Orochimaru's Scheme

After saying goodbye to the Hyuga, Qiuyang hummed a little tune as he headed back to the inn where he and his teacher had stayed a few days ago.

But when he was almost at Konoha's entrance, he suddenly stopped, slapped his forehead, and took out the deed to go to the village's housing registration office.

Why bother going back to the inn? Hadn't Lord Jiraiya given him a house today?

All he had to do was pick up the spare key he'd requested when registering the house.

He soon found Konoha's housing office. Perhaps because they wanted to help anyone who lost their key at night and couldn't get into their home, someone was still on duty at this hour.

"Hello. I'm here to pick up a key."

The Genin on duty at the registration office, a middle-aged man, had been displeased about handling business so late at night. But when he checked the records, he saw that the house belonged to Lord Jiraiya.

He immediately grew excited.

"May I ask if you're Lord Jiraiya's student, Lord Qiuyang, the Black Flash of Konoha?"

Honestly, Qiuyang still wasn't used to being called "Lord" by a middle-aged man. It even made him want to... laugh.

Still, in a world where the strong ruled, if your reputation and strength surpassed other people's, they would address you with respect.

To get the key as soon as possible, Qiuyang had no choice but to nod with a solemn expression.

"Please wait a moment. I'll find your key right away."

The title certainly came in handy. In less than three minutes, the middle-aged man hurriedly placed an old-looking key in Qiuyang's hand.

Seeing the man's expectant expression, hoping for praise, Qiuyang had no choice but to keep pretending to be serious.

"Good work. Keep it up! The village needs grassroots service-oriented shinobi like you."

"Yes, Lord Qiuyang."

Suppressing a laugh, Qiuyang turned and strode outside. Only after he was out the door and the burning, adoring gaze behind him had faded did he dare lean against the wall and let out a series of stifled laughs.

Hoo hahahaha...

Once he'd gotten it out of his system, he resumed humming and leisurely followed the house numbers until he found his "home."

The house was near Konoha's outer wall, but there were plenty of other houses around it. Lights glowed inside them, and he could make out people moving about and talking.

The place was full of life.

Qiuyang opened the door and went inside. He found that it was fully furnished, with lighting and running water already hooked up.

There was no such thing as shared floor space in the house, so it was much larger than he'd expected. It didn't feel cold or musty from being unoccupied for a long time, either. He could move right in.

Qiuyang guessed Jiraiya had hired someone to maintain the place regularly, which saved him a lot of trouble.

After a quick shower, he lay back comfortably on the king-sized bed and wondered how many days he should wait before going to see Snake Auntie for the things they'd agreed on.

Hmm... Maybe he should wait until after Jiraiya and Tsunade beat her up. Then Snake Auntie would understand just how good a deal this was.

Over the next few days, Qiuyang enjoyed the most carefree stretch of time he'd had since crossing over. He had money, so he didn't have to worry about taking missions to earn more.

And perhaps because his strength had reached a certain level, he happened to run into all the other members of the Konoha 12 while he was out and about buying furniture.

It seemed like some unseen force was heralding his dazzling debut as a main character.

A few more days passed, and Jiraiya came by to ask if he wanted to join him in searching for Tsunade.

Qiuyang saw Naruto making faces at him from behind Jiraiya. Without a moment's hesitation, he decisively refused.

Jiraiya didn't press him. He set off with Naruto alone, beginning their search for Tsunade.

As Qiuyang watched them disappear into the distance, he began recalling what would happen next.

Right, Naruto would learn the Rasengan this time. On the way, they'd run into Itachi and Kisame of the Akatsuki, which would lead to Uchiha Sasuke getting beaten up and Naruto nearly being captured.

Itachi...

A glint flashed in Qiuyang's eyes.

He remembered how Jiraiya had used the Seal Fire Method to seal the Amaterasu flames Itachi had released inside the throat of the Iwagama Toad.

When that technique, said to create "black flames that never go out," had first appeared, it had been shrouded in mystery and menace. Who could have known that it would turn out to be so unimpressive later on?

Someone like him, whose Mangekyo ocular power had recovered somewhat, could use a Mangekyo technique like Frost of Frozen Void, which froze space, to counter Amaterasu.

So far, Amaterasu's best feats had been burning off one of the Raikage's hands and killing a few White Zetsu.

But as the saying went, even a bad poultice was useful if it could draw out the pus. Amaterasu still worked well against shinobi below Kage Level.

"Right. When Lord Jiraiya gets back, I'll have to ask him for the scroll that seals Amaterasu and study what those flames are all about."

As Qiuyang pondered, he estimated how much time had passed and began preparing to visit Orochimaru again to get the Hashirama Cells for his body modification.

Meanwhile, in a dim room at a secret base belonging to Snake Auntie, near the distant border of the Land of Fire...

Orochimaru woke once more from a nightmare in which the Third Hokage had cruelly sealed both his arms.

Finding that his arms were still limp, he flew into a rage and violently flung his numb limbs, sweeping the bottles and jars on the table, along with the candles used for lighting, onto the floor.

A series of loud clatters rang out. The guards outside heard them and realized that Lord Orochimaru must be angry again.

They exchanged glances. One of them immediately ran to Laboratory No. 6. Just as he was about to knock, Kabuto, wearing a white lab coat, hurriedly opened the door from inside.

The two nearly collided.

"What are you doing standing there? If the things I'm carrying break, Lord Orochimaru won't let you get away with it."

Kabuto carefully shielded the glass culture tube in his hands as he spoke coldly. When he realized the other man was one of Lord Orochimaru's guards, he frowned.

"Has something happened to Lord Orochimaru?"

"Yes, Lord Kabuto. It's just like the last few days. Lord Orochimaru is smashing things in his room."

Hearing that, Kabuto had no time to reprimand the guard for his carelessness. He hurried to Orochimaru's room and opened the door.

"Bang!"

A medicine jar immediately smashed on the floor beside his feet. Pills and shards of glass scattered across the ground.

Kabuto pushed up his glasses and walked straight in, ignoring it all.

Orochimaru was smashing things to vent his anger while furiously cursing the Three Hokages in his mind. At the sound of footsteps, his serpentine pupils lifted, as if he were about to devour someone.

He'd already decided to kill whoever it was. Anyone who dared come in at a time like this would die to sate his anger...

When he saw it was Kabuto, his killing intent began to fade. He said, sounding extremely displeased,

"Hiss... It's you, Kabuto. Well? Have you developed a medicine to heal my arms?"

"Lord Orochimaru, I believe I told you that the damage is at the soul level. At present, the only method we can try..."

"The Uchiha brat said to find Tsunade?"

Kabuto silently nodded. He'd never met the Uchiha brat Orochimaru had mentioned, but he was already intensely curious about him—

The brat had perfectly predicted that Orochimaru would seek treatment for his arms from Tsunade, another of the Sannin, and had even dared to approach Lord Orochimaru alone to make a deal.

And all he wanted was something like Hashirama Cells.

"Heh... Looks like that Uchiha brat really did guess right. Any news about Tsunade?"

"We got word back this morning. If we set out now, we can see her tomorrow. And..."

Kabuto lowered his head slightly. A white gleam flashed across his glasses as he held up the glass tube in his hand for Orochimaru to see.

"Using the method you described, I've just finished making the specially modified Hashirama Cells."

"Gagaga, well done, Kabuto."

Orochimaru stood up, his long tongue slipping out again.

"Come. Let's go meet an old friend we haven't seen in years. And bring those Hashirama Cells with us."

He couldn't wait to see the expression on that Uchiha brat's face when the cells were injected into him.

Once the Cursed Seal hidden within them was released, even someone with immense ocular power would have no choice but to obediently become a vessel for me, Orochimaru.