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Orochimaru
Naruto character
Orochimaru by Masashi Kishimoto
First appearance	Manga Chapter 45 Naruto Episode 27
Voiced by	Kujira Yuriko Yamaguchi (as Grass ninja) Mayumi Yamaguchi (as a child) Sachiko Kojima (as his female body) (Japanese) Steven Jay Blum Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (as Grass ninja) Michelle Ruff (as his female body) (English)
Profile
Age	50-51 in Part I 53 in Part II
Date of birth	October 27
Information
Current rank	Missing-nin
Current affiliation	Otogakure
Previous affiliation	Konohagakure, Akatsuki
Previous teams	Team Sarutobi (Third Hokage, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade) Team Orochimaru (Orochimaru, Anko Mitarashi) Akatsuki two man team (Sasori, Orochimaru)

Orochimaru (大蛇丸, Orochimaru^?) is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Naruto created by Masashi Kishimoto and a major antagonist of the series.

Orochimaru's given name and distinguishing features are derived from the character of the same name from Jiraiya Goketsu Monogatari (児雷也豪傑物語, "The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya"). The Orochimaru in this story was originally Jiraiya's student until he was corrupted by snake magic.

Orochimaru is male, but speaks with a very formal female tone in Japanese to make him seem more sinister. In the English language dub, he is instead given a masculine, yet quiet and raspy voice.

Contents 1 Background 2 Personality 3 Abilities 4 Plot overview 4.1 Defeat 5 Other media 6 Sources 7 References

As a child, Orochimaru and his former teammates, Jiraiya and Tsunade, were students of the Third Hokage. Because of the three's exemplary skills, they were given the title "Legendary Three Ninja" (伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin^?) by Hanzo, with whom they battled and managed to survive against. Orochimaru's parents died when he was young, leaving him to fend for himself for much of his life. After taking him on as a student, the Third recognized Orochimaru's natural talent as well as malice and a lust for power within him. The Third chose to ignore these traits, hoping that he could quell this part of Orochimaru's personality. Despite the Third's efforts Orochimaru always maintained his dark ambitions and began to act upon them once leaving the Third's side.

Over the years Orochimaru began to crave immortality, wishing to use the extended life to learn every jutsu in existence. To accomplish both goals Orochimaru began abducting villagers and experimenting on them in secret, trying to find ways to extend his life as well as replicate jutsu and abilities he could never learn by himself. While he carried out these experiments, he also tried to acquire the position of Hokage in the hopes that such a position would allow him easier access to secret jutsu. Although the Third had hoped to pass the title onto his favorite student, Orochimaru's desire for power and inability to accept the beliefs required of a Kage forced him to pass the title to one of Jiraiya's students, Minato Namikaze. Robbed of his only reason to keep face in Konoha, Orochimaru began to be less discreet with his abductions and experimentations, allowing the Third to eventually discover what Orochimaru was doing. Upon being found out Orochimaru gave his former master the chance to kill him, but the Third couldn't bring himself to do it, thus allowing Orochimaru to escape. As he fled the village, Jiraiya, having come to think of Orochimaru as a dear friend, tried to stop him and persuade him to return to Konoha; though Orochimaru refused and turned his back on Konoha forever, acquiring a hate for his former home and a strong desire to bring about its destruction.

After leaving Konoha, Orochimaru joined Akatsuki, where he was teamed with Sasori. While what he did while a member of the organization is unknown, it is known that he tried to take control of Itachi Uchiha's body so as to gain the Sharingan. Itachi was stronger and able to use his Sharingan to stop the attempt and managed to sever his right hand. As a result of this failed encounter Orochimaru left the organization with his ring and a book containing all of the organization's secrets, and Akatsuki has hunted him ever since. At some point in time Sasori inserted Kabuto Yakushi into Orochimaru's ranks as a spy, though Orochimaru soon became aware of this and persuaded Kabuto to side with him instead. Orochimaru would go on to take over the Land of Rice Fields where he created his own ninja village, Otogakure, filled with ninja loyal to him. Orochimaru also built a number of secret bases throughout the Naruto world that he switches between on a weekly basis.

Orochimaru relishes conflict and unrest, becoming bored when neither is in motion. Ibiki Morino, when first seeing Orochimaru as a child, claims to have been terrified at the sight of Orochimaru, believing him to be a monster in human skin. Despite this, Orochimaru has a knack for winning otherwise desperate people to his cause, filling the void in their life with loyalty to him. He brands some of his most powerful subordinates with a cursed seal that corrodes their body and free will in exchange for power. While many of Orochimaru's subordinates seem to admire and respect him, the reverse does not seem to be true. Orochimaru generally treats his subordinates as pawns, caring only for their ability to further his interests. The only ones he shows any sort of care for are those he intends to use as a host, and this too is only because they can prolong his existence.

Being one of the Legendary Three Ninjas as well as a former member of Akatsuki, and hailed by his sensei Sarutobi as a natural genius , Orochimaru is a powerful ninja. The scope of his power is quite great, as seen through the Third Hokage's fears prior to the invasion of Konoha that nobody in the village would be able to defeat him in battle at that time. Likewise, Orochimaru is able to fight on an equal footing with a four-tailed demon fox form Naruto Uzumaki in Part II, and despite the danger Naruto imposes he finds the battle highly entertaining. While he has only displayed a limited amount of techniques, it stands to reason that in his efforts to learn all existing jutsu his array of abilities has become vast.

In his quest to gain immortality Orochimaru has made a number of modifications to his body, resulting in his natural form taking on the appearance of a giant white snake composed of many smaller snakes. (The white snake is a symbol of immortality. Orochimaru finds the shed skin of one of them at his parent's graves.) This form has the advantages of allowing him to stretch any part of his body to great lengths, regenerate any wound inflicted upon him, and otherwise use the snakes that he is composed of for attack. The former abilities can be used even when he is in his human form. The primary use of the form is with his Living Corpse Reincarnation (不屍転生, Fushi Tensei^?, English "Immortality Jutsu"), which allows him to transfer his soul to another's body and extend his life indefinitely. To use this jutsu Orochimaru leaves his former body, revealing his true form. Once doing so he swallows the new body and transports its current inhabitant to a dimension within himself where he absorbs them, thus allowing him to use their body.^[1] Orochimaru can only perform this technique once every three years, which is also around the time that his new body begins to reject him and forces him to find a new host. Although he might leave their bodies behind, the souls of those whose bodies he has taken always remain within Orochimaru's subconscious, causing some of their traits to affect the choices he makes. While within another's body Orochimaru uses Vanishing Facial Copy Technique (消写顔の術, Shūshagan no Jutsu^?) to assume his original appearance. This ability also allows him to take the identities of others by forcefully peeling off their face for his own use, killing them in the process.

As a byproduct of his research to gain immortality, Orochimaru developed the Summoning: Impure World Resurrection (口寄せ・穢土転生, Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei^?, English "Summoning Jutsu: Reanimation"), which allows him to revive the dead. To perform the technique Orochimaru must sacrifice a living human so that the soul of the deceased person can be tied to the living world. The sacrificed body is then surrounded with dirt and dust that compacts into the shape of the summoned soul's original body. Although the revived retain their original memories and personalities, thus leaving them out of the control of Orochimaru, Orochimaru can suppress their free-wills with his own special seal to force them to do his bidding. The bodies of the resurrected are also able to regenerate any wound, meaning the only way to defeat them is to remove the soul within them.

Orochimaru has an apparent interest in snakes that, in addition to impacting the appearance and composition of his true form, has caused him to learn a number of snake-related abilities. One such ability is being able to summon giant snakes to fight alongside him in battle, made possible by the summoning contract tattooed to his arms. With Hidden Shadow Snake Hand (潜影蛇手, Sen'eijashu^?, Viz "Striking Snake Technique", English TV "Striking Shadow Snakes") and the larger-scale Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hand (潜影多蛇手, Sen'eitajashu^?), Orochimaru can call forth snakes from his sleeves and mouth to attack opponents in large numbers with poisonous bites. Another usage of snakes comes in the form of his Kusanagi Sword: Long Sword of the Heavens (草薙の剣・空の太刀, Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Kū no Tachi^?, English TV "The Grass Long Sword"), the Kusanagi of Japanese legend. The sword, kept within a mouth of a snake within his own mouth, is able to extend to great lengths and can be controlled remotely by Orochimaru. Although he is capable of using the sword normally with great proficiency, it is not uncommon for him to wield it without ever removing it from his mouth. In addition, Orochimaru has shown the ability to regurgitate copies of himself from his mouth. His Death Foreseeing Technique (死の観覧の術, Shi no kumi no Jutsu^?), while not directly connected to snakes, allows him to show opponents visions of their own gruesome deaths, making them immobile with fright, causing them great mental stress, and allowing him to kill them at his own pace.

Orochimaru approaches Sunagakure with a proposition for joining forces in invading Konoha. Having no need for a partner in the plan he kills the village's leader, the Fourth Kazekage, and impersonates him, giving the illusion of approval of the invasion. Prior to the invasion's start Orochimaru infiltrates Konoha to test the abilities of Sasuke Uchiha, Itachi's younger brother and his last hope of gaining the Sharingan. After a brief encounter between the two Orochimaru brands Sasuke with his Cursed Seal of Heaven, hoping that its power will someday draw Sasuke to him. A month later the invasion begins and Orochimaru forces the Third to battle with him. The thrill of killing his former master having been the primary reason for the invasion, Orochimaru resurrects the first two Hokage to give the Third the same privilege. The Third is able to defeat his former teachers and attempts to seal away the soul of Orochimaru, hoping to repent for allowing him to escape years earlier. Lacking the strength required to fully remove his soul, the Third settles for sealing Orochimaru's arms, making them useless and thus taking away Orochimaru's ability to use jutsu. The Third dies as a result of performing the sealing, and Orochimaru is forced to call off the invasion and retreat.

Despite all his efforts, Orochimaru is unable to heal his arms, and in the meantime the seal leaves him in excruciating pain. In an effort to regain the use of his arms Orochimaru approaches his old teammate Tsunade, offering to revive both her dead brother and lover in exchange for helping him. She ultimately decides against it and attacks him instead, forcing him to use his last resort of escaping the Third's seal. Finally deciding to make use of Sasuke, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to fetch him, planning to take Sasuke's body upon his arrival. Although he waits for as long as he can, the pain in his arms forces him to transfer to a body that Kabuto prepared for him. Stuck in this body for the next three years, Orochimaru begins training Sasuke upon his eventual arrival, shaping him into the ideal body all the while.

After two and a half years of training Sasuke, Orochimaru's current body begins to fail him, and he is forced to begin contemplating how to take Sasuke's body. Sasuke, however, is unwilling to give him the chance and attacks a bedridden Orochimaru. Forced into a corner, Orochimaru reveals his true form and begins the transfer process, though Sasuke, like Itachi years earlier, is able to use his Sharingan to stop it. Setting himself apart from his brother, Sasuke also uses his Sharingan to take control of the dimension within Orochimaru, completely turning the process against him. When later asked by Kabuto about Orochimaru's fate, Sasuke explains that he has taken over Orochimaru, and retained possession of his body. After absorbing Orochimaru, Sasuke is able to heal at a faster rate, an ability he attributes to Orochimaru's white snake form.

While Orochimaru is considered dead in the eyes of the Naruto world, Kabuto has integrated what remained of Orochimaru into his body in an attempt to make himself into an entity even stronger than Orochimaru. The remains, however, seem to have some degree of consciousness, as they have since begun to slowly take control of his body.

His abilities can also be seen in the various games of the series such as the Clash of Ninja series. In this series, he has the ability to get rid of and seal an opponent's chakra using Five Elements Seal rather than making the user's chakra unstable to use. In some games of the Ultimate Ninja series he can use Impure Sealing of Destruction (Edo Fūmmetsu) to bring hands from a grave that trap the opponent on it and with Hidden Shadow Wicked Ease (Sen'eijyarakū), a variation of the Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hand in which he makes the snakes that are wrapped around the opponent explode. He also can use Murder Blade (Satsui no Yaiba) and Death Blade (Shi no Yaiba) where he cuts the opponent with his sword in a very fast way.

• First Official Data Book (秘伝・臨の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Rin no Sho Character Official Data Book^?)
• Second Official Data Book (秘伝・闘の書キャラクターオフィシャルデータBOOK, Hiden: Tō no Sho Character Official Data Book^?)
• Jump's 2nd Great Hero Book's Mini Data Book (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini^?)
• Naruto anime and manga Guidebook (秘伝・翔の書オフィシャルキャラクターデータBOOK mini, Hiden: Shō no Sho Official Character Data Book mini^?)
• Taken directly from the Naruto manga chapters and anime episodes.

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