二章  chapter two

part 1
“Welcome back. You seem busy as usual.” Orochimaru spoke, his voice just as hoarse as it was in the
past, sipping tea from his cup without a sound.
“huh............?” Naruto rubbed his eyes, wondering if he was seeing a hallucination.
However, this sight before him was unquestionably reality.
Orochimaru sat drinking tea.
In the Uzumaki family living room.
“Naruto-kun, welcome back” Hinata said to Naruto with a smile, standing in the dining room.
“Orochimaru-san brought strawberry zenzai, they’re so delicious. Did you want one?”
“Hi- Hinata... Orochimaru is in our living room...”
“Yes, he just dropped by.” Hinata was calm in contrast to Naruto’s panic.
“I was surprised, too, but he saved me from playing too much with Himawari. Naruto-kun, I have lot of
errands to run.” ......errands? Orochimaru is here for me?
We have that kind of a relationship? Despite Naruto’s confusion, Hinata set some tea and strawberry
zenzai on the table as she said, “I’m going to go shopping for dinner, bye!” She gently left the
living room.
“...... o- ok. Be careful......”he muttered. After noticing he was standing, Naruto pulled out the
dining chair.
Himawari clutching colored pencils rushed up to him with, “oro-chan, draw more!”, as she clung to his
feet.
“In a little bit, daddy has to talk with him.”
“...... what did you need to talk with me about?” Naruto asked bewildered, sitting up straight.
He had recently loosened up on his vigilance, but Orochimaru was a man who could calmly pull off some
wicked act for no reason.
He didn’t just come here for the purpose of some leisurely tea party in his living room.
“Could you not be so vigilant?
I came to you because I thought I could lend you something beneficial. Orochimaru spoke as he put his
hand into the cuff of his kimono. Rustling around, he pulled out large goggles from within his fabric.
“What is it?”
“My latest invention. These goggles can house other people’s jutsu.” Other people’s jutsu―― they
can house jutsu?
Naruto fluttered his eyelids.
In the last couple of years, the technique of separating the ninjutsu from the caster has rapidly
developed.
The pioneer in this field was Katasuke, the inventor of the scientific ninja tool.
However, the use of kekkei genkai jutsu was said to have been very difficult to reproduce, almost
impossible to wield with ordinary shinobi unless it was used in the form of the scientific ninja tool.
―― Upon receiving the goggles, Naruto stared at them intently.
“Like the scientific ninja tool, can it be used by ordinary people who don’t use chakra?”
“Yes. The functions of these goggles have nothing to do with the wearer’s chakra. I just had your wife
help me to set up its byakugan abilities.
“Byakugan?”
Naruto stared in surprise, Orochimaru’s eyes squinting like an evil villian.
“While the goggles’ ability is set on, your wife won’t be able to use her byakugan. ――well, try
them on.” Whatever he thought of them, it was suspicious.
Though they were more intriguing than suspicious. Naruto tried to put on the goggles, still being wary
of Orochimaru. He could only see the living room, though slightly distorted through the glass, the view
remains unchanged.
“Nothing happened.”
“There’s a small lever on the frame. Pull it.”
Pulling on the small level to the side of the lens, instantly his visibility was thrown into a
kaleidoscope-like sight.
“Woah!” Not a kaleidoscope.
He was back to the familiar living room scene,
but he could see everything.
The sink across from him on the counter, the plates and mugs in the cupboard, a mosquito behind the
cushion placed on the sofa, Himawari’s every movement as her hand sits on the carpet and the other hand
draws in her sketchbook, and each of the pages one-by-one in the sketchbook.
His eyes no longer able to bear the sight, Naruto pushed the goggles up onto his forehead.
“What was that?! I had awesome eye sight but I could see everything behind me!”
“Your eyes can’t keep up with your brain still processing. You need to practice with them.”
“need to practice...” Orochimaru’s intentions dawned onto Naruto.
“I knew that was your true intention. You’re going to experiment with me as your guinea pig.”
“I can’t just be nice and lend them to you?” Orochimaru said without fooling anyone.
Naruto took off the goggles again and looked deeply at them.
“...... but why do you need me? If you needed a guinea pig then why not Suigetsu or Karin? Bothering to
come to my house...”
“because” Orochimaru stuck out his neck.
His neck stretching out like a serpent, putting his mouth close to Naruto’s ear.
“―― you can’t use your chakra right now, can you?”
Orochimaru’s cold breath could be felt against the nape of Naruto’s neck, he frowned while trying to
conceal the chill he felt down his spine.
“How do you know that?”
“A snake has good ears,” his long, cracked, tongue licks the back of Naruto’s ear.
If he were to show his hatred or shrug his shoulders, it’d only give Orochimaru more satisfaction.
Orochimaru happily narrowed his eyes as he looked at Naruto’s expressionless face with folded arms.
“Cooperating with me shouldn’t be too bad, even for you.”
“And if I refuse?”
“You can’t refuse.” Exactly.
For Naruto, who couldn’t use his chakra, the goggles seemed attractive. He figured he’d lend a hand in
the name of research.
Besides ―― I’ve always wondered what it looked like when Hinata uses her byakugan.
Himawari, with no understanding of the situation came over, innocently putting herself between them.
“That’s so cool! Oro-chan, you can stretch your head!? You looked like a giraffe!!”
“No, a snake, a snake. Not a giraffe.” Orochimaru’s head shrunk back as he took a seat.
He came back to the entrance without a word.
Himawari follows him with small strides as if the two were attached.
“Oro-chan, please come again! Next time you can draw a picture of my brother for me.”
“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll draw you anything.”
Seems I knew nothing about the guy, as usual.
Naruto sent off Orochimaru, feeling put off. His purple and black hair like bruises swayed as he left
through the doorway.
The mysterious goggles that housed the byakugan’s power remained in his hands.
If one could master kekkei genkai and other jutsu with them, they were surely a great weapon.
It would be nice if there were a weapon to compensate for his handicap of being unable to use chakra――