"My, my, honestly, I never imagined that Naruto-kun would be hiding such a secret."
"Another world, a world completely different from the ninja world."
The small snake controlled by Orochimaru coiled itself on the table surface, gently flicking its forked tongue.
Naruto felt like he could see that pale, gloomy face through this serpent.
"Stop beating around the bush. Tell me, what do you want?"
Naruto knew that someone like Orochimaru wouldn't release the hawk without seeing the rabbit first.
If he didn't have some scheme in mind, who knows how much longer this guy would have continued lurking around him.
Jiraiya beside him was about to advise Naruto not to agree to the opponent's demands, but Naruto stopped him with a raised hand.
"It's so refreshing to talk with intelligent people, Naruto-kun."
"I want to obtain some of your bodily materials... of course, if you're willing to let me conduct research directly, that would be even better."
"It's not evening yet. Save the nonsense for when you're actually asleep."
Naruto directly refused this request.
If Orochimaru could leave backdoors on the Kusanagi Sword, much less on a living human body.
As long as Naruto wasn't stupid, he would never agree to such conditions.
"I see..."
"It seems you don't trust me, Naruto-kun. That's understandable."
The small snake nodded, then continued:
"Then let's change the terms."
"I want to visit that 'other world' you mentioned."
This request from Orochimaru was something Naruto hadn't expected.
He widened his eyes slightly, seriously meeting the snake's gaze.
"I haven't found a way to 'travel' with things yet..."
"Don't worry about that. I believe you'll find a way. I can wait."
Orochimaru's tone was unexpectedly calm.
This made sense.
Although the Konoha Collapse Plan had failed, Orochimaru had suffered basically no damage other than losing some subordinates.
Therefore, he wasn't in urgent need of a new body like in the original timeline where he had performed the Reaper Death Seal.
He could completely wait for his chosen body to "mature" before performing Living Corpse Reincarnation.
In other words, Orochimaru had plenty of time.
Naruto remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded.
"Fine. Speak."
Regarding Orochimaru, Naruto always disliked wasting words.
Purely because he and this type of schemer didn't get along.
"Where should I begin..."
The small snake slowly moved around the table surface. Orochimaru seemed to have completely ignored the possibility that Naruto was only giving verbal agreement.
It was as if, in his view, once Naruto spoke, he would definitely follow through.
"Perhaps you don't know. The one who controlled the Nine-Tails' rampage and caused your parents' deaths was someone else entirely. I'm not talking about that Danzo fellow."
Hearing this, Naruto didn't even blink.
"I know. It was someone with Sharingan."
This surprised Orochimaru somewhat.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya, hearing this truth for the first time, showed an expression of disbelief.
Because after the Nine-Tails incident occurred, all of Konoha's higher-ups had unified their story, saying it was just a "natural disaster." Even his teacher, the Third Hokage, had remained silent about it.
Although Jiraiya had maintained a skeptical attitude, he hadn't yet investigated more clues.
"How could this be..."
Jiraiya muttered to himself, having already decided to return and confront the Third Hokage face-to-face.
"Hehe... it seems you know more than this fellow."
Seeing Jiraiya's expression of doubt about life, a slight smile unconsciously appeared on Orochimaru's true face.
"If that's all there is, I think our deal..."
"I know who he is!"
With those words, all three other pairs of eyes in the room focused on him.
Naruto's gaze carried the strongest sense of pressure.
"I know, I know."
"Sharingan capable of controlling tailed beasts... that's not something that can be achieved through transplantation like Danzo."
"Obviously, he's an Uchiha."
"And now, besides your little friend Sasuke Uchiha, there aren't many Uchiha clan members left alive in the entire ninja world."
"Itachi Uchiha?"
Naruto recalled that guy in the black robe with red clouds who had attacked him in the Forest of Death that day.
That guy had personally killed all clan members except Sasuke.
"No, not him. During the Nine-Tails incident, he was just a child at least at that time, he didn't possess such ability."
Speaking of the latter part, Orochimaru, perhaps recalling some unpleasant experience, reluctantly added the latter sentence.
"However, that murderer has some connection to him. They both belong to the same organization."
"Akatsuki."
Naruto spoke the organization's name in a low voice.
Kakuzu, who had attacked him at that time, wore the same long robe as Itachi Uchiha, and had said "Akatsuki will avenge him."
If what Orochimaru said was true, then perhaps he had already made enemies with them long ago.
Unfortunately, the current Jiraiya had not yet investigated the "Akatsuki" organization and the people behind it, or his expression might be even more spectacular.
"Yes, perhaps you don't know. I was once part of that organization too."
Orochimaru's voice was unhurried.
"In that organization, there's a guy who calls himself 'Madara Uchiha.'"
"Impossible!"
This time it was Jiraiya who spoke.
"Madara Uchiha died long ago. He's lying."
He had naturally heard about some things that had happened between Madara Uchiha and the First Hokage.
But that snake only tilted its head to look at Naruto, showing no intention of responding to Jiraiya.
"Naruto-kun, do you want me to continue, or let this fool interrupt us?"
"Jiraiya-sensei..."
Hearing Naruto's voice, Jiraiya opened his mouth but ultimately didn't continue speaking.
"Thank you."
The snake nodded in a human-like manner, then picked up where it had left off.
"He goes by the name Madara Uchiha. I never actually saw his real face, though, since I had already 'left' that organization for certain reasons by that point."
"But if I had to say who would most likely have both the power and motivation to control the Nine-Tails... it would definitely be him."
After Orochimaru finished saying this, he unhurriedly dropped the next "bomb."
"Actually, before I left, they had already begun brewing the so-called 'Tailed Beast Capture Plan.'"
"Oh, right, I used this as bait to obtain the conditions for them to act."
Naruto listened to the secrets in the opponent's words, connecting the clues in his mind.
He had to admit that, according to what Orochimaru said, that guy calling himself "Madara Uchiha" in the "Akatsuki" organization was highly suspicious.
"In that organization, is there anyone who always wears a mask?"
Naruto suddenly asked another question, remembering his father's description of the "mastermind's" appearance in the sealing space.
"A mask?"
"That guy who controlled the Nine-Tails always wore a mask."
The first ones to appear in Orochimaru's mind were Sasori and Kisame Hoshigaki.
But Sasori was just a puppeteer, and Kisame Hoshigaki was even less likely to be that Madara Uchiha.
Wait...
A figure who was often startled and reckless suddenly emerged from Orochimaru's memories.