Orochimaru's Curiosity

Boring politics.

Orochimaru ignored the two people in the office and walked out on his own, passing through the long curved corridor with a quiet sigh.

They deliberately placed the cat by the pond, then accused it of stealing fish.

Even if Sahara-kun had not pointed out that excuse today, it would probably have appeared in everyone's view throughout the village at the "perfectly appropriate" moment when Teacher Sarutobi needed it, wouldn't it?

Teacher Sarutobi's grasp of Shimura Danzō was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

Root had planted quite a few hidden operatives in the Anbu under the pretext of training them, and that was practically common knowledge among Konoha's upper ranks.

After all, those people from Root who had emerged from inhuman training—or rather, torture—were no longer normal people in the conventional sense.

Most of the time, a single glance was enough to see through their identities.

Yet Teacher Sarutobi always acted as though he knew nothing, pitiful and innocent.

As if all authority had been taken from him by others, leaving him powerless.

And yet, every move Shimura Danzō made within Root would always reach Teacher Sarutobi's hands without warning, yet at precisely the right time.

No one knew how many pieces Teacher Sarutobi had placed around Danzo.

Yet Shimura Danzō was completely unaware of it. His laughable competitiveness and arrogance had blinded him to everything else.

"When it comes to schemes, Teacher Sarutobi truly is something else."

"But precisely because of that."

"Danzo, as the weaker side, can allow someone of sufficient weight to stand beside him, so that neither side inadvertently becomes nothing more than a puppet in Teacher Sarutobi's hands."

"Such irritating stupidity."

Orochimaru murmured as he stopped beside a window and looked out at Hokage Rock beneath the faint light of dawn.

Nearly forty years had passed since the First Hokage.

But how many of the wishes of that idealist—who had founded Konoha and been considered invincible in his lifetime—had truly been fulfilled?

Compared to the pursuit of truth he longed for, the intrigues and strife of the political arena were too insignificant to mention.

However, Orochimaru was a rational man.

He knew that, in all of Konoha, there were only three people qualified to inherit the position of Fourth Hokage.

Tsunade, Jiraiya, and himself.

Among those three, he was actually the only one with any realistic chance of succeeding to the position.

The reason was that he was rational enough.

Why had no one ever asked whether he wanted to become Hokage?

Orochimaru thought.

Even the most rational person could not help wanting to be willful sometimes.

Yet, out of the most basic sense of responsibility, he quietly extinguished that thought.

This might sound somewhat amusing.

At least, up until now.

This man, who had never loved anyone, still loved Konoha deeply.

Though he could not stand many, many things happening in this village, he was still willing to give everything for it—even the life he treasured as dearly as anything.

"Lord Orochimaru?"

Hearing a voice from farther down the hall, Orochimaru slowly withdrew his gaze and looked toward the figure standing in the darkness.

Sahara Mizu stood quietly in the gap between the dim light and the shadows, his expression gentle.

"Sahara-kun?"

Orochimaru looked at this man who was far too young, his voice without much fluctuation. "You still don't intend to go back? Dawn is about to break."

"Is that so?"

Sahara Mizu's voice remained calm and even, his smile faint. "I thought Lord Orochimaru was the one who wanted me to stay."

"Oh?"

Orochimaru looked at him calmly.

Yet a faint gleam flickered in those golden vertical pupils, like the dangerous signal of a predator.

Sahara Mizu seemed entirely unaware of it as he continued.

"After all, when the term 'Hand Seal-less Ninjutsu' came up in Minato-kun's account."

"Your eyes."

"They were exactly like those of a true venomous snake."

"Hiss."

Orochimaru's long tongue, altered to be serpentine, instinctively slid over the corner of his lips. A smile suddenly curved across his face, and as he looked at Sahara Mizu, he released his killing intent alongside an enormous amount of chakra without the slightest concealment.

The pressure emanating from his body surged in an instant to a level almost resembling genjutsu.

Interesting.

It was only a sudden thought.

He very much wanted to test the true measure of this newly risen young man before him.

His left hand formed Hand Seals with two fingers.

Bang—

Yet in what seemed like no more than a fleeting instant.

Sahara Mizu, who had been at least ten meters away a moment ago, suddenly appeared before him with extreme sharpness.

If not for the surging wind around him and his black hair blown back, clearly proving that this was a real physical phenomenon, Orochimaru might have thought that speed was some unprecedented Space-Time Ninjutsu.

In the blink of an eye, less than ten centimeters remained between them.

At the same time, without him realizing it.

Sahara Mizu's hand had already firmly clamped around his wrist, interrupting his one-handed Hand Seals.

Yet Orochimaru's smile did not vanish. Instead, his interest grew even stronger, and even his gaze at Sahara Mizu seemed almost tangible.

"What a surprise, Sahara-kun."

His voice remained low and hoarse, like metal scraping against metal. "Your performance is far beyond even my expectations."

"If that were not the case, how would I dare stand before you?"

Sahara Mizu's tone was utterly sincere. "Likewise, only this way can I make you recognize the value of both myself and my technique, right?"

Orochimaru looked at the young man, and a sudden curiosity arose within him.

It was not curiosity about the other's arrogant attitude or his unexpectedly powerful strength.

It was curiosity about his "certainty."

It was the certainty that Orochimaru was someone who could not refuse a new technique.

But until now.

That trait had been deeply hidden by him. Not even his teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had truly noticed it.

Orochimaru's curiosity suddenly began to flourish.

"What do you want?"

Sahara Mizu's expression gradually turned serious. "That depends on what you can offer."

"Of course."

"This is not a place for conversation."

"If there is an opportunity, I hope we can discuss it in greater detail next time."

Orochimaru's smile paused as he said calmly.

"That is not for you to decide!"

In an instant, several black-scaled venomous snakes shot from the sleeve of Orochimaru, who was still facing Sahara Mizu, with lightning speed and lunged to bite the young man before him.

At such close range, the speed these venomous snakes erupted with was no less than that of shuriken.

However.

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly widened.

The thirteen venomous snakes that had shot from his sleeves, collar, and trouser legs all froze in place at the same moment, suspended in midair less than a sheet of paper away from Sahara Mizu.

Unable to advance another inch.

Sahara Mizu's smile was instead calm and composed, as though he had expected all of this.

"Then I shall take my leave."

The moment his words fell, there came a bang.

The young man's figure abruptly turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished.

From the very beginning, the one confronting Orochimaru had merely been a Shadow Clone.

Orochimaru watched his figure disappear into thin air.

Instead, an odd smile inadvertently appeared on his face.

"Truly remarkable."

"Sahara-kun."

Things had become interesting.