Orochimaru was once an orphan who became a pupil of Hiruzen

Sarutobi alongside Jiraiya and Tsunade. Compared to the more laid back Jiraiya, Orochimaru
stood out as a genius — his talents, knowledge, and determination were considered by
Hiruzen to be that of a prodigy seen only once in a generation.[5] According to Tsunade,
Orochimaru had a twisted personality even as a child. His sadistic attitude was presumably
due to the death of his parents. At some point after losing them, Orochimaru found a
white snake near his parents' grave, with Hiruzen's explanation of it representing fortune
and rebirth inspiring Orochimaru to study kinjutsu and obtain knowledge of all
techniques.[6] Jiraiya theorised that Orochimaru went down this path in an attempt to
forget his painful memories.

Orochimaru and his team being dubbed the "Sannin" by Hanzō.

During the Second Shinobi World War, Orochimaru joined Jiraiya and Tsunade in
fighting Hanzō, who gave them the title of Konoha's "Three Legendary Shinobi"
(伝説の三忍, Densetsu no Sannin) as a reward for surviving their battle with him, while the
rest of their group were easily slaughtered in the process.[7] On their way back to Konoha,
they encountered three Amegakure orphans, with Orochimaru proposing a mercy killing
before Jiraiya chose to train them instead.[8][9] In the anime, Orochimaru orchestrated the
last known rampage of the Eight-Tails in Kumogakure by infiltrating the village while
disguised as a Kumo-nin and posing as Blue B's doctor in order to trick him into taking
special genjutsu inducing pills, allowing him to extract the tailed beast. After its rampage,
Orochimaru obtained the severed horn of the Eight-Tails and harvested Blue B's DNA from
it.[10]

Orochimaru working under Danzō as a Root operative.

Some time after Team Hiruzen was disbanded, Orochimaru became an Anbu member and
joined Root to work directly under Danzō Shimura, while also becoming a mentor to Anko
Mitarashi. It was during that time that Orochimaru met Kabuto Yakushi while accompanying
Danzō in forcing the boy's guardian, Nonō, into a mission.[11] While Orochimaru's ambitions
did include becoming the Fourth Hokage, he intended to use the title for his own
agenda.[12] Though Hiruzen knew the potential evil his former pupil had in him, he hoped to
stir Orochimaru from the path before slowly realising that he was beyond anyone's
help.[5] When Hiruzen finally named Minato Namikaze his successor, Orochimaru saw no more
reason to remain in Konoha and began to be less discreet with his actions.[13] This led to
his experimentation on Hashirama Senju's DNA with sixty children he kidnapped to recreate
the First's Wood Release, having help from Danzō.[14] Believing it to be a failure,
Orochimaru was unaware that one child had survived his Wood Release experiment. He later
refined the process enough to inject Hashirama's cells into the Sharingan-infused right arm
of Shin Uchiha, which he transplanted to Danzō.[15][16][17]
Orochimaru performed various experiments on his prisoners, some being fellow Konoha shinobi
he kidnapped. He used them as human guinea pigs to develop techniques that would grant
him immortality, the end result being Living Corpse Reincarnation. Some time later,
Orochimaru was at the outskirts of Kirigakure as he found Kimimaro, the sole survivor of
the Kaguya clan. Soon after, thanks in part to Kimimaro, Orochimaru's research on the
source of Jūgo's powers led him to find the Ryūchi Cave and master senjutsu.[18] Unable to
enter Sage Mode because of the fragility of his host body, Orochimaru instead developed an
alternate method of harnessing his senjutsu chakra through cursed seals, which he tested on
Anko and several others before eventually using the finalised versions on Kimimaro and
the Sound Four. In the anime, Orochimaru found the Iburi clan living underground near
Konoha. Taking an interest in their ability to become smoke, Orochimaru took advantage of
the clan's fear of their imperfect and potentially fatal transformation by partially stabilising
it with his cursed seals. Telling them that he needed more research to perfect the process,
the clan willingly gave Orochimaru test subjects.[19] In the anime, Orochimaru
witnessed Itachi Uchiha performing a training run normally meant for older and more
experienced users due to the danger of it. After the young Uchiha flawlessly completed it,
Orochimaru instantly became amazed and excited at Itachi's advanced growth rate. In the
anime, he also allied himself with Amachi out of interest for creating a shinobi capable of
underwater combat, kidnapping Land of the Sea villagers for their experiments, while
introducing Anko to the project. Sometime after, Orochimaru lost interest in the project,
and ordered Amachi to cancel it, while also seeing Anko as a lost cause for her refusal to
use the cursed seal, and wiped her memories as she left him.[20]
Orochimaru was later sent on a mission by Danzō to Iwagakure to ensure that both Kabuto
and Nonō, the former having joined Root as a spy, killed each other as they had become
major liabilities. Orochimaru instead spirited Kabuto to his hideout, which would become
part of his personal hidden village, Otogakure, and revealed Root's intent for Kabuto's life
and the role he was to play in it. Though Orochimaru revealed that he was also sent to kill
the one who survived this ordeal, he told Kabuto that he saw a bit of himself in the boy
and decided killing him would be a waste of great talent. Therefore, Orochimaru offered
Kabuto a position as his right hand and spy with the promise of an identity.[21]

Hiruzen discovers Orochimaru.

As his test subjects began to die off, Orochimaru was caught red-handed by Hiruzen. Though
he knew it was his duty, Hiruzen lacked the will to kill his student, allowing him to
escape.[22] In the anime, during his escape, Orochimaru was found by Kakashi Hatake.
Despite the young prodigy's best efforts, Orochimaru swiftly defeated him. Letting his guard
down at the approach of a snake, Orochimaru was greatly injured by an explosive
tag concealed in the snake's mouth. Cursing Hiruzen for ruining his plans, though greatly
injured, Orochimaru quickly regained his composure. He then resumed his retreat from the
country, leaving a terrified Kakashi frozen in place from his malicious
glare alone.[19] Seriously wounded, Orochimaru visited the cave where the Iburi clan lived and
killed them all, trying to restore his power. Upon the arrival of the youngest
member, Yukimi, Orochimaru pursued her while being chased by Kakashi Hatake and Kinoe.
Eventually, he managed to take a sample of Yukimi's blood, intending to inject it into
himself to temporarily gain her ability and slip across the border, but he was attacked
before he could do so and quickly escaped.[23] Orochimaru managed to destroy most of his
research facilities and booby-trap the rest.[24]

Orochimaru attacks Itachi.

Orochimaru ultimately escaped Konoha, leaving his emotionally broken mentor, with Jiraiya's
plea for him to reconsider falling on deaf ears. Orochimaru soon became affiliated with and
joined the elite criminal organisation Akatsuki. Orochimaru was then partnered with Sasori,
with whom he did much good for the organisation.[25]. He later watched in amazement
when Itachi Uchiha joined the organisation. Later, when Orochimaru saw his opportunity to
steal his body to gain possession of the Sharingan, Itachi used his Sharingan to stop him
from doing so, while also cutting Orochimaru's left hand off to prevent him from breaking
the genjutsu he was under, which lead to him leaving Akatsuki to acquire a new
body.[26] For Orochimaru's defection, Sasori developed a grudge against him and used
Kabuto, whom Orochimaru had sent to serve as his spy within Akatsuki, to counter spy as
his sleeper agent. However, Orochimaru discovered and undid the technique Sasori had used
on him.[27]In the anime, when tipped off by Kabuto that Sasori was on his trail,
Orochimaru chose to use this as an opportunity to test his development of the Second
Hokage's Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation. Against Sasori's Third Kazekage puppet,
Orochimaru summoned the actual Third Kazekage through his technique. While proving his
reincarnated ninja being stronger than the human puppet, the technique ultimately proved
incomplete as the Third Kazekage was able to regain control and break the summoning
contract..[28]
Orochimaru had also been on a life-long search for the Totsuka Sword, an ethereal sword,
but was unaware that it was in the possession of Itachi's Susanoo.[29] In the anime,
Orochimaru witnessed Mizuki killing a comrade during a mission. Under the pretence as a gift
for Mizuki's bold actions, Orochimaru granted him a specialised cursed seal. In truth however,
it was an incomplete experimental tool that would destroy whoever used it, to which
Orochimaru was merely curious as to how the effects would happen on Mizuki.[30]
Personality

Orochimaru's intimidating behavior.

Orochimaru possesses a complex personality; however, more often than not, he was described
as "twisted" by a large number of people, including Tsunade. Jiraiya speculated that the
death of his parents while he was young, along with his horror for Tsunade
losing Nawaki and later shedding tears when she lost Dan, implies that Orochimaru grew to
disdain the fragility of human life and how it affected those still living, which led him to
desire immortality. To that end, the primary purpose of Orochimaru's human
experimentation is to test what modifications the human body can endure and harness a
subject's unique abilities for himself. Once accomplishing this goal, Orochimaru had hoped to
be worthy of the title of "ultimate being", unable to die and able to achieve his secondary
goal to learn every ninja technique in the world, which would normally take many lifetimes
to obtain.
According to Sasuke, becoming cruel with any good he had as a member of Team Hiruzen
gone, Orochimaru's agenda made him develop a god complex and valued himself while
delighting in striking terror in his first impressions. Though causing conflict to ease his
boredom, Orochimaru seems to have no interest in wars started by others.[31] His charisma
also attracts a number of followers, many of which he would not hesitate to send on
potential suicide missions if for his own personal benefit, expressing some remorse if they're
unable to properly complete a task, having no sentimental attachments to any of them
despite their values. Despite this, Orochimaru has genuine interest in the development of his
underlings and experiments.

Taking Sasuke as an apprentice, seeing him as a prodigy like himself, Orochimaru intended to
take the youth's body to obtain the Sharingan to reach another step in his goal of
immortality and learning every technique in the world. This goal has developed to the point
of obsession. However, despite knowing that Sasuke was willing to do anything for revenge,
including sacrificing his own body, Orochimaru did anticipate treachery from his disciple and
showed only a small level of surprise when it actually occurred. What truly surprised
Orochimaru was Sasuke's decision to follow his own path and ultimately choosing to defend
the village he initially swore to destroy, one that Orochimaru openly approved and was
curious to see what would be the end result of this decision.
He also had an initial disdain toward Naruto Uzumaki, believing him to be a poor excuse for
a ninja until he defeated Kabuto with the Rasengan. Despite attempting to kill Naruto at
the time after coming to the realisation that he would become a threat to him in the
future, Orochimaru became interested in Naruto's development, provoking Naruto during
their battle to see his full abilities at the time. During the war Naruto managed to gain
some of Orochimaru's respect for not giving into despair. Though coming to hate his home
village, orchestrating a few attempts to destroy it, Orochimaru despised his former Akatsuki
colleagues more. Throughout Part II, if Orochimaru was not busy with Sasuke's development,
he would try to cripple Akatsuki's operations, as seen in the "Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance
Mission" arc and "Three-Tails' Appearance" arc. He expresses delight over the death of Sasori
and later convinced Sasuke against killing Team Kakashi so they would thin out Akatsuki's
membership.

An aspect of Orochimaru's personality is also his greatest weakness: his arrogance. He truly
believed he was immortal at times, attacking recklessly against powerful opponents such as
his former teacher and Itachi Uchiha. Both times, he was left crippled in some way since he
either wanted to make his opponent suffer, like against Hiruzen, or because he was too
uninformed to face his opponent, like against Itachi. Despite his distinct lack of morals,
Orochimaru seems to be well-versed in psychological warfare and displays insightful wisdom
when disparaging Tobirama for the actions resulting from his policies. He is also amusingly
afraid of insects and bugs as seen during Naruto and Hinata's wedding.

After being revived by Sasuke, his personality changed a bit. While he still wished that he
could gain Sasuke's body, he also realised that copying someone completely was a mistake
from his observation of Kabuto and displayed interest in Sasuke's "different path". Wanting
to see Sasuke's path, he chose to fight alongside the Uchiha instead of ignoring Madara's war
like he planned, and even made it a priority to heal Tsunade and the other Kage after their
defeat before hurrying to the battlefield. Orochimaru also seem to genuinely care about
Sasuke's well being, as he originally thought it was best to take his time figuring out how
to battle Tobi but quickly decided against taking his time when Karin sensed Sasuke was on
the verge of death. Orochimaru has also shown signs of regret, seemingly saddened by his
childhood friend Jiraiya's death. In the anime, he was one of people who congratulated
Naruto and Hinata on their wedding.[32] Years later, he appears to be on amicable terms
with Konoha by sending his son, Mitsuki, to the village. In the anime, he also feels indebted
to Naruto as the Hokage for watching over Mitsuki.[33] While his relationship with the rest
of the world is still dubious at best, he has at least developed a relatively trusting
relationship between the higher-ups of Konohagakure, willing aiding them in research on
pressing matters and likewise feels responsible enough to make amends for past mistakes.[34]

Orochimaru's experiences also resulted in him wishing Mitsuki to make his own decisions,
admitting that he has high hopes for the boy's natural growth, though he at times used
manipulation and deception to put him in a situation where important decisions must be
made.
Appearance
Orochimaru's most striking characteristic is his snake-like appearance: he has very pale skin,
golden eyes with slitted pupils, purple markings around his eyes and fang-like teeth. He also
has pronounced cheekbones and straight waist-length black hair with some locks covering and
framing his face or to his shoulders. The various bodies he takes over have each been
modified to resemble his original form, except for the height differences. In Naruto Gaiden,
Orochimaru's facial features soften and somewhat androgynous with his eye markings
becoming black. He also wears his hair in a ponytail, allowing two locks to frame the sides of
his face. In the manga, his skin-tone becomes noticeably fairer in complexion.[35]

 Orochimaru's appearance throughout most of the series.

1 of 3

Orochimaru usually wears plain grey garbs with a black polo and pants underneath, a thick
purple rope belt tied in a large knot behind his back, blue tomoe-shaped earrings, and
shinobi sandals with bandages around his calves. He is seen wearing a kimono with different
colours on several occasions, shown usually in flashbacks or inside his hideouts. During his
time with Akatsuki, he wore the standard red and black Akatsuki robes with a slate blue
ring, which bears the kanji for "sky" or "void" (空, kū), on his left pinky finger. After
countless experiments with his body, his true form became a giant white snake made up of
many smaller snakes, with longer, spikier hair, a scaled face with snake-like teeth and a long
tongue, black eye markings, and a pointed chin.
Abilities

Orochimaru using his most powerful technique, the Eight Branches Technique.
Like other students of the Third Hokage, Orochimaru is an exceptionally talented shinobi,
recognised as a natural prodigy;[36] Hashirama Senju, a God of Shinobi, praises Orochimaru's
skills.[37] It wasn't until the Second Shinobi World War that their skills became widely
known, dubbed by Hanzō as the Sannin, the strongest of their generation. Orochimaru's
power was known and feared throughout the ninja world, such that Akatsuki, of which he
was once a member, viewed him as a threat that needed to be eliminated.[38] Shortly
before the Konoha Crush, Hiruzen believed that no one in Konoha, himself included, could
defeat Orochimaru.[39] Although his invasion fails, it is indeed through Orochimaru's actions
that the Third Hokage dies among many others and Konoha's military force is temporarily
crippled. Although Sasuke defeats Orochimaru in Part II, he admits that his victory was
attributed partially to the Sannin's weakening body.[40]
Tsunade is the granddaughter of Hashirama Senju and Mito Uzumaki. Because Hashirama
was the First Hokage of Konohagakure, Tsunade is called "Princess" (姫, Hime). Hashirama
doted on Tsunade when she was very young because she was his first grandchild, and found
her deviance and her adoption of his own gambling habits highly amusing;[7]Tsunade inherited
his necklace when he died. After she graduated from Konoha's Academy, Tsunade was
teamed with Orochimaru and Jiraiya under the leadership of Hiruzen Sarutobi. When Jiraya
failed to acquire a bell during the team's first bell test, Tsunade teased him, prompting him
to criticise her flat chest.[8] Despite this remark, Jiraiya had a certain interest in Tsunade
from their first meeting,[9] which only increased after her breasts developed; when she
nearly killed him for spying on her while she bathed, he was forced to be more discrete
about his interests.[10]

Tsunade gives Hashirama's necklace to Dan.

Tsunade's younger brother, Nawaki dreamed of someday becoming Hokage so that he could
protect Konoha, their grandfather's legacy. On Nawaki's twelfth birthday, Tsunade kissed his
forehead and gave him Hashirama's necklace in the hopes that it would help him achieve his
dream. He died the next day, a casualty of the ongoing Second Shinobi World War, thus
returning the necklace to her. Tsunade began advocating for the inclusion of medical-nin on
all four-man squads in order to avoid future deaths like Nawaki's. Hiruzen, the Third
Hokage, agreed with her arguments, but could not dedicate resources to the necessary
implementation due to the ongoing war. Dan Katō, on the other hand, shared her views,
and as their relationship developed he confided with her his dreams of becoming Hokage so
that he could bring change to Konoha and protect his loved one from death. Tsunade kissed
his forehead and gave him Hashirama's necklace in the hopes that it would help him achieve
his dream.

Hanzō dubs the Sannin.

Although their team under Hiruzen's leadership had disbanded, Tsunade, Orochimaru, and
Jiraiya continued fighting together during the Second Shinobi World War. During one such
fight in Amegakure, they were the only three to survive an encounter with Hanzō, for
which accomplishment Hanzō dubbed them Konoha's "Legendary Sannin".[11] In the aftermath
of the battle, Jiraiya opted not to return to Konoha so that he could train the Ame
orphans. Tsunade would go on to make her own independent contributions to the war,
frequently counteracting Chiyo of Sunagakure's poisons.[12] Although Tsunade's actions are
said to have won the war for Konoha,[13] Tsunade was unable to prevent Dan's death, and
her failure to stop his severe blood loss caused her to develop haemophobia.
With Dan's death, Hashirama's necklace returned to Tsunade once again, convincing some
that the necklace was cursed to kill anyone who wore it other than Tsunade. Tsunade
herself became convinced that achieving one's dreams was impossible and that to be Hokage
was a fool's job. She therefore left Konoha, taking Dan's niece, Shizune, with her to train
her as an apprentice. Due to her blood phobia, Tsunade retired from any direct involvement
in medicine or combat, instead relying on Shizune whenever a need for either came up.
Personality

Tsunade dreams of being with Dan.

Tsunade was very willing to believe in the attainability of dreams while Nawaki and Dan
were alive, and that by supporting and encouraging those dreams she might be able to help
achieve them. When both died gruesomely shortly after receiving her support, Tsunade lost
faith in the idea of dreaming for anything, believing that the mere pursuit would be doomed
from the outset. She becomes especially critical of wanting to be Hokage, as both Dan and
Nawaki died trying to attain the title and the past Hokage have all died prematurely and,
Tsunade argues, pointlessly because they held the position; she concludes that to be Hokage
is a fool's job.[14]
Tsunade is forced to reconsider her cynicism upon meeting Naruto Uzumaki, who
demonstrates two things to her: just because a goal seems impossible does not mean it
actually is, as Naruto is able to master the Rasengan unprecedentedly quickly despite any
seeming natural talent; just because the dreamer dies does not mean the dream itself does,
as Nawaki and Dan's desire to become Hokage lives on in Naruto. Because Naruto is so very
much an exception to how she thought the world worked, Tsunade puts her faith in dreams
once again, a desire so strong that she overcomes her fear of blood.[15] She becomes Hokage
herself, partly so that she can live Nawaki and Dan's dream for them, but also so that she
can pave the way for Naruto inevitably holding the title. Just as she once did, Tsunade
supports all other dreams that she can: when Rock Lee tells her he dreams of being a ninja
despite knowing he may die trying, she does not argue his decision and, in the anime, does
all that she can to ensure he survives.
As Hokage, Tsunade is committed to protecting Konoha and its villagers, willing to give her
life for her village and allies if necessary.[16] She does this because Nawaki and Dan loved
Konoha and so she keeps their dreams alive by doing so, but also because Konoha's continued
survival honours all those who gave their lives creating it and keeping it safe. Although her
reasons are somewhat different, the outcome is nevertheless consistent with the Will of
Fire. Tsunade is similarly optimistic about the next generation of Konoha's ninja, especially
Naruto, convinced that the village's future will be in good hands because of them. She in
fact becomes angry when others lack this same faith in Naruto and his peers, believing it is
better to let them try and then fail than to assume their failure is inevitable and thus
prevent them from trying.[17] Demonstrations of her own faith include:
congratulating Shikamaru Nara for his failed mission because at least none of his teammates
died;[18] not labelling Sasuke Uchiha a missing-nin because she trusts that Naruto can
someday convince him to return to Konoha.

Even as a child, Tsunade had a love for gambling.

Despite her many noble qualities, Tsunade is not without her faults. She is blunt and short-
tempered, prone to striking Naruto for his immaturity or Jiraiya for his perversion; she is
widely feared because of this tendency.[19] Her own behaviour isn't much better than theirs,
as she drinks constantly, sometimes sleeps on the job, and tries as much as she can to have
other people do her work for her. One of her favourite vices is gambling, which she acquired
from her grandfather, Hashirama Senju. Despite how often and how irresponsibly she
gambles, Tsunade has notoriously bad luck, causing those who have made huge profits off of
her to call her "The Legendary Sucker" (伝説のカモ, Densetsu no Kamo).[20] Tsunade is
fully aware of how unlucky she is, and so whenever she hits a winning streak she takes it as
a bad omen and prepares for the worst;[21] she has at times tried using her bad luck to her
advantage, betting on outcomes she doesn't want so that her unluckiness will prevent them
from happening.[22] Hashirama finds Tsunade's many bad habits highly amusing on a personal
level, but when he is told that Tsunade is Hokage he immediately worries about what
misfortunes she's brought upon Konoha.[7]
Jiraiya assumed that there was a mutual attraction between him and Tsunade from their
first meeting, a statement that only served to annoy and anger her. Despite his many
advances over the years, Tsunade never reciprocated his feelings, only ever loving Dan, even
decades after his death. Jiraiya wasn't discouraged by this and claimed that her repeated
rejections had not only made him stronger, but they've been excellent material for his Icha
Icha series of books. Though he concluded that to be happy wasn't his fate. Tsunade
doubted he believed his own words and she commented that he did not need to put on a
brave front when he returned from Amegakure.[22] When Jiraiya ended up dying during that
same mission, Tsunade privately mourned for the loss of her dear friend and team-
mate.[9] Her greatest desire was to be with her loved ones, while supporting Dan as he
lived out his dream of being Hokage.[23] Despite this, she chose not to have Dan and
Nawaki reincarnated when given the chance as she realised it would go against everything
they stood for