◉◉◉◉◉
The next day.
Konoha.
Orochimaru did something rare.
He did not conduct experiments. He did not wander around outside. He did not carry out missions.
He simply slept.
Quietly and peacefully, like an ordinary person.
Only when sunlight spilled through the window did he slowly open his eyes, get up unhurriedly, dress, and wash in the small room.
Orochimaru was still Orochimaru. Those golden, sinister eyes still carried a cold gleam.
"This tongue…"
Orochimaru opened his mouth and stuck it out.
Even without using any jutsu, it stretched to an absurd length, nearly reaching his own neck.
Grotesque. Excessive.
If he used chakra, extending it dozens of meters would be effortless.
"Tch."
"What the hell am I thinking."
He shook his head sharply, forcing his expression back to normal.
…
"Strange. What is this hunger."
Just like the day before, Orochimaru appeared on Konoha's streets. He had already eaten breakfast at Ichiraku Ramen.
And yet.
When several members of the Uchiha clan passed by, a sudden hunger welled up inside him.
It felt instinctive.
Like a beast sensing prey.
"In the original records, Orochimaru was never someone who craved human flesh."
Orochimaru frowned inwardly.
There were three academy-aged children. The Uchiha clan crest was printed clearly on the backs of their clothes.
Why did he feel nothing toward others.
Yet toward the Uchiha, his body reacted eagerly.
Orochimaru fell into thought.
Could it be.
"Is this because of bloodline limits."
He muttered softly.
Kekkei genkai. Special hereditary bloodlines that granted extraordinary abilities.
No reaction toward ordinary people.
Excitement when facing Uchiha.
Had this body undergone another change.
"Konoha Year Forty-Nine. Naruto and Sasuke should be around one year old."
"Uchiha Itachi would be seven. Just graduated from the academy."
"And then there's another prodigy. Uchiha Shisui. About four years older than Itachi."
"He should not have awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan yet. He should still be carrying out missions for Konoha."
Orochimaru calculated quietly.
Since he had inherited everything Orochimaru possessed, there was no reason not to aim for the peak of the shinobi world.
And among all paths to power, the Sharingan and the Uchiha bloodline were indispensable.
They were prerequisites for awakening the Rinnegan. For that, he might one day take Sasuke's body.
"Before leaving the village, I'll need to find out Shisui's whereabouts."
"Those kids should know something."
Having made up his mind, Orochimaru casually glanced at the ANBU monitoring him from the shadows, then vanished using Body Flicker.
…
More than ten minutes later.
The cold man reappeared deep in the forest behind the village.
The three young Uchiha were bound at the wrists, glaring at Orochimaru with burning fury.
This bastard.
He dared to attack inside the village.
Even if he was one of the Legendary Sannin, did he really think he could provoke the Uchiha clan without consequences.
"Hmm."
"It seems you still do not understand your situation."
"Learn some respect when speaking to your elders. Understand."
Orochimaru's expression darkened.
He pulled a kunai from his pouch and sliced cleanly through one boy's wrist.
"Ahhh."
A shrill scream echoed through the forest.
Only then did the three finally realize what kind of monster stood before them.
"Tell me everything you know about Uchiha Shisui."
"Otherwise."
"The next thing I cut off will be your heads."
Orochimaru issued the threat.
His hoarse voice hissed like a venomous serpent, and without anyone noticing, the Hell Viewing Technique had already been activated.
The three boys saw a vision of a sea of blood and hellfire. Their own cold corpses lay on the ground before them. A freezing dread swallowed their hearts whole.
"Shi… Shisui…"
"He… he…"
One of them finally cracked under the pressure, his resolve collapsing as he instinctively prepared to betray his clansman.
"Shut up."
"We're Uchiha."
"We can't surrender."
Another boy roared, his pitch-black eyes turning blood-red as two black tomoe spun slowly around his pupils.
Thud.
A kunai pierced straight through his heart. Blood erupted like a fountain.
The boy who had just awakened his two-tomoe Sharingan was now barely breathing, more air leaving his lungs than entering.
"The next one."
"You. Are you going to talk."
Orochimaru asked calmly.
Even if none of them spoke, he could always grab three more.
He was leaving Konoha anyway. Killing a few people meant nothing.
"I… I'll talk."
"Shisui went out on a mission two days ago. Today is Uchiha Itachi's birthday. The clan head's son. Shisui will definitely come back."
"My lord, you only need to wait outside the village."
The boy collapsed completely and spilled everything.
Faced with life and death, he chose himself.
Orochimaru was one of the Legendary Sannin. He would not go back on his word. He would survive.
And besides, if no one said anything, who would ever know they had betrayed Shisui.
"Good."
"You're a bit smarter than the one lying on the ground."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly.
One boy clutched his severed wrist, barely stopping the bleeding with chakra. The one who had given up the information knelt on one knee, head lowered, not daring to look up.
Crack.
A small white-scaled snake slid from Orochimaru's sleeve and snapped the neck of the boy with the severed hand.
"You gave me information."
"So I let you live."
Orochimaru said calmly.
He looked at the two new corpses without the slightest change in expression and opened a storage scroll from his pouch.
Bang.
He bit his finger, formed seals, and pressed his hand onto the center of the complex script.
A pile of surgical tools and ninja weapons appeared.
With practiced ease, Orochimaru put on gloves and walked to the bodies, removing the eyes of the two Uchiha and placing them into small glass containers filled with life-preserving solution.
"My lord."
"My lord, you said you would spare me."
Seeing Orochimaru approach with a scalpel, the last survivor screamed in terror.
"I never said I would kill you."
"I only need your eyes. Those two things do not conflict."
Orochimaru replied coldly.
"N-No."
The boy staggered to his feet, hysterical, trying to flee this nightmare.
But Orochimaru did not give him the chance.
"Disobedient children."
Orochimaru frowned and casually ended his life with a kunai.
He removed the third pair of eyes, preserved them, and then sealed everything back into the scroll.
"These eyes are just an appetizer."
"Shisui."
"Your Sharingan is mine."
Black snakes erupted from the ground, coiling around the three cold corpses.
The killer was already gone.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
Thank you so much for your support and for reading! Cr