Chapter 751: The Opportunity!
After reanimating the former Kages, Orochimaru was under heavy strain. His Edo Tensei was a far cry from the level Kabuto raised it to years later in the original story. Not only were the reanimated ninjas weaker, but he had a much more difficult time controlling them as well. He had exceeded his limits by summoning 15 rank S ninjas at the same time!
As a result, he could barely even move. Hiruzen's analysis was accurate. If Orochimaru got even a bit distracted, there was a high chance that he could lose control and the reanimated Kage would be able to act as per their will. Needless to say, he was well aware that all of them would try to kill him first without a shred of doubt in their hearts.
Even though there was a chance that they could destroy Konoha later and Orochimaru could be revived through the curse seals, he didn't want to let that happen. Hence, he hid behind the twelve reanimated Kages after summoning them. He expected Hiruzen to attack him as sealing the twelve Kage by himself was more or less impossible.
However, Hiruzen was equally concerned with stopping the reanimated Kage from the enemy villages. Even if they killed Orochimaru, the 12 former Kage could wreak havoc throughout Konoha before they were sealed. Hiruzen didn't want to see hundreds or thousands of Konoha ninjas falling.
Hence, to Orochimaru's surprise, Hiruzen had done the opposite, targeting the reanimated Kages instead of him! Hiruzen's main body stayed back and only moved towards Orochimaru when he wanted the reanimated Kage to move towards himself and give his clones an opening to seal them. What Orochimaru never imagined was that a single touch was enough to stop all the reanimated Kages!
His eyes widened as he completely failed to hide the shock on his face or understand what the hell had just happened! He involuntarily exclaimed, "What the fuck happened?"
Orochimaru had worked hard to collect DNA samples of all the former Kage. As a true researcher and someone obsessed with Ninjutsu, Orochimaru had longed for their DNA samples for a long time. He had access to the cells of Hashirama and Tobirama from Danzo when he was in Konoha. Getting Minato's cells was easy as well after his death.
However, getting access to the dead Kage of other villages was extremely difficult. Danzo had tried it long ago with his Root subordinates. However, the other villages were well aware of Tobirama's Edo Tensei jutsu and protected their dead very well. Even the elite Root ninjas couldn't reach it while sending rank S ninjas to such a place was too risky. As a result, Danzo never got his hands on them.
Since Konoha never displayed the Edo Tensei jutsu despite two deadly Great Wars happening in close succession, the other villages finally started relaxing. Combined with the fact that the Second and Third Great Ninja Wars had resulted in massive casualties, the villages decided to focus more on the living than the dead.