After being hit by a barrage of Sealing Techniques, Orochimaru was quickly forced to undo his Eight Branches Technique.
Any Ninjutsu requires Chakra to maintain, and the Eight Branches Technique was no exception. With his Chakra sealed, Orochimaru could no longer maintain his Eight-Headed Serpent form.
Fortunately, the Sealing Technique would not become ineffective just because the target shrank.
"How is this possible?"
"The invincible Lord Orochimaru actually lost?"
"What should we do now?"
The Otogakure Ninja showed shocked and bewildered expressions upon seeing Orochimaru captured.
A moment later, many Otogakure Ninja loyal to Orochimaru instinctively rushed forward, attempting a rescue. Leading them were Guren and Kimimaro.
"If you don't want him to die, then stand still," Kitazawa said, pointing his chakra blade Zangetsu at Orochimaru as he looked at them.
Guren, Kimimaro, and the others immediately stopped, their faces grim.
"Orochimaru, let's talk," Tsunade stepped forward, looking at her former teammate, and spoke.
Orochimaru met her gaze and let out a light chuckle. He knew this would be the outcome.
"Why aren't you speaking?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.
"..." Orochimaru opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
"Someone sealed his voice," Kitazawa coughed lightly and said, "I'll unseal him."
The Sealing Squad Ninja exchanged glances, wanting to speak but hesitating. You were the one who sealed him. But they couldn't afford to offend Kitazawa, so they remained silent.
"Go and secure all the Otogakure Ninja," Tsunade waved her hand and instructed. The matters she was about to discuss with Orochimaru were not suitable for others to know.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," everyone replied in unison.
Those who could become Jonin were naturally not fools; they all understood Tsunade's unspoken meaning. Apart from Kitazawa, everyone else left to control the Otogakure Ninja.
Because Orochimaru was captured, Guren, Kimimaro, and the others did not resist. In short, it went very smoothly.
"Is there anything left for us to talk about?" Orochimaru said calmly, "Why don't you just kill me?"
"With your personality, you shouldn't be saying such things," Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "You have a way to resurrect yourself."
"Tsunade, has becoming Hokage not made you abandon your emotions?" Orochimaru retorted, "I am a rogue Ninja of Konoha Village. According to the rules, you should kill me."
"You have means of resurrection; killing you would be letting you off too easily," Tsunade said, unmoved.
Orochimaru was momentarily speechless. Dealing with acquaintances was indeed very difficult. Tsunade had immediately guessed his true intentions.
"You can't keep me locked up forever," Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth, saying confidently, "Given enough time, I can undo the seals on my body."
"I can imprison you in a prison covered in seals, and have the Sealing Squad reinforce your seals every day," Tsunade snorted coldly and asked, "Can you still escape then?"
"I can escape by committing suicide," Orochimaru said with a calm expression.
"Cursed Seal of Heaven(Heaven Curse Mark)," Kitazawa suddenly spoke.
Orochimaru's heart trembled, but he controlled his expression well; there was no change.
"What is the Cursed Seal of Heaven?" Tsunade asked, puzzled.
"Teacher Tsunade, you should have seen it; it's the Cursed Seal on Anko," Kitazawa replied.
Anko Mitarashi was Orochimaru's second student and the first Ninja to survive receiving the Cursed Seal of Heaven.
After Orochimaru defected, Anko was brought back to Konoha by the Anbu and underwent various tests. Because Orochimaru had erased her relevant memories, she passed the tests.
In the original story, she even became a proctor for the Chunin Exams. The Anbu naturally discovered the Cursed Seal of Heaven on her.
"I remember it," Tsunade said thoughtfully, "That Cursed Seal can temporarily boost Anko's strength, but it puts a great strain on her body."
"The Cursed Seal of Heaven is not just for that; it's also Orochimaru's medium for resurrection," Kitazawa said unhurriedly.
"What?" Tsunade looked surprised.
"How do you know?" Orochimaru's face instantly darkened. At the same time, he felt perplexed.
Because the fact that the Cursed Seal of Heaven was his resurrection medium was known only to himself. Besides that, no one else knew, and no one had ever seen it.
After all, he had not yet been forced to the point of using the Cursed Seal of Heaven to resurrect.
Tsunade also looked at Kitazawa, feeling curious.
"I specialize in Yin Release," Kitazawa made up, "I discovered an unusual aura within the Cursed Seal of Heaven. I suspect it might be a fragment of your soul."
"Even if you know, so what?" Orochimaru was silent for two seconds, then asked, "Do you really think I only have one Cursed Seal of Heaven user?"
Tsunade couldn't help but frown. Anko had always been in Konoha Village. Orochimaru certainly wouldn't put all his hopes on just one person. This was truly troublesome.
Konoha Village couldn't possibly search the entire world for Cursed Seal of Heaven users.
"As for Anko, I've already had the Anbu and Sealing Squad guard her," Kitazawa continued, "Once you resurrect in her body, you will be sealed." He finished speaking and raised Zangetsu.
"Kitazawa, what are you doing?" Tsunade asked, confused.
"A Ninja capable of enduring the Cursed Seal of Heaven must be a genius among geniuses, and also possess a certain element of luck," Kitazawa said with certainty, "I am sure he has not found a second Cursed Seal of Heaven user."
Tsunade couldn't help but be stunned.
Given Orochimaru's abilities, he shouldn't have only one Cursed Seal of Heaven user, but since these words came from Kitazawa, she still believed him.
"Since he says he has more than one Cursed Seal of Heaven user, I'll make a gamble with him," Kitazawa said with a slight smile, "I'll kill him right now."
"Alright then," Tsunade hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed.
"..." Orochimaru's face turned ashen with anger.
He had previously said Tsunade was emotional, but now she had suddenly become ruthless. No, it wasn't her problem; it was clearly Kitazawa who was too outrageous.
How could he kill him based on a mere guess? He was Orochimaru, possessing extremely high value.
But Kitazawa was not Tsunade; there was no emotion between them.
Should he gamble?
As Orochimaru pondered, he saw Kitazawa suddenly swing down the blade. The sharpness of the blade stung his skin, as if his head would be severed in the next second.
"Wait!" Orochimaru ultimately didn't dare to gamble with his life.
His greatest dream was to learn all Ninjutsu, delve into the power within the human body, and comprehend the truth of time. The prerequisite for all of this was that he had to be alive.
If he died, everything would be gone; both dreams and ambitions would be reduced to ashes.
"What do you want to discuss?" Orochimaru asked with a grim expression.
Seeing this, Tsunade couldn't help but curl her lips. Her student was indeed excellent; he even managed to successfully intimidate Orochimaru.
Tsunade knew that Kitazawa wouldn't actually kill him. Because they had discussed how to deal with Orochimaru before.
If they didn't kill him, then they would make him work for Konoha Village to atone for the sins he had committed.
However, Orochimaru didn't know this. Moreover, he didn't want to die; his desire for life surpassed everyone else's.
"In a sense, this is a collaboration," Tsunade said slowly, "Konoha will provide you with experimental equipment and funding, and you will share the results with Konoha."
"What are the specific conditions?" Orochimaru didn't believe Konoha Village was that kindhearted.
"First, you are not allowed to harm Konoha Village Ninja or villagers, nor can you use them for experiments," Tsunade held up two fingers and said, "Second, I will assign someone to monitor you, to prevent you from causing trouble."
"Who?" Orochimaru's gaze sharpened as he asked.
The first condition was actually not a big deal for him. He only had a few experiments involving the human body.
And Tsunade only said he couldn't use Konoha Village Ninja and villagers for experiments; what about enemy Ninja? Or serious criminals?
In his opinion, the second condition was the most troublesome. Being monitored would not only make him lose his freedom, but also make some things difficult to do.
For example, secretly escaping Konoha.
Although the conditions offered by Konoha were very good, the loss of freedom made him very unhappy.
"Someone you are very familiar with," Tsunade said in a deep voice, "Hiruzen Sensei."
"...?" Orochimaru was instantly full of question marks.
You're making him monitor me. Is that really necessary?
Kitazawa couldn't help but laugh.
He had thought only he respected Orochimaru so much, giving him a bunch of Sealing Techniques, but he didn't expect Tsunade to be equally generous.
It must be said, the idea of having Sarutobi Hiruzen monitor Orochimaru was brilliant.
Hiruzen was retired now, only occasionally visiting the Ninja Academy; he was mostly idle. Most importantly, he was Orochimaru's teacher and understood him very well.
Even if he didn't use his real body, just using a Shadow Clone to monitor him would give Orochimaru a huge headache.
However, just in case, Itachi could also be added.
"Let's go, follow me back to Konoha."
Tsunade turned her head to look in the direction of Konoha Village and said, "The Old Man will surely be very pleasantly surprised to see you."
Orochimaru fell into silence.
For some reason, hearing about returning to Konoha, a strange feeling welled up in his heart. There was anticipation and resistance, very complex.
Perhaps... returning to Konoha wasn't a bad thing.
In fact, for Orochimaru, having a stable environment for experiments was already very satisfying. After all, everything he had done was for his experiments, his research.
And in the original story, he also helped Konoha Village multiple times during the Fourth Shinobi World War.
Ultimately, Tsunade also allowed him to continue his experiments without harming others' lives, letting him stay in Konoha Village.
From Kitazawa's perspective, this was a plot development that occurred earlier due to his butterfly effect.
Regardless of the process, at least the outcome was the same.
This was also why Kitazawa dared to let Orochimaru return to the village. After all, in the original story, he had been well-behaved after returning to the village and even created a child himself.
"Before you go, there's one more thing you need to do."
Tsunade suddenly thought of something and said, "That is to give an explanation to the Ninja of Otogakure."
"How do you plan to deal with them?"
Orochimaru paused, then said, "There are many talented individuals among them who can help me with my experiments."
"Otogakure, as a Ninja village, just needs to function normally." Tsunade thought for a moment and said, "These talented individuals you mentioned, bring them back to Konoha."
"I'll go talk to them." Orochimaru walked towards the captured Ninja of Otogakure upon hearing this.
"This matter has finally come to an end, but if Orochimaru betrays us again, I won't be lenient with him."
Tsunade said with determination, as if she had made up her mind.
In reality, her handling of Orochimaru did not conform to the rules of Konoha Village. In the original story, Orochimaru had first rendered meritorious service.
However, he could still render meritorious service now, which would be through his research.
For example, the Cursed Seal. If a Cursed Seal unit could be formed, it would be a terrifying boost for Konoha Village.
But the prerequisite was to improve the success rate of Cursed Seal implantation and reduce the mortality rate.
"With Third Hokage-sama watching him, he won't be able to cause trouble," Kitazawa chuckled and said.
"That's true." Tsunade felt much more at ease upon hearing this.
"I've already told them to follow Konoha's orders." A moment later, Orochimaru returned.
"Kitazawa, I'll leave Otogakure to you. I'll take Orochimaru back to Konoha first," Tsunade instructed.
"Understood." Kitazawa paused and said, "Bring the Ninja of the Uchiha Clan."
Although Orochimaru was covered in the Sealing Technique, safety came first.
Tsunade didn't say much and left Otogakure with Orochimaru, Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Itachi, and others.
The other Konoha Village Ninja were left for Kitazawa to command.
Kitazawa looked at the Ninja of Otogakure. Many of them showed a sense of apprehension.
However, some were very calm — such as Kimimaro.
"Who is in charge now?" Kitazawa asked.
"It's me." Guren stepped forward and said, "Lord Orochimaru has temporarily entrusted Otogakure to my management."
There was a hint of pride in her tone.
How to put it? Orochimaru was not lacking in charisma. In Otogakure, many people were devoted to him.
Even individuals like Guren and Kimimaro considered it an honor to be Orochimaru's vessel.
In the original story, Guren became jealous because Orochimaru chose Sasuke as his vessel.
Now that she had been chosen as the leader of Otogakure, she felt important and was somewhat happy.
"I need a list of the Ninja of Otogakure, including the geniuses," Kitazawa looked at her and said.
"The building was destroyed; I need time to find those documents." Guren thought for a moment and added, "It would be best if you could give me some more manpower."
"Alright." Kitazawa agreed to everything.
Without Orochimaru, the people of Otogakure couldn't cause any trouble.
"What a waste." Kitazawa looked at the destroyed Otogakure leader's building and sighed in his heart.
He had previously thought Tsunade kicking down a building was cool, but now it seemed like an unnecessary act.
After all, the current Otogakure was also considered part of Konoha Village. The released people of Otogakure began reconstruction work under Guren's leadership.
Kitazawa suddenly realized he had forgotten something — that was not bringing Yamato.
Otherwise, he could have helped them rebuild quickly.
[Current Mission: Capture Orochimaru alive.]
[Mission Reward: Eight Branches Technique.]
[The host has completed the mission, reward issued.]
Three lines of text appeared before Kitazawa's eyes, followed by a large influx of information.
He mastered the Eight Branches Technique in an instant.
Its abilities were similar to those displayed by the Eight-Headed Serpent that Orochimaru transformed into.
First, immortality.
Second, extremely high defense.
Third, terrifying attack power due to its massive size.
How to put it? Against an ordinary Ninja, this Eight Branches Technique was invincible. But against those few powerhouses who could suppress Tailed Beasts, it was meaningless.
The biggest flaw was that Ninjutsu could not be used in the Eight-Headed Serpent form. If Ninjutsu could be used, it could truly reach the strength of a Tailed Beast.
After all, Tailed Beasts also had destructive abilities like the Tailed Beast Ball.
Kitazawa's mind came up with ideas for improvement. But he didn't have that much time for now, so he could only put it off for later.
"Lord Kitazawa." An hour later, Guren appeared before him and handed him a scroll.
Kitazawa nodded slightly and opened the scroll. This was the current list of Otogakure Ninja and geniuses.
Kitazawa quickly scanned it — and found a familiar name: Tayuya.
One of the Sound Four, a red-haired girl, skilled in the Summoning Technique and Genjutsu.
It was worth mentioning that her Genjutsu was a rare sound-based illusion, using flute music to make the target enter a hallucination.
Kitazawa closed the scroll after reading it. Among the Sound Four, there were only Kimimaro and Tayuya on this list — not the other three.
As for the others, Kin Tsuchi and Dosu Kinuta were just ordinary Chunin, not worth paying attention to.
Oh, and Jugo was very valuable. He was the source of the Cursed Seal, naturally able to enter Sage Mode.
Simply put, he would go berserk in places with high natural energy.
Because of this, he had a dual personality; he was usually very honest, but with too much natural energy, he would become a killer.
"Call Kimimaro, Tayuya, and Jugo over," Kitazawa looked at Guren and said.
"Yes, Lord Kitazawa," Guren nodded and said.
Orochimaru had already told her to obey all of Kitazawa's orders, which was why she was so respectful.
A moment later, Kimimaro, Tayuya, and Jugo arrived before Kitazawa.
Kimimaro was expressionless. Jugo was silent.
But Tayuya was different — she looked at him with great anger.
Kitazawa remembered her personality in the original story: warlike, unyielding, and sharp-tongued — just like the "tsundere" type from his previous life.
Since he was the one who defeated Orochimaru, she naturally wouldn't show him any goodwill.
But it didn't matter; once she was thoroughly beaten, she would recognize reality.
"Orochimaru told me that your three talents are quite good, and staying in Otogakure is a waste, so he wants you to go to the Konoha Ninja Academy," Kitazawa said with a slight smile.
Orochimaru had not said these words, but for Kimimaro, Jugo, and Tayuya, it was very effective.
"I'll go." Kimimaro immediately agreed.
Jugo nodded.
"I'll go too," Tayuya snorted coldly and said, "I'm going to rescue Lord Orochimaru!"
"With just you, it's probably impossible for your entire life," Kitazawa shook his head and said bluntly.
"I definitely can!" Tayuya glared at him and said, "I am a genius recognized by Lord Orochimaru!"
[You have received a provocation from the transfer student Tayuya.]
[Current Mission: Defeat Tayuya.]
[Mission Reward: Demonic Flute: Phantom Sound Chains.]
Kitazawa couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
Being able to trigger a system mission meant there was no problem with her joining the Genius Class.
And if Tayuya could, then Kimimaro and Jugo could as well.
"What about you two?" Kitazawa clenched his fist and said, "She alone is not my opponent; with you two, you might be able to try."
"Kimimaro, don't you want to get revenge for Lord Orochimaru?" Tayuya promptly provided an assist.
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