Orochimaru: You really don't eat pressure, brother?

Orochimaru's golden, slit-like pupils narrowed slightly as his pale tongue circled his lips, emitting a low, rumbling chuckle.

"Heh... Itachi, that is a truly amusing thing to say."

Orochimaru's gaze pierced through the gaps in the leaves, locking onto Sasuke, who was currently crouched on the ground petting Escaping Rabbit.

"Look at him now—calm, restrained. There is absolutely no trace of Sarutobi's Will of Fire in that child's mind."

Orochimaru turned his head, staring at Itachi's expressionless face.

"He looks like someone with an extreme sense of purpose."

"I don't know exactly what he wants, but he certainly won't stay in this boring village to be a good little boy who protects everyone."

"The cage of Konoha cannot hold this young beast that has already grown new fangs."

Itachi's eyes remained unchanged, three tomoe quietly suspended within his crimson pupils.

"You talk too much." Itachi's voice was as cold as ice. "I am only asking if you have a way."

"Such a foul temper." Orochimaru shrugged, the fabric of his wide sleeves rustling.

"Keeping him in the village for the time being? Of course I have a way."

"As long as I give him a taste of the outside world and make him realize how weak he truly is, he will naturally stay in Konoha to absorb its nutrients."

Orochimaru paused, a surge of fanaticism welling up in the depths of his eyes.

"But what about later? Once he feels there is nothing left to squeeze out of Konoha, he will leave regardless. What do you think of this proposal?"

Itachi closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his gaze had shifted toward the distant Hokage Rock.

"Try it. I will be watching."

Itachi's tone was flat; he did not say another word.

If Sasuke truly wanted to leave, he had ways to make him stay.

Whether it meant guiding him into the abyss of vengeance or using Kotoamatsukami at the most critical moment.

As long as Sasuke could properly understand the meaning of the village, he would stop at nothing.

Orochimaru's body began to sink slowly into the tree trunk beneath his feet, like a melting candle.

"Then I shall go and greet him."

In the clearing below the woods.

Sasuke was reaching out to stroke the head of Escaping Rabbit.

Suddenly, Escaping Rabbit's body stiffened violently.

"Sasuke..." Escaping Rabbit's voice trembled. "There is something very terrifying..."

Sasuke stood up immediately, his right hand reaching directly for the ninja tool pouch on his thigh, gripping a kunai.

Black Dog suddenly had his fur stand on end, a ferocious, aggressive bark erupting from his throat.

White Dog also instantly lowered his body, his front paws digging hard into the ground as he stared fixedly at the tree roots directly in front of Sasuke.

The bird calls and insect chirps that had made the woods feel somewhat noisy vanished in an instant.

It was too quiet.

An extremely cold, viscous chakra surged in from all directions.

On the trunk of the oak tree in front of Sasuke, the bark suddenly rippled like the surface of water.

A pale figure slowly emerged from the tree trunk.

Orochimaru wore a robe patterned with red clouds on a black background, his long black hair draped over his shoulders.

He stood there, his golden snake-like eyes looking down at Sasuke.

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke Uchiha." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, carrying a strange, sticky quality.

Sasuke did not speak, merely tightening his grip on the kunai.

He could clearly feel the terrifying pressure radiating from this pale-skinned man before him.

"No need to be so nervous." Orochimaru took a step forward, his feet making no sound as they landed on the dead leaves.

"I just watched your battle with those brats. A very curious power—there is absolutely no flow of chakra, yet you can create entities of that magnitude."

"I am very interested in you."

Sasuke looked at him coldly. "I am not interested in you."

Orochimaru laughed, his shoulders trembling slightly.

"What is it that you want right now, Sasuke?"

Orochimaru spread his arms wide, as if displaying some immense treasure.

"Konoha has too little to offer you. Those weak teachers, those play-pretend exercises. If you stay here, you will only let your talent slowly rot away."

Orochimaru's tongue flicked across his lips.

"You need power, don't you? The kind of power that would allow you to break free from all control, and even take revenge on that man. As long as you are willing, I can give you everything."

Sasuke looked at the man rambling on before him, feeling nothing but a sense of absurdity in his heart.

Do all the people in this ninja world have some kind of problem?

First there was Itachi Uchiha forcing him to seek revenge, and now this pale man whose name he didn't even know had shown up to peddle power.

"Is there something wrong with your brain?" Sasuke couldn't be bothered to listen to any more, cutting Orochimaru off mid-sentence.

Orochimaru's movements froze in mid-air, his golden pupils widening slightly.

"You run up to me, spout a bunch of nonsensical garbage, and talk about power?"

Sasuke spun a kunai halfway around in his hand and gripped it tight.

"Why on earth should I trust you?"

The smile on Orochimaru's face slowly faded.

He stared at Sasuke's fearless face, the fanaticism in the depths of his eyes growing ever more intense.

"What an unruly child. Once you witness my power, you will naturally understand!"

"Don't be in such a rush to refuse. Konoha has too little to offer you; those house-playing ninja games are simply unworthy of your current talent."

Orochimaru's gaze swept over the snarling Black Dog and White Dog nearby.

"Come with me, or accept my gift. I can give you what you truly desire."

"You don't even know what I want, yet you stand there spouting nonsense." Sasuke looked at him. "You smell terrible. Stay away from me."

Orochimaru's smile stiffened on his face, then his mouth stretched into an even wider arc.

"What an unlovable personality. However, whether you believe it or not is not up to you."

Orochimaru's body blurred instantly.

Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply; his retinas couldn't capture the opponent's movement trajectory at all.

Too fast.

"Black! White!"

Both dogs lunged forward simultaneously.

Orochimaru's figure appeared in mid-air, his two arms suddenly stretching out like noodles, directly wrapping around the Black Dog and White Dog in mid-air before flinging them forcefully to either side.

"Bang! Bang!"

The two dogs were slammed heavily into the tree trunks on either side, the wood emitting a crisp sound of splintering.

The shadow beneath Sasuke's feet surged instantly, transforming into three black spikes that lunged straight for Orochimaru's lower body.

Orochimaru's lower half turned into a puddle of mud, and the black spikes pierced nothing but air.

Using the momentum of his arms pulling against the tree trunks, his upper body swung like a pendulum over the spikes, lunging straight for Sasuke's face.

"Since you won't listen, I'll just leave a mark on you myself."

The gap in strength was too vast.

This man's physical destructive power and chakra reserves were completely beyond his current limits to handle.

Tactics and techniques were no match for such a massive chasm.

Orochimaru looked at Sasuke in the distance and flicked his tongue against his teeth.

"Your abilities are interesting, but too weak." Orochimaru walked slowly forward.

"Since you don't believe I can give you power, I have no choice but to force you to accept this gift. Whether you believe it or not is not up to you."

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Over a dozen thick, venomous snakes lunged out from Orochimaru's sleeves, pouncing toward Sasuke.

Sasuke performed hand seals rapidly.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth, colliding head-on with the snakes.

The flames exploded in the forest, the intense heat instantly igniting the surrounding fallen leaves.

But Orochimaru's snakes were not destroyed by the flames at all.

They pierced straight through the fire of the Great Fireball Technique, their scales charred black, and bit down hard on Sasuke's legs and arms.

"Hiss—"

The fangs pierced his skin, and a wave of numbness began to spread through his blood.

Sasuke struggled with all his might, but the strength of those snakes was astonishing, pinning him firmly in place.

Orochimaru walked through the dissipating flames and stood before Sasuke.

He looked at Sasuke, bound by the swarm of snakes, his eyes filled with admiration.

"What a perfect body, what a calm gaze." Orochimaru leaned in close to Sasuke's face.

"Accept my Cursed Seal, Sasuke. It will let you experience what true power is."

Orochimaru opened his mouth once more, his neck thrusting forward as two sharp fangs bore down directly toward Sasuke's carotid artery.

Here it comes again.

Again with this arrogance, acting high and mighty, manipulating the fates of others at will.

Itachi Uchiha was like this, and this man before him was the same.

What makes them think he would act like a marionette, obediently accepting the scripts they arranged?

To live in this world, one must first be a person with free will!

He no longer tried to tear away the venomous snakes biting into his body, instead squeezing out every last drop of cursed energy and chakra remaining within him, holding nothing back.

Sasuke held his right fist straight out in front of his chest.

His left hand was also balled into a fist, positioned above and to the left of his right, as if he were gripping a ship's helm.

This was a bizarre starting stance that Orochimaru had never seen before.

Orochimaru's elongated neck jerked to a sudden halt in mid-air.

His golden slit pupils contracted to the size of pinpricks.

His intuition was screaming a frantic alarm; every cell in his body was shrieking at him to retreat.

Something was about to emerge from that black shadow.

The aura was enough to make even someone like him, who had seen countless deaths and forbidden arts, feel his scalp tingle.

Orochimaru swiftly retracted his neck and flipped backward, putting a dozen meters of distance between them as he stared intensely at Sasuke.

Sasuke raised his head, looking straight into Orochimaru's golden snake eyes.

"You are indeed very strong," Sasuke said, his voice raspy.

"I truly cannot defeat you right now."

He looked at Orochimaru and let out a cold sneer.

"But you will absolutely never defeat me either."