Naruto helped Orochimaru set up the laboratory equipment they had recovered.
"It's a little rudimentary, but now I have a research base of my own in Amegakure."
Dressed in pristine white, Orochimaru stood beside Naruto in front of the research base.
"Naruto-kun, in the days I've been away, Bright Akatsuki has already begun making a name for itself in the shinobi world..."
"Not bad for our opening battle..."
Naruto spoke casually, his peripheral vision catching the dark red ring bearing the character for "Void" on Orochimaru's left little finger.
Akatsuki's Void-Orochimaru's former designation.
After leaving Akatsuki, he had kept the left hand Itachi had severed, along with the ring, in one of his laboratories.
On this trip, he had retrieved the ring as well, a sign that he had resolved to formally become a member of Bright Akatsuki!
Back in the tower's meeting room, Naruto sat down and asked bluntly, "Orochimaru, do you have any of Itachi's Life Substance?"
Orochimaru replied with interest, "I do. I kept a close eye on his development from his youth and collected a little while he wasn't looking. Why? What are you planning, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto's gaze darkened behind his mask. "Try bringing him back with Impure World Reincarnation."
Orochimaru said, "That wouldn't be difficult, but I'll need a living sacrifice..."
"Wait a moment."
Naruto rose and vanished. A short while later, he returned with a man whose eyes were vacant.
Whether in the past, present, or future, Naruto would never harm an innocent person. This man was one of Hanzō's remnants who had tried to infiltrate the village while Naruto was training in Lightning Release. Naruto had spared him precisely in preparation for this moment.
"Heh heh... how wonderfully straightforward!"
Orochimaru rose with a smile and drew the Ritual Formula on the floor. He