the story read like it might as well have been in the gaiden to me, since it was basically a testament to how uber bored Orochimaru must be in this day and age to have felt the need to go through that much trouble for the kid Mitsuki to learn how to make decisions for him instead of just telling him.
It seemed like all that drama was built up as an excuse for another sage mode reveal tbh. All in all, the moral was pretty good when i remember ppl in the main story who proved to be incapable of thinking for themselves. I'd be the first to say Orochimaru is at the very least the only living person who was qualified to teach somebody that lesson, but wtf was up with him and that bun? xd
Wouldn't be surprised if he began wearing more geisha-esque dress and walked around holding an umbrella in future works that Kishi does (if any). lol