After calming down, Orochimaru slowly said, "Lord Rowan, may I ask why you sought me out this time?"
Orochimaru knew very well that if Rowan had revealed something this huge to him, it was obviously because he wanted to make use of his strength.
And if the other party could offer enough in return, Orochimaru wouldn't mind lending a hand.
But in the very next second, Orochimaru froze.
Rowan shook his head and said, "Then you guessed wrong, Orochimaru. I'm not the one looking for you. Tsunade is."
Orochimaru instinctively turned to look at Tsunade.
Tsunade nodded. "That's right. I'm the one who wanted to see you this time."
Then she turned to Rowan and asked, "Can I show Naruto and One Piece to Orochimaru?"
"Hold on a second."
Rowan stood up, walked to the private room's door, and pulled it open. To Orochimaru and Kabuto's surprise, what lay beyond it was not the restaurant hall outside.
It was a living room.
Naturally, this was Rowan's room.
"Come in."
Tsunade and Shizune walked over without hesitation.
Orochimaru and Kabuto exchanged a glance, then followed them in.
After the two of them stepped through the doorway and entered Rowan's house, Rowan went off, came back with two sets of manga, and tossed them to Orochimaru and Kabuto.
"One set each. Orochimaru, you read Naruto. Kabuto, you read One Piece. When you're done, switch."
Neither of them objected. Each picked up a set and started reading.
After finishing Naruto, Orochimaru shot Kabuto a rather strange look.
He really hadn't expected that after his death, Kabuto would end up causing that much chaos. Not only had he mastered Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode—something Orochimaru himself had never achieved—but he had also pulled off something on that scale.
But he wasn't jealous.
On the contrary, he felt gratified.
He really had chosen the right person.
Kabuto truly was excellent.
Orochimaru had at least that much grace.
What did leave him sighing, though, was how the later part of Naruto had clearly turned into a battle of gods. Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, Obito Uchiha, Madara Uchiha—every single one of them was absurdly overpowered.
Compared to them, his own strength was no different from some random nobody.
Sure enough, without a kekkei genkai, it was impossible to truly stand at the top of the ninja world.
That only made him crave the Sharingan even more. The fact that it could eventually evolve into the Rinnegan was simply perfect.
The only problem was that Itachi Uchiha was too strong. Orochimaru couldn't beat him.
And Sasuke Uchiha not only carried Indra's chakra within him, but was also under the direct attention of the Sage of Six Paths. There was no way Orochimaru could seize that body.
Which meant that, now, the only option was cloning—creating an Uchiha body through cloning technology.
In the past, Orochimaru couldn't have done something like that.
But after acquiring the knowledge Tsunade had given him, he was already getting ideas. And if Tsunade helped him as well…
Then maybe it wasn't impossible after all.
After Orochimaru finished Naruto, Kabuto also finished One Piece, and the two exchanged them.
Once they had both read Naruto and One Piece—
Rowan handed them Boruto too.
If Naruto had shocked them, then Boruto left them utterly stunned, incredulous, and downright speechless.
Who could have imagined that the final boss race of the Naruto world, the Ōtsutsuki clan, would just keep showing up one after another in Boruto?
Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki.
Either one of them could crush them with ease.
"As expected of Lord Orochimaru. So you really didn't die after all," Kabuto said, pushing up his glasses in admiration.
He had originally thought Orochimaru was completely finished in Naruto. Who would've guessed that he would come back to life in Boruto? It was downright legendary.
That ability to stay alive was absolutely ridiculous. Even the Ōtsutsuki would have to give him a thumbs-up.
"You flatter me." Orochimaru smiled faintly. "I made quite a few preparations in pursuit of immortality. Now it seems they were quite useful after all."
"Kabuto, you're not bad either. I underestimated you. Bringing you with me back then was indeed one of the best decisions I ever made."
"That's all thanks to Lord Orochimaru's guidance."
"Enough, enough, stop praising each other already. It's disgusting," Tsunade said, goosebumps rising all over her skin as she watched the two flatter each other.
Orochimaru and Kabuto exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of amusement in the other's eyes.
Then Orochimaru turned his gaze back to Rowan and said with a smile, "You mentioned earlier that you've connected to three worlds so far. Those three should be your world, our world, and the world of One Piece, correct?"
Rowan nodded. "Yep. Those are the three."
Tsunade said, "Now that you know the truth, Orochimaru, you don't want the Ōtsutsuki clan to completely reclaim all the chakra in the ninja world, do you?"
Orochimaru's expression turned serious.
Chakra was the foundation of his pursuit of immortality. Naturally, there was no way he would just sit back and watch the Ōtsutsuki take it all back.
"So," he asked, "what do you want to do?"
Tsunade said, "Study Devil Fruits. Increase our strength. Then face the Ōtsutsuki in a stronger form."
"Agreed."
Orochimaru accepted at once. In his eyes, the power of Devil Fruits was incredibly fascinating as well, and well worth researching.
If the ninja world truly lost to the Ōtsutsuki one day, then perhaps Devil Fruit powers might be what saved his life and granted him immortality.
The Op-Op Fruit, for example, was a perfect example of that.
"But in exchange, I want the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi," Orochimaru said.
The Op-Op Fruit was certainly excellent, but it was obviously better suited to Tsunade.
In Orochimaru's view, the fruit that truly suited him was the Snake-Snake Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Model: Yamata no Orochi.
Not only could it let the user transform into the legendary eight-headed serpent, with each head possessing independent consciousness and capable of attacking from multiple angles—
Each head also represented a separate life, effectively granting the user eight lives.
With that Devil Fruit, Orochimaru was completely confident he could master Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode.
It was absolutely a top-tier Devil Fruit.
In the hands of Kurozumi Orochi, it had been utterly wasted.
That idiot hadn't even brought out one-tenth of the fruit's real potential.
"Fine," Tsunade said. "But you deal with Kaido yourself."
In Tsunade's eyes, Kurozumi Orochi was no match for Orochimaru.
But the real problem in obtaining that fruit wasn't Orochi.
It was Kaido.
Kurozumi Orochi was Kaido's ally. If anyone tried to move against him, there was no way Kaido would just sit back and ignore it.
Orochimaru understood that perfectly well, and he fell silent.
Although he had never met Kaido in person, judging by Kaido's performance in the story, Orochimaru figured he probably wasn't Kaido's match.
Kaido might have been a brute, but his strength was undeniably terrifying.
Looking across the entire Naruto world, there were very few people who could actually defeat Kaido.
~~~
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