That slime-coated scroll made Naruto recoil in pure disgust.
Jiraiya also looked like he wanted to say something, but held it back.
Minato Namikaze felt uncomfortable as well, though he kept it off his face.
When the scroll was opened, the SSS-rank mission listed at the front made both father and son's expressions darken. Everything after that, however, was a list of already completed missions.
Among them…
An S-rank mission: Force Gaara to use the Feigning Sleep Technique.
And an A+ rank mission: Defeat Gaara.
Both missions were clearly marked as [Completed].
Thinking back on what they had already experienced, it wasn't hard to guess that the "Nine-Tails Chakra Mode Trial Card" and "Time Travel to the Day of Birth" were the rewards tied to those two missions.
Naruto, who remained highly wary of Orochimaru, showed clear surprise, but he knew better than to say anything at this moment.
Minato's expression stayed calm and unreadable.
But the next missions made even Jiraiya unable to stay composed.
[Mission Rating: SS-rank]
[Mission Content: Prevent Orochimaru from placing a cursed seal on Sasuke Uchiha.]
Orochimaru deliberately unrolled the scroll at a slow pace, making sure they could clearly read every line. At the same time, he carefully observed their reactions, probing their thoughts and piecing together additional information related to the mission.
The moment that SS-rank mission appeared, Naruto instantly blew up.
"You bastard! What the hell are you planning to do to Sasuke?!!"
He jumped to his feet, glaring straight at Orochimaru, who was still seated. But whether it was height or presence, Orochimaru, a veteran who had survived both the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, was in no way intimidated by him.
Orochimaru flicked his tongue across his lips like a snake.
"I do indeed possess two cursed seals that can drastically enhance one's strength," he said smoothly. "And I'd be more than happy to share one of them with Sasuke-kun… and Itachi-kun as well~"
Damn it. That bastard!
Not just Sasuke, even Sasuke's brother had caught the attention of this lunatic?!
He really intended to claim both brothers.
Jiraiya, who believed the Uchiha clan had only these two left, fixed Orochimaru with a fierce stare.
"I won't allow you to do as you please, Orochimaru."
Orochimaru didn't even spare him a glance. Instead, he looked at Minato and continued calmly.
"These two cursed seals are the Cursed Seal of Heaven and the Cursed Seal of Earth. As long as someone survives the side effects, they can immediately gain power comparable to Senjutsu."
"!!!"
"Immediately gain Senjutsu?!!"
Both Minato and Jiraiya had learned Senjutsu at Mount Myōboku. They understood better than anyone what that actually meant.
It meant once-in-a-generation talent, extreme discipline, and brutal training.
It also meant the very real risk of mutating into a toad and never being able to return to human form.
More than that, it meant stepping beyond the limits of ordinary shinobi and wielding natural energy itself.
"What are the side effects?" Minato asked.
He didn't believe Senjutsu could be obtained so easily. If it wasn't through rare talent, then the price had to be horrifying.
Orochimaru shrugged, clearly unconcerned.
"Just like Senjutsu, cursed seals choose their hosts. But with geniuses like Sasuke-kun and Itachi-kun, I believe enduring the backlash of cursed seal transformation would be quite easy."
At worst, it would just be excruciating pain.
Maybe a brush with death.
Naturally, Orochimaru had no intention of saying that part out loud.
"Did you ever place a cursed seal on yourself?" Jiraiya suddenly asked.
Orochimaru stiffened for just a split second.
That reaction alone was enough.
Jiraiya immediately understood the answer was no.
Minato caught it as well. Combined with what Itachi had told him earlier about Orochimaru searching for vessels for his Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique, everything clicked.
"Orochimaru," Minato said slowly, "because your body lacks the aptitude for Senjutsu, you chose this method instead. You let others endure the side effects, then use Living Corpse Reincarnation to take over their bodies. Is that correct?"
"What?!" Jiraiya blurted out.
He hadn't thought as deeply as his student, but he knew one thing for certain: Orochimaru had never succeeded in mastering Senjutsu.
Memories from their youth surfaced.
Jiraiya had successfully contracted with Mount Myōboku. Soon after, Tsunade followed the Senju tradition and earned recognition from the Slug Sage.
Orochimaru, who later signed with Ryūchi Cave, had neither learned Sage Arts like Jiraiya nor mastered techniques like the Yin Seal and Strength of a Hundred like Tsunade.
Once praised as a genius, he had gradually faded into someone who relied solely on ninjutsu refinement and forbidden research.
So all this time…
Orochimaru had never truly given up on Senjutsu.
"Don't misunderstand me, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze."
Orochimaru dropped his earlier casual tone, his expression turning grim.
"All of this is merely part of my research. Wood Release, the Sharingan, they're all subjects that interest me," he said. "It's not that I desire Senjutsu. Senjutsu is just a small phase in the research process. Just like how, if you want to truly see the world clearly, you have to leave Konoha, and in doing so, you inevitably pass through that gate."
The gates of Konoha. Leaving without permission, in most cases, meant defecting.
"So that's why you betrayed Konoha?" Jiraiya glared at him. "For your research, how many Konoha shinobi, our comrades, and even children left behind by war ended up as your test subjects?!"
He had once arrived with Naruto and the others in the era when Konoha was first founded.
Though he always looked like he was just wandering around and fooling about, that was exactly Jiraiya's way of life, his method of gathering the most genuine information.
Because of that, he likely understood even more clearly than Minato, who had spent countless hours researching space-time ninjutsu with the Second Hokage, just how much the people who had survived the Warring States Period cherished every single young life.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Obito, because of their surnames and bloodlines, had practically been fought over by the Senju and Uchiha clans, who were eager to take care of them.
The God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, had once said that the reason he and Madara Uchiha founded the village was to bring their younger brothers, and children like them, into a place where they could have a better chance to survive.
But Orochimaru?
He didn't even spare children abandoned on the battlefield.
"Hehehe." Faced with Jiraiya's accusation, Orochimaru clearly saw things differently. "Do you think I begged them to become my test subjects? That's why I say you're naïve, Jiraiya."
Images of his Otogakure-nin subordinates flashed through his mind. Kimimaro, Zaku, Kin, Jirōbō, Kidōmaru…
Without him, most of them wouldn't have even lived to adulthood.
"Those war orphans, if no one teaches them, then even if they manage to survive, they'll end up as the lowest dregs of society. Ordinary people with no ninjutsu, unable to even feed themselves. They'll regret being born, hate shinobi, and hate this world."
As Orochimaru spoke, an image surfaced in Jiraiya's mind. A young Orochimaru standing in front of his parents' graves.
"Enough." Minato Namikaze cut him off, his expression dark.
Because he could see it clearly. Naruto had been stunned by those words.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, along with Kakashi, Obito, and Rin, were all still too young. Just as Itachi had said, at this stage they were like blank sheets of paper. Minato absolutely did not want them to be influenced by Orochimaru's twisted ideology.
"You called us here and showed us the mission," Minato said calmly. "So that means you have conditions?"
"No," Orochimaru replied with a smile. "I have no conditions. And I don't intend to spare Sasuke either…"
As Orochimaru spoke slowly, the look in Naruto's eyes grew sharper and more dangerous.
"I told you because it's more interesting this way," Orochimaru continued. "To see whether Sasuke-kun will willingly accept the cursed seal for the sake of power… or become nothing more than a decorative accessory standing beside you, Naruto-kun."
"Accessory? Decorative?"
Naruto's temper finally snapped.
"Don't you…"
He lowered his head, his blond hair shadowing his expression.
His voice was quiet, so quiet that the others instinctively leaned in to hear him.
And because of that, no one expected it.
This mere genin suddenly sprang forward, leaping into the air, and slammed a fist straight into Orochimaru's face. A punch infused with the Nine-Tails' power snapped Orochimaru's head sharply to the side.
"Don't talk about Sasuke like he's an object, you bastard!!"
That single punch left Minato Namikaze completely stunned.
He watched as Naruto Uzumaki, who had been sitting beside him, suddenly burst forward. A flash of orange filled his vision, followed by the heavy impact of that punch.
Jiraiya was seated in the middle, perfectly positioned to witness everything. Naruto's eyes had turned red, his nails and teeth suddenly lengthened, and that heavy punch slammed straight into Orochimaru's face, warping his features and snapping his head violently to the side.
Three seconds of dead silence followed.
Then Orochimaru slowly reacted…
"Whoosh—"
Orochimaru's neck suddenly stretched as he lunged forward, biting straight toward Naruto's exposed throat beneath his loose collar!!
"Clang!"
Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God kunai!
Jiraiya's ninjutsu, Needle Jizō!
One from the left, one from the right, blocking Orochimaru's attack on Naruto at the same instant!!
Jiraiya still looked relatively calm, but Minato Namikaze's face had gone completely dark, his killing intent spilling out without restraint.
Naruto, who had just punched Orochimaru moments ago, felt it clearly now. The overwhelming pressure created by two shinobi who bore the title of Sannin, and one who would one day be crowned Hokage, colliding head-on…
It was as if an invisible wave of force shoved him backward?!!
This was the first time Naruto truly realized just how terrifyingly strong that usually carefree, perverted old man really was.
In an instant, Jiraiya's Needle Jizō expanded outward like a white sea urchin, sealing Naruto off completely and protecting him without a single gap.
Minato Namikaze's eyes burned with lethal intent as he spoke words rarely heard from him.
"Then try it. See if you can lay a single finger on my son and his friend."
My son and his friend.
Though he was not yet the Fourth Hokage, he was still the battlefield god of the Third Shinobi World War, the Yellow Flash who made every major shinobi nation fear Konoha.
As long as he was alive, there was no way he would allow anyone to touch his son or his son's friends.
Besides, Itachi wasn't even here.
Let Orochimaru try saying those words in front of Itachi Uchiha. Compared to Itachi's methods, Naruto's punch was practically merciful.
Naruto was furious. Furious that Orochimaru had compared Sasuke to an object, and even more furious at the certainty in Orochimaru's words, as if Sasuke were already in his grasp, fated to be dragged into darkness.
When he heard his father speak…
Never before had such direct words made him feel so safe.
Those blue eyes shone brightly, clear and vast like the sky.
His dad… was seriously cool…!!!
The thought he'd had earlier, about maybe apprenticing under the Pervy Sage, quietly faded away. He decided he'd just keep pestering his dad to teach them for a while longer.
The atmosphere grew so tense it felt like it might freeze solid.
Jiraiya finally changed the subject.
"Minato, this is your first SS-rank mission, right?"
He knew that the unusual Uchiha named Obito still held another mission scroll.
But at this moment, Jiraiya had no idea that the peculiar young Uchiha he was referring to was the very masked man his former student had mentioned before.
The three of them returned to their seats, though none let down their guard.
Minato Namikaze said calmly, "Yes. The highest level we completed before was S-rank."
"So you don't know what kind of reward an SS-rank mission gives either?" Orochimaru chuckled. "Don't look at me like that. Ever since that brat used that unbelievable power last time, I suspected all the strange events lately were connected to this scroll."
He casually waved the scroll in his hand.
That was precisely why he had ordered Kabuto to abandon his original assignment and steal this special mission scroll for him instead.
Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya exchanged a glance.
The same question surfaced in both their minds…
Why was stopping Orochimaru from placing a cursed seal on Sasuke Uchiha classified as an SS-rank mission?
Based on what Naruto from the Fourth Shinobi World War had said, an SSS-rank mission—killing or redeeming the Masked Man—was directly tied to the future Fourth Shinobi World War, a task that could determine the lives and deaths of countless shinobi.
A single cursed seal could at most decide Sasuke's life or death.
So why was it judged as SS-rank?
"Heh. Looks like you've noticed it too."
Orochimaru chuckled softly as he slowly unrolled the scroll he hadn't yet opened.
"After all, even the life or death of a Kage is only rated as an A-rank mission. So why has Sasuke-kun been evaluated all the way up to SS-rank?" He licked his lips, eyes narrowing dangerously. "It makes me so curious I can hardly contain myself~"
The life or death…of a Kage?