AN: Hello, everyone. I'm back! I've finally gotten off my butt long enough to do some writing (I'm kidding, writing involves me being still on my butt), and saw this old fanfiction I worked on, read over it, and decided to continue with it. I'm writing an enormous (by my standards) amount of words per day now because I have nothing better to do, so you can expect frequent enough updates. As for the reviews, thanks a bunch everyone! The positive encouragement and attention is what made me pick this back up. Speaking of which, I do need an editor- so if anyone has extra time on their hands and is decent at editing, shoot me (a message). Oh, and about other Vault Hunters entering this fic... you'll get a definite answer from the story soon. Hope the old follows are enough to get people reading again, heh.
Orochimaru, as it turned out, had overestimated his own strength in challenging this strange rogue Iwa ninja. He had proved to be completely impervious to genjutsu, healed back from every single ninjutsu Orochimaru threw at him and at taijutsu… Orochimaru nearly lost his head three times in the first few seconds. He did not have the reflexes to keep up with the berserker's axe swings over any decent period of time. He had little recourse but to keep his distance, dodge the endless stream of exploding axes, and attempt to sneak in fatal damage with clones or otherwise. Even a kunai to the back of the neck proved to be ineffectual in putting down this monstrosity.
The sannin was growing progressively more frustrated, but his interest was piqued. Whatever regeneration jutsu this thing was using, it was extremely powerful to be able to shrug off wounds that would have killed anyone else. The transformation that accompanied it was likewise very interesting- a lot of attacks simply bounced off of him while in it, and the strength of the axe throws increased even more. He wanted this man for his research, but unfortunately, that looked to be a complete impossibility at this time. None of the damage he did to his adversary stuck, and while Orochimaru had plenty of chakra, the battle was dragging on to the point where he was exhausting even this supply. It was, perhaps, time to beat a retreat.
Even as he thought this, though, he realized that it was a mistake to battle inside Iwa wall. Iwa nin were beginning to stream in to deal with the emergency, and it was doubtful that Orochimaru could handle both his current opponent and squad upon squad of Iwa ninja. Fortunately, though, not only was he exceptionally good at making an exit, he had ample opportunity to do it now. Casting a Fire Dragon jutsu at Krieg, he jumped up past the walls.
Predictably, the Fire Dragon hit Krieg head on and ignited him. Krieg transformed, and bellowing in rage, blew a hole through a weakened wall with an axe equipped with dynamite. The Iwa ninja attempted to follow him, but their attacks bounced off of him and triggered homing fireballs that were nearly impossible to dodge. Several of the attending ninja were incinerated, and the leading jounin raised his hand to stop the pursuit. They could not afford to waste any more ninja capturing Krieg, and Orochimaru was a lost cause.
Orochimaru slowed his pace upon losing the chakra signatures of the berserker and the Iwa ninja. He stopped for a while- he began to feel a strain upon his chakra reserves and physical state, so he needed to stop somewhere for the night. He slept lightly, so it was unlikely that anyone would discover him unawares. He went some distance first, taking care to cover his tracks this time, and began to settle in for the night. It seemed that the berserker had different plans, though, because despite his meticulous eliminating of the evidence it seemed that his adversary had followed him and found him by blind luck.
Orochimaru sighed internally and departed again at his running pace. He could not keep it for long, but the enemy was slow- he moved somewhat faster than the maximum capacity of a civilian, but it was still nowhere near the speeds Orochimaru easily reached. Before long, he lost his enemy's chakra signature again, and began to erase signs and switching directions. He did this for some time before finding himself satisfied with his work. Then, he set a few precautionary alarms (not that he needed them) and put his head against a root. Then, on command, he was asleep.
Meanwhile, Krieg's bloodlust faded as he realized he would not be catching up to his prey- the strange man with the long hair was much faster than Krieg. He was alone again, in the middle of a forest with nowhere to go. His inner personality realized that whatever psychic suggestions he had been put under were still there, but what he did not know was whether they could be remotely controlled.
Regardless, his dominant personality was receiving powerful signals from them again- this time to go in a seemingly random direction. Although they seemed to be quite vivid in the insane's side mind, he himself could not see them. He did not know whether it was a long trip or not, and caught himself hoping it wouldn't be too long. After all, he still held out some hope of going home, and hopefully, these commands would eventually expire and he would be on his own. Eventually, he might stumble upon some sort of method of going home. Perhaps not. But he might instead find himself with someone who could make him kill the right people, and that would be splendid as well. Really, justice was justice regardless of where it was administered, no? There was plenty of bad people wherever he went.
For now, though, he had to follow the masked man's psychic suggestions. He would resist to the utmost if they involved the slaughter of any innocents, and he would not hesitate to attempt to end his own life if it came to that. He hoped that the masked man saw that when he looked into his mind.
Orochimaru did not get to rest along. He awoke to sensing two chakra signatures, two very familiar chakra signatures. They were returning from some important joint mission or another- it was simply stupid of the Leaf Village to have sent them out at all. Perhaps Konoha would not have fallen with their assistance.
He had felt something for them once, but not anymore. The only use their existence could bring to him now was their use as pawns, and that was exactly was Orochimaru intended to bring about with this chance meeting. Ideally, they could be convinced to work for him- but that was not entirely likely. He had no jutsu on hand to permanently manipulate their minds like that (he certainly couldn't subdue them both in this state), and they would never agree to his ideals. No matter. They were powerful ninja (not as powerful as Orochimaru, of course) and powerful ninja who thought of one as an ally were useful.
He thought about suppressing his chakra signature, but tired as he was, that was not likely to be successful. Better that they find him here, and take pity on his current state. It would make them more vulnerable to suggestion. They already probably detected him, anyway. He took a kunai and traced it against his skin, giving him some more wounds in order to help create the appearance of a wounded man. Knowing what little he did of medical ninjutsu, he healed himself somewhat to throw suspicion off of the fresh wounds.
Jiraiya and Tsunade did not take the sight of their wounded teammate well. Tsunade rushed to his side to heal him while both peppered him with questions.
"What happened to you, Orochimaru?!"
"Are you alright?"
"Who did you fight with?"
"Is everything alright at the village?"
Orochimaru lifted his bloody hand to stop the inquisitive barrage.
"Relax, I'm fine. I was in a battle with Iwa forces- Konoha has been completely overrun. The resistance is in the Land of the Rice Fields, I set up a small base there. Hiruzen told me that when I see you, I should tell you two to gather intelligence about the patrols of Iwa ninja around Konoha. Those are going to be invaluable to the resistance. After about a month, you should head over to the coordinates I can mark on your map."
Orochimaru made several pauses saying this, taking care to look a bit shell-shocked while carefully gauging the reactions of his former teammates. Tsunade looked aggrieved and almost terrified. She was probably thinking of losing Dan, the damn fool. Didn't she know that such bonds made her weaker? Jiraiya, on the other hand, remained shocked. Orochimaru was honestly surprised he didn't stand there gaping like a fool with his mouth open. It certainly would be within the buffoon's character. Jiraiya spoke up.
"How… the entire village was taken?"
Orochimaru nodded wordlessly and took care to appear almost apologetic.
"How is Dan? Is he alright? Do you know anything about what happened to him in all this chaos?"
This, of course, was Tsunade. Orochimaru thought for a split second, then answered in a disarming voice:
"He's at the camp, perfectly safe and sound. I saw him escape practically unharmed myself. You should perform the mission Hiruzen assigned before coming to see him- Dan would be terribly disappointed if you disobeyed a direct order just to see him."
Tsunade wavered for a moment, clearly conflicted. Finally, she relented and her shoulders slumped. Such displays of emotion from professional ninja made Orochimaru sick.
"Alright, we'll do as you say. Jiraiya?"
Jiraiya, gathering himself, nodded resolutely.
"Absolutely, we will get on it at once."
As he watched them leave, Orochimaru smiled. It was so easy to manipulate those two- the amount of trust they put in him made them as simple as civilians. He put his head back down
and fell asleep- he would need his chakra for the journey ahead.
Upon arrival at the village outskirts, Tsunade and Jiraiya had decided to split up. Now Tsunade was alone, dangerously close to the walls. She was, in fact, in far greater danger than she realized. A masked man crouched in a tree above her, seamlessly suppressing his chakra in order to observe her unhindered. He knew of this woman. She was one of the "legendary" sannin, and she was highly attached to someone named Dan. Thanks to White Zetsu, Madara had not remained ignorant of the outside world. Now, stopping his return to his base to observe this woman, he almost wished he had not received news.
This woman was supposed to be powerful? Her infiltration, if nothing else, was sloppy. She was cloaked in a mere henge, easily detectable by any powerful ninja. She stuck close to the walls, taking cover in the trees. Anyone looking over the wall for any decent period of time was practically guaranteed to spot her. She suppressed her chakra but only about at jounin level, nothing more. It was almost painful to watch how pathetic to watch a supposedly S-rank ninja perform at a low jounin level.
This was what the Hidden Leaf had devolved to? Not only did they send one of their more powerful ninja out of the village in a time of war, this ninja did a terrible job at stealth. Madara shook his head inwardly. She did not deserve her S-rank. He cast a relatively undetectable genjutsu that showed her her greatest fear.
He watched her eyes widen as she, carelessly dropping her henge, screamed and ran over to cradle an invisible corpse in her arms. Madara watched her suffering in vindictive amusement, and detected the chakra signatures of several Iwa ninja coming to investigate the scream.
Realizing she was in an extremely vulnerable state, he cast another genjutsu that silently dulled her senses so she would not notice the Iwa ninja until she was surrounded.
In a few moments, it happened. The Iwa ninja had called for backup and when an Iwa jounin held a kunai to her throat, then Madara broke both genjutsu. Tsunade looked up like a lost puppy, with tears streaming down her red and puffy face. The shock on her face was a priceless expression as the Iwa jounin declared her arrest as an enemy of the state. Chakra suppressing seals were quickly applied to her, her state of shock being too great for her to offer even token resistance. As she was led away, Madara disappeared unnoticed.
When Minato was summoned to the meeting of the village elders, he only gave a grim nod to Kushina before using Hiraishin to teleport away. Kushina was left alone, eating the simple meal that the village had provided for her. It was hard food, not appetizing or even altogether too filling, but it got the job done. She rubbed her temples in worry. How did this happen? Why did this happen? Did the Kami even care?
She got up, leaving the rest of the food on the table. The worried mother that had supplied the food gratefully took the leftovers off of her hands, as she herself had not gotten anything to eat at all that day. Kushina gave her an absent-minded smile and went out of the cabin door. Perhaps she would barge in to that meeting Minato was summoned to… yes, that was a good idea- whatever mission he would be sent on, she wanted to go as well.
None of the three ninja seated at the table in the village hall batted an eyelid at Minato's arrival. All of them had grown quite used to his unique method of arrival long ago. Danzo, after finishing his sentence, looked up at Minato, who was standing at attention.
"Minato, first, I am acting Hokage until the village is recaptured. In the event of my death, you are to take over. Understood?"
Minato calmly nodded and replied that he did.
"Second, I am telling you this in advance, before I announce it to the forces assembled here, because you are to be sent on a reconnaissance mission shortly and will not be able to hear it. You are to infiltrate the Hidden Leaf Village using your Hiraishin and gather information about their supply lines, the size of the forces in the village, patrol routes, and whatever you can find about the purple energy that the Iwa ninja are using. All of these documents should be in the Hokage tower, else in whatever structure the Iwa ninja are using to store their information. Do not be seen, and remember that your life is more valuable to us than the information is. Any questions?"
Minato wordlessly took in this briefing and mulled it over a moment. Everything seemed to be in order, but another matter had concerned him before he had teleported over here.
"May I ask a question unrelated to the mission at hand, Lord Hokage?"
Danzo showed no emotion, but permitted Minato's question.
"We have relocated from Anzen, and as such, Tsunade and my teacher Jiraiya upon return from their mission will be unable to locate the government in exile. They are without a doubt valuable assets to the village- how will we locate them?"
Koharu spoke up.
"Relax, Minato, we have dispatched a few ninja at a few points in the path that they should be taking back to the village. Unless they returned very early and already arrived at the village, they should be back with us within a few days."
Minato silently swallowed his unshakeable bad premonition about the remaining loyal Sannin, and merely thanked his superiors for the information. He Hiraishined away to pick up his supplies.
The Hokage tower was miraculously almost undamaged. Most of the battle had taken place outdoors, and nobody had targeted the tower except in a race for the information hidden inside. As such, the walls that guarded the information reserve were blown wide open, but little else was touched.
It hurt Minato's heart to see Iwa ninja walk the halls of his home, though. This was where he was born and raised; where he trained and battled; where he laughed and loved. It was absolutely awful to see it not belong to him anymore. It made him sick to the stomach, and strengthened his resolve to recapture his village from the invaders. After all, this is where he made his first friend, where all of his friends came from; where he had his first kiss, where he graduated and rose
through the ranks. All of this was behind him for the moment.
But he had not come here to muse. He had come here for information, and he intended to make good on that. With the information vault exposed to the elements, they must have hidden their own plans elsewhere in the tower. Minato, continuing to suppress his chakra, stealthily avoided a chuunin running to deliver papers.
Something about that chuunin piqued Minato's attention. He was in a great hurry, nearly tripping over himself (in wartime, kids were promoted rather before they were ready) and clutching the papers to himself as if there were spies everywhere looking to catch a glimpse (which, to be fair, Minato WAS one right now). Minato checked the area for any more chakra signatures and followed the chuunin at an appreciable difference. After all, Minato knew the tower- he wouldn't get lost.
The Earth nin darted into the Hokage's office, now in all probability populated by the Tsuchikage. Minato hesitated for a moment; Oonoki was an exceptionally skilled ninja that posed a very real risk of detection for the jounin. But Minato decided to risk it, since there seemed to be no chakra signatures in the room besides a jounin level ninja and the chuunin.
Minato entered very cautiously, undetected by both of the room's occupants. The jounin was covered in a shaw, and not an inch of skin was showing on his body. His voice, though, was deep but rather young.
"Have you retrieved the files on the location of Anzen?"
The chuunin bowed deeply.
"Yes, Lord Tsuchikage."
Minato started and nearly broke cover. Lord Tsuchikage? That wasn't Oonoki; what happened to
Oonoki?!
"Good, good. Fetch me Hayato, then."
The chuunin handed over the papers, bowed deeply again, and nearly sprinted out of the office. Minato caught a glimpse of the papers; thankfully, it seemed that the Konoha resistance had changed locations just in time. However, it was surprising and frightening that documents of that sensitive nature were left in the Hokage Tower. It seemed that whoever grabbed the documents during the battle did not do a very thorough job.
Minato slipped out of the office and continued his search for the documents; he dared not use the Hariashin lest he teleport himself atop an Iwa ninja that could set off an alarm. He skulked through the hallways for quite some time; Minato estimated that he already spent at least forty-five minutes just checking different rooms…
Shibito, still in his bandages, suddenly stopped while walking the halls of the Hokage Tower. Cloaking his chakra, he decided to investigate his bad feeling about the room that he had set up as the information room. Although he had the most secure of available seals guarding the room along with a guard, it would not hurt to check up on it. It was just the next hallway over, anyway. He had to dismiss his feeling of discomfort in moving in so many bandages; he was not used to it. But the purple metal lining the inside was excellent armor and a chakra battery.
The guard near the door was absent, but the seal on the door appeared to be in place. As such, Shibito was only slightly alarmed as he approached the entrance. He drew a bit of blood to open the seal, but nothing happened. His alarm rising, he tried again, to no avail. Finally just opening the door with the handle, he crept into the room to find the Yellow Flash himself with his back turned, along with the body of his guard. The bastard must have killed him, broke the seal, and disguised the seal as if it was not broken.
Shibito, enraged, made an Earth Spear and attempted to impale the Konoha ninja through the chest before his presence was detected. Unfortunately, it seemed that the Yellow Flash had gotten what he wanted, because he teleported out just as the spear was about to penetrate his chest.
The newly-minted Tsuchikage was furious. He stormed over to the mess of nonvital documents the Flash had left behind, but could not identify what was missing beyond the obvious ones like patrol routes and the information on the purple metal. He would have to change the former, at least. Suddenly, a glint of metal in the afternoon sun caught his eye. It was a kunai with the Hiraishin symbol, with a little engraving on it. Looking closer, he found it to be the name of a town- Seiiki. Shibito could only smile.
Tsunade awoke with a greatly clouded mind. As the drugs continued to wear off, her vision returned. She was in a dank cell with two strange men standing over her, probably her interrogators. One was heavily bandaged, while the other wore a specialized Iwa vest and headgear. The latter held a kunai in his hand.
Tsunade felt shackles on her wrists and her ankles and realized that they were suppressing the chakra flow to her extremities, since otherwise she could easily break them off with her super strength. The cell itself was rather dark and musty, but it was not altogether the worst prison she had seen. Konoha had the funds to prevent mold from growing in its cells, since the last thing that any prison with high value occupants wanted was for those occupants to die of some fungus-related infection. Regardless, the floor was still hard and uncomfortable. She felt a strange pain in her forehead, as well... The kunai-wielder spoke up as he noticed that Tsunade had awoken.
"Well, well, well, if it isn't the legendary Konoha medic-nin, recently experiencing a fit of
psychosis right outside our walls. How are you today, Tsunade?"
The man's sadistic, taunting smile made Tsunade sick to the stomach and she felt a flare of rage despite her current condition.
"Screw you, Iwa bastard! Where is Dan?!"
Her two captors exchanged a glance and a smile. The kunai-wielder opened his mouth again.
"Don't worry Tsunade, he will be perfectly safe as long as you cooperate with us."
"Where is he? I want to see him!"
The kunai-wielder shook his head.
"I'm afraid that's impossible, dear. He's currently being… ah, operated upon in our medical
center."
Tsunade looked at it him as if he had grown a second head.
"You're denying ME the right to see a patient?"
The bandaged man threw a scalding glance in the direction of the kunai-wielder, and the latter recoiled as if struck. He quickly collected himself.
"You will see him if you cooperate with us."
Tsunade shrewdly glanced at her captors again, gauging their temperaments.
"If you don't let me see him, why should I cooperate with you?"
The bandaged man made a handseal, one that Tsunade recognized in an instant as she felt a splitting, unbearable pain in her head. She writhed in immense pain for a moment, but did not scream. After that moment, it was over. Tsunade limply hung from her shackles, but the kunai-wielder was not fooled.
"Come now, Tsunade, you have a greater pain tolerance than that. Look at me."
Obediently, Tsunade lifted her head. Her eyes were full of hatred, but the interrogator was more than accustomed to that sort of look from his prisoners. He squatted down so he was at eye level with her.
"Look, Tsunade, you know you're completely in our hands. You WILL work for us, or the Caged Bird Seal will be used on both you and Dan. Regularly."
Tsunade slumped her shoulders in defeat.
"What would you have me do?"
Back in the Konoha headquarters, Danzo and the two advisors continued their discussion of further action when they were interrupted by a knock at the door. Danzo signaled for the guard to let in the newcomer, and Kushina brazenly walked through the door.
"Where is Minato? I want to go on his mission with him!"
Homura stood up.
"Insolent whelp! You cannot just barge in here and demand to accompany our most powerful asset on his mission! You are in the presence of the new Hokage, so stand at attention, request permission to speak, and only then may you pose any questions that might be troubling your inexperienced mind!"
Kushina bristled at the insult but decided to stand down before she landed herself into greater trouble with the ruling party.
"Permission to speak?" she uttered through clenched teeth.
"Permission granted." said Danzo in an even, untroubled voice.
"May I accompany jounin Minato on his mission to ensure his safety?"
Koharu shook his head.
"Young lady, Minato already left on his reconnaissance mission and should be back shortly. If you wish, we can direct him to you after he returns, but I doubt that will be necessary. Now, if you please, we are conducting an important meeting here."
Begrudgingly, Kushina bowed and left the town hall. Deciding to go blow off some steam through training, she went to the makeshift training ground that had been set up and concealed a short distance from the village.
There, she found her boyfriend's pupil, one Kakashi Hatake, furiously stabbing at a practice dummy. He slightly started at her presence, but concealed it well and did not even turn around to acknowledge her. A little bit peeved at Kakashi's wilful ignorance of her presence, Kushina picked up a dulled kunai from the training ground and threw it at him. To Kakashi's credit, he dodged. Unfortunately, he could not dodge Kushina's fourth throw because he refused to turn around and use his Sharingan, probably out of pride. The red-haired jounin threw fast, after all.
The dulled kunai his Kakashi square on the back of the head. He was pushed forward by the blow, nearly losing his balance. He turned angrily around as soon as he recovered.
"Why are you throwing kunai at me?!"
Kushina smiled victoriously.
"I don't like being ignored, little Hatake."
His muscles twitched to stomp his foot on the ground and Kushina nearly burst out laughing.
"Well, what do you want? Can't you see I'm training here?"
Kushina actually laughed this time.
"You call THAT training, kid? Let me show you training."
She pulled out two kunai from her pouch- these were definitely not dulled. Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise, but did not have time to think before she threw both at him at rapid speeds.
As he dodged, Kushina smiled a very predatory smile.
"Let's spar, kid."
Kushina's "sparring" session with Kakashi was cut short as a ninja Body Flickered to their location.
"The Lord Hokage immediately requests all ninja to the village square."
As the ninja Body Flickered away, Kushina and Kakashi exchanged a glance as Kushina went popped the clones she was about to use to tie up Kakashi. Lord Hokage?
The assembly of all available ninja was not the most efficient idea imaginable, as many ninja had to adhere to walls and roofs of buildings just in order to fit. This bothered Danzo little, as he had to have everyone in one place in order to properly announce his appointment as acting Hokage and the immediate plans for the future. Danzo hated publicity, but there was little choice right now. It was either him or Minato, and Danzo did not believe in Minato's leadership ability yet. Perhaps when the man was out of his twenties. He cleared his throat and used chakra to project his voice to the entire assembly. As he began speaking, a dead silence fell over the crowd. Few people in the Hidden Leaf village did not respect Danzo, and those at the very least feared him.
"Hello, ninja of our displaced home. As you all know, this is a time of crisis. A dark time in our history, the first and only time we have lost the control of out Hidden Village to outside invaders. There is no need to panic, and there is no need to despair. On the contrary, actually- our need right now is to be level-headed and determined. There is no more room for error, there is no more room for bartering or mercy. If we are to shake off the disgrace we have brought upon our ancestors by losing our home, we must recapture it; in order to recapture it, we must be stronger and smarter than the enemy. We have an enormous advantage on our side. We are Konoha ninja; we are already stronger and smarter than the enemy. We lost to their invading force because of a strange chakra-imbued metal; however, Iwa shall find that her children, even armed with chakra to spare, are no match for the determined ninja of the Hidden Leaf."
Danzo paused, and there was a torrent of applause from all over the village square.
"We have lost our Third Hokage, an individual near and dear to all of our hearts. Although we will miss our wise leader, we must move on without him. I am now acting Hokage. Refer to me as Lord Hokage, and treat me as you treated the Third. We will begin retaking our village soon; no ninja from this point on are to exhaust themselves on the minimal rations that are available to us here. Conserve your strength; with it, you shall get back your home."
There was another torrent of applause, and Danzo, along with the two advisors, went back into the village hall as the rest of the ninja scattered among whatever activities they were doing. Danzo sent for a messenger ninja, and that ninja was told to bring several individuals of note to the village hall.
They arrived one by one, and Danzo appraised them with his good eye. None of them seemed to be particularly exhausted; all were prepped for the skirmishes he was about to send them into. Even more pleasingly, all of them stood correctly at attention, even Kushina Uzumaki. He began to speak to the assembled ninja.
"You are all to be sent on a collective mission to skirmish at the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf village, at any locations that you choose and in any manner that you choose to approach it. Your goal is to determine the strength of Iwa's defense of our village. Your priority is to minimize casualties; if you begin to get overwhelmed, retreat. With each squad of five there shall be at least two people who can help all of you disengage should that be necessary, and at least one medical ninja. The teams and their leaders are as follows: "
Kakashi looked around at the ninja that were assembled with him. There were, in fact, several ninja that he knew; he was curious as to why genin-level ninja were present, but he laid the fact to rest in his mind. There were several clan members, as well. It was actually a very curious amalgamation of ninja. However, there did seem to be some reasoning with how the squads were apportioned. Kakashi found himself paired with Minato (naturally, the team leader), Shikaku, Shibi, and Rin. Meanwhile, Danzo had finished assigning teams.
"You have your teams and your assignments. Go, now, and do Konoha justice."
In the land of Rice Fields, Orochimaru had already arrived at his lair. It was a small building, an abandoned school building in the middle of a destroyed town. The school was the building most intact in the town, which is why Orochimaru decided to set up a base of operations in it as opposed to anywhere else. There were only a few running experiments at the moment- he had brought the most promising test subjects for Wood Release over as well as prototypical work on a seal that would allow him to control the mind of whoever was sealed. Finally, and most importantly, there was as much… Eridium, as he could find. There was so much work to be done in so little time.
The school building itself was nothing special, even for a ruined building. Orochimaru had long cleared away the desks that only got in his way, only keeping a few that could still stand as storage containers for his research. Thus, it was a dusty, wide one-room structure. Three caged children lay unconscious in the corner away from the door and to the right; next to them along the right wall was an operating table. There wasn't any blood on it yet, since he had just pilfered it from a nearby hospital. Operating instruments lay on the table, instead. On the other side of the room were the desks, most prominently the one with seal schematics on it. To the left and to the right of the door were piles of Eridium. The windows were all boarded shut, and near the desks was a chalkboard, waiting to be filled with more seal schematics.
Orochimaru hadn't yet figured out whether he wanted to use Jiraiya and Tsunade as test subjects or as mind-controlled pawns after he subdued Jiraiya and Tsunade using Eridium-fueled techniques and weaponry. Though, his work on his seal was not yet complete, and was actually a good deal away from it. Actually, the solution to his dilemma was very simple and Orochimaru scolded himself for not thinking of it earlier: he could capture them as test subjects and keep them as prisoners until the seal was ready. After all, it was stupid to think of them as particularly enduring test subjects when they could be particularly powerful pawns.
That meant focusing on the Eridium as a means of empowering himself in order to take down his former teammates. Although he was loathe to admit it, it was not likely he could take on both of them without its assistance, so the question was how much Eridium was needed- and how to apply it. Holding the purple metal, he felt in it a great chakra-interactive power, one that promised so much more potential than a brute empowerment. Of course, that brute empowerment completely crushed the defenses of his old village, so perhaps it was not without merit. Still, there was much more that could be done with it.
He had a week of preparation time and he was definitely going to put it to good use. Carefully, almost reverently, Orochimaru lifted a piece of Eridium from the pile and put in on the operating table. After spending about an hour casting different kinds of jutsu on it and writing down the results, he came to the conclusion that all of it was empowered about the same way, with the chakra turning purple and coming out in a much more potent manner. Orochimaru nearly lost a finger to the E-rank wind ninjutsu he cast on it. The air from said jutsu actually lingered in the air, radiating a purple light. Orochimaru breathed it in and felt the same high as if he injected chakra directly into the metal. He cast a water jutsu on it from a water barrel outside, and the water remained purple. Experimentally, he poured some poison into it.
The result was a strange purple mixture of a different texture. He dipped his finger into it, and suddenly felt the affected area become a lot more fragile. As he removed his finger from the liquid, he snagged a splinter; it penetrated deep into his finger and a lot of blood oozed out. As the blood mixed with the Eridium, the blood dissolved into the air. Orochimaru was fascinated; this experimentation was beginning to require human test subjects. He glanced at the unconscious children in the corner and shook his head; they would not do. They already had Wood Release in their genetics; he wanted to see what would turn out of that. Orochimaru bandaged his finger and exited his makeshift laboratory in the direction of the nearest village. It was time to acquire… scientific materials.
Jiraiya had no idea where Tsunade went, but he could only hope that the worst did not happen. He had searched for her for quite a while during the past few days, attempting to regroup with her in order to exchange information. She was never in their agreed meeting spot. In retrospect, she was not terribly skilled in infiltration; it was definitely not her strongest suite. It was probably a mistake to so readily agree with her that she should participate in surveillance. He really, really hoped nothing bad happened to her.
Regardless, though, the surveillance seemed to be a success. He already had an in-depth knowledge of patrol routes on the walls and outside the village, and calculated the proper paths and times of attack that should be taken in order to ensure success. He knew what he was doing. It was, in all probability, time to head back to base. Orochimaru had marked some far-off location in the Land of Rice Fields; it was an incredibly odd place to set up shop but Jiraiya trusted his teammate implicitly, even though he was acting oddly for a while before Jiraiya's departure for his mission.
He would stick around a few more days, though; he was told a week and Jiraiya was used to following orders from his higher-ups. Carefully changing the tree that he was hiding in, Jiraiya started down the road back to his makeshift camp when he heard the gates of Konoha open. That concerned him, so he turned around and followed the path back to a position from which he could view the front gate. The sight nearly made him fall out of his perch.
About one hundred ninja were departing from the gates of Iwa, each of them armed to the teeth and well integrated into a squad structure. There seemed to be a mix of jounin, chuunin, and genin; a heavily bandaged man that Jiraiya did not recognize led the charge. This was a small invading force. Where they were headed, the observer in the trees could not tell; but his gut told him that something ultimately tragic was about to happen. Then he spotted Tsunade among them, branded with the Caged Bird Seal; he had to physically restrain himself from jumping out of the trees and attempting to rescue her. Attacking that many ninja alone was tantamount to suicide. He allowed the army to get a good lead on him before he silently tree-hopped toward them. He had to rescue Tsunade and get that seal off of her.
