Orochimaru's home was a large estate covering several acres. His family had lived there for generations, and with several generations of ninjas in their lineage, they held a respectable position within the village.
He stepped onto the porch, crossed the front yard and the main hall, and walked directly toward the ancestral shrine in the backyard.
With a soft "creak—," the dilapidated wooden door of ancient history was pushed open. On the wall directly facing the entrance hung a scroll painting of a solemn, majestic-looking samurai. Orochimaru's father had told him this was the founder of the "Great Serpent Clan".
Below the portrait was a row of ancestral tablets. On either side, running vertically, were two wooden racks holding iron candlesticks. Whenever there was a sacrifice, his mother would tend to them, lighting the candles to illuminate the entire shrine.
Then, the family of three would kneel on three earth-yellow prayer cushions before the table and begin the ceremony.
Now, with things changed and no one tending to it for some time, the ancestral tablets were even covered with a thin layer of dust.
Orochimaru slowly walked to the leftmost prayer cushion. Looking at it, and recalling the veiled clues in his father's final words, he muttered to himself: "The cushion belonging to Father in the shrine, is it? What could be inside?"
He gathered chakra into his hands, grabbed the earth-yellow cushion, and forcefully shook it with both arms. With a "tear—," the yellow cloth covering the cushion was ripped open by a powerful force.
Orochimaru immediately reached inside and began to search.
"Hmm?" After only a moment, an ordinary black scroll appeared in his hand.
Orochimaru opened it. As his eyes skimmed the first few lines, his hand trembled, his pupils contracted slightly, and his heart was profoundly shaken. He immediately understood his father's actions.
It turned out this scroll recorded the family's greatest secret!
The family's true name was not the Great Serpent Clan, but the ancient Eight-Headed Serpent Clan (Yamata no Orochi Clan). They had changed their name and surname to the Great Serpent Clan and hid themselves in Konoha Village to avoid being hunted down by numerous enemies, eventually settling there.
Orochimaru had vaguely suspected this in his previous life. Later, after gaining some influence, he had investigated for a long time, but the information he obtained was limited. Now, the scroll left by his father finally confirmed it.
Furthermore, the scroll included instructions on how to enter the family secret chamber, and within that chamber, there was a Summoning Scroll belonging to the Eight-Headed Serpent Clan.
The Eight-Headed Serpent Clan was one of the strongest families of Summoning Animals. The Eight-Headed Serpent itself possessed power strong enough to surpass some weaker Tailed Beasts. The Great Serpent Clan Summoning Scroll Orochimaru possessed in his past life was vastly inferior to this one. Yet, even the Great Serpent Clan's scroll was something Hiruzen had gone to great lengths to acquire for Orochimaru.
It was easy to imagine the turmoil this kind of treasure would cause if it were known.
No wonder his father had set up these safeguards, only hinting at it in his last will. Even if others saw the will, they would merely think it was some jutsu scrolls and money left by a father to his son—a normal occurrence for a ninja family—and would never connect it to such a hugely important and precious artifact.
Orochimaru carefully tucked the black scroll into his clothes. He licked his lips, looking unusually excited. No one understood the power of the true Eight-Headed Serpent better than Orochimaru, the man who created the Eight Branches Technique (Hachishū no Jutsu) himself. He had tirelessly sought this power in his past life but couldn't find it. Now, this treasure was right before his eyes.
The thought of acquiring this power soon made Orochimaru's excitement difficult to suppress.
He stood up and meticulously examined the ancestral tablets on the altar.
Orochimaru first bowed apologetically to the ancestral tablets. Then, following the instructions on the scroll, he gently picked up the fifth tablet from the left of the first row. A barely noticeable circular indentation appeared before him.
Orochimaru's heart stirred. Knowing this must be the mechanism, he didn't hesitate and pressed his finger onto the indentation.
"Click, click, click, clank—" A sound of internal mechanisms echoed.
The wall on the left side of the shrine opened, revealing a secret chamber large enough for a person to enter. As the chamber opened, a flash of light illuminated the area. Candles on the walls of the inner corridor instantly lit up, revealing a set of steps leading down and inward. The yellowish, flickering light of the candles made the passage resemble the wide-open mouth of a mysterious beast.
Orochimaru placed the ancestral tablet back, took a long stride into the secret chamber, and as soon as he entered, with another "Click, click, click, clank—," the secret chamber sealed itself shut again. All that remained were the softly swaying candlelight and the echoing footsteps throughout the corridor.
After walking for about a hundred meters, an ancient bas-relief carved with an Eight-Headed, Eight-Tailed Serpent appeared before Orochimaru.
The serpent on the relief was indeed the Yamata no Orochi!
The ferocious Eight-Headed Serpent, every head, every scale mark, and texture was clearly visible, so lifelike it seemed real.
Standing before the relief, Orochimaru felt a powerful aura of fierce, barbaric, malignant, and domineering power, originating from ancient times, washing over him.
Facing this fierce aura, Orochimaru's dark-golden snake eyes narrowed sharply. His powerful soul energy surged out, forcefully dispersing the aura in a dominant fashion.
A wicked, interested smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. He was even more excited about the Eight-Headed Serpent Summoning Scroll behind this relief door.
Orochimaru bit his finger until it bled and pressed it one by one onto each of the eight snake heads.
When the last snake head was also marked with Orochimaru's blood, a blinding, deep blue chakra light spread over the entire Eight-Headed Serpent.
Orochimaru watched quietly. The scroll stated that this door could only be opened with the blood of a descendant of the Eight-Headed Serpent Clan. If someone tried to open it violently, they would be struck by the soul of an Eight-Headed Serpent sealed within the relief, a consequence even a Kage-level ninja couldn't survive.
"Rumble—" A long-sealed aura emanated from behind the relief door. After the flash of blue light, the door split in the middle, opening inwards.
Orochimaru looked inside. There was only one object behind the door: on a half-human-height altar, fully illuminated by candlelight, lay an ancient scroll about the length of an adult's arm and the width of two hands.
Licking his lips, Orochimaru slowly unrolled the scroll. A line of ancient ninja-world script entered his vision. For Orochimaru, who had dabbled in various fields in his past life, these characters, which would be esoteric to others, were not difficult to decipher.
The opening passage, spanning thousands of characters, detailed the history of the Eight-Headed Serpent Clan signing a summoning contract with the ancient Eight-Headed Serpent entity. Suddenly, the second to last sentence caught Orochimaru's attention.
The Eight-Headed Serpent Clan rules all snakes of the ninja world. All serpent-type summoning animals can be controlled and summoned.
This sentence was like a giant stone, instantly stirring up ripples of excitement in the depths of Orochimaru's heart.
In other words, by signing this Eight-Headed Serpent Clan Summoning Scroll, he would later be able to sign the scrolls of all serpent-type summoning animals, summoning and controlling them.
Next, the very last sentence of the opening passage startled Orochimaru again.
Descendants of the clan, remember that the Eight-Headed Serpent Summoning Technique requires enormous expenditure. No member of our clan shall sign this until they become a Jōnin; otherwise, they will certainly be drained of all life force and perish due to insufficient chakra for the summoning. Remember this! Remember this!
The single "Remember" and the double "Remember this!" made Orochimaru's heart clench. What a technique! It's a treasure, indeed. I never expected the signing condition alone to be so stringent!
It seemed the domineering, fierce aura on the relief door was also a mechanism set up to test the strength of the clan's descendants.
Orochimaru gave a wry smile. If not for his bizarre rebirth experience, he might have been blocked outside the relief door by that spiritual energy, even if he knew about the secret chamber.
This power and treasure that he could only see but not obtain left Orochimaru feeling an unbearable, anxious itch, like a cat scratching at his heart.
Of course, Orochimaru's anticipation for the true power of this summoning technique grew even stronger!
Flipping further, lines of names of the clan's former heroes appeared after the opening text, numbering in the dozens. Orochimaru inwardly gasped and sighed. Although he didn't hold Jōnin in the highest regard, he had to admit that they didn't grow on trees. Even his father had only reached the level of a Tokubetsu Jōnin (Special Jōnin). To become a Jōnin required effort and talent in equal measure.
Every Jōnin was a core strength of a nation. Dozens of Jōnin were enough to destroy a small country!
After contemplating for a moment, Orochimaru placed the Eight-Headed Serpent Summoning Scroll back on the altar. This secret chamber was hidden and secure—far better than carrying the scroll on his person.
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