Under the dim chandelier, a thin figure held a scalpel, mechanically cutting into flesh, half his face hidden in shadow.
"Phew…"
Orochimaru's eyes were dull and tired as he slowly let out a breath.
Another valuable ninja with a bloodline limit had been wasted. Unless something unexpected happened, tonight would be another fruitless night.
Rumble… Rumble…
The underground lab in the Root base suddenly shook violently.
Orochimaru's body trembled, and the scalpel made a deep cut in the corpse's still-beating heart. Blood spurted out.
From the shadows came the hiss of a large snake, excited by the heavy smell of blood. But the next moment, it fell silent.
Just as Orochimaru was about to fix his mistake, a strange atmosphere spread through the lab.
"Hm?!"
He set down the scalpel, his narrow snake-like pupils scanning the room until he quickly locked onto the source of the disturbance.
On the table next to the hospital bed, a golden long-spouted jug appeared out of nowhere, sitting among the lab tools and glowing softly.
At a glance, Orochimaru could tell it was a lamp—an "Aladdin Lamp" said to grant the owner's wishes.
It wasn't because he was especially knowledgeable, but because floating above it in big bold golden letters were the words:
"I am the Aladdin Lamp. Touch the lamp's wall to awaken the genie and make your wish!!!"
A very straightforward and very tempting… trap.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
He was sure there had been nothing on that table before, and equally sure no one in the ninja world could have placed it there right under his nose without him noticing.
This lamp had appeared out of thin air.
The ninja world wasn't short of tools with strange powers—the Totsuka Sword that could seal enemies in a drunken dream world, the Amber Purifying Pot and Heavenly Marsh Spear said to have belonged to the Sage of Six Paths… adding a wish-granting jug—no, lamp—wasn't too unbelievable.
Orochimaru became interested in the lamp.
There was no such thing as a free lunch, but if he could figure out the conditions and limits of the lamp's wish-granting, maybe he could strike some kind of equal trade with this so-called genie.
He wasn't afraid to pay a price—especially in recent years, he had become more aware of his own limits.
Bloodline limits, ocular jutsu… without a special bloodline, he was no different from an ordinary ninja.
Just then, a knock came at the door. The visitor was a Root ninja under Danzo's command.
These bugs hiding in Konoha's shadows, whose deaths no one would care about, made excellent test subjects.
Orochimaru licked his lips. "Come in."
A Root ninja quickly stepped into the lab, dropped to one knee, and said urgently, "Orochimaru-sama, the Nine-Tails has suddenly appeared in the village and is causing massive destruction. Danzo-sama has called you for a meeting."
Thinking of the earlier tremor in the lab, Orochimaru frowned. "The Nine-Tails?"
Right now, the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki was Uzumaki Kushina. She wasn't a perfect jinchuriki, but with her bloodline and the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu, she had the beast locked down tightly. With the Fourth Hokage protecting her, there should have been no way for the Nine-Tails to break free.
It seemed something had gone wrong during Kushina's childbirth.
Orochimaru chuckled with some gloating, "So even Minato can make mistakes."
He couldn't say he didn't care that Jiraiya's student had beaten him out for the title of Fourth Hokage—he'd been holding that grudge.
Hearing that Minato was having trouble put him in a good mood.
As for Danzo's so-called meeting, Orochimaru wasn't interested. He knew Minato's ability too well—the Nine-Tails was no match for him, and certainly couldn't stand against the Uzumaki sealing jutsu. He had no desire to go watch the Fourth Hokage in action with Danzo.
Orochimaru looked at the Root ninja. "Go pick up that lamp."
"This…"
The Root ninja lifted his head, wanting to say something, but when he met Orochimaru's cold eyes, he swallowed the words. Beneath his mask, his face twisted bitterly.
He knew there was no room for refusal.
The moment the lamp was picked up, a cloud of translucent smoke sprayed from its spout, quickly forming into a human shape in midair.
Its facial features were blurry, but a clear voice came from its mouth.
"Hahaha, I am the Aladdin Lamp's genie on duty. Tell me, are you my master?"
Orochimaru frowned slightly.
This "master" thing probably meant something like "owner" or "contract holder," but here, "victim" might be more fitting.
What made Orochimaru uneasy was that the genie from the magic lamp didn't seem to be speaking to the Root ninja at all.
Those eyes hidden in the mist were clearly looking straight at him, and the greeting didn't sound like a question—it was teasing.
The strangest thing was that the Root ninja just stood there, waiting for his next order, as if he couldn't even see the genie.
Orochimaru pushed down his doubts and pointed at the Root ninja. "Genie of the Aladdin lamp, the one who woke you isn't me, it's him."
"Oh? Who exactly woke me?"
The smoky figure laughed with a mocking tone. "Was it the one who woke me that woke me, or the one who ordered someone else to wake me?"
Orochimaru's expression darkened. The genie's intelligence was far beyond his expectations—nothing like the mindless reapers or evil gods he had encountered before.
That was bad, because this genie might not be fair, and wouldn't be easy to trick.
Looking at Orochimaru's guarded stance, the smoky figure spoke slowly.
"Caution, doubt, suspicion… you have every reason to be wary of me."
"But… that's actually unnecessary."
"Because…"
"You can't resist me at all."
The smoky figure surged toward Orochimaru like a tide, and in a flash, it all poured into his body.
The next second, that body burst apart with a pop and vanished.
Orochimaru appeared at the side of the lab, and before he could feel relieved for dodging the attack with a substitute, a voice sounded inside his mind.
"You can't hide from me. What connects us is a contract, a rule."
The voice spoke slowly. "I can take over your body at any time."
"M-Master Orochimaru…"
Seeing Orochimaru's strange behavior, the Root ninja holding the lamp looked a bit lost.
"Get out!"
The shout came from Orochimaru's mouth, but it wasn't his will speaking.
"Yes."
The Root ninja put the lamp back on the table, opened the door, slipped out, and closed it in one smooth motion.
In the blink of an eye, the lab was back to just Orochimaru… and the genie.
"Now, do you see the reality?"
Like prey under a hunter's blade, Orochimaru stayed silent for a moment before speaking in his mind. "Genie, what do you want?"
"As a genie, I only ever come for one thing…"
"To grant your wish for eternal life!"