Minato Namikaze's counterattack was a complete surprise. Orochimaru had not expected that Minato would be able to call upon the chakra of half the Nine-Tails and break free from his control.
Moreover, the sealing jutsu Minato had learned from Kushina Uzumaki allowed him to sever their connection completely. The sealing jutsu of the Uzumaki clan was just that absurdly powerful.
Minato didn't argue, only advising in a low voice, "Orochimaru-senpai, we all know very well that running away won't solve the problem."
"Should I just let myself be captured then?"
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes coldly sized up everyone present. His sinister gaze stopped on Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. "Boy, was my performance not impressive enough for you? Did it make you think the Legendary Sannin are weak?"
His clothes suddenly tore apart.
Orochimaru's figure abruptly swelled, transforming into a monstrous white mass. One by one, giant snake heads emerged, roaring madly at everyone. In just an instant, he had transformed into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant white snake. This was his ultimate jutsu, the Eight-Branched Technique.
The eight-headed serpent swung down one of its heads to bite.
"Hmph."
The expression on Sasuke Uchiha's face was one of displeasure. He summoned his Susanoo and slashed off a snake head with one blow. "Orochimaru! Do you think my blade isn't sharp enough? Or do you think my Susanoo isn't complete enough?"
A purple Susanoo rose from the ground.
The towering, complete Susanoo easily suppressed the eight-headed serpent. Sasuke controlled it to swing its massive blade, cutting off the serpent's heads one by one.
Orochimaru's Eight-Branched Technique seemed more for show than for actual use. After just a few minutes, its heads were almost all cut off by the Susanoo.
After the last head was severed, the massive serpent trembled and fell to the ground. Its headless body writhed before dissolving into countless small white snakes that slithered everywhere within the Four Red Yang Formation.
That Orochimaru was still trying to escape. He thought that by dividing his body into countless small white snakes, no one would find his true location. Even though the Four Red Yang Formation was blocking his escape, it didn't stop him from carefully hiding within the barrier. In any case, he knew the barrier would have to be taken down eventually.
"Naruto, what do we do?" Sasuke's skin crawled. "There are so many white snakes. Which one is Orochimaru?"
"Every one of them is, and every one of them might not be," Naruto chuckled lightly, waving his hand at Sasuke and Minato to signal for them to leave the Four Red Yang Formation. "Sasuke, you and Dad go out first. I'm going to have a good chat with Orochimaru-senpai."
"Hey, no matter how you look at it, you two have nothing to talk about, right?" Sasuke grumbled. After complaining a bit, he left the range of the Four Red Yang Formation with Minato.
Within the vast Four Red Yang Formation, only Naruto and the countless small white snakes remained.
The young Hokage looked down at the sea of white snakes and said with a light laugh, "Orochimaru-senpai, I know you can hear me. Every white snake here is a part of your body, right?"
The swarm of white snakes on the ground continued to crawl everywhere.
Naruto looked at the snakes and continued, "Of course, even if all the white snakes here die, you can still be revived..."
The swarm of snakes on the ground still paid him no mind, crawling everywhere.
Naruto sighed. "Because you've long since dispersed your soul into the chakra of the cursed seals you placed on others. What if I were to use a Tailed Beast Bomb to destroy this area, and then use my ability to devour chakra to extract the Cursed Seal from Anko-senpai...?"
All the small white snakes on the ground froze. Every single one turned its head in unison to look at Naruto. The scene was chilling to behold.
Anko Mitarashi was Orochimaru's first test subject and also the only disciple he had ever let go. In time, the Cursed Seal of Heaven on her body could indeed allow him to be revived in his complete form, but it was supposed to be impossible for anyone to know this secret.
No, someone might know.
Kabuto Yakushi! It must have been Kabuto who leaked this secret, because only he, as his lab assistant, could have possibly guessed the other purpose of the cursed seal.
The countless small white snakes gathered together, reforming into Orochimaru. His expression was grim. "Naruto Uzumaki... what do you want?"
The young Hokage formed a Tailed Beast Bomb in his hand and said seriously, "I just want your research to be under Konoha's supervision, senpai."
Who knew what Orochimaru would research? If he wasn't controlled, what if this era's Orochimaru secretly developed a time-space ninjutsu for soul travel again? Who knew what the world would become?
Besides this most important matter, Naruto was also very clear about the high value of Orochimaru's scientific research.
To put it bluntly, Orochimaru's research was a major reason why Konoha remained supreme among the five great ninja villages after the Fourth Great Ninja War. It was what allowed them to fight against four great nations with the power of one nation when the final battle came.
This was a dangerous person who absolutely could not be allowed to escape control.
Orochimaru, however, slowly looked up at the young Hokage, his face grim. "Naruto Uzumaki, you want me under your supervision just to steal my results, don't you?"
"..."
Naruto looked at Orochimaru, a slow smile appearing on his lips. He shook his head and said softly, "Of course not. We are here to provide you with strong protection and materials—permitted within a certain range, of course—to facilitate your research, senpai."
"Hmph. And is Sasuke going to be the one responsible for protecting me?" Orochimaru licked his lips, looking eagerly at Sasuke. He added without any inhibition, "If you can give me Sasuke's body, I can give you an important research result!"
"Absolutely not," Naruto said, his voice cold. "If you still covet Sasuke's body, senpai, I think Sasuke wouldn't mind letting you personally experience the power of his Sharingan. His current visual prowess is even stronger than Itachi Uchiha's was when he defeated you with a single glance back then."
"...That bastard Itachi. He has no sense of discretion at all, spilling everything!" Orochimaru clenched his fist, cursing through gritted teeth. After glancing at Sasuke, he looked at Naruto again. "When will the personnel sent by the Fifth Hokage to supervise me arrive?"
"Hmm..." Naruto thought for a moment. "They should be here soon. Two of them are old acquaintances of yours."
One is named Yamato. Since Yamato had defied the Hokage's orders in the Village Hidden in the Mist and was not as obedient as Torune Aburame and the others, it was the perfect time to let him enter his future retirement job directly.
The other is named Tobirama Senju. This one was the real deal. In all of Konoha, there was no one more suitable than Tobirama. The Second Hokage was, in a sense, both Orochimaru's guide and his idol. No matter what dangerous experiments Orochimaru wanted to conduct, Tobirama would surely be able to sense it, right?
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Bonus:
Yamato: Supervise Orochimaru?
Naruto: That's right. It's a very important position.
Yamato: How long do I need to supervise him?
Naruto: Have you started paying into your pension?
Yamato: I've paid for two years. I can start collecting when I'm sixty.
Naruto: I'll tell the finance department to let you start collecting your pension this year.
Yamato: ???