50 What's the catch?

Walking through the dark corridors of the strange underground underground complex, Orochimaru felt his interest grow and grow.

All this environment reminded him of the Anbu organization, rumors about which had long been spread among the shinobi of the village.

But something told Orochimaru that this was not the Anbu.

"...Weak."

Seeing the people passing by, Orochimaru could tell by their walk and nonchalant manner that they were most likely not even Chunin. Or they had an image that was too well developed and constantly maintained.

From this, Orochimaru's impression subsided somewhat and he continued to analyze the situation around. Here, he noticed something that had eluded his eyes and senses all this time.

"...Seals?"

Orochimaru was surprised to find that everything here was covered in barely visible seals, but due to the limited knowledge he had, he could only speculate what they were for.

- We came. - Master Haru suddenly said with a Lion mask on his face, stopping in front of one of the many doors.

Haru then knocked loudly on the door three times. And after a few seconds, from behind the door came the answer:

- Come in.

The voice seemed very familiar to Orochimaru and as soon as he went inside with his teacher, he immediately froze in place, dazed.

In front of him sat Danzō Shimura. The same Danzō, the Dark Leaf Trace, who made a speech in front of the entire Academy a few hours ago.

It was he who gave Orochimaru the idea to become an explorer.

Danzō's example showed him how important knowledge is in this world. If he has knowledge, then he will have strength, glory will come to him with strength, and he will not die an inglorious death, like his parents.

I think he is the one you were looking for. said teacher Haru as soon as he entered.

Orochimaru saw Danzō's eyes flicker from the papers on the table to him.

- Orochimaru, if I'm not mistaken? - Danzo suddenly said his name.

- Do you know me? - Orochimaru sounded somewhat surprised.

Danzō didn't answer that question, just getting up from his desk and walking over to Orochimaru.

- Haru, you can go. It will be embarrassing if someone pays attention to your absence during working hours. - Danzō said and Haru immediately left the office, leaving Danzō alone with Orochimaru.

Would you like to sit or stand? Danzo suddenly asked.

Orochimaru didn't answer either, continuing to stand still.

There was silence in the room.

- Tell me, if you had a chance to meet and talk with your parents again, what would you be ready to do for him? - Danzo asked.

-...Everything. - briefly answered Orochimaru, after a brief silence.

Danzō laughed hollowly, a strange smile on his face.

Orochimaru continued to stare blankly at Danzō, whose personality was becoming more and more of a mystery to him.

- Well, it so happened that in the records of the Second Hokage, I found a technique that allows you to resurrect people... - Danzō said walking to the locker by his desk and starting to look for something there. - That's just the price of resurrection - another human life. Are you still interested?

- Yes. - decisively responded Orochimaru.

Danzō's brief laughter filled the room again. He spent a few more seconds sorting through something in his locker, until he finally found and took out a scroll.

Much to Orochimaru's surprise, Danzō tossed the scroll into his hands.

- All equipment is recorded in a scroll.

Orochimaru squinted slightly at the scroll, and with difficulty tearing his eyes away from it, he looked at Danzō.

- What's the catch?

- The technique is not quite complete, it has a lot of defects ... Simply put, it needs to be improved. And the resurrection itself would be more correct to call the call of the soul from the Pure World for a short time. - honestly answered Danzo.

The gleam in the snake's eyes faded a little, but the grip on the scroll did not subside.

- ...What's the catch? - Orochimaru repeated his question.

- You will work on improving this technique. And for now, that's all. - Danzo replied, removing the strange smirk from his face. - We can talk about the rest when you graduate from the Academy. If your results are impressive enough, then I will consider taking you on as a student.

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