You Can Fool Me for a While, but Not Forever

"One person!" Sakura looked confident. There was only one enemy, so there was nothing to fear.

In Naruto's eyes, that was not one person at all, but thousands upon thousands of snakes. Absolute strength created an overwhelming pressure.

This was his second time seeing Orochimaru, and he was still frightened by him. But unlike the first time, he was now facing Orochimaru head-on.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke and found that even though the enemy had already come to them, Sasuke was still sitting blankly by the river, lost in thought. It was far too strange. This was nothing like the Sasuke she knew.

The female ninja from Kusagakure revealed a sinister smile, like a venomous snake spotting its prey. She tore off her face with one hand, her eyes bulging wide as a terrifying aura seeped out.

Only then did Sakura realize something was wrong. Her entire body had gone stiff, and her limbs would not obey her. She could not move even half a step.

"Summoning Technique." The female ninja from Kusagakure waved her hand disdainfully and easily summoned a giant snake dozens of meters long. Sakura's face turned deathly pale at the horrifying sight.

"Nar... Nar... Naruto... who... exactly... is... that person...?"

Naruto used all his strength to slowly regain control of his body. His hands and feet began to move bit by bit.

"Oh!" The female ninja from Kusagakure was somewhat surprised. She had not expected this little brat to still be able to move under her overwhelming presence.

Naruto clenched his fists tightly and successfully regained control of his body, overcoming his fear of Orochimaru in his heart. With two swishes, he hurled two kunai.

The female ninja from Kusagakure did not even spare them a glance. She raised her hand and easily caught Naruto's kunai, then cast a look toward the giant snake, ordering it to charge at Naruto.

Naruto pushed Sakura away first and faced the snake alone. The charging serpent opened its enormous bloody maw and swallowed Naruto whole in a single bite, wearing a satisfied expression.

Sakura, who had been shoved aside, got back to her feet with despair written all over her face. Then she suddenly remembered Sasuke and hurriedly looked in his direction.

The female ninja from Kusagakure was steadily approaching Sasuke, while Sasuke remained seated by the river in a daze. He looked as though he had fallen asleep.

Sasuke! Worried for Sasuke's safety, Sakura raised her kunai and charged fearlessly at the female ninja from Kusagakure.

"Hehehe..." The female ninja from Kusagakure gave a bizarre laugh and extended a tongue nearly ten meters long from her mouth. Sakura felt sick just looking at it. The massive tongue moved as nimbly as a snake and lashed out with lightning speed, giving Sakura no time to react before sending her flying and knocking her unconscious.

"Sasuke! We finally meet!" The female ninja from Kusagakure approached Sasuke step by step, but Sasuke showed no reaction at all.

In truth, the female ninja from Kusagakure had noticed Sasuke's abnormality long ago. But she could not understand why he was acting so strangely, without the slightest reaction a normal person should have.

Confident in her own strength, she was not afraid of Sasuke trying any tricks and walked straight toward him.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" Naruto's voice came from inside the snake's stomach. After being swallowed, Naruto had been trapped in its belly, so he used the Shadow Clone Technique and created a large number of clones inside it, forcibly bursting the snake's body apart.

Naruto escaped from the snake's stomach and glared at Orochimaru while panting heavily. At that moment, Orochimaru developed a trace of interest in Naruto.

At the same time, in another secluded location within Konoha, under dim lights, a man whose head and right eye were wrapped in bandages lay beneath the covers.

He slowly sat up and glanced toward the corner, staring at it suspiciously for a long while. There's always this strange feeling. It seems like someone is hiding in that corner, yet it also seems like no one is there. Is it just my imagination?

"Shimura Danzō! It has been a long time." Orochimaru's figure emerged from the shadows in the corner.

With a swish, two masked ninja appeared, weapons in hand as they stood in front of Orochimaru, seemingly protecting Shimura Danzō.

Seeing Shimura Danzō's personal guards, Orochimaru let out a few cold chuckles. "Hehehe..."

"Orochimaru?" Shimura Danzō narrowed his eyes and carefully examined him. This Orochimaru looked rather strange. Perhaps it had simply been too long since they last met, but he could not shake the feeling that something about the Orochimaru before him was off.

"Danzo, don't you have something to return to me?"

"..." Danzo remained silent. Only after a long time did he say, "You are already a traitor of Konoha, yet you still dare to return."

"I'm not as fortunate as you." Orochimaru spoke in an odd tone. "The disgraceful things you have done are not much better than mine. I became a traitor and left Konoha, while you remain within Konoha."

"What did you come back for?" Danzo demanded angrily.

"Of course, I came to find the only ninja in this world who can still use Wood Release." Orochimaru's face appeared exceptionally eerie beneath the dim lighting as he softly uttered two words: "Yamato!"

Shimura Danzō frowned. He had thought this Orochimaru seemed unusual earlier, but that feeling now vanished completely. He was certain that the person before him was the real Orochimaru.

Because very few people in this world knew of Yamato's existence.

Back then, in order to deal with the threat of the Nine-Tails, the Third Hokage had led a secret research project, assisted by Shimura Danzō and Orochimaru.

They used the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, for research, transplanting Hashirama Senju's cells into other people in the hope that they could use Wood Release as well, because Wood Release was capable of restraining the Nine-Tails.

The project was exceptionally cruel. Everyone involved in the experiments died. After so many lives had been sacrificed, the Third Hokage decided to terminate the project, halt the research, and permanently seal away the records of that dark chapter.

But Shimura Danzō was unwilling to accept that. He believed Wood Release was an extremely important weapon. If Hashirama Senju's cells could be used to revive Wood Release, it would become a powerful asset for Konoha.

So Shimura Danzō secretly colluded with Orochimaru and continued the research in private, abducting many children from villages across various regions as test subjects.

As one test subject after another died, Orochimaru saw that all their efforts had ultimately produced nothing, so he abandoned the project and prepared to begin an entirely new line of research.

Unexpectedly, after Orochimaru gave up, one child survived and successfully fused with Hashirama Senju's cells, becoming a Wood Release ninja. That child was—Yamato.

However, Shimura Danzō did not tell Orochimaru about this and concealed Yamato's existence.

Pulling himself out of those memories, Shimura Danzō asked, "How did you know Yamato existed?"

"Because I am Orochimaru. You can fool me for a while, but how can you fool me forever!"

"..." Shimura Danzō fell silent.

"Now you know why I returned to Konoha."

"Yamato is not with me."

"Where is he?"

"The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."