Orochimaru is a fictional character of the manga Naruto. He is one of the greatest villain of the story, as well as a very powerful and dangerous ninja. He was formerly a ninja of Konoha, but defected 10 years before the beginning of the story, because his research about a technique which could allow Orochimaru to become immortal was discovered by Konoha officials and the Third Hokage. He then created his own village, Otogakure, and vowed to destroy his former home. When he was a ninja of Konoha, he was the most brilliant pupil of the Third Hokage, the leader of the village, and was considered to be one of the most powerful ninja of the entire village. The Third Hokage even wanted Orochimaru to succeed him as the Fourth Hokage but the title was later given to Minato Namikaze, Naruto's father and Jiraiya's pupil. 