochimaru, no longer driven by worldly desires, gave a faint smile: "Relax."

"That man is, after all, Jigen’s son. For the sake of my old comrade Jiraiya, I won’t stoop to picking fights with his disciple’s grandson."

"Besides, no matter how bad his personality is, it can’t be worse than Tsunade’s. Compared to that, I’m more concerned about what you said regarding the memory issues with Sarada and Sumire."

"You suspect they’re under genjutsu?"

Kakashi nodded.

Though his memories had also been altered, his intellect and experience as a Konoha advisor remained intact.

The two young flowers, Sarada and Sumire, no matter how well they acted, couldn’t hide anything under Kakashi’s deliberate scrutiny. Numerous inconsistencies had already surfaced.

Soon, Kakashi discovered the strange issues with their memories.

Of course, assuming the memories of the entire village—or even the world—had been altered, even if Kakashi knew the truth, it wouldn’t be easy for him to accept that the problem lay with himself.

He simply thought Sarada and Sumire’s memories had been altered by genjutsu. Compared to the idea of the entire world’s memories being changed, it was more reasonable to believe only the memories of two young girls had been tampered with.

Thus, Kakashi didn’t make things difficult for Sarada and Sumire. He even helped conceal their ’condition’ and inconsistencies, as he didn’t want to see Sarada captured and interrogated in Konoha’s interrogation department.

If that happened, Sakura would likely explode in his face. Moreover, based on Kakashi’s observations of Uzumaki Code, if the new Hokage learned of Sarada’s anomalies, their fates would likely be grim!

Even as a former Hokage, he might not be able to protect them.

Helping Sarada hide their anomalies while finding a way to correct their memories as soon as possible—that was Kakashi’s current goal.

In all of Konoha Village, experts in genjutsu and memory were rare, and most were fiercely loyal to the village, so they might not help conceal the truth.

Kakashi thought long and hard, and Orochimaru was the most suitable candidate. Both in terms of technical expertise and loyalty, he was the best person to consult and confide in.

After all, even if Orochimaru knew, he’d only lick his lips in excitement and secretly study Sarada and Sumire, never shouting to report them to Code or others.

Kakashi was certain of this.

"I’m not sure if their memories were altered by genjutsu."

"I’ve checked, and neither shows signs of being under genjutsu currently, but their memories are heavily distorted. They even think Otsutsuki Naruto is the Seventh Hokage—that’s too absurd!"

"Besides memory alteration, I can’t think of any other possibility..." Kakashi answered honestly, revealing the doubts in his heart.

He had tried several times to dispel Sarada’s genjutsu, but to no avail.

"Being able to alter memories long-term and making it impossible to dispel isn’t something ordinary genjutsu can do." Orochimaru’s eyes gleamed with interest.

"Both of them have met Otsutsuki Sasuke. That man has the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, so it’s possible..."

"You’ve transplanted a Sharingan and reached its limits. Even Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan genjutsu can only control a target for a limited time and can be dispelled by others. Right?"

Orochimaru looked at Kakashi with a mocking smile. No one understood the Sharingan and genjutsu better than he did!

"But there is a genjutsu capable of that!"

"You mean Kotoamatsukami?"

"Exactly!"

"To my knowledge, both of Shisui’s Mangekyō Sharingan—one destroyed by Itachi, the other sealed by Danzo—are unusable."

"I’m just speculating. So I’m hoping for your help and verification to confirm Sarada and Sumire’s condition and find a way to correct their memories..."

Kakashi didn’t insist. What he needed was to uncover the truth and solve the problem, not to argue with Orochimaru.

Moreover, though he had been Hokage, Kakashi still felt a slight unease toward Orochimaru. If he hadn’t run out of reliable options, he wouldn’t have secretly sought Orochimaru for a private talk.

"Of course, how could I refuse Kakashi-kun’s request?"

"Sarada, the last Uchiha blood, yet her memories altered by genjutsu—how intriguing."

"But have you considered one question?"

"What question?"

"Why would Otsutsuki Sasuke bother altering their memories? Just two lowly Genin—they could’ve been killed outright. Even if controlled, what could they do? And deliberately twisting their memories into something so bizarre... What’s the enemy’s goal?"

"You mean there’s another secret behind this? The sudden attack at the hospital had a hidden motive? Sarada and the others saw a truth they weren’t supposed to, so their memories were altered? Then why didn’t Otsutsuki Sasuke just kill them?"

Smart people’s conversations save effort. Orochimaru didn’t need to elaborate; Kakashi immediately understood, sparking numerous doubts.

"It’s just my speculation. Perhaps Otsutsuki Sasuke has a hidden reason he couldn’t kill them?"

"A hidden reason? That man even killed the Seventh Hokage—why would he hold back?"

"That’s not certain. For example, do you know where Otsutsuki Sasuke got his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan?"

"Hiss—!"

Kakashi’s heart trembled. A detail overlooked due to Omnipotence’s effect surfaced instantly, sparking even more doubts and speculations.

The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan wasn’t easily obtained. It was understandable for Otsutsuki Sasuke to have a Rinnegan, but where did his Sharingan come from? The more he thought about it, the more terrifying it became!

"In short, the memory issues with Sarada and Sumire are definitely tied to Otsutsuki Sasuke!"

Lacking information, Kakashi could only conclude this, as their memory problems only appeared after meeting Sasuke and Boruto.

Orochimaru disagreed:

"Jumping to conclusions too quickly isn’t good. Besides, there’s a more terrifying possibility you’re afraid to voice, isn’t there?"

"Perhaps it’s not their memories that are wrong, but ours that are controlled by genjutsu?"

Kakashi was stunned by this. The idea was too wild even for him.

"How could that be? If our memories are wrong, that means the entire village is controlled? Is it like the Infinite Tsukuyomi from before?"

"The enemy comes from the cosmos, the godlike Otsutsuki Clan. Even if it’s not Infinite Tsukuyomi, it’s not impossible for them to use a genjutsu of similar power..."

"No, if such a terrifying ability existed, why didn’t the enemy use it earlier? Your speculation lacks evidence..."

"You want proof? That’s not hard. I happen to want to verify some things too..."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and smiled, already forming a plan in his mind.

"You have a way to verify?"

"Isn’t it simple? Even if all our memories have been altered by genjutsu, the elders in the Pure Land can’t possibly be controlled too. We just need to summon one or two deceased people with Edo Tensei and verify their memories!"

"Hiss..."

Kakashi drew another cold breath.

Though bizarre, Orochimaru’s verification method was indeed highly effective, with controlled costs and risks. The key was that he thought to use Edo Tensei to verify his own memories, even doubting himself—truly a madman!

"Relax, you don’t need to do it. I’ll prepare the sacrifice myself, and I’ll quietly share the results with you later..."

Orochimaru patted Kakashi, willingly offering reassurance.

As a scientist who valued facts, even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance his memories were wrong, he’d find a way to verify it, just like Asuma.

Moreover, after returning to Konoha Village, Orochimaru felt something off everywhere. The familiar feeling was gone, replaced by strangeness and awkwardness.

But just as Orochimaru finished speaking, two sets of footsteps sounded from outside the meeting room. It was Shikamaru, arriving with the new temporary Hokage, Code.