Orochimaru's Curiosity! A Deal Struck!

Zuo Hao looked at Orochimaru and, without the slightest hesitation, activated Kamui.

"Kamui!"

A piercing sound of space tearing rang through the air, and the smile froze on Orochimaru's face.

The space around him crumpled as though an invisible hand had crushed it. A spiraling black passage split open in the void.

A second later, the two of them appeared in Zuo Hao's Kamui Dimension.

Overhead stretched a gray-white void. There was no sun, no wind. Beneath them lay a platform paved with cold stone, extending beyond sight.

Layer upon layer of cubes floated in the void, like a vast maze with no exit.

Orochimaru landed in the middle of the platform. His pale fingers brushed the ground, and his snake-like eyes narrowed.

"Space-Time Ninjutsu... To think you had this hidden away, Zuo Hao. You only grow more intriguing."

He looked up as Zuo Hao's figure formed out of the void and landed steadily ten paces away.

"Can you tell me what you want now?" Orochimaru rose, showing not a trace of hostility. He even spread his hands. "Sahiro Uchiha."

Zuo Hao went straight to the point.

"Orochimaru, I want to work with you."

Orochimaru's slit pupils contracted.

In truth, this boy had taken him by surprise.

"Work together? Interesting." Orochimaru's voice was low and husky, like a snake sliding through grass. "You're a Konoha Ninja, yet you want to work with a Rogue Ninja. What are you after?"

Zuo Hao raised his head. In the gray-white light, his Three Tomoe gleamed with a cold, bloodred light.

"I want to kill the Third, Hiruzen Sarutobi, with my own hands."

The warmth seemed to drain from the air.

Orochimaru's smile widened bit by bit, until he broke into deep, body-shaking laughter.

"Hahahaha... Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating! A Konoha Ninja saying he wants to kill the Hokage—and a member of the Uchiha Clan, no less..."

His laughter stopped abruptly. His golden slit pupils fixed on Zuo Hao as if he meant to see straight through him.

"Why, Zuo Hao? I'm curious. Why do you want to kill that old man?"

Zuo Hao took a step forward.

His chakra no longer surged wildly. Instead, it carried the oppressive pressure of a volcano about to erupt.

"Because Konoha is rotten."

Orochimaru's smile stiffened slightly.

"Why do you think the Uchiha Clan Massacre happened?"

"The Third... Hiruzen Sarutobi. He preached the Will of Fire while his hands were stained with his own people's blood."

"I don't just want to kill him. I want the people of Konoha to watch as the mask of the 'strongest Hokage' is torn from the Third they worship, piece by piece, before their eyes."

Orochimaru fell silent.

A moment later, he gave a low chuckle. It came from deep in his throat, breathy and full of sick admiration.

"Zuo Hao, you make my blood... tremble." Orochimaru ran his long tongue over his lips. "Very well. I'm with you. We can work together."

He stepped forward and lowered his voice until it sounded like a snake flicking its tongue.

"But I have one condition."

Zuo Hao lifted his chin. "Say it."

"I know you can't fully trust me, and I can't fully trust you. But until the Third is dead, we can each get what we want."

Orochimaru held out a pale hand. His fingers were long and thin, like precision metal instruments.

"You want to kill the Third yourself? Fine. But I want something too."

"What?"

A feverish, almost manic light flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. "I want you to study the Sharingan with me."

Zuo Hao said nothing.

"Orochimaru, you really don't make deals that don't benefit you."

He reached out and gripped Orochimaru's icy hand hard.

"But until our work together is done, if you lay another finger on Sasuke, I'll use these eyes to drag you into a hell deeper than this one myself."

Excitement blazed in Orochimaru's slit pupils.

"Hehehe... What a frightening older brother. I like you more and more, Zuo Hao."

Zuo Hao released the icy hand and stepped back.

"Glad we could make a deal. I'll contact you again. Until then, don't bother us."

Orochimaru chuckled softly and said no more. He merely licked his lips with his long tongue. "Then I'll wait for good news, Zuo Hao."

Zuo Hao ignored him. The air around him warped again, and spiraling ripples enveloped him. In the next instant, he vanished into the gray-white void.

Elsewhere in the Forest of Death, Zuo Hao's figure took shape again in empty air.

The moment he landed, his chest tightened sharply.

It was a terrible premonition, as though an invisible wire had cut deep into his heart.

Almost instinctively, he looked up in one direction. Sasuke's chakra was moving—and fast.

Zuo Hao's expression darkened at once.

He did not pause. His figure blurred as he raced in that direction.

But before he had gone a hundred meters, a ragged shout reached him through the gaps in the dense woods.

"Who are you... Let go of Sasuke!"

It was Sakura's voice, sharp and hoarse, on the verge of tears.

Zuo Hao's pupils contracted, and he burst forward even faster.

Deep in the woods, Team 7's resting place had descended into chaos.

Sakura knelt in the mud, both hands clamped around Sasuke's left arm so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.

Her knees and elbows were scraped raw. Her hair was disheveled, and tears mixed with dirt as they ran down her cheeks.

"He's hurt! He can't move! You can't take him away!"

Two Anbu Ninja wearing animal masks held Sasuke up between them. Half dragged along, his heels carved two deep furrows in the ground.

The Cursed Seal on the back of his neck glowed dark purple. The venomous power Orochimaru had left behind was still burning through his nerves.

Even lifting his head was a struggle, but his lips still moved faintly.

"Let... let go..."

"Move." The lead Anbu Ninja's voice was cold, and there was no warmth in the eyes behind his mask. "These are Lord Hokage's orders. Orochimaru infiltrated the Forest of Death, and Sasuke Uchiha was attacked and injured. We must take him back to the village immediately for his protection."

"Liar!" Naruto scrambled up from among the tree roots, blood filling his mouth. He staggered forward and spread his arms in front of the ANBU. "If you're so good at protecting people, why didn't you come sooner? Why show up only after that snake freak left?!"

Before he could steady himself, an Anbu Ninja flashed forward, drove a knee into his chest, and slammed him into the mud.

Naruto's back struck the ground. He grunted, and bloody froth rose in his mouth, but he seized the Anbu Ninja's wrist. Veins stood out on his hand. "I said... let Sasuke go!"

"Naruto!" Sasuke forced the words through clenched teeth. "Don't... worry about me..."

"Shut up! We're teammates!" Naruto roared. His eyes were red, and his voice shook with tears.

He struggled to draw on the chakra inside him, but the Five Elements Seal Orochimaru had placed on him was like a solid iron wall, blocking every bit of his power.

His connection to the Nine-Tails had been severed completely.

"Damn it... Damn it!" Naruto slammed a fist into the ground, sending mud flying.

Sakura clung to the hem of Sasuke's clothes and refused to let go.

"Please... He's badly hurt... You can't do this..."