"Huh?" Even with Orochimaru's intelligence, he was completely baffled by Danzō's reaction.
"Don't play dumb with me!" Danzō was furious. In his mind, if Orochimaru hadn't deliberately given away the location, how could that bastard have shown up at such a perfect time?
Plus, he'd never heard of any previous connection between Orochimaru and Chiaki Setsuna. This late-night visit clearly meant it was all premeditated.
"It won't be that easy to catch me!" Danzō snarled before quickly throwing down a smoke bomb and fleeing.
"What is that old ghoul going crazy about?" Orochimaru muttered, brushing the smoke away, but he knew Danzō's over-the-top reaction was likely related to the person outside the door.
"To scare Elder Danzō like that... this kid is truly something," Orochimaru licked his dry lips. Hearing the sound at the door again, he called out, "Please, come in."
Setsuna pushed the door open, looked around the room, and sighed regretfully: "I thought I heard Elder Danzō's voice just now. Was I imagining things?"
Orochimaru neither confirmed nor denied it, simply asking, "Aren't you going to introduce yourself first?"
"Oh, how rude of me," Setsuna said, feigning an afterthought. "My name is Chiaki Setsuna, and I am a Genin who deeply admires Lord Orochimaru. I came here tonight to volunteer my services as your assistant."
"An assistant?" Orochimaru looked puzzled. "I heard that Setsuna-kun seems to have no talent for Ninjutsu?"
Setsuna nodded: "I don't have Ninjutsu talent, it's true, but what I wish to learn from Lord Orochimaru isn't Ninjutsu. It's science."
"Science?" Orochimaru's expression grew even stranger. While technological items like TVs and refrigerators were common in Konoha, "science" was still a niche term for a ninja.
Setsuna continued: "I heard from Elder Danzō that Lord Orochimaru seems to have conducted quite a few human cell transplant experiments. I am very eager to be involved in that."
Orochimaru frowned: "He told you that?"
Setsuna lied with a straight face: "I heard him mention it while I was beating him up."
"Beating him up?" Orochimaru's mouth twitched slightly. He then asked, "So what do I get out of this? An assistant who can't use Ninjutsu doesn't seem to offer me much value."
Setsuna sincerely replied: "I can give Lord Orochimaru the opportunity to study me."
"Study you?" Orochimaru was taken aback. This was the first time he'd ever met someone who proactively invited him to experiment on them.
"I believe I have some research value," Setsuna said, holding out his right hand. "Lord Orochimaru, would you mind cutting my palm for me?"
Orochimaru did not refuse Setsuna's self-injurious request. A small snake shot out from his sleeve, striking directly at the web of Setsuna's hand.
There was a crisp crack, the snake's fangs broke, and the tiny creature writhed in pain.
Orochimaru's expression became serious. This was a specially bred poisonous snake, with a bite force comparable to a tiger or a leopard, yet it couldn't even break Setsuna's skin.
After a brief thought, he slid the Kusanagi Sword from his sleeve, gripping the long blade and piercing Setsuna's palm. It took considerable effort to finally draw a shallow cut on Setsuna's hand.
Then, that wound healed at a visible, rapid speed.
"That level of vitality..." Orochimaru's eyes glowed with excitement. He finally understood why Danzō was so obsessed with getting his hands on Setsuna.
It wasn't just his vitality; Setsuna's defense was comparable to the Steel Release Kekkei Genkai.
A body like that could indeed be the perfect vessel to contain the Wood Release.
Crucially, this cell activity might aid in his immortality experiments, which remained his ultimate goal.
Orochimaru scanned Setsuna with a look of pure avarice, asking with ill intent, "What if I'm not content with just studying, and I want to conduct some experiments on Setsuna-kun's body?"
"Then Lord Orochimaru will have to be very careful," Setsuna said with a "simple" and honest smile. "Because before that can happen, I'll beat you to death."
Orochimaru didn't get angry; instead, he laughed: "It seems both of us will have to watch our backs from now on."
Setsuna smiled: "It is an honor to become Lord Orochimaru's assistant."
Orochimaru pulled out a scroll: "Setsuna-kun, you haven't signed a Summoning Contract yet, have you? Would you like to contract with Ryūchi Cave?"
Setsuna hesitated: "Summoning Jutsu must be much harder than the Three Body Technique, right?"
Orochimaru chuckled: "Of course, there's no simpler Jutsu than the Three Body Technique. However, the key to the Summoning Jutsu lies in the response. If you can negotiate a sacrifice with a particular creature beforehand, it will respond to your call, even if your summoning signal is weak."
"It works like that?" Setsuna was interested. He didn't care what he summoned—unless it was the White Snake Sage, any other summon would be weaker than himself.
What he was really interested in was the Reverse Summoning Jutsu. While Reverse Summoning has strict limitations—without prior preparation, you must first summon the creature, inform it of your intent, and then end the original summoning before the creature can Reverse Summon you—it's nearly impossible for a normal ninja to use it to avoid an attack.
But that was for normal ninjas. A regular ninja's body is too weak to endure long enough for the Reverse Summoning to take effect. However, given Setsuna's durability, taking a few rounds of powerful attacks would be fine. Coupled with his Senzu Beans, he could definitely survive long enough for the Reverse Summoning to work.
Orochimaru smiled: "Of course it can. But you must have enough of a sacrifice. Snake summons are very cold-blooded, after all."
Setsuna knew what Orochimaru meant by "sacrifice"—most likely, it meant providing living people as tribute whenever summoned, much like Manda.
He certainly wouldn't agree to that, and not all snake summons were as ferocious as Manda; there were also creatures like Aoda, who respected strength.
"In any case, you can try it first. Perhaps a weaker creature will willingly respond to the contract," Orochimaru said with a smirk, anticipating a spectacle.
If only the snake summons had a tadpole stage like the toads, he would love to see the look on Setsuna's face when he summoned a tadpole.
Setsuna signed his name on the scroll, bit his finger, and began weaving the hand seals for the summoning.
The next moment, a gigantic purple snake appeared before the two of them, immediately shattering the wooden shack.
"Hiss! What delicious blood!" the huge venomous python groaned happily, its dripping saliva corroding the ground.
"Huh, it's Manda..." Setsuna was familiar with the giant snake and secretly speculated, "Could it be because my blood has the aura of the Dragon God?"
Manda spoke in a greedy tone: "The one who summoned me is just a brat? Your blood is very good. If you summon me, you only need to provide fifty sacrifices!"
Orochimaru's eye twitched uncontrollably. Manda had actually responded to Setsuna's summoning, and the required sacrifice was only half of what he demanded from Orochimaru! He felt as though his girlfriend had just been poached right in front of him.
---
Meanwhile, Danzō, who had been running frantically for over ten kilometers, finally stopped. He looked back, frowning as he muttered to himself: "They didn't chase me. Was that brat really not trying to trick me?"
Recalling Orochimaru's reaction at the time, Danzō felt even more uneasy: "Was it truly just a coincidence? Regardless, going to see Orochimaru in the middle of the night... that brat is clearly not as pure as Hiruzen claimed. Everyone has been fooled by him."
Danzō judged others by himself; anyone who took the same kind of action he did couldn't possibly be a good person.
But the more he thought so, the more wary he became of Setsuna. After all, he knew exactly how terrifying people like him could be when they dropped all pretense, especially when that person possessed such immense power.
With a sigh, Danzō thought: "Forget it. Orochimaru can't be trusted now either. I'll just have to abandon this plan for the time being. When the war begins and Konoha is struggling, Hiruzen will naturally understand my suggestions."