Naruto: Fourth Hokage Orochimaru

The immense shockwave spread, devastating much of the forest with a loud roar and eliminating the creatures within.

After the dust settled, the only thing left at the site of the explosion was a massive charred crater with thin columns of black smoke rising into the sky.

The Anbu team quickly dispersed to assess the damage, while Hiruzen, covered in dust, frowned and gazed at the massive charred crater.

«This was Orochimaru's doing?» Hiruzen thought with doubt.

At that moment, Danzo, who was standing next to him, barely suppressed his smile, at his eyes, Orochimaru had just dug his own grave.

...

"So this is the power of 200 explosive tags.." Orochimaru murmured with cold sweat touring on his back, even he would have a hard time surviving something like that.

After finishing his words, four shadow clones approached and handed him a pile of scrolls, which he quickly stored in the storage space.

The explosion from a moment ago was the work of these mischievous boys, after realizing that the base could not be maintained, he created a few clones and ordered them to take anything useful from the base.

But then he thought it best to destroy it, so after thinking for a while, he realized something, he could create explosive tags, which was quite simple for him.

Explosive tags are essentially a sealing scroll, where you must store chakra that will detonate through a programmed explosion or intention, releasing the chakra within.

Thanks to Great Sage, he was able to understand the composition and mass-produce explosive tags using Arc of Embodiment, obviously, it wasn't without disadvantages, he used one point of chakra to create the tags but consumed five as fuel.

Thus, after spending 1,200 chakra points, he could only create 200 explosive tags, to put it in perspective, a tailed beast has only a thousand chakra points per tail, and a Kage-level ninja has a thousand chakra points at minimum.

Fortunately, after devouring Hashirama cells, his chakra reserve increased considerably, with a preliminary estimate of one thousand seven hundred chakra points.

...

Pov Orochimaru ~

I placed my hand on my forehead to shield myself from the sun's rays and sharpened my vision, a group of Anbu ninjas appeared in the distance.

There was also an old man wearing a red robe and a hat with the kanji «Fire» written on it, beside the old man was an even more sinister guy dressed in a black robe in broad daylight, damn, it's still summer, you know..

They are, obviously, the third Hokage, Hiruzen, and my favorite corrupt official of Konoha, Danzo Shimura.

An innocent smile appeared on my face. Without hesitation, I used the Body Flicker Jutsu.

...

"Hiruzen, you've seen it with your own eyes. Orochimaru is a danger to the village, and the sooner you realize it, the better it will be for.." Danzo was lecturing his girlfriend when a shout was heard in the distance.

"Sensei!"

Upon hearing this, both looked up, a panting Orochimaru appeared before them, waving his hand. His clothes were in tatters, and dirt covered his entire body.

"Sensei.. huh.. sensei.. huh.. it's so good you came, I thought.. I thought I would die.. hah!" Said the "exhausted" Orochimaru as he leaned on his knees to catch his breath, then collapsed on his rear.

"Orochimaru.. tell me what happened!" The third Hokage softened his originally stern expression upon seeing his disciple's state and approached to ensure he was not injured.

Danzo's face darkened at this scene, he cursed inwardly, Orochimaru should be a fugitive now and should not have appeared here, however, thanks to his experience, he managed to suppress his emotions and said nothing.

After examining him, Hiruzen noticed second and third-degree burns, he was about to call the medical ninja team, but something stopped him, causing him to open his mouth and leave it open for a while.

"Orochimaru.. your wounds.. are healing!" He said in surprise, looking into his disciple's eyes, expectant and eager for an answer.

Hearing the surprise in his master's voice, Orochimaru also noticed the anomaly and opened his mouth in surprise, but then, a gleam of understanding appeared in his eyes, which did not escape Hiruzen.

Orochimaru frowned and looked around, many Anbu ninjas had gathered around him, some even holding kunai and swords in their hands.

"Sensei, I think it's best if we go somewhere else first, it's complicated.." Orochimaru whispered.

Hiruzen glanced around, and after noticing the tense atmosphere, he stood up, coughed, and said. "Take him to the hospital immediately, make sure to care for him well." Then he looked at Orochimaru. "We'll talk once you've recovered."

Orochimaru nodded, and the medical team reacted instantly, taking him away on a stretcher to the Konoha hospital.

The third Hokage looked at his old friend and spoke with severity. "We'll discuss this later. For now, the Anbu team will handle the investigation, Danzo, I hope this isn't another one of your tricks." Hiruzen said with a cold gaze and walked away.

"Damn Hiruzen!" Danzo clicked his tongue after seeing him leave, he had always been able to keep him under control and do as he pleased, but it seems his disciples are some sort of taboo.

...

Two days later, at Konoha hospital, Orochimaru was resting peacefully while being attended to by a beautiful nurse, who occasionally fed him pieces of fruit.

"Come on, eat a little more, Orochimaru-sama, you need to regain your strength." said the nurse with a kind smile as she offered him a piece of fruit.

Orochimaru opened his mouth and enjoyed the good service, after chewing the fruit, he swallowed and let out a sigh.

"What's wrong, Orochimaru-sama? Don't you like it?" Nurse Shizuka asked worriedly.

Orochimaru looked at her with a faint smile on his lips, theatrically narrowing his eyes.

"Ah, on the contrary, Shizuka-san". he replied, letting out a deliberately exaggerated sigh.

"In fact, I'm thinking I should offer a bow to the Sage of the Six Paths for being so fortunate to be cared for by someone as lovely as you." Orochimaru continued with a charming smile, noting the slight blush on her cheeks.

Shizuka let out a giggle before saying. "Orochimaru-sama, I never imagined you had such a… charming side". she replied, trying to hide her blush as she offered him another piece of fruit.

"Well, one must know the art of making a lady smile, don't you think?" he replied in a soft tone, enjoying the brief moment.

Shizuka blushed again, and a smile appeared on her face, but before she could respond, someone knocked on the door, breaking the tranquil atmosphere of the room.

Immediately after, an elderly man wearing the Hokage's hat entered the room, Shizuka, who had been feeding Orochimaru moments earlier, quickly stood up and lowered her head in embarrassment.

"Hokage-sama, welcome!" said Shizuka, bowing slightly.

The Third Hokage waved his hand and said. "It's fine, leave us alone, we need to discuss something in private."

"Yes, Lord Hokage." Shizuka left the room quickly but not without glancing back at Orochimaru and winking, Orochimaru returned the gesture with a subtle smile.

"I'm glad to see you socializing, Orochimaru." said Hiruzen as he sat on the edge of the bed, holding his smoking pipe in hand.

"And I'm glad to see you, Sensei." Orochimaru replied nonchalantly.

Hiruzen remained silent for a moment before continuing. "I'll get straight to the point, I received a report that you conducted forbidden and inhumane experiments in the village and even used villagers as research material."

"Sensei," Orochimaru began slowly, carefully choosing his words.

"The reality is that Konoha exists in a delicate balance, we know the current peace is nothing more than a temporary truce." Orochimaru paused, letting his words sink in with his master.

"At any moment, other villages could exploit our weaknesses and… war could return."

Hiruzen observed him in silence, his face unchanging.

"My research." Orochimaru continued. "has one purpose: to strengthen the village."

"Imagine it, Sensei, ninjas who can regenerate wounds on the battlefield, techniques that could help us face any threat."

"I'm not talking about personal ambition but about securing Konoha's future." Orochimaru spoke with conviction.

'Orochimaru… though I admire your fiery will, I cannot allow this to continue.' The Third Hokage thought, his mind beginning to settle on a decision.

Hiruzen exhaled slowly, the smoke from his pipe forming spirals as his eyes remained fixed on his disciple.

"But, Orochimaru." he said gravely. "At what cost? Where do you draw the line between progress and humanity?"

Orochimaru lowered his head, enveloping his face in darkness. "The truth is.. I've realized my mistake too; I thought that.. that I could protect the future of young ninjas, that I could stop people from dying.. stop.. creating more orphans like me!" After saying this, tears began to cascade from his eyes.

'Damn it! I can't believe what my weakness has led you to do...' Hiruzen immediately realized the truth, Orochimaru's parents died in the war, a senseless war that only brought chaos and devastation to them, all this because of his weakness, the inherent weakness of Konoha.

Hiruzen no longer knew what to say, so he closed his eyes and placed his hand on his disciple's shoulder as a way to console his soul.

"The truth is, I succeeded.." The weak voice reached Hiruzen's ears once more.

"When the base was invaded, I was testing a new experimental method, when the explosion occurred, the base collapsed, causing several chemical components and experimental materials to mix, granting me this ability." Orochimaru said, and with a hand gesture, the withered flower beside him came back to life as if by magic.

Hiruzen watched the miracle before his eyes, unable to hide his amazement, the flower, once withered, now shone with vibrant green and colorful petals, as if it had just been born.

"Orochimaru… how is this possible? Danzo's report only mentioned that you were trying to develop a forbidden technique and needed experimental subjects of all ages." Hiruzen murmured, looking at his disciple with a mix of disbelief and curiosity.

"Of course, he said that, the truth is, the base's purpose was to restart tests with the First Hokage's cells and grant the wood release to non-Senju individuals, like Danzo, for example." Orochimaru said, revealing everything at once, of course, he had serious doubts about whether Hiruzen already knew this.

"That means you can use Mokuton like..."

"Not just that, Sensei." Orochimaru interrupted, fixing his gaze on the Third Hokage, suddenly, his pupils turned red, with two tomoe spinning inside.

"Sharingan!" Hiruzen exclaimed, lowering his voice upon realizing his outburst, if the Uchiha clan found out about this, it would be complicated.

But Orochimaru wasn't finished. Without dispelling the Sharingan in his right eye, his left eye transformed into the Byakugan. Hiruzen's mouth hung open, unable to close for a long time.

"My body underwent a rare mutation, it seems I can integrate various Kekkei Genkai without suffering harmful side effects, of course, there are some requirements, though I still need to discover what they are." Orochimaru said with a sigh.

Hiruzen was stunned and remained silent for a long while, once he had processed everything, he opened his mouth and asked. "The children you… used for experiments, did they all die?"

Orochimaru shook his head. "No, Sensei, when I realized my mistake, I sealed the survivors and planned to release them later."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding, feeling an invisible weight lift from his heart. 'Orochimaru has changed.' That was the only thought he could hold on to, and he wanted to believe it.

"I'll keep what happened a secret, but you must stop your inhumane experiments from now on." Hiruzen looked at him sternly, waiting for his response, and only relaxed after seeing him nod.

"Also, don't reveal your new abilities…" Hiruzen was about to continue lecturing his disciple, but Orochimaru interrupted.

"I'm sorry, Sensei, I can keep the Sharingan and Byakugan hidden, but I believe the best thing for the village is not to hide the First Hokage's Mokuton."

Hiruzen fell silent, processing his words, then nodded. "You're right. I'll help you deal with Tsunade when the time comes."

Originally, he had planned to keep this hidden, but if you think about it, a new generation with the legendary ninja god Hashirama Senju's power would keep Konoha's enemies at bay.

"By the way, Sensei, what happened with the plan?" Orochimaru asked without specifying, you know, walls have ears and all that shit, or maybe he was just paranoid.

"Oh, the preparations are ready, when you recover, I'll let you lead the operation." Hiruzen said and decided to leave him in charge, perhaps he could find a way to redeem himself through this.

With that, Hiruzen left the room, Orochimaru watched the door close behind Hiruzen and let out a sigh.

'My gamble was correct, the Third Hokage's affection for his disciples is still there.' This was very clear when he let him go in canon; otherwise, he would have eliminated him right then and there.

However, this also once again shows Hiruzen's incompetence as Hokage.