Naruto: Did i Just Get Reincarnated as Gojo?

[A/N] - Support & Read Up to 10 Advanced Chapters on My Patreon!

<><><><>

After finishing everything, Orochimaru sat cross-legged on his bed, eyes closed as if meditating.

A lot had happened today, and he needed time to digest it all.

He waited for the moment he would open his eyes-that would be when Lord Hiruzen brought him good news.

Orochimaru's bedroom faced the living room, where a photo of the three Sannin during their Genin days with Hiruzen Sarutobi was displayed on the cabinet. Above the framed photo hung a small pendulum clock, ticking incessantly.

Until...

Orochimaru suddenly opened his eyes; he sensed an unusual chakra fluctuation!

"A barrier! When did this..."

Orochimaru's eyes widened in fear. All around him were green chakra ripples, like walls of sighs preventing anyone from escaping.

"Triple Barrier Seal!"

"This is Lord Hiruzen's jutsu!"

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, Orochimaru deeply understood his teacher's scary prowess.

Known as the "Professor of Ninjutsu," Hiruzen not only mastered all five elemental releases but also various sealing techniques, barrier jutsus, and summoning techniques. He was a ninja without any weaknesses.

Although none of his abilities might stand at the absolute pinnacle of the ninja world, each was near the top tier, making him exceptionally formidable.

Among all the Kage of the five great villages, Hiruzen Sarutobi was undoubtedly among the best.

From what Orochimaru knew, Hiruzen possessed at least two S-rank forbidden techniques, and perhaps even more secret jutsus unknown to his own disciple.

What does it mean to possess an S-rank forbidden technique?

Mastering and pushing one to its limits could change the tide of a local ninja war.

Might Duy, who mastered the "Eight Gates Released Formation," altered the course of the battle between Konoha and Kirigakure. Minato Namikaze, who mastered the "Flying Thunder God Technique," became a nightmare for countless Iwagakure and Kumogakure ninjas.

Although his teacher's S-rank forbidden techniques weren't primarily offensive, they were equally scary.

One was the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, and the other was the Four Red Yang Formation. The barrier before him was a simplified version of the Four Red Yang Formation-the Triple Barrier Seal.

By creating three shadow clones positioned at the southeast, south, and southwest, they formed a green transparent pyramid barrier, creating impenetrable walls that trapped the opponent inside.

Using the Four Red Yang Formation required a massive amount of chakra, so by using the simplified version, the original body could free up his hands to deal with Orochimaru.

Even after creating three shadow clones and holding back an S-rank forbidden technique...

"Why?"

Orochimaru murmured, confusion flashing in his eyes.

He hadn't considered that his own teacher would use an imprisoning barrier technique against him at this time.

What had he done to provoke this?

He hadn't even revealed his "The ninja world is vast; I want to see it" note yet, and Hiruzen had already come knocking?

Boom!!

A thick Adamantine Staff pierced through Orochimaru's door, thrusting straight toward his heart.

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed. Seeing the staff so close, he recalled the fear of being under his teacher's control during his Genin days. He sidestepped just in time, narrowly avoiding the lethal strike filled with killing intent.

"Orochimaru!!" Hiruzen's deep, repressed voice came from the doorway, filled with towering anger. "Ninja Art: Tile Shuriken!"

The tiles on Orochimaru's roof seemed to respond to a summoning, rattling incessantly.

In the next second, they floated into the air, transforming into sharp shuriken.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh-

They shot toward Orochimaru.

Battles between Kage-level ninjas are straightforward yet intense; they no longer need physical weapons. At the profound level of ninjutsu where flowers and leaves can harm, and grass, wood, bamboo, and stones can all become shuriken.

No matter how strong the ninjutsu, shuriken are still feared. If hit even once, even one of the Sannin could die.

The shuriken were incredibly fast, covering all possible spaces where Orochimaru could dodge. If it were an ordinary Jōnin, such a wide-range area attack would at least leave them wounded if not dead.

But Orochimaru was one of the Sannin, after all.

His hands moved swiftly to form seals. In the next second, the tile shuriken pierced through Orochimaru's "body." Several small snakes, cut into pieces, writhed and struggled on the ground.

Orochimaru's real body had quickly distanced itself from Hiruzen at the doorway.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

"Lord Hiruzen... even at your age, your shuriken are still this fast and deadly." Orochimaru's expression turned grim. The earlier shuriken attack had made him feel the intent to kill.

Such a ruthless, unreserved killing intent... It seemed his deeds had been exposed.

But why?

Although there's no wall in the ninja world that doesn't leak, he had always hidden his taboo experiments well. Why had two parties discovered them today?

"Orochimaru, why did you do such things!"

As the dust settled, Hiruzen's figure became visible. Wearing his ninja armor, he stood at the door with the Adamantine Staff in hand.

His tone was filled with the anger of someone disappointed and heartbroken.

"Ah, so it seems you already know, Lord Hiruzen."

"Who tipped you off? The Fourth Hokage? No, it couldn't be; the Fourth doesn't have that capability. So, it was Gojo Kaigetsu, that guy."

Answering his own question, Orochimaru solved his doubts.

Indeed, Minato Namikaze was an honest kid, always acting openly and respectfully toward him as one of the Sannin. He wouldn't secretly investigate his private matters.

But considering recent events...

First, Gojo Kaigetsu's "unknown fate" and disappearance, then the formulation of the "Blitz Plan," and the Fourth Hokage's sudden change in attitude toward him.

Everything became clear!

There was no unknown fate; it was all orchestrated by Gojo Kaigetsu! Perhaps that mysterious masked man was one of his subordinates, sent to lure Orochimaru into revealing himself.

So sinister.

Was there any sincerity left between people in this ninja world?

Orochimaru was furious. Ever since that day when Gojo Kaigetsu left him a strange scroll with odd incantations, he should have realized.

This person must not be left alive! He should have killed him sooner!

"Even now, Orochimaru, you show no sign of remorse. You're just trying to get information from me to find out who exposed your forbidden deeds?"

"What? Planning revenge after escaping?"

"If I repented here, would you spare me, Lord Hiruzen?" Orochimaru sneered. "And don't exclude yourself, Lord Hiruzen~"

"Speaking such righteous words, but it was you who first opened the door to a new world for me, showing me the myriad possibilities of Wood Release in human experimentation."

"Whether it's volunteers or those 'volunteered,' you're the one who opened Pandora's box. Now you want to talk about repentance? If anyone should repent to the deceased, it should be you, the main culprit."

"In the underworld, the Grim Reaper has a rule: whoever harms others in life will be submerged in their victims' blood. Once, the Sage of Six Paths visited the underworld and found the blood only reached my legs. Surprised, he asked, 'You've harmed so many; why does the blood only reach your legs?' I would tell him, 'Because I'm standing on the shoulders of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage of Konoha!'"

Hiruzen fell silent, his expression turning bad by the moment.

Orochimaru's psychological attack had worked.

It was a past Hiruzen did not wish to recall-perhaps the most misguided decree of his tenure as Hokage.

Not only had it cost the lives of many young ninjas loyal to the Will of Fire, weakening Konoha's forces, but it had also unleashed all of Orochimaru's evil tendencies.

Hiruzen slowly spoke:

"I have never ceased to suffer for the sins I bear, and when I realized the Wood Release experiments were impossible, I immediately halted them. I am certain I will enter the underworld after death to atone to those lost in the Wood Release experiments and to the First Hokage."

"But no matter what, my heart is clear as a mirror; everything I've done has been for Konoha."

Hiruzen's voice paused, then grew more intense:

"But you, Orochimaru... Despite explicit prohibitions, you continued these forbidden experiments in secret. To satisfy your own selfish desires, you turned the ninjutsu you learned from Konoha against your comrades."

"You've completely betrayed the Will of Fire, never truly loyal to Konoha, utterly losing the principles of a Konoha ninja."

"Tonight, I will personally put an end to your evil."

"Well... don't underestimate me, Lord Hiruzen."

Having figured out the cause and effect, Orochimaru's inner pressure didn't alleviate.

Escaping from Lord Hiruzen was something he wasn't confident about.

It's like participating in an unrestricted ninja fighting tournament; considering age factors, even if their actual strengths were similar...

But past experiences of being beaten by Hiruzen still cast a shadow over Orochimaru's heart. In real combat, this shadow would act like a debuff, constantly affecting his performance.

To put it crudely, he had "Hiruzen-phobia."

However, looking at his surroundings, he was sealed within a barrier, and outside, there might be many Konoha ninjas waiting for him.

If he didn't bring out his true abilities now and continued to fear his past weaknesses, he would die.

But this also showed Orochimaru a glimmer of hope.

Only Hiruzen had come. He didn't know why, but coming to confront him alone while maintaining the Triple Barrier Seal with three shadow clones and without any backup seemed overconfident.

Orochimaru's eyes gradually became resolute as he looked at his teacher's wrinkled, murderous face:

"This battle..."

"I will win."

....

Gojo Kaigetsu was hiding in his safe house, listening to Gin's report.

Compared to ninjas, ordinary people delivering messages were more inconspicuous.

"To be honest, I can go out now. The fish I wanted to catch have all taken the bait. Those capable of assassinating me-one is practicing Wood-style techniques in an underground lab, and another is hiding in Amegakure as 'Kami.'"

"But I still haven't gone out. Do you know why, Gin?"

Gin wiped the cold sweat from his forehead: "Your thoughts are as deep as the ocean, my lord..."

"Because I wanted to enjoy being the mastermind for a while. It's a bit intense, but I must say it's quite thrilling."

"I can go out tomorrow~"

Gojo Kaigetsu stretched lazily. "So, what's the current situation?"

"During the last observation, Orochimaru's residence was extremely quiet. I didn't get too close to avoid drawing attention."

"But it seems no different from usual; there's no third party on the scene."

"Very quiet, huh..."

Gojo Kaigetsu pondered.

He sighed softly, shaking his head and muttering to himself: "Minato's heart isn't hard enough, nor ruthless enough."

"He still wants to give the Third Hokage and Orochimaru some dignity. He shouldn't have allowed them a one-on-one confrontation."

"If it were me, I'd have gathered all the Anbu, made an announcement to the villagers, and invited them near Orochimaru's house to watch the show."

To kill Orochimaru-

More precisely, to "invite, execute, and recruit him."

Ever since Orochimaru caused Konoha's prosperity to drop by 500 points, Gojo Kaigetsu had decided this. Previously, he lacked influence to ensure the plan's smooth execution and risked being targeted by Danzo.

But now, Gojo-sama held a position second only to one in Konoha.

Orochimaru was a dangerous double-edged sword.

He feared power but not virtue.

Used well, he was a perfect researcher; used poorly, he was an explosive tag that could detonate Konoha at any time.

Although future events showed that Orochimaru didn't harbor hatred toward Konoha nor intended to be its enemy, he simply wanted to research immortality and display the power Hiruzen had denied him, leading to the "Konoha Crush Plan."

In the end, Gojo Kaigetsu still didn't understand the necessity of destroying Konoha to showcase his research to Hiruzen.

If Orochimaru loved the village, he could have handed over his research results to Konoha to offset his crimes and cleanse his status as a rogue ninja. If he didn't love the village, why did he casually spare Kakashi and other pursuing ninjas during his defection?

Who could guarantee that the future Orochimaru wouldn't act erratically in a twisted timeline?

Gojo Kaigetsu often regretted that he arrived in the ninja world a bit late. If he had come earlier and fundamentally changed Orochimaru's mindset, wouldn't that have been wonderful?

Remove Orochimaru's identity as a ninja and cultivate him as a ninja scientist from a young age. With "official authorization" from Gojo-sama and experimenting on Water Ghosts obtained from triangular trade... it would have been a happy ending.

Like Kabuto, who was now arranged to study in the orphanage.

But now, Orochimaru had long since become corrupted.

Such an Orochimaru couldn't earn Gojo-sama's trust.

From believing in ninjutsu to believing in ninja science, from believing in ninja science to chasing after Sasuke Uchiha... Orochimaru's life was full of twists and turns.

Gojo Kaigetsu firmly believed:

"Besides talk-no-jutsu, one cannot change another person through words. broken bones are the best lesson."

"Therefore, break all of Orochimaru's bones!"

To tame such a ninja, one must first shatter his existing beliefs and collapse his ninja way.

For this, Gojo Kaigetsu had planned everything in secret. Once Minato, the Third Hokage, or Fugaku captured him, it would be Gojo-sama's turn to "recruit him."

In Konoha with Gojo Kaigetsu, ninjas needed only one belief: standing before the Hokage Rock and believing in the Will of Fire! Of course, a new Will of Fire imbued with Gojo's characteristics.

Gojo Kaigetsu was a mature adult ninja who understood the principle of "having it both ways."

He wanted Orochimaru to contribute to researching future wars while ensuring the purity of the Will of Fire.

The things Orochimaru had done couldn't be absolved in the new Konoha; they were crimes that enraged both man and god.

To shape the ideology of the new Will of Fire, Gojo Kaigetsu needed Orochimaru to "die."

Let the ninja Orochimaru die and strip him of his abilities as a ninja, allowing him to be reborn as a ninja scientist.

Exiling him to an underground lab to conduct ninja science research as atonement was the best outcome for Orochimaru.

If he didn't cooperate, then he would die.

Orochimaru's priority in the village was no longer that high.

What he could do, Kabuto could also do. What Orochimaru could develop, Kabuto could develop too! He was essentially a young Orochimaru, and one raised by Gojo Kaigetsu, constantly indebted to his mentor.

Time wasn't an issue! It was just a matter of sooner or later.

Gojo Kaigetsu could wait a few years for Kabuto to grow up and take over Orochimaru's role in Konoha.

Thus, all hidden dangers of the "Konoha Crush Plan" would be eliminated.

Looking at the major events in Konoha, what's left now?

The mastermind behind the Nine-Tails Night is practicing Wood-style underground; the planners and executors of the Uchiha massacre have been exiled to Kirigakure or are filled with gratitude. The only major event left is the Konoha Crush Plan.

As for the one plotting to carry the big rice (Akatsuki's leader), he wouldn't appear for another ten-plus years.

Currently, Konoha's main risks are the threats of ninja wars from Kumogakure and Iwagakure.

If, due to timeline convergence, Hiruzen still softens and lets Orochimaru escape, leading to another pursuit...

"Then let's play a game of cat and mouse."

Gojo Kaigetsu was confident of victory.

The Susanoo Gundam had already been dispatched to stand atop a utility pole, ready to act at any moment.

And Minato, who might soften but would still act when necessary.

If a weakened Orochimaru, injured by the Third Hokage, could still escape from the hands of the Susanoo and the Yellow Flash, then Orochimaru truly deserved to be the freest man in the ninja world, and Gojo Kaigetsu would accept it!

"In any case~ be mindful of your actions. Let Orochimaru 'die' once, but not too thoroughly. Minato, if it's you, you should understand what I mean."

<><><><>

Support & Read 10 Advanced Chapters. Ahead of the rest!

https://p-atreon.com/dragonnx

(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)

There is 8 Exciting Fanfics already available on my Patreon!