Chapter 10: The Bargain Between Naruto and Orochimaru

“Naruto, I must say, your invention is quite creative.”
Holding a power core in his hand, Orochimaru was surrounded by countless iron filings, gathering like rivers and swirling around him.
Guided by his will, the iron filings constantly transformed into various shapes, finely crafting everything around him.
“It looks similar to Magnet Release, but it can do far more than that. I can sense that this technology is closer to the fundamental principles of all things than Magnet Release itself. Its potential, if not higher than Magnet Release, I believe surpasses even the entire ninjutsu system.”
Orochimaru was deeply moved.
He had long wished to say it—how wonderful it would be if he could have a second or third pair of hands.
Even if they weren’t hands, a technique so responsive to his intent could allow him to multitask with ease; that would suffice!
After seeing Kakashi learn to use the spirit machinery, Orochimaru had actively revealed himself, hoping Naruto would let him try it out as well.
Naruto agreed, and then something astonishing happened.
Orochimaru, on his very first attempt at learning spirit machinery energy, mastered it effortlessly, achieving the results he now displayed.
To be able to control iron sand through spirit machinery energy and sculpt the surrounding objects—that was the hallmark of a combat engineer's initiation.
In that previous steampunk world, Naruto had trained apprentices before.
Ordinary combat engineer apprentices or interns, after mastering spirit machinery energy, would require systematic training for a year or two before reaching this level.
For someone like Orochimaru to become proficient right from the start—it was a first for Naruto.
Such innate talent was unparalleled.
Kakashi, by comparison, could only barely extract iron sand from dust and manipulate it consciously.
Of course, that was still far beyond average, but Orochimaru was simply monstrous.
To Orochimaru’s praise, Naruto shook his head, “No, spirit machinery energy wasn’t invented by me. It was invented by the scientists at the Federal Academy of Sciences.”
Orochimaru laughed heartily:
“You don’t need to repeat that line. In my eyes, you are the first to bring this technology to this world—so, it is your invention.”
Truth be told, both Orochimaru and Kakashi believed Naruto’s explanation.
Especially Orochimaru, who was fascinated by the fate of souls after death.
He didn’t so much believe Naruto’s tale of his soul traveling to another world as he hoped it were true.
In the end, Orochimaru agreed to one of Naruto’s requests.
If outsiders asked and he had to answer, he would say he obtained fragments of this technology from a certain ruin, and after extensive research, successfully restored it.

This way, Naruto’s safety was further assured.
With Orochimaru and Kakashi joining in, Naruto’s speed in crafting power cores improved greatly.
Within just a few days, Naruto produced two more power cores, adding interfaces for future functional modules.
During these days, Naruto also received news that the Cloud Ninja army was pressuring the Leaf Village.
“So, what is the purpose behind Orochimaru-sensei telling me this?”
Naruto tilted his head, looking at Orochimaru seriously:
“Does the village need me, its strategic weapon, to be deployed?”
“That… couldn’t be!”
Before Orochimaru could respond, Kakashi spoke urgently:
“Naruto is still too young, he…”
“Such a complex system, such a systematic technique—could an ordinary child invent it?”
With one sentence, Orochimaru silenced Kakashi.
Orochimaru turned to Naruto:
“As for sending you out, it’s not necessary yet. No matter what, the village wouldn’t deploy a jinchuriki who hasn’t yet developed combat power. To send someone unprepared into battle is just feeding the enemy.”
Hiruzen Sarutobi still didn’t know Naruto had mastered spirit machinery energy.
In fact, as of now, only Orochimaru and Kakashi in the whole Leaf Village were aware.
Yet both harbored disappointment—perhaps even despair—towards the village, so they concealed the information.
“However, I have a proposal, Naruto.”
Orochimaru said, “You’ve crafted such ninja tools and developed the spirit machinery system. Don’t you want to see how this system performs on a large battlefield?”
“Now is the perfect opportunity. The Cloud Ninja Village is aggressive and the village is short-handed. Kakashi and I, survivors of the last war, will inevitably be called to this battlefield.”
“I am willing to take spirit machinery ninja tools and personally test their effects. You just need to research my feedback, assess the results, and customize functional modules according to my needs.”
Orochimaru didn’t even notice he was using the tone reserved for convincing other adult ninja when making this proposal to Naruto.
Kakashi didn’t want Naruto to serve the war now, but he knew only Naruto could make the decision.
Naruto tilted his head: “If I customize modules for you, that’s your benefit. What about mine? What do I get?”
Orochimaru grinned, licking his lips:
“I’ll teach you ninjutsu. With your talent, I guarantee that by the year you graduate from the ninja academy, your strength can reach jonin level. I could even recommend you for the Chunin Exams and nominate you for jonin, if you wish…”

After thinking it over, Naruto decided to accept the deal.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was troubled.
Cloud Ninja Village had no intention of negotiating; whatever method Leaf tried, they refused all overtures.
The Raikage had only one response: hand over the people or prepare for war.
How could he hand anyone over when he didn’t even know who the real culprit was!
The Raikage insisted on accountability from the Hyuga and Uchiha clan leaders—
Was that accountability? He just coveted their eyes! Shameless!
Other neighboring nations, whether out of fear of the Land of Lightning’s military or just eager to stir the pot, also meddled.
Countless emissaries traveled between the two countries; even the Rain Country’s diplomatic envoy came in person, banging the table with Fire Country’s envoy,
declaring they would never allow war to spread to the Rain Country.
The Fire Daimyo was spineless, lacking any responsibility, sending a dozen messages a day urging the Leaf to hand over the accused and settle things.
Even more troublesome, the Hyuga clan leader, Hiashi, and his brother Hizashi, were in constant turmoil, performing melodramatic acts of self-sacrifice for peace.
Both vied to be the martyr, putting on a show of noble devotion.
The Uchiha clan was in uproar, vowing to defect if any member was handed over.
For the first time, Hiruzen regretted his decisions.
He regretted not saving Sakumo, not keeping Tsunade and Jiraiya, not fully supporting the Whirlpool Village, at least evacuating its elderly, women, and children to Leaf.
If only these experts or the Uzumaki clan were here, Leaf wouldn’t be in such dire straits.
If Leaf weren’t so depleted, Hiruzen could have risked it all, threatening to start the Fourth Ninja World War, and no one would dare interfere!
Rubbing his temples, Hiruzen dispatched another diplomatic team to wrangle, then ordered Danzo’s Root to stir up trouble in Cloud Village to distract the enemy.
“War, war…” Hiruzen sighed. “Ah, right—where’s Naruto? How is Naruto doing?”
“I’ve been so caught up in this that I haven’t checked on him lately.”
He summoned an ANBU to inquire about Naruto’s situation.
“What? Naruto has started learning ninjutsu?”