Board Thread:Naruto Discussions/@comment-18016240-20160208110013/@comment-681696-20160312170738

Thekillman wrote: As to Orochimaru/Kabuto, they probably sold their knowledge and decades of experience and experiments to the five villages in exchange for a pardon.

People seem to forget that Orochimaru is the head of his own hidden village as well as a Master of edo tensei and generally a dangerous person why would he need a pardon from the five villages.