Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Orochimaru's eye twitched.

In the past, he wouldn't have cared much about such words; after all, he was one of the Sannin, renowned throughout the ninja world.

But now it was different, especially since these words came from a boy who was only thirteen or fourteen years old. And that boy had just defeated him using a Sharingan genjutsu.

Under these circumstances, Orochimaru was naturally displeased.

In truth, their brief exchange had merely been a probe. The battle hadn't been intense, and they had only used standard ninja tactics.

With Orochimaru's abilities, he still had many hidden cards left to play. If he had truly gone all out, he was confident he could have taken down the boy before him.

But a loss was a loss; there was nothing more to say about it.

At the same time, Orochimaru grew wary of the Sharingan. His defeat had happened in a mere instant, and it was that split-second genjutsu cast by Uchiha Taiga's Sharingan that had secured the victory.

As a veteran powerhouse who had survived countless battles, Orochimaru was naturally familiar with genjutsu and had killed many ninja who specialized in it.

Yet, against Uchiha Taiga, he had suffered a bitter loss.

Even though he had only been affected by the genjutsu for a fleeting moment, it still cost him an arm. The consequences were undeniably severe.

"Hehehe, in that case, I suppose I should thank you, Taiga-kun," Orochimaru said, his voice raspy.

Uchiha Taiga simply smiled. "You're too polite. It was the least I could do."

Orochimaru fell silent.

He took a deep breath and lowered the hand clutching his severed arm, which had already stopped bleeding. "It seems coming to find you this time was a mistake, Taiga-kun."

"So, Lord Orochimaru, why exactly did you come looking for me?" Uchiha Taiga asked, feigning ignorance.

Orochimaru stared at Uchiha Taiga, a burning fervor gleaming in his eyes.

"Don't you want to unlock the secrets of the Sage Body, Taiga-kun?"

He licked his lips once more.

He looked like a starving man who had just laid eyes on a feast.

Uchiha Taiga thought for a moment, then shook his head. "It's my own body. What secrets could there possibly be?"

When it came to the secrets of the Sage Body, no one understood them better than he did.

Naturally, he was completely unmoved by Orochimaru's temptation.

Orochimaru didn't answer directly. Instead, he formed a one-handed hand sign and pressed his palm against the ground.

*Poof!*

White smoke erupted, and a scroll as thick as a man's thigh appeared on the ground.

"Taiga-kun, this contains some of the ninjutsu I have mastered. It includes jutsu for all five chakra natures: Wind, Fire, Water, Earth, and Lightning. Consider it compensation for what just happened."

As he spoke, Orochimaru tossed the scroll with one hand, sending it flying toward Uchiha Taiga.

Uchiha Taiga narrowed his eyes but didn't step back. Instead, he reached out and caught it firmly.

He didn't speak, nor did he ask why. He simply looked at Orochimaru.

The latter chuckled softly. "I can tell that you feel no sense of belonging to Konoha, Taiga-kun, nor to the Uchiha. You and I are the same. We are both curious about ninjutsu and the secrets of chakra. Even if you don't show it now, that day will come sooner or later."

He looked Uchiha Taiga straight in the eye.

"You and I are cut from the same cloth."

With that, he picked up his severed arm and slowly backed away, the smile never leaving his face until he gradually melted into the shadows of the dense forest.

"I will wait for you, Taiga-kun. I will wait for you to reach out to me. That day will come."

Uchiha Taiga didn't try to stop him; he just watched quietly.

Seeing that Orochimaru was about to disappear completely, he suddenly spoke up. "Wait, where's the scabbard?"

Uchiha Taiga saw the last trace of Orochimaru's silhouette pause for a moment before vanishing entirely.

"Tsk, you gave me the ninjutsu, but you can't bear to part with the scabbard? How stingy."

*Whoosh!*

The sound of something tearing through the air came from the spot where Orochimaru had disappeared.

Uchiha Taiga raised his hand and snatched it out of the air. A pitch-black scabbard landed in his grasp.

"Heh, that's more like it."

*Clang!*

He sheathed the blade.

Uchiha Taiga tucked the scabbard directly into his belt. With a flick of his foot, he kicked the scroll up and caught it securely.

Unrolling it, he was immediately delighted.

Just as Orochimaru had said, the scroll contained numerous ninjutsu, ranging from C-rank to A-rank, covering a vast array of techniques.

As for why Orochimaru had come here, what his intentions were, or what he was planning to do...

Uchiha Taiga tossed all of those thoughts to the back of his mind.

It wasn't important.

Nothing was more important than learning and mastering new ninjutsu.

'What a good guy. Giving me a sword and then gifting me ninjutsu... it almost makes me feel bad.'

That was what he thought, but if he ever ran into Orochimaru again, he wouldn't hesitate to strike.

As long as the man didn't give up on his schemes against him, they would fight.

***

In the northern part of Konoha, further north of the Hokage Monument, lay an underground facility deep within the dense forest.

Orochimaru pushed open a heavy door, and the smell of rust mixed with damp mildew rushed over him.

The underground space was vast and gloomy. The only illumination came from oil lamps spaced out along the walls, their dim yellow light stretching his shadow long across the floor.

On both sides of the corridor were tightly shut wooden doors. Iron plates were nailed to them, their numbers already blurred with age.

Orochimaru's footsteps were light and slow, his soles making a monotonous sound against the ground.

He seemed quite familiar with the place. After turning the third corner, the passage suddenly narrowed, and the rough rock overhead transitioned into a neat ceiling.

Walking a bit further, the view suddenly opened up.

In the empty space sat only a stone table and a high-backed stone chair. A man was seated in it, his entire body shrouded in shadows, revealing only the upper half of his face.

It was Shimura Danzo.

He still looked wretched, covered in injuries and wrapped in bandages everywhere. His head, in particular, was bandaged from his forehead down to his jaw, and his exposed single eye was bloodshot.

Orochimaru stopped in front of the table, staring directly at Shimura Danzo in the shadows.

Shimura Danzo's gaze fell on the spot where his severed arm should have been, and his expression instantly darkened.

"You failed?"

His voice was hoarse, like sandpaper grating against wood.

Orochimaru licked his lips and said nothing.

The light from the oil lamp flickered across their faces, illuminating Shimura Danzo's tense jawline.

The only sound left in the air was the dripping of water—drop by drop—striking an unsettling rhythm.

"Useless!"

Finally, unable to contain his anger, Shimura Danzo spat out a curse.

Hearing this, Orochimaru didn't get angry; instead, he began to laugh.

"Root has been disbanded, and your personnel have been integrated into the ANBU. If we're talking about being useless, Lord Danzo, it seems you are far more useless than I am."

Shimura Danzo's face twitched at those words, and he glared fiercely at Orochimaru.

"So, where is your arm?"

Orochimaru chuckled softly. "Ah, my arm. It was severed by that brat."

He then kindly offered an explanation.

"That brat isn't as simple as he appears on the surface. If you underestimate him, you'll suffer a massive loss."

After saying that, as if remembering something, he licked his lips again.

"I forgot, Lord Danzo has already experienced that firsthand. Hehehe."

One would expect Shimura Danzo to be furious, but surprisingly, he endured the mockery.

"Orochimaru, did you come here just to laugh at me?"

Orochimaru's smile faded. "Of course not. I came to complete our transaction, Lord Danzo."

As if hearing something amusing, Shimura Danzo stared at him coldly. "I sent you a message, yet you didn't come to me immediately. Instead, you went looking for that brat. What, have you finally realized that in all of Konoha, I am the only one who can support you?"

Orochimaru didn't answer directly, but asked, "In your current state, can you still afford the price of our transaction?"

Shimura Danzo snorted coldly and stood up. "I am the leader of Root. Even if Root is temporarily restricted by Sarutobi Hiruzen, I still hold power in the palm of my hand."

"Hehehe, that's good then."

Orochimaru merely gave a light smile.

Shimura Danzo stepped out of the shadows, his single eye gleaming with hatred. "Orochimaru, I need you to help me complete the transplant of the Hashirama cells."

Hearing this, Orochimaru finally looked Shimura Danzo dead in the eye and asked, "Are you sure you want to do this now?"

He then added, "The transplant of the Hashirama cells is not perfect. There will be significant side effects."

Shimura Danzo said in a deep voice, "I can't worry about that anymore."

Orochimaru seemed to realize something. "So, you still haven't given up on your dream of becoming Hokage?"