Orochimaru swore loudly, his hand furiously clutching the unfinished Fuinjutsu formula he had been working on. Let it be known that while the Hebi Sannin was no slouch when it came to the Sealing Arts, his skill on the field was still inferior in comparisson to those of a Master and the only ones he knew were either dead or would kill him on sight. His mind was going a thousand miler per second searching for an answer to his current predicament.
"Despite is great power and usefulness, the Edo Tensei costs too much chakra and limits the number of souls its user can Summon. If I am to make use of it, it needs to be improved..." The Konoha Nukenin grinned hungrily at the possibilities the Forbidden Jutsu could open for him. But first he would need to perfect the technique since if he were to use it now it would take away half of his Chakra reserves to summon a single soul. Orochimaru was already waist deep on unfinished experiments, and time was valuable. If he were to obtain success on this project, he would need assistance.
"But who to ask...Kabuto has no skills on Fuinjutsu, and even if he had he is still busy running our Spy Network. Guren is at the Southern Hideout, scouting for possible hosts to my Juin….." The snake summoner continued going through names, hoping to find at least 1 of his underlings with the required skill to aid him but ended up drawing a blank, which got a groan of exasperation from the otherwise cold man.
"Oh how I wish Kushina was still alive she would know how to fix this mess!" That was when the proverbial lightbulb when on. The Uzumaki Clan. Kushina's clan was famous throughout the land for their genius prowess with seals. He was then interrupted when the door of the room opened, revealing a white-haired boy wearing a purple kimono. It was one of his most loyal followers, Kimimaro.
"Orochimaru-sama, the spy reports have arrived." The green-eyed boy spoke, his monotone voice completely subservient as the Kaguya Clan member placed the various folders on top of Orochimaru's desk. The Sannin grinned sadistically, his spies always brought interesting information so it was possible that the answer to his problem had just walked through the door. Slidin
"Very good, Kimimaro. I will call if I need anything else." At his master's dismissal, the bone wielder bowed before closing the door. Orochimaru immediately grabbed the folders and started going through their labels, stopping at the one from Konoha.
'Greetings Orochimaru-Sama. As you have ordered me, I have taken one of the Instructor spots at the Konoha Shinobi Academy and have requested to aid another new teacher, Umino Iruka. Due to my newly acquired position I will be capable of watching one of your specified targets, Uchiha Sasuke. However I have not made any progress on stealing the Scroll of Seals...´ The Snake Summoner scowled at this, partially displeased that one of his agents was having such a hard time stealing an old scroll, one that had hundreds upon thousands of secret techniques collected or outright stolen by the Hokage. He needed more information on the Edo Tensei, all he had were basic drafts that he had found inside an abbandoned Senju Compound.
"Perhaps I have overstimated Mizuki's abilities when I assigned him for the task…"Wondered Orochimaru, considering the need of a better subordinate within the Hidden Leaf. That would wait until he finished the message.
"I have discovered that the Scroll is guarded within the Hokage Residence, where only a trusted few are allowed entrance. Amongst those names are the Sandaime's personal ANBU guard, the Hokage's son, grandson and the young Jinchuuriki called Uzumaki Naruto, whom shall be attending the Academy at the same time as the Uchiha Heir..." Orochimaru was convinced there and then that either fate was working on his favor or that he was the luckiest bastard alive. There, glaring right at him was written proof that there was an Uzumaki within Konoha free for the taking. The nukenin felt like jumping on top of his desk and dancing like his idiotic teammate, but for now a simple smirk would do as he finished the letter.
'The risk of interacting with the Jinchuuriki is too high considering the Council watches his every move, I do not wish to ruin my cover until further orders. - Mizuki" What Mizuki said was true. Most villages kept a tight leash on their Jinchuuriki, while he was sure his sensei would allow the Jinchuuriki to become a weapon, Orochimaru was sure that the old men watched the boy to ascertain his loyalty.
"If the boy is a Jinchuuriki then there is no doubt that he is an Uzumaki. The Kyuubi can only be contained within members of the clan...and since the boy's age fits with the year the fox attacked Konoha...There is no doubt about it, Kushina's son is alive." While Orochimaru was a cold-hearted person with questionable morals, there were people whom he had cherished during his time at Konoha. Amongs them his first genin team, compromised by Uzumaki Kushina alongside Hyuuga Hizashi and Akagane Kajiya. They were his children, his family. But then they died one by one, first Kajiya during the 3rd Great Shinobi War then Kushina by the hands of the Kyuubi and finally Hizashi who had sacrified himself to avoid a new war with Kumo. So he was not passing on the opportunity of helping the son of his student, especially when his potencial was so big.
"This will require some good planning. Different of the Uchiha, the Uzumaki need to be taught Fuinjutsu at early age so that their talents can develop. It might take sometime to teach him, but in the end his skills will definetely surpass mine and he will become a powerful ally." To Orochimaru the risks were well worth the rewards, and if the plan he had in mind worked there was a chance he might even take possession of the Forbidden Scroll and kill two birds with one stone. With a smirk in place and his unusual long longue passing over his lips, the Sannin started his reply to Mizuki.
'Change of plans. I require extra information on the Jinchuuriki. Make contact with him and study his behavior and life style. The Uchiha shall wait...from now on your main objective is Uzumaki Naruto.'