A paradise for bounty hunters and rogue ninja: Chaos City!

"You can still smile, you bastard?"

"Why did you abandon me back then?"

Mitaraishi Anko gritted her teeth as she met Orochimaru's indifferent gaze.

If Orochimaru hadn't become Naruto Uzumaki's subordinate, she would have attacked him already.

Even if it cost her life, she wouldn't hesitate.

"You were of no use to me. You were nothing but a burden."

Orochimaru was silent for a moment before answering flatly.

"Bastard!"

Anko's eyes reddened at his answer. She looked ready to burst into tears.

"Orochimaru, tell her how you really feel. There's no need to be so awkward about it," Naruto said.

What was going on?

Did Orochimaru have a tsundere side too?

"If Naruto-kun insists, I'll tell you the truth."

Unable to refuse any command from Naruto, Orochimaru could only say everything he had kept inside.

"Anko, your talent stood out among your peers back then. That was why I chose you as my student."

"Later, you survived the Cursed Seal of Heaven. That only confirmed what I'd thought."

"I really did intend to raise you as my student..."

Please send flowers.

"But the Human Experiments turned me into a Missing-nin."

"Rather than drag you from place to place until you died somewhere in the Shinobi World, I thought it was better to leave you in Konoha to live a normal life."

"Of course, those were my naive thoughts back then. If it were up to me now, I'd take you with me."

Orochimaru laid bare everything he had felt.

His heart hadn't been as cold then as it was now. Back then, he had still considered other people's feelings.

"So that's why... Waaaah..."

Orochimaru hadn't abandoned Anko because she lacked talent. He had left her in Konoha because he valued it.

In that instant,

Anko felt the knot she had