When Naruto saw Orochimaru's dejected appearance, he immediately consoled him. "Orochimaru-senpai, there's no need to be like this. We have no grudge against each other, and I won't do anything to you. You're an old man of Konoha; you surely know more than we do. So we just want to have a chat with you."
"..." Orochimaru did not respond. He did not believe Naruto's nonsense. This guy was only twelve, but he had even more tricks up his sleeve than Orochimaru did. If he believed Naruto, then how was he supposed to explain the hundred-plus Flying Thunder God markings all over his body?
"All right, now let's discuss compensation." Seeing that Orochimaru remained silent, Naruto was not discouraged and spoke directly.
"Compensation?" Orochimaru was puzzled. Then he looked around. The laboratory base was in complete ruins, with wreckage and broken walls everywhere. All the precious experimental samples inside had been destroyed. He suddenly understood—Naruto was going to compensate him for his laboratory base.
A trace of joy appeared on Orochimaru's face. Building a laboratory base was no easy task; it required several years' worth of Otogakure's fiscal income.
However, since he was at someone else's mercy, Orochimaru decided that Naruto only needed to compensate him for some basic costs. There was no need for labor fees or emotional damages. That would leave Naruto with a favorable impression of him and perhaps improve his situation later.
"Naruto-kun, I know you did not do it on purpose. To be honest, aside from some very precious experimental samples, the laboratory itself did not require much funding to build..."
"Wait, Orochimaru-senpai, what are you talking about?" Orochimaru was enthusiastically calculating the costs when Naruto interrupted him.
Orochimaru was completely baffled. He looked up at Naruto and asked, "Didn't Naruto-kun just say we were