Still Dreaming of Becoming Hokage

Orochimaru's eye twitched.

Normally, he would not have cared much about words like that. After all, he was one of the renowned Sannin of the Ninja World.

But this time was different, especially since those words had come from a boy barely thirteen or fourteen years old. And that boy had just defeated him using Sharingan genjutsu.

Under such circumstances, Orochimaru was naturally displeased.

In truth, the two had only been testing each other just now. The battle had not been intense, and they had used nothing beyond ordinary ninja methods.

With Orochimaru's abilities, he still had many things he had not revealed. If he truly went all out, he was confident he could take down the boy before him.

But a loss was a loss. There was nothing more to say about that.

At the same time, Orochimaru had grown wary of the Sharingan. His defeat had come in an instant, particularly the genjutsu Genkawa Uchiha had unleashed with the Sharingan in that instant, which had sealed the outcome.

As a veteran powerhouse, Orochimaru had weathered countless battles. Naturally, he was familiar with genjutsu, and he had killed quite a few ninja skilled in it.

Yet he had suffered a loss at Genkawa Uchiha's hands.

Even though he had only been affected by the genjutsu for an instant, he had still lost an arm. The consequences could not have been more serious.

"Hehehe, then I should thank you, Genkawa-kun," Orochimaru said in a hoarse voice.

Genkawa Uchiha merely smiled. "You're welcome. It's what I should do."

Orochimaru: ...

He took a deep breath and lowered the hand covering his severed arm. The wound had already stopped bleeding. "It seems coming to find you this time was a mistake, Genkawa-kun."

"So then, what exactly did Lord Orochimaru come to see me for?" Genkawa Uchiha asked, though he already knew the answer.

Orochimaru stared at Genkawa Uchiha, his gaze burning with fervor.

"Doesn't Genkawa-kun want to unravel the secrets of the Sage Body?"

As he spoke, he licked his lips again.

He looked like someone who had been hungry for a long time and had finally caught sight of food.

Genkawa Uchiha thought for a moment, then shook his head. "What secrets could my own body possibly have?"

No one understood the secrets of the Sage Body better than he did.

Naturally, Orochimaru's temptation did not sway him in the slightest.

Orochimaru did not answer directly. Instead, he formed a hand seal with one hand and pressed the other against the ground.

White smoke burst forth, and a scroll as thick as a thigh appeared on the ground.

"Genkawa-kun, this contains some of the ninjutsu I have mastered. It includes Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning Release techniques. Consider it compensation for what happened earlier."

As he spoke, Orochimaru flicked the scroll with one hand, sending it flying toward Genkawa Uchiha.

Genkawa Uchiha narrowed his eyes but did not retreat. He simply extended a hand and caught it steadily.

He said nothing and asked no questions. He only watched Orochimaru.

The latter chuckled. "I can see that Genkawa-kun feels no sense of belonging toward Konoha, nor toward the Uchiha. You are like me, someone curious about ninjutsu and even the secrets of chakra. Some things may not reveal themselves now, but one day, they will."

As he spoke, he looked Genkawa Uchiha directly in the eye.

"You and I were always the same kind of person."

After saying that, he picked up his severed arm and slowly backed away. The smile on his face never changed as he gradually disappeared into the shadows of the dense forest.

"Genkawa-kun, I will wait for you. I will wait for the day you take the initiative to contact me. That day will come."

Genkawa Uchiha did not stop him. He merely watched in silence.

Just as Orochimaru was about to vanish completely, he suddenly spoke. "Wait, where's the sheath?"

Genkawa Uchiha saw the last trace of Orochimaru's figure pause for a moment before disappearing completely.

"Tch. You gave me ninjutsu, but you couldn't bear to give me a sheath? What a cheapskate."

A sharp whistling sound came from where Orochimaru had disappeared.

Genkawa Uchiha reached out and caught a pitch-black sheath.

"Hehe, that's more like it."

He sheathed the blade.

Genkawa Uchiha directly tucked the sheath into his belt, hooked the scroll up with his foot, and caught it steadily.

When he unfurled it, his face immediately lit up with delight.

Just as Orochimaru had said, the scroll recorded quite a few ninjutsu, ranging from C-rank to A-rank and covering a wide variety.

As for why Orochimaru had come here, what designs he had on him, and what he intended to do—

Genchan Uchiha tossed all of it to the back of his mind.

It was unimportant.

Nothing was more important than learning and mastering new ninjutsu.

"What a good person. First he gave me a sword, then he gave me ninjutsu. I'm almost embarrassed."

That was what he thought, but if he encountered Orochimaru again in the future, he would still fight him when necessary.

As long as the other party did not give up his designs on him, then he would fight.

North of Konoha, farther north beyond Hokage Rock, deep underground somewhere within the dense forest.

Orochimaru pushed open a heavy door. The smell of rust mixed with damp mildew rushed toward him.

The underground space was vast and dark. Only the oil lamps hanging at intervals along the walls cast a dim yellow light, stretching his shadow long behind him.

Closed wooden doors lined both sides of the corridor. Iron plates were nailed to the doors, their numbers already blurred beyond recognition.

Orochimaru's footsteps were light and slow, his soles producing a monotonous sound against the ground.

He seemed quite familiar with this place. After turning the third corner, the passage suddenly narrowed, and the rock overhead became a neat ceiling.

After walking farther ahead, the space suddenly opened up.

There was only a stone table and a high-backed stone chair in the empty chamber. A man sat in the chair, his entire body concealed by shadow, with only most of his face exposed.

It was Shimura Danzō.

He still looked bedraggled, covered in injuries and bandages. His head in particular was wrapped from forehead to jaw, and his one exposed eye was bloodshot.

Orochimaru stopped before the table and looked directly at Shimura Danzō in the shadows.

Shimura Danzō's gaze fell on the place where his arm had been severed, and his expression instantly darkened.

"You failed?"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping against wood.

Orochimaru licked his lips and said nothing.

The oil lamp's light flickered across their faces, outlining Shimura Danzō's taut jaw.

Only the sound of dripping water remained in the air, one drop after another, making one's heart pound uneasily.

"Trash!"

At last, Shimura Danzō could no longer contain his anger and shouted the insult.

Orochimaru did not become angry. Instead, he laughed.

"Root has been disbanded, and all its personnel have been absorbed into the Anbu. If we are talking about trash, Lord Danzō seems to be even more useless than I am."

Shimura Danzō's face twitched as he glared at Orochimaru.

"So, where is your arm?"

Orochimaru chuckled. "Ah, my arm? That brat cut it off."

He even kindly offered an explanation.

"That brat is not as simple as he appears. If you let your guard down, you will suffer badly."

Only after saying that did he seem to remember something, and he licked his lips again.

"I forgot. Lord Danzō has already experienced it himself. Hehehe."

He had expected Shimura Danzō to become angry, yet Danzō endured the mockery.

"Orochimaru, did you come here merely to laugh at me?"

Orochimaru's smile faded. "Of course not. I came to complete our transaction, Lord Danzō."

As if he had heard something amusing, Shimura Danzō stared coldly at him. "I sent you a message, yet you did not come to me at once. Instead, you went to find that brat. What, have you finally realized that in all of Konoha, I am the only one who can support you?"

Orochimaru did not answer directly. "Can you still pay the price for this transaction in your current state?"

Shimura Danzō snorted and rose to his feet. "I am the leader of Root. Even if Root has temporarily been restricted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, power still rests in my hands."

"Hehehe, that is good, then."

Orochimaru merely smiled faintly.

Shimura Danzō stepped out of the shadows, hatred gleaming in his single eye. "Orochimaru, I need you to help me complete the transplantation of Hashirama Cells."

Hearing that, Orochimaru finally regarded Shimura Danzō seriously. "Are you sure you want to proceed at a time like this?"

He added, "The transplantation of Hashirama Cells is not perfect. There will be severe side effects."

Shimura Danzō said in a low voice, "There is no time to worry about that."

Orochimaru seemed to realize something. "So you still have not given up that beautiful dream of becoming Hokage?"