Chapter 12:
Orochimaru had no idea what was happening in the Hokage's office, and even if he did, he probably wouldn't care. He was confident that, without any intervention, he would inevitably become Sarutobi Hiruzen's disciple. This was a certainty in his mind nothing would change that outcome.
He stared at the chakra testing paper in his hand, lost in thought. After the test, Orochimaru noticed that his current self didn't seem to have all the chakra attributes that he recalled possessing in the future. Wind, Earth, and Water were the only ones that appeared in the test. From this, he speculated that perhaps the reason his future self had all the elemental attributes was because of his later body modifications.
However, Orochimaru wasn't sure, and since he couldn't figure it out at the moment, he decided to stop thinking about it. He had never been the type to dwell on problems without clear answers. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at the sky.
"If I want to quickly improve my strength, aside from relying on family bloodline limit, the fastest way would be to become a Jinchūriki," Orochimaru mused. But becoming a Jinchūriki wasn't something he could think about for now; with his current abilities, it was a pointless thought.
As for family bloodline limit? Perhaps that was a direction worth pursuing. In other words, should he start conducting experiments right away? The more he thought about it, the more it seemed like the right path to take.
But then, he remembered something else he didn't have enough money.
Based on his calculations, purchasing the scattered equipment necessary for his initial experiments would cost at least several hundred thousand ryo. Hundreds of thousands of ryo were an astronomical amount for someone like him right now.
A Genin like Orochimaru could only take on D-rank missions, and the pay for those missions ranged from 5,000 to 10,000 ryo. The payment would then be split among team members. After getting his share, Orochimaru would only have around two to three thousand ryo for himself. After covering daily expenses, how many months would it take to save up enough for his experiments?
His eyes narrowed slightly. He had never expected that in this world, where strength was the ultimate measure, he would be troubled by something as mundane as money. He had briefly considered selling the enhancement serum he'd received from the system, which could increase chakra by 50%. That would surely fetch a high price.