Naruto God of The Shinobi

CHAPTER 21

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

Chapter Twenty One

Orochimaru was a prideful person, the years of being called a genius and a prodigy, along with being trained by the Yōso Sennin and the Sandaime Hokage had given him a streak of arrogance that even he had to acknowledge. Yet, even knowing of his hubris, the Snake Sannin had never made any attempt to correct his ways, believing that his superiority was well deserved.

He'd fought against Hanzo the Salamander, joined the ANBU, decimated hundreds during the second and third shinobi wars, he was also the head of Konoha's Chakra Research Division, should anyone in the world have the right to become arrogant, it should be him.

And that was only the official side of what he does, if someone had found out the other side to his experiments and research, he'd no doubt be run out of the village, but even then, they'd have to realise the genius in his work. Splicing the DNA of children with that of Hashirama Senju in order to create a bearer to fabled Mokuton bloodline, experimenting on members of the Iburi Clan, with their ability to become smoke, and researching the possibility to become immortal; these were all things that Orochimaru was currently studying in secret labs situated around Konoha and the Elemental Nations. Each one a masterpiece had anyone other than himself had the chance to study his work.

In years past, he would have been content to keep his operations discreet, not wanting someone to, by chance, discover his extracurricular activities. While he was restricted in some of experiments that he was allowed perform, both on and off the records in Konoha, Orochimaru overcame this restriction by merely moving his more 'sensetive' projects to remote bases. Doing this granted Orochimaru the power to perform any experiment he wished provided that he was cautious enough, and retain the protection that Konoha offered.

His ultimate goal of gaining the knowledge of very single technique that exists was something that he had strived for to accomplish for years now, the laws of the Hidden Leaf weren't going to stop him. His desire to become a supreme being would not be quench until he had what he wanted in the palm of his hand, and what he wanted was the ability to become perfect. At least in his own eyes, Orochimaru had no doubt that many would consider, not only what he was attempting, but also his methods, monstrous.

Orochimaru would never admit it to anyone but he actually looked forward to the small visits that Jiraiya would give him, not out of the small amount of fondness he felt for his teammate, but rather his reports on locating the Yōso Sennin. His interests in these reports were for his own gain, the man that had trained him when he was a child was someone that he knew he would be a wealth of information, both from the Sennin's own knowledge of his jutsu and from his body.

The ability to use unknown kekkei genkai in the form of the mystical Kūton (Sky Release) and Seiton (Star Release), along with the possibility of new, undiscovered bloodlines, made someone like Orochimaru drool at the thought. All he needed from the Sennin was a drop of blood, granted he might actually need more for future experiments in case one went wrong, but that was the possibility, one drop of blood could vault Orochimaru into a league of his own.

But it was to the Sannin's annoyance that nothing was ever heard about the Sennin, at least, nothing until tonight. The snake summoner had seen the man, his one-time teacher, leap and kick the Kyūbi in the head, redirecting what would have been a devastating bijūdama from destroying the village. Orochimaru wouldn't admit it, but if the white-haired legend hadn't acted, he knew he would have died in that attack and no use of his body replacement technique would have prevented otherwise.

He had wanted to pursue the man, he should have pursued, but he didn't. The Sennin had been in Konoha the entire time and he'd never noticed, the information along with his sudden entrance had shocked the pale man to the point where he was momentarily unable to move. In the back of his mind, Orochimaru had wondered if Jiraiya was having the exact same thoughts.