During the final round matches Orochimaru disguises himself as the Fourth Kazekage so that he can sit next to the Third Hokage. When the invasion of Konoha begins this gives him an easy opportunity to grab his former master. He isolates the Third from the other Konoha ninja and has his Sound Four erect a barrier to prevent any interference. The Third, regretting letting Orochimaru escape years earlier, agrees to fight. Exhilarated that he can finally fight his former teacher, Orochimaru uses Impure World Resurrection to revive the First and Second Hokage to give Hiruzen the same feeling.
In his old the Third is little match for Orochimaru and two Hokage, something made all the more difficult when the Hokage regenerate from any damage they receive. in the end, the Third decides to use the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to seal away the souls of the Hokage before turning on Orochimaru. Sensing what is happening, Orochimaru, stabs the Third in the back with his Kusanagi Sword. Unconcerned with the wound since he will die anyway, Hiruzen struggles to seal Orochimaru's soul as well, but after an hour only has the strength to seal his arms. To do what little he can, he robs Orochimaru of the use of his arms, in turning taking away his ability to jutsu. The Third dies and Orochimaru curses him. Unable to proceed with his plans, Orochimaru and the invaders retreat. Afterwards, Sunagakure broke ties with Orochimaru after discovering that he killed the Fourth Kazekage.
Search for Tsunade arc
Orochimaru in his female body.
Orochimaru in his female body.
Initially, Orochimaru planned to have his condition healed by appealing to his old teammate, Tsunade, a legendary medical ninja. He offered to revive her brother and lover in the hopes that it would persuade her to cooperate. Though it looked as though he had succeeded at first, it turned out that Tsunade had actually intended to kill him rather than heal him to prevent another attack on Konoha. Kabuto interfered before she could do so, and Orochimaru expresses disappointment in the betrayal. Kabuto engages Tsunade to capture her and force her to help, but Jiraiya and Naruto soon arrive to help her.
Orochimaru and Jiraiya (having earlier been drugged by Tsunade and thus unable to properly perform jutsu) face-off, but can do little to each other. Kabuto, meanwhile, deals with Naruto and Tsunade. When Naruto defeats Kabuto, Orochimaru, concerned that Naruto and the demon fox might become a problem in the future, tries to kill him. Tsunade stops him, having decided to become the Fifth Hokage, and teams up with Jiraiya against Orochimaru. Despite summoning Manda, Orochimaru is defeated. Healing his arms no longer being an option, Orochimaru retreats with Kabuto, deciding it is time that he take a new host body.
Sasuke Retrieval arc
Orochimaru after possessing Gen'yumaru.
Orochimaru after possessing Gen'yumaru.
Even though he had hoped to wait for Sasuke to get older, Orochimaru sends his Sound Four to retrieve and bring Sasuke to him. He holds out for as long as he can, anticipating Sasuke's arrival, but the pain in his arms becomes too much and he is forced to switch to the body of Gen'yumaru, a host Kabuto had earlier prepared. Stuck in the body for the next three years, Orochimaru decides to start training Sasuke once he finally arrives, hoping to shape him into the ideal host.
Anime filler arcs
Orochimaru's background is expanded upon in the anime, delving into parts of his past not addressed in the manga. During the Fuma clan arc he is shown to have recruited some of the members of the Fūma clan by promising to restore them tot heir former glory. Later in the arc Arashi Fuma disguises himself as Orochimaru, killing his fellow clansmen to gain power before being killed himself.
In the Land of the Sea arc, Orochimaru's time with Anko Mitarashi is expanded upon. Orochimaru, Anko, and nine others came to the Land of the Sea, where he branded them with cursed seals. When Anko was the only one to survive, he arrived at the 10% survival rate of the process. Anko lacked the personality to properly utilize its power so could not prove very useful to Orochimaru. Although she believed he had abandoned her, she remembers during the arc that she chose to leave him. During this arc he is also shown to have previously had an interest in creating an army capable of breathing and operating underwater. Realizing it would take too much time on his own, Orochimaru contracted with a rogue scientist named Amachi and began experimenting on the country's citizens, notably Isaribi. He eventually lost interest in the program and demanded it discontinued, but Amachi continued anyway.
Part II
Sasuke and Sai arc
Two-and-a-half years later, Team Yamato, hoping to find Sasuke, learns of an opportunity to meet with a spy in Orochimaru's organization. Kabuto turns out to be this spy, having come to meet with Sasori, Orochimaru's former partner who had been keeping tabs on Orochimaru. Yamato disguises himself as Sasori and meets with Kabuto, but Orochimaru soon interrupts. Having switch sides, Kabuto attacks Sasori, finding it to be Yamato. He call the rest of his team for back up and they face off with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Although he is surprised to see Yamato, a former test subject of his, he shows more interest in Naruto. He expresses interest in seeing if Naruto is as strong as "his Sasuke", angering Naruto into a three-tailed state.
In this form, Orochimaru is able to elude Naruto, finding the battle very enjoyable. When Naruto progresses to a four-tailed transformation, however, Orochimaru takes the battle seriously, recognizing that Naruto's Four-Tailed Fox Menacing Ball could kill him. After evading the attack he uses his Kusanagi to force Naruto away while he collapses, his body beginning to reject him. While he briefly recuperates he is approached by Sai, who makes an offer on behalf of Danzo to work together in destroying Konoha. Intrigued, Orochimaru and Kabuto take him back to their base.
Later, after the rest of Team Yamato arrives at the lair and Sai teams up with them, Orochimaru confronts Sai and Naruto to question Sai about his loyalties. He flees before he can be drawn into another fight, and later keeps Sasuke from killing the team, noting that they might kill another Akatsuki member like they had done with Sasori.
Hunt for the Three-Tails Arc
In the anime, sensing that the time was close approaching to change vessels, Orochimaru sent Kabuto find Guren so that she can help with preparations for the process. During this time Orochimaru was also going experimenting on a child named Yukimaru with unusual powers. Orochimaru eventually decides its time to test Sasuke's abilities, and watches in awe as he defeats an army of ninja without killing any and without receiving a scratch. As Sasuke walks off, Orochimaru admitted that while he used to be recognized as a genius, Sasuke's powers far surpasses 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, to which she was delighted. Orochimaru teams her up with Yukimaru, noting that their two abilities should work well together. Later, it is revealed that Orochimaru also chose Guren because he knew she would eventually grow attached to Yukimaru, which he appears to have a use for. He ordered Kabuto to be ready to eliminate her should she betray him.
Hunt for Itachi arc
Orochimaru's form after many experiments
Orochimaru's form after many experiments
On the verge of being rejected by his current body, Orochimaru contemplates how best to take Sasuke's body. Before he can formulate his plan Sasuke attacks him, having decided that Orochimaru is unworthy of having an Uchiha's body. Orochimaru proceeded to reveal his true body, a large white snake made of several smaller snakes, in order to initiate the body-switch process. Sasuke stops the process like Itachi had done years earlier, but takes it a step further by turning the switch against Orochimaru, absorbing him into his body. Sasuke gains access to some of Orochimaru's abilities, but at the same time must dedicate some of his chakra to suppressing Orochimaru.
During his battle with Itachi, Sasuke runs out of chakra and Orochimaru is able to emerge. He marvels at the fact that he will finally have the chance to take Sasuke's body, but is immediately struck down and permanently sealed away by Itachi's Susanoo, as well as the cursed seal. In a separate encounter, Kabuto meets with Naruto and reveals that he had integrated some of Orochimaru's remains into his body, hoping to surpass his former master.
Abilities