Chapter One: The Rebirth of Orochimaru-Orochimaru of the Darkest Hour(Ten updates per week)

"Have I been reborn?" Orochimaru stood on a yellow earthen road, his cold expression betraying no joy or anger.

"Time reversal—what a formidable jutsu."

A long tongue slithered out, circling his lips, only to collect a mouthful of yellow grit. Orochimaru seemed unbothered; instead, his mouth slowly stretched into a crooked smile.

"So then, what time is it now?" Orochimaru turned his gaze to the side, where a bespectacled young man was standing respectfully.

"Lord Orochimaru, the Kazekage has already been captured alive," the young man reported the instant Orochimaru looked his way.

Orochimaru nodded, his eyes shifting forward. A forest of white bones exuded a chilling air; Kimimaro had already impaled the Kazekage on a bone spike, leaving him barely clinging to life.

"Let’s go see," Orochimaru said, striding into the bone forest. Wherever he walked, the white bones parted to let him through. Kabuto followed, the glint on his glasses flickering.

"Lord Orochimaru, the mission… cough… is complete," Kimimaro announced, dragging the mortally wounded Kazekage along behind him, breath faint, life nearly spent.

"So, I’ve returned to this point in time," a faint light flashed in Orochimaru’s pale golden, slit-pupiled eyes as calculations stirred within his mind.

This was the prelude to the "Leaf Collapse Operation." He, Kabuto, and Kimimaro had just assassinated the Kazekage.

"Konoha, is it? There’s truly no need for it to exist anymore," Orochimaru mused aloud. Having returned with knowledge of the future, he saw the path ahead for Konoha—and to him, it was hardly worth following.

Before, he’d lacked crucial information, his research too narrow, fixated on trivial matters such as acquiring Sasuke’s body, only to fail in the end.

But now, knowing the truth of the shinobi world, he found little value in that future.

"All chakra is Kaguya’s? That woman can simply take it back at will?" Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed, a chill emanating from him. Had anyone asked for his consent?

In the end, he had handed everything over to Sasuke and Naruto, becoming a leisurely researcher—almost just another pawn among the White Zetsu army.

Too many times his fate had lain in others’ hands—a sensation he deeply resented.

"It’s best when everything is under my control."

Orochimaru gazed at the dying Kazekage and said coolly, "I’ll give you one chance—serve me, and I’ll spare your life."

He now had new ideas regarding the "Leaf Collapse Operation."

Kabuto glanced up at Orochimaru, a flash of surprise quickly concealed in his eyes. Why had Lord Orochimaru changed the plan?

He had participated in every detail of the operation; the original intent for the Kazekage was swift execution before they installed a body double.

So why did it seem Orochimaru now wanted to spare the Kazekage?

Orochimaru did not deign to answer Kabuto’s unspoken question. Whether the Kazekage lived or died meant little—the operation itself needed to change, or else the outcome would remain failure.

"…Cough…" The Kazekage, though on the brink of death, still mustered some backbone. "Orochimaru, you can forget about—"

Before he could finish, Orochimaru drew the Kusanagi blade and stabbed him through the heart.

There was only ever one chance—he was not one to joke.

"Cut off his face and discard the body," Orochimaru said dispassionately.

The Kazekage died with his eyes wide open. Couldn’t you have asked me a few more questions? If you had, I might have agreed!

…

On the dusty road to Konoha, Kabuto hesitated to speak.

Orochimaru donned a human-skin mask, taken from a female Grass ninja he’d killed earlier.

"Is there something you wish to say, Kabuto?" Orochimaru’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Kabuto replied, "Lord Orochimaru, you’re not one to change plans on a whim. Yet you altered your handling of the Kazekage."

Orochimaru chuckled softly. As expected, Kabuto understood him best—detecting even the subtlest shift.

"I’ve been thinking," Orochimaru said, "Konoha truly has no reason to continue existing."

"What?!" Kabuto was taken aback. The "Leaf Collapse Operation" was never truly about destroying Konoha, but about overturning the current Hokage system, installing Danzo, and triggering a shinobi world war.

War would provide time and space for renegades like them to thrive.

Was Orochimaru now intent on utter destruction?

"Konoha is the symbol of the shinobi world. Not just Konoha—the other four great villages must also be razed," Orochimaru stated calmly, as though discussing a trivial matter.

Kabuto’s mind reeled. Wipe out the other four great villages too?!

Madness—complete madness. This was the path to unifying the entire shinobi world!

Yet in the flash of light on his glasses, Kabuto’s shock transformed into admiration. As expected of Lord Orochimaru.

…

Days later, disguised as a Grass ninja, Orochimaru arrived in Konoha. Reclining on the bed of a guesthouse, he idly flicked his tongue from time to time.

"The power of eyes…" Orochimaru mused on Itachi’s eyes, Sasuke’s eyes, then Obito’s and Madara’s, and finally Kaguya’s.

"A clan of bloodline shinobi…" Orochimaru frowned.

The entire shinobi world’s chakra was nothing but the product of a single bloodline. The grand dramas of history amounted to nothing more than Black Zetsu’s quest to resurrect his mother—how absurd, how utterly preposterous.

What did that make the rest of them? Mere playthings?

"Before, my perspective was too narrow, too arrogant. I always believed myself correct, until I learned the truth and realized how wrong I was.

This time, I’ll broaden my horizons, seek the truth, and reform the shinobi world. After all, a second chance comes only once."

Orochimaru recalled the jutsu that had brought him back—"Time Reversal"—which he’d excavated from the ruins and could only use once.

Once he dealt with these trivial matters, he intended to seek out whether there were any more such techniques.

Suddenly, a white figure flashed into his room—a man with short black hair, his upper body and half his face swathed in white bandages, standing beside the window.

"Orochimaru, what do you mean by this?" Danzo demanded angrily.

They had agreed beforehand that his faction would not intervene during the operation, waiting to reap the benefits. Orochimaru, in turn, was only to field forces equal to the Hokage’s in strength.

Yet now, Root had reported a large number of unidentified shinobi infiltrating Konoha—all belonging to Orochimaru.

"What do I mean?" Orochimaru sat up, his cold laughter echoing. "I intend to truly destroy Konoha. Those ninjas making themselves obvious are my message to you. Danzo, would you like to join my Sound Village?"

Danzo was a schemer, the darkness of Konoha, willing to do anything for its sake. In the end, he died at Sasuke’s hand—though whether he truly did anything for Konoha was debatable.

Not that it mattered—just another minor player.

Danzo sneered, "Orochimaru, have you thought this through? Are you sure you want to go through with this?"

Orochimaru’s smile deepened. "Danzo, you’re the one who needs to understand—I’m not negotiating; I’m informing you. What you choose to do is up to you."

With that, Orochimaru lay back down, ignoring Danzo entirely.

"You…!"

Danzo was furious.

"Very well! Very well! Very well!" he repeated three times, vanishing in a flash, his final words lingering in the room: "We shall see."

He didn’t believe Orochimaru alone could be his match. He would carefully consider how to use this incident both to defeat Orochimaru and weaken the Hokage’s faction.