Starting as a working person from Naruto

Chapter 196 From the day I became a test subject, I've been thinking about killing you.

Akihara Kagura was telling the truth.

Wherever Akihara Kagura appears, Orochimaru is definitely not allowed to appear; however, wherever Orochimaru appears, Akihara Kagura can appear at any time.

On the Hokage Rock.

Orochimaru changed back into the uniform of a Jonin leading a team from Otogakure. Standing there, he looked down at his hometown with a smile on his lips and a hint of nostalgia in his eyes.

"The scenery here is beautiful, isn't it?"

"It's pretty good."

Akihara Kagura stood beside Orochimaru, surveying the scenery of Konoha Village: "Orochimaru-sama, how does it feel to return to my hometown?"

"..."

Orochimaru didn't answer Akihara Kagura's question, but instead wore a forced, regretful smile: "Unfortunately, this place is about to be destroyed by us."

"Don't worry."

Kagura Akihara waved her hand dismissively, saying, "I can rebuild a new Konoha all by myself, and every family in the village can live in a big house..."

"..."

Orochimaru's smile faded slightly.

"Alright, let's get down to business."

Akihara Kagura ran her hand through her hair, as if she were troubled by something: "You caused quite a stir in the Forest of Death. I'm the chief examiner for this Chunin Exams, don't give me this kind of trouble..."

"I just saw something interesting."

Orochimaru licked his lips, recalling the little guy he'd met: "That kid Uchiha Sasuke is very talented, he just needs someone to help him discover it. The comfortable environment in Konoha is too much for him..."

"..."

Akihara Kagura glanced at Orochimaru with surprise.

Orochimaru really has a good eye; he was able to see Sasuke Uchiha's talent!

If we compare them side-by-side, Sasuke's older brother, Itachi Uchiha, awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan at the age of eleven. Many people don't think Sasuke's talent is anything special. How did Orochimaru see that?

That's normal...

Orochimaru does seem to be very good at teaching children.

Many abandoned children in the ninja world were able to play a role under Orochimaru's tutelage, and there were many teenage Jonin under Orochimaru's guidance.

"Ignore Danzo's thoughts."

Orochimaru looked at Akihara Kagura and made his request: "It would be a waste of Sasuke Uchiha's talent to leave him in Konoha as a continuation of the Uchiha bloodline. I really admire that kid's courage..."

Orochimaru opened his palm and continued discussing Sasuke: "Even Itachi Uchiha can't compare to his younger brother in this respect. There are many powerful and excellent ninjas in the ninja world, but not all excellent ninjas can have the courage to raise their swords against stronger opponents even without power, like Sasuke Uchiha..."

"..."

Akihara Kagura sighed.

At this moment, even Akihara Kagura had to admire Orochimaru's foresight.

As Orochimaru said, many powerful people in the ninja world only dare to fight because they believe they can defeat their enemies. Those who truly dare to challenge the strong are always in the minority.

"I understand about this."

Akihara Kagura nodded, indicating that she understood, and reminded Orochimaru: "Behave yourself these days. I heard that Jiraiya-sensei is coming back soon."

"Jiraiya?"

Orochimaru chuckled lightly, completely unconcerned: "This is the trouble you're facing, isn't it? Perhaps someone wants Jiraiya to compete with you for the Hokage position?"

"But..."

"Jiraiya wouldn't compete with you for the Hokage position..."

Orochimaru knew his good friend very well, and shook his head with a smile, saying, "That guy doesn't care that much about the power of the Hokage, and his feelings for Konoha aren't as deep as others'. He's just an idiot who thinks he has a broad mind and cares about the future of the entire ninja world..."

"..."

Akihara Kagura gave Orochimaru a strange look.

The ninjas in the ninja world have somewhat peculiar ideas. They always want to sever ties with their past lives by killing their teachers, thus proving that they have embarked on a new path.

Orochimaru is probably worried that his disciple will kill Jiraiya, which is why he's speaking up for Jiraiya here.

"I won't lay a hand on Jiraiya-sensei."

Kagura Akihara shook her head and looked at Orochimaru: "On the contrary, Lord Orochimaru should be more careful. Don't end up like that idiot Mitarashi Anko, who tried to kill her teacher but failed and ended up being outmaneuvered by you."

"There won't be any surprises."

Orochimaru smiled dismissively.

Orochimaru believed that no one would know the secret he left behind on Mitarashi Anko, whom he abandoned in Konoha, and that Anko held the key to Orochimaru's eventual resurrection.

"I've come to see you because there's something I want to ask you."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and whispered, "Kagura-kun, I planted two spies in Konoha, and they were inexplicably killed..."

"Oh, about that..."

Akihara Kagura remembered the two spies, Tsurugi Misumi and Akakuni Kai, and nodded, saying, "I happen to know about this, because I was the one who sent people to kill them."

Kagura Akihara didn't even glance at Orochimaru's expression, knowing full well how grim her ally and superior's face was. She continued, "Those two guys corrupted Kabuto Yakushi. Now Kabuto doesn't even listen to my orders anymore. I killed them both, and Kabuto became obedient again..."

"..."

Orochimaru's expression finally softened.

Kagura Akihara, that bastard, killed his own people to intimidate Kabuto Yakushi. Orochimaru understood this fact but no longer cared. He was well aware of the relationship between Kabuto Yakushi and Kagura Akihara.

"I still have to preside over the Chunin Exams."

Akihara Kagura glanced back at Orochimaru: "Tell your people to behave themselves during the Chunin Exams and not do anything wrong that might get them into my hands, otherwise I won't be able to protect them..."

"Those kids are all expendable pawns."

Orochimaru didn't care at all about the Otogakure ninja who had come to participate in the Chunin Exams. He chuckled and said, "You can do whatever you want with them. You can kill them directly, it doesn't matter. Anyway, they have no hope of advancing to higher levels..."

"I understand."

Akihara Kagura looked at Orochimaru and laughed, "After the Chunin Exams are over, I'll destroy Otogakure and make them homeless."

"You really know these kids around me well!"

Orochimaru knew his children well; he knew none of them wanted to leave his side. He shook his head and said, "Letting them leave me is more cruel than killing them... Not everyone can leave me like Kagura-kun."

As for the destruction of Otogakure, Orochimaru didn't care much, because Otogakure had been in exile for a long time due to the Akatsuki's constant pursuit.

"The days I spent by your side..."

Kagura Akihara sighed as she recalled her time with Orochimaru, saying, "They were like sugar pills coated with poison. Those little guys suffered too much, always thinking that life only has one sugar pill, and they liked to keep licking the outer sugar coating..."

"But I've eaten other kinds of candy since I was a child. I don't lick candy like they do. I like to chew it. I accidentally bit the candy pill you gave me and the poison hidden inside was exposed."

"I see..."

Orochimaru squinted his eyes; he understood Akihara Kagura's metaphor.

Kagura Akihara had stayed in the Konoha orphanage and received a lot of love, so she didn't care about so-called warmth, but was more concerned about the dangers she encountered.

Orochimaru asked, seemingly unintentionally, "Kagura-kun, you've long since given up on being my vessel, haven't you?"

"In order for us to cooperate effectively, there's something I should tell you..."

Kagura Akihara looked at Orochimaru and said softly, "Actually, I've been the one instigating you to conduct the Hashirama cell transplant experiment on me. Anyway, I was just fodder for your experiments..."

"On the day our experiment succeeded, I didn't lose my mind. When I tried to ambush and kill you, you escaped. The distance between us was too great, and I couldn't find a suitable opportunity, so I could only pretend to have lost my mind..."

"..."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

At that time...

Did Akihara Kagura want to kill him?

Kagura Akihara has never been truly loyal to him, yet at that young age she already rationally wanted to escape the fate of becoming an experimental subject.

I have to say…

Akihara Kagura's forbearance is quite terrifying.

It was unlikely that any child in the entire ninja world could break the deadlock at that time, but Akihara Kagura, that little guy, had already figured out how to break the deadlock. In fact, from the moment he performed the Reanimation Jutsu, he began to risk his life to break the deadlock.

I underestimated you.

Orochimaru clenched his fist, his voice becoming sinister and hoarse: "I always thought Kagura-kun was smart enough, but I underestimated your cunning. Were you thinking of escaping your fate back then?"

"yes."

Akihara Kagura looked up at the sky, where a few raindrops fell from the overcast sky: "At that time, I hoped that Lord Orochimaru would help me with the transplant of Hashirama cells, because Lord Orochimaru had just performed the Reanimation Jutsu. Even if the transplant was successful, Lord Orochimaru still had to give me three years to grow..."

"I know that Lord Orochimaru wouldn't be willing to kill me, a successful experiment. He must want me to acquire more knowledge and power, which is why he reincarnated into my body after the cooldown of the Reanimation Jutsu is over..."

Unfortunately...

"There is nowhere else in the ninja world where I can learn Wood Release ninjutsu."

Kagura Akihara looked at the raindrops falling softly on Konoha and said softly, "Only Konoha, which once had a Wood Release ninja, has this opportunity... I know that Lord Orochimaru has planted spies in Konoha, but I never expected that Lord Orochimaru would send me to Lord Danzo's hands."

"That was truly amazing..."

Orochimaru couldn't help but smile and clap his hands. The anger in his eyes vanished, replaced by a hint of appreciation: "I never imagined that a child who had been by my side for so long could be so terrifyingly cunning. I thought all abandoned children needed warmth..."

"You've treated all the children as your tools."

Akihara Kagura exposed Orochimaru's lie, softly retorting, "An abandoned child needs warmth, not lukewarm water to boil a frog."

Orochimaru shook his head, still not believing he was wrong: "It's already their good fortune that this ninja world has warm water that can provide them with some comfort for a while. If I hadn't taken them in, they would have died in some unknown corner long ago..."

"I'm very grateful to you for that."

Akihara Kagura looked at Orochimaru, a sincere look in her eyes: "That's why I've always tried to maintain our relationship, and even helped you search for a vessel..."

"certainly."

Akihara Kagura then revealed her true feelings again, casually saying, "Most importantly, I've never been confident enough to kill you, and I also believe your strength is still very useful; killing you would be a loss..."

"so…"

"Lord Orochimaru..."

"Don't degenerate into a useless, weak person..."

A sincere look returned to Akihara Kagura's eyes: "If you had fallen into weakness, you wouldn't be able to stand by my side like this now."

"..."

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, then he smiled with relief: "I won't let Kagura-kun down, but you'd better not walk too slowly..."

"I see."

Kagura Akihara interrupted Orochimaru, fully understanding his meaning: "I won't let Lord Orochimaru down either. So, I hope that from today onwards, we can truly cooperate sincerely and temporarily stop coveting my body. It's bothering me a lot, and I can't help but think about how to kill you..."

Don't worry.

Orochimaru nodded, but then habitually licked his lips: "Even if I covet Kagura-kun's body, I should at least thoroughly understand his weaknesses first, right?"

"That would be perfect."

"I also hope that Kagura-kun won't always be thinking about harming my interests and killing my subordinates for no reason..."

"It was just to warn Kabuto, but I didn't expect my subordinates to go to such extremes, killing Orochimaru's men..."

Just as Akihara Kagura was shifting the blame to her subordinates, a Root ninja appeared beside her. These Root ninjas were already used to the collusion between their superior and Orochimaru.

"Lord Kagura".

The Root ninja stood beside Akihara Kagura and said softly, "The acting proctor for the second exam, Umino Iruka, is looking for you. It seems one of the candidates has run into trouble..."

"I see."

Akihara Kagura nodded and continued, "Regardless of who has the problem, let's wait until after the Death Forest exam is over, shall we?"

"That examinee is Uchiha Sasuke..."

The Root ninja glanced at Orochimaru beside him and continued, "It seems Orochimaru-sama has tampered with Sasuke Uchiha's body; he can't move. Examiner Iruka Umino is worried about his student and wants to ask Kagura-sama if Team 7 can drop out midway..."

"Don't worry."

Upon hearing this, Orochimaru chuckled and replied, "That kid Uchiha Sasuke is fine. I just gave that little guy a fun little gift. As long as he passes my test, he'll gain even greater power..."

"A cursed seal?"

Kagura Akihara wasn't very optimistic about the power of the cursed seal, but she still gave Orochimaru face: "Alright, since Lord Orochimaru says that Sasuke Uchiha won't have any problems, then we don't need to worry about it. Tell Iruka Umino that whatever happens, we must wait until after the second match..."

As Akihara Kagura finished speaking, she looked at Orochimaru again: "Consider this a favor Orochimaru-sama owes me! Lend me your summoning beast Manda for a while; I'd like Manda to do me a favor..."

"Mandalaya?"

Orochimaru, remembering his summoning beast, nodded without hesitation and said, "Manda is quite evil; if you want it to help, you'll need a sacrifice..."

"It's okay."

Akihara Kagura didn't care about the offerings at all.

Kagura Akihara asked Manda for help mainly because she wanted to use Manda as a sacrifice for the Impure World Reincarnation, to test how much power a summoning beast of Manda's caliber could enable the impure world reincarnated ninja to exert.

First update!

I'm just revealing his identity a little, to avoid any future shocks that Orochimaru might not be able to handle. After all, I'm a fan of Orochimaru.

(End of this chapter)