Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice-Chapter 60: Villainous Speech

The cold torchlight of the Akatsuki base flickered over the stone walls, casting long, stretched shadows as Orochimaru leaned casually against the frame of Teriyaki's room.

Teriyaki hadn't moved. Not out of fear—he wasn't afraid of Orochimaru anymore—but because he knew when the snake was about to start talking, it was best to listen first. Disrespecting him never ended up going well.

"You were young once," Orochimaru began, voice low and soft, like poison in warm tea, "More scared of knowledge, of power, but now you have half the equation. You think you're at the top now. Because you're in this group where they respect you to an extent."

He stepped further into the room. His long coat whispered across the stone floor.

"But you're still thinking too small, Teriyaki. The Akatsuki... the Leaf Village... even the Uchiha—"

He smirked.

"—they're just toys. Tools. Temporary distractions. They aren't what I truly need."

Teriyaki tensed slightly. "So what is it, then? What do you actually want?"

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Orochimaru smiled slowly, snake-like, and then sat across from him, folding his hands delicately.

"You want to know the truth? Fine. I'll give you something real for once."

He stared at the flame on the torch like it was whispering to him.

"When I was a child," he began, voice distant, "I lost my parents. I was told it was natural, the way of the world, the cycle of life and death. But I hated it. Not because I missed them... but because I couldn't understand why things had to end. Why things had to be out of my control. Why life controlled me."

Teriyaki watched him carefully, unsure where this was going.

"One day," Orochimaru continued, "I found a white snake in the grass, right near their graves. Slithering in silence. Unbothered by the world. Hiruzen told me it was a good omen, that white snakes meant rebirth, immortality..."

He chuckled softly, a cold sound.

"And in that moment, I understood something most shinobi spend their whole lives avoiding."

His eyes snapped back to Teriyaki, glowing slightly with that unnatural hunger.

"The only thing in this world that matters—the only thing that lasts—is time. And I wanted all of it. Time leads to death, so you must conquer both."

A chill passed through the room.

"Learning every jutsu, discovering every secret, mastering every element, body, bloodline—none of that is possible in a single lifetime. No amount of talent or training can compete with the cruelty of a ticking clock. So..."

He extended his pale hand, fingers twitching lightly, like a snake tasting the air.

"I set out to become timeless. Immortal. Not because I fear death anymore... but because it is the obstruction to all the world's fruits. I will stay around despite the world's wishes. Because I seek immortality."

Teriyaki narrowed his eyes. "So all of this—the experiments, the body-stealing jutsu, the people you've hurt—it's all just so you can stick around?"

"Don't be so crude," Orochimaru said, amused. "I'm not trying to stick around. I'm trying to transcend. Eventually I will surpass everything, given time which others do not have."

He stood and walked slowly around the room, like a lecturer in a twisted academy.

"You see, people live like fireflies—bright, frantic, and dying before they even understand the sky. But I... I break free from the cycle. I've seen many die, thinking their lives were fulfilling. How little they knew, they never thought to look around them and realize the futility of their actions, of their short-lived lives."

He stopped behind Teriyaki, voice a near-whisper.

"You... have potential too, you know. Your connection to the serpents, your chakra... Even now, you resist me more than most, I had to make your curse mark special. You could join me in my goal of immortality but unfortunately I only wish for there to be one person at the summit. Too many, and immortality would lose it's meaning."

Teriyaki looked over his shoulder. "I just want power and freedom, not to be twisted like you, always looking for knowledge."

Orochimaru laughed—genuinely, sharply.

"Twisted? Teriyaki... Freedom and power are the same thing. I'm just more ravenous for both than you have ever been."

He moved toward the door, but paused.

"I'm not here to take you back. Not yet. We will see how Pain's mission goes, if it turns out to reap massive rewards, and to earn you power, it will only make more goals all the more achievable. The more chaos there is, the easier it is to climb the ladder to power."

"So that's why you like the Akatsuki? They cause chaos?"

"Indeed. Chaos lets a snake like me move unnoticed. And the white snake that once slithered through the grass... still moves through the world. Still hungry. Still rebirthing in search of answers. Just in a different form, myself. I have become the white snake. I am to become, immortal."

With that, Orochimaru slipped out the door like a shadow stretching too long, gone before Teriyaki could respond.

I guess that was his monologue for the week... 

The room fell silent, but his words echoed, like hissing under the skin.