"Sensei, I heard you're officially an S-rank missing-nin now."
Amamiya Kenichi grinned as he spoke.
Three days after they'd defected, rumors had already swept across the shinobi world—
Konoha's Legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, has betrayed the village.
Konoha, forced into a corner, could only acknowledge it publicly and issue a bounty notice.
Orochimaru: S-rank missing-nin.
Amamiya Kenichi: A-rank missing-nin.
Kenichi suspected that last part had a lot to do with the Root jōnin he'd put in the hospital.
"Mm." Orochimaru barely reacted.
He wasn't interested in wanted posters.
He was focused on his current experiment.
Kenichi glanced over the table.
It was the curse mark again—the same pattern his teacher had shown him before.
He'd put on a convincing show of "Waaah, what's that?!" the first time.
But he knew exactly what it was.
Heaven Cursed Seal…
The thing Orochimaru had extracted from Jūgo.
A crude, weaponized form of natural energy.
Seeing it now made him think of someone else.
…Anko.
Mitarashi Anko should already have that same mark carved into her neck.
Sensei had probably sealed away her memories about him too.
Cruel, in its way.
Kind, in another.
At least she got to stay in Konoha.
"Kenichi," Orochimaru suddenly asked, "why do you think the Heaven Curse Mark kills most of its hosts?"
He set the latest specimen aside and looked over.
Kenichi didn't hesitate.
"Because not everyone can handle natural energy, Sensei."
Under Orochimaru's guidance, he'd come to understand the curse mark better.
In essence, the Heaven Cursed Seal was a brute-force shortcut to 'sage-like' power.
It flooded the user with a mix of Jūgo's mutated nature chakra and a cursed formula, forcefully boosting their abilities.
The problem was… most bodies simply couldn't adapt.
It was more like a volatile chemical cocktail than a graceful fusion.
Great power.
Terrifying side effects.
High mortality.
Just like Sage Mode—but with none of the finesse.
"You did say you wanted to learn Sage Mode yourself, didn't you?" Orochimaru asked, eyes narrowing slightly with interest.
He'd heard that back when they were still in Konoha.
For a time, he'd even considered giving his disciple the Heaven Curse Mark as a "gift."
But Kenichi was handy, useful, and surprisingly aligned with his own interests.
Eventually, he'd dropped the idea.
"Yes, Sensei. I still do," Kenichi replied simply.
Orochimaru fell silent for a moment, thinking.
If he himself had successfully mastered Sage Mode, he'd have gladly used Kenichi as a test subject for advanced training.
The problem was—he hadn't.
Back when he'd gone to Ryūchi Cave, he'd tried to learn it.
He'd failed.
But he was still Orochimaru.
He had a good memory.
Even without mastering Sage Mode, he remembered the method.
"Since you're serious about it," he began slowly, "I'll explain it to you properly."
His tone shifted—calmer, heavier, the same voice he used when teaching true, dangerous knowledge.
Kenichi straightened unconsciously and listened.
To cultivate Sage Mode, the first step was always the same:
Perceive natural energy.
Without that, it was impossible to even begin.
Each of the Three Great Sage Lands had their own assistance methods:
At Mount Myōboku, they painted your body with toad oil, forcing natural energy to gather so even idiots could feel it.
At Shikkotsu Forest and Ryūchi Cave, they had their own techniques and rituals.
"You must first sense the 'other' energy in the air. Not physical, not mental," Orochimaru explained. "The third—the untouched 'nature' around you."
Kenichi listened…
Then his expression slowly froze.
Because the moment he really tried to sense it—
He realized the world around him was drenched in natural energy.
It wasn't vague, faint, or elusive.
It was everywhere.
Thick.
Heavy.
Pressing against his skin, his lungs, his veins—
And as soon as he reached for it, even slightly, the natural energy reacted like an overenthusiastic fangirl in a bad doujin, practically trying to hurl itself into his body.
"...Oh," he thought. "So that's how it is."
Is this because of the First Hokage's Sage Body?
Hashirama Senju had been a monster among monsters when it came to Sage Mode.
While others had to sit, focus, and carefully gather nature energy, he could practically switch it on at will.
Instant Sage Mode.
Of all the sage-type users, he'd been at the top of the food chain.
Kenichi had inherited only part of that legacy—the physique, not the knowledge.
So until now, he'd been stuck outside the door without a key.
But with Orochimaru's explanation…
The lock turned.
The door opened.
And Kenichi suddenly found that not only could he perceive natural energy—
it was dangerously easy to draw in.
Too easy.
He quickly shut his senses off, severing that connection before the flood really hit.
"Not today," he thought. "I'd like to keep my face human for now, thanks."
If he suddenly displayed perfect affinity with natural energy…
Would Orochimaru really just clap and praise him?
Or would he start wondering how many times he could dissect and rebuild his "precious" disciple?
Better not test that.
"Once you can sense it," Orochimaru continued, not noticing the brief shift in Kenichi's eyes, "you must learn to balance it. Natural energy, physical energy, mental energy—one-third each. Too much nature, and you turn to stone. Too little, and you fail to enter Sage Mode at all."
His explanation was detailed.
Clear.
Valuable.
The kind of thing you couldn't buy in any village, no matter how much money you threw around.
Kenichi absorbed every word.
Even without actively drawing it in, he could feel it now:
That strange closeness between his body and the world itself.
That was Hashirama's "gift."
A Sage Body that naturally resonated with nature.
And now, finally, he knew how to use it.
"Sensei," Kenichi said when the lecture ended, eyes shining with just the right amount of awe and excitement, "this is incredible. Really. Could I… request some research funds to study it properly?"
Orochimaru gave him a long, amused look.
"You're an A-rank missing-nin now, Kenichi," he said at last, lips curling. "It's time you learned how to make money on your own."
His hand patted Kenichi's shoulder lightly.
A gesture that said: I believe in your potential.
Also: Don't think you're spending my budget on your weird hobbies.
Kenichi's eyelid twitched.
He'd expected it, but still.
"Right… of course, Sensei," he sighed internally.
No more Konoha stipends.
No more Root funding.
No more "just bill it to the lab."
Every vial, every seal, every test tube—from now on, it all came out of his own pocket.
And he still had a whole personal dream lab to build.
"Fine, then," he thought, expression smoothing out into something calm and obedient on the surface.
"Guess it's time to join the number one mercenary group in the ninja world."
Akatsuki.
A walking collection of unique bloodlines, dojutsu, and Jinchūriki.
Endless funding from a money-obsessed accountant named Kakuzu.
Research materials, rare samples, live combat data, world-class chaos—
And a perfect place for a mad scientist in training.
Kenichi smiled to himself.
"Alright then," he said aloud. "I'll go take some missions first."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, amused.
"Go," he said. "Earn your keep."
And somewhere in the back of his mind, Kenichi added one more goal to his ever-growing list:
✔ Steal Kakashi's Mangekyō
✔ Get Nine-Tails chakra sample
✔ Obtain Naruto's blood
✔ Help Orochimaru defect
✔ Unlock Sage Mode
Next:
☐ Join Akatsuki.
☐ Build the ultimate lab.
☐ See just how far a Sage-bodied, science-obsessed missing-nin can push this world.