Board Thread:Episode Discussions/@comment-25319479-20170621103621/@comment-5085906-20170622181640

You know what, I just wanted to say this - after seeing Orochimaru pat Mitsuki in the head, I think him being benevolent all out of a sudden oddly fits his character. If you think about it, Orochimaru was, from a get-go, an experimental person. He observed the world around him and changed with it. In Naruto and Naruto Shippuden, he perceived making bonds and experiencing love as fruitless and saw power as the only means to an end. He treated almost everyone as a subject, a tool which he had at his disposition. Then we see him change a bit during the Fourth War and, I don't know what happened during the gap but my headcanon dictates that he most likely saw Naruto attain great power by forming genuine bonds and thought "You know what? This seems like a good idea."