Zaelum
Orochimaru was never afraid of Ryuchi cave. If he truly feared for his life, he’s the type to develop a poison that could kill all the snakes in Ryuchi cave or find a way to mind control the snakes until they’re obedient. He put up with Manda demanding sacrifices because he had thousands of test subjects in all those research bases. He used Manda to dispose of them and doesn’t care about killing people. But don’t mistake the genius of Orochimaru. He would never allow a sword like that to hang over his head and he would never enslave himself and be fearful for years to a summons. In fact, he could have just severed the contract like Minato did to Obito during their battle when Kurama was released if he were truly scared. I don’t like these changes to Orochimaru.