After the war ended, Orochimaru, one of the "Three Legendary Sannin" who had possessed such a strong presence on the battlefield, seemed to have suddenly vanished. By then, few people in Konoha had seen him or heard any news about him.
That was because Orochimaru had devoted his limited energy to the boundless study of ninjutsu.
Since he was always underground and completely absorbed in researching the mysteries of the ninja world, there were even many times when he could no longer tell whether it was day or night.
The more he researched, the more fanatical he became, and the more fanatical he became, the more he researched. Orochimaru had already fallen into such a cycle. The way he looked at corpses was even more fanatical than an otaku looking at figurines.
However, Orochimaru was not fiddling with his "life-sized figurines" at that moment. He was sitting behind a table covered with various scrolls, seemingly drawing some kind of technique formula.
Just then, a summoning snake slowly coiled its way to his hand. It then spat out a scroll. Orochimaru glanced at the white snake, thought for a moment, and then remembered that it was the communications snake he had given to someone.
"I remember you're..."
Orochimaru's gaze fell on the scroll. He opened it and read the message inside.
"I heard that Konoha has a Forbidden Technique called the Eight Branches Technique. I wonder if Lord Orochimaru knows this technique? Can you get it? After getting it and finishing your research, can you teach it to me?"
That familiar three-part way of freeloading sounded more than just vaguely familiar.
Orochimaru silently laughed. After thinking for a moment, he left his seat. A short while later, he returned with a scroll and sat down again.
"There's no problem with giving