The farce had finally come to an end.
The little white snake wasn't surprised by the outcome.
Asuma Sarutobi had been humiliating himself from beginning to end.
People who didn't know how to read the situation always ended up like this.
The little white snake continued watching Chiba.
At that moment, he sensed something was wrong.
Orochimaru had fought his way through countless battles.
He would never mistake the feeling of being watched.
The instant the little white snake realized what was happening, its head had already been cut off.
Orochimaru had always been confident in his ability to move unseen.
But now, he had no choice but to admit the truth.
It seemed he'd been exposed.
The decapitated little white snake didn't topple over.
Instead, several enormous snake heads emerged from its severed neck.
They could hardly be called snakes anymore. They were pythons.
Somehow, what connected to the python heads had become an arm.
The python heads shot toward Chiba like lightning.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
But before the pythons could reach Chiba, they'd already been cut to pieces.
"Since you just watched Itachi and me spar, you should understand that things like these can't get past my blade! Orochimaru!"
Not only had he been discovered, his identity had also been exposed.
He'd clearly been the one observing, yet now their roles seemed reversed.
But Orochimaru wasn't angered. Instead, he licked his lips, a strange excitement glimmering across his pale face.
"I see. So you'd noticed me long ago, Chiba?"
"That makes sense. Even though you can't see, you were still able to suppress the genius Uchiha Itachi in battle!"
"Your talent would be wasted if you didn't have perception this keen."
Orochimaru recalled the decapitated python and walked up to Chiba with ease.
This was the first time Orochimaru had observed Chiba from such close range.
And this time, he was certain.
Chiba really couldn't see.
That only strengthened his belief that Chiba's secret lay in his invisible Sharingan.
"And you sent Itachi away just now. It didn't seem to be because of Asuma, did it?"
At the time,
Orochimaru had found it strange, too.
Chiba could deal with Asuma in one or two moves, and that was exactly what happened.
Asuma hadn't even lasted a single round.
So, would Itachi's presence or absence really have made a difference?
And don't say it was because Asuma was the Hokage's son. Itachi might represent the Uchiha Clan, but a good-for-nothing official's son like Asuma couldn't represent Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Given all that, Chiba had sent Itachi away for only one reason.
He didn't want Orochimaru to meet Itachi.
Orochimaru could think of only one reason Chiba would send Itachi away, even if it meant facing him alone.
Itachi had something Chiba didn't.
The Sharingan.
At that thought, Orochimaru smiled.
"Chiba, you seem to know a lot about me!"
"I pay close attention to anyone who might become an enemy someday!"
Hearing that, Orochimaru let go of his hostility.
At that moment, he felt more admiration for Chiba than anything else.
He might have considered Chiba a research subject, but that didn't diminish Chiba's charisma.
"Is that so? But... the truth is, I'm not exactly your enemy!"
Chiba smiled.
"True, but I can't exactly call someone who secretly spies on me a friend!"
"You should be kidnapping a few mischievous kids for your experiments in some place the Third Hokage can't see, under cover of darkness. Instead, you're wasting your time on a blind man like me."
"Oh, right. It was Danzo who sent you to watch me, wasn't it? After all, without the Sharingan, I shouldn't have caught your attention at first."
Everything Chiba said struck at Orochimaru's weak points.
This string of secrets that absolutely couldn't be made public could be used as leverage against him.
That was why Chiba had exposed Orochimaru right away.
Once Orochimaru set his sights on him, whatever the initial reason, there was no escaping him.
Rather than passively let Orochimaru study him, Chiba would play the cards in his hand.
Look, I have leverage over you. If you try to touch me, you'll be exposing yourself.
Orochimaru might not take the threat in those words seriously.
But—
His research into "immortality" was still incomplete.
He needed to remain in Konoha and continue his experiments.
"Chiba, you... really are ruthless!"
"Ruthless? I don't think so. Trouble has come looking for me. There's no reason to keep my trump cards hidden!"
"Just like Asuma. He came right to my door. Do you think I'd have held back?"
Chiba spread his hands, completely at ease.
"Is that so? But you did let Asuma go... That hardly counts as holding back!"
"Mr. Orochimaru, do you know there are two kinds of killing?"
"One is ending someone's life. The other is breaking their spirit!"
"Crush them mentally, so that afterward they're afraid even to look at you and go out of their way to avoid you. That isn't holding back!"
Asuma Sarutobi was, after all, the Hokage's son.
Chiba couldn't actually kill him.
Besides, a minor clash like this wasn't anywhere near serious enough to warrant killing.
Asuma had been furious, but Chiba's Observation Haki hadn't detected any clear killing intent.
They were just twelve-year-old kids competing for the attention of a girl they liked. Why did everything have to come down to killing?
Speaking of killing intent,
the kind Orochimaru had revealed just a moment ago was the real thing.
But Orochimaru couldn't afford to act on it.
Chiba was someone Sarutobi Hiruzen wanted to win over, and Orochimaru was also fascinated by Chiba's secret.
"Looks like you've prepared... quite thoroughly!"
"In that case, I have a proposal!"
Chapter 16:
When Chiba sensed Orochimaru beside him,
he knew there was no getting rid of that slippery snake easily.
This was Orochimaru, the greatest researcher in the Naruto world.
He was obsessed with the Sharingan.
A blind Sharingan user with immense talent.
How could Orochimaru ever give up?
And now, Orochimaru had made his proposal.
"In that case, I have a proposal."
"Become my research subject, and I'll restore your sight!"
After interacting with Chiba, Orochimaru was almost certain that Chiba had gone blind because his body couldn't withstand the power of the Sharingan.
That was the only explanation for Chiba's astonishing talent.
He was well worth studying, and his case might help uncover the Sharingan's deeper secrets.
Unfortunately, everyone had it wrong.
Chiba's talent had never come from his Sharingan.
It came from his system.
Not to mention, there was no way he could reveal the secret inside his body.
Even if Orochimaru really could restore his sight, Chiba would never agree.
"Mr. Orochimaru, I think you've got it wrong. I... don't yearn for the light."
"Not being able to see is a blessing, in its own way. After all, there are far too many filthy, vulgar people in this world who are unbearable to look at."
"I can't deny that."
Orochimaru spread his hands.
"But more often than not, the filthy and vulgar are the ones who make it to the end."
"Even if you refuse, I've got my eye on you now! Uchiha Chiba... I am Orochimaru, after all!"
In this era, the only thing Orochimaru cared about was research.
He wanted immortality. He wanted the Sharingan.
It had practically become an obsession.
He'd managed to achieve immortality, more or less, through Living Corpse Reincarnation.
But the Sharingan remained his eternal regret.
In the original story, he'd failed to get Itachi and Sasuke.
The divergence in the timeline had now turned Orochimaru's attention to Chiba.
"Is that so? In that case, Mr. Orochimaru... you're always welcome!"