In Naruto's words, he wanted to wander through the Forest of Death alone to see if any unexpected targets might appear.
Sasuke was quite furious about this but couldn't stop Naruto.
Little did he know, Naruto was doing this to protect them.
Because ever since entering the Forest of Death, Naruto could feel a cold, sinister aura locked onto him.
He believed it was likely a master from another ninja village who had infiltrated Konoha and taken a particular interest in him.
Minato, who had transformed into a Shinigami, was especially sensitive to auras. He voiced his suspicion with some hesitation:
"This aura… it feels a bit like Orochimaru, one of the Sannin."
Why would the Konoha rogue ninja, obsessed with his research, appear here?
Could it be that he wants to use me for experiments too?
Naruto chuckled softly, not a trace of fear in his heart.
He had far too many trump cards up his sleeve now; it wouldn't be so easy for a Kage-level ninja to take him down.
Besides, this was still Konoha's territory.
The reason Naruto was luring Orochimaru away was firstly to protect his teammates.
Sasuke was an opponent he valued, and he didn't want Sasuke to meet an early demise here.
Secondly, he was very interested in Orochimaru himself.
If possible, perhaps they could discuss research matters.
Naruto moved through the Forest of Death like this, with Orochimaru easily trailing behind him.
The Forest of Death assessment lasted five days; Orochimaru had plenty of time to achieve his objectives.
But before that, he wanted to properly observe this interesting Jinchuriki, Naruto.
During the day he spent following Naruto, he saw Naruto mercilessly kill ninja from other villages.
No Genin, regardless of who they were, could withstand a single strike from Naruto's blade.
Each one was run clean through.
After doing all this, Naruto would wipe the blood from his blade with a smile.
That smile was enough to send shivers down one's spine, and it also pushed Orochimaru's interest in Naruto to its absolute peak.
Until one afternoon, when Orochimaru saw a monster wearing a mask, a gaping hole in its chest, emerge from a corpse, he could no longer suppress the excitement welling up inside him.
It was a clear, sunny afternoon.
The Chunin Exams were midway through, and more than half of the ninja who had entered the Forest of Death were already dead or injured.
Those who withdrew, withdrew; those who advanced, advanced.
Sasuke and Sakura had also begun to steadily acquire scrolls for passing the exam. Naruto already had more than enough scrolls to qualify, but he continued to stroll through the Forest of Death at an unhurried pace.
Sunlight filtered down through the dense leaves, dappling the ground. The air reeked of blood.
The danger of the Forest of Death assessment wasn't just the constant threat of assassination from other ninja, but also the wild beasts within the forest.
The scent of blood easily attracted ninja or large, ferocious beasts, leading to further depletion of a ninja's stamina or their outright demise.
Therefore, examinees would subconsciously avoid areas heavy with the scent of blood.
Naruto strolled leisurely through the forest, humming a little tune, searching for interesting scenery as if he were sightseeing.
Whenever an unappreciative beast appeared, he would deal with it casually.
On a treetop nearly thirty meters away from Naruto, Orochimaru couldn't help but stick out his long tongue to lick his lips, his eyes filled with curiosity and greed.
He had learned from Danzo.
Naruto possessed an exceedingly wondrous Kekkei Genkai, with potential comparable to the Sharingan. Coupled with his status as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Naruto was undoubtedly a future Kage-level powerhouse.
Adding to that Naruto's keen perception from before, Orochimaru was very keen on getting into close contact with Naruto, to properly study that young, tender body of his.
It was just that he had an agreement with Danzo: he couldn't touch Naruto.
Naruto was Danzo's target.
But that didn't mean he couldn't interact with Naruto, interact with this genius who had driven even Danzo to obsession.
Once he understood Naruto's caliber, he would then go and play with that Uchiha survivor, imprint his mark upon his body, and then use words to ignite his thirst for power.
He would toy with his mind, ultimately making him a slave to power, obediently walking into his embrace, becoming his vessel.
At that time, he would possess the powerful Kekkei Genkai of the Sharingan!
Thinking of this wonderful future, Orochimaru couldn't stop himself from licking his lips perversely, his body trembling slightly, as if reaching a spiritual peak and release from within.
Just then, he saw Naruto walk to the edge of a lake. The moment Naruto bent down to wash his hands, two ninja suddenly burst out from the bushes, kunai in their hands thrusting viciously towards Naruto's back.
Swish! The kunai passed through an afterimage. Before the two ninja could react, they felt a sharp pain in their chests.
They looked down in astonishment to find their chests pierced by a long sword.
The sword was pulled out, taking with it the last trace of warmth from their bodies.
Droplets of fresh blood seeped from the wounds, quickly soaking the earth beneath them.
Naruto and a shadow clone each withdrew their blades, and the two corpses in front of them collapsed with a thud.
He stepped over the blood, elegantly wiping the blood from his long sword.
In his vision, two soul-orbs slowly rose from the corpses.
Naruto glanced almost imperceptibly towards Orochimaru's hiding spot, a curve playing on his lips.
He infused Reiatsu into the two souls.
Then, under Orochimaru's shocked, even horrified gaze, the souls began to take visible form, strange energies coursing within their bodies.
"Uzumaki Naruto… is actually toying with the souls of the dead?!" Orochimaru's eyes widened. For a moment, he even forgot to stay hidden, his eyes blazing with fervor.
Orochimaru was a scientist perverse enough to undergo gender transformation for the sake of research.
To research immortality, he had inevitably studied the human body and soul.
Among these, the soul, that ethereal thing, was the most elusive.
It was said that after death, souls travel to the Pure Land.
From another perspective then, if one could control a person's soul, could one achieve resurrection?
Orochimaru had conducted countless studies with this idea in mind.
In the past, the Second Hokage had also conducted similar research, even developing a forbidden jutsu like Edo Tensei, which toyed with the souls of the dead.
Because he was Hokage, no one could reprimand him.
But Orochimaru was different.
He was merely the Hokage's disciple; conducting such human research was naturally considered a violation of ethics and morality.
After defecting from Konoha, he had never ceased his human experiments, hoping to uncover the truth of the soul, but his research progress was extremely slow, almost non-existent.
But just now, he had seen Uzumaki Naruto, the supposed Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, use some special means to make human souls visible.
Not only that, the souls seemed to be undergoing some kind of… aberration?
Orochimaru swallowed hard, his eyes filled with an insatiable thirst for knowledge.
He sensed a kindred spirit in Naruto.
A similar madness that would stop at nothing for the sake of research.
In his line of sight, the souls writhed in agony. A bone-white mask gradually formed on their faces, and a deep cavity appeared in their chests. Their entire beings radiated an extreme frenzy.