Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice-Chapter 46: Sasuke’s Visit

The cave was quieter than usual. The usual rustling of unseen serpents was distant, their presence lurking just beyond the edges of Teriyaki's awareness. He sat in the dim glow of bioluminescent moss, staring at his own hands—pale, scarred, and marked by something inhuman. Patches of scales shimmered against his skin, proof of what he was becoming. His body no longer felt entirely his own.

"Are the scales good?" He groaned, unsure if they meant failure or sucess.

Two more months had passed. Five in total.

He could feel it now—Sage Chakra pulsing faintly beneath his skin. It was still unstable, but he was learning to wield it, to balance it without losing himself to stone. The cave had nearly consumed him, but he had endured. And now, the air shifted again, that same presence returning.

Footsteps.

Familiar.

Orochimaru.

But he wasn't alone. There was another pair of footsteps.

"Why are we visiting here? I don't care about your snake zoo."

Teriyaki already knew who was with him before he even saw him.

Sasuke Uchiha.

Orochimaru stepped into the cavern first, his golden eyes gleaming with amusement. Sasuke followed, his expression unreadable, but his gaze flickered briefly with something else—recognition, maybe even hesitation.

Orochimaru chuckled. "Ah, Teriyaki... Now you've also changed."

Teriyaki didn't respond. He simply stared. His long, unkempt hair fell down his back, strands matted with the grime of the cave. His face remained untouched by scars, but his body was another story. His arms, his chest—where his tattered clothing failed to cover—were lined with deep marks of torment. His once tan skin had paled, and in some places, it had turned an unnatural gray. Snake scales coiled around his forearms, his shoulders, his collarbone. Some parts of his body looked... wrong, as if they belonged to something else entirely.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. This was not the same person he had seen at the Chūnin Exams.

Teriyaki, in contrast, only laughed. A dry, hollow sound that echoed through the cave.

Orochimaru smirked. "It seems you've finally realized what you've become. You're finally adapting well."

Teriyaki let the laughter die down, tilting his head. "Why are you here?"

His voice was different now. Ruthless. Colder.

Orochimaru turned slightly, gesturing toward Sasuke. "I thought you'd like to know, your little village has been quite persistent. They tried so hard to retrieve Sasuke, but alas..." He grinned, eyes glinting with sadistic amusement. "He chose me over them."

Teriyaki's expression didn't shift, but inside, something twisted.

"Even Naruto?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Orochimaru's smirk widened. "Ah, yes. Naruto fought with everything he had. But Sasuke defeated him." He chuckled. "A great talent, wouldn't you say? Far greater than most. More than his talent, his loyalty will take him far."

The implication was clear. He was comparing them.

Sasuke's gaze flickered toward Teriyaki, waiting for his reaction. But there was no outburst, no anger. Only silence.

Teriyaki already knew this would happen. He had read the story before. But knowing didn't make it any easier.

Could I have stopped this? he wondered. Could I have done something different?

But the answer was obvious.

No.

Because even if he had tried, Sasuke had already made his choice. Just like Teriyaki had made his.

Orochimaru continued, voice laced with mockery. "But look at you. You're still here, struggling, barely clinging to control. Meanwhile, Sasuke has already surpassed his limits. The difference in talent is clear, don't you think?"

Teriyaki didn't react. He simply exhaled slowly, his breath steady. He would not give Orochimaru the satisfaction of a response.

But Sasuke... he was still staring at him.

There was something unreadable in his expression. Not pity. Not disgust. Just... unease.

The person before him was not the Teriyaki he had fought in the Chūnin Exams. That Teriyaki had been sharp, determined, but still human. This one?

This one felt like something else entirely.

Sasuke looked at Teriyaki as if worried Orochimaru would turn him into something similar.

Then Teriyaki laughed again.

Low and unsettling.

Sasuke tensed slightly. There was something unnatural in that laughter, something that crawled beneath the surface. He could sense it—the insanity trembling just below Teriyaki's carefully maintained composure.

Teriyaki smiled, tilting his head. "You're staring, Sasuke. What's wrong? Do I look different?"

Sasuke didn't answer immediately. He just frowned. "You don't even look like the same person."

Teriyaki's grin widened slightly. "I wonder why."

The silence between them was thick. Orochimaru watched with quiet amusement, studying the interaction like a scientist observing an experiment.

Finally, Sasuke exhaled sharply and turned toward Orochimaru. "We should go."

Orochimaru arched a brow, but his smirk didn't waver. "Already? How disappointing."

Sasuke didn't respond. He simply turned and walked away, disappearing into the cave's shadows.

Orochimaru lingered a moment longer, his gaze drifting back to Teriyaki. "You'll understand soon enough," he mused. "What you are becoming... and what that means for me."

Teriyaki said nothing.

With a final chuckle, Orochimaru followed after Sasuke, leaving the cave just as quietly as he had arrived.

This chapt𝙚r is updated by freeωebnovēl.c૦m.

Teriyaki remained seated, unmoving, staring into the dark where they had disappeared.

A strange sense of finality settled over him. A confirmation of something he had already known.

Sasuke was gone. And so was the version of himself that had once cared to stop it.

The cave whispered around him, the hissing voices blending with his own thoughts.

You are not the same.

He knew that now.