CH_161

Seeing Tōji's dismissive attitude, Anko sighed. "Ugh—you're the type who deserves to be alone, you antisocial freak!"

After saying that, Anko waited for Tōji for a while, but he still didn't respond. "I asked around—you went on a mission to the Land of Seas, right? I've never been overseas. But I'll be going to the Land of Seas with my teacher soon. Teacher was busy with something somewhere for a while—this morning he suddenly told the Hokage he wanted to go check out the Land of Water, and on the way…"

"What!" Tōji, who'd only caught half of it, suddenly bristled like a startled cat, eyes wide as he stared at Anko.

"What did you just say—you and who, going where?" Tōji couldn't believe it.

In Tōji's calculations, Orochimaru shouldn't have set foot in the Land of Seas until at least a year and a half from now…

What was going on?!

Anko thought Tōji was just surprised that she was going with Orochimaru to a place where so many people had failed their missions…

"My teacher—Lord Orochimaru. He's taking me along this time to broaden my horizons. But he told me to only go as far as the Land of Seas—not to follow him the whole way. Because he's also going to the Land of Water. Apparently… the situation there is too complex, and he finds it interesting…"

Tōji suddenly went blank…

He still had something stored with Tenchi in the Land of Seas! But it seemed he had no way to get it back before Orochimaru reached the Land of Seas.

At this point, Tōji couldn't even come up with a good excuse to leave the village.

"Hey—why aren't you saying anything?" Seeing Tōji frowning and silent, Anko was confused.

Tōji had actually figured some things out…

The Nine-Tails Incident was half a year away. Orochimaru hadn't officially defected yet—meaning Jiraiya also hadn't left the village to chase him at that point.

But by then, both big shots wouldn't be in the village.

Was it precisely because Orochimaru was in the Land of Water during that period and hadn't returned to Konoha? Rather than hiding out with that old dog Danzo?

Because if Orochimaru had just continued doing experiments somewhere in or near the village with Danzo, Jiraiya would probably still be keeping an eye on him… And during the Nine-Tails Incident, Jiraiya would definitely have stepped in!

And Jiraiya… Tōji continued his deductions—

After the Third War ended, Jiraiya had briefly traveled, saying he was searching for the Child of Prophecy. At that time, the Third Hokage had people watching Orochimaru.

Later, when Orochimaru made some move, the Third recalled Jiraiya…

So Orochimaru's "move" was suddenly going to the Land of Water! And not long after returning to the village, Jiraiya went after Orochimaru to the Land of Water—which was why he wasn't in the village during the Nine-Tails Incident!

『The original story's descriptions are too messy—even when I watched the anime, I never sorted out these timelines…』 Tōji had a bitterness he couldn't voice. He knew he'd fallen into a pit!

He'd originally relied on his foreknowledge advantage, thinking he'd made a small little arrangement… But it turned out that little arrangement hadn't helped at all—and was about to cause a huge problem! Or rather, a huge disaster!

A more absurd thought rose from the depths of Tōji's mind. 『Is it possible that Orochimaru originally hadn't even intended to research 【Edo Tensei】, and it was precisely because he saw what I left with Tenchi that…』

Tōji quickly shook his head violently, as if trying to fling the crazy thought out of his skull!

"Hey, hey, hey!" Seeing Tōji's "symptoms" getting worse, Anko shouted, trying to "wake him up," nearly reaching out to shake him.

"Don't shout! I'm thinking!" Tōji got up on his own and walked off, dazed and distracted…

"What the hell is wrong with this guy!" Anko stood up, fuming, watching the dazed Tōji leave.

She'd originally wanted to ask Tōji about the situations in the Land of Seas and the Land of Water…

Now it was obvious she'd wasted half a day!