The Pact

A red swirl pattern appeared as he lightly brushed over it.

Orochimaru was shocked and retracted his neck; there was not a hint of joy on his face as Sasuke fainted.

"A Flying Thunder God mark!" Orochimaru was no idiot. He had fought alongside the Fourth Hokage before Naruto was even born, so he knew this technique very well.

He recognized it the moment he saw it.

Orochimaru opened his mouth, and another Orochimaru crawled out from within.

The Orochimaru-brand Substitution Technique—unique in the Ninja World.

The dripping-wet Orochimaru stood steady and looked at his own neck. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be capable of such a high-difficulty maneuver, but Orochimaru had managed it.

"It's useless. The Flying Thunder God mark cannot be removed." Naruto smiled. The other party's ability to escape was too formidable; he had been playing along with the act for so long specifically for this Flying Thunder God mark.

Of course, Naruto was right; unless one possessed the Six Paths Power, the Flying Thunder God mark could not be erased.

"You brat, you're courting death." Orochimaru was instantly enraged. A terrifying killing intent filled the area, and Hinata, who was behind them, was scared unconscious by this pressure. It wasn't that Hinata was too weak, but Orochimaru had killed countless people during the Ninja Wars, and combined with his inherent strength, it was only natural for him to exude such killing intent.

Yet, this killing intent was still lacking compared to the malice of the Nine-Tails Fox.

"Lord Orochimaru, if I said I had no malicious intent, would you believe me?" Naruto reined in his smile. He knew that if he wanted to cooperate with Orochimaru, he had to reveal a bit of his own strength.

As he spoke, his hair began to turn red from the roots. A head of red hair emerged, his pupils transformed into red vertical slits, and ten golden chains slowly swayed behind his back.

Orochimaru's pupils constricted.

Having met Kushina, Orochimaru naturally understood what this was, especially those ten chains; even he found them troublesome.

As Naruto unleashed his power, Orochimaru felt the bottomless depth of Naruto's chakra. It was a level of chakra that felt terrifying even to Orochimaru, who had seen the Eight-Tails. Most of all, it was those vertical pupils—that was what truly inspired fear.

"You have mastered the power of the Nine-Tails." At this moment, even Orochimaru was somewhat shocked.

That was the Nine-Tails, the strongest of the Tailed Beasts. He had never heard of anyone being able to control it. Even the First Hokage could only defeat the Nine-Tails; to control it, only Madara Uchiha could do so.

"That's right, Lord Orochimaru. I truly have no malice toward you."

Naruto smiled, but he did not retract his state.

"A perfect jinchuriki? This is truly interesting, brat. I wonder if the Third Hokage knows about your current situation?" Orochimaru couldn't help but lick his lips.

Hearing this thinly veiled threat, Naruto Uzumaki narrowed his eyes.

"Snake-uncle, are you not giving me face?" Three-tomoe Sharingan suddenly appeared in his pupils.

Naruto's tone also turned icy.

Orochimaru suddenly felt the surrounding space turn red, and a red Nine-Tails Fox stood before him, baring its fangs and snarling.

The sheer volume of chakra was so vast that Orochimaru couldn't even begin to measure it.

His pupils instantly contracted.

He wanted to move his body, but he found he couldn't mobilize a single drop of chakra.

"I know your goal, but I have my own as well," the massive Nine-Tails Fox spoke.

"You have controlled the Nine-Tails."

This sight completely shocked Orochimaru, and it was only then that he noticed Naruto Uzumaki's three-tomoe Sharingan.

"How is this possible? How do you have the Sharingan?" A strange thought couldn't help but sprout in Orochimaru's mind: Could Minato Namikaze have been cuckolded?

He shook his head, casting aside these wild thoughts.

"You will know about that in the future." Naruto had no intention of explaining it to him.

"Oh? Then I wonder what Naruto-kun wants?" Only now did Orochimaru become serious.

"Hashirama Cells," Naruto stated.

"You want to master Wood Release." Orochimaru's pupils constricted once more.

He was no fool; since the other party could master the Sharingan, he must have a way to master Wood Release.

Orochimaru couldn't help but ponder how the boy had managed it.

The abilities of the Uzumaki Clan, the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, and the Wood Release of the Senju Clan—all these abilities concentrated in one person. Orochimaru couldn't help but feel excited; wasn't this the perfect body he had always wanted?

"That's right. Although if you gave me some time, I could research it myself, it would be too much trouble, so I thought of this simpler method." Naruto wasn't lying. If given time to research it, he would eventually figure out Wood Release. As another reincarnation of Asura, Naruto didn't believe he couldn't awaken Wood Release.

Although Orochimaru didn't know why Naruto was so confident, he believed Naruto wasn't lying.

"Very well. What will you offer in exchange?" Orochimaru wouldn't be threatened by others; even if he were to die now, he could be reborn elsewhere, though it would be a troublesome process.

"Not now." The massive body of the Nine-Tails Fox vanished, and their consciousnesses returned to reality.

"You know my plans," Orochimaru began to think.

"Rest assured, I only pursue power—absolute power. I won't pay much attention to other matters." Naruto naturally knew what the other was worried about.

"It seems Naruto-kun is quite well-informed about my plans." Orochimaru couldn't help but be surprised.

"I know a few things. With my current strength, I naturally know many things." Naruto offered no explanation.

Although Naruto Uzumaki didn't explain, Orochimaru understood.

"Since that is the case, then it is a deal." He didn't know what Naruto was planning, but thinking of the Flying Thunder God mark on his neck, he understood that Naruto had been planning this for a long time.

The two stopped speaking, and Orochimaru retreated.

Naruto placed Hinata by a large tree so she could rest properly; with the Flying Thunder God mark now in place, he had no fear of the enemy escaping.

As for Orochimaru, he frowned in thought while continuing his journey. Although he had not been paying attention to the situation in Konoha, the circumstances of a jinchuriki were much the same in every village.

Within the upper echelons of the village, they were wary of the jinchuriki's status while simultaneously being forced to rely upon it.

This made the jinchuriki's position quite awkward; they could barely learn any high-level ninjutsu, and there was certainly no one to instruct them.

Only in the Cloud Village were the jinchuriki a bit more unique, as every generation was chosen from the brothers of the Fourth Raikage.

"Naruto Uzumaki, is it? You are becoming more and more interesting. Where exactly did you learn your ninjutsu?" The Flying Thunder God alone was not something he should have been able to access; even if his father had known it, he could not have passed it on to him.

And that Sharingan—it was clearly not a transplanted eye. Could it be that there was another way to obtain the Sharingan?