Orochimaru's golden, vertical pupils narrowed slightly. His pale tongue curled halfway around his lips as he let out a low chuckle.
"Heh heh... Itachi, that's an interesting thing to say."
Orochimaru's gaze passed through a gap in the leaves and fixed on Sasuke, crouched below and petting a rabbit.
"Look at him now. Calm and restrained. There's absolutely no Will of Fire from Teacher Sarutobi in that child's head."
Orochimaru turned and stared at Itachi's impassive face.
"He looks like someone with an extremely clear goal."
"I don't know what he wants, but he definitely won't stay in this boring village to be a good little boy who protects everyone."
"Konoha's cage can't hold this young beast now that it's grown new teeth."
Itachi's expression didn't change. Three Tomoe sat motionless in his red eyes.
"You talk too much." Itachi's voice was cold as ice. "I asked if you had a way."
"You've got quite a temper." Orochimaru shrugged, his wide sleeves rustling.
"I can certainly keep him in the village for now."
"Just give him a taste of the outside world and make him understand how weak he is right now. He'll naturally stay in Konoha and soak up everything he can."
Orochimaru paused, a feverish gleam rising in his eyes.
"But what about later? Once he feels there's nothing left to squeeze out of Konoha, he'll still leave. What do you think of that suggestion?"
Itachi closed his eyes. When he opened them again, his gaze had shifted to Kage Rock in the distance.
"Try it. I'll watch."
Itachi's tone was flat. He said nothing more.
If Sasuke really wanted to leave, he had ways of keeping him there, too.
Whether by guiding him into the abyss of revenge or using Kotoamatsukami at the most crucial moment.
As long as Sasuke could come to understand the meaning of the village, Itachi would stop at nothing.
Orochimaru's body began to sink slowly into the tree trunk beneath him, like melting candle wax.
"Then I'll go say hello to him."
In the clearing beneath the trees,
Sasuke was stroking Escaping Rabbit's head.
Suddenly, Escaping Rabbit's body stiffened.
"Sasuke..." Escaping Rabbit's voice trembled. "There's something scary..."
Sasuke immediately stood up. His right hand went straight to the tool pouch on his thigh and gripped a Kunai.
Black Dog's fur suddenly bristled all over, and an aggressively vicious bark burst from his throat.
White Dog lowered his body at once, front paws digging into the ground as he stared at the tree roots directly ahead of Sasuke.
The bird calls and insect chirps in the woods, which had seemed a little noisy moments ago, abruptly vanished.
It was a little too quiet.
An intensely cold, viscous chakra surged toward them from all directions.
The bark of the oak tree in front of Sasuke suddenly rippled like the surface of water.
A pale figure slowly emerged from the trunk.
Orochimaru wore a black cloak patterned with red clouds, his long black hair hanging loose over his shoulders.
He stood there, looking down at Sasuke with golden, snake-like eyes.
"First time meeting you, Sasuke Uchiha." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, with a strange, sticky quality to it.
Sasuke said nothing. He only tightened his grip on the Kunai.
He could clearly feel the terrifying pressure radiating from the pale-faced man before him.
"Don't be so tense." Orochimaru took a step forward. His foot landed on the dry leaves without making a sound.
"I watched you fight those brats earlier. Such a fascinating power. It has no chakra flow at all, yet it can create something that solid."
"I'm very interested in you."
Sasuke looked at him coldly. "I'm not interested in you."
Orochimaru laughed, his shoulders shaking slightly.
"What do you want now, Sasuke?"
Orochimaru spread his arms as if displaying some enormous treasure.
"Konoha has so little to offer you. Those weak teachers, those practice battles that are just children playing pretend. If you stay here, your talent will only rot away."
Orochimaru ran his tongue over his lips.
"You need power, don't you? Enough power to free yourself from anyone's control—even to take revenge on that man. If you're willing, I can give you everything."
Watching the man prattle on, Sasuke felt only that the whole thing was absurd.
Was there something wrong with everyone in the Shinobi World?
First Itachi Uchiha had pushed him toward revenge. Now some pale man whose name he didn't even know had shown up to peddle power.
"Is there something wrong with your head?" Sasuke couldn't be bothered to listen any longer and cut Orochimaru off.
Orochimaru froze mid-gesture, his golden pupils widening slightly.
"You come up to me, spout a bunch of nonsense, and talk about power?"
Sasuke turned the Kunai halfway around in his hand and tightened his grip.
"Why should I believe you?"
The smile slowly disappeared from Orochimaru's face.
He stared at Sasuke's fearless expression, the feverish gleam in his eyes growing ever stronger.
"What a disobedient child. Once you've seen my power, you'll understand!"
"Don't be so quick to refuse. Konoha has so little to offer you. Those childish ninjutsu games are completely beneath your abilities."
Orochimaru's gaze swept over the snarling black-and-white dogs beside them.
"Come with me, or accept my gift. I can give you what you truly want."
"You don't even know what I want, yet you're running your mouth." Sasuke looked at him. "You stink. Stay away from me."
Orochimaru's smile froze, then his lips stretched into an even wider grin.
"What an unpleasant personality. But whether you believe me or not is irrelevant."
Orochimaru's body blurred in an instant.
Sasuke's pupils contracted sharply. His eyes couldn't even track the man's movements.
Too fast.
"Black! White!"
The two dogs lunged forward at the same time.
Orochimaru's figure appeared in midair. His arms suddenly stretched like noodles, wrapping around Black Dog and White Dog before flinging them hard in opposite directions.
"Bang! Bang!"
The two dogs slammed into the tree trunks on either side. The wood cracked with a sharp snap.
The shadow beneath Sasuke's feet suddenly swelled, transforming into three black spikes that shot straight for Orochimaru's legs.
Orochimaru's lower body turned directly into a puddle of mud. The black spikes pierced nothing.
Using the force of his arms pulling against the tree trunks, his upper body swung over the spikes like a child on a swing and hurtled straight at Sasuke's face.
"If you won't listen, I'll just leave a mark on you myself."
The gap in their strength was enormous.
This man's physical power and chakra reserves far exceeded anything Sasuke could handle right now.
Tactics and skill couldn't bridge such a vast gulf.
Orochimaru looked at Sasuke in the distance and licked his teeth.
"Your ability is interesting, but you're too weak." Orochimaru slowly advanced.
"Since you don't believe I can give you power, I'll just force you to accept this gift. Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant."
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
More than a dozen thick snakes shot from Orochimaru's sleeves and lunged at Sasuke.
Sasuke rapidly formed Hand Seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
A huge fireball erupted from Sasuke's mouth and collided with the snakes.
The flames exploded through the woods, and the intense heat set the fallen leaves ablaze.
But Orochimaru's snakes weren't burned up.
They pierced straight through the fireball, their scales charred black, and bit down hard on Sasuke's legs and arms.
"Hiss—"
Their fangs pierced his skin. A numbing sensation spread through his bloodstream at once.
Sasuke struggled with all his might, but the snakes were incredibly strong and pinned him firmly in place.
Orochimaru walked through the fading flames and stopped in front of Sasuke.
He looked at Sasuke, bound by the mass of snakes, with admiration in his eyes.
"What a perfect body, what a calm gaze." Orochimaru leaned close to Sasuke's face.
"Accept my Cursed Seal, Sasuke. It'll let you experience what true power is."
Orochimaru opened his mouth again and thrust his neck forward, his two sharp fangs aimed straight at Sasuke's carotid artery.
Not again.
That same arrogance, looking down from above and casually manipulating other people's fates.
Itachi Uchiha had been like that, and so was this man before him.
What made them think he'd obediently accept their script like a puppet on strings?
Before anything else, a person had to be someone with free will!
He stopped trying to pull off the venomous snakes biting into him. Instead, he squeezed every last bit of Cursed Energy and chakra from his body, without holding anything back...
Sasuke clenched his right hand into a fist and held it out in front of his chest.
He clenched his left hand too, placing it above and to the left of his right fist, as if he were gripping a ship's rudder.
It was a strange stance Orochimaru had never seen before.
Orochimaru's extended neck abruptly stopped in midair.
His golden, vertical pupils shrank to pinpricks.
His instincts screamed at him to retreat. Every cell in his body shrieked for him to get away.
Something was about to emerge from that patch of black shadow.
Even someone like him, who had seen countless deaths and forbidden techniques, felt his scalp prickle at that aura.
Orochimaru quickly pulled his neck back and leaped away, putting more than ten meters between them as he stared intently at Sasuke.
Sasuke lifted his head and met Orochimaru's golden, snake-like eyes.
"You really are strong." Sasuke's voice was a little hoarse.
"I really can't beat you right now."
He looked at Orochimaru and gave a cold smile.
"But you can't beat me, either."
Before you continue