What's the deal with Orochimaru and seals?

Question

During the chunin exams, when Orochimaru attacked Konoha, the Third Hokage managed to seal the hands of Orochimaru, rendering him incapable of using any jutsus.

But later in the series we see that Orochimaru did use jutsus. For eg, during the battle with Naruto he uses the Kawarimi no Jutsu.

Though it has not been depicted that he uses hand seals to perform Kawarimi no Jutsu, but I presume that a jutsu of that level needs a hand seal to be pulled off. So, Orochimaru had never lost his jutsus.

Next, Sasuke managed to absorb Orochimaru into his body which was sealed off by Itachi using the sealing powers of Sword of Totsuka. How then is it possible for Orochimaru to be present in someone else's body and "pop out at will".

So how is it that no sealing techniques work upon Orochimaru?

How Orochimaru resurrected the 4 Hokages.

Answer 1

There was only a part of Orochimaru that was in Sasuke's body. I believe that the curse mark transfers a part of his chakra and thus a part of himself into the body of the target.

It was the part of Orochimaru that was inside Sasuke that was sealed away by Itachi using the sealing powers of Sword of Totsuka. But a part of him still lived inside the others who carried the curse mark and his chakra was there with Kabuto, who absorbed Orochimaru after Sasuke killed his main body.

Remember that Orochimaru was very weak when Sasuke revived him that he had to absorb his chakra from Kabuto to become somewhat normal again.

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And it is not true that Orochimaru couldn't be sealed.The 3rd Hokage couldn't seal him just because he was too weak by then to pull Orochimaru with him. And it is not that Orochimaru can pop-out at will from anyone's body. Sasuke resurrected him. He didn't pop-out at will.

Answer 2

Harikrishnan T's answer covers most of it. I'll answer the part of how could he use Jutsu.

Hand seals are a form of technique to focus one's chakra, in order to perform a specific jutsu. As you progress is proficiency and power, you can focus your chakra more and more innately, without the need for hand seals.

The example for this is that Zabuza required more than 40 hand seals to perform the Water Dragon Bullet, while the Second only required one.

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That's why Orochimaru was able to use the most basic technique without the use of his hands (such as the Replacement Jutsu). As for the rest, I recall Kabuto doing the hand seals for him whenever he required a more advanced jutsu (such as the Summoning Jutsu).

Answer 3

Orochimaru had dedicated himself to the path of Kinjutsu. This means that he is using mostly forbidden jutsu. Because of his endless experimentation on himself to become even more powerful, he moved to a place above natural law.

He's living on a different set of rules than the rest of the ninja world, and so is his village (if there is anything left of it).

He sought immortality so that he could master every jutsu, even the science of creating jutsu.

As for being in different bodies and popping out of them, here is what I've observed from the manga: he infects a person with himself. Look at Kabuto. That was a serious infection. The curse mark is another example. The curse mark is purely a technique developed by Orochimaru, and infects people with his power. Although the level and type of infection in Kabuto vs. Sasuke is inherently different.

He is "above" being sealed because he warped himself into a viral entity, or a "demon" as the 3rd Hokage called him. Even the Nine-Tailed Fox could be sealed because he is a natural force of nature. There is nothing natural about Orochimaru!