It suddenly clicked in his mind and disbelief appeared on Orochimaru''s face! A second later, he began laughing maniacally again! He said, "No wonder! It all makes sense now! I always felt that you leaving the village with such a deadly phobia and a young child was suicide. Even if you wanted to go, Sensei would never allow you to. Your clan wouldn''t either. That means you should have cured yourself before you left the village.

    Yet, all these years, you acted as if you had it. For over two decades, you used this reason to avoid every Konoha duty with the exception of the Third Great Ninja War! The elders backed off due to this reason.

    I couldn''t sense anything off about your acting either, not back then or last week. If not for this incident, I would have been in the dark, hahaha. Well played, Princess Tsunade!"

    Tsunade''s expression stayed indifferent, but it was as Orochimaru predicted. Hiruzen flatly refused to let her leave in such a state. He even sent several Anbu squads to keep an eye on her led by none other than Sakumo to ensure she didn''t sneak out.

    Considering that they had just endured a great war and were soon heading towards another, Hiruzen wasn''t even willing to let her leave. However, understanding her state of mind, losses, and contribution, he had no option but to relent, but he did so only after her hemophobia was cured.

    However, this was kept hidden. The only individuals aware of her being cured were Hiruzen and Hiromasa. Sakumo had some doubts, but he wasn''t sure. The remaining 3 elders, Jiraiya and Orochimaru, weren''t informed of this and believed that she still suffered from it.

    As for the rest, they weren''t even aware of this issue, except for Shizune who learnt it later since Tsunade decided to keep up the act to avoid being called to duty. Her acting was so good that no one aware of her phobia ever questioned it. Even Hiruzen wondered at times whether she had been cured. So, Orochimaru''s shock was completely understandable.

    Even though he was laughing, Orochimaru felt a chill running down his spine. In his original plans for attacking Konoha, he had only considered Hiruzen and Jiraiya as threats. He had completely dismissed Tsunade and wasn''t aware of Fujin''s strength until he clashed with him in the Forest of Death.

    He couldn''t help but wonder, ''So, you didn''t think of me as a big enough threat to play this card, Sensei? Or, did you not play it because you wanted to respect her wishes? Regardless...''

    His attack had already failed. It was pointless to think about it. Seeing her former teammate laughing like a madman, Tsunade felt a tinge of sadness. After all, they, along with Jiraiya, had fought countless battles together and trusted their backs to each other. Yet, the person in front of her didn''t seem to have any such memories. He was almost like a stranger.

    As she began concentrating chakra in her fist, Orochimaru finally stopped laughing and said, "Come on, Tsunade. You don''t think I would come here without any escape route. You may have fooled me today, but the next time wouldn''t be like this. Besides, even without your help, I hav..."

    Surprise appeared on Tsunade''s face as Orochimaru disappeared mid-sentence. She thought, ''Reverse summoning? However, something feels odd. It seemed forced for some reason...''

    Orochimaru had the same thought. He wondered, ''Since when did Jugo become so quick in rever...''

    His eyes widened as an unexpected sight appeared in front of his eyes. Three massive snakes were towering around him. Moments later, his eyes landed on a figure standing between them. He thought, ''What the hell? Why is White Snake Sage here? What is happening? I wasn''t able to summon anyone for over a month and now they suddenly reverse summon me? Hmm?''

    Suddenly, Orochimaru noticed something even more strange. The place he stood at wasn''t like how he remembered. Instead, it looked like a massive explosion had happened there. The surrounding terrain was in a bad shape and several burn marks were on the ground and surrounding rocks.

    Orochimaru wondered, ''What the hell happened here? Did someone attack Ryuchi cave?''

    Before he could analyze, Manda asked, "Orochimaru, do you have anything to say in your defense?"

    Orochimaru frowned and asked, "What do you mean? And, why couldn''t I summon you?"

    Manda angrily asked, "You dare to ask that after you attacked Ryuchi cave and killed thousands of young snakes? Bastard! Do you have a death wish!"

    Orochimaru was stunned by the accusation. He wondered, ''What the hell? I attacked? When did I do that?''

    The moods of the council members became grim once again as they immediately imagined the worst. Goza thought, ''What now? Don''t tell me that maniac still attacked us!''

    At the same time, Chiyo wondered in shock, ''Would he attack? No, Konoha wouldn''t take that decision. However, if he disobeys their order and acts independently...''

    Everyone had similar thoughts. While they had some confidence in Konoha''s leadership, Fujin was an unknown factor. If he forced a war upon them, Konoha would undoubtedly be forced to follow!

    Ryusa nervously asked, "What happened?"

    The Anbu ninja reported, "We have lost contact with Grandmaster Renkaze!"

    ————————————

    A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.

    Link - www.pat /DevilHex

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    Alternatively you can support me on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi

    Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.

    Thank You for supporting me on P@treon.

    ————————————

    A/N : If you can, then please support me on P@treon.

    Link - www.pat /DevilHex

    (No space)

    Alternatively you can support me on UPI (google pay) - patilsarvesh8@oksbi

    Can read up to 50 chapters ahead on P@treon.

    Thank You Ahmad, JTSSE, Marcio, . ., Ryan, Kyosuke, ZimaBlue, Adrian and Frank for supporting me on P@treon.