Maybe Sasuke won't go to Orochimaru after all and Jiraiya's just assuming things, but he probably will. Though, I also don't understand the connection between Sasuke deciding to get power his own way (without hurting people he loves) and going to Orochimaru, because that totally defeats his resolution. But then, Sasuke's not just going to hang out in the forest alone for three years, and with all the Team 7 = Sannin parallels, it's really looking like Sasuke will go go Orochimaru.

Speaking of the parallels, they've been hinted at since waaaay before the Sannin were even introduced (with all those chapter covers of Team 7 with the legendary animals), but I don't want them to become copies of the Sannin, either. I think from this chapter, one distinction between Naruto and Jiraiya was made clear -- Naruto won't give up on his friends no matter what, while Jiraiya just gave up. And I agree, Sasuke isn't like Orochimaru at all, and I think I'd go crazy if Sasuke became an Orochimaru clone somehow.

And about Orochimaru, one of the reasons I like him is because he's just evil and doesn't have any redeeming qualities. Well, I don't like him, really, but neither do I hate him. He just amuses me and creeps me out at the same time. But I think I'll be really disappointed if Orochimaru does end up having some kind of reason behind him being so screwed up, because it's just fun having a villain who's screwed up for no reason, you know?

Also, about the time jump, I didn't really want one at first, but I think one is necessary, now. I mean, we spent 7.5 volumes on ONE day. =_= That's more than a fourth of the whole series. At this rate, we'll be grandmas by the time the series finishes, and there's no way Kishimoto's going to spend 3 years on training.