Orochimaru (Naruto)

Orochimaru is a male anime and manga character who features in Naruto.

Biography

Origin

Orochimaru targeting Sasuke Uchiha.

Orochimaru (Japanese: 大蛇丸, Hepburn: Orochimaru) was a male human who came to live as an orphan on Earth. During this time, he found himself as the pupil of the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi with him joining his master's other two students namely Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to Jiraiya, Orochimaru was shown to be a prodigy that was said to be only found once in a generation. However, the loss of his parents had affected him deeply with him finding a white snake near his parents grave. Hiruzen had told him that this represented fortune and rebirth which inspired Orochimaru to obtain knowledge of all forms of ninjutsu. At first, he did not pursue this goal due to his loyalty towards Konoha and he devoted himself as a Konoha Shinobi fully but he did begin to research more about the different forms of Jutsu. He reasoned that this was the sake of Konoha and that his village would ultimately benefit from his work.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha's "Three Legendary Shinobi" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process. On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead. One of their missions led to them finding about the death of Tsunade's younger brother with Orochimaru having recovered his necklace for her. After Team Hiruzen disbanded, Orochimaru joined the Anbu and became a member of the Root where he worked directly under Danzō Shimura. Orochimaru would go on to fight in the Third Shinobi World War, with his performance in the war being so great that he was considered as a candidate for Fourth Hokage alongside fellow war hero Minato Namikaze. In this time, he took on an apprentice and served as a mentor to the young shinobi Anko Mitarashi. Another interest of Orochimaru was in recreating the powers of the First Hokage leading to him stealing genetic samples from his corpse. He then cultivated these cells which he then implanted in 60 children he had abducted. Orochimaru did not come to see these experiments come to fruition as his other experiments were discovered forcing him to flee the village. He came to believe though that all his test subjects had died and he thought the experiment was a failure. He then formed an alliance with Amachi who had an interest in creating a shinobi able to engage in underwater combat so that they could kidnap villagers from the Land of Sea for the experiments. Orochimaru brought Anko with him to the project where she was disturbed at what she saw in the experiments. Ultimately, Orochimaru lost interest in the project and ordered Amachi to cancel it and at the same time saw Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to use the cursed seal he had given her. Thus, he wiped her memories of her time with his experiments and left her abandoned at the Land of Sea where she was discovered by Anbu black ops ninja.

Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. At some point, he was on the outskirts of Kirigakure where he found Kimimaro who was he only survivor of the Kaguya clan. Secretly, he began abducting people from the village ranging from civilians to shinobi to even some of the Anbu black ops. These people were held in his laboratory where he conducted his experiments where his actions eventually were discovered by Hiruzen and the Anbu. This revealed the true extent of his crimes and after a brief battle Orochimaru managed to escape the village. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru's research on the source of Jūgo's powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu. Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of the clan's fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process, the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects. Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto Yakushi and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major liabilities. Orochimaru instead brought Kabuto to his hideout, which would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root's intent for Kabuto's life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand man and spy with the promise of an identity.

As his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen. Though he knew it was his duty, Hiruzen lacked the will to kill his student, allowing him to escape. Orochimaru ultimately escaped Konoha, leaving his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya's plea for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears. Orochimaru soon became affiliated with and joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki. Orochimaru was then partnered with Sasori, with whom he did much good for the organisation. He was present when the Akatsuki gained a new member in their ranks with this being Itachi Uchiha. During one mission, he accompanied Itachi where he sought to use this as an opportunity to steal his body and gain possession of his Sharingan. However, Itachi came to use a genjutsu with his Sharingan to stop Orochimaru and even cut off his left hand to prevent him from breaking the paralysis. Despite that, Orochimaru managed to escape and was forced to leave the Akatsuki due to his betrayal where he went to acquire a new body for himself. This led to him abandoning the organization and going rogue where he sought his own goals. At some point, he established his own personal hidden village named Otogakure (音隠れの里, Otogakure no Sato, Literally meaning: Village Hidden by Sound) that was to serve as a base from where he could collect ninja in order to perform experiments on them as part of his quest to learn all techniques.

Naruto

He was responsible for secretly killing the Kazekage and assuming their identity. Infiltrating the Chunin Exam, he ended up entering the Forest of Death by killing a grass ninja named Shiore and assumed her identity. He then sought out Sasuke in order to personally test him leading to a confrontation with Team 7. This saw Sasuke becoming terrified as 'Shiore's' power leaving his paralysed in fear with Orochimaru battling Naruto Uzumaki. The jinchuriki's power came to manifest somewhat allowing him to resist Orochimaru's snake jutsu thus forcing the Legendary Sannin to use the Five Elements Seal to block access to the chakra of the Nine-Tails within Naruto thus disturbing the balance of the original seal. By this point, Sasuke came to regain his composure and he battled Orochimaru where despite his talent he was unable to defeat his foe. Satisfied with the youth's power, Orochimaru decided to brand Sasuke with a Curse Mark before departing the scene though he promised that the two would meet again and that the Uchiha would seek him out for his power in the future. He was present in the next stage of the Chunin Exams that involved one-on-one combat amongst the candidates where Orochimaru disguised himself as one of the guards. Orochimarhu primarily intended to use his position to see Sasuke Uchiha's performance in the trial when the young man was paired off to fight Yoroi Akadō. In the fight, Sasuke nearly succumbed to the Curse Mark again but managed to retain his control until he was able to win the fight. Kakashi Hatake then took Sasuke to the infirmary where he secretly placed a sealing jutsu on the curse to keep it under control. Orochimaru then appeared to Kakashi where he expressed an interest in Hatake's new eye and claimed that the boy was his now. Kakashi was determined to protect his student with this amusing Orochimaru as the Sannin decided to depart but left with a warning where he said that Sasuke would eventually seek him out to claim his power. As he sends Team Dosu as sacrificial lambs to test Sasuke, having Kabuto accompany Team 7 to witness Sasuke use the curse seal's power, Orochimaru is confronted by Anko as he tells her that the Konoha will continue the exams under threat of his retaliation if they cancel it. During the preliminary rounds of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru disguised himself as the leader of his genin team to watch Sasuke's performance against Yoroi Akadō and more obsessive upon seeing him suppress the Cursed Seal with sheer will. After Kakashi was able to seal away the mark on Sasuke, Orochimaru confronted him. He made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi's Sharingan, and noted before leaving that Sasuke will eventually come to him seeking power.

Before the final round matches, Orochimaru came to make all his preparations to enact his own scheme. This saw him murdering the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his identity to sit next to Hiruzen to oversee the proceedings. However, the Konoha Crush began, Orochimaru makes his move to kill his former master. Having the Sound Four discard the guises of the Kazekage's bodyguards, Orochimaru has them erect a barrier to hold the other Konoha ninja back to prevent any interference. Having regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, Hiruzen agrees to battle his former pupil. Though clouding his vision, Hiruzen managed to use his Shadow Clones to latch onto the former Hokage's and Orochimaru himself whereupon he enacted the Dead Demon Consuming Seal (屍鬼封尽­, Shiki Fūjin). This acted sealed the former Kage's into the Shadow Clones body whilst Sarutobi sensei enacted the same on Orochimaru. Orochimaru quickly discovered that he was paralysed and was able to barely move as his former sensei intended to seal him into his body forever. To stop him, Orochimaru summoned his sword to pierce the Hokage's body in an attempt to kill him but was informed that the Dead Demon Consuming Seal ultimately required the life of the caster. Thus, his life was over either way with Orochimaru attempting to quick his demise before the jutsu could be completed. Critically injured, Sarutobi determined that he did not have the time or strength to fully seal Orochimaru so instead he decided to strip his former pupil of his jutsu. Using the forbidden jutsu, he ripped his students talents away and left his hands withered to the point that he could never perform another hand sign again. An enraged Orochimaru cursed his former master for removing his jutsu but the Hokage eyes closed as he perished from his injuries. Badly injured, his minions helped Orochimaru escape Konogakure after their mission was deemed a failure and fled to their lair. Whilst there, Kabuto stated that despite their losses their operation was largely a success with Orochimaru waiting for the opportunity to claim Sasuke Uchiha as his next host body.

The badly wounded Orochimaru was taken by Kabuto back to their stronghold where he was enraged at Hiruzen crippling him. He then decided that the only way to repair his injuries was by seeking out the last Sannin namely Tsunade to have her use her advanced medical jutsu to heal him. Alongside Kabuto, they went to a village where Tsunade was spending her time gambling where she was ready to kill him after learning of his recent attack against Konogakure. However, he offered her a deal namely using his forbidden resurrection jutsu to bring back her love and younger brother. He then gave her a week to think about the offer with Tsunade tormented by the offer as she wanted her love ones restored. She eventually met with Orochimaru at the designated time where she seemingly agreed to the deal but during the healing Kabuto interrupted to save his lord as Tsunade was preparing to use a strike to kill his master. This was because Tsunade had resolved to end the threat of Orochimaru and avenge the death of the Hokage. Kabuto was then sent to battle her where despite her status as a Sannin she was nearly killed by her opponent's deceptive tactics. The fight was only interrupted by the arrival of Jiraiya alongside his student Naruto Uzumaki. In their fight, Orochimaru looked to eliminate Naruto after seeing his fight against Kabuto and believed the boy was too dangerous to be kept alive. In the fight against the other Sannin, Orochimaru was forced to rely on Kabuto to summon Manda but he was defeated by Tsunade though he managed to escape from the fight where he vowed to destroy the hidden leaf village.

Afterwards, he enacted his next scheme which was to draw Sasuke Uchicha to the hidden sound village and make him embrace the power of his curse mark. This saw the Sound Four (音隠れの忍四人衆, Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū, English TV: Sound Ninja Four, Literally meaning: Hidden Sound Shinobi Four People) departing in order to test Sasuke and bring him back to Otagakure. Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to grow older, Orochimaru sent his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He held out for as long as he could, anticipating Sasuke's arrival, but the pain in his arms became too unbearable so he is given no choice but to take the body of Gen'yūmaru, whom Kabuto had prepared earlier. After agreeing to release Gen'yūmaru's clansmen in return for his sacrifice, Orochimaru proceeds to use Living Corpse Reincarnation on his new host. Though the act undid most of the damage caused by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it still left Orochimaru incapable of using techniques requiring hand seals. While still waiting for Sasuke, bandaged up within his new host with Kabuto by his side, Orochimaru comments that either Jirōbō or Kidōmaru would be slowing down the group, but expressed doubts about Sakon's strength, which Kabuto brings up, stating Tayuya was just as strong, and Kimimaro, lamenting that the latter's illness made it impossible to have him as a perfect vessel as originally intended. But with Kimimaro's death, Orochimaru stated that he no longer cared about his previous protégé and instead commented his desire for Sasuke. As he is stuck in Gen'yūmaru's body for the next three years, Orochimaru decided to start training Sasuke once he finally arrived, hoping to shape him into the ideal host while being highly impressed and excited by the chakra that Sasuke revealed in response to Kabuto's threat for not giving Orochimaru his respect.

Shippuden

Two and a half years later, a Yamato-led Team Kakashi, hoping to find Sasuke, learned of an opportunity from a dying Sasori that he was meeting with his spy, Kabuto. Posing as Sasori within his Hiruko puppet, the group's temporary leader Yamato met with Kabuto while the others watched. However, Orochimaru arrived as Kabuto destroyed the Hiruko, with Orochimaru clarifying to a confused Kabuto that Sasori never came as the rest of Team Kakashi reveal themselves to fight the two ninja. Although he was surprised to see Yamato has survived his experiments involving Hashirama's DNA, Orochimaru was more interested to see if Naruto had become as strong as 'his Sasuke'. When Naruto assumed his three-tailed form in response, Orochimaru eluded Naruto, enjoying the battle while provoking Naruto further. It was only after Naruto submitted to Kurama's influence and entered his mindless four-tailed form that Orochimaru took the fight seriously due to Naruto now being able to kill him and his host body beginning to reject him after he used his Kusanagi to force Naruto away. While he briefly recuperated, Orochimaru was approached by Sai, who made an offer on behalf of Danzō to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto took him back to their base. Later, after the rest of Team Kakashi arrived at the lair and Sai teamed up with them, Orochimaru confronted Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He fled before he could be drawn into another fight and later kept Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori. Orochimaru then intervened in the fight in order to stop Sasuke from killing his former comrades. This was because he believed that they would be more useful in fighting their mutual enemy the Akatsuki. He was supported on this by Kabuto with the three departing the scene and leaving the former ruined lair.

Afterwards, his body began to reject him which meant that the time had come where he needed to take on a new host with him intending to clam Sasuke Uchiha. However, before he could do so, he was ambushed in his chambers in the night by Sasuke who claimed that he had learnt everything he needed from Orochimaru. Thus, he had no need for his 'sensei' anymore and he planned to eliminate him in order to continue his own quest to kill his brother Itachi. This saw a Chidori Sharp Spear being used in a move to murder Orochimaru but he managed to use his arm to block the blow. It was then that Orochimaru revealed his true body that was a snake made of countless other snakes whereupon he intended to initiate the body-transfer process. Sasuke came to cut the giant snake's body into countless pieces only to discover that the vaporising blood contained a paralytic that froze him. It was then that Orochimaru began the body transfer only for Sasuke to trap him and reverse the jutsu thus leading to him absorbing his former sensei into his own body. As a result, Sasuke Uchiha gained some of Orochimarus abilities but had to dedicate some of his chakra to contain him at the same time. He then departed the hideout in order to engage on his own mission and leaving Kabuto behind. Sasuke stopped the process like Itachi had done years earlier but took it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his own body. Sasuke gained access to some of Orochimaru's abilities but, at the same time, had to dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru. Kabuto later took Orochimaru remains and transfused his blood into himself, giving him access to Orochimaru's abilities. During the battle with Itachi, Sasuke ran low on chakra and Orochimaru was able to emerge from his cursed seal using his signature Eight Branches Technique. He marvelled at the fact that he would finally have the chance to take over Sasuke's body, but was immediately pierced through by the blade held by Itachi's Susanoo. At first Orochimaru boasted that it would take more than that to kill him, but he soon realised that he had been pierced by the Totsuka Sword that he himself had been searching for. Orochimaru was then sealed away by Itachi's Susanoo, which had the effect of removing Sasuke's cursed seal in the process. Three white snakes escaped from Orochimaru's body as he was sealed, but at least one of these snakes was subsequently killed by the black flames of Amaterasu.

Following Kabuto's defeat, and his reunion with Suigetsu Hōzuki and Jūgo, Sasuke learnt of the scroll they found at one of Orochimaru's hideouts and resolved to revive him for answers following what he learned from Itachi. Sasuke succeeds in reviving Orochimaru by pulling his consciousness out of Anko's cursed seal and transferring it into the physical form Jūgo provided by absorbing some of Kabuto's modified flesh. Despite Suigetsu's fears of his next action as he reclaims the rest of his chakra that Kabuto took from him, Orochimaru explains that he is neither interested in Tobi's war nor strong enough to even attempt to take Sasuke's body if he wanted to. However, Orochimaru, noting the change in his former student, does agree to take Sasuke to one who has the answers he wants. Arriving in Konohagakure, Orochimaru and the others sense Naruto's chakra from a great distance away. Noting that Sasuke was annoyed by this, Orochimaru pressed on with the group at the young man's behest. He led them to the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Storage Temple to pick up a mask from the ruins, and then takes the group to the underground hall in the Naka Shrine. Orochimaru proceeded to don the mask which invoked the Shinigami to possess his body. Orochimaru then proceeded to cut open the Shinigami's stomach, a wound reflected on his own body, to release the trapped contents inside the Shinigami. With his arms restored as well, Orochimaru performed the Impure World Reincarnation using four of the six White Zetsu clone spores that Jūgo activated from Sasuke's body. Ordering Suigetsu and Jūgo hold two of the Zetsu down, the remaining four Zetsu are used as the bodies for the reincarnation of the previous four Hokage. To escape death, Orochimaru transferred his being in the White Zetsu Suigetsu was holding down by slithering into its mouth. Once the Hokage were reincarnated, revealing he researched the means to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Orochimaru explained that his reasons for bringing them back were for them to aid Sasuke by giving him the information he desired. When Orochimaru accused the Second Hokage of being the one to cause the coup d'etat to surface, he was rebuffed by the Hokage who later explained that he had tried to save the Uchiha from themselves. When Tobirama later declared that he was heading to the battlefield, Orochimaru's new vessel provided him with access to Hashirama's cells, allowing him to bind the Hokage. Noting that Hashirama had broken his control over him, Orochimaru is told by the First that he would first free Sasuke from the darkness which surrounded him. During this course of events, Sasuke had a flashback about a conversation he and Orochimaru had as they made their way to Konoha where Sasuke stated that he does not believe Orochimaru's reasons to destroy Konoha were on a whim. After hearing Sasuke's decision to protect the village, Orochimaru announces that he will also help in the war effort against Madara. When Hiruzen asks him after why he changed his mind after all these years, Orochimaru explains that he made an error in judgement from watching Kabuto act in his stead and was now interested to see the result of Sasuke's 'different path' of not letting those who sacrificed themselves for the village go to waste.

Later, Orochimaru arrived to the place where Tsunade and the other Kage were left severely wounded, alongside Suigetsu and Karin, commenting that Tsunade was in a rather bad shape. He broke up the arguing Karin and Suigetsu, and ordered them to help Katsuyu heal Tsunade. Later, Orochimaru, along with the five Kage, Suigetsu, and Karin, arrive at the battlefield, where the entire Allied Shinobi Forces are struggling against Obito Uchiha, who recently became the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails. As Obito began the final stages of his and Madara's grand plan: namely the 'Infinite Tsukuyomi'. Hashirama had Ino Yamanaka telepathically link everyone via the Mind Body Transmission Technique to inform everyone about the plan as well as try and rally the shinobi to continue fighting. While Hashirama's words fail to inspire them, Naruto's memories are conveyed to them via Ino's telepathy. The Sannin looked on solemnly as Naruto remembered the memorial he erected for Jiraiya. As Sasuke had Jūgo transfered some of his natural energy into the Uchiha, who immediately channelled it into his complete Susanoo, Orochimaru watched on, greatly impressed at how far Sasuke has come and notes that he still had much room to grow. Later, while asserting that he had no interest in the war, Orochimaru noted that Obito's plan would interfere with his experiments, he then decided to heed his former sensei's urgings and participate in the war. With his assistance, Hiruzen was able to destroy the branches of the Ten-Tails into pieces. As Naruto began his great tug-of-war against Obito, Orochimaru alongside Hiruzen watched on as the tree's flower halted its blooming. After a momentary lull in the battle after Obito is defeated, the Allied Forces were attacked by Tobi, who created an enormous wooden statue to assault them. Orochimaru teamed up with his former subordinates to effectively subdue their attacker in order to make a break for Sasuke's location. He was then impressed by Karin's ability to use the chakra chains and he was reminded of Kushina Uzumaki. As they raced towards where Karin last senses Sasuke, Orochimaru noticed that the young woman was expending herself. Contemplating the situation, he wondered solemnly if this was really the end for Sasuke. Upon reaching Sasuke, they found Kabuto merging with Sasuke, seemingly to assimilate the Uchiha. When asking his former right-hand man why he came, Kabuto simply explained that his experience under the effects of Izanami made him rediscover his true identity as simply Kabuto Yakushi and acknowledged what he always sought was back at the Konoha orphanage. Wanting to make up for his mistakes, starting with healing Sasuke through his medical ninjutsu and instructions from Tobirama. Eventually, Kabuto succeeded in healing Sasuke, who quickly returned to his feet and was ready to resume the battle. Orochimaru was later caught in Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi. Ultimately, he and the rest of the world are freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Next Generations

In the following years, between gaining a new appreciation for natural development of people and forming a truce between Konohagakure. As part of this truce with Konoha and the Five Great Nations, he would be pardoned for his crimes under the condition he is placed under strict 24-hour surveillance by Konoha jōnin. Despite the strict watch, Orochimaru was allowed to move freely as the shinobi that watched over Orochimaru were ordered not to make any form of contact with him until he made a move against Konoha or did anything suspicious. He was even allowed to move freely in and out of Konoha. Orochimaru ultimately re-established Otogakure as a legitimate shinobi village. Orochimaru meets with Sasuke, who is gathering information on the Dark Thunder Group, for the first time in a few years since the war. Orochimaru tells Sasuke to meet with En Oyashiro, who is a medical-nin but is a notorious kekkei genkai collector, because he may have connections to the group since its leader is a kekkei genkai owner. They take a boat to En's "Coliseum", where a tournament is being hosted with En's clients attending to purchase the winning shinobi. Orochimaru reveals to him that Sasuke is a kekkei genkai owner himself, causing Sasuke to be forced into participating in the tournament. After the war, he returned to his genetic experiments where he remained somewhat passive in his activities though the people of Konoha did not trust him. This led to them keeping a close watch over him whenever he was outside his hideout. Despite heavy surveillance, Orochimaru was able to move freely as the shinobi watching him were ordered not to act unless their target made a move against Konoha. Orochimaru then began creating multiple synthetic humans leading to the creation of Log and Mitsuki who were produced through cloning with his own genetic material used as a source. Among his experiments also included a subject named Shin who could graft organs onto his body which did not reject them. He came to possess the Sharingan with numerous clones of him being produced where he came to admire the actions of Itachi Uchiha. This led to him taking the name Shin Uchiha and escaped Orochimaru's laboratory alongside his clones. Later, Orochimaru and Log orchestrated a test for Mitsuki to unknowingly participate in, which was devised for his son to find a third option that neither Orochimaru or Log presented him. Having failed the test fives times, Orochimaru used a drug each time to remove Mitsuki's memories. On the sixth attempt, Mitsuki passed the test by rebelling against the pair to forge his own destiny himself, resulting in him wanting to migrate to Konoha. Supporting his decision, Orochimaru asked Naruto to take his son in, which the Hokage allowed, as it was believed Orochimaru's research would prove useful to Konoha in time.

Naruto and Sasuke came to his laboratory for information on Shin Uchiha with Orochimaru telling them everything he knew about his former test subject. Fifteen years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru revealed himself to Sasuke and Naruto when the former demanded to meet him, wanting to inquire about Shin Uchiha. Naruto commented on his youthful looks, to which Orochimaru replied to 'not stress on the details'. After a talk, he explained that Shin was, in fact, an experiment of his in cloning technology and that he would be glad if they took him off his hands. He then went on to lecture about the ethics of cloning. Once he finished his story, Orochimaru happily decided to tell Sasuke all he knew about Shin's whereabouts in the hope of the true Uchiha killing Shin. Later on, Orochimaru commented on the possibility of Sakura Uchiha being already dead, to which Sasuke disagreed.

During the upcoming Chunin Exams, Orochimaru remotely told Mitsuki to not show the full extent of his jutsu otherwise Konohagakure would never allow him to return to the village. Around this time, the village was attacked by members of the Otsutsuki clan with Mitsuki being wounded in the fight. He later made a full recovery where his parent warned him again not to use Sage Mode as it would threaten his ability to stay in the Hidden Leaf but came to trust his child in managing events himself. He later conducted a sparring session with Mitsuki when his child retuned home briefly to get his parent to sign a form.

On a moonlit night, Orochimaru decides to visit Mitsuki in Konoha. When he finds Mitsuki, Mitsuki is in the middle of practicing with the Lorentz Gun. Although Mitsuki isn't able to perform it successfully, Orochimaru is nevertheless impressed by his progress, believing such skill is proof of being Orochimaru's son. Mitsuki is not comforted by this, as his Lorentz Gun still pales in comparison to Sasuke's, who taught it to him in the first place. Orochimaru stirs at the mention of Sasuke and tries to casually offer to accompany Mitsuki the next time he trains with Sasuke. Mitsuki tells Orochimaru to stop.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Orochimaru was a very pale skinned individual with slitted pupils alongside purple markings around his eyes along with fang-like teeth. He had pronounced cheekbones and a straight waist-length black hair and locks that framed his face or to his shoulders. It as shown that his appearance varied depending on the body he had taken as his host vessel. He was regarded as one of the legendary Sannin (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin, Literally meaning: Legendary Three Ninja) alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade due to their summoning technique.

According to Tsunade, Orochimaru was said to have had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents' grave, with Hiruzen's explanation of it representing fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques. Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories. Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone's help.

The concept of gender had little meaning to Orochimaru who had been both a man and a woman. After having a child, he claimed as being a parent and was both mother as well as father to Mitsuki.

Orochimaru stated that he had a desire to learn all the jutsu in the world including the forbidden ones. However, he knew that he was limited by the human lifespan and that he could never attain this knowledge even if he became Hokage. Thus, he looked to attain immortality which would given him the time to accomplish his goals.

He was show as having a great charisma in manipulating other people into becoming his pawns. It was shown that he offered insights into their pasts and promised them power in exchange for their loyalty. However, he was shown to dispose of them or to allow them to be killed once they were no longer useful to him.

To attain his goals, Orochimaru was shown to had no compunction in using others as part of his experiments. While Orochimaru's ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda.

After seeing the Uchiha clan, he came to desire to use one of them as a host body and initially intended to claim Itachi Uchiha for that purpose. However, he came to fail in his attempt as his target was too strong for him. It was this reason that Orochimaru decided to settle on using Sasuke Uchiha as his next body.

According to Sasuke, becoming cruel with any good he had as a member of Team Hiruzen long gone, Orochimaru's agenda made him develop a god complex and highly value himself while delighting in striking terror in his first impressions. Though causing conflict to ease his boredom, Orochimaru seems to have no interest in wars started by others. He was also somewhat of a perfectionist, always striving to make his various projects succeed, and likewise looks down on those who are sloppy and/or reckless in their own projects. His charisma also attracts a number of followers, many of which he would not hesitate to send on potential suicide missions if for his own personal benefit, expressing some remorse if they're unable to properly complete a task, and having no sentimental attachments to any of them despite their value to his goals. Despite this, Orochimaru has genuine interest in the development of his underlings and experiments.

His former sensei Hiruze Sarutobi used to have high hopes for Orochimaru and believed that the man was the kind of person who was only born once in a century. It was for this reason that Sarutobi held the hope that Orochimaru was worthy of becoming his successor as Hokage. These hopes were dashed though when he learnt of the true nature of his pupil who ended up going rogue from the village.

He was said to know Tsunade very well and claimed to understand her thought processes. Orochimaru also found it interesting that in all the years that the two had never fought one another.

Upon seeing Naruto Uzumaki, Orochimaru was dismissive of the boy and believed him to be an inferior shinobi. In fact, he questioned Jiraiya's decision to train the boy instead of training the superior Sasuke due to his heritage as an Uchiha. He left the Naruto alive as he knew that the child was of interest to the Akatsuki. It was only after seeing Naruto defeat Kabuto that he revised his opinion and now considered Uzumaki to be too dangerous to be left alive.

Whilst being a Sannin of Konohagakure, he once took an apprentice in the form of Anko Mitarashi.

Later on, he had a genetically engineered child named Mitsuki that he had grown and developed. Orochimaru had stated that it was irrelevant whether he was the mother or father as he had been all kinds of entities over the years. To Orochimaru, all that mattered was one's core and he simply considered himself to be Mitsuki's parent.

For a time, his closest aid was Kabuto Yakushi who was originally sent as a spy on him for the Akatsuki. Yakushi was a subordinate of Sasori who used a jutsu to activate his hidden personality that revealed his true intentions. Orochimaru was said to had learnt of this and broke the jutsu over Kabuto.

Powers and abilities

Over time, he came to acquire a vast sum of knowledge on the shinobi world from his time with the Root and Akatsuki. He had great charisma, enough to manipulate people into becoming his willing servants, providing insight into their past and promising them power in order to gain their loyalty. In battle, he can quickly deduce the workings of an enemy's fighting style and respond accordingly. He was regarded as one of the strongest shinobi in that era. Orochimaru showed sheer aptitude to the point of being a natural prodigy and the best of his generation. His power led to him being considered for the position of Hokage and he likes of the Akatsuki viewed him as a threat. Even in a weakened position, he was shown to still be capable of battling his fellow Sannin. Despite his power though, he acknowledged that Itachi Uchiha was stronger than him.

It was shown that he had large reserves of strong chakra, powerful enough to stir up winds and crack stone. Orochimaru was shown to hold incredible levels of healing ability and repair damage done to him in a short matter of time. When suffering from grievous cuts, he was able to reconnect the severed limbs or alternatively regurgitate a new body that was devoid of any damage. If cut down by an enemy, snakes were able to emerge from his severed halves where they pulled his body back together where they undid any damage he sustained from combat. The intensity of his killing intent can reduce most foes petrified in fear. He can absorb chakra through physical contact, which also grants him their skills and knowledge. His chakra control is very advanced, excelling in various chakra applications. Even with his hands sealed, leaving him unable to perform handsigns, he can use various powerful techniques with ease.

He was talented in a range of techniques that included:

• Soft Physique Modification (軟の改造­, Nan no Kaizō) : his modified body possessed increased flexibility and elasticity allowing him to stretch as well as bend it to great lengths along with the ability to retract it. This dislocated joints whereupon the user used chakra to manipulate their limbs.
• Binding Snake Glare Spell (蛇睨呪縛­, Jagei Jubaku) : a technique that created two large snakes from his sleeves that could wrap themselves around a target to capture them.
• Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes : (万蛇羅ノ陣­, Mandara no Jin) : an ability whereby Orochimaru could summon countless snakes from his mouth that spread out and hunted his quarry. Their numbers allowed them to form walls of snakes allowing to defend and to circumvent defensive techniques. In addition to their poison fangs, the snakes were able to extend Kusanagi-like blades for added damage against his enemies.
• Summoning Technique (口寄せの術­, Kuchiyose no Jutsu) : a technique whereby he was able to summon large objects in an instant which he used to summon the giant snake Manda (マンダ, Manda).
• Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation (寄せ・穢土転生­, Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei) : a forbidden kinjutsu technique capable of reviving the dead which was originally developed by Tobirama Senju though was never completed. After learning it, Orochimaru completed the jutsu for his own purposes. To utilise it, he required some DNA from the person he intended to resurrect whether it was blood stains or preserved organs and that their soul was in the Pure Lands. Once gathered, he then required a live sacrifice whose chakra was overwritten by that of the person being reanimated with the dead person being completely under Orochimaru's control.
• Eight Branches Technique (八岐の術­, Yamata no Jutsu) :
• Casualty Puppet (死者傀儡­, Shisha Kugutsu) :

He came to develop a specific ability known as the Power of the White Snake (白蛇の力, Shirohebi no Chikara) which allowed him to heal and regenerate injuries after a short length of time. The constant body modifications had resulted in his transformation into a giant white snake composed of many smaller snakes that could be used to attack his enemies. This was described as being his true form and it was shown that his blood was poisonous which when it evaporated contained a paralytic able to freeze anyone who inhaled it. The ultimate expression of his efforts in attaining immortality was him developing the Living Corpse Reincarnation (不屍転生­, Fushi Tensei). This was also known as the 'Eternal Youth and Immortality Technique' whereby he was able to transfer his soul into a new host body after his old one rotted away. He was able to mark specific people to serve as a future host for himself with these being branded with the Juinjutsu (呪印術, Viz: Curse Mark Jutsu, Literally meaning: Cursed Seal Techniques). This allowed the person to tap into the power given to them by Orochimaru but the greater the use then the more the mark took over their body. Its influence saw the curse spread across the person's body and consistent use could see the person being overwhelmed by it allowing for Orochimaru to take over their body and destroy the original personality within it. He could only use the process once every three years where the souls of the bodies he had taken came to remain in his subconscious where he could modify their body as he saw fit.

He was the wielder of the Sword of Kusanagi (草薙の剣­, Kusanagi no Tsurugi) that was kept hidden within his body and he could call from snakes that emerged from his mouth. It was quickly capable of extending and retracting across long distances where it could be controlled telekinetically at Orochimaru's command. The sword was noted to be incredibly sharp and capable of cutting through almost anyhing.

Orochimaru as one of the Sannin came to forge a contract with the giant snake Manda (マンダ, Manda) who could be called forth with a summoning jutsu. The snake was an ill-tempered and was angered at being summoned where he expected sacrifices to be made to him for calling him. Manda only respected strength and if he felt that Orochimaru was weak then it was believed he would betray his summoner and possibly even devour him. During the Sannin fight, he was defeated and was angered at Orochimaru for his injury to the point that Manda had said that if he was ever called forth again then his summoners would regret it.

He was skilled in genetics and bio-engineering where he was able to produce a number of experiments that included manufacturing synthetic beings. Research of abilities such as Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and Jūgo's Sage Transformation have allowed him to recreate those same abilities, or at least produce techniques based off of them, into other people. From experimentation on Shin Uchiha, Orochimaru has become more knowledgeable of human genetics, facilitating his overall research in developing perfect clones of himself, which he considers to be of a higher class than the Shadow Clone Technique as they cannot be dispersed. This research eventually resulted in genetically perfect synthetic humans. Designed to be stronger than normal humans, these synthetic humans were produced with unique capabilities: heightened immune systems and healing, infrared ray detection, low-frequency hearing, and the ability to communicate with animals. He has also devised a juinjutsu in order to conceal the secrets of their composition.

In time, he had set up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries.

Orochimaru attempted to learn the art of Senjutsu (仙術, English TV: Sage Jutsu, literally meaning: Sage Techniques) but after failing to attain that state he decided to seek artificial means of gaining this power. After encountering Jūgo, he studied his body that had a natural affinity towards absorbing chakra and triggering a powerful transformation. Thus, he created a 'Juinjutsu (呪印術, Viz: Curse Mark Jutsu, literally meaning: Cursed Seal Techniques) where he made his own cursed seal technique that he could apply to others.

At Konohagakure, he came to be one of the Three Legendary Shinobi (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin).

Orochimaru established his own hidden village named Otogakure (音隠れの里, Otogakure no Sato, Literally meaning: Village Hidden by Sound) that was to serve as a place to conduct his experiments. Among its inhabitants were the Sound Four (音隠れの忍四人衆, Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shū, English TV: Sound Ninja Four, Literally meaning: Hidden Sound Shinobi Four People) who served as an elite guard to Lord Orochimaru. It was said that Orochimaru had many bases of operations and was constantly on the move to any attempt at capturing him.

Notes

• Orochimaru was created by Masashi Kishimoto where he featured in the setting of the Naruto universe.
• The name "Orochi" literally meannt "great snake" (大蛇) while "maru" (丸) that was a common suffix in male names.

In other media

Television

• In Naruto: Shippuden, Orochimaru appeared in the setting of the anime television series where he was primarily voiced by Japanese actress Kujira and English voice actor Steven Blum in the dub series. n the anime, during his escape, Orochimaru was found by Kakashi Hatake. Despite the young prodigy's best efforts, Orochimaru swiftly defeated him. Letting his guard down at the approach of a snake, Orochimaru was greatly injured by an explosive tag concealed in the snake's mouth. Cursing Hiruzen for ruining his plans, though greatly injured, Orochimaru quickly regained his composure. He then resumed his retreat from the country, leaving a terrified Kakashi frozen in place from his malicious glare alone. Seriously wounded, Orochimaru visited the cave where the Iburi clan lived and killed them all, trying to restore his power. Upon the arrival of the youngest member, Yukimi, Orochimaru pursued her while being chased by Kakashi Hatake and Kinoe. Eventually, he managed to take a sample of Yukimi's blood, intending to inject it into himself to temporarily gain her ability and slip across the border, but he was attacked before he could do so and quickly escaped. Orochimaru managed to destroy most of his research facilities and booby-trap the rest. An original anime arc introduced the character of Guren who was a powerful servant of Orochimaru and intended to be a host vessel for him but he passed her in favour of Sasuke. During this time, Orochimaru was also experimenting on Yūkimaru, a child with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decided it was time to test Sasuke's abilities and watched in awe as he defeated an army of ninja, without killing any, and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walked off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognised as a genius, Sasuke's powers far surpassed his own when he was Sasuke's age.

Films

• In Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds, Orochimaru made an appearance in the setting of the non-canon anime film. Feeling that his time was running out before he had to transfer his soul again, but fearing that the repeated use of his techniques was starting to be too taxing, he ordered Sasuke to retrieve a man named Shinnō, who had developed his own immortality technique. In the end, Sasuke failed to get the man, but did retrieve the scroll containing the technique's information. Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke's demeanour seemed shaken from the mission.

Video games

• In Jump Ultimate Stars, Orochimaru appeared as a playable character in the setting of the crossover fighting video game.

Appearances

• Naruto:
• Boruto: Naruto Next Generations:

External Links

• Naruto Wiki Entry
• Comicvine Entry
• Narutopedia Entry

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