The Same Path

A deal, cooperation.

Those were all just excuses.

The words that better described Naruto and Orochimaru were "using each other"!

On that point,

both sides were perfectly clear.

And the matter of Sasuke

was even more so.

It was only because they both wanted something from each other and had their own misgivings that they had managed to maintain this delicate balance. Naruto had originally thought this balance would be broken soon. In the original story, it happened more or less after the Akatsuki began hunting the Tailed Beasts, when the tacit understanding between Sasuke and Orochimaru fell apart. It was both a victory for Uchiha Sasuke and part of another one of Orochimaru's schemes. In any case, Sasuke had at least defeated Orochimaru once in a direct confrontation, and had absorbed a great deal of his experience and knowledge, along with a small portion of his power.

In this life, as the so-called "Shippuden plot" from the original story drew near, Naruto had still thought he would soon launch a purge against Orochimaru. Just a few days ago, he had even instructed Neji to prepare to receive Sasuke. But he hadn't expected Orochimaru to pull something like this at the last moment. As for the "mask" business,

Naruto had no intention of cooperating with Orochimaru for now.

Because it involved some truly dangerous matters.

Including the existence of such unusual entities as the Death God, Jashin, and Moryo.

Completely eliminating Orochimaru, who could now revive through his Cursed Seal, was already an extremely difficult task. If he let the man research something even more bizarre, Naruto would have an even bigger headache.

Even if Naruto intended to set a few reliable pieces on the board,

they certainly wouldn't be someone as unstable as Orochimaru. Who knew who that viper's