At the center of the Forest of Death lay a naturally formed circular clearing. No trees grew within a hundred meters of it, only bare gray rock and the withered roots of dead grass.
Orochimaru stood atop the tallest tree at the edge of the clearing. He had torn off his Kusagakure ninja disguise and tossed it at his feet, revealing skin so pale it was almost translucent and a pair of golden, vertically slit pupils.
Moonlight fell across his face, illuminating a smile as chilling as it was sinister.
Chiba emerged from the dense forest to the south, stepping over dead leaves into the moonlit clearing. He walked at an unhurried pace, as if taking a stroll in his own backyard.
Their gazes collided beneath the moonlight.
Orochimaru leaped down from the treetop and landed twenty meters away on the other side of the clearing. His long tongue slid between his lips and swept across them. The fervor and greed in his golden, slit-pupiled eyes were now plain to see.
"Senju Chiba."
Orochimaru's voice drifted through the night wind, hoarse and icy, like the sound of a snake slithering through fallen leaves.
"I never imagined the Senju Clan could give rise to an anomaly like you—a perfect Wood Release physique, life force on the level of a Sage, and that Strength of a Hundred Seal... Heh..."
His laughter grew louder and louder, until it became an unrestrained cackle.
"Give me your body, Chiba! I'll take you on a journey to uncover the truth behind every ninjutsu in this world! With your body as my vessel and my mind combined with your talent, nothing in the Shinobi World will be able to hide its secrets from me!"
Chiba stood where he was, slipped his right hand out of his sleeve,