Chapter 9: Always Leave Room for Retreat
"It's been a while, Captain Yamato."
Behind a barren rocky cliff, Naruto greeted the noticeably older Yamato. Nearby, a few Konoha shinobi stood alert, keeping a close eye on Orochimaru's research facility ahead.
"Come on, don't call me that. I really don't want the Hokage calling me 'Captain.'"
The Yamato known for greening the land with Wood Release—unlike the legendary Hashirama who conquered with it—replied with a helpless smile.
Naruto casually responded, "I'm just used to calling you that. To me, you'll always be Captain Yamato. Oh, right—this is Husky. He's coming with us to find Orochimaru."
"Sorry, I'm currently on assignment, so I can't personally take you to Orochimaru."
Everyone knew that when leadership was doing an inspection, the key wasn't to suck up—it was to appear deeply engrossed in your duties, totally immersed in your work.
"No problem. We'll have Sasuke take us. We're just here to say hi."
You respect shinobi carrying out a mission. Being Hokage doesn't mean you get to pull rank. Since they were looking for Orochimaru, reporting to Yamato was the right thing to do.
"Follow me."
...
"This way."
...
"Take a left here."
...
"Now right."
...
"We're almost there."
...
"Hey Sasuke, this isn't some local shop we drop by all the time. You should be a little more cautious."
Naruto followed closely behind Sasuke, remaining alert ever since they entered Orochimaru's facility.
"Long time no see, Sasuke." A sharp-toothed, white-haired man suddenly appeared and greeted them.
As they neared Orochimaru's lab, they encountered two former members of Sasuke's Taka team—Jūgo and Suigetsu.
"The Hokage's here too, huh?"
Jūgo eyed Naruto as he spoke.
"You're just in time. Take us to Orochimaru," Sasuke said in his usual emotionless tone.
"Hah? And who are you to order me around?"
"I'll take you."
"..."
Suigetsu and Jūgo spoke at the same time, and the scene quickly turned awkward.
"Hmph, let Jūgo take you then."
Although Suigetsu used to be in Taka with Sasuke, ever since the team disbanded, Sasuke never came to see him again—which Suigetsu found quite irritating. To top it off, Sasuke had just used a commanding tone with him. That rubbed him the wrong way even more.
"Sasuke, looks like we won't need a guide after all."
Naruto, standing behind Sasuke, suddenly spoke, eyes fixed on something behind Jūgo and Suigetsu.
"Well, well… and a rare guest too. Plus someone I don't recognize."
Orochimaru only gave Sasuke and Naruto a cursory glance before locking his attention onto Shunhi.
"Hey, how'd you get even younger than before?"
Naruto addressed Orochimaru.
After the Fourth Great Ninja War, Naruto had integrated Orochimaru into the fold and forbidden him from conducting any more unethical experiments.
"I just used one of my clones. No need to get all worked up."
Even after all this time, Orochimaru still looked unnaturally young, his skin smooth and almost glowing. Meanwhile, the long-dead Third Hokage probably wouldn't even know where to file a complaint from the afterlife.
"Let's get back to the topic—this unfamiliar person here."
"Naruto, this isn't a place for strangers. And yet… I can't see through the transformation jutsu they're using. Is this some new kind of strange technique that's emerged in recent years? Or is this your real appearance?"
Orochimaru addressed Shunhi directly.
Shunhi studied the androgynous figure before him. He felt this person both did and didn't resemble Orochimaru.
"I'm Husky. We came to ask you a few things."
As he spoke, Shunhi thought, Ah, that's it—he didn't stick out his tongue to lick anyone. No wonder something felt off. When did Orochimaru quit that creepy habit?
Well, good thing he did. It was disgusting—and unhygienic.
"A man who seems to be under your command captured my daughter and Husky's subordinate. If you're plotting something, now's the time to come clean."
Sasuke subtly positioned his hands to begin weaving hand signs, ready to act the moment something went wrong.
"That's right, Orochimaru—confession gets leniency, resistance gets severity."
Shunhi chimed in.
"Hmm, that's actually a good line. I'll have to tell Shikamaru and put it up on the wall at the interrogation unit."
As tension built to a boiling point, Naruto was instead distracted, muttering to himself.
"Have I done anything suspicious lately? What, is the surveillance outside just for show?"
Orochimaru appeared calm on the surface, but inside he was panicking.
Orochimaru's inner thoughts:
What's going on? Did I do something recently?
No… I've been playing it safe lately. Haven't done a thing. I even wait for the crosswalk signals now.
Wait… could Sasuke and Naruto be looking for an excuse to take me out?!
As he spoke, Orochimaru stayed ready to use his escape techniques at a moment's notice.
"So what's the deal with this guy who calls himself Shin Uchiha?"
Sasuke took a step forward. At this distance, he could kill Orochimaru the instant he tried to use a jutsu.
"Ah, I see. Shin Uchiha…"
Orochimaru let out a breath of relief. Looks like Naruto and Sasuke weren't trying to take him out after all.
"Shin… that's a nostalgic name. He was once one of my experimental subjects, but he left a long time ago. That right arm of Danzō Shimura—the one that fought against you—originally belonged to him."
"Shin had a unique constitution. No matter what kind of cell or tissue we implanted in him, he never rejected it. That made him the ideal subject for cloning experiments."
"Let me put it in terms Naruto can understand—"
"Shin is like a Shadow Clone that doesn't disappear. You get what I mean now, right?"
Now that he knew his life wasn't in danger, Orochimaru started to loosen up. But he wasn't reckless—he avoided provoking Sasuke or the unknown Shunhi, who might kill him without hesitation. Instead, he joked with Naruto, who was less likely to go lethal.
A Shadow Clone that doesn't disappear? Shunhi was intrigued.
If he had that kind of clone, he wouldn't even need to fill them with memories or gear—they could operate independently.
That would prevent misunderstandings like Itachi's… that overthinking, double-agent martyr.
"So once we're done using them, how do we deal with them?"
Naruto asked. Even if someone was an enemy, he preferred not to kill them. Ideally, he wanted to get a way to control them from Orochimaru.
"If you want them gone, the only way is to kill them."
"Why does he call himself Shin Uchiha?"
Sasuke followed up immediately.
"That's just what he chose to call himself. There's no blood relation between him and the Uchiha clan."
"Although his Sharingan is just a replica, he's still a wielder. That's why he's obsessed with the Uchiha name—especially your late brother, Uchiha Itachi."
Orochimaru stared at Sasuke, hoping to see some reaction when he mentioned Sasuke's brother.
But he was disappointed. Sasuke's expression didn't change at all.
"Sigh… so he's an Itachi fanboy?"
Shunhi cut in. Honestly, he was surprised. Had he known, he would've had Itachi reveal his identity from the start, taken the Sharingan cloning tech, and avoided all this convoluted mess.
"Husky, what's a fanboy?"
Naruto asked without a shred of Hokage dignity, genuinely curious.
"A fanboy is someone who's so obsessed with someone that they start doing dumb things that make trouble for everyone."
Shunhi offered a simple explanation.
"Mm-hmm, then that means Sakura is Sasuke's fanboy."
"But, Husky—did you know that back in the ninja academy, besides Sakura being Sasuke's fanboy, all the other girls were my fanboys!"
Naruto stroked his chin confidently.
"…I think I get the gist of Shin's identity now. So you should know where he is, right?"
Ignoring Naruto's idiocy, Sasuke continued without changing his expression.
Although the mysterious person calling himself Husky already knew where Sarada was, Sasuke wanted to hear it directly from Orochimaru—just in case Husky and Naruto were being lured into a trap by that strange group behind the grassy plains.
"My, you've certainly grown thicker-skinned, haven't you? Asking all these one-sided questions after all this time."
Now that Orochimaru knew Sasuke needed something from him, he let his demeanor loosen.
Just as he was about to fire back with a snarky remark, he saw Sasuke's growing impatience and wisely held his tongue.
"Very well. If Konoha can capture that troublesome Shin, it would benefit me too. Besides, I still owe Naruto a small favor."
"How's that child doing lately? Still doing alright?"
Orochimaru added—though in truth, he simply didn't want to admit he was yielding to Naruto and Sasuke's strength.
"Yeah, seems to be doing fine."
Naruto had helped Orochimaru with his synthetic human, Mitsuki.
Mitsuki had successfully bonded with Boruto.
Looks like Orochimaru had wised up and realized the best bet was to side with the main cast.
"Come with me to another room. No matter what, he was once my subject. Even though he left me, I did make some… modifications to his body. I can locate him easily."