What He Wanted

Extremely tempting words.

More importantly, they carried profound implications.

In this life, Naruto's involvement had allowed Orochimaru to learn a few more things. Relying on that knowledge, Orochimaru had personally uncovered even more secrets, including the truth about the Uzumaki Clan Mask Hall, which he had discovered in the original story while searching for a way to undo the Reaper Death Seal. He had used that as a basis to investigate further hidden information. Of course, most of it was still only Orochimaru's own speculation. He had also spent a considerable amount of time in the Akatsuki, where he learned some of their secrets, and in the years since, he had traveled to countless ancient ruins throughout the Shinobi World.

The truth of the world!

The longing for eternal life!

Those were the goals Orochimaru had pursued all his life.

And in a sense,

the two could be pursued at the same time.

Where did chakra come from?

Was someone controlling this world?

Without knowing about the Rabbit Goddess, Orochimaru naturally focused on the Sage of Six Paths as the greatest mystery. Over the years, he had relentlessly searched for the truth about the Sage of Six Paths through the Tailed Beasts and the bloodline clans that had inherited his legacy.

Through his experiments,

and information gathered through certain special channels, including reports from Ryūchi Cave, Orochimaru had gradually grasped a thread of the truth.

The Uzumaki Clan

was another one of Orochimaru's targets.

But when Orochimaru risked everything to sneak back into Konohagakure, he discovered that all the masks in the hall had vanished. At first, he thought Konohagakure had moved them. Later, he confirmed through special means that neither Tsunade nor Danzo was responsible. After pondering it for some time, he directly set his sights on Naruto. That