Орочимару на английском как пишется

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For the Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari character, see Orochimaru.

Orochimaru
Naruto character
Orochimaru by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Naruto chapter 45
Voiced by	Japanese Kujira Yuriko Yamaguchi (Shiore) Mayumi Yamaguchi (young) Sachiko Kojima (female body) Masahiko Tanaka (fourth Kazekage)[1] English Steve Blum Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (female body and Shiore) Crispin Freeman (Fourth Kazekage)[2]
Notable relatives	Mitsuki (son)
Ninja rank	Rogue Ninja[3]

Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is a fictional character from Naruto, a manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto. Orochimaru is a former ninja from the village of Konohagakure who is well known for work in wars which earned him the title of Sannin and becomes a terrorist as a means to cheat death, and built his own ninja village Otogakure. He succeeds to some extent in obtaining immortality by transferring between different host bodies, which became one of his driving motivations throughout the series as he targets Sasuke Uchiha for his genetic heritage. By the events of Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, he has seemingly redeemed himself and has sent his experiment Mitsuki to Konoha to become a ninja. Orochimaru has appeared in media outside the Naruto anime and manga, including several video games.

Based on Japanese mythology, Orochimaru was created as one of the series’ main antagonists, and was intended to represent the opposite of the protagonists’ morals and values.^[4] His snake-like appearance features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognize that he is a villain. Orochimaru is voiced by Kujira in the Japanese version, and by Steve Blum in the English dub.

Several anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Orochimaru’s character. He has been praised as one of the series’ premiere villains by reviewers for his lack of redeeming qualities and open malevolence. Among the Naruto reader base, Orochimaru has been a popular character, ranking within the top twenty in several polls. Numerous pieces of merchandise with Orochimaru’s likeness have been released, including action figures, posters, and plush dolls.

Creation and conception[edit]

Most of the traits of Orochimaru’s character were taken from Japanese mythology. Orochimaru originates from the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari where he opposes the title character who also appears in Naruto as his former ally.^[5] He wields a sword named Kusanagi, which is said to be related to the creature known as the Yamata no Orochi;^[6] in Japanese mythology, Yamata no Orochi is defeated by the god Susanoo, a scene which is re-imagined in the manga and anime: Orochimaru uses a technique called Yamata no Orochi, but is ultimately defeated by Itachi Uchiha’s Susanoo technique.^[5]

The introduction of Orochimaru to the series was first suggested by Masashi Kishimoto’s superiors to improve the series’ popularity. Kishimoto believed the series grew personality based on the Chunin Exams story arc and wanted it to end normally with Shikamaru Nara’s victory. However, he eventually accepted their advice and Orochimaru was used to interrupt the arc.^[7] In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains «flamboyant» was one of his «guiding principles», and attributed this to his desire to have the villains have a «powerful aura».^[4] When asked if Orochimaru was still good, Kishimoto answered that Orochimaru is «truly evil» and that he is one of the several «hopeless evil characters» that appear in the series.^[8] Kishimoto originally planned to make Orochimaru look androgynous, but made him creepier due to the concept of him being a strong antagonist.^[9] Out of most of the characters, Orochimaru was the hardest one to write. Kishimoto wanted him to be a terrifying opponent, so he wondered if that was really the way to go to make him sound strong^{[clarification needed]}: «Then I started thinking it was good like that, he’s strong and creepy, and the creepiness started increasing.»^[9]

To follow the theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru’s face appear «pasty and sickly», which serves to emphasize the «scary looks» that Orochimaru expresses in the manga. Orochimaru’s nature types are fire, earth, and wind. As these occurrences are his «trademark», Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru’s appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru’s face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru’s hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a «creepy atmosphere».^[10]

Appearances[edit]

In Naruto[edit]

Orochimaru acts as the primary antagonist for the first part of the series. After his parents were killed when he was young, Orochimaru’s only source of affection was his teacher—Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage—and his two teammates.^[11] As they grew older, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade collectively became known as the Legendary Sannin (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) due to their exemplary ninja abilities in the Second Great Ninja War against Hanzo.^[12] Many of Orochimaru’s abilities deal with snakes, which he summons to battle multiple opponents while simultaneously keeping himself out of harm’s way.^[13] Through his experiments, he has been able to add some snake-like characteristics to his own body.^[14][15] In his desire to attain immortality to learn every jutsu (lit. ‘technique’), Orochimaru developed a forbidden jutsu to steal his victim’s body. Although he is essentially immortal, Orochimaru learns the process can not be done more than once every three years.

Orochimaru craved more power than could be obtained from training with his master and began abducting Konohagakure villagers for various experiments, with Yamato among his surviving victims. Unwilling to bring himself to harm Orochimaru upon learning of his actions, Hiruzen allowed his former pupil to escape and flee the village.^[16][17] Orochimaru eventually joined the criminal organization Akatsuki and became partners with a fellow rogue ninja named Sasori. However, after he attempted to steal the body of Itachi Uchiha through a forbidden jutsu to gain the Sharingan (写輪眼, lit. «Copy Wheel Eye», English manga: «Mirror Wheel Eye») failed, Orochimaru was forced to leave the organization.^[18][19] Orochimaru then founded his own ninja village, Otogakure, populated with ninjas loyal to him. They mostly serve as test subjects in his experimentation to become an ultimate being and as pawns to do his dirty work.^[20]

During the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru plans the invasion of Konoha with the ninja of Sunagakure to not only kill Hiruzen, but also claim the body of Itachi’s brother Sasuke Uchiha.^[16] To that end, Orochimaru infiltrates the Chunin Exam during the Forest of Death portion by killing a Kusagakure ninja named Shiore, assumes her identity, and personally tests Sasuke before branding him with a Curse Mark. He also faces Naruto Uzumaki, who effectively resists Orochimaru’s giant snake jutsu using the chakra of the Nine-Tail Fox. Orochimaru, using the Five Elements Seal, blocks access to the chakra of the Nine-Tails by disturbing the balance of the original seal. For the duration of the Exams, Orochimaru lays in wait and secretly murders the Fourth Kazekage to assume his identity and get close to his mentor as the invasion begins. However, Orochimaru is forced to retreat when Hiruzen sacrifices himself through the Reaper Death Seal to take away Orochimaru’s ability to perform jutsu, with his forces pulling back while Sunagakure later learns of Orochimaru’s treachery.^[21] Orochimaru attempts to get aid from Tsunade before seeking out another way to cure himself in an attempt to be able to use jutsu again. When all his efforts prove unsuccessful, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to fetch Sasuke in the hopes that a body-transfer will allow him to use his arms again.^[22] When Sasuke takes too long to arrive, Orochimaru is forced to switch to the body of one of his prisoners instead,^[23] and decides to train him until the day that he will be able to take Sasuke’s body for himself.^[24]

Two and a half years later, in the second part of the series, Orochimaru confronts Naruto and his friends when they attempt to track down Sasuke. When Sasuke attempts to kill Naruto, Orochimaru dissuades him by pointing out the Naruto’s use in taking down Akatsuki and thus reducing the number of enemies he has. Sasuke eventually uses his Sharingan to void Orochimaru’s technique and retains control of his body while trapping Orochimaru’s soul within him,^[25] which gives Sasuke access to many of Orochimaru’s abilities in the process.^[26] During Sasuke’s later fight with Itachi, Sasuke is left too weak to continue suppressing Orochimaru’s soul, allowing Orochimaru to escape and try to take his body again. Before he can do so, Itachi seals him away.^[27]

After Kabuto’s defeat, Sasuke learns of Orochimaru’s survival, as the Cursed Seals are revealed to hold copies of Orochimaru’s consciousness in them, along with Orochimaru’s cells that Kabuto injected into himself and subjugated. Using the Cursed Seal Orochimaru placed on his former student Anko Mitarashi, Sasuke releases Orochimaru and gives him a new body that Jugo provides with an absorbed part of Kabuto’s flesh.^[28] Despite expressing no interest in the ongoing war and still desiring to claim Sasuke’s body, Orochimaru joins Sasuke in his quest for answers over the nature of ninja, taking him and Taka to the Nara Shrine, where he undoes the Reaper Death Seal and regains the use of ninjutsu before transferring his being into a White Zetsu clone placed on Sasuke. In his new body, Orochimaru brings the first four Hokage back to life with the Reanimation Jutsu to give Sasuke the answers he wants. Seeing that his methods were flawed from inside Kabuto and interested in observing his former apprentice’s new path, Orochimaru aids the Allied Shinobi Forces by helping Tsunade and the Kage, and assists in subduing the Shinju. After the Fourth Great Ninja War ends, among those caught under Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi before being freed^{[clarification needed]}, Orochimaru resumes his experiments, albeit in a more humane manner, with Sasuke’s Taka teammates supporting him as lab assistants, though Konoha remains suspicious of him and keeps tight surveillance on him in case he resumes his former human experimentation activities.

In Boruto[edit]

In the sequel series Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, which takes place 15 years after Naruto, Orochimaru created two artificial humans based on his DNA, naming the youngest Mitsuki whom he considers a son and sends to live in Konoha to find his own path in life.^[29] He also appears in the Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring side story with his younger appearance noted by the confused main characters.^[30] In the post-credits scene of Boruto: Naruto the Movie, Orochimaru is seen watching Mitsuki with his teammates.

Appearances in other media[edit]

Out of the five films on the series, Orochimaru so far has only appeared in the fifth Naruto film, Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds.^[31] He briefly appears in the fifth OVA «The Cross Roads». Orochimaru is a playable character in nearly all Naruto video games, including the Clash of Ninja series and the Ultimate Ninja series.^[32][33][34] In some games, he utilizes variations of his techniques not seen in the anime or manga, and in the second installment of the Ultimate Ninja series, Sealed Arms Orochimaru is available as a separate character.^[35] Gekitō Ninja Taisen! EX 2 marks the first appearance of Orochimaru in a video game set in Part II, with the second one being Ultimate Ninja 5.^[36]

Orochimaru also appears in two light novels from the franchise: in Sasuke’s Story, he aids Sasuke in a mission by providing him information about his target,^[37] and in Konoha Hiden, he makes a cameo congratulating Naruto Uzumaki and Hinata Hyuga’s wedding.^[38]

Reception[edit]

Orochimaru has been featured consistently in the Weekly Shonen Jump popularity polls, commonly placing in the top twenty characters.^[39] However, in the last popularity poll, he was out of the top thirty characters.^[40] Merchandise based on Orochimaru has also been released, including action figures,^[41][42] plush dolls,^[43] and key chains.^[44] AnimeCentral listed him as the tenth best villain in anime due to his objectives and methods, particularly how he scares Sasuke Uchiha the first time seeing him despite Sasuke’s strength.^[45] In the book Listverse.com’s Ultimate Book of Bizarre Lists: Fascinating Facts and Shocking Trivia on Movies, Music, Crime, Celebrities, History, and More by Jamie Frater, Orochimaru was listed as the eighth most evil villain with the writer calling him «pure evil».^[46]

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media praised and criticized Orochimaru’s character. IGN writer Jason Van Horn compared Orochimaru’s search for power and subsequent fall into villainy to that of Darth Sidious from Star Wars, and labeled Orochimaru as «something more than just pure evil».^[47] Justin Rich from Mania Entertainment considered Orochimaru the «first real villain» of the series, noting that unlike Zabuza Momochi, the villain of the previous arc, he had no redeeming qualities.^[48] DVDTalk’s Todd Douglass Jr. celebrated the introduction of Orochimaru into the series, as well as the potential plot development from the curse seal Orochimaru placed on Sasuke, describing it as one of the best parts of the series.^[49] Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network stated that Orochimaru’s influence over Sasuke kept the tension high, even when he had minor appearances.^[50] Javier Lugo from Manga Life praised the fight between Orochimaru and the Third Hokage based on the surprises this encounter showed.^[51] Bamboo Dong from Anime News Network labeled Orochimaru as a character that can not be killed.^[52] IGN’s Charles White considered Orochimaru as «one of the more interesting characters on the show» as he stateed Orochimaru «can literally steal the show at any time».^[53] A. E. Sparrow from the same site praised Orochimaru’s scenario in the 13th volume of the manga as he interrupts the story arc to engage with the Third Hokage in a possible deathmatch despite interrupting the fight between Sasuke and Gaara which readers had been looking for.^[54]

After Orochimaru’s fight against the Hokage, About.com writer Deb Aoki commented that Orochimaru was in such poor shape to the point where he was replaced by Akatsuki as the new antagonists.^[55] In the book The Rough Guide to Manga, Jason S. Yadao noted Orochimaru’s impact in Part I of the series due to his influence on one of the protagonists, Sasuke, to abandon his comrades and join him.^[56] Holly Ellingwood from Active Anime described him as «sinister» and noted his proposal to revive Tsunade’s loved ones in exchange for healing his arms made it appealing.^[57] Additionally, Kimlinger considered Kujira, Orochimaru’s Japanese voice actress, to be one of the best from the series.^[58] Orochimaru’s transfer of bodies was used as a reference by manga author Gege Akutami for his work Jujutsu Kaisen where an ancient being changes bodies as time progresses, more prominently the one of Suguru Geto.^[59]

Despite the character’s minor appearances in Part II, most of them were well received. The way Orochimaru angers Naruto Uzumaki in their battleand his management over events ever since his reintroduction are deemed as «near perfect» by Mania’s Chris Beveridge.^[60] Orochimaru’s fight against Sasuke in later parts of the series is praised by Manga Life’s Park Cooper due to how it changes «the nature of things» in a short time.^[61] While Beveridge agrees with Cooper, he finds that the fight did not bring a certain end to Orochimaru, which he thought would have made it more entertaining. On the other hand, Beveridge likes how a flashback showed Orochimaru’s backstory in Konoha, which helped explain the reason for his character during the fight between the two.^[62] His apparent redemption to follow Sasuke in later parts of the story is criticized by writer Jason Thompson during a review of the manga.^[63] On the other hand, Bryce Coulter from the Fandom Post finds Orochimaru’s change based on Sasuke’s new interest intriguing due to the future possibilities of becoming Konohagakure’s ally.^[64] Ramsey Isler from IGN praises the relationship between Orochimaru and his ally Kabuto as the former often wondered if Kabuto was ever going to betray him.^[65] In the final episodes of the anime Naruto Shippuden, Orochimaru made small cameos during the preparations for Naruto and Hinata’s wedding which Amy Mcnulty from Anime News Network found hilarious.^[66]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Media related to Orochimaru at Wikimedia Commons

editOrochimaru  [1][2][3][4]
Parts I-II New Era
大蛇丸 Orochimaru
Debut
Manga	Naruto Chapter #45
Anime	Naruto Episode #27
Novel	Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise
Movie	Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds
Game	Naruto: Ninja Council
OVA	Hidden Leaf Village Grand Sports Festival!
Appears in	Anime, Manga, Novel, Game, Movie
Voice Actors
Japanese	Kujira (Original form) Yuriko Yamaguchi (Shiore) Mayumi Yamaguchi (Child) Sachiko Kojima (Female body) Masahiko Tanaka (Fourth Kazekage)
English	Steven Blum (Original form) Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (Shiore and Female Body) Crispin Freeman (Fourth Kazekage)
Personal
Birthdate	October 27
Sex	File:Gender Various.svg Various
Age	Part I: 50–51 Part II: 54
Height	Part I: 179.4 cm1.794 m <br />5.886 ft <br />70.63 in <br />–172 cm1.72 m <br />5.643 ft <br />67.717 in <br /> Part II: 172 cm1.72 m <br />5.643 ft <br />67.717 in <br /> Gaiden: 179.5 cm1.795 m <br />5.889 ft <br />70.669 in <br />
Weight	Part I: 63.9 kg140.875 lb <br />–57.3 kg126.325 lb <br /> Part II: 57.3 kg126.325 lb <br />
Blood type	B
Kekkei Genkai	Jūgo’s Clan’s Kekkei Genkai Sakon and Ukon’s Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku Wood Release
Classification	Missing-nin S-rank Sannin
Occupation	Founder and Leader of Otogakure Scientist
Affiliation	Konohagakure Root Akatsuki Otogakure Ryūchi Cave
Team	Team Hiruzen Team Orochimaru Team Dosu
Partner	Sasori Kabuto Yakushi
Rank
Ninja Rank	Part I: Anbu
Ninja Registration	002300
Academy Grad. Age	6
Family Log (Clone/Son) Mitsuki (Clone/Son)
Nature Type Wind Release Lightning Release Earth Release Water Release Fire Release Wood Release Yin Release Yang Release
Unique Traits Can absorb chakra
Jutsu Binding Snake Glare Spell Casualty Puppet (Anime only) Chakra Scalpel (Anime only) Earth Release: Hiding Like a Mole Technique Earth Release: Shadow Clone (Anime only) Eight Branches Technique Eight Trigrams Sealing Style (Anime only) Five Elements Seal Five Elements Unseal (Anime only) Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes Four Black Snakes Formation (Anime only) Four Symbols Seal (Anime only) Fūinjutsu Trap (Anime only) Gathering of the Snakes Genjutsu Binding (Anime only) Hidden Doorway Technique (Anime only) Hidden Shadow Snake Hands Hideout Destruction Trap (Anime only) Hiding in Surface Technique Living Corpse Reincarnation Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands Orochimaru’s Juinjutsu Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique Regeneration Ability Reversible Technique (Anime only) Self-Healing Technique (Anime only) Shadow Clone Technique Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique (Anime only) Slithering Snake Mode Snake Clone Technique (Anime only) Snake Mouth Bind (Anime only) Soft Physique Modification Sound Wave Technique (Anime only) Space–Time Technique Formula: Underworld Turnover (Anime only) Substitute Technique Summoning Technique (Shinigami, Snake) Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation Summoning: Rashōmon Summoning: Triple Rashōmon Sword of Kusanagi: Longsword of the Sky Temporary Paralysis Technique Twin Snakes Mutual Death Technique Vanishing Facial Copy Technique White Snake Possession (Anime only) Wind Release: Breakthrough Wind Release: Gale Palm (Anime only) Wind Release: Great Breakthrough
Tools Genjutsu Pill (Anime only) Mind Awakening Pill Poison Shinigami Mask Sword Sword of Kusanagi

Orochimaru (大蛇丸) is one of Konohagakure’s legendary Sannin. With a life-ambition to learn all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru seeks immortality so that he might live all of the lives necessary to accomplish his task. After being caught red-handed performing unethical experiments on his fellow citizens for the sake of this immortality, Orochimaru defected from Konoha rather than be persecuted for his ambitions, and for many years sought the village’s destruction in order to take revenge and demonstrate what he had learned. After several apparent deaths in the pursuit of his goals, Orochimaru realises his approach is flawed through Kabuto Yakushi, his former associate, and begins monitoring the choices and actions of his former apprentice, Sasuke Uchiha.

Background

Orochimaru was an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru stood out as a genius — his talents, insight, and determination were considered by Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen only once in a generation.^[5] According to Tsunade, Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents’ grave, with Hiruzen’s explanation of it representing fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques.^[6] Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories.^[7]

During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha’s «Three Legendary Shinobi» (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process.^[8] On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead.^[9][10] In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Blue B’s doctor in order to trick him into taking special genjutsu inducing pills, allowing him to extract the tailed beast. After its rampage, Orochimaru obtained the severed horn of the Eight-Tails and harvested Blue B’s DNA from it.^[11]

Orochimaru would go on to fight in the Third Shinobi World War, with his performance in the war being so great that he was considered as a candidate for Fourth Hokage alongside fellow war hero Minato Namikaze.^[12]

Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became an Anbu member and joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko Mitarashi. It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying Danzō in forcing the boy’s guardian, Nonō, into a mission.^[13] While Orochimaru’s ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda.^[14] Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone’s help.^[5] When Hiruzen finally named Minato his successor, Orochimaru saw no more reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions.^[15] This led to his experimentation on Hashirama Senju’s DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate the First’s Wood Release, having help from Danzō.^[16] Believing it to be a failure, Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his Wood Release experiment. He later refined the process enough to inject Hashirama’s cells into the Sharingan-infused right arm of Shin Uchiha, which he transplanted to Danzō.^[17][18][19]

Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later, Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru’s research on the source of Jūgo’s powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu.^[20] Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of the clan’s fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process, the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects.^[21] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Itachi Uchiha performing a training run normally meant for older and more experienced users due to the danger of it. After the young Uchiha flawlessly completed it, Orochimaru instantly became amazed and excited at Itachi’s advanced growth rate. In the anime, he also allied himself with Amachi out of interest for creating a shinobi capable of underwater combat, kidnapping Land of the Sea villagers for their experiments, while introducing Anko to the project. Sometime after, Orochimaru lost interest in the project, and ordered Amachi to cancel it, while also seeing Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to use the cursed seal, and wiped her memories as she left him.^[22]

Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major liabilities. Orochimaru instead brought Kabuto to his hideout, which would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root’s intent for Kabuto’s life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand man and spy with the promise of an identity.^[23]

As his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen. Though he knew it was his duty, Hiruzen lacked the will to kill his student, allowing him to escape.^[24] In the anime, during his escape, Orochimaru was found by Kakashi Hatake. Despite the young prodigy’s best efforts, Orochimaru swiftly defeated him. Letting his guard down at the approach of a snake, Orochimaru was greatly injured by an explosive tag concealed in the snake’s mouth. Cursing Hiruzen for ruining his plans, though greatly injured, Orochimaru quickly regained his composure. He then resumed his retreat from the country, leaving a terrified Kakashi frozen in place from his malicious glare alone.^[21] Seriously wounded, Orochimaru visited the cave where the Iburi clan lived and killed them all, trying to restore his power. Upon the arrival of the youngest member, Yukimi, Orochimaru pursued her while being chased by Kakashi Hatake and Kinoe. Eventually, he managed to take a sample of Yukimi’s blood, intending to inject it into himself to temporarily gain her ability and slip across the border, but he was attacked before he could do so and quickly escaped.^[25] Orochimaru managed to destroy most of his research facilities and booby-trap the rest.^[26]

Orochimaru ultimately escaped Konoha, leaving his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya’s plea for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears. Orochimaru soon became affiliated with and joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki. Orochimaru was then partnered with Sasori, with whom he did much good for the organisation.^[27] He later watched in amazement when Itachi Uchiha joined the organisation. Later, when Orochimaru saw his opportunity to steal his body to gain possession of the Sharingan, Itachi used his Sharingan to stop him from doing so, while also cutting Orochimaru’s left hand off to prevent him from breaking the genjutsu he was under, which lead to him leaving Akatsuki to acquire a new body.^[28] For Orochimaru’s defection, Sasori developed a grudge against him and used Kabuto, whom Orochimaru had sent to serve as his spy within Akatsuki, to counter spy as his sleeper agent. However, Orochimaru discovered and undid the technique Sasori had used on him.^[29] In the anime, when tipped off by Kabuto that Sasori was on his trail, Orochimaru chose to use this as an opportunity to test his development of the Second Hokage’s Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. Against Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet, Orochimaru summoned the actual Third Kazekage through his technique. While proving his reincarnated ninja being stronger than the human puppet, the technique ultimately proved incomplete as the Third Kazekage was able to regain control and break the summoning contract.^[30]

Orochimaru had also been on a life-long search for the Sword of Totsuka, an ethereal sword, but was unaware that it was in the possession of Itachi’s Susanoo.^[31] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Mizuki killing a comrade during a mission. Under the pretence as a gift for Mizuki’s bold actions, Orochimaru granted him a specialised cursed seal. In truth however, it was an incomplete experimental tool that would destroy whoever used it, to which Orochimaru was merely curious as to how the effects would happen on Mizuki.^[32]

Personality

Orochimaru possesses a complex personality; however, more often than not, he was described as «twisted» by a large number of people, including Tsunade. Jiraiya speculated that the death of his parents while he was young, along with his horror for Tsunade losing Nawaki and later shedding tears when she lost Dan, implies that Orochimaru grew to disdain the fragility of human life and how it affected those still living, which led him to desire immortality. To that end, the primary purpose of Orochimaru’s human experimentation is to test what modifications the human body can endure and harness a subject’s unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru had hoped to be worthy of the title of «ultimate being«, unable to die and able to achieve his secondary goal to learn every ninja technique in the world, which would normally take many lifetimes to obtain.

According to Sasuke, becoming cruel with any good he had as a member of Team Hiruzen long gone, Orochimaru’s agenda made him develop a god complex and highly value himself while delighting in striking terror in his first impressions. Though causing conflict to ease his boredom, Orochimaru seems to have no interest in wars started by others.^[33] He is also somewhat of a perfectionist, always striving to make his various projects succeed, and likewise looks down on those who are sloppy and/or reckless in their own projects.^[34] His charisma also attracts a number of followers, many of which he would not hesitate to send on potential suicide missions if for his own personal benefit, expressing some remorse if they’re unable to properly complete a task, and having no sentimental attachments to any of them despite their value to his goals. Despite this, Orochimaru has genuine interest in the development of his underlings and experiments.

Taking Sasuke as an apprentice, and seeing him as a prodigy like himself, Orochimaru intended to take the youth’s body to obtain the Sharingan to reach another step in his goal of immortality and learning every technique in the world. This goal has developed to the point of obsession. However, despite knowing that Sasuke was willing to do anything for revenge, including sacrificing his own body, Orochimaru did anticipate treachery from his disciple and showed only a small level of surprise when it actually occurred. What truly surprised Orochimaru was Sasuke’s decision to follow his own path and his eventual decision to defend the village he initially swore to destroy, one that Orochimaru openly approved of and was curious to see what would be the end result of.

He also had an initial disdain toward Naruto Uzumaki, believing him to be a poor excuse for a ninja until he defeated Kabuto with the Rasengan. Despite attempting to kill Naruto at the time after coming to the realisation that he would become a threat to him in the future, Orochimaru became interested in Naruto’s development, provoking Naruto during their battle to draw out his full abilities at the time. During the war seeing Naruto’s indomitable willpower and his memories with Jiraiya caused Orochimaru to begin to respect him. Though coming to hate his home village, orchestrating a few attempts to destroy it, Orochimaru despised his former Akatsuki colleagues more. Throughout Part II, if Orochimaru was not busy with Sasuke’s development, he would try to cripple Akatsuki’s operations, as seen in the «Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission» arc and «Three-Tails’ Appearance» arc. He expresses delight over the death of Sasori and later convinced Sasuke against killing Team Kakashi so they would thin out Akatsuki’s membership.

An aspect of Orochimaru’s personality is also his greatest weakness: his arrogance. He truly believed he was immortal at times, attacking recklessly against powerful opponents such as his former teacher and Itachi Uchiha. Both times, he was left crippled in some way since he either wanted to make his opponent suffer, like against Hiruzen, or because he was too uninformed to face his opponent, like against Itachi. Despite his distinct lack of morals, Orochimaru seems to be well-versed in psychological warfare and displays insightful wisdom when disparaging Tobirama for the actions resulting from his policies. He is also amusingly afraid of insects and bugs as seen during Naruto and Hinata’s wedding.

After being revived by Sasuke, his personality changed a bit. While he’s still as self-serving as ever, he also realised that copying someone completely was a mistake from his observation of Kabuto and displayed interest in Sasuke’s «different path». Wanting to see Sasuke’s path, he chose to fight alongside the Uchiha instead of ignoring Madara’s war like he planned, and even made it a priority to heal Tsunade and the other Kage after their defeat before hurrying to the battlefield. Orochimaru also seems to genuinely care about Sasuke’s wellbeing, as he originally thought it was best to take his time figuring out how to battle Tobi but quickly decided against taking his time when Karin sensed Sasuke was on the verge of death. Orochimaru has also shown signs of regret, seemingly saddened by his childhood friend Jiraiya’s death. In the anime, he was one of people who congratulated Naruto and Hinata on their wedding.^[35]

Years later, while still as driven as ever to uncover the greatest secrets of life, he apparently now does so in a relatively more humane manner, including reforming his personal shinobi village. Also, while his relationship with the rest of the world is still dubious at best, he has at least developed a relatively trusting relationship between the higher-ups of Konohagakure, and was likewise able to have a «casual» parent-teacher conference about Mitsuki. He is willingly aiding Konoha in research on pressing matters and likewise feels responsible enough to make amends for past mistakes.^[36] He apparently is on amicable terms with Konoha by sending his son, Mitsuki, to the village. In the anime, he also feels indebted to Naruto as the Hokage for watching over Mitsuki.^[37] Orochimaru’s experiences also resulted in him wishing Mitsuki to make his own decisions, admitting that he has high hopes for the boy’s natural growth, though he at times used manipulation and deception to put him in a situation where important decisions must be made. He also shows some interest in the respective children of Naruto and Sasuke, particularly intrigued by Boruto sharing the same unwavering spirit and loyalty as his father. Ultimately, his changes have made even the White Snake Sage view Orochimaru as going «soft».

Appearance

Orochimaru’s most conspicuous characteristic is his snake-like appearance: he has very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or to his shoulders. The various bodies he takes over have each been modified to resemble his original form, except for the height differences. In Naruto Gaiden, Orochimaru’s facial features soften and somewhat androgynous with his eye markings becoming black. He also wears his hair in a ponytail, allowing two locks to frame the sides of his face. In the manga, his skin-tone becomes noticeably fairer in complexion.^[38]

Orochimaru usually wears plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back, blue tomoe-shaped earrings, and shinobi sandals with bandages around his calves. He is seen wearing a kimono with different colours on several occasions, shown usually in flashbacks or inside his hideouts. During his time with Akatsuki, he wore the standard red and black Akatsuki robes with a slate blue ring, which bears the kanji for «sky» or «void» (空, kū), on his left pinky finger. After countless experiments with his body, his true form became a giant white snake made up of many smaller snakes, with longer, spikier hair, a scaled face with snake-like teeth and a long tongue, black eye markings, and a pointed chin. Years later, he wears a white robe tied at his waist by a dark-coloured sash and a purple rope, blue pants and shirt.

Abilities

Orochimaru is an exceptional shinobi, recognised as one of the strongest to ever exist. One of the only people who could compete against Hanzō in his prime, he became a Sannin. At the same time, amongst his team, Orochimaru stood out the most in sheer aptitude as a natural prodigy and the best of his generation,^[39] earning praise from even Hashirama Senju.^[40] Easily Kage-calibre, Orochimaru was once a candidate to be Fourth Hokage. His power is feared throughout the world, such that Akatsuki, which he was once a member, saw him as a threat.^[41] Following the Konoha invasion, while failing, Orochimaru’s actions left the village crippled for years and the Third Hokage dead. Even crippled and gradually weakening, Orochimaru remained extremely formidable, able to compete against either of his fellow Sannin and even toy with a Version 2 jinchūriki respectively. In the anime, he easily overwhelmed an Inner of Kara, despite their monstrous might and Shinobi-Ware modifications.^[42]

Chakra and Physical Prowess

Orochimaru has large reserves of strong chakra, powerful enough to stir up winds and crack stone.^[43][44] Likewise, the intensity of his killing intent can reduce most foes petrified in fear. He can absorb chakra through physical contact, which also grants him their skills and knowledge.^[45] His chakra control is very advanced, excelling in various chakra applications. Even with his hands sealed, leaving him unable to perform handsigns, he can use various powerful techniques with ease. Orochimaru is very adept in taijutsu, able to overwhelm Sasuke in Part I despite his Sharingan-enhanced clarity. He is very strong, able to knock down a tree with a single kick,^[46] and temporarily stunned a Four-Tailed Naruto with his punch.^[47] He is also blazingly fast, able to move with such sudden change in direction to leave his opponent’s disoriented.

Body Modifications

In his quest for immortality and the perfect body, Orochimaru gained numerous modifications over the years. He can heal from most damage in short periods of time. For more grievous injuries, like bisection, he can reconnect himself or regurgitate a new, fully-healed body. Orochimaru’s body is also able to stretch and manipulate its form for greater manoeuvrability. His durability allows him to endure being stabbed by the giant Sword of Totsuka and shrug the damage off, and even resist multiple solidly-landed enhanced punches from the already-super strong Tsunade essentially unharmed.^[48]

Orochimaru’s modifications have resulted in his true form becoming a giant white snake and a body composed of many smaller snakes that can attack. Its blood is poisonous, evaporating in the air to paralyse all who inhales it. This form is used for the Living Corpse Reincarnation, letting him transfer his soul and physical essence into a new body by swallowing that person whole, thereby gaining control of all the new body’s abilities while retaining his previous abilities and extending his lifespan. This can only be used once every three years. The souls of the bodies he has taken remain in Orochimaru’s subconscious and he can modify his body as he sees fit.

After Orochimaru physically died, as Kabuto heavily modified his body with various genetic sources, including Orochimaru himself, Sasuke used some of Kabuto’s flesh as a basis to reconstitute Orochimaru. This gave Orochimaru the added benefit of heightened chakra reserves and access to the various techniques and unique abilities Kabuto acquired. This included the Sound Five and Taka’s respective skills; Sakon and Ukon’s Kekkei Genkai, Jūgo’s Clan’s Kekkei Genkai, Kimimaro’s Shikotsumyaku, a variation of Suigetsu Hōzuki’s Hydrification Technique, as well Karin’s Uzumaki life-force and healing powers. He also later gained the abilities of a White Zetsu clone, which was modified with Hashirama’s DNA, after taking over its body in a slightly different snake form; this included accelerated healing, perfect shapeshifting into others, and no need of nourishment.^[49] Some point after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru’s body became able to instantly regenerate his lost anatomy unfazed.^[42]

Ninjutsu

Orochimaru’s depth of knowledge and skill in ninjutsu is greater than any other shinobi in history,^[50] leading to him wielding a vast and unmatched arsenal of styles and techniques. His proficiency with the Transformation Technique can let him stay undetected for long periods; his fūinjutsu skill includes the ability to use the Five Elements Seal to seal off a person’s chakra; he can summon Rashōmon gates to protect himself from enemy attacks; he can hide within surfaces to avoid damage, or use juinjutsu to temporarily paralyse targets.^[51] The anime shows Orochimaru’s advanced prowess in clone techniques,^[52] medical ninjutsu,^[53] space–time ninjutsu,^[54] and barrier ninjutsu.^[42]

Orochimaru is masterful in wielding the legendary Sword of Kusanagi, able to compete against his former teacher while wielding his mighty bo-staff. The blade is able to extend great distances, cut through almost anything, and even be remotely controlled. He normally keeps the blade within a snake’s mouth inside his own throat and retrieves it by having it turn into a snake after use.

Nature Transformation

Orochimaru can use all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and Yang Release.^[4] With Wind Release, he can create a powerful gust of wind and with Earth Release can travel underground. In the anime, he can create mud-based clones.^[55] With Fire Release he can easily unleash powerful fire streams. After taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, modified with Hashirama’s DNA, Orochimaru gained access to the latter’s Wood Release — a simultaneous mixture of earth and water.^[49]

Summoning

Orochimaru has an affinity for snakes, using the unique arm tattoo to quickly summon them for assistance, his largest and strongest being Manda. He can eject snakes from his sleeves or mouth to strike with; the snakes can sprout blades from their own mouths for deadlier effect.^[56] He can even turn his lower body into a snake’s tail, increasing his speed and mobility in battle.^[57] Orochimaru’s ultimate snake-related technique is the Eight Branches Technique, where he transforms into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent with size superior to that of Manda.

Orochimaru can perform the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, having further refined the kinjutsu developed by Tobirama Senju. Upon reviving the dead, he can implant them with special tags that erase their personalities and/or free will, granting him complete control over their actions. Originally, despite improving this technique’s quality compared to its creator, Orochimaru’s reincarnated soldiers were still considerably diminished in overall capacities compared to when alive. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, after Orochimaru’s own capacities and knowledge of the technique were further augmented from Kabuto’s essence, his prowess was also increased, as he revived all four previous Hokage with nearly their full power and could use Hashirama’s cells to strengthen his control.^[58]

Senjutsu

During his research of Jūgo’s clan, Orochimaru eventually tracked down the power source at the Ryūchi Cave and senjutsu. Although his host body was not strong enough to enter Sage Mode,^[20] Orochimaru developed another use for senjutsu chakra: his cursed seals.^[59] These seals contain some of Orochimaru’s senjutsu chakra mixed with the enzyme produced by Jūgo, triggering a change similar to Sage Transformation, but with different side-effects. These cursed seals also enhance the power of one’s techniques,^[60] and serve as an extension of and anchor to Orochimaru’s consciousness, allowing him to observe events through anyone branded by the seal. He can even be revived any number of times from a cursed seal by using the Evil Releasing Method, provided there is a proper DNA source as a basis.^[59] He also created the Mind Awakening Pill to help speed up the cursed seal’s progression.

Intelligence

Orochimaru has acquired a vast amount of information of the shinobi world from his time with organisations such as Root and Akatsuki, having set up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries. He has great charisma, enough to manipulate people into becoming his willing servants, providing insight into their past and promising them power in order to gain their loyalty. In battle, he can quickly deduce the workings of an enemy’s fighting style and respond accordingly.

Wanting to decipher all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru has conducted extensive research and numerous experiments on himself and the DNA of other individuals to comprehend, attain, or reproduce their abilities. Research of abilities such as Hashirama Senju’s Wood Release and Jūgo’s Sage Transformation have allowed him to recreate those same abilities, or at least produce techniques based off of them, into other people.^[61][59] From experimentation on Shin Uchiha, Orochimaru has become more knowledgeable of human genetics, facilitating his overall research in developing perfect clones of himself, which he considers to be of a higher class than the Shadow Clone Technique as they cannot be dispersed.^[62] This research eventually resulted in genetically perfect synthetic humans.^[63] Designed to be stronger than normal humans, these synthetic humans were produced with unique capabilities: heightened immune systems and healing, infrared ray detection, low-frequency hearing,^[64] and the ability to communicate with animals.^[65] He has also devised a juinjutsu in order to conceal the secrets of their composition.^[66]

In the anime, based on his research of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Orochimaru designed build a sophisticated robot with advanced weaponry and the ability to consume tailed beast chakra.^[67] He could also create genjutsu pills that can subdue a jinchūriki and their tailed beast simultaneously, and even cultivate cells of the tailed beast to create pseudo-jinchūriki.^[11]

Stats

Part I

Chūnin Exams

Main article: Chūnin Exams

For a while, since leaving Konoha, Orochimaru left his hometown alone until the chance to destroy it presented itself. The opportunity presented itself when he forms a partnership with the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, who desired Konoha’s destruction like him, planning their invasion during the Chūnin Exams. Orochimaru also used the invasion as an opportunity to test Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi’s younger brother, if he can be of use as a vessel. Prior to the commencement of the second part of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru murdered a team of Kusagakure genin to impersonate its leader Shiore and infiltrate the Forest of Death. Using a snake summon to separate Naruto from Team 7, the disguised Orochimaru subjected Sasuke to his Killing Intent with the youth unable to fight due to the fear instilled into him. However, the fear subsided with Naruto’s timely appearance and convincing Sasuke to muster his courage before Orochimaru interferes with the jinchūriki’s seal while knocking him out for the duration of the fight. After being subjected to Sasuke’s Dragon Fire Technique as it partially burned off his disguise, Orochimaru expresses pride in Sasuke’s abilities before branding his target with his Cursed Seal of Heaven and taking his leave.

As he sends Team Dosu as sacrificial lambs to test Sasuke, having Kabuto accompany Team 7 to witness Sasuke use the curse seal’s power, Orochimaru is confronted by Anko as he tells her that the Konoha will continue the exams under threat of his retaliation if they cancel it. During the preliminary rounds of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru disguised himself as the leader of his genin team to watch Sasuke’s performance against Yoroi Akadō and more obsessive upon seeing him suppress the Cursed Seal with sheer will. After Kakashi was able to seal away the mark on Sasuke, Orochimaru confronted him. He made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi’s Sharingan, and noted before leaving that Sasuke will eventually come to him seeking power.

Konoha Crush

Main article: Konoha Crush

Eventually, some time before the day of the final round matches, with all attack preparations complete, Orochimaru murdered the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his identity to sit next to Hiruzen to oversee the proceedings. However, the Konoha Crush began, Orochimaru makes his move to kill his former master. Having the Sound Four discard the guises of the Kazekage’s bodyguards, Orochimaru has them erect a barrier to hold the other Konoha ninja back to prevent any interference. Having regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, Hiruzen agrees to battle his former pupil. Exhilarated that he could finally fight his former teacher, Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Hashirama Senju and his brother Tobirama to have the first two Hokage to attack their successor. During the fight, Orochimaru reveals to Hiruzen the fruits of his labour from mastering Living Corpse Reincarnation with the host body he took after his brush-in with Itachi and his intention to make Sasuke into his next host.

Horrified on how far Orochimaru has truly went, with both his age and the regenerative abilities of the two first Hokage placing him in a grand disadvantage, Hiruzen resolves to stop Orochimaru with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, sealing away the souls of the two Hokage prior to going after Orochimaru himself. Not wishing to join the three Hokages’ souls in being trapped within the Reaper’s stomach, Orochimaru stabbed Hiruzen through the back of his chest with his Sword of Kusanagi before the weakened Hiruzen resolves to only seal the part of Orochimaru’s soul within his arms. Cursing the dying Hiruzen for robbing him of his use of ninjutsu, Orochimaru is carried off by the Sound Four with the invasion halted. Afterwards, Sunagakure broke ties with Orochimaru upon discovering the corpse of the Fourth Kazekage.

Search for Tsunade

Main article: Search for Tsunade

After barely being able to stand the pain from his rotting arms, Orochimaru plans to have his condition healed by appealing Tsunade with the offer to reincarnate her Nawaki and Dan to win her cooperation. However, though she seemed to agree, Tsunade had actually intended to kill him to ensure he never attacks Konoha again. Kabuto intervened before she could do so, intending to force her to help before Jiraiya, Shizune and Naruto soon arrived to her aid. While Orochimaru and Jiraiya (having earlier been drugged by Tsunade and thus unable to properly perform techniques) faced off, Kabuto battled Naruto before being defeated. Seeing this and seeing a potential threat, Orochimaru resolves to kill Naruto before Tsunade teams up with Jiraiya to face their former teammate. Despite summoning Manda, managing to hide his condition from the giant serpent as he fights Gamabunta, Orochimaru is forced to give up healing his arms and just take a new host body.

Sasuke Recovery Mission

Main article: Sasuke Recovery Mission

Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to grow older, Orochimaru sent his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He held out for as long as he could, anticipating Sasuke’s arrival, but the pain in his arms became too unbearable so he is given no choice but to take the body of Gen’yūmaru, whom Kabuto had prepared earlier. After agreeing to release Gen’yūmaru’s clansmen in return for his sacrifice, Orochimaru proceeds to use Living Corpse Reincarnation on his new host. Though the act undid most of the damage caused by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it still left Orochimaru incapable of using techniques requiring hand seals.

While still waiting for Sasuke, bandaged up within his new host with Kabuto by his side, Orochimaru comments that either Jirōbō or Kidōmaru would be slowing down the group, but expressed doubts about Sakon’s strength, which Kabuto brings up, stating Tayuya was just as strong, and Kimimaro, lamenting that the latter’s illness made it impossible to have him as a perfect vessel as originally intended. But with Kimimaro’s death, Orochimaru stated that he no longer cared about his previous protégé and instead commented his desire for Sasuke. As he is stuck in Gen’yūmaru’s body for the next three years, Orochimaru decided to start training Sasuke once he finally arrived, hoping to shape him into the ideal host while being highly impressed and excited by the chakra that Sasuke revealed in response to Kabuto’s threat for not giving Orochimaru his respect.

Part II

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission

Main article: Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
Two and a half years later, a Yamato-led Team Kakashi, hoping to find Sasuke, learned of an opportunity from a dying Sasori that he was meeting with his spy, Kabuto. Posing as Sasori within his Hiruko puppet, the group’s temporary leader Yamato met with Kabuto while the others watched. However, Orochimaru arrived as Kabuto destroyed the Hiruko, with Orochimaru clarifying to a confused Kabuto that Sasori never came as the rest of Team Kakashi reveal themselves to fight the two ninja. Although he was surprised to see Yamato has survived his experiments involving Hashirama’s DNA, Orochimaru was more interested to see if Naruto had become as strong as «his Sasuke». When Naruto assumed his three-tailed form in response, Orochimaru eluded Naruto, enjoying the battle while provoking Naruto further.

It was only after Naruto submitted to Kurama’s influence and entered his mindless four-tailed form that Orochimaru took the fight seriously due to Naruto now being able to kill him and his host body beginning to reject him after he used his Kusanagi to force Naruto away. While he briefly recuperated, Orochimaru was approached by Sai, who made an offer on behalf of Danzō to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto took him back to their base. Later, after the rest of Team Kakashi arrived at the lair and Sai teamed up with them, Orochimaru confronted Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He fled before he could be drawn into another fight and later kept Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori.

Three-Tails’ Appearance

Main article: Three-Tails’ Appearance

In the anime, sensing that the time was close approaching to change vessels, Orochimaru sent Kabuto to find Guren, so that she could help with preparations for the process. During this time, Orochimaru was also experimenting on Yūkimaru, a child with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decided it was time to test Sasuke’s abilities and watched in awe as he defeated an army of ninja, without killing any, and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walked off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognised as a genius, Sasuke’s powers far surpassed his own when he was Sasuke’s age.

Noticing that Guren was watching, he offered her another chance to prove herself worthy as Orochimaru’s next vessel, which she was delighted with. Orochimaru teamed her up with Yūkimaru, noting that their two abilities should work well together. Later, it was revealed that Orochimaru also chose Guren because he knew she would eventually grow attached to Yūkimaru, which he appeared to have used for. He ordered Kabuto to be ready to eliminate her should she betray him.

Later, after receiving word that the Konoha shinobi were complicating things, Orochimaru decided he might have to intervene personally. After Yūkimaru’s loss of his abilities and Guren’s supposed death, Kabuto reported back to his master about the failed operation. Orochimaru dismissed it as nothing more than a minor setback, saying that once he had Sasuke’s body, it wouldn’t make any difference.

Itachi Pursuit Mission

Main article: Itachi Pursuit Mission

On the verge of being rejected by his current body, Orochimaru contemplated about the best way to take Sasuke’s body. In the anime, he and Kabuto recapped all the events that led to Sasuke defecting and how much he had improved since. Before he could formulate his plan, however, Sasuke attacked him, having decided that Orochimaru was unworthy of having an Uchiha’s body, and tried to kill him with Chidori Sharp Spear but only succeeds in piercing his arm. Orochimaru proceeded to reveal his true body, a large white snake made of a multitude of smaller snakes in order to initiate the body-switch process.

Sasuke, however, cuts up Orochimaru’s large snake body, only to realise that the vaporising blood was turning into a paralysis-type poison. Orochimaru then successfully started the body-switch process. Sasuke stopped the process like Itachi had done years earlier but took it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his own body. Sasuke gained access to some of Orochimaru’s abilities but, at the same time, had to dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru. Kabuto later took Orochimaru remains and transfused his blood into himself, giving him access to Orochimaru’s abilities.

Fated Battle Between Brothers

Main article: Fated Battle Between Brothers

During the battle with Itachi, Sasuke ran low on chakra and Orochimaru was able to emerge from his cursed seal using his signature Eight Branches Technique. He marvelled at the fact that he would finally have the chance to take over Sasuke’s body, but was immediately pierced through by the blade held by Itachi’s Susanoo. At first Orochimaru boasted that it would take more than that to kill him, but he soon realised that he had been pierced by the Totsuka Sword that he himself had been searching for. Orochimaru was then sealed away by Itachi’s Susanoo, which had the effect of removing Sasuke’s cursed seal in the process. Three white snakes escaped from Orochimaru’s body as he was sealed, but at least one of these snakes was subsequently killed by the black flames of Amaterasu.^[68]

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Main article: Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Following Kabuto’s defeat, and his reunion with Suigetsu Hōzuki and Jūgo, Sasuke learns of the scroll they found at one of Orochimaru’s hideouts and resolves to revive him for answers following what he learned from Itachi. Sasuke succeeds in reviving Orochimaru by pulling his consciousness out of Anko’s cursed seal and transferring it into the physical form Jūgo provided by absorbing some of Kabuto’s modified flesh. Despite Suigetsu’s fears of his next action as he reclaims the rest of his chakra that Kabuto took from him, Orochimaru explains that he is neither interested in Tobi’s war nor strong enough to even attempt to take Sasuke’s body if he wanted to. However, Orochimaru, noting the change in his former student, does agree to take Sasuke to one who has the answers he wants.

Arriving in Konohagakure, Orochimaru and the others sense Naruto’s chakra from a great distance away. Noting that Sasuke was annoyed by this, Orochimaru pressed on with the group at the young man’s behest. He led them to the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Temple to pick up a mask from the ruins, and then takes the group to the underground hall in the Naka Shrine. Orochimaru proceeded to don the mask which invoked the Shinigami to possess his body. Orochimaru then proceeded to cut open the Shinigami’s stomach, a wound reflected on his own body, to release the trapped contents inside the Shinigami.

With his arms restored as well, Orochimaru performed the Impure World Reincarnation using four of the six White Zetsu clone spores that Jūgo activated from Sasuke’s body. Ordering Suigetsu and Jūgo hold two of the Zetsu down, the remaining four Zetsu are used as the bodies for the reincarnation of the previous four Hokage. To escape death, Orochimaru transferred his being in the White Zetsu Suigetsu was holding down by slithering into its mouth. Once the Hokage were reincarnated, revealing he researched the means to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Orochimaru explained that his reasons for bringing them back were for them to aid Sasuke by giving him the information he desired. When Orochimaru accused the Second Hokage of being the one to cause the coup d’etat to surface, he was rebuffed by the Hokage who later explained that he had tried to save the Uchiha from themselves. When Tobirama later declared that he was heading to the battlefield, Orochimaru’s new vessel provided him with access to Hashirama’s cells, allowing him to bind the Hokage. Noting that Hashirama had broken his control over him, Orochimaru is told by the First that he would first free Sasuke from the darkness which surrounded him. During this course of events, Sasuke had a flashback about a conversation he and Orochimaru had as they made their way to Konoha where Sasuke stated that he does not believe Orochimaru’s reasons to destroy Konoha were on a whim.

After hearing Sasuke’s decision to protect the village, Orochimaru announces that he will also help in the war effort against Madara. When Hiruzen asks him after why he changed his mind after all these years, Orochimaru explains that he made an error in judgement from watching Kabuto act in his stead and is now interested to see the result of Sasuke’s «different path» of not letting those who sacrificed themselves for the village go to waste.

Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki

Main article: Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki

Later, Orochimaru arrived to the place where Tsunade and the other Kage were left severely wounded, alongside Suigetsu and Karin, commenting that Tsunade was in a rather bad shape. He broke up the arguing Karin and Suigetsu, and ordered them to help Katsuyu heal Tsunade. Later, Orochimaru, along with the five Kage, Suigetsu, and Karin, arrive at the battlefield, where the entire Allied Shinobi Forces are struggling against Obito Uchiha, who recently became the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails. As Obito began the final stages of his and Madara’s grand plan: «Infinite Tsukuyomi», Hashirama had Ino Yamanaka telepathically link everyone via the Mind Body Transmission Technique to inform everyone about the plan as well as try and rally the shinobi to continue fighting. While Hashirama’s words fail to inspire them, Naruto’s memories are conveyed to them via Ino’s telepathy. The Sannin looked on solemnly as Naruto remembered the memorial he erected for Jiraiya.

As Sasuke had Jūgo transfer some of his natural energy into the Uchiha, who immediately channelled it into his complete Susanoo, Orochimaru watched on, greatly impressed at how far Sasuke has come and notes that he still had much room to grow. Later, while asserting that he had no interest in the war, Orochimaru noted that Obito’s plan would interfere with his experiments, he then decided to heed his former sensei’s urgings and participate in the war. With his assistance, Hiruzen was able to destroy the branches of the Ten-Tails into pieces. As Naruto began his great tug-of-war against Obito, Orochimaru alongside Hiruzen watched on as the tree’s flower halted its blooming.

After a momentary lull in the battle after Obito is defeated, the Allied Forces were attacked by Tobi, who created an enormous wooden statue to assault them. Orochimaru teamed up with his former subordinates to effectively subdue their attacker in order to make a break for Sasuke’s location. He was then impressed by Karin’s ability to use the chakra chains and he was reminded of Kushina Uzumaki. As they raced towards where Karin last senses Sasuke, Orochimaru noticed that the young woman was expending herself. Contemplating the situation, he wondered solemnly if this was really the end for Sasuke.

Upon reaching Sasuke, they found Kabuto merging with Sasuke, seemingly to assimilate the Uchiha. When asking his former right-hand man why he came, Kabuto simply explained that his experience under the effects of Izanami made him rediscover his true identity as simply Kabuto Yakushi and acknowledged what he always sought was back at the Konoha orphanage. Wanting to make up for his mistakes, starting with healing Sasuke through his medical ninjutsu and instructions from Tobirama. Eventually, Kabuto succeeded in healing Sasuke, who quickly returned to his feet and was ready to resume the battle. Orochimaru was later caught in Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes

Main article: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Ultimately, he and the rest of the world are freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Blank Period

After the war’s conclusion, Orochimaru would return to conducting his genetic experiments. He also formed a truce with Konoha and the Five Great Nations that he would be pardoned for his crimes under the condition he is placed under strict 24-hour surveillance by Konoha jōnin. Despite the strict watch, Orochimaru was allowed to move freely as the shinobi that watched over Orochimaru were ordered not to make any form of contact with him until he made a move against Konoha or did anything suspicious. He was even allowed to move freely in and out of Konoha.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise

Main articles: Sasuke Shinden (novel) and Sasuke Shinden (anime)
Orochimaru meets with Sasuke, who is gathering information on the Dark Thunder Group, for the first time in a few years since the war. Orochimaru tells Sasuke to meet with En Oyashiro, who is a medical-nin but is a notorious kekkei genkai collector, because he may have connections to the group since its leader is a kekkei genkai owner. They take a boat to En’s «Coliseum», where a tournament is being hosted with En’s clients attending to purchase the winning shinobi. Orochimaru reveals to him that Sasuke is a kekkei genkai owner himself, causing Sasuke to be forced into participating in the tournament.

New Era

In the following years, between gaining a new appreciation for natural development of people and forming a truce between Konohagakure, Orochimaru ultimately reestablished Otogakure as a legitimate shinobi village.^[69] At some point, Orochimaru created multiple synthetic humans such as Log and Mitsuki using his genetic source with new cloning technology.^[70] Later, Orochimaru and Log orchestrated a test for Mitsuki to unknowingly participate in, which was devised for his son to find a third option that neither Orochimaru or Log presented him. Having failed the test fives times, Orochimaru used a drug each time to remove Mitsuki’s memories. On the sixth attempt, Mitsuki passed the test by rebelling against the pair to forge his own destiny himself, resulting in him wanting to migrate to Konoha.^[71] Supporting his decision, Orochimaru asked Naruto to take his son in, which the Hokage allowed, as it was believed Orochimaru’s research would prove useful to Konoha in time,^[72] as well as being critical to the shinobi world when the time came to battle the Ōtsutsuki clan.^[73]

Sarada Uchiha Arc

Main article: Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring
Fifteen years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru revealed himself to Sasuke and Naruto when the former demanded to meet him, wanting to inquire about Shin Uchiha. Naruto commented on his youthful looks, to which Orochimaru replied to «not stress on the details». After a talk, he explained that Shin was, in fact, an experiment of his in cloning technology and that he would be glad if they took him off his hands. He then went on to lecture about the ethics of cloning. Once he finished his story, Orochimaru happily decided to tell Sasuke all he knew about Shin’s whereabouts in the hope of the true Uchiha killing Shin. Later on, Orochimaru commented on the possibility of Sakura Uchiha being already dead, to which Sasuke disagreed.

School Trip Arc

Main article: School Trip Arc
In the anime, when learning of civil unrest in Kirigakure and rumours of the Sixth Mizukage killing off people against the peaceful expansion of his village, Orochimaru sent Suigetsu to investigate, hoping to find useful new allies. Ultimately, Suigetsu reported that the horrific rumours on Chōjūrō were in fact done by Shizuma Hoshigaki, who used the Mizukage as a diversion for his plans at a coup d’état, which were stopped with the aid of Boruto Uzumaki. Orochimaru surmised that Chōjūrō decided to keep the actions quiet in fear of regressing the village to its darker times. While realising that Suigetsu got directly involved in exposing Shizuma’s actions, he decided to keep quiet about it, instead marvelling at how much Boruto was like his father.

Graduation Exams Arc

Main article: Graduation Exams Arc

In the anime, as Konoha’s Academy classes began preparing for graduation exams, Orochimaru stealthily came to the village with Yamato, to avoid any commotion from villagers still uneasy about his presence. Meeting with Naruto in his office, they discussed Danzō’s research he was analysing and Mitsuki. Afterwards, he attended Mitsuki’s parent-teacher conference, where he and his son met with Shino Aburame. Wanting to become a Konoha shinobi, Orochimaru allowed Mitsuki to stay in the village to become one.

Versus Momoshiki Arc

Main articles: Boruto: Naruto the Movie and Versus Momoshiki Arc
In the anime, having contacted Mitsuki through their snakes, Orochimaru instructed him to not reveal his true strength, as Mitsuki wouldn’t be able to remain in Konoha. Upon Team Konohamaru capturing a bear within Konoha, Orochimaru overlooked the genin completing their mission from atop a building.

Sasuke Shinden: The Teacher’s Star Pupil

Main article: Sasuke Shinden: The Teacher’s Star Pupil
On a moonlit night, Orochimaru decides to visit Mitsuki in Konoha. When he finds Mitsuki, Mitsuki is in the middle of practicing with the Lorentz Gun. Although Mitsuki isn’t able to perform it successfully, Orochimaru is nevertheless impressed by his progress, believing such skill is proof of being Orochimaru’s son. Mitsuki is not comforted by this, as his Lorentz Gun still pales in comparison to Sasuke’s, who taught it to him in the first place. Orochimaru stirs at the mention of Sasuke and tries to casually offer to accompany Mitsuki the next time he trains with Sasuke. Mitsuki tells Orochimaru to stop.

Chōchō Arc

Main article: Chōchō Arc

In the anime, Mitsuki brought Orochimaru a scroll for him to sign so he could partake in an upcoming mission. Before which, they had a sparring session. While Orochimaru decisively won, he applauded Mitsuki’s improvement. When Mitsuki asked if he should refer to Orochimaru as his father or mother, Orochimaru said it was irrelevant as he has been all kinds of entities over the years and all that matters is one’s core.

Mitsuki’s Disappearance Arc

Main article: Mitsuki’s Disappearance Arc
In the anime, when Mitsuki apparently betrayed and deserted Konohagakure, Orochimaru was confronted by Yamato about it. Orochimaru insisted he was clueless about the situation. Later, Orochimaru found Boruto Uzumaki and Sarada Uchiha sneaking into his base. The boy wanted to ask Orochimaru about a last message from Mitsuki through a snake, which simply stated that «It is his will». After doing tests on the snake, Orochimaru concluded that there was no apparent hidden message, but suggested going to White Snake Sage who might know more. After all this, Orochimaru was left intrigued, both by his son’s random actions and Boruto’s unwavering loyalty to Mitsuki like Naruto’s to Sasuke from years ago.

Afterwards, knowing that Konohagakure would send a team to retrieve Boruto and Sarada, Orochimaru sent Suigetsu (while concealing his identity) to stall the two genin’s pursuers long enough for them to reach Ryūchi Cave. Later, learning about Ōnoki’s passing and Mitsuki confirmed loyalty to Konohagakure by working to stop the Fabrications, Orochimaru was pleased to see how well Mitsuki was developing as a person in finding more about his true self. At the same time, Orochimaru was concerned when learning that the investigation into the development of the Fabrications was covered up by an unknown person, leading Orochimaru to wonder who else besides himself could create artificial humans that advanced.

Jūgo Arc

Main article: Jūgo Arc
In the anime, when Jūgo abruptly left the base to deal with a mysterious outbreak of cursed seals infecting wildlife, Orochimaru tasked Suigetsu and Karin with retrieving him.

Later, Mitsuki came to Orochimaru to discuss his recent memories about Ōnoki and how they began flashing through his mind as dreams. The Sannin scanned his son’s mind to research the memories with Log. There, they learned about how Mitsuki went through great personal discoveries about his being, wondering what choices are really his own and if he is on the right path. While Orochimaru was proud to see how much he was maturing into a true human being, he was concerned how the still-raw child was reacting to such personal loss. Log voiced his disapproval of erasing Mitsuki’s memories after how far they had come. Ultimately, they gave Mitsuki a choice to continue enduring these painful memories or have his mind reset to before he ever even knew about Boruto. Mitsuki decided to keep his memories and move ahead, impressing Orochimaru.

Kara Actuation Arc

Main article: Kara Actuation Arc
In the anime, after pressured into using his Sage Mode Transformation to save his team-mates against Deepa, Mitsuki’s body began breaking down from over-usage. He was brought to Log and Orochimaru for treatment. Orochimaru was dismayed at the severity of Mitsuki’s condition, noting that various organs would have to replaced from scratch. Log noted that Orochimaru was very concerned for Mitsuki, who simply said that he has invested so much time and resources into creating Mitsuki, not wanting it to be a wasted effort.

Later, Log investigated and learned that the Hashirama Cell Kara acquired was actually stolen from one of Orochimaru’s old laboratories. Despite this news, Orochimaru simply said not to bother taking any action, as the First Hokage’s genes weren’t easily harnessed. When Mitsuki regained consciousness, he asked the boy if it was worth the risk of dying to save his friends, testing Mitsuki’s resolve.

Later, Orochimaru found Suigetsu detaining the genin of Team 5. Orochimaru stopped the battle, not wanting his equipment to get any more damage. He asked what they wanted from him, truly intrigued by why such inexperienced genin would approach him. His intrigue quickly turned to shock and dismay as they simply requested for his autograph. While finding the request trivial and annoyed at the stats the trading card had on him, Orochimaru agreed to it. As he left, the genin asked about Mitsuki’s condition, to which Orochimaru said he would be fine. Noting to himself that Mitsuki had made more friends than just Boruto, Orochimaru was pleased at his son’s development in Konohagakure.

As Mitsuki’s replacement organs were almost viable, Suigetsu returned with news of Mitsuki’s team. He revealed they all returned the Land of Valleys. While the genin and jōnin respectively went for different reasons, Suigetsu suspected that there was a connection between the two. As Suigetsu’s speculations roused Mitsuki into leaving prematurely, an annoyed Orochimaru decided to punish Suigetsu for his reckless words by using him as a test subject for another experiment.

Later, after Mitsuki’s recovery was sped up by Log donating his own organs, Orochimaru decided to investigate matters in the Land of Valleys personally with Mitsuki. Upon arriving, he discovered the the sprouting of the God Tree created by Victor. He found Mugino attempting to leave the country safely with the unconscious Valleys Daimyō. He was stopped by a Kara Outer, who was instantly defeated by Orochimaru after his sudden appearance.

Orochimaru confronted Victor as he was battled Konohamaru. While Konohamaru was shocked by his arrival, Orochimaru insisted that he was only here to make Victor pay for stealing from him. Victor remained defiant and attacked Orochmaru, showing off his advanced skill set. Orochimaru however easily repelled Victor’s efforts, pressuring him into seeking the God Tree’s fruit for more power. Victor’s efforts ultimate backfired as the God Tree ensnared him. Orochimaru mocked Victor’s scientific efforts and obliviousness, noting that Victor’s God Tree was a crude imitation, unable to actually produce fruit. Orochimaru proceeded to destroy the God Tree. After succeeding and the enemies defeated, Orochimaru decided to leave, noting that he already informed Naruto about the events.

Influence

Orochimaru apparently kept tabs on Akatsuki, as Kabuto was knowledgeable about Zetsu, and Tobi’s machination to revive the Ten-Tails.^[74] Even when removed from reality by Itachi, being an extensive researcher, the notes he left behind were still coveted as vast stores of knowledge to those fortunate enough to come across them, as seen when one of his hidden rooms is found by Suigetsu and Jūgo, the former of which finds information he believes can impact the war.^[75]

In the anime, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s cells in order to create special snakes which could multiply at a rapid rate and merge into either a clone of another living being using a genetic sample or a larger serpent for combat. The clone snakes are first used to create a clone of Hidan, and then later a clone of Naruto with Kurama’s chakra.

In his absence, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s remains from his battle with Sasuke to integrate his master’s DNA into himself in order to surpass him.^[76] Having also assimilated the DNA of Sakon and Ukon to procure their abilities, Kabuto uses the twins’ Attack of the Twin Demons to produce a construct of Orochimaru that transforms into his White Snake form and lunges at an opponent. However, Orochimaru lived on, in a sense, through cursed seals and Kabuto after the latter integrated Orochimaru’s DNA into himself.^[77] Knowing the nature of the seal to contain parts of Orochimaru’s consciousness, Sasuke revived Orochimaru by transferring a portion of Orochimaru’s DNA which was retrieved from Kabuto’s modified body into Anko’s Cursed Seal of Heaven.^[78]

In Other Media

Movies

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds

Main article: Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds
Orochimaru made a small appearance along with Kabuto. Feeling that his time was running out before he had to transfer his soul again, but fearing that the repeated use of his techniques was starting to be too taxing, he ordered Sasuke to retrieve a man named Shinnō, who had developed his own immortality technique. In the end, Sasuke failed to get the man, but did retrieve the scroll containing the technique’s information. Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke’s demeanour seemed shaken from the mission.

Video Games

Orochimaru is a playable character in the following video games:

Live Action

Live Spectacle Naruto

Main article: Live Spectacle Naruto
Hiro Yūmi plays as Orochimaru in this stage play adaption.

Creation and Conception

As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists’ values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognise that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains «flamboyant» was one of his «guiding principles», and attributed this to his desire to have the villains possess a «powerful aura».

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru’s face appear «pasty and sickly,» which serves to emphasise the «scary looks» that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. As these occurrences are his «trademark», Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru’s appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru’s face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru’s hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a «creepy atmosphere».

Trivia

• The name «Orochi» literally means «great snake» (大蛇) while «maru» (丸) is a common suffix in male names.
  • It is possible that Orochimaru has a last name, since both of his parent’s names are written with two words. However, reading them is impossible due to the kanji’s bad quality.
• Orochimaru borrows heavily from Japanese myth and literature:
  • Literature — Orochimaru’s name, as well as those of Jiraiya and Tsunade, come from the «The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya» (児雷也豪傑物語, Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari). The Orochimaru in that story was originally a student of Jiraiya’s called Yashagorō, until he was corrupted by snake magic and took on the name Orochimaru.
  • Myth — Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐大蛇, Eight-forked Giant Snake), a giant eight-tailed, eight-headed snake killed with the Totsuka Sword by the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who found the Kusanagi Sword in one of its tails. This mirrors almost exactly how Itachi Uchiha using Totsuka Sword wielding Susanoo sealed Orochimaru, while in his Yamata form, and wielding the Kusanagi Sword kept inside of him.

• In the English VIZ translation of chapter 49, Orochimaru introduces himself to Sasuke as «Orochimaru, the Giant Snake». This was not present in the original version.
• The symbolism of Orochimaru’s snake affiliation can be also tied to how many cultures, Eastern and Western, perceived snakes as symbols of immortality and rebirth via the shedding of their skin.
• Orochimaru shares his blood type with his former teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade.
• After the preliminaries conclude, he is never shown again wearing an Otogakure forehead protector.
• Studio Pierrot’s Settei sheets of Orochimaru show that he was 153 cm when he was part of Hiruzen’s genin team, and as an adult he is always 179.5 cm even after taking bodies, even though the databook puts him as 179.4 cm.
• According to the databook(s):
  • Orochimaru’s hobby is creating techniques.
  • Orochimaru wishes to fight those with techniques that can be used in the future.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite food are eggs (likely a gag to his snake motif), while his least favourites are anything cold.
  • During his time as a Konoha-nin, Orochimaru has completed 1,468 official missions in total: 16 D-rank, 332 C-rank, 521 B-rank, 491 A-rank, 108 S-rank.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite words are «destroy» (破壊, hakai) and «chaos» (混沌, konton).
• In the fourth databook, kekkei genkai is not listed among Orochimaru’s special characteristics, despite his current host granting him Wood Release.
• In Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds, Orochimaru claimed that Shinnō had taught him many Reincarnation Ninjutsu.
• Throughout the anime adaption of Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding, Orochimaru makes comedic cameos throughout Konoha while being pursued by Yamato.

Quotes

• (To Kabuto) «You just don’t have enough information to explain yourself yet. Your glasses, your name, being someone’s child is not something that can show who really you are. But that is fine. If you’re not happy on what you have now… you can just find new things to find up. …You see, I also want to find who I really am. That’s why I’m collecting a bit of everything.«^[79]
• (To Hiruzen) «I want to obtain all the techniques and gain a true understanding of everything in this world. The first one to mix blue and yellow called the new colour «green». I want to do something similar to that. If blue is the chakra, then yellow is the seal, and green is the technique… Just as there is no end to the variety of colours, there are so many thousands… tens of thousands of techniques in the world as well. But in order to obtain every possible technique and truth, it would require an eternity. Only one who understands everything after spending such time on this can be fittingly called the Ultimate Being.«^[80]
• (To Hiruzen) «What nonsense! In the grand scheme of time, you’re nothing more than a trivial footnote in the brief history of a cluster of huts called «Konoha»! In time, the Hokage Stone Faces will crumble and be worn down to nothing…«^[81]
• (To a young Kimimaro) «Maybe, just maybe, there is no purpose in life. But if you linger a while longer in this world, you might discover something of value in it, like how you discovered that flower. Or, how I discovered you one fateful night.«^[82]
• (To Kabuto, talking about Tsunade) «The best medicines always taste bitter.«^[83]
• (About Naruto) «This child… intrigues me to no end!«^[84]
• (About Sasuke) «When I watch this boy, I look back to the time I was called a genius, and think how ridiculous it was.«^[85]
• (About Yūkimaru) «When there is a true desire in the heart and that desire is strong… that is when he finds real strength that even he did not know he had.«^[86]
• (To Sasuke) «I refuse… to let this happen! I am Orochimaru! I am immortal! I will not die here! Destined to discover the true meaning behind everything! Destined to take control of everything in this world!!«^[87]
• (To Suigetsu about Sasuke) «It’s just like the time when I planned on crushing the Konohagakure… He has chosen a divergent path from the village… But even so, it’ll always have some sentimental value. He’s soaking that all in and coming to terms with… The consequences of his future actions and reaffirming his resolve.«^[88]
• (To Tsunade, about Jiraiya) «People change. It’s just a matter of whether they die before it happens. Although he died just the way he was.«^[89]
• (To Hiruzen) «Fine, let’s bring back the memories… of when I was your student.«^[90]

References

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about Orochimaru, meaning the devils child Jiraiya. For the Orochimaru featured in Naruto, see Orochimaru (Naruto).

Orochimaru (大蛇丸), featured in the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya), is the archenemy of the ninja Jiraiya.^[2] He was once named Yashagorō (夜叉五郎) and was one of Jiraiya’s followers but was overtaken by serpent magic. Having changed his name to Orochimaru, he gained the ability to turn himself into a giant serpent. He poisoned Jiraiya and Tsunade the slug princess by pouring his venom on them as they slept, only for another follower to save the couple’s lives afterwards.^{[citation needed]} «The story, first recorded in 1806, was adapted into a mid-19th-century serialized novel (43 installments, 1839–1868) and a kabuki drama, based on the first 10 installments, by Kawatake Mokuami, in 1852. In the 20th-century, the story was adapted in several films, in video games, and in a manga.»^[3]

Orochi means «big snake» or «serpent».^[4]
The legend of Orochimaru has modern day correlations. Legend suggests the «power of the white snake» can be found in the fabled Ryuchi cave which grants the user with extraordinary powers, such as immortality, face stealing, and shape shifting. Japanese folklore speaks of a similar snake-like humanoid that stalks the fields every harvest time demanding a portion of the farmers crops.^{[citation needed]}

In modern days, the manga and anime franchise Naruto features the characters Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade where Orochimaru is portrayed to be the legendary ninja with the power of the snakes.^{[citation needed]}

See also[edit]

• Susanoo
• Yamata no Orochi

References[edit]

• ««Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari» (# 7, pp. 4-5), ca. 1850 | Brian P Coppola». Retrieved 2019-11-13.

External links[edit]

• «The Gallant Jiraiya». Japanese prints and the world of Go. Chigasaki: Kiseido Pub. Co. 2010. ISBN 9784906574308. OCLC 1020931181. Archived from the original on 2005-04-02.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about Orochimaru, meaning the devils child Jiraiya. For the Orochimaru featured in Naruto, see Orochimaru (Naruto).

Orochimaru (大蛇丸), featured in the Japanese folktale Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari (The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya), is the archenemy of the ninja Jiraiya.^[2] He was once named Yashagorō (夜叉五郎) and was one of Jiraiya’s followers but was overtaken by serpent magic. Having changed his name to Orochimaru, he gained the ability to turn himself into a giant serpent. He poisoned Jiraiya and Tsunade the slug princess by pouring his venom on them as they slept, only for another follower to save the couple’s lives afterwards.^{[citation needed]} «The story, first recorded in 1806, was adapted into a mid-19th-century serialized novel (43 installments, 1839–1868) and a kabuki drama, based on the first 10 installments, by Kawatake Mokuami, in 1852. In the 20th-century, the story was adapted in several films, in video games, and in a manga.»^[3]

Orochi means «big snake» or «serpent».^[4]
The legend of Orochimaru has modern day correlations. Legend suggests the «power of the white snake» can be found in the fabled Ryuchi cave which grants the user with extraordinary powers, such as immortality, face stealing, and shape shifting. Japanese folklore speaks of a similar snake-like humanoid that stalks the fields every harvest time demanding a portion of the farmers crops.^{[citation needed]}

In modern days, the manga and anime franchise Naruto features the characters Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Tsunade where Orochimaru is portrayed to be the legendary ninja with the power of the snakes.^{[citation needed]}

See also[edit]

• Susanoo
• Yamata no Orochi

References[edit]

• ««Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari» (# 7, pp. 4-5), ca. 1850 | Brian P Coppola». Retrieved 2019-11-13.

External links[edit]

• «The Gallant Jiraiya». Japanese prints and the world of Go. Chigasaki: Kiseido Pub. Co. 2010. ISBN 9784906574308. OCLC 1020931181. Archived from the original on 2005-04-02.

editOrochimaru  [1][2][3][4]
Parts I-II New Era
大蛇丸 Orochimaru
Debut
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Anime	Naruto Episode #27
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Unique Traits Can absorb chakra
Jutsu

Orochimaru (大蛇丸, Orochimaru) is one of Konohagakure’s legendary Sannin. With a life-ambition to learn all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru seeks immortality so that he might live all of the lives necessary to accomplish his task. After being caught red-handed performing unethical experiments on his fellow citizens for the sake of this immortality, Orochimaru defected from Konoha rather than be persecuted for his ambitions, and for many years sought the village’s destruction in order to take revenge and demonstrate what he had learned. After several apparent deaths in the pursuit of his goals, Orochimaru realises his approach is flawed through Kabuto Yakushi, his former associate, and begins monitoring the choices and actions of his former apprentice, Sasuke Uchiha.

Background[]

Orochimaru was once an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru stood out as a genius — his talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen only once in a generation.^[5] According to Tsunade, Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents’ grave, with Hiruzen’s explanation of it representing fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques.^[6] Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories.

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During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha’s «Three Legendary Shinobi» (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process.^[7] On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead.^[8][9] In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Blue B‘s doctor in order to trick him into taking special genjutsu inducing pills, allowing him to extract the tailed beast. After its rampage, Orochimaru obtained the severed horn of the Eight-Tails and harvested Blue B’s DNA from it.^[10]

Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became an Anbu member and joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko Mitarashi. It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying Danzō in forcing the boy’s guardian, Nonō, into a mission.^[11] While Orochimaru’s ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda.^[12] Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone’s help.^[5] When Hiruzen finally named Minato Namikaze his successor, Orochimaru saw no more reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions.^[13] This led to his experimentation on Hashirama Senju‘s DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate the First’s Wood Release, having help from Danzō.^[14] Believing it to be a failure, Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his Wood Release experiment. He later refined the process enough to inject Hashirama’s cells into the Sharingan-infused right arm of Shin Uchiha, which he transplanted to Danzō.^[15][16][17]

Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later, Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru’s research on the source of Jūgo‘s powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu.^[18] Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of the clan’s fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process, the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects.^[19] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Itachi Uchiha performing a training run normally meant for older and more experienced users due to the danger of it. After the young Uchiha flawlessly completed it, Orochimaru instantly became amazed and excited at Itachi’s advanced growth rate. In the anime, he also allied himself with Amachi out of interest for creating a shinobi capable of underwater combat, kidnapping Land of the Sea villagers for their experiments, while introducing Anko to the project. Sometime after, Orochimaru lost interest in the project, and ordered Amachi to cancel it, while also seeing Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to use the cursed seal, and wiped her memories as she left him.^[20]

Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major liabilities. Orochimaru instead spirited Kabuto to his hideout, which would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root’s intent for Kabuto’s life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand and spy with the promise of an identity.^[21]

As his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen. Though he knew it was his duty, Hiruzen lacked the will to kill his student, allowing him to escape.^[22] In the anime, during his escape, Orochimaru was found by Kakashi Hatake. Despite the young prodigy’s best efforts, Orochimaru swiftly defeated him. Letting his guard down at the approach of a snake, Orochimaru was greatly injured by an explosive tag concealed in the snake’s mouth. Cursing Hiruzen for ruining his plans, though greatly injured, Orochimaru quickly regained his composure. He then resumed his retreat from the country, leaving a terrified Kakashi frozen in place from his malicious glare alone.^[19] Seriously wounded, Orochimaru visited the cave where the Iburi clan lived and killed them all, trying to restore his power. Upon the arrival of the youngest member, Yukimi, Orochimaru pursued her while being chased by Kakashi Hatake and Kinoe. Eventually, he managed to take a sample of Yukimi’s blood, intending to inject it into himself to temporarily gain her ability and slip across the border, but he was attacked before he could do so and quickly escaped.^[23] Orochimaru managed to destroy most of his research facilities and booby-trap the rest.^[24]

Orochimaru ultimately escaped Konoha, leaving his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya’s plea for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears. Orochimaru soon became affiliated with and joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki. Orochimaru was then partnered with Sasori, with whom he did much good for the organisation.^[25]. He later watched in amazement when Itachi Uchiha joined the organisation. Later, when Orochimaru saw his opportunity to steal his body to gain possession of the Sharingan, Itachi used his Sharingan to stop him from doing so, while also cutting Orochimaru’s left hand off to prevent him from breaking the genjutsu he was under, which lead to him leaving Akatsuki to acquire a new body.^[26] For Orochimaru’s defection, Sasori developed a grudge against him and used Kabuto, whom Orochimaru had sent to serve as his spy within Akatsuki, to counter spy as his sleeper agent. However, Orochimaru discovered and undid the technique Sasori had used on him.^[27] In the anime, when tipped off by Kabuto that Sasori was on his trail, Orochimaru chose to use this as an opportunity to test his development of the Second Hokage‘s Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. Against Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet, Orochimaru summoned the actual Third Kazekage through his technique. While proving his reincarnated ninja being stronger than the human puppet, the technique ultimately proved incomplete as the Third Kazekage was able to regain control and break the summoning contract..^[28]

Orochimaru had also been on a life-long search for the Totsuka Sword, an ethereal sword, but was unaware that it was in the possession of Itachi’s Susanoo.^[29] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Mizuki killing a comrade during a mission. Under the pretence as a gift for Mizuki’s bold actions, Orochimaru granted him a specialised cursed seal. In truth however, it was an incomplete experimental tool that would destroy whoever used it, to which Orochimaru was merely curious as to how the effects would happen on Mizuki.^[30]

Personality[]

Orochimaru possesses a complex personality; however, more often than not, he was described as «twisted» by a large number of people, including Tsunade. Jiraiya speculated that the death of his parents while he was young, along with his horror for Tsunade losing Nawaki and later shedding tears when she lost Dan, implies that Orochimaru grew to disdain the fragility of human life and how it affected those still living, which led him to desire immortality. To that end, the primary purpose of Orochimaru’s human experimentation is to test what modifications the human body can endure and harness a subject’s unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru had hoped to be worthy of the title of «ultimate being«, unable to die and able to achieve his secondary goal to learn every ninja technique in the world, which would normally take many lifetimes to obtain.

According to Sasuke, becoming cruel with any good he had as a member of Team Hiruzen gone, Orochimaru’s agenda made him develop a god complex and valued himself while delighting in striking terror in his first impressions. Though causing conflict to ease his boredom, Orochimaru seems to have no interest in wars started by others.^[31] His charisma also attracts a number of followers, many of which he would not hesitate to send on potential suicide missions if for his own personal benefit, expressing some remorse if they’re unable to properly complete a task, having no sentimental attachments to any of them despite their values. Despite this, Orochimaru has genuine interest in the development of his underlings and experiments.

Taking Sasuke as an apprentice, seeing him as a prodigy like himself, Orochimaru intended to take the youth’s body to obtain the Sharingan to reach another step in his goal of immortality and learning every technique in the world. This goal has developed to the point of obsession. However, despite knowing that Sasuke was willing to do anything for revenge, including sacrificing his own body, Orochimaru did anticipate treachery from his disciple and showed only a small level of surprise when it actually occurred. What truly surprised Orochimaru was Sasuke’s decision to follow his own path and ultimately choosing to defend the village he initially swore to destroy, one that Orochimaru openly approved and was curious to see what would be the end result of this decision.

He also had an initial disdain toward Naruto Uzumaki, believing him to be a poor excuse for a ninja until he defeated Kabuto with the Rasengan. Despite attempting to kill Naruto at the time after coming to the realisation that he would become a threat to him in the future, Orochimaru became interested in Naruto’s development, provoking Naruto during their battle to see his full abilities at the time. During the war Naruto managed to gain some of Orochimaru’s respect for not giving into despair. Though coming to hate his home village, orchestrating a few attempts to destroy it, Orochimaru despised his former Akatsuki colleagues more. Throughout Part II, if Orochimaru was not busy with Sasuke’s development, he would try to cripple Akatsuki’s operations, as seen in the «Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission» arc and «Three-Tails’ Appearance» arc. He expresses delight over the death of Sasori and later convinced Sasuke against killing Team Kakashi so they would thin out Akatsuki’s membership.

An aspect of Orochimaru’s personality is also his greatest weakness: his arrogance. He truly believed he was immortal at times, attacking recklessly against powerful opponents such as his former teacher and Itachi Uchiha. Both times, he was left crippled in some way since he either wanted to make his opponent suffer, like against Hiruzen, or because he was too uninformed to face his opponent, like against Itachi. Despite his distinct lack of morals, Orochimaru seems to be well-versed in psychological warfare and displays insightful wisdom when disparaging Tobirama for the actions resulting from his policies. He is also amusingly afraid of insects and bugs as seen during Naruto and Hinata’s wedding.

After being revived by Sasuke, his personality changed a bit. While he still wished that he could gain Sasuke’s body, he also realised that copying someone completely was a mistake from his observation of Kabuto and displayed interest in Sasuke’s «different path». Wanting to see Sasuke’s path, he chose to fight alongside the Uchiha instead of ignoring Madara’s war like he planned, and even made it a priority to heal Tsunade and the other Kage after their defeat before hurrying to the battlefield. Orochimaru also seem to genuinely care about Sasuke’s well being, as he originally thought it was best to take his time figuring out how to battle Tobi but quickly decided against taking his time when Karin sensed Sasuke was on the verge of death. Orochimaru has also shown signs of regret, seemingly saddened by his childhood friend Jiraiya’s death. In the anime, he was one of people who congratulated Naruto and Hinata on their wedding.^[32] Years later, he appears to be on amicable terms with Konoha by sending his son, Mitsuki, to the village. In the anime, he also feels indebted to Naruto as the Hokage for watching over Mitsuki.^[33] While his relationship with the rest of the world is still dubious at best, he has at least developed a relatively trusting relationship between the higher-ups of Konohagakure, willing aiding them in research on pressing matters and likewise feels responsible enough to make amends for past mistakes.^[34]

Orochimaru’s experiences also resulted in him wishing Mitsuki to make his own decisions, admitting that he has high hopes for the boy’s natural growth, though he at times used manipulation and deception to put him in a situation where important decisions must be made.

Appearance[]

Orochimaru’s most striking characteristic is his snake-like appearance: he has very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or to his shoulders. The various bodies he takes over have each been modified to resemble his original form, except for the height differences. In Naruto Gaiden, Orochimaru’s facial features soften and somewhat androgynous with his eye markings becoming black. He also wears his hair in a ponytail, allowing two locks to frame the sides of his face. In the manga, his skin-tone becomes noticeably fairer in complexion.^[35]

Orochimaru usually wears plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back, blue tomoe-shaped earrings, and shinobi sandals with bandages around his calves. He is seen wearing a kimono with different colours on several occasions, shown usually in flashbacks or inside his hideouts. During his time with Akatsuki, he wore the standard red and black Akatsuki robes with a slate blue ring, which bears the kanji for «sky» or «void» (空, kū), on his left pinky finger. After countless experiments with his body, his true form became a giant white snake made up of many smaller snakes, with longer, spikier hair, a scaled face with snake-like teeth and a long tongue, black eye markings, and a pointed chin. Years later, he wears a white robe tied at his waist by a sash and a rope, blue pants and shirt.

Abilities[]

Like other students of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru is an exceptionally talented shinobi, recognised as a natural prodigy;^[36] Hashirama Senju, a God of Shinobi, praises Orochimaru’s skills.^[37] It wasn’t until the Second Shinobi World War that their skills became widely known, dubbed by Hanzō as the Sannin, the strongest of their generation. Orochimaru’s power was known and feared throughout the ninja world, such that Akatsuki, of which he was once a member, viewed him as a threat that needed to be eliminated.^[38] Shortly before the Konoha Crush, Hiruzen believed that no one in Konoha, himself included, could defeat Orochimaru.^[39] Although his invasion fails, it is indeed through Orochimaru’s actions that the Third Hokage dies among many others and Konoha’s military force is temporarily crippled. Although Sasuke defeats Orochimaru in Part II, he admits that his victory was attributed partially to the Sannin’s weakening body.^[40]

Chakra and Physical Prowess[]

Orochimaru has reserves of chakra large enough to summon Manda and powerful enough to uproar dense surges of wind and crack stone.^[41][42] He can also absorb chakra through physical contact.^[43] Orochimaru rarely relies on taijutsu in battle, though the anime shows he is very strong, enough to knock down a tree with a single kick while under great physical pain.^[44] He is also fast enough to land a punch on a four-tailed Naruto that temporarily stunned him.^[45]

Body Modifications[]

In his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body over the years, referred to as the Power of the White Snake. With it, he can heal and regenerate from varying lengths of damage, usually through snake-like means; for injuries like bisection, he can reconnect himself using snakes; for more severe injuries, he can shed his skin to regurgitate a new body, free from all damage. Orochimaru’s body modifications have also allowed him to manipulate the shape of his body for greater manouvreability, and enhanced his physical durability enough to survive a powerful punch from Tsunade.^[46]

Orochimaru’s body modifications have resulted in his true form taking on the appearance of a giant white snake. The body is composed of many smaller snakes that can be used to attack the opponent. Even if the opponent manages to incapacitate him, the blood released by killing the snakes is poisonous, evaporating into the air and paralysing anyone who inhales it. This form also enables Orochimaru to use his Living Corpse Reincarnation, his main method of immortality. It allows him to transfer his soul into a new body by swallowing that person whole and absorbing their consciousness, thereby gaining control of their body. This can only be used once every three years, as Orochimaru’s current body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. The souls of the bodies he has taken remain in Orochimaru’s subconscious and he can modify his body as he sees fit.

Orochimaru has conducted research on Hashirama Senju‘s DNA in order to access the latter’s rapid healing abilities. He eventually gains the ability after taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, which contains Hashirama’s DNA.^[47]

Ninjutsu[]

Orochimaru’s depth of knowledge of ninjutsu is greater than any other shinobi,^[48] leading to him utilising a vast arsenal of ninjutsu styles. He is proficient enough with the Transformation Technique to stay undetected for long periods of time; his skill in fūinjutsu allows him to use the Five Elements Seal to seal off a person’s chakra; he can summon a single Rashōmon gate or more to protect himself from enemy attacks; he can hide hide within surfaces to avoid damage, or use cursed seals to temporarily paralyse an opponent.^[49] The anime shows Orochimaru using other techniques, such as the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique^[50], chakra scalpels,^[51] as well as space–time ninjutsu.^[52]

Orochimaru wields the legendary Sword of Kusanagi, showing enough proficiency to fight evenly with his former master Hiruzen. The blade is able to extend great distances, cut through almost anything, and even be remotely controlled. He normally keeps the blade within a snake’s mouth inside his own throat and retrieves it by having it turning into a snake after use.

Nature Transformation[]

Orochimaru can use all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and Yang Release.^[4] His elemental displays are brief in the manga, using only Wind Release to create a powerful gust of wind and Earth Release to travel underground. In the anime, he can create mud-based clones.^[53] After taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, Orochimaru gained access to the latter’s Wood Release — a simultaneous mixture of earth and water.^[47]

Summoning[]

As his appearance suggests, Orochimaru has an affinity for snakes, using the unique arm tattoo to summon them for assistance in battle, his largest and strongest being Manda. He can also eject snakes from either his sleeves or his mouth to attack opponents; in the anime, the snakes can sprout Kusanagi-like blades from their own mouths for deadlier effect.^[54] He can even turn his lower body into a snake’s tail, increasing his speed and mobility in battle.^[55] Orochimaru’s ultimate snake-related technique is the Eight Branches Technique, where he transforms into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent with size superior to that of Manda.

Orochimaru can perform the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, having further refined the kinjutsu developed by Tobirama Senju. Upon reviving the dead, he can implant them with special tags that erase their personalities, granting him complete control over their actions. During the Konoha Crush, Orochimaru revives the Second and First Hokage to fight his former teacher Hiruzen; the latter later seals away part of Orochimaru’s soul within his arms, making him temporarily lose access to this technique. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru uses the Shinigami Mask to spiritually restore himself, allowing him to use the technique once more.^[56] His prowess with it has increased, as he revives all four previous Hokage with nearly their full power and can use Hashirama’s cells to strengthen his control.^[57]

Senjutsu[]

During his research of Jūgo’s clan, Orochimaru eventually tracked down the power source at the Ryūchi Cave and senjutsu. Although he lacked the body and chakra reserves strong enough to learn Sage Mode,^[18] Orochimaru developed another use for senjutsu chakra: the cursed seals.^[58] These seals contained some of Orochimaru’s senjutsu chakra mixed with the enzyme produced by Jūgo, triggering a change similar to Sage Transformation, but with different side effects. These cursed seals can be used to enhance the power of one’s techniques,^[59] and serve as anchors to Orochimaru’s consciousness, allowing him to observe events through anyone branded by the seal. He can even be revived any number of times through the Evil Releasing Method, provided there are enough cursed seals and DNA.^[58]

Intelligence[]

Orochimaru has acquired a vast amount of information of the shinobi world from his time with organisations such as Root and Akatsuki, having set up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries. He has great charisma in manipulating people into becoming his pawns, providing insight into their past and promising them power in order to gain their loyalty. In battle, he can deduce the workings of an enemy’s fighting style and respond accordingly.

Wanting to decipher all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru conducted extensive research and numerous experiments on himself and the DNA of other individuals to comprehend, attain, or reproduce their abilities. Research of abilities such as Hashirama Senju‘s Wood Release and Jūgo‘s Sage Transformation have allowed him to recreate those same abilities, or at least produce techniques based off of them, into other people.^[60][61] From experimentation of Shin Uchiha, Orochimaru has become more knowledgeable of human genetics, facilitating his overall research. ^[62]

The anime expands on Orochimaru’s knowledge in other areas: he creates the Mind Awakening Pill to help speed up the cursed seal‘s progression; he builds a sophisticated robot with advanced weaponry;^[63] he creates genjutsu pills that can subdue a jinchūriki and their tailed beast simultaneously; he cultivates the cells of a tailed beast to create a pseudo-jinchūriki.^[10]

Stats[]

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Part I[]

Chūnin Exams[]

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For a while, since leaving Konoha, Orochimaru left his hometown alone until the chance to destroy it presented itself. The opportunity presented itself when he forms a partnership with the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, who desired Konoha’s destruction like him, planning their invasion during the Chūnin Exams. Orochimaru also used the invasion as an opportunity to test Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi’s younger brother, if he can be of use as a vessel. Prior to the commencement of the second part of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru murdered a team of Kusagakure genin to impersonate its leader Shiore and infiltrate the Forest of Death. Using a snake summon to separate Naruto from Team 7, the disguised Orochimaru subjected Sasuke to his Killing Intent with the youth unable to fight due to the fear instilled into him. However, the fear subsided with Naruto’s timely appearance and convincing Sasuke to muster his courage before Orochimaru interferes with the jinchūriki‘s seal while knocking him out for the duration of the fight. After being subjected to Sasuke’s Dragon Fire Technique as it partially burned off his disguise, Orochimaru expresses pride in Sasuke’s abilities before branding his target with his Cursed Seal of Heaven and taking his leave.

As he sends Team Dosu as sacrificial lambs to test Sasuke, having Kabuto accompany Team 7 to witness Sasuke use the curse seal’s power, Orochimaru is confronted by Anko as he tells her that the Konoha will continue the exams under threat of his retaliation if they cancel it. During the preliminary rounds of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru disguised himself as the leader of his genin team to watch Sasuke’s performance against Yoroi Akadō and more obsessive upon seeing him suppress the Cursed Seal with sheer will. After Kakashi was able to seal away the mark on Sasuke, Orochimaru confronted him. He made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi’s Sharingan, and noted before leaving that Sasuke will eventually come to him seeking power.

Konoha Crush[]

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Eventually, on the day of the final round matches, with all attack preparations complete, Orochimaru murdered the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his identity to sit next to Hiruzen to oversee the proceedings. However, the Konoha Crush began, Orochimaru makes his move to kill his former master. Having the Sound Four discard the guises of the Kazekage’s bodyguards, Orochimaru has them erect a barrier to hold the other Konoha ninja back to prevent any interference. Having regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, Hiruzen agrees to battle his former pupil. Exhilarated that he could finally fight his former teacher, Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Hashirama Senju and his brother Tobirama to have the first two Hokage to attack their successor. During the fight, Orochimaru reveals to Hiruzen the fruits of his labour from mastering Living Corpse Reincarnation with the host body he took after his brush-in with Itachi and his intention to make Sasuke into his next host.

Horrified on how far Orochimaru has truly went, with both his age and the regenerative abilities of the two first Hokage placing him in a grand disadvantage, Hiruzen resolves to stop Orochimaru with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, sealing away the souls of the two Hokage prior to going after Orochimaru himself. Not wishing to join the three Hokages’ souls in being trapped within the Reaper’s stomach, Orochimaru stabbed Hiruzen through the back of his chest with his Sword of Kusanagi before the weakened Hiruzen resolves to only seal the part of Orochimaru’s soul within his arms. Cursing the dying Hiruzen for robbing him of his use of ninjutsu, Orochimaru is carried off by the Sound Four with the invasion halted. Afterwards, Sunagakure broke ties with Orochimaru upon discovering the corpse of the Fourth Kazekage.

Search for Tsunade[]

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After barely being able to stand the pain from his rotting arms, Orochimaru plans to have his condition healed by appealing Tsunade with the offer to reincarnate her Nawaki and Dan to win her cooperation. However, though she seemed to agree, Tsunade had actually intended to kill him to ensure he never attacks Konoha again. Kabuto intervened before she could do so, intending to force her to help before Jiraiya, Shizune and Naruto soon arrived to her aid. While Orochimaru and Jiraiya (having earlier been drugged by Tsunade and thus unable to properly perform techniques) faced off, Kabuto battled Naruto before being defeated. Seeing this and seeing a potential threat, Orochimaru resolves to kill Naruto before Tsunade teams up with Jiraiya to face their former teammate. Despite summoning Manda, managing to hide his condition from the giant serpent as he fights Gamabunta, Orochimaru is forced to give up healing his arms and just take a new host body.

Sasuke Recovery Mission[]

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Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to grow older, Orochimaru sent his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He held out for as long as he could, anticipating Sasuke’s arrival, but the pain in his arms became too unbearable so he is given no choice but to take the body of Gen’yūmaru, whom Kabuto had prepared earlier. After agreeing to release Gen’yūmaru’s clansmen in return for his sacrifice, Orochimaru proceeds to use Living Corpse Reincarnation on his new host. Though the act undid most of the damage caused by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it still left Orochimaru incapable of using techniques requiring hand seals.

While still waiting for Sasuke, bandaged up within his new host with Kabuto by his side, Orochimaru comments that either Jirōbō or Kidōmaru would be slowing down the group, but expressed doubts about Sakon‘s strength, which Kabuto brings up, stating Tayuya was just as strong, and Kimimaro, lamenting that the latter’s illness made it impossible to have him as a perfect vessel as originally intended. But with Kimimaro’s death, Orochimaru stated that he no longer cared about his previous protégé and instead commented his desire for Sasuke. As he is stuck in Gen’yūmaru’s body for the next three years, Orochimaru decided to start training Sasuke once he finally arrived, hoping to shape him into the ideal host while being highly impressed and excited by the chakra that Sasuke revealed in response to Kabuto’s threat for not giving Orochimaru his respect.

Part II[]

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission[]

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Two and a half years later, a Yamato-led Team Kakashi, hoping to find Sasuke, learned of an opportunity from a dying Sasori that he was meeting with his spy, Kabuto. Posing as Sasori within his Hiruko puppet, the group’s temporary leader Yamato met with Kabuto while the others watched. However, Orochimaru arrived as Kabuto destroyed the Hiruko, with Orochimaru clarifying to a confused Kabuto that Sasori never came as the rest of Team Kakashi reveal themselves to fight the two ninja. Although he was surprised to see Yamato has survived his experiments involving Hashirama’s DNA, Orochimaru was more interested to see if Naruto had become as strong as «his Sasuke». When Naruto assumed his three-tailed form in response, Orochimaru eluded Naruto, enjoying the battle while provoking Naruto further.

It was only after Naruto submitted to Kurama’s influence and entered his mindless four-tailed form that Orochimaru took the fight seriously due to Naruto now being able to kill him and his host body beginning to reject him after he used his Kusanagi to force Naruto away. While he briefly recuperated, Orochimaru was approached by Sai, who made an offer on behalf of Danzō to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto took him back to their base. Later, after the rest of Team Kakashi arrived at the lair and Sai teamed up with them, Orochimaru confronted Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He fled before he could be drawn into another fight and later kept Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori.

Three-Tails’ Appearance[]

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In the anime, sensing that the time was close approaching to change vessels, Orochimaru sent Kabuto to find Guren, so that she could help with preparations for the process. During this time, Orochimaru was also experimenting on Yūkimaru, a child with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decided it was time to test Sasuke’s abilities and watched in awe as he defeated an army of ninja, without killing any, and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walked off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognised as a genius, Sasuke’s powers far surpassed his own when he was Sasuke’s age.

Noticing that Guren was watching, he offered her another chance to prove herself worthy as Orochimaru’s next vessel, which she was delighted with. Orochimaru teamed her up with Yūkimaru, noting that their two abilities should work well together. Later, it was revealed that Orochimaru also chose Guren because he knew she would eventually grow attached to Yūkimaru, which he appeared to have use for. He ordered Kabuto to be ready to eliminate her should she betray him.

Later, after receiving word that the Konoha shinobi were complicating things, Orochimaru decided he might have to intervene personally. After Yūkimaru’s loss of his abilities and Guren’s supposed death, Kabuto reported back to his master about the failed operation. Orochimaru dismissed it as nothing more than a minor setback, saying that once he had Sasuke’s body, it wouldn’t make any difference.

Itachi Pursuit Mission[]

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On the verge of being rejected by his current body, Orochimaru contemplated about the best way to take Sasuke’s body. In the anime, he and Kabuto recapped all the events that led to Sasuke defecting and how much he had improved since. Before he could formulate his plan, however, Sasuke attacked him, having decided that Orochimaru was unworthy of having an Uchiha’s body, and tried to kill him with Chidori Sharp Spear but only succeeds in piercing his arm. Orochimaru proceeded to reveal his true body, a large white snake made of a multitude of smaller snakes in order to initiate the body-switch process.

Sasuke, however, cuts up Orochimaru’s large snake body, only to realise that the vaporising blood was turning into a paralysis-type poison. Orochimaru then successfully started the body-switch process. Sasuke stopped the process like Itachi had done years earlier but took it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his own body. Sasuke gained access to some of Orochimaru’s abilities but, at the same time, had to dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru. Kabuto later took Orochimaru remains and transfused his blood into himself, giving him access to Orochimaru’s abilities.

Fated Battle Between Brothers[]

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During the battle with Itachi, Sasuke ran low on chakra and Orochimaru was able to emerge from his cursed seal using his signature Eight Branches Technique. He marvelled at the fact that he would finally have the chance to take Sasuke’s body, but was immediately pierced through by the blade held by Itachi’s Susanoo. At first Orochimaru boasted that it would take more than that to kill him, but he soon realised that he had been pierced by the Totsuka Sword that he himself had been searching for. Orochimaru was then sealed away by Itachi’s Susanoo, which had the effect of removing Sasuke’s cursed seal in the process. Three white snakes escaped from Orochimaru’s body as he was sealed, but at least one of these snakes was subsequently killed by the black flames of Amaterasu.^[64]

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax[]

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Following Kabuto’s defeat, and his reunion with Suigetsu Hōzuki and Jūgo, Sasuke learns of the scroll they found at one of Orochimaru’s hideouts and resolves to revive him for answers following what he learned from Itachi. Sasuke succeeds in reviving Orochimaru by pulling his consciousness out of Anko’s cursed seal and transferring it into the physical form Jūgo provided by absorbing some of Kabuto’s modified flesh. Despite Suigetsu’s fears of his next action as he reclaims the rest of his chakra that Kabuto took from him, Orochimaru explains that he is neither interested in Tobi’s war nor strong enough to even attempt to take Sasuke’s body if he wanted to. However, Orochimaru, noting the change in his former student, does agree to take Sasuke to one who has the answers he wants.

Arriving in Konohagakure, Orochimaru and the others sense Naruto‘s chakra from a great distance away. Noting that Sasuke was annoyed by this, Orochimaru pressed on with the group at the young man’s behest. He led them to the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Temple to pick up a mask from the ruins, and then takes the group to the underground hall in the Naka Shrine. Orochimaru proceeded to don the mask which invoked the Shinigami to possess his body. Orochimaru then proceeded to cut open the Shinigami’s stomach, a wound reflected on his own body, to release the trapped contents inside the Shinigami.

With his arms restored as well, Orochimaru performed the Impure World Reincarnation using four of the six White Zetsu clone spores that Jūgo activated from Sasuke’s body. Ordering Suigetsu and Jūgo hold two of the Zetsu down, the remaining four Zetsu are used as the bodies for the reincarnation of the previous four Hokage. To escape death, Orochimaru transferred his being in the White Zetsu Suigetsu was holding down. Once the Hokage were reincarnated, revealing he researched the means to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Orochimaru explained that his reasons for bringing them back were for them to aid Sasuke by giving him the information he desired. When Orochimaru accused the Second Hokage of being the one to cause the coup d’etat to surface, he was rebuffed by the Hokage who later explained that he had tried to save the Uchiha from themselves. When Tobirama later declared that he was heading to the battlefield, Orochimaru’s new vessel provided him with access to Hashirama’s cells, allowing him to bind the Hokage. Noting that Hashirama had broke his control over him, Orochimaru is told by the First that he would first free Sasuke from the darkness which surrounded him. During this course of events, Sasuke had a flashback about a conversation he and Orochimaru had as they made their way to Konoha where Sasuke stated that he does not believe Orochimaru’s reasons to destroy Konoha were on a whim.

After hearing Sasuke’s decision to protect the village, Orochimaru announces that he will also help in the war effort against Madara. When Hiruzen asks him after why he changed his mind after all these years, Orochimaru explains that he made an error in judgement from watching Kabuto act in his stead and is now interested to see the result of Sasuke’s «different path» of not letting those who sacrificed themselves for the village go to waste.

Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki[]

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Later, Orochimaru arrived to the place where Tsunade and the other Kage were left severely wounded, alongside Suigetsu and Karin, commenting that Tsunade was in a rather bad shape. He broke up the arguing Karin and Suigetsu, and ordered them to help Katsuyu heal Tsunade. Later, Orochimaru, along with the five Kage, Suigetsu, and Karin, arrive at the battlefield, where the entire Allied Shinobi Forces are struggling against Obito Uchiha, who recently became the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails. As Obito began the final stages of his and Madara’s grand plan: «Infinite Tsukuyomi», Hashirama had Ino Yamanaka telepathically link everyone via the Mind Body Transmission Technique to inform everyone about the plan as well as try and rally the shinobi to continue fighting. While Hashirama’s words fail to inspire them, Naruto’s memories are conveyed to them via Ino’s telepathy. The Sannin looked on solemnly as Naruto remembered the memorial he erected for Jiraiya.

As Sasuke had Jūgo transfer some of his natural energy into the Uchiha, who immediately channelled it into his complete Susanoo, Orochimaru watched on, greatly impressed at how far Sasuke has come and notes that he still had much room to grow. Later, while asserting that he had no interest in the war, Orochimaru noted that Obito’s plan would interfere with his experiments, he then decided to heed his former sensei’s urgings and participate in the war. With his assistance, Hiruzen was able to destroy the branches of the Ten-Tails into pieces. As Naruto began his great tug-of-war against Obito, Orochimaru alongside Hiruzen watched on as the tree’s flower halted its blooming.

After a momentary lull in the battle after Obito is defeated, the Allied Forces were attacked by Tobi, who created an enormous wooden statue to assault them. Orochimaru teamed up with his former subordinates to effectively subdue their attacker in order to make a break for Sasuke’s location. He was then impressed by Karin’s ability to use the chakra chains and he was reminded of Kushina Uzumaki. As they raced towards where Karin last senses Sasuke, Orochimaru noticed that the young woman was expending herself. Contemplating the situation, he wondered solemnly if this was really the end for Sasuke.

Upon reaching Sasuke, they found Kabuto merging with Sasuke, seemingly to assimilate the Uchiha. When asking his former right-hand man why he came, Kabuto simply explained that his experience under the effects of Izanami made him rediscover his true identity as simply Kabuto Yakushi and acknowledged what he always sought was back at the Konoha orphanage. Wanting to make up for his mistakes, starting with healing Sasuke through his medical ninjutsu and instructions from Tobirama. Eventually, Kabuto succeeded in healing Sasuke, who quickly returned to his feet and was ready to resume the battle. Orochimaru was later caught in Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes[]

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Ultimately, he and the rest of the world are freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Blank Period[]

After the war’s conclusion, Orochimaru would return to conducting his genetic experiments. Although seemingly passive, Konoha still didn’t trust him and kept a close watch on him, constantly keeping watch outside his hideout. Despite the strict watch, Orochimaru was allowed to move freely as the shinobi that watched over Orochimaru were ordered not to make any form of contact with him until he made a move against Konoha. He was even allowed to move freely in and out of Konoha.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise[]

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Orochimaru meets with Sasuke, who is gathering information on the Dark Thunder Group, for the first time in a few years since the war. Orochimaru tells Sasuke to meet with En Oyashiro, who is a medical ninja but is a notorious kekkei genkai collector, because he may have connections to the group since its leader is a kekkei genkai owner. They take a boat to En’s «Coliseum», where a tournament is being hosted with En’s clients attending to purchase the winning shinobi. Orochimaru reveals to him that Sasuke is a kekkei genkai owner himself, causing Sasuke to be forced into participating in the tournament.

New Era[]

In the following years, between gaining a new appreciation for natural development of people and forming a truce between Konohagakure, Orochimaru ultimately reestablished Otogakure as a legitimate shinobi village.^[65] At some point, Orochimaru created a synthetic human based off his own DNA named Mitsuki, essentially making the young boy Orochimaru’s partial clone/son. Eventually, the boy decided to rebel against his father and forge his own destiny himself, migrating to Konohagakure and enrolling in the Academy, which was secretly Orochimaru’s goal all along.^[66] From this, Orochimaru would have occasional conversations with the Seventh Hokage, both on the development on his son and likewise on Orochimaru’s efforts to clean up past mistakes.

Sarada Uchiha Arc[]

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Fifteen years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru revealed himself to Sasuke and Naruto when the former demanded to meet him, wanting to inquire about Shin Uchiha. Naruto commented on his youthful looks, to which Orochimaru replied to «not stress on the details». After a talk, he explained that Shin was, in fact, an experiment of his in cloning technology and that he would be glad if they took him off his hands. He then went on to lecture about the ethics of cloning. Once he finished his story, Orochimaru happily decided to tell Sasuke all he knew about Shin’s whereabouts in the hope of the true Uchiha killing Shin. Later on, Orochimaru commented the possibility of Sakura Uchiha being already dead, to which Sasuke disagreed.

School Trip Arc[]

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In the anime, when learning of civil unrest in Kirigakure and rumours of the Sixth Mizukage killing off people against the peaceful expansion of his village, Orochimaru sent Suigetsu to investigate, hoping to find useful new allies. Ultimately, Suigetsu reported that the horrific rumours on Chōjūrō were in fact done by Shizuma Hoshigaki, who used the Mizukage as a diversion for his plans at a coup d’état, which were stopped with the aid of Boruto Uzumaki. Orochimaru surmised that Chōjūrō decided to keep the actions quiet in fear of regressing the village to its darker times. While realising that Suigetsu got directly involved in exposing Shizuma’s actions, he decided to keep quite about it, instead marvelling at how much Boruto was like his father.

Graduation Exams Arc[]

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In the anime, as Konoha’s Academy classes began preparing for graduation exams, Orochimaru stealthily came to the village with Yamato, to avoid any commotion from villagers still uneasy about his presence. Meeting with Naruto in his office, they discussed Danzō’s research he was analysing and Mitsuki. Afterwards, he attended Mitsuki’s parent teacher conference, where he and his son met with Shino Aburame. Wanting to become a Konoha shinobi, Orochimaru allowed Mitsuki to stay in the village to become one.

Versus Momoshiki Arc[]

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In the anime, having contacted Mitsuki though their snakes, Orochimaru instructed him to not reveal his true strength, as Mitsuki wouldn’t be able to remain in Konoha. Upon Team Konohamaru capturing a bear within Konoha, Orochimaru overlooked the genin completing their mission from atop a building.

Chōchō Arc[]

In the anime, Mitsuki brought Orochimaru a scroll for him to sign so he could partake in an upcoming mission. Before which, they had a sparring session. While Orochimaru decisively won, he applauded Mitsuki’s improvement. When Mitsuki asked if he should refer to Orochimaru as his father or mother, Orochimaru said it was irrelevant as he has been all kinds of entities over the years and all that matters is one’s core.

Influence[]

Orochimaru apparently kept tabs on Akatsuki, as Kabuto was knowledgeable about Zetsu, and Tobi’s machination to revive the Ten-Tails.^[67] Even when removed from reality by Itachi, being an extensive researcher, the notes he left behind were still coveted as vast stores of knowledge to those fortunate enough to come across them, as seen when one of his hidden rooms is found by Suigetsu and Jūgo, the former of which finds information he believes can impact the war.^[68]

In the anime, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s cells in order to create special snakes which could multiply at a rapid rate and merge into either a clone of another living being using a genetic sample or a larger serpent for combat. The clone snakes are first used to create a clone of Hidan, and then later a clone of Naruto with Kurama’s chakra.

In his absence, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s remains from his battle with Sasuke to integrate his master’s DNA into himself in order to surpass him.^[69] Having also assimilated the DNA of Sakon and Ukon to procure their abilities, Kabuto uses the twins’ Attack of the Twin Demons to produce a construct of Orochimaru that transforms into his White Snake form and lunges at an opponent. However, Orochimaru lived on, in a sense, through cursed seals and Kabuto after the latter integrated Orochimaru’s DNA into himself.^[70] Knowing the nature of the seal to contain parts of Orochimaru’s consciousness, Sasuke revived Orochimaru by transferring a portion of Orochimaru’s DNA which was retrieved from Kabuto’s modified body into Anko’s Cursed Seal of Heaven.^[71]

In Other Media[]

Movies[]

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds[]

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Orochimaru made a small appearance along with Kabuto. Feeling that his time was running out before he had to transfer his soul again, but fearing that the repeated use of his techniques was starting to be too taxing, he ordered Sasuke to retrieve a man named Shinnō, who had developed his own immortality technique. In the end, Sasuke failed to get the man, but did retrieve the scroll containing the technique’s information. Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke’s demeanour seemed shaken from the mission.

Video Games[]

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Live Action[]

Live Spectacle Naruto[]

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Hiro Yuumi plays as Orochimaru in this stage play adaption.

Creation and Conception[]

As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists’ values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognise that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains «flamboyant» was one of his «guiding principles», and attributed this to his desire to have the villains possess a «powerful aura».

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru’s face appear «pasty and sickly,» which serves to emphasise the «scary looks» that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. As these occurrences are his «trademark», Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru’s appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru’s face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru’s hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a «creepy atmosphere».

Trivia[]

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• The name «Orochi» literally means «great snake» (大蛇) while «maru» (丸) is a common suffix in male names.
  • It is possible that Orochimaru has a last name, since both of his parent’s names are written with two words. However, reading them is impossible due to the kanji’s bad quality.
• Orochimaru borrows heavily from Japanese myth and literature:
  • Literature — Orochimaru’s name, as well as those of Jiraiya and Tsunade, come from the «The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya» (児雷也豪傑物語, Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari). The Orochimaru in that story was originally a student of Jiraiya’s called Yashagorō, until he was corrupted by snake magic and took on the name Orochimaru.
  • Myth — Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐大蛇, Eight-forked Giant Snake), a giant eight-tailed, eight-headed snake killed with the Totsuka Sword by the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who found the Kusanagi Sword in one of its tails. This mirrors almost exactly how Itachi Uchiha using Totsuka Sword wielding Susanoo sealed Orochimaru, while in his Yamata form, and wielding the Kusanagi Sword kept inside of him.
• In the English VIZ translation of chapter 49, Orochimaru introduces himself to Sasuke as «Orochimaru, the Giant Snake». This was not present in the original version.
• The symbolism of Orochimaru’s snake affiliation can be also tied to how many cultures, Eastern and Western, perceived snakes as symbols of immortality and rebirth via the shedding of their skin.
• Orochimaru shares his blood type with his former teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade.
• After the preliminaries conclude, he is never shown again wearing an Otogakure forehead protector.
• Studio Pierrot’s Settei sheets of Orochimaru show that he was 153 cm when he was part of Hiruzen’s genin team, and as an adult he is always 179.5 cm even after taking bodies, even though the databook puts him as 179.4 cm.
• According to the databook(s):
  • Orochimaru’s hobby is creating techniques.
  • Orochimaru wishes to fight those with techniques that can be used in the future.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite food are eggs, while his least favourites are anything cold.
  • During his time as a Konoha-nin, Orochimaru has completed 1,468 official missions in total: 16 D-rank, 332 C-rank, 521 B-rank, 491 A-rank, 108 S-rank.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite words are «destroy» (破壊, hakai) and «chaos» (混沌, konton).
• In the fourth databook, kekkei genkai is not listed among Orochimaru’s special characteristics, despite his body granting him Wood Release.
• In Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds, Orochimaru claimed that Shinnō had taught him many Reincarnation Ninjutsu.
• Throughout the anime adaption of Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding, Orochimaru makes comedic cameos throughout Konoha while being pursued by Yamato

Quotes[]

• (To Kabuto) «You just don’t have enough information to explain yourself yet. Your glasses, your name, being someone’s child is not something that can show who really you are. But that is fine. If you’re not happy on what you have now… you can just find new things to find up. …You see, I also want to find who I really am. That’s why I’m collecting a bit of everything.«^[72]
• (To Hiruzen) «I want to obtain all the techniques and gain a true understanding of everything in this world. The first one to mix blue and yellow called the new colour «green». I want to do something similar to that. If blue is the chakra, then yellow is the seal, and green is the technique… Just as there is no end to the variety of colours, there are so many thousands… tens of thousands of techniques in the world as well. But in order to obtain every possible technique and truth, it would require an eternity. Only one who understands everything after spending such time on this can be fittingly called the Ultimate Being.«^[73]
• (To Hiruzen) «What nonsense! In the grand scheme of time, you’re nothing more than a trivial footnote in the brief history of a cluster of huts called «Konoha»! In time, the Hokage Stone Faces will crumble and be worn down to nothing…«^[74]
• (To a young Kimimaro) «Maybe, just maybe, there is no purpose in life. But if you linger a while longer in this world, you might discover something of value in it, like how you discovered that flower. Or, how I discovered you one fateful night.«^[75]
• (To Kabuto, talking about Tsunade) «The best medicines always taste bitter.«^[76]
• (About Naruto) «This child… intrigues me to no end!«^[77]
• (About Sasuke) «When I watch this boy, I look back to the time I was called a genius, and think how ridiculous it was.«^[78]
• (About Yūkimaru) «When there is a true desire in the heart and that desire is strong… that is when he finds real strength that even he did not know he had.«^[79]
• (To Sasuke) «I refuse… to let this happen! I am Orochimaru! I am immortal! I will not die here! Destined to discover the true meaning behind everything! Destined to take control of everything in this world!!«^[80]
• (To Suigetsu about Sasuke) «It’s just like the time when I planned on crushing the Konohagakure… He has chosen a divergent path from the village… But even so, it’ll always have some sentimental value. He’s soaking that all in and coming to terms with… The consequences of his future actions and reaffirming his resolve.«^[81]
• (To Tsunade, about Jiraiya) «People change. It’s just a matter of whether they die before it happens. Although he died just the way he was.«^[82]
• (To Hiruzen) «Fine, let’s bring back the memories… of when I was your student.«^[83]

References[]

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editOrochimaru  [1][2][3][4]
Parts I-II New Era
大蛇丸 Orochimaru
Debut
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Anime	Naruto Episode #27
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Unique Traits Can absorb chakra
Jutsu

Orochimaru (大蛇丸, Orochimaru) is one of Konohagakure’s legendary Sannin. With a life-ambition to learn all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru seeks immortality so that he might live all of the lives necessary to accomplish his task. After being caught red-handed performing unethical experiments on his fellow citizens for the sake of this immortality, Orochimaru defected from Konoha rather than be persecuted for his ambitions, and for many years sought the village’s destruction in order to take revenge and demonstrate what he had learned. After several apparent deaths in the pursuit of his goals, Orochimaru realises his approach is flawed through Kabuto Yakushi, his former associate, and begins monitoring the choices and actions of his former apprentice, Sasuke Uchiha.

Background[]

Orochimaru was once an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru stood out as a genius — his talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen only once in a generation.^[5] According to Tsunade, Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a white snake near his parents’ grave, with Hiruzen’s explanation of it representing fortune and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all techniques.^[6] Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to forget his painful memories.

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During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha’s «Three Legendary Shinobi» (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process.^[7] On their way back to Konoha, they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing before Jiraiya chose to train them instead.^[8][9] In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Blue B‘s doctor in order to trick him into taking special genjutsu inducing pills, allowing him to extract the tailed beast. After its rampage, Orochimaru obtained the severed horn of the Eight-Tails and harvested Blue B’s DNA from it.^[10]

Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became an Anbu member and joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko Mitarashi. It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying Danzō in forcing the boy’s guardian, Nonō, into a mission.^[11] While Orochimaru’s ambitions did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own agenda.^[12] Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone’s help.^[5] When Hiruzen finally named Minato Namikaze his successor, Orochimaru saw no more reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions.^[13] This led to his experimentation on Hashirama Senju‘s DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate the First’s Wood Release, having help from Danzō.^[14] Believing it to be a failure, Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his Wood Release experiment. He later refined the process enough to inject Hashirama’s cells into the Sharingan-infused right arm of Shin Uchiha, which he transplanted to Danzō.^[15][16][17]

Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later, Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of the Kaguya clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru’s research on the source of Jūgo‘s powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu.^[18] Unable to enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of the clan’s fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process, the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects.^[19] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Itachi Uchiha performing a training run normally meant for older and more experienced users due to the danger of it. After the young Uchiha flawlessly completed it, Orochimaru instantly became amazed and excited at Itachi’s advanced growth rate. In the anime, he also allied himself with Amachi out of interest for creating a shinobi capable of underwater combat, kidnapping Land of the Sea villagers for their experiments, while introducing Anko to the project. Sometime after, Orochimaru lost interest in the project, and ordered Amachi to cancel it, while also seeing Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to use the cursed seal, and wiped her memories as she left him.^[20]

Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become major liabilities. Orochimaru instead spirited Kabuto to his hideout, which would become part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root’s intent for Kabuto’s life and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered Kabuto a position as his right hand and spy with the promise of an identity.^[21]

As his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen. Though he knew it was his duty, Hiruzen lacked the will to kill his student, allowing him to escape.^[22] In the anime, during his escape, Orochimaru was found by Kakashi Hatake. Despite the young prodigy’s best efforts, Orochimaru swiftly defeated him. Letting his guard down at the approach of a snake, Orochimaru was greatly injured by an explosive tag concealed in the snake’s mouth. Cursing Hiruzen for ruining his plans, though greatly injured, Orochimaru quickly regained his composure. He then resumed his retreat from the country, leaving a terrified Kakashi frozen in place from his malicious glare alone.^[19] Seriously wounded, Orochimaru visited the cave where the Iburi clan lived and killed them all, trying to restore his power. Upon the arrival of the youngest member, Yukimi, Orochimaru pursued her while being chased by Kakashi Hatake and Kinoe. Eventually, he managed to take a sample of Yukimi’s blood, intending to inject it into himself to temporarily gain her ability and slip across the border, but he was attacked before he could do so and quickly escaped.^[23] Orochimaru managed to destroy most of his research facilities and booby-trap the rest.^[24]

Orochimaru ultimately escaped Konoha, leaving his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya’s plea for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears. Orochimaru soon became affiliated with and joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki. Orochimaru was then partnered with Sasori, with whom he did much good for the organisation.^[25]. He later watched in amazement when Itachi Uchiha joined the organisation. Later, when Orochimaru saw his opportunity to steal his body to gain possession of the Sharingan, Itachi used his Sharingan to stop him from doing so, while also cutting Orochimaru’s left hand off to prevent him from breaking the genjutsu he was under, which lead to him leaving Akatsuki to acquire a new body.^[26] For Orochimaru’s defection, Sasori developed a grudge against him and used Kabuto, whom Orochimaru had sent to serve as his spy within Akatsuki, to counter spy as his sleeper agent. However, Orochimaru discovered and undid the technique Sasori had used on him.^[27] In the anime, when tipped off by Kabuto that Sasori was on his trail, Orochimaru chose to use this as an opportunity to test his development of the Second Hokage‘s Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. Against Sasori’s Third Kazekage puppet, Orochimaru summoned the actual Third Kazekage through his technique. While proving his reincarnated ninja being stronger than the human puppet, the technique ultimately proved incomplete as the Third Kazekage was able to regain control and break the summoning contract..^[28]

Orochimaru had also been on a life-long search for the Totsuka Sword, an ethereal sword, but was unaware that it was in the possession of Itachi’s Susanoo.^[29] In the anime, Orochimaru witnessed Mizuki killing a comrade during a mission. Under the pretence as a gift for Mizuki’s bold actions, Orochimaru granted him a specialised cursed seal. In truth however, it was an incomplete experimental tool that would destroy whoever used it, to which Orochimaru was merely curious as to how the effects would happen on Mizuki.^[30]

Personality[]

Orochimaru possesses a complex personality; however, more often than not, he was described as «twisted» by a large number of people, including Tsunade. Jiraiya speculated that the death of his parents while he was young, along with his horror for Tsunade losing Nawaki and later shedding tears when she lost Dan, implies that Orochimaru grew to disdain the fragility of human life and how it affected those still living, which led him to desire immortality. To that end, the primary purpose of Orochimaru’s human experimentation is to test what modifications the human body can endure and harness a subject’s unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru had hoped to be worthy of the title of «ultimate being«, unable to die and able to achieve his secondary goal to learn every ninja technique in the world, which would normally take many lifetimes to obtain.

According to Sasuke, becoming cruel with any good he had as a member of Team Hiruzen gone, Orochimaru’s agenda made him develop a god complex and valued himself while delighting in striking terror in his first impressions. Though causing conflict to ease his boredom, Orochimaru seems to have no interest in wars started by others.^[31] His charisma also attracts a number of followers, many of which he would not hesitate to send on potential suicide missions if for his own personal benefit, expressing some remorse if they’re unable to properly complete a task, having no sentimental attachments to any of them despite their values. Despite this, Orochimaru has genuine interest in the development of his underlings and experiments.

Taking Sasuke as an apprentice, seeing him as a prodigy like himself, Orochimaru intended to take the youth’s body to obtain the Sharingan to reach another step in his goal of immortality and learning every technique in the world. This goal has developed to the point of obsession. However, despite knowing that Sasuke was willing to do anything for revenge, including sacrificing his own body, Orochimaru did anticipate treachery from his disciple and showed only a small level of surprise when it actually occurred. What truly surprised Orochimaru was Sasuke’s decision to follow his own path and ultimately choosing to defend the village he initially swore to destroy, one that Orochimaru openly approved and was curious to see what would be the end result of this decision.

He also had an initial disdain toward Naruto Uzumaki, believing him to be a poor excuse for a ninja until he defeated Kabuto with the Rasengan. Despite attempting to kill Naruto at the time after coming to the realisation that he would become a threat to him in the future, Orochimaru became interested in Naruto’s development, provoking Naruto during their battle to see his full abilities at the time. During the war Naruto managed to gain some of Orochimaru’s respect for not giving into despair. Though coming to hate his home village, orchestrating a few attempts to destroy it, Orochimaru despised his former Akatsuki colleagues more. Throughout Part II, if Orochimaru was not busy with Sasuke’s development, he would try to cripple Akatsuki’s operations, as seen in the «Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission» arc and «Three-Tails’ Appearance» arc. He expresses delight over the death of Sasori and later convinced Sasuke against killing Team Kakashi so they would thin out Akatsuki’s membership.

An aspect of Orochimaru’s personality is also his greatest weakness: his arrogance. He truly believed he was immortal at times, attacking recklessly against powerful opponents such as his former teacher and Itachi Uchiha. Both times, he was left crippled in some way since he either wanted to make his opponent suffer, like against Hiruzen, or because he was too uninformed to face his opponent, like against Itachi. Despite his distinct lack of morals, Orochimaru seems to be well-versed in psychological warfare and displays insightful wisdom when disparaging Tobirama for the actions resulting from his policies. He is also amusingly afraid of insects and bugs as seen during Naruto and Hinata’s wedding.

After being revived by Sasuke, his personality changed a bit. While he still wished that he could gain Sasuke’s body, he also realised that copying someone completely was a mistake from his observation of Kabuto and displayed interest in Sasuke’s «different path». Wanting to see Sasuke’s path, he chose to fight alongside the Uchiha instead of ignoring Madara’s war like he planned, and even made it a priority to heal Tsunade and the other Kage after their defeat before hurrying to the battlefield. Orochimaru also seem to genuinely care about Sasuke’s well being, as he originally thought it was best to take his time figuring out how to battle Tobi but quickly decided against taking his time when Karin sensed Sasuke was on the verge of death. Orochimaru has also shown signs of regret, seemingly saddened by his childhood friend Jiraiya’s death. In the anime, he was one of people who congratulated Naruto and Hinata on their wedding.^[32] Years later, he appears to be on amicable terms with Konoha by sending his son, Mitsuki, to the village. In the anime, he also feels indebted to Naruto as the Hokage for watching over Mitsuki.^[33] While his relationship with the rest of the world is still dubious at best, he has at least developed a relatively trusting relationship between the higher-ups of Konohagakure, willing aiding them in research on pressing matters and likewise feels responsible enough to make amends for past mistakes.^[34]

Orochimaru’s experiences also resulted in him wishing Mitsuki to make his own decisions, admitting that he has high hopes for the boy’s natural growth, though he at times used manipulation and deception to put him in a situation where important decisions must be made.

Appearance[]

Orochimaru’s most striking characteristic is his snake-like appearance: he has very pale skin, golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and framing his face or to his shoulders. The various bodies he takes over have each been modified to resemble his original form, except for the height differences. In Naruto Gaiden, Orochimaru’s facial features soften and somewhat androgynous with his eye markings becoming black. He also wears his hair in a ponytail, allowing two locks to frame the sides of his face. In the manga, his skin-tone becomes noticeably fairer in complexion.^[35]

Orochimaru usually wears plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back, blue tomoe-shaped earrings, and shinobi sandals with bandages around his calves. He is seen wearing a kimono with different colours on several occasions, shown usually in flashbacks or inside his hideouts. During his time with Akatsuki, he wore the standard red and black Akatsuki robes with a slate blue ring, which bears the kanji for «sky» or «void» (空, kū), on his left pinky finger. After countless experiments with his body, his true form became a giant white snake made up of many smaller snakes, with longer, spikier hair, a scaled face with snake-like teeth and a long tongue, black eye markings, and a pointed chin. Years later, he wears a white robe tied at his waist by a sash and a rope, blue pants and shirt.

Abilities[]

Like other students of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru is an exceptionally talented shinobi, recognised as a natural prodigy;^[36] Hashirama Senju, a God of Shinobi, praises Orochimaru’s skills.^[37] It wasn’t until the Second Shinobi World War that their skills became widely known, dubbed by Hanzō as the Sannin, the strongest of their generation. Orochimaru’s power was known and feared throughout the ninja world, such that Akatsuki, of which he was once a member, viewed him as a threat that needed to be eliminated.^[38] Shortly before the Konoha Crush, Hiruzen believed that no one in Konoha, himself included, could defeat Orochimaru.^[39] Although his invasion fails, it is indeed through Orochimaru’s actions that the Third Hokage dies among many others and Konoha’s military force is temporarily crippled. Although Sasuke defeats Orochimaru in Part II, he admits that his victory was attributed partially to the Sannin’s weakening body.^[40]

Chakra and Physical Prowess[]

Orochimaru has reserves of chakra large enough to summon Manda and powerful enough to uproar dense surges of wind and crack stone.^[41][42] He can also absorb chakra through physical contact.^[43] Orochimaru rarely relies on taijutsu in battle, though the anime shows he is very strong, enough to knock down a tree with a single kick while under great physical pain.^[44] He is also fast enough to land a punch on a four-tailed Naruto that temporarily stunned him.^[45]

Body Modifications[]

In his quest to gain immortality, Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body over the years, referred to as the Power of the White Snake. With it, he can heal and regenerate from varying lengths of damage, usually through snake-like means; for injuries like bisection, he can reconnect himself using snakes; for more severe injuries, he can shed his skin to regurgitate a new body, free from all damage. Orochimaru’s body modifications have also allowed him to manipulate the shape of his body for greater manouvreability, and enhanced his physical durability enough to survive a powerful punch from Tsunade.^[46]

Orochimaru’s body modifications have resulted in his true form taking on the appearance of a giant white snake. The body is composed of many smaller snakes that can be used to attack the opponent. Even if the opponent manages to incapacitate him, the blood released by killing the snakes is poisonous, evaporating into the air and paralysing anyone who inhales it. This form also enables Orochimaru to use his Living Corpse Reincarnation, his main method of immortality. It allows him to transfer his soul into a new body by swallowing that person whole and absorbing their consciousness, thereby gaining control of their body. This can only be used once every three years, as Orochimaru’s current body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. The souls of the bodies he has taken remain in Orochimaru’s subconscious and he can modify his body as he sees fit.

Orochimaru has conducted research on Hashirama Senju‘s DNA in order to access the latter’s rapid healing abilities. He eventually gains the ability after taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, which contains Hashirama’s DNA.^[47]

Ninjutsu[]

Orochimaru’s depth of knowledge of ninjutsu is greater than any other shinobi,^[48] leading to him utilising a vast arsenal of ninjutsu styles. He is proficient enough with the Transformation Technique to stay undetected for long periods of time; his skill in fūinjutsu allows him to use the Five Elements Seal to seal off a person’s chakra; he can summon a single Rashōmon gate or more to protect himself from enemy attacks; he can hide hide within surfaces to avoid damage, or use cursed seals to temporarily paralyse an opponent.^[49] The anime shows Orochimaru using other techniques, such as the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique^[50], chakra scalpels,^[51] as well as space–time ninjutsu.^[52]

Orochimaru wields the legendary Sword of Kusanagi, showing enough proficiency to fight evenly with his former master Hiruzen. The blade is able to extend great distances, cut through almost anything, and even be remotely controlled. He normally keeps the blade within a snake’s mouth inside his own throat and retrieves it by having it turning into a snake after use.

Nature Transformation[]

Orochimaru can use all five basic nature transformations, along with Yin and Yang Release.^[4] His elemental displays are brief in the manga, using only Wind Release to create a powerful gust of wind and Earth Release to travel underground. In the anime, he can create mud-based clones.^[53] After taking over the body of a White Zetsu clone, Orochimaru gained access to the latter’s Wood Release — a simultaneous mixture of earth and water.^[47]

Summoning[]

As his appearance suggests, Orochimaru has an affinity for snakes, using the unique arm tattoo to summon them for assistance in battle, his largest and strongest being Manda. He can also eject snakes from either his sleeves or his mouth to attack opponents; in the anime, the snakes can sprout Kusanagi-like blades from their own mouths for deadlier effect.^[54] He can even turn his lower body into a snake’s tail, increasing his speed and mobility in battle.^[55] Orochimaru’s ultimate snake-related technique is the Eight Branches Technique, where he transforms into an eight-headed, eight-tailed giant serpent with size superior to that of Manda.

Orochimaru can perform the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation, having further refined the kinjutsu developed by Tobirama Senju. Upon reviving the dead, he can implant them with special tags that erase their personalities, granting him complete control over their actions. During the Konoha Crush, Orochimaru revives the Second and First Hokage to fight his former teacher Hiruzen; the latter later seals away part of Orochimaru’s soul within his arms, making him temporarily lose access to this technique. During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru uses the Shinigami Mask to spiritually restore himself, allowing him to use the technique once more.^[56] His prowess with it has increased, as he revives all four previous Hokage with nearly their full power and can use Hashirama’s cells to strengthen his control.^[57]

Senjutsu[]

During his research of Jūgo’s clan, Orochimaru eventually tracked down the power source at the Ryūchi Cave and senjutsu. Although he lacked the body and chakra reserves strong enough to learn Sage Mode,^[18] Orochimaru developed another use for senjutsu chakra: the cursed seals.^[58] These seals contained some of Orochimaru’s senjutsu chakra mixed with the enzyme produced by Jūgo, triggering a change similar to Sage Transformation, but with different side effects. These cursed seals can be used to enhance the power of one’s techniques,^[59] and serve as anchors to Orochimaru’s consciousness, allowing him to observe events through anyone branded by the seal. He can even be revived any number of times through the Evil Releasing Method, provided there are enough cursed seals and DNA.^[58]

Intelligence[]

Orochimaru has acquired a vast amount of information of the shinobi world from his time with organisations such as Root and Akatsuki, having set up a network of fully supplied hideouts throughout various countries. He has great charisma in manipulating people into becoming his pawns, providing insight into their past and promising them power in order to gain their loyalty. In battle, he can deduce the workings of an enemy’s fighting style and respond accordingly.

Wanting to decipher all of the world’s secrets, Orochimaru conducted extensive research and numerous experiments on himself and the DNA of other individuals to comprehend, attain, or reproduce their abilities. Research of abilities such as Hashirama Senju‘s Wood Release and Jūgo‘s Sage Transformation have allowed him to recreate those same abilities, or at least produce techniques based off of them, into other people.^[60][61] From experimentation of Shin Uchiha, Orochimaru has become more knowledgeable of human genetics, facilitating his overall research. ^[62]

The anime expands on Orochimaru’s knowledge in other areas: he creates the Mind Awakening Pill to help speed up the cursed seal‘s progression; he builds a sophisticated robot with advanced weaponry;^[63] he creates genjutsu pills that can subdue a jinchūriki and their tailed beast simultaneously; he cultivates the cells of a tailed beast to create a pseudo-jinchūriki.^[10]

Stats[]

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Part I[]

Chūnin Exams[]

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For a while, since leaving Konoha, Orochimaru left his hometown alone until the chance to destroy it presented itself. The opportunity presented itself when he forms a partnership with the Fourth Kazekage of Sunagakure, who desired Konoha’s destruction like him, planning their invasion during the Chūnin Exams. Orochimaru also used the invasion as an opportunity to test Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi’s younger brother, if he can be of use as a vessel. Prior to the commencement of the second part of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru murdered a team of Kusagakure genin to impersonate its leader Shiore and infiltrate the Forest of Death. Using a snake summon to separate Naruto from Team 7, the disguised Orochimaru subjected Sasuke to his Killing Intent with the youth unable to fight due to the fear instilled into him. However, the fear subsided with Naruto’s timely appearance and convincing Sasuke to muster his courage before Orochimaru interferes with the jinchūriki‘s seal while knocking him out for the duration of the fight. After being subjected to Sasuke’s Dragon Fire Technique as it partially burned off his disguise, Orochimaru expresses pride in Sasuke’s abilities before branding his target with his Cursed Seal of Heaven and taking his leave.

As he sends Team Dosu as sacrificial lambs to test Sasuke, having Kabuto accompany Team 7 to witness Sasuke use the curse seal’s power, Orochimaru is confronted by Anko as he tells her that the Konoha will continue the exams under threat of his retaliation if they cancel it. During the preliminary rounds of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru disguised himself as the leader of his genin team to watch Sasuke’s performance against Yoroi Akadō and more obsessive upon seeing him suppress the Cursed Seal with sheer will. After Kakashi was able to seal away the mark on Sasuke, Orochimaru confronted him. He made no attempt to hide his envy of Kakashi’s Sharingan, and noted before leaving that Sasuke will eventually come to him seeking power.

Konoha Crush[]

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Eventually, on the day of the final round matches, with all attack preparations complete, Orochimaru murdered the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his identity to sit next to Hiruzen to oversee the proceedings. However, the Konoha Crush began, Orochimaru makes his move to kill his former master. Having the Sound Four discard the guises of the Kazekage’s bodyguards, Orochimaru has them erect a barrier to hold the other Konoha ninja back to prevent any interference. Having regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, Hiruzen agrees to battle his former pupil. Exhilarated that he could finally fight his former teacher, Orochimaru used Impure World Reincarnation to summon Hashirama Senju and his brother Tobirama to have the first two Hokage to attack their successor. During the fight, Orochimaru reveals to Hiruzen the fruits of his labour from mastering Living Corpse Reincarnation with the host body he took after his brush-in with Itachi and his intention to make Sasuke into his next host.

Horrified on how far Orochimaru has truly went, with both his age and the regenerative abilities of the two first Hokage placing him in a grand disadvantage, Hiruzen resolves to stop Orochimaru with the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, sealing away the souls of the two Hokage prior to going after Orochimaru himself. Not wishing to join the three Hokages’ souls in being trapped within the Reaper’s stomach, Orochimaru stabbed Hiruzen through the back of his chest with his Sword of Kusanagi before the weakened Hiruzen resolves to only seal the part of Orochimaru’s soul within his arms. Cursing the dying Hiruzen for robbing him of his use of ninjutsu, Orochimaru is carried off by the Sound Four with the invasion halted. Afterwards, Sunagakure broke ties with Orochimaru upon discovering the corpse of the Fourth Kazekage.

Search for Tsunade[]

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After barely being able to stand the pain from his rotting arms, Orochimaru plans to have his condition healed by appealing Tsunade with the offer to reincarnate her Nawaki and Dan to win her cooperation. However, though she seemed to agree, Tsunade had actually intended to kill him to ensure he never attacks Konoha again. Kabuto intervened before she could do so, intending to force her to help before Jiraiya, Shizune and Naruto soon arrived to her aid. While Orochimaru and Jiraiya (having earlier been drugged by Tsunade and thus unable to properly perform techniques) faced off, Kabuto battled Naruto before being defeated. Seeing this and seeing a potential threat, Orochimaru resolves to kill Naruto before Tsunade teams up with Jiraiya to face their former teammate. Despite summoning Manda, managing to hide his condition from the giant serpent as he fights Gamabunta, Orochimaru is forced to give up healing his arms and just take a new host body.

Sasuke Recovery Mission[]

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Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to grow older, Orochimaru sent his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He held out for as long as he could, anticipating Sasuke’s arrival, but the pain in his arms became too unbearable so he is given no choice but to take the body of Gen’yūmaru, whom Kabuto had prepared earlier. After agreeing to release Gen’yūmaru’s clansmen in return for his sacrifice, Orochimaru proceeds to use Living Corpse Reincarnation on his new host. Though the act undid most of the damage caused by the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, it still left Orochimaru incapable of using techniques requiring hand seals.

While still waiting for Sasuke, bandaged up within his new host with Kabuto by his side, Orochimaru comments that either Jirōbō or Kidōmaru would be slowing down the group, but expressed doubts about Sakon‘s strength, which Kabuto brings up, stating Tayuya was just as strong, and Kimimaro, lamenting that the latter’s illness made it impossible to have him as a perfect vessel as originally intended. But with Kimimaro’s death, Orochimaru stated that he no longer cared about his previous protégé and instead commented his desire for Sasuke. As he is stuck in Gen’yūmaru’s body for the next three years, Orochimaru decided to start training Sasuke once he finally arrived, hoping to shape him into the ideal host while being highly impressed and excited by the chakra that Sasuke revealed in response to Kabuto’s threat for not giving Orochimaru his respect.

Part II[]

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission[]

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Two and a half years later, a Yamato-led Team Kakashi, hoping to find Sasuke, learned of an opportunity from a dying Sasori that he was meeting with his spy, Kabuto. Posing as Sasori within his Hiruko puppet, the group’s temporary leader Yamato met with Kabuto while the others watched. However, Orochimaru arrived as Kabuto destroyed the Hiruko, with Orochimaru clarifying to a confused Kabuto that Sasori never came as the rest of Team Kakashi reveal themselves to fight the two ninja. Although he was surprised to see Yamato has survived his experiments involving Hashirama’s DNA, Orochimaru was more interested to see if Naruto had become as strong as «his Sasuke». When Naruto assumed his three-tailed form in response, Orochimaru eluded Naruto, enjoying the battle while provoking Naruto further.

It was only after Naruto submitted to Kurama’s influence and entered his mindless four-tailed form that Orochimaru took the fight seriously due to Naruto now being able to kill him and his host body beginning to reject him after he used his Kusanagi to force Naruto away. While he briefly recuperated, Orochimaru was approached by Sai, who made an offer on behalf of Danzō to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto took him back to their base. Later, after the rest of Team Kakashi arrived at the lair and Sai teamed up with them, Orochimaru confronted Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He fled before he could be drawn into another fight and later kept Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori.

Three-Tails’ Appearance[]

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In the anime, sensing that the time was close approaching to change vessels, Orochimaru sent Kabuto to find Guren, so that she could help with preparations for the process. During this time, Orochimaru was also experimenting on Yūkimaru, a child with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decided it was time to test Sasuke’s abilities and watched in awe as he defeated an army of ninja, without killing any, and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walked off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognised as a genius, Sasuke’s powers far surpassed his own when he was Sasuke’s age.

Noticing that Guren was watching, he offered her another chance to prove herself worthy as Orochimaru’s next vessel, which she was delighted with. Orochimaru teamed her up with Yūkimaru, noting that their two abilities should work well together. Later, it was revealed that Orochimaru also chose Guren because he knew she would eventually grow attached to Yūkimaru, which he appeared to have use for. He ordered Kabuto to be ready to eliminate her should she betray him.

Later, after receiving word that the Konoha shinobi were complicating things, Orochimaru decided he might have to intervene personally. After Yūkimaru’s loss of his abilities and Guren’s supposed death, Kabuto reported back to his master about the failed operation. Orochimaru dismissed it as nothing more than a minor setback, saying that once he had Sasuke’s body, it wouldn’t make any difference.

Itachi Pursuit Mission[]

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On the verge of being rejected by his current body, Orochimaru contemplated about the best way to take Sasuke’s body. In the anime, he and Kabuto recapped all the events that led to Sasuke defecting and how much he had improved since. Before he could formulate his plan, however, Sasuke attacked him, having decided that Orochimaru was unworthy of having an Uchiha’s body, and tried to kill him with Chidori Sharp Spear but only succeeds in piercing his arm. Orochimaru proceeded to reveal his true body, a large white snake made of a multitude of smaller snakes in order to initiate the body-switch process.

Sasuke, however, cuts up Orochimaru’s large snake body, only to realise that the vaporising blood was turning into a paralysis-type poison. Orochimaru then successfully started the body-switch process. Sasuke stopped the process like Itachi had done years earlier but took it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his own body. Sasuke gained access to some of Orochimaru’s abilities but, at the same time, had to dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru. Kabuto later took Orochimaru remains and transfused his blood into himself, giving him access to Orochimaru’s abilities.

Fated Battle Between Brothers[]

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During the battle with Itachi, Sasuke ran low on chakra and Orochimaru was able to emerge from his cursed seal using his signature Eight Branches Technique. He marvelled at the fact that he would finally have the chance to take Sasuke’s body, but was immediately pierced through by the blade held by Itachi’s Susanoo. At first Orochimaru boasted that it would take more than that to kill him, but he soon realised that he had been pierced by the Totsuka Sword that he himself had been searching for. Orochimaru was then sealed away by Itachi’s Susanoo, which had the effect of removing Sasuke’s cursed seal in the process. Three white snakes escaped from Orochimaru’s body as he was sealed, but at least one of these snakes was subsequently killed by the black flames of Amaterasu.^[64]

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax[]

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Following Kabuto’s defeat, and his reunion with Suigetsu Hōzuki and Jūgo, Sasuke learns of the scroll they found at one of Orochimaru’s hideouts and resolves to revive him for answers following what he learned from Itachi. Sasuke succeeds in reviving Orochimaru by pulling his consciousness out of Anko’s cursed seal and transferring it into the physical form Jūgo provided by absorbing some of Kabuto’s modified flesh. Despite Suigetsu’s fears of his next action as he reclaims the rest of his chakra that Kabuto took from him, Orochimaru explains that he is neither interested in Tobi’s war nor strong enough to even attempt to take Sasuke’s body if he wanted to. However, Orochimaru, noting the change in his former student, does agree to take Sasuke to one who has the answers he wants.

Arriving in Konohagakure, Orochimaru and the others sense Naruto‘s chakra from a great distance away. Noting that Sasuke was annoyed by this, Orochimaru pressed on with the group at the young man’s behest. He led them to the Uzumaki Clan’s Mask Storage Temple to pick up a mask from the ruins, and then takes the group to the underground hall in the Naka Shrine. Orochimaru proceeded to don the mask which invoked the Shinigami to possess his body. Orochimaru then proceeded to cut open the Shinigami’s stomach, a wound reflected on his own body, to release the trapped contents inside the Shinigami.

With his arms restored as well, Orochimaru performed the Impure World Reincarnation using four of the six White Zetsu clone spores that Jūgo activated from Sasuke’s body. Ordering Suigetsu and Jūgo hold two of the Zetsu down, the remaining four Zetsu are used as the bodies for the reincarnation of the previous four Hokage. To escape death, Orochimaru transferred his being in the White Zetsu Suigetsu was holding down. Once the Hokage were reincarnated, revealing he researched the means to undo the Dead Demon Consuming Seal, Orochimaru explained that his reasons for bringing them back were for them to aid Sasuke by giving him the information he desired. When Orochimaru accused the Second Hokage of being the one to cause the coup d’etat to surface, he was rebuffed by the Hokage who later explained that he had tried to save the Uchiha from themselves. When Tobirama later declared that he was heading to the battlefield, Orochimaru’s new vessel provided him with access to Hashirama’s cells, allowing him to bind the Hokage. Noting that Hashirama had broke his control over him, Orochimaru is told by the First that he would first free Sasuke from the darkness which surrounded him. During this course of events, Sasuke had a flashback about a conversation he and Orochimaru had as they made their way to Konoha where Sasuke stated that he does not believe Orochimaru’s reasons to destroy Konoha were on a whim.

After hearing Sasuke’s decision to protect the village, Orochimaru announces that he will also help in the war effort against Madara. When Hiruzen asks him after why he changed his mind after all these years, Orochimaru explains that he made an error in judgement from watching Kabuto act in his stead and is now interested to see the result of Sasuke’s «different path» of not letting those who sacrificed themselves for the village go to waste.

Birth of the Ten-Tails’ Jinchūriki[]

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Later, Orochimaru arrived to the place where Tsunade and the other Kage were left severely wounded, alongside Suigetsu and Karin, commenting that Tsunade was in a rather bad shape. He broke up the arguing Karin and Suigetsu, and ordered them to help Katsuyu heal Tsunade. Later, Orochimaru, along with the five Kage, Suigetsu, and Karin, arrive at the battlefield, where the entire Allied Shinobi Forces are struggling against Obito Uchiha, who recently became the jinchūriki of the Ten-Tails. As Obito began the final stages of his and Madara’s grand plan: «Infinite Tsukuyomi», Hashirama had Ino Yamanaka telepathically link everyone via the Mind Body Transmission Technique to inform everyone about the plan as well as try and rally the shinobi to continue fighting. While Hashirama’s words fail to inspire them, Naruto’s memories are conveyed to them via Ino’s telepathy. The Sannin looked on solemnly as Naruto remembered the memorial he erected for Jiraiya.

As Sasuke had Jūgo transfer some of his natural energy into the Uchiha, who immediately channelled it into his complete Susanoo, Orochimaru watched on, greatly impressed at how far Sasuke has come and notes that he still had much room to grow. Later, while asserting that he had no interest in the war, Orochimaru noted that Obito’s plan would interfere with his experiments, he then decided to heed his former sensei’s urgings and participate in the war. With his assistance, Hiruzen was able to destroy the branches of the Ten-Tails into pieces. As Naruto began his great tug-of-war against Obito, Orochimaru alongside Hiruzen watched on as the tree’s flower halted its blooming.

After a momentary lull in the battle after Obito is defeated, the Allied Forces were attacked by Tobi, who created an enormous wooden statue to assault them. Orochimaru teamed up with his former subordinates to effectively subdue their attacker in order to make a break for Sasuke’s location. He was then impressed by Karin’s ability to use the chakra chains and he was reminded of Kushina Uzumaki. As they raced towards where Karin last senses Sasuke, Orochimaru noticed that the young woman was expending herself. Contemplating the situation, he wondered solemnly if this was really the end for Sasuke.

Upon reaching Sasuke, they found Kabuto merging with Sasuke, seemingly to assimilate the Uchiha. When asking his former right-hand man why he came, Kabuto simply explained that his experience under the effects of Izanami made him rediscover his true identity as simply Kabuto Yakushi and acknowledged what he always sought was back at the Konoha orphanage. Wanting to make up for his mistakes, starting with healing Sasuke through his medical ninjutsu and instructions from Tobirama. Eventually, Kabuto succeeded in healing Sasuke, who quickly returned to his feet and was ready to resume the battle. Orochimaru was later caught in Madara’s Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes[]

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Ultimately, he and the rest of the world are freed from the genjutsu by Naruto and Sasuke after they ended the war.

Blank Period[]

After the war’s conclusion, Orochimaru would return to conducting his genetic experiments. Although seemingly passive, Konoha still didn’t trust him and kept a close watch on him, constantly keeping watch outside his hideout. Despite the strict watch, Orochimaru was allowed to move freely as the shinobi that watched over Orochimaru were ordered not to make any form of contact with him until he made a move against Konoha. He was even allowed to move freely in and out of Konoha.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise[]

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Orochimaru meets with Sasuke, who is gathering information on the Dark Thunder Group, for the first time in a few years since the war. Orochimaru tells Sasuke to meet with En Oyashiro, who is a medical ninja but is a notorious kekkei genkai collector, because he may have connections to the group since its leader is a kekkei genkai owner. They take a boat to En’s «Coliseum», where a tournament is being hosted with En’s clients attending to purchase the winning shinobi. Orochimaru reveals to him that Sasuke is a kekkei genkai owner himself, causing Sasuke to be forced into participating in the tournament.

New Era[]

In the following years, between gaining a new appreciation for natural development of people and forming a truce between Konohagakure, Orochimaru ultimately reestablished Otogakure as a legitimate shinobi village.^[65] At some point, Orochimaru created a synthetic human based off his own DNA named Mitsuki, essentially making the young boy Orochimaru’s partial clone/son. Eventually, the boy decided to rebel against his father and forge his own destiny himself, migrating to Konohagakure and enrolling in the Academy, which was secretly Orochimaru’s goal all along.^[66] From this, Orochimaru would have occasional conversations with the Seventh Hokage, both on the development on his son and likewise on Orochimaru’s efforts to clean up past mistakes.

Sarada Uchiha Arc[]

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Fifteen years after the Fourth Shinobi World War, Orochimaru revealed himself to Sasuke and Naruto when the former demanded to meet him, wanting to inquire about Shin Uchiha. Naruto commented on his youthful looks, to which Orochimaru replied to «not stress on the details». After a talk, he explained that Shin was, in fact, an experiment of his in cloning technology and that he would be glad if they took him off his hands. He then went on to lecture about the ethics of cloning. Once he finished his story, Orochimaru happily decided to tell Sasuke all he knew about Shin’s whereabouts in the hope of the true Uchiha killing Shin. Later on, Orochimaru commented the possibility of Sakura Uchiha being already dead, to which Sasuke disagreed.

School Trip Arc[]

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In the anime, when learning of civil unrest in Kirigakure and rumours of the Sixth Mizukage killing off people against the peaceful expansion of his village, Orochimaru sent Suigetsu to investigate, hoping to find useful new allies. Ultimately, Suigetsu reported that the horrific rumours on Chōjūrō were in fact done by Shizuma Hoshigaki, who used the Mizukage as a diversion for his plans at a coup d’état, which were stopped with the aid of Boruto Uzumaki. Orochimaru surmised that Chōjūrō decided to keep the actions quiet in fear of regressing the village to its darker times. While realising that Suigetsu got directly involved in exposing Shizuma’s actions, he decided to keep quite about it, instead marvelling at how much Boruto was like his father.

Graduation Exams Arc[]

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In the anime, as Konoha’s Academy classes began preparing for graduation exams, Orochimaru stealthily came to the village with Yamato, to avoid any commotion from villagers still uneasy about his presence. Meeting with Naruto in his office, they discussed Danzō’s research he was analysing and Mitsuki. Afterwards, he attended Mitsuki’s parent teacher conference, where he and his son met with Shino Aburame. Wanting to become a Konoha shinobi, Orochimaru allowed Mitsuki to stay in the village to become one.

Versus Momoshiki Arc[]

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In the anime, having contacted Mitsuki though their snakes, Orochimaru instructed him to not reveal his true strength, as Mitsuki wouldn’t be able to remain in Konoha. Upon Team Konohamaru capturing a bear within Konoha, Orochimaru overlooked the genin completing their mission from atop a building.

Chōchō Arc[]

In the anime, Mitsuki brought Orochimaru a scroll for him to sign so he could partake in an upcoming mission. Before which, they had a sparring session. While Orochimaru decisively won, he applauded Mitsuki’s improvement. When Mitsuki asked if he should refer to Orochimaru as his father or mother, Orochimaru said it was irrelevant as he has been all kinds of entities over the years and all that matters is one’s core.

Influence[]

Orochimaru apparently kept tabs on Akatsuki, as Kabuto was knowledgeable about Zetsu, and Tobi’s machination to revive the Ten-Tails.^[67] Even when removed from reality by Itachi, being an extensive researcher, the notes he left behind were still coveted as vast stores of knowledge to those fortunate enough to come across them, as seen when one of his hidden rooms is found by Suigetsu and Jūgo, the former of which finds information he believes can impact the war.^[68]

In the anime, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s cells in order to create special snakes which could multiply at a rapid rate and merge into either a clone of another living being using a genetic sample or a larger serpent for combat. The clone snakes are first used to create a clone of Hidan, and then later a clone of Naruto with Kurama’s chakra.

In his absence, Kabuto used Orochimaru’s remains from his battle with Sasuke to integrate his master’s DNA into himself in order to surpass him.^[69] Having also assimilated the DNA of Sakon and Ukon to procure their abilities, Kabuto uses the twins’ Attack of the Twin Demons to produce a construct of Orochimaru that transforms into his White Snake form and lunges at an opponent. However, Orochimaru lived on, in a sense, through cursed seals and Kabuto after the latter integrated Orochimaru’s DNA into himself.^[70] Knowing the nature of the seal to contain parts of Orochimaru’s consciousness, Sasuke revived Orochimaru by transferring a portion of Orochimaru’s DNA which was retrieved from Kabuto’s modified body into Anko’s Cursed Seal of Heaven.^[71]

In Other Media[]

Movies[]

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds[]

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Orochimaru made a small appearance along with Kabuto. Feeling that his time was running out before he had to transfer his soul again, but fearing that the repeated use of his techniques was starting to be too taxing, he ordered Sasuke to retrieve a man named Shinnō, who had developed his own immortality technique. In the end, Sasuke failed to get the man, but did retrieve the scroll containing the technique’s information. Orochimaru noticed that Sasuke’s demeanour seemed shaken from the mission.

Video Games[]

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Live Action[]

Live Spectacle Naruto[]

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Hiro Yuumi plays as Orochimaru in this stage play adaption.

Creation and Conception[]

As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists’ values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognise that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains «flamboyant» was one of his «guiding principles», and attributed this to his desire to have the villains possess a «powerful aura».

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru’s face appear «pasty and sickly,» which serves to emphasise the «scary looks» that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. As these occurrences are his «trademark», Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru’s appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru’s face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru’s hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a «creepy atmosphere».

Trivia[]

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• The name «Orochi» literally means «great snake» (大蛇) while «maru» (丸) is a common suffix in male names.
  • It is possible that Orochimaru has a last name, since both of his parent’s names are written with two words. However, reading them is impossible due to the kanji’s bad quality.
• Orochimaru borrows heavily from Japanese myth and literature:
  • Literature — Orochimaru’s name, as well as those of Jiraiya and Tsunade, come from the «The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya» (児雷也豪傑物語, Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari). The Orochimaru in that story was originally a student of Jiraiya’s called Yashagorō, until he was corrupted by snake magic and took on the name Orochimaru.
  • Myth — Yamata-no-Orochi (八岐大蛇, Eight-forked Giant Snake), a giant eight-tailed, eight-headed snake killed with the Totsuka Sword by the god Susanoo-no-Mikoto, who found the Kusanagi Sword in one of its tails. This mirrors almost exactly how Itachi Uchiha using Totsuka Sword wielding Susanoo sealed Orochimaru, while in his Yamata form, and wielding the Kusanagi Sword kept inside of him.
• In the English VIZ translation of chapter 49, Orochimaru introduces himself to Sasuke as «Orochimaru, the Giant Snake». This was not present in the original version.
• The symbolism of Orochimaru’s snake affiliation can be also tied to how many cultures, Eastern and Western, perceived snakes as symbols of immortality and rebirth via the shedding of their skin.
• Orochimaru shares his blood type with his former teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade.
• After the preliminaries conclude, he is never shown again wearing an Otogakure forehead protector.
• Studio Pierrot’s Settei sheets of Orochimaru show that he was 153 cm when he was part of Hiruzen’s genin team, and as an adult he is always 179.5 cm even after taking bodies, even though the databook puts him as 179.4 cm.
• According to the databook(s):
  • Orochimaru’s hobby is creating techniques.
  • Orochimaru wishes to fight those with techniques that can be used in the future.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite food are eggs, while his least favourites are anything cold.
  • During his time as a Konoha-nin, Orochimaru has completed 1,468 official missions in total: 16 D-rank, 332 C-rank, 521 B-rank, 491 A-rank, 108 S-rank.
  • Orochimaru’s favourite words are «destroy» (破壊, hakai) and «chaos» (混沌, konton).
• In the fourth databook, kekkei genkai is not listed among Orochimaru’s special characteristics, despite his body granting him Wood Release.
• In Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds, Orochimaru claimed that Shinnō had taught him many Reincarnation Ninjutsu.
• Throughout the anime adaption of Konoha Hiden: The Perfect Day for a Wedding, Orochimaru makes comedic cameos throughout Konoha while being pursued by Yamato

Quotes[]

• (To Kabuto) «You just don’t have enough information to explain yourself yet. Your glasses, your name, being someone’s child is not something that can show who really you are. But that is fine. If you’re not happy on what you have now… you can just find new things to find up. …You see, I also want to find who I really am. That’s why I’m collecting a bit of everything.«^[72]
• (To Hiruzen) «I want to obtain all the techniques and gain a true understanding of everything in this world. The first one to mix blue and yellow called the new colour «green». I want to do something similar to that. If blue is the chakra, then yellow is the seal, and green is the technique… Just as there is no end to the variety of colours, there are so many thousands… tens of thousands of techniques in the world as well. But in order to obtain every possible technique and truth, it would require an eternity. Only one who understands everything after spending such time on this can be fittingly called the Ultimate Being.«^[73]
• (To Hiruzen) «What nonsense! In the grand scheme of time, you’re nothing more than a trivial footnote in the brief history of a cluster of huts called «Konoha»! In time, the Hokage Stone Faces will crumble and be worn down to nothing…«^[74]
• (To a young Kimimaro) «Maybe, just maybe, there is no purpose in life. But if you linger a while longer in this world, you might discover something of value in it, like how you discovered that flower. Or, how I discovered you one fateful night.«^[75]
• (To Kabuto, talking about Tsunade) «The best medicines always taste bitter.«^[76]
• (About Naruto) «This child… intrigues me to no end!«^[77]
• (About Sasuke) «When I watch this boy, I look back to the time I was called a genius, and think how ridiculous it was.«^[78]
• (About Yūkimaru) «When there is a true desire in the heart and that desire is strong… that is when he finds real strength that even he did not know he had.«^[79]
• (To Sasuke) «I refuse… to let this happen! I am Orochimaru! I am immortal! I will not die here! Destined to discover the true meaning behind everything! Destined to take control of everything in this world!!«^[80]
• (To Suigetsu about Sasuke) «It’s just like the time when I planned on crushing the Konohagakure… He has chosen a divergent path from the village… But even so, it’ll always have some sentimental value. He’s soaking that all in and coming to terms with… The consequences of his future actions and reaffirming his resolve.«^[81]
• (To Tsunade, about Jiraiya) «People change. It’s just a matter of whether they die before it happens. Although he died just the way he was.«^[82]
• (To Hiruzen) «Fine, let’s bring back the memories… of when I was your student.«^[83]

References[]

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«Orochimaro» redirects here. For the Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari character, see Orochimaru.

Orochimaru
Naruto character
Orochimaru by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Naruto manga chapter 45
Voiced by	Japanese Kujira[1] Yuriko Yamaguchi (as Grass ninja)[1] Mayumi Yamaguchi (as a child)[2] Sachiko Kojima (as his female body)[3] English Steven Jay Blum[4] Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (as Grass ninja)[4] Michelle Ruff (as his female body)[5]
Ninja rank	Missing-nin[6]

Orochimaru (大蛇丸^?) is a fictional character from the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto and developed into a media franchise, which consists of a series of manga, anime, soundtracks, OVAs, movies, video games, and other collectibles. He was created as one of the series’ main antagonists, and intended to represent the opposite of the protagonists’ morals and values.^[7]

In the anime and manga, Orochimaru is a former ninja of the village of Konohagakure, and leads his own ninja village, Otogakure, in hopes of destroying his former home. During his time in Konohagakure, Orochimaru distinguished himself as one of the village’s most powerful ninja; however, his desire for power led him to obtain a means for immortality by transferring between different host bodies. This desire for a host is one of his driving motivations throughout the series, resulting in his desire to acquire Sasuke Uchiha due to his powerful genetic heritage. Orochimaru has appeared in media outside the Naruto anime and manga, including several video games.

Several anime and manga publications have praised and criticized Orochimaru’s character. As one of the series’ premier villains, he has been praised in this regard; IGN compared his character to Darth Vader of Star Wars fame.^[8] His lack of redeeming qualities and open malevolence was also praised by reviewers, with Mania.com calling him the «first real villain» of the series.^[9] Among the Naruto reader base, Orochimaru has been popular, ranking within the top twenty characters in several polls.^[10] Numerous pieces of merchandise in Orochimaru’s likeness have also been released, including action figures and plush dolls.^[11][12]

Creation and conception

As one of the villains in the story, Kishimoto created Orochimaru as an antithesis to the protagonists’ values. His snake-like appearance and related features were intended to make it easier for the reader to recognize that he is a villain. In an interview, Kishimoto asserted that making the villains «flamboyant» was one of his «guiding principles,» and attributed this to his desire to have the villains have a «powerful aura.»^[7] When asked if Orochimaru was still good, Kishimoto answered that Orochimaru is «truly good» and that he is one of the several «hopeless evil characters» that appear in the series.^[13]

Following this theme of distinguishing villains, Kishimoto attempted to make Orochimaru’s face appear «pasty and sickly,» which serves to emphasize the «scary looks» that Kishimoto frequently has Orochimaru performing in the manga. Orochimaru’s nature type is fire, earth, and wind. As these occurrences are his «trademark,» Kishimoto modifies Orochimaru’s appearance and the scene to focus on Orochimaru’s face; for instance, highlights that are normally added to Orochimaru’s hair are removed and the background is blanked out to create a «creepy atmosphere.»^[14]

Appearances

In Naruto

Orochimaru acts as the primary antagonist for the first part of the series. After his parents died when he was young, Orochimaru’s only source of affection was received from his teacher, the Third Hokage, and his two teammates.^[15] As they grew older Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Tsunade collectively became known as the «Legendary Three Ninja» (伝説の三忍 Densetsu no Sannin^?) due to their exemplary ninja abilities.^[16] Much of Orochimaru’s arsenal of abilities deals with snakes. By summoning them to his side during battle, Orochimaru can battle multiple opponents at once and simultaneously keep himself out of harm’s way.^[17] Through his experimentations he has also been able to add some snake-like characteristics to his own body.^[18][19]

Orochimaru, however, craved more power than could be obtained from training with his master, and began abducting villagers of Konohagakure for experimentation.^[20] Unwilling to bring himself to harm Orochimaru, the Third allowed him to escape and flee the village.^[21] In time Orochimaru joined the criminal organization Akatsuki, where he tried to get close to and steal the body of Itachi Uchiha through a forbidden jutsu so as to gain the Sharingan.^[22] When Itachi was easily able to repel his efforts, Orochimaru was forced to flee the organization.^[23] Orochimaru then founded his own ninja village, Otogakure, populated with ninja loyal to him.^[24] Once accomplishing his goal, Orochimaru hopes to be worthy of the title of «ultimate being». Because a human’s lifespan does not allow enough time to learn every jutsu, Orochimaru also experiments on others so as to achieve immortality. By living throughout the ages, Orochimaru need never worry about death and thus all the knowledge he gains will never be lost.^[20]

During the Chunin Exams, Orochimaru plans the invasion and eventual destruction of Konoha so that he can kill the Third Hokage and gain the body of Itachi’s brother, Sasuke Uchiha.^[20] When the Third is able to fight back during their battle and take away Orochimaru’s ability to perform jutsu, he is forced to put his plans for Sasuke on hold, calling off Konoha’s invasion and pulling his forces back.^[25] Wanting to regain the ability to use jutsu, Orochimaru seeks out a way to cure himself. When all his efforts prove unsuccessful, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to fetch Sasuke, hoping that a body-transfer will undo the Third’s seal.^[26] Though he waits as long as he can, Sasuke takes too long to arrive and Orochimaru is forced to switch to the body of one of his prisoners instead.^[27] Once Sasuke arrives, Orochimaru begins molding him into the ideal body, coveting the day that he will be able to take the body for himself.^[28]

Two-and-a-half years later, in the second part of the series, Orochimaru prepares to take Sasuke’s body. Orochimaru, being in a severely weakened state due to his need of a new host body, has no other choice but to proceed with the body-switch sooner than expected. Sasuke, unwilling to give himself up to a weakened Orochimaru, fights the attempted body-switch. Using the Sharingan to void Orochimaru’s technique, Sasuke retains control of his body while trapping Orochimaru’s soul within him,^[29] giving him access to many of Orochimaru’s abilities in the process.^[30] In the aftermath of Orochimaru’s defeat one of his subordinates, Kabuto Yakushi, absorbs his remains, which have since begun to slowly take over Kabuto’s body.^[31] During Sasuke’s later fight with Itachi, Sasuke is left too weak to continue suppressing Orochimaru’s spirit, allowing Orochimaru to escape and try to take his body again. Before he can do so, Itachi, using the legendary sword of Totsuka, traps him in an inescapable dream-like realm, robbing Orochimaru of his chance to gain the Sharingan and releasing Sasuke from his influence.^[32]

Appearances in other media

Orochimaru so far has only appeared in the fifth Naruto film, Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds.^[33] He is not present in the other four films in the series, nor any of the original video animations; however, is a playable character in nearly all Naruto video games, including the Clash of Ninja series and the Ultimate Ninja series.^[34][35][36] In some games, he utilizes variations of his techniques not seen in the anime or manga, and in the second installment of the Ultimate Ninja series, his state after his arms were sealed by the Third Hokage is available as a separate character.^[37] Naruto Shippūden: Gekitou Ninja Taisen EX 2 marks the first appearance of Orochimaru in a video game set in Part II, with the second one being Naruto Shippūden: Narutimate Accel.^[38]

Reception

Orochimaru has been featured consistently in the Weekly Shonen Jump popularity polls, commonly placing in the top twenty characters.^[10] The last such poll was in 2006, in which Orochimaru was in 24th place.^[39] Merchandise based on Orochimaru has also been released, including action figures,^[11][40] plush dolls,^[12] and key chains.^[41] AnimeCentral listed him as tenth best villain in anime owing to his objectives and methods, most notably how he scares Sasuke Uchiha the first time seeing him despite Sasuke’s strength.^[42]

Several publications for manga, anime, video games, and other related media have provided praise and criticism on Orochimaru’s character. IGN compared Orochimaru’s search for power and subsequent fall into villainy to that of Darth Vader, and labeled Orochimaru as «something more than just pure evil.»^[8] Mania Entertainment considered Orochimaru the «first real villain» of the series, noting that he had no redeeming qualities, as versus Zabuza Momochi, the villain of the previous arc.^[9] DVDTalk celebrated the introduction of Orochimaru into the series, as well as the potential plot development from the curse seal Orochimaru placed on Sasuke, noting it was one of the best parts of the series.^[43] Instead, Anime News Network labeled Orochimaru to be a character that can not be killed.^[44] However, they considered Kujira, Orochimaru’s Japanese voice actor, as one of the best ones from the series.^[45] Despite the character’s small appearances in Part II, most of them were well-received. The way Orochimaru angers Naruto Uzumaki in their battle as well as how he manages events ever since his reintroduction have been deemed as «near perfectly» by Mania’s Chris Beveridge.^[46] Orochimaru’s fight against Sasuke in later parts from the series was praised by Mangalife’s Park Cooper due to how it changes «the nature of things» in a short time.^[47]

References