Are you my master?

Under the dim hanging lamp, a gaunt figure held a scalpel, mechanically cutting through flesh and blood. Half of his face was obscured in shadows.

"Huh..."

Orochimaru let out a soft sigh, his eyes dimmed with fatigue.

Another precious kekkei genkai shinobi's body had gone to waste. If nothing unexpected happened, tonight would be fruitless again.

Boom boom...

The underground lab located in the Root base suddenly shook violently.

Orochimaru's body trembled. The scalpel in his hand slit a deep gash across the pulsating heart of the cadaver. Blood spurted out.

Hissing sounds came from the shadows where snakes writhed in excitement at the taste of blood, but they quieted down a moment later.

Just as Orochimaru was about to focus on correcting his mistake, a strange atmosphere permeated the lab.

"Hm?!"

Orochimaru put down the scalpel and glanced around sharply. He quickly identified the source of the anomaly.

On the table next to the operating table, a golden, long-spouted oil lamp had appeared out of thin air, squeezing among the lab equipment and emanating a soft glow.

With one look, Orochimaru recognized it as a genie lamp, capable of granting the owner's wishes.

This wasn't because he was erudite, but because floating above the lamp was a line of golden, bold letters:

"I am the magic lamp! Rub the lamp to summon the genie and make your wishes come true!!!"

Very straightforward and tempting...a trap.

Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.

He was certain the object wasn't on the table before. He was also confident no one could have slipped it in under his nose without being noticed...

The magic lamp appeared out of nowhere.

There were quite a few special ninja tools in the shinobi world, like the Sword of Totsuka that could trap enemies in an illusory dream world, the legendary Sage of Six Path's Amber Purifying Pot and Bashōsen...So a wish-granting lamp wasn't too farfetched.

Orochimaru took an interest in the lamp.

There was no such thing as a free lunch, but if he could find out the conditions and limits of the lamp granting wishes, could he strike some kind of fair deal with this so-called genie?

Orochimaru wasn't stingy about paying prices, especially in recent years as he became increasingly aware of his own limitations.

Kekkei genkai, doujutsu...he was no different from ordinary shinobi under the constraints of bloodline.

Just as Orochimaru was pondering this, a knock sounded on the door. It was a Root ANBU directly under Danzo's command.

These worms lurking in Konoha's shadows, ghosts that no one would care about even if they died, were excellent lab rats.

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Come in!"

Soon, a Root shinobi flashed into the lab and knelt on one knee on the floor. He spoke urgently, "Orochimaru-sama, the Nine-Tails suddenly appeared in the village and is wrecking havoc. Danzo-sama has summoned you to discuss countermeasures."

Recalling the earlier tremors in the lab, Orochimaru frowned. "The Nine-Tails?"

The Nine-Tails' current jinchūriki was Uzumaki Kushina. Although not a perfect jinchūriki, with her Uzumaki lineage and fuinjutsu, she had the Nine-Tails firmly leashed. Plus the Fourth Hokage's protection, under normal circumstances, the Nine-Tails could not possibly break free.

It seemed something had gone wrong during Kushina's childbirth.

Orochimaru laughed gloatingly, "So even that Minato messed up."

He couldn't say he felt no resentment about Jiraiya's student surpassing him to become the Fourth Hokage. Let's just say he nursed a grudge.

Hearing about Minato's blunder delighted Orochimaru right now.

As for Danzo's so-called discussion, Orochimaru couldn't care less. He knew Minato's abilities all too well. The Nine-Tails was no match for him, no match for the Uzumaki's fuinjutsu either. He had no interest in indulging Danzo's rubbernecking of the Fourth Hokage's predicament.

Orochimaru looked at the Root ninja. "Go pick up that lamp."

"I..."

The Root ninja raised his lowered head, seeming to want to say something but swallowed it back down under Orochimaru's icy stare. A grimace was hidden behind his mask.

He understood clearly there was no room for refusal.

As soon as the magic lamp was picked up, a plume of translucent smoke spurted out of the spout and swiftly coalesced into a human form in midair.

Its features were obscured but a voice clearly emitted from its mouth. "Hahaha! I am the magic lamp genie, on duty and ready for service. Are you my new master?"

Orochimaru's brows furrowed slightly.

He didn't know what this "master" was exactly, but it probably meant owner or contractor. Victim would be more fitting here.

What made Orochimaru vaguely uneasy was that the genie emerging from the lamp didn't seem to be addressing the Root ninja.

Those eyes hidden in the mist were looking straight at him. The greeting held no questioning tone either, clearly mocking.

Most bizarre was the Root ninja frozen in place, as if unable to see this genie at all, awaiting his next command.

Orochimaru suppressed his doubts and pointed at the Root ninja. "Lamp genie, he's the one who woke you, not me."

"Oh? Who exactly woke me up?"

The smoky figure laughed mockingly. "The one who woke me up, or the one who ordered me to be woken up?"

Orochimaru's expression darkened slightly. The lamp genie's intelligence far exceeded his expectations, completely different from the mindless responses of Shinigami or evil deities.

This was not good, because it meant the genie before him might not be fair or easily fooled.

Orochimaru looked guarded, as if facing a formidable foe. The smoky figure saw this and spoke unhurriedly,

"Wariness, suspicion, doubt...you have ample reasons to be wary of my existence."

"But...there is no need at all."

"Because..."

"You have no power to resist me whatsoever."

The humanoid smoke surged towards Orochimaru. In a flash, it entered his body completely.

The next moment, the body dissipated with a 'bang'.

Before Orochimaru could feel relief at dodging the attack with a substitution, a voice rang in his mind.

"Fleeing is futile. What binds us is the contract, the rules."

The voice continued calmly, "I can take over your body anytime."

"Oro...Orochimaru-sama..."

Seeing Orochimaru's bizarre behavior, the Root ninja held the magic lamp uncertainly, at a loss.

"Get out!"

The yell came from Orochimaru's mouth, but not by his own will.

"Yes."

The Root ninja put the lamp back, opened the door, flashed out, shut the door, the motions smooth and practiced.

In the blink of an eye, the lab returned to Orochimaru alone...plus one genie.

"Do you understand the reality now?"

For a moment Orochimaru was silent, then his consciousness spoke in his mind, "Lamp genie, what do you want?"

"As the lamp genie, I only have one purpose here..."

"To grant your wish for immortality!"