Chapter 91:
"Mitsuki, it's been a long time."
"...It's been a long time, Father... I almost didn't recognize you."
Even with his appearance altered, Mitsuki recognized his father at a glance.
Having grown used to Orochimaru sometimes appearing as a man and other times as a woman, Mitsuki was no longer surprised to see Orochimaru now transformed into a wolf.
"The exterior doesn't matter. What defines me is my will to pursue the truth behind all things."
In the forest surrounding the Hidden Leaf Village, the small figure of Orochimaru—now in the form of a short gray wolf—lifted his head and looked at Mitsuki.
There was no helping it—the height of his current Gray Wolf form was clearly a disadvantage.
"The interior, huh... Then tell me, why did you call me out so late at night?"
"Judging by your expression, it seems you still don't know certain things about me. I see... so Naruto didn't tell you."
"Things about you?"
"Yes. Specifically, the fact that I betrayed the Hidden Leaf once more—and joined S.H.I.E.L.D."
The moment Orochimaru finished speaking, Mitsuki suddenly leapt away from his original position. A small, inconspicuous snake had appeared exactly where he had just been standing.
Although he didn't know much about S.H.I.E.L.D., Mitsuki clearly heard the words betray the Hidden Leaf.
Orochimaru might be his father, but Mitsuki, who clearly cared more about Boruto, could never follow Orochimaru and betray the village. Which meant that in this moment, Orochimaru was his enemy.
"It's no use, Mitsuki. Everything you know, you learned from me."
Orochimaru stared at Mitsuki, who had distanced himself by at least ten meters and remained on guard.
"That's true. I learned a lot of ninjutsu from you—but not everything. There's one thing I didn't learn from you—Sage Mode!"
Mitsuki clasped his hands together, instantly entering Sage Mode.
Of course, this wasn't true Sage Mode—it was a Cursed Seal version developed by Orochimaru. That's precisely why Mitsuki, despite his young age, could enter it instantly.
The success rate of the Cursed Seal Sage Mode was extremely low. Orochimaru had created many versions of Mitsuki before finally producing a successful one.
Once in Sage Mode, Mitsuki's strength and speed increased drastically. A single, hardened horn grew from his forehead, and several translucent, snake-shaped strands of chakra emerged around him.
He didn't know what Orochimaru was planning, but if he could just hold out until the village noticed, that would be enough.
That was Mitsuki's plan. Even with Sage Mode, he had no confidence in defeating Orochimaru.
"This entire area has long since been covered with my traps. You're not getting out, Mitsuki."
As Orochimaru spoke, small snakes began slithering out from the ground around Mitsuki.
"Who's there!"
Although the Leaf's sensory ninja hadn't noticed them at first, once Orochimaru and Mitsuki began using chakra and ninjutsu, their presence was detected.
The sudden voice caused Mitsuki to lose focus for a moment. Orochimaru seized the opportunity and instantly appeared beside him, his wolf jaws clamping down on Mitsuki's shoulder.
"You may have mastered the powerful Sage Mode, but your actual combat experience is sorely lacking."
"This is... the Cursed Seal..."
Mitsuki realized something was wrong. The effects of the Cursed Seal were disrupting his Sage Mode. His vision dulled, and his eyes grew heavy.
"What... are you trying to do..."
That was Mitsuki's last question before losing consciousness. Unfortunately, he never heard Orochimaru's answer—not that Orochimaru had any intention of answering anyway.
...
"Where am I..."
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a clean ceiling. Looking around the room, Mitsuki quickly determined that he was in the Hidden Leaf's hospital.
Two weeks had passed since the attack on him. During that time, the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade—who had been traveling—had returned to the village. Upon learning that Mitsuki was Orochimaru's son, and with Orochimaru himself having vanished from the village's surveillance, she had even shattered one of Naruto's desks in anger.
They were on the verge of classifying both Orochimaru and Mitsuki as rogue ninja when Mitsuki suddenly returned.
He had been found unconscious, gravely injured, and completely drained of chakra in the forest near the village.
"You're awake, Mitsuki."
The moment Mitsuki woke up, the Anbu guarding him immediately notified Naruto. Of course, the Anbu didn't hide this from Sakura either—so the first person to appear before Mitsuki was her.
"Do you want something to eat?"
Mitsuki gave a small nod. For some reason, he felt incredibly hungry—famished, even.
Helping him sit up, Sakura handed him some light, easy-to-digest food.
She had made it herself. After all, Mitsuki was a teammate of her daughter. Taking care of him was only natural.
"What's wrong, Mitsuki? Does my cooking taste good?"
Sakura asked curiously when she saw him pause after taking the first bite.
It was the first time Mitsuki had tasted food made by Sarada's mother. He didn't know whether it was because her cooking was terrible, or because something was wrong with his tongue.
In any case, the food had a strong, fishy taste—terrible. He almost spit it out with the first bite. But he forced it down and gave a weak smile.
"Yeah... it's good. But I don't really have much of an appetite right now."
Just as Mitsuki finished speaking, the door to the hospital room suddenly burst open.
Naruto entered—followed by Sasuke, who had recently become a movie star. In fact, several film studios had offered high-paying missions just to have Sasuke appear in their movies.
But Sasuke had turned them all down. While Naruto found it a shame to miss out on such easy money, there wasn't much he could do. After all, it was Sasuke they were asking.
Even as Hokage, Naruto wouldn't force Sasuke to do something he didn't want to do.
"Sasuke, Naruto, you're here," Sakura said while cleaning up the plates.
"Sakura, step out for a bit. Naruto and I need to ask Mitsuki a few questions," Sasuke said.
He trusted Sakura, but procedures were procedures—and Sakura understood that. She quietly left after tidying up.
"Mitsuki just woke up. Don't push him too hard," she reminded them.
"Don't worry, Sakura," Naruto said, patting his chest.
"You're the Hokage now. Can't you at least try to act more mature?" Sakura sighed.
He might be the Seventh Hokage who saved the ninja world—but in Sakura's eyes, he was still the same old idiot.
"Mitsuki, two weeks ago—why did you suddenly disappear from the village?"
Once the door was closed, Sasuke activated his Mangekyō Sharingan and stared at Mitsuki, who was lying on the hospital bed.
Mitsuki hadn't noticed it before, but now that Sasuke was this close, he could feel the pressure emanating from him.
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