I Am Orochimaru

The sky was dim, thick dark clouds obscuring the sun and casting shadows over the earth.

It was a cold winter, and the tranquil dense forest was filled with murderous intent.

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

"Swish!"

Several figures clad in the black attire of the Kumogakure Anbu flashed by, converging on a clearing after a few leaps.

A few days ago, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Blue Bee had suddenly gone berserk for unknown reasons. Although suppressed by the Third Raikage, it had caused massive losses to Kumogakure, and the Jinchuriki Blue Bee had died as a result.

The Third Raikage was furious, convinced that an enemy must be behind the sabotage, and ordered the Kumogakure Anbu to investigate with full force.

To this day, their squad had finally discovered a trace of a clue.

"Report the situation!"

The squad leader scanned the members, confirmed the headcount was correct, and issued the order.

"No traces found in the southwest direction."

"No traces found in the southeast direction."

The team members reported one after another, none having discovered anything suspicious.

The leader then spoke:

"My Ninja Hound hasn't picked up the scent of any enemies, either."

Of course it hasn't, because it's already dead, the "leader" thought to himself.

No one knew that the real leader had long since died; the one standing here was a fake.

"In that case, we will expand our search radius."

The "leader" issued the command with a calm expression, while secretly using the specialized hand signals of the Kumogakure Anbu to instruct his teammates—

"With my front as 12 o'clock, execute Operation Plan Four at the Water Pool at 3 o'clock."

These were the specialized combat hand signals of the Kumogakure Anbu; the other Cloud Ninja noticed nothing unusual and harbored no suspicions.

"Disperse!"

As the order was given, the Kumogakure Anbu used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the clearing, leaving behind only the grass and flowers swaying in the wake of the wind.

Not a single one had truly left; after moving a short distance away, they circled back.

They hid in every possible concealment spot around the clearing—behind trees, in the treetops, in the shadows behind rocks, and within dense shrubbery.

Concealment was a mandatory course at the Ninja Academy, and as elite Anbu members, they were all experts at it.

Without a sound, without a single anomaly, everyone blended perfectly into the natural surroundings. Yet, they could still see one another, allowing them to react in time should a teammate be attacked.

The "leader" narrowed his eyes and licked the corner of his mouth.

He had originally intended to have the squad hide after giving the order.

That way, as soon as someone vanished from their teammates' line of sight, he could assassinate them one by one without alerting the others.

However, the extremely high tactical proficiency of this squad had caused his plan to fail, forcing him to switch to his backup plan.

A moment passed, and all members continued to hold their breath, using their peripheral vision to observe the Water Pool at the 3 o'clock position.

They knew that some powerful ninjas were extremely sensitive to the gazes of others.

The quiet forest seemed safe.

Suddenly, a figure with pale skin and wearing a green tactical vest emerged from the Water Pool.

The Kumogakure Anbu ninjas knew that using water to wash away one's scent was a common method for enemies to avoid being tracked.

Ninjas with experience in anti-tracking often employed such tactics.

The moment the figure appeared, three ninja blades pierced through him simultaneously.

Yet, no blood splattered; instead, with a "pop," he transformed into a puddle of water on the ground.

"Careful! It's a Water Clone!"

An older-looking ninja warned, but in the next instant, a blade pierced through his chest.

The "leader" had used their mutual trust to launch a sneak attack. It was a pity that while this ninja had warned the others, no one had been able to warn him in time.

"Damn it! The captain has defected!"

One of the two remaining Kumogakure Anbu shouted in a panic, but he heard no reply from his teammate.

Turning his head, he saw that his teammate was already tightly constricted by a large snake, its jaws clamped viciously onto his neck, leaving him lifeless.

"You aren't the captain! The captain was murdered by you!"

The last remaining Kumogakure Anbu finally realized that the person before him was not their captain.

Their captain's summoning animal was a Ninja Hound, yet it hadn't appeared from the very beginning.

Their captain would never play with snakes.

"Who are you? Where is the captain? Is this a trap you set?"

This Kumogakure Anbu tried to fish for information, hoping that if his corpse were luckily discovered by his village, they could collect this intelligence from his brain.

And if he were captured by the enemy, the Sealing Jutsu within his mind would destroy all memories the moment his brain was probed.

In the world of ninjas, even the dead can speak.

The tactical hand signals of the Kumogakure Anbu that the "captain" had previously acquired were obtained precisely because Konoha's Root ninjas had broken the Sealing Jutsu in their brains.

The "captain" clearly had no intention of entertaining him further, licking his lips.

"Hell Viewing Technique!"

The Kumogakure Anbu trembled all over, seemingly witnessing the gruesome sight of his own death.

"What other units are nearby? How many Jonin? Locations, appearances, characteristics—tell me everything you know."

This was a live captive left behind specifically to extract intelligence.

After successfully obtaining the information and confirming that no other Cloud Ninjas were in the vicinity, the final fate of this Kumogakure ninja was the same as his teammates: to be buried in a snake's belly.

The "captain" suddenly reached up and peeled off his own face, revealing a pale, young, and handsome face underneath.

This was the B-rank ninjutsu developed by Orochimaru, the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique.

Indeed, this "captain" was none other than Orochimaru in disguise.

He had assassinated the real captain and replaced him a day ago.

Using the captain's identity, he had orchestrated this interlocking trap.

The riot of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure was also Orochimaru's handiwork; the trophy was a horn from the Eight-Tails, which would surely make for excellent research material.

The reason Orochimaru incited the Eight-Tails' rampage was for revenge!

On the battlefield of the Land of Rain, his beloved disciple Nawaki had perished in a trap of Explosive Tags set by the Cloud Ninjas.

To avenge his disciple, Orochimaru used the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique to infiltrate Kumogakure, spending months waiting for the right moment to trigger the Eight-Tails' riot, though he himself was wounded by the beast in the process.

In fact, had he not been severely injured, Orochimaru could have easily wiped out this squad of Cloud Ninjas without worsening his condition through intense combat.

Orochimaru had consumed very little Chakra in this battle, as he needed to reserve his strength to handle any emergencies.

The Water Clone used water from the Water Pool, and the primary expenditure was merely summoning a snake and casting a single genjutsu.

"I have been in this world for a few days now. I have fully accepted the memories and methods of the original body; it is time to return to Konoha."

Orochimaru looked up at the sky, thinking silently to himself.

Yes, the Orochimaru of this moment was no longer just Orochimaru.

A few days ago, after being wounded by the Eight-Tails, he had escaped Kumogakure, but due to the severity of his injuries, he fell unconscious in a hidden location. When he awoke, he had merged with a soul from Earth, forming a new Orochimaru.

However... it seemed that more than just that one soul had arrived.

Orochimaru contemplated the existence in his mind that resembled a black hole.

In the past, that black hole had been constantly absorbing mysterious white specks, but now it had stopped absorbing them; it seemed to have satisfied some condition and transformed into a shimmering white point of light.

Because the previous Orochimaru had not yet escaped danger, he had not studied it carefully. Now that he knew there were no Cloud Ninjas nearby, he could basically confirm his own safety, and it was time to begin researching this strange object in his mind.

Orochimaru carefully probed the white point of light in his mind.

The white point of light trembled gently, like a treasure chest shaking before being opened.

It was a golden bead—the Dragon Yuan from Feng Yun.

At this moment, the Dragon Yuan lay quietly in Orochimaru's hand, emitting a golden light that seemed to pulse like a heartbeat, yet Orochimaru could clearly feel the immense power contained within it.

But Orochimaru's attention was not currently on the Dragon Yuan.

The moment he made contact with the point of light, Orochimaru knew this was his golden finger—the Power of Spacetime Fantasy carried by a soul from a higher dimension.

He was now living in an anime world. And for this anime world, wasn't a soul from Earth a higher-dimensional existence?

The function of the Power of Spacetime Fantasy was to randomly create an item imagined by a higher-dimensional being. However, there were certain conditions: he could not create things out of thin air; he needed to exert a significant influence on this world. The greater the influence, the more spacetime energy he could obtain. Once the spacetime energy reached a certain threshold, an item would be generated.

The moment the Dragon Yuan appeared in Orochimaru's hand, the white point of light reverted to its black hole-like state, absorbing only a tiny speck of white light after a very long interval. These white specks were, in fact, spacetime energy.

The Power of Spacetime Fantasy would only produce a new item once it was completely filled with white light.

But clearly, the Orochimaru of this time and place had not yet caused any impact on the future of the world, and these absorbed specks of light did not seem to cause the slightest change in the black hole.

Orochimaru looked at the Dragon Yuan in his hand, knowing that he might become a new wind, blowing against the decaying windmill that was the ninja world.