In Naruto, multiverse and more with Gacha system

"Are you ashamed of yourself? Your thoughts? Your desires?"

Orochimaru's voice was smooth, almost casual, but each question was like a needle, piercing deep.

Saeko didn't answer.

She didn't need to.

Her silence spoke for her.

Yes. She was.

That was why she played the role of a proper, traditional girl. A facade. A mask to hide the truth.

She had tested the waters before, slipping her situation into hypothetical questions with her classmates. The answers had been clear.

A mental case.

A psychopath.

She had learned exactly what others thought of someone like her.

The pale man chuckled, golden eyes glinting with something unreadable. "I saw how you tried to stay composed while killing. I can assume no one knows the real you."

It wasn't a question.

Before coming here, she had cut down the infected without hesitation. She had handled it as smoothly as he had. That told him enough.

The scientist leaned back, tapping his fingers against the table. "With my experience, I can tell you there are only two real solutions for people like you. And what you've been doing? That isn't one of them."

Saeko's fists clenched.

"Either," he continued, "you accept yourself. Regardless of what others think. You don't have to change yourself to be liked you just have to change the people around you."

His gaze was sharp now, dissecting her.

"Maybe there will be someone who doesn't reject you. And if there isn't?" His lips curled. "Then why care? What is it you need from them? Their approval? Their sympathy?"

She swallowed.

"But many live like this," he added, voice turning almost thoughtful. "So if they can do it… so can you."

A pause. Then he leaned forward slightly, voice dropping to something quieter.

"And the other solution?"

Saeko held her breath.

"Hide. But don't hate."

His fingers drummed against the table, lazy but deliberate. "You don't have to let others see the real you. But you also don't have to hate yourself for what you are."

Saeko exhaled slowly, unsure what to say.

Orochimaru, too, found himself lost in thought.

What if he had never regained his memories? Would he have done anything differently?

No.

Because even now, with all his knowledge restored, he felt no shame. Not in his experiments. Not in his attack on the village.

Progress required sacrifice.

Were medicines developed without testing? No. After animal trials, human trials were inevitable. And when those trials began, were only adults involved?

No.

Children, too, were tested. And if a company released a drug that worked on adults but had unknown or adverse effects on children, was that ethical? Or was it simply another form of sanctioned experimentation?

The village had experimented long before he ever began his own work. They had sought another Wood Release user, pushing the limits of human biology in the name of power. The other villages were no different. Progress wasn't just a goal it was a race. And no nation would halt its efforts simply because it was inconvenient.

And as for the attack on the village?

Orochimaru nearly smirked.

Was it truly an attack? Or was it simply his way of giving his sensei a proper farewell?

After all, the village needed sacrifices. Peace and strength did not come freely they were built upon blood.

The new generation needed to see the cruelty of the world.

That was the reality.

Orochimaru could assume that, on some level, both he and his sensei understood this. Otherwise, the old man would have shut down the Chūnin Exams the moment he learned of the invasion.

But he didn't.

He let it play out.

Because he knew this was his chance to elevate himself in the eyes of the village. A leader who stood tall in the face of danger, who fought to protect his people. A martyr, a hero…

A carefully crafted image.

Orochimaru scoffed. How very like him.

But as his thoughts shifted to his own actions the use of the seal his mood darkened.

"Sensei was quite cruel."

He had made a decision.

Never underestimate seals.

Especially in this world.

Brushing those thoughts aside, Orochimaru shifted his attention back to Saeko. He had done what he wanted, and the effects had already taken hold.

Saeko felt a strange heat on her wrist. Glancing down, her breath hitched the branding was gone.

She understood what had happened, but confusion still flickered in her eyes as she looked at him.

Orochimaru chuckled. "You can leave or stay, whatever you want. I'll only be here for a few days, and honestly? I don't think you can do me any harm."

Was it arrogance?

No.

It was simply a fact.

"I don't think I need it on you anymore. Not in this world."

Orochimaru spoke the last line deliberately, letting the words linger as he turned away, already moving towards another zombie to continue his work.

He didn't need to watch her reaction.

He knew exactly when the weight of his words would settle in and what the effect would be.

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