Sealkeeper: He who Binds
Chapter 157-A "Large Nest"
Patron Release 2022.04.13
Having left his other self to go through the clothes he'd obtained for his last body– and feeling only a little jealous that she still got to wear it – Orochimaru returned his focus to other matters. Not out of choice so much as necessity, as he would have to give the other Orochimaru– she needed another name. He was the only Orochimaru –time to see how long she actually lasted.
His intuition told him that with the success he'd already had in the matter that it really was permanent but nothing like this had ever been done before– as far as he was aware, anyway –so while he didn't– wouldn't –doubt himself he still recognized the wisdom in at least holding back long enough to confirm what he already knew to be true.
It was only the fact that this could, then, technically be used by Naruto at a later date that allowed him to manage such restraint. Sure, it was already working for Orochimaru but thorough testing would have to be conducted to cover all aspects of the technique– come to think of it, that needed a name now, too. Damnit. He hated coming up with names –before he would let Naruto make use of it.
For his own safety, of course, though he was also aware that he wasn't capable of telling the prince no. If it was requested, it would be provided. Orochimaru wanted it as safe as possible before the young Daimyo even entertained the idea of making use of it and, because Orochimaru didn't know all the projects Naruto had in the works, there was no telling if he already had something that could make use of this.
The whole project would have to remain under wraps for now, something that didn't really sit right with the Snake Sannin. Not only could he not share his success with his prince, he very well could be denying him something he currently required. Orochimaru didn't like to think about that.
Better off to remain completely ignorant for now and just hope Naruto didn't have something in the works. Hopefully he'd be able to make use of this just the same later, after it was deemed risk free.
Well, there would be use, of course. This was the first step in granting his beloved godson the immortality he so richly deserved. He would have to make use of it to change bodies at some point. It might not be anytime soon- Naruto seemed quite comfortable in his existing body, after all- but at some point he would need to move into something younger again.
That was probably for the best, too, because it would give Orochimaru time to make sure these bodies of his lasted for as long as possible. They shouldn't have to deal with age but there was always a chance that could end up causing other problems down the line too. Of course, that could be worked around by switching bodies more often but Orochimaru really would hate to inconvenience Naruto with that.
He should only have to switch bodies if he wanted to switch bodies, he didn't want to put him in a situation that forced him to do so regularly as Orochmaru had this last decade.
Fortunately Orochimaru had plenty of time to make sure that wasn't an issue which meant he could afford to take a break for a few days from the project he really wanted to focus on to go back to some of the others.
Two sacrifices, for instance, had not changed the fact that the Jutsu he'd come up with still took the life of the user. He had no idea why. He'd have to try having the new spirit– Orochimaru had just named them Atamo for the time being. He really hated naming things –perform the summoning next, assuming he could teach him– Her? It? –the Jutsu. After that maybe he'd move onto the Kage Bunshin and see what happened to a regular Kage-Bunshin and then a Kage Bunshin in a physical body.
That is, he suspected, what had separated his own Kage Bunshin from being exactly like him. Kage Bunshin were entities of Chakra and, as everyone knew, Chakra was the combined physical and mental energies of a person. The first Kage Bunshin, then, was made up in Orochimaru's image and out of Orochimaru's self.
And then he'd changed the physical aspect by giving it a body of its own. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was enough to be noticeable. It's also the only explanation he could come up with to explain the change. Maybe if he was in the body first and then let the Kage Bunshin take it over it wouldn't change, because the body would already be tuned to his existence? Then again, maybe not.
Reflecting back on his other changes, he'd always felt slightly different in the other bodies, too. At first he thought it was, perhaps, a difference in the chemical balances for each person and a matter of their health when he took over but it was possible there was more to it than that.
Or that was exactly the difference and he had just underestimated it all this time. Equally likely.
His thoughts were interrupted as Kabuto met him in the hallway. The young man wasn't exactly running but his steps were obviously hurried, folds of paper waved near his head to draw Orochimaru's eye.
"Orochimaru-Sama!" He called. "My apologies for interrupting-" As the man was walking down the hallways most who didn't know him may have been confused by Kabuto's words but Orochimaru's right hand had spent more than enough time to know that even if his master wasn't physically doing anything he was probably thinking about something important. It was those thoughts that Kabuto was already apologizing for intruding upon. Smart man. "-But I felt you would want this to be brought to your attention immediately."
"And what would that be?" While Orochimaru's tone may have implied doubt enough to make lesser subordinantes immediately rethink their claims, in reality he did trust Kabuto's competence enough to know what was truly important and what could be pushed off until later. If he was bringing it to his attention Orochimaru had no doubt it was something he might want to be aware of.
"A message from Overseer Jirobo." He handed over papers- open, of course. The only letters Kabuto wouldn't look into were those from Naruto. Those he would already know Orochimaru deemed important enough to be interrupted with – and stepped to the side immediately so Orochimaru could continue down the hall without breaking stride.
Kabuto fell into step behind him, another sign that this was important. He was anticipating orders to come from whatever Jirobo had wanted to bring to Orochimaru's attention.
"Oh? Let's take a look, then." And he did. Reading as he walked, he didn't worry about running into anyone else. Not just because he was an S-Ranked Shinobi but because there was no one around who would dare stand in his path if they saw him approaching.
Well, besides maybe Wolves but any of those seeking him out here was probably a messenger or otherwise had instructions to seek him out directly.
He skimmed the pages at first, already knowing a lot of it would be there simply to make his overseer look good, and instead focused on a few key notes to get the general gist of the report. Normally this would be enough and the details wouldn't really be important. For instance, knowing that another present for Naruto was on its way and with an escort of Wolves, no less, was good to know but he didn't need to know who was a part of it exactly and when it would be arriving. Knowing that things were being gathered to supplement the gift, too, showed that Jirobo was taking his duties seriously but Orochimaru didn't need to know what those things actually were.
He didn't even know what the gift was. Either he had missed it in his skimming or Jirobo had decided to leave it a surprise. That was fine, he didn't need to know that either. If it wasn't suitable when Naruto received it Jirobo would be punished. It was as simple as that.
What did catch his attention, though, was the fact that Iwa and Taki were mentioned in the second half and Orochimaru found himself stopping in the middle of the hallway to give the message the attention it deserved.
Iwagakure was moving troops through Taki? A small group splitting off to Takigakure wasn't too important but the fact that Iwa was heading South-East towards Hi no Kuni most certainly was. Ōnoki was up to something, that was obvious, and that meant Naruto probably needed to be made aware of it in case it conflicted with some of his own plans.
"Very good, Kabuto, we'll see to this immediately." He handed the report back to his second and it was retrieved without hesitation. It would end up on his desk later, he was sure, but there was no need for him to be carrying it around. Kabuto understood that, well trained in Orochimaru's mannerisms as he was. "Have a squad sent out to confirm this, I want to know exactly where they're going and some reliable numbers to pass on."
"Of course, Orochimaru-Sama. Shall I have word sent to Tsukuyomi-Sama?" Technically that should have been Tsukuyomi-Dono if Kabuto worked for anyone else, but Orochimaru was very clear that he considered himself and all his forces as belonging to the lord of the Wolves already and that made him Kabuto's direct superior rather than a foreign lord.
"He will be informed," Orochimaru waved him off. "I have someone in mind for that. I'll see to it."
Orochimaru didn't have to look behind him to know Kabuto would have bent forward slightly to sketch a shallow bow as he continued to keep pace with his master. "As you wish. I'll select a reliable recon squad at once."
Using his left hand to give a dismissive gesture, he could hear Kabuto's footsteps break away to see to his new duty. It really was hard to find good help, he was glad he had Kabuto to rely on. Of course, he was also aware that Jundo– that water sprite he'd managed to summon – had slipped from his watch recently but he'd wait to bring that up when he wasn't busy seeing to more important things.
Serious matters for Tsukuyomi came before tormenting subordinates, his prince had already reminded him of that lesson once.
It was probably in Kabuto's favor that Orochimaru knew Gaara was in the company of the sprite these days too and she didn't seem to have any intention of leaving him either. Kabuto would have been in much more trouble if they couldn't find her at all and in even more should she have truly snuck away with Naruto as his second no doubt suspected.
He'd let the young man stew in that worry for a while more, that was probably punishment enough.
Not that Orochimaru would be letting that limit him, of course. Tormenting his help- even the good help- was one of his favorite pastimes.
Continuing down the hallway, Orochimaru eventually broke off into one of the spare rooms. Well, previously spare rooms. The other him– her –was stood in the middle of the room completely naked as she sorted through the pile of clothes that surrounded her. Orochimaru took a moment to appreciate his work. He'd really done a damn fine job with that body, he hoped Naruto felt the same.
Knocking on the door, he proceeded without being invited in. The other Orochimaru spun around, her hands already moving to cover herself.
"I built that body." Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "The only one who's ever going to know it more intimately than myself is Naruto at some point, covering yourself isn't going to do anything."
She frowned at him. "That still doesn't mean I want you looking."
"Just get dressed in something, I'm sending you out."
"Out?"
"I just received important news. A squad will be sent out to confirm things and gather more details but I don't want to wait before informing Naruto. I'm sending you to pass it on." He paused. "And to get his opinion on your body, I suppose." Rubbing Sasuke's chin in thought he added; "Probably a name, too. We're better off giving you one he likes anyway, might as well let him pick it."
Naturally, she focused on the important part. "I get to see Naruto-Kun?!" Her eyes brightened considerably and he wasn't sure she would be able to wipe the brilliant smile of her face had she wanted to.
"You do," He confirmed. Lucky bitch. "You'll be staying with him, too, unless he says otherwise. I don't think I have to tell you to be on your best behavior, do I?"
That earned him a scowl. "Of course not, I know to be good for Naruto-Kun." The scowl was quickly replaced by a wicked grin. "Or as naughty as he needs me to be."
Damn. He really had done a good job, hadn't he?
There was a scramble in the hallway outside his private study. Normally Iroh would ignore it– usually it was the result of servants running into each other or someone realizing they were late for something –but his attention moved towards it when someone knocked on his door. It was well known that he was to be left alone when he had retreated to his private study and it was a rare day indeed when someone ignored that.
Either someone new to the palace wasn't yet aware- in which case they shouldn't be anywhere near this part of the palace in the first place –or there was something important enough to demand his attention anyway.
"Enter." He commanded. Iroh didn't feel like relocating at the moment, no matter how much he hated to bring the everyday troubles of the palace into his sanctuary. Hopefully it was something that, even if important, could be quickly dealt with.
He quickly lost that hope when one of his head servants entered alongside Commander Hatsumari. As the man holding the highest position of Iroh's Samurai army– not an entirely accurate name, as the army of Hi no Kuni was not made up solely of his Samurai forces– his presence could only indicate a matter of grave importance.
Iroh had little doubt it would be something worth the entirety of his attention for the immediate future.
"What is it?"
"Tsuchi no Kuni, my lord." Answered the servant. Probably the elder Korikawa, Noima, but he'd confused him with his brother Nanji plenty of times before. "Takigakure reports that a squad of Iwa Shinobi were making their way to their village and they have reason to believe a larger force is heading South-West into Hi no Kuni."
That did not sound good. Not good at all. Iroh's immediate gut feeling was that this was, quite possibly, the very beginning of the next Shinobi World War. Was this a result of him extending Hi no Kuni's reach too far too fast or had he just figured out where Tsukuyomi had vanished to?
He didn't think either option was any more comforting than the other.
"Reason to believe?" He asked after a moment of thought.
"They received warning of Iwagakure presence before the squad arrived, mentioning the movement through Taki no Kuni along their south-eastern border with Kusa no Kuni. If a squad was sent to Takigakure, they suspect one would have also gone towards Kusagakure while the rest of the force continued."
"Do we have any idea why?"
"Kusa could be explained as setting up a friendly flank without tipping us off before hand. If they had just gone straight for it we would have had forewarning but they're not willing to move troops forward without ensuring they have a way to retreat if needed." Hatsumari spoke up. "This would indicate they expect the larger force to engage someone within Hi no Kuni, assuming they maintained their heading. Taki would do the same, but it would also keep them from coming to Konoha's aid so long as word never reached them."
"Hoping to suppress information, then? With a secondary objective of keeping their backs covered." A deep frown cut across Iroh's face. "So they really are looking to start the next Ninkai Taisen." This mirrored the start of the Daisanji Ninkai Taisen far too much for his liking, Iwa moving into Kusa to stage attacks on Hi no Kuni. It looks like this time they were intent on doing something similar without showing their hand too early.
Unlike their previous attempt, this one would at least start mainly in Hi no Kuni territory rather than have the two greater villages fighting against each other in Kusa no Kuni.
Obviously, the goal here was strictly to cause Hi no Kuni harm. If they were busy fighting Iwa here in their homeland then there was a good likelihood they would lose control over Kaze no Kuni which would leave it vulnerable for Iwa, too.
Iroh's frown became a scowl. It sounded like they were hoping to move in and take his newly expanded empire for their own. Bastards. Judging by the expressions on Hatsumari and Noima, they had already come to a similar conclusion.
"Head them off, if they already plan on retreating to Kusa let them do it now. Kusa, Ame, hell even Kawa is better than them being on Hi no Kuni land. Taki should be avoided, we may need to call on them, but if we have to, their use might be as a shield to buy us time to deploy more forces. Send word to Konoha, I want their forces to take over for yours as soon as possible, Hatsmari. I'd rather keep your troops more central so we can respond to anything else they may try."
"Of course, Daimyo-Sama, we'll get started and pull back as soon as Konoha arrives." Hatsumari didn't wait to be dismissed, immediately heading out to see his lord's will carried out. He would make his own changes, of course, to see that things went as Iroh wanted them to but that was his job and they both knew it. The Daimyo was the will and Commander Hatsumari was the way.
"And I'll send word to Konoha immediately." Noima assured him. "Shall we reach out to anyone else?" Kiri was an option but Iroh needed them to hold down Kaze no Kuni at the moment to keep that from becoming another front they had to worry about. Forewarning would probably help them, but he'd send that through Konoha too. They were currently reporting directly to Asuma anyway and the Hokage would better know how to deal with Shinobi resources against a Shinobi threat. Iroh wasn't fool enough to think he was an expert on Shinobi matters.
And then there were the Wolves….
No. Nami no Kuni was on the opposite end of Hi no Kuni and it would be good to have something in reserve to call on if his own army needed support in the southern half of his country later. He had a feeling that, even should Hatsumari push them out of Hi no Kuni through minor countries, they would probably try to push down and over Kawa no Kuni at some point to be closer to Hi no Kuni's capital.
It wouldn't end the war they were going to be starting with Konoha even if they did take over, but it would certainly make things difficult for Konoha and, well, Iroh would probably be dead.
He would have to send his children somewhere, too, just in case.
"Just Konoha, for now. Let them know to pass on the warning to the Kirigakure forces in Kaze no Kuni, too. We don't want them caught off guard if Iwa retreats and attempts to head south to get around us and I don't have enough forces to completely cover our western borders."
"As you wish." Like the commander before him, Noima retreated from Iroh's sanctuary leaving the Daimyo to his thoughts.
How was it he already missed when the only thing he had to worry about was Tsukuyomi vanishing off the face of the earth?
While her current goal was undoubtedly more important, the new Orochimaru- for all her minor differences from the original- still possessed the memories of the original from the point she was created and as such had decided to make a quick stop on her way to Tsukuyomi's Yu no Kuni base.
Fortunately it didn't require any detour- Yu no Kuni's capital was on the way to the new base from Nami no Kuni- which meant the delay should only be in the realm of minutes, possibly an hour if there was something that desperately needed her attention.
She really didn't think that would be the case. This was Akishi's assignment, after all, so all the problems were likewise Akishi's. Sure, she might request help, but it wasn't up to Orochimaru to come up with a solution. Any requests she had Orochimaru could take with her and mull over at the new base after fulfilling her primary objective.
That would also allow her to see if Naruto would permit her to aid them in such a way. Despite it being, ultimately, a test to prove Akishi's- and the children of Au's- usefulness it was also true that its success would greatly benefit Naruto and his Wolves. Akishi needed to succeed. Or, at least, she needed to fail in a way that didn't ruin all the time she had already put into the project so someone else- like Orochimaru herself- could step in and finish it for Naruto.
This would also be a good opportunity for her to figure out just how much progress the Ak'Gyun had made, something she'd be happy to bring to Naruto's attention as she delivered her original message.
The fact that Naruto would be pleased to have it brought to his attention- assuming Akishi wasn't providing regular reports, which Orochimaru very much doubted - was just a little bonus to get her into his good graces. Orochimaru may have held a good position among Naruto and his forces, but this Orochimaru couldn't completely rely on that.
Plus, anything that set her aside from her other- in a positive manner- was a very good thing in her eyes.
Which is why Orochimaru found herself sneaking into Erai Onsen Kyūden Ichi in search of the children of the golden serpent. While Yu no Kuni technically didn't have any Shinobi of their own, they did employ a variety of Shinobi- anything from self-trained shinobi without so much as a squad to formal teams employed from major villages- and Samurai from around the elemental nations.
The last thing she needed was for someone to recognize who she was and cause a disturbance. Not only would it make it difficult to track down the snakes but she'd have to shake them from her path to avoid drawing them back to Naruto in the new base. The damn thing wasn't even finished yet, it would be an absolute disaster for her to blow it already.
Of course, this Orochimaru looked absolutely nothing like the Orochimaru anyone would recognize and so long as she wasn't summoning snakes in plain view of everyone no one would really have any reason to assume she was the snake sannin.
Unfortunately, she wasn't really used to that fact at the moment. Orochimaru in his normal form had to be cautious of being recognized when he needed to keep things quiet and his current body of Uchiha Sasuke would draw unwanted attention just as easily.
Naturally the fact that this Orochimaru wouldn't be recognized was the reason he had sent her instead of going himself but by that point the two sentiences were very much separated and he hadn't bothered to actually say what he assumed to be fairly obvious.
Perhaps he was already overlooking the fact that while she had his memories she was a new, mostly-unique existence of not even a day old. That would change with time, obviously, but for now it meant she went with the habits that came solely from his existence.
Not that it hindered her all that much. Yu no Kuni was known for its luxurious resorts, not its security.
Finding an empty sidestreet- not as common as one might expect, but this was the heart of Yu no Kuni's greatest city- that was out of view from the main streets, Orochimaru quickly summoned up a few dozen snakes of her own. Manda might challenge her regularly- or, he did, she hadn't called on him since she had wanted to send him to aid Naruto in Mizu no Kuni- but none of the other snake summons dared question her authority as the holder of their contract.
They might question her choice of skins- and just how often she seemed to shed them- but that was another matter entirely and not something any of them would dare bring up in her presence.
"An Ak'Gyun and a small group of Au's children are here in this city, performing the work of my prince. Find them and report back to me quickly."
The snakes shared surprised looks. "An Ak'Gyun?"
"Here? In this city?"
"Great Elder Koshii mentioned your godson, it was true?"
She silenced them all with a glare. It may not have been the golden eyes she was known for but her emerald green was more than capable of revealing sharp edges and cutting straight to their hearts. The snakes seemed to shrink for a second before remembering her orders and dispersing to see them done.
It definitely wasn't in an effort to escape her gaze. Nope. Not at all.
Okay, maybe a little.
With her scouts sent out into Erai Onsen Kyūden Ichi, Orochimaru looked for the cleanest wall nearby- they were all in pretty good condition, actually, much to her surprise- and made herself comfortable leaning against it. She supposed she could have made Kage Bunshin of her own and sent them off but she figured that might end up drawing more attention than she cared for at the moment.
Unfortunately she couldn't use the time to explore the city any either- the original her actually hadn't ever been here, so she had no real memories of the place only a smattering of knowledge about it in the most general of senses- because if any of her summons found what she was looking for they would need to know where to find her to report.
Technically some summons could summon themselves to the location of anyone who was on a contract, but it took a substantial amount of their own energy to manifest in that way- bypassing the sacrifice of blood and Chakra as they were- and those snakes tended to be quite a bit larger than she could use in this setting.
She also wasn't completely confident they would manage to summon themselves to her and not to himself, back in Nami. That would make a right mess of things and she didn't even want to consider how much time that would end up wasting.
The gods appeared to smile down on her today, though, because it was just over ten minutes later that one of them returned. "Orochimaru-Sama," It hissed up at her, inviting itself to climb up her legs and settle mostly around the Obi she'd tied around her waist to keep her purple Kimono closed. "I have located the Ak'Gyun."
"You're sure?"
"The large nest smelled like the sun." That wasn't exactly a yes but it would do for now.
"Good," She nodded, pushing away from the wall. "Lead me."
When they arrived only a few minutes later, Orochimaru couldn't quite believe how close she had been just by entering the city. She was also more than a little surprised by the building she was looking at. 'Large nest', indeed. It wasn't exactly a palace but definitely some sort of manor. Whoever dwelt within- apparently with the Ak'gyun and the children of Au- was obviously very well off.
She supposed that made sense, considering what their mission was.
"Did you go in?"
"No, Orochimaru-Sama."
"Time to fix that. Find one of the children or the Ak'Gyun, have them send someone to show me in." She was more than capable of entering herself- it would be a trivial matter- but that would confirm it was the right place without risking bringing any attention to her. At most, the occupants of the house would find a snake in their home and try to get rid of it.
The snake slithered down her body and went to find someone, slipping out of view for a minute or two before returning on the shoulders of a well-dressed young man. Orochimaru hadn't been hiding and he quickly spotted her and made his way over. Even if he couldn't see her, the snake probably would have given him directions to reach her.
"Honored guest," He greeted her with a deep bow, careful not to drop the snake from his shoulders. "Akishi-Sama has instructed me to show you to her. Please, follow me."
She gave a nod but didn't even know if he had seen it as he spun around and started leading her back to the house even before fully coming up from his bow.
Well, if nothing else the Ak'Gyun had done a good job finding herself some suitable servants. That was probably helping quite a bit in her efforts to establish a foothold here in the capital so she could somehow take it over. Really, Orochimaru still wasn't fully sure how the elder daughter intended to do that. Maybe she'd ask while she was already here, it would probably go hand in hand with gathering an update to bring along with her to Naruto.
Sealkeeper: He Who Binds
Chapter 157-B "Candid Cult"
Patron Release 2022.05.11
This place was nice– Like, really nice –noted Orochimaru the Second as she was led through the manor towards- she assumed, anyway- Akishi, daughter of Au.
The giant sun statue in the middle of the entry room was a nice touch, too. Very fitting.
It was rather bright for the hiding place of a cult, but considering it was a cult of a sun deity maybe that was to be expected. It didn't feel very culty, though. Orochimaru found herself slightly disappointed. Even her own forces in their hideouts seemed a more proper cult than this, though perhaps that only spoke poorly of how she managed her Hidden 'Village'.
She should probably address that at some point. Or, rather, he should address that at some point. That was something she was more than happy to push off to the original to deal with, the only thing she had any intention of dealing with was ensuring Naruto was comfortable and well cared for.
As the original might agree, that was really the only thing that was truly important in the world.
It was a good thing they both had excellent taste.
Her guide stopped at a set of double doors near the back of the manor over which lengths of red fabric embroidered with golden suns had been hung. The lack of subtlety was actually starting to make the newer- and much improved, in her opinion- Orochimaru a little uncomfortable.
At the very least they could try to hide the fact that they were hosting a cult to a long forgotten god with intentions of taking control of the city. The cult, that is, she hardly expected the Golden Serpent himself to care about taking over the popular vacation destination.
Then again, what the hell did Orochimaru know? She was only vaguely aware of the snake god and only the rumors of the supposed abilities of the amulet she had sent to Naruto as a gift had brought about his touch to the world once more. Even that had been information that was hard to come by, finding anything solid on the Greater Kami had been next to impossible. Hell, even her snake summons hardly seemed to know.
Well, that or they just refused to speak of it.
She hadn't actually considered that angle, only Manda had ever dared challenge her so she had no reason to suspect the others of treachery. She would have to remedy that, probably by summoning Great Elder Koshii for her answers. He, at least, would be upfront about not telling her- she suspected, at least- and he was the one who would know the most anyway.
On second thought, she'd save that for the original too. Summoning Koshii was no small task and she didn't want to risk somehow dispelling herself- she didn't know if that was even possible anymore but she wasn't about to test that on herself- in the attempt.
She also didn't particularly want to deal with any of the larger snakes when she could be focusing her attentions on Naruto. That sounded like a much better use of her time.
"Through here, Orochimaru-Sama." He invited her in with a bow, though the Snake Sannin- second Snake Sennin? No, that didn't sound quite right, she had been the first with that title, even if she was the second instance of that person. This was actually quite annoying– noted that he didn't actually open the door for her.
In fact, he didn't even touch the door at all. She spared a second to stare at him, looking for even a hint of underlying intentions, and even glanced down at the well polished wooden floors to see if there was something hidden on his face or in his eyes.
His eyes were firmly shut in the reflection, giving her nothing to work off of.
That actually made her feel a bit better. Finally, at least something was being hidden.
What was the point- or the fun- in being a part of a candid cult?
Kakshi's one eye gazed into the dim room before him, taking in the assembled ANBU agents who had answered his call. It wasn't all the ANBU, of course, as Yugao and her team were on an assignment and there were a few others who were off taking care of things on behalf of Konoha but the dozen or so remaining operatives were exactly what Kakashi had needed.
There was no way those of the Youth would ever be prepared for such a hip force to emerge within the world; they would be all but powerless against it.
As was proper.
Kakashi looked back from them to the book in his hands. It was a little difficult for him to make out the glorious words printed on those holy pages but Kakashi had long since memorized them and didn't actually need to see them at all to know where in the book he was and what words his eye's should be seeing at any given moment.
Without looking up, Kakashi called out into the room. "ANBU, form up!" They split into four roughly equal squads, their movements smooth and coordinated.
They did not look up from their own books.
"Hmm, Did you say something?" They spoke as one, the beautiful words of the sacred mantra rising to fill the room was enough for a single, Hip tear to trail its way from Kakashi's uncovered eye to his mask.
It was beautiful.
He looked up again, allowing the sight of the dozen ANBU wearing similar masks and with their old Hitai-ate covering a single eye to fill him with a peace he had never felt before. Familiar orange books were lovingly- thought with a deceptive casualness- held in a single hand and the traditional ANBU masks of old were nowhere to be seen.
Bleaching and dying everyone's hair hadn't necessarily been required- and by Naruto had it been both expensive and time consuming. It was just his luck that the majority of the populace had darker hair- but the results were fantastic. There would be no doubting that these chosen few were the Acolytes of Hip. Gai and the Youth Collective would tremble at the sight.
"Protect the scripture!" The squad leads- noted by the fact that their own books were special editions- were the first to snap them shut, signaling for the rest to follow. The first had been fantastic, the resounding thunder of the second was nothing short of glorious.
Still one-handed, the precious literature was deftly returned to the safety of hip pouches while their other hands drew Kunai from their upper thighs. The stances they fell into were lazy, unprofessional things cmore akin to leaning back against invisible walls than any true form.
The first and second Hokage were undoubtedly rolling in their graves at the moment.
The dim room was suddenly bathed in light as a door was opened and another ANBU operative ambled in, their attention focused completely on the book they were holding.
They glanced up, feigning surprise at the assembly before them, and made a show of glancing at their watchless wrist. "Sorry." Nothing had ever sounded quite so insincere. "I was distracted by watching the Sannin fight over the right to bear Naruto's first biological child and then found myself lost on the road of life."
The group of ANBU- Kakashi included- gave understanding hums at the explanation, as if it were a perfectly reasonable excuse for such horrendous tardiness on behalf of an elite ANBU operative while Kakashi smiled behind his mask.
It looks like he found his second in command.
Perfect.
Yugao's squad came to an abrupt stop as the women in question froze, something unpleasant trembling down her spine. She shared a glance to her left side where Souji had been running beside her to see her own unease reflected in his eyes.
"You felt it too?" He asked.
She gave a nod, not willing to trust her voice. Something was very, very wrong.
She had a pretty strong suspicion that whatever it happened to be was somehow Kakashi's fault, too. She should have argued against Asuma's plan on that front more than she had. She juist hoped whatever it was proved to be more trouble for the Sarutobi than it would be for her, that would teach him to make dumb decisions.
Probably.
Still, she had a feeling she was going to have to sort this mess out when she got back.
Fucking fantastic.
Lightning flashed over the crashing beach, dark clouds covering what should have been a most Youthful sunset. Still embracing, Gai and Lee turned surprised eyes to the sight that many others had believed they'd hallucinated for years.
Tenten herself- at a safe distance from the two- felt a small amount of satisfaction in knowing that she hadn't been growing crazy and then a great deal of concern when she realized it both actually existed and in such a dynamic form that it was actually capable of change.
She hoped whatever this change was that it would dissuade the two from future expressions of their…she shuddered…Youth.
Kin paused, cocking her head to the side as something trembled through the Youth. How strange. Dosu, similarly distracted, was then hit squarely in the face with Kin's full Youthfulness as she resumed her attack.
"Yosh!" Youth-Sensei cried out with praise. "Very good, Kin-Chan! The only response to this most unYouthful feeling is to continue our training even more Youthfully, until our passionate flames can fully beat back this horrid darkness!"
Kin didn't dignify that with a response and Dosu, some hundred yards away, was far too unconscious to add anything himself.
"You are not Orochimaru." A voice accused her as she stepped into the room. It was slightly darker than the rest of the manor had been- finally- but it was also much warmer and the air was heavy with burning incense. Darker, perhaps, but also quite cozy. Orochimaru- for she, in fact, was Orochimaru- almost immediately found herself feeling slightly drowsy and the thought of a nap became an extremely attractive prospect.
Something not helped by the countless- only because she was unwilling to take the time to count them- soft pillows that had been spread over the pile of luxurious rugs in the center of the room. Orochimaru spared a second to glance around the room for other doors but found none and assumed this was, then, Akishi's bedroom.
Was it still a bedroom if it didn't have a bed? Or did the pile of pillows- arguably, 'bedding'- qualify? It probably didn't really matter, but if nothing else these were certainly Akishi's private chambers.
The last room had, similarly, been slightly more dim than the rest of the manor but the air had been much lighter and there were several individuals milling about. She didn't know what they were doing- and didn't rightly care- but it had obviously been some sort of common area for this in-house temple of theirs.
In all, it still didn't feel like a cult. The pillows may have been- currently- countless, but her continued disappointment was unquantifiable.
She really did hope Naruto's little lamb- or was it a bunny these days? She really needed to be paying more attention to the relationships between Naruto and his other loyal servants– was doing a better job with the other cult. She'd have to check on that at some point.
If she managed to remember.
"I'm fairly certain I am." Orochimaru responded to the voice. She didn't actually see anyone else in the room but she could certainly feel a presence. That would probably intimidate any of those wandering the previous room, she mused, assuming they could similarly feel her. The response would be significantly lessened if they could only hear her voice.
A form rose from the pillows, bronzed skin and copper scales reflecting what little light was allowed into this back room. Almost ironic, considering the nature of this cult and the Ak'Gyun in front of her but she supposed even children of Au might require rest from the rays of the sun.
She'd also been having disparaging thoughts about how much light was present, so she couldn't exactly flip her position and feel affronted that this sun cult wasn't currently basking in the light of Au.
Well, she could, but it wouldn't make much sense and Orochimaru hadn't come here for the purpose of starting arguments over inconsequential things.
Orochimaru continued before Akishi could object. "As a snake, the shedding of skin should be common enough to you. I, too, shed…well," She grinned. "Quite a bit more, I suppose, but certainly skin included."
"So you have taken a new body?" Akishi questioned, her form moving from amidst the collection of pillows to instead circle around them. It brought her torso down quite a bit but she angled herself to ensure she still remained taller- if only slightly- than Orochimaru.
…Had she grown? Orochimaru didn't remember her lower body being quite so long. It seemed….impractical…for the world of the living. If anything, Orochimaru would have suspected that Akishi had become an Ak'Gyun solely due to the need to easily interact with the world of humans and a larger tail would certainly defeat it.
Then again, Akishi was one of the elders, one of the first children of Au. That made her old. Very old. If Manda and Great Elder Koshii- was he of the same elders Akishi was or did the snakes use a similar title for their own originators? –were any indication, the older snakes only grew larger in time.
Toads didn't necessarily follow that trend, according to something Jiraiya mentioned decades ago, but he wasn't sure if they were the norm or the exception. The important thing to take from it, regardless, was that Akishi's previous form was quite likely on par with that of Koshii and he had wrapped himself around the entirety of Kirigakure.
It didn't surprise Orochimaru that her current form might have such trouble with a reduction of that size. It did make her wonder how it was undoing the work of Au, though, that was the sort of thing she needed information on. She'd have to keep a close eye on the Ak'Gyun from here on out. If she really was overcoming the change it would be a perfect first step in discovering a way to defeat Au, should they ever need to.
And, if there was something else going on instead, well, it would still serve as a good project for Orochimaru to busy herself with during her eternal existence. She wasn't about to say no to something like that, she needed all the sources of entertainment she could get her hands on or the immortality almost wouldn't be worth having at all.
"A second body, but yes." That was an important distinction, one Akishi caught, but by the confusion in her eyes it was apparent she didn't fully understand why there was such a distinction.
"A second?"
"Of course, there are two of me now." Should anyone belonging to the majority of the elemental nations have heard her utter that sentence there would have been nothing but absolute horror, though that word scarce gave the emotion they would have felt due respect. It went far beyond terror or horror, touching something even more primal. Of course, ignoring the fact that terror was, itself, a very primal feeling and realistically there wasn't really something beyond it there was still the matter of Akishi not originating here in the elemental nations and the fact she was, you know, a spirit.
Granted, most spirits who had the…pleasure…of being introduced to Orochimaru these days would say something similar to the people of the elemental nations but Akishi wasn't one of them.
She was also the child of Au and was currently performing work for Naruto. Only one of those brought with it any real safety from Orochimaru, but she was no doubt comforted by both facts.
"Two?" Akishi reeled back towards the pillows- strangely enough, the snake's size seemed to almost shrink before her eyes. Maybe there was a haze of incense playing tricks on Orochimars eyes?- and she stared at the Snake Sennin with a mixture of wonder and disbelief. "There are two of you now?" Her eyes narrowed. "Clones?" she asked, almost accusingly. "A trick of your Jutsu?"
"There's Jutsu involved, of course." Orochimaru responded easily. Were it anyone else, save Naruto and the young man's favored, she may have been insulted but as it was she was more than proud enough of her accomplishment to take pleasure in the Ak'Gyun's disbelief. She still didn't really like the snake- perhaps ironic considering her own summons- and any chance to show her own superiority Orochimaru was inclined to take.
There was also something deeply satisfying in surprising a being that likely predated most of known history.
"But the body," she continued. "Is very much real. Created it myself- with some help from an old teammate- and used my Jutsu to give it life."
"So it's not really you, then?" Confusion and disbelief gave way to interest. This sounded very much like something Akishi could make use of in her current mission, though Orochimaru probably didn't know that. In fact, there was a distinct likelihood Orochimaru would have hidden the matter from her entirely had she known it may have benefited one of the elder children of Au.
Then again, maybe not. It was Naruto's mission, after all, and Orochimaru didn't want her prince displeased. Mostly she wanted him pleased with her, though, so her first instinct would be to find a way to twist the situation to her advantage. In this, she may actually find that it wasn't even necessary.
"It is. Two bodies, Two minds, one…soul." She frowned, thoughtful, and then corrected. "Or, perhaps, an echo of a soul? A memory? I couldn't actually say. The Kage-Bunshin is a Kinjutsu that even the creators didn't fully understand and who's to say how it truly worked when combined with my own forbidden technique? I doubt I created an entirely new soul." She would be very pleased if that happened to be the case, though. It would give her much more to work with for her other projects.
That immediately caught AKishi's attention. "All it needs is a soul?" She asked, looking for confirmation. Orochimaru had already said she was able to create the bodies which was perfect.
"Well, yes. The technique, that is The bodies are easy enough to create, though it can be difficult designing them. So many options, it's hard to commit to any one look for them."
"Does the soul have to be human?"
The question had Orochimaru blinking in surprise. "I…don't know." She admitted after a few seconds. "I hadn't considered it; I really can't think of any reason I would have to do so."
"I have a reason to do so. My younger siblings, the children of Au, need to take the place of the royal family here in order to grant control over it to Naruto. Should they have bodies identical to the royal family- true flesh that cannot be dismissed or seen though- that would ensure the deception."
"Move the children of Au into some of my bodies?" The idea was certainly interesting. They seemed to already have physical forms from….well, AKishi"s summoning she supposed. Naruto hadn't been the one to call them here this time…so how would she move those souls from the summoned form into her own bodies? Break them down to Chakra and infuse the bodies, perhaps? Her forbidden technique was something similar, so she might be able to get it to work but at the same time they were serpents and had been for their entire existence. Could they really use one of her bodies?
Orochimaru actually found herself wanting to test that and if it also helped Naruto get what he wanted, well, that was even better. That was without even considering the fact that Akishi was going to have to barter for such a service, even if it was already to Orochimaru's favor to do so.
Three benefits, no drawbacks. That was the sort of deal Orochimaru loved to make.
Getting all that from the Ak'Gyun only made it that much sweeter.
"It's certainly an interesting thought, Akishi," Orochimaru grinned. "But you know, of course, I cant aid your mission for free." Technically she could, she and Akishi both knew it too, but Akishi's pride wasn't going to let her just be granted help in fulfilling the High-Priests commands and Orochimaru was going to make sure to squeeze out any possible concession from the situation.
"Then I suppose we'll have to discuss a price."
Orochimaru's grin widened and Akishi did her best to restrain her scowl.
It didn't work.
There was one major matter Naruto had failed to take into account when he'd left those he trusted to run everything he had built up over the last few years– he had absolutely no idea what the hell he was supposed to be doing with himself.
Rather than his usual go-to– stealing someone else's work to keep himself occupied and ensure everything was running smoothly between the various groups he dealt with– he had very much cut himself off from the Wolves and all their subsidiaries. He was receiving reports, of course, which allowed him to monitor how his closest allies- friends and family, really. Mostly family. Actually, no, all of it was family. Hana, Sai, Mai, Orochimaru, Tsunami, Hanabi, and Shizune were all practically family these days– were dealing with running things in his absence but didn't really let him interact with anything.
He could send out instructions if he really wanted to, but that would completely defeat the purpose of leaving them to run things in the first place. Naruto already knew that Hana and Sai didn't need him to run Nami no Kuni. Similarly Orochimaru and Tsunami would see to Otogakure and his palace respectively. Hanabi was very proud of her own team and the work they did, Naruto had absolute faith in that considering just how well it was already working to increase the efficiency of the patchwork systems that had held the Wolves together for so long. Shizune, too, had a team she was more than capable of running so he didn't have to worry about that.
Really, the test he was actually conducting was for Mai to see how well she could hold the others together in his absence. He was confident in her ability to do so, what he doubted was her confidence in the matter. This was much more to show her that she could do so than to prove it in any way to him.
Not that he would just blindly trust the matters to her. Competent or not, she was still being groomed for this position and it would be remiss of him not to keep an eye out for any issues that might arise. He had, however, resolved to keep out of all but matters of the utmost importance. Unless he thought one of her decisions would bring about disastrous consequences for the Wolves, he would leave her to it.
It was a terribly uncomfortable feeling, no matter how much he knew she would do everything in her power to take care of the Wolves for him. She loved them every bit as much as he did. Sitting back and not doing anything was the very last thing Naruto wanted to do and every part of him screamed that he needed to be there for them every step of the way.
He knew that was impractical, though, even if he was back in Nami he wouldn't be a part of everything and things needed to be prepared just in case anything happened to him. He would be much more comfortable knowing his Wolves would be properly cared for in his absence, not that it made the wait now any more bearable.
Much to his displeasure, those reports didn't actually amount to much work. Weekly from each of them– collected and summarized by Hanabi's team for easy reading– and further copies provided from some of the Wolves stationed in the palace.
Both Sai and Mai had kept things from him in the past– their love and desire to protect the Wolves extending to himself as well– in an effort to spare him worry as they worked on solving the problem on their own but that would defeat the purpose of this test. If he didn't really know what they were dealing with he could never hope to properly understand how they resolved it.
Keigo, unsurprisingly, was one of his main sources of information for their actions at the moment. Of course, with his habits of bringing things directly to Naruto regardless of Mai or Sai's wishes he would undoubtedly be kept out of the loop for certain things as well.
Which is why he had others in place too.
By comparing their reports to Keigo's, he could see exactly what the others might try to hide from him– always with the best of intentions, he had no doubts– and he could further confirm it by checking it against their own reports. Well, in theory, anyway. So far all three had been identical. He took that to mean there was nothing going on he didn't know about and not a sign that his system had failed, though that was certainly a possibility.
As long as his inner circle managed to keep things from reaching Keigo or his other sources then he had nothing to compare against their reports and would be just as in the dark. Unlikely, but nevertheless a possibility he was not ignorant of. Only time would be able to tell.
Of course, he had plenty of that– time– at the moment. Weekly reports could be summed up in an hour or two and with no discrepancies he had nothing to look further into.
That was a lot more free time than he was used to having. Normally that would mean training but he didn't have enough room at the moment and he didn't want to do so outside of their temporary outpost lest he draw attention to it. That only left him with watching Ganju and his team work and seeing to the girls.
Well, Mikoto certainly kept them all busy and a majority of his downtime from that was recovering. He had hoped that with time her appetite might shrink a bit, sated after years, but if anything it seemed to grow every day. He'd taken to locking her in his room with the others just for the chance to rest and had even stolen Guren from the project some days to give the others more backup.
He really had to question his luck when his 'vacation' seemed to be more stressful and tiring than even his old triple workload.
Actually, his triple workload used clones…..Maybe…..
He would get their memories, yes, but he wouldn't really need to work through them like he did the matters of Nami's governance and their own weariness couldn't add all that much more to his own, could it? Even if it did, he was sure the others would appreciate the backup and he was positive Mikoto would be thrilled to have more time with him in any form.
The others would probably be glad for her to stop hogging his waking hours, too.
He would need to find a way to make them a bit more durable, though, he realized as he rubbed the bruising bite mark on his neck. HIs pale fingers brushed across new scabs and he frowned as he felt blood begin to well up from beneath them. It was probably a miracle he was ever able to utilize them with Anko and Tayuya, there was no way in hell they would suffice for Mikoto as they were.
Maybe Orochimaru would have an idea how he could fix that.
"What do you mean he's gone?" Doto's question was practically a hiss as he stared down at Hyurin from his throne. The man in question, rather large normally, could only wilt under the barely suppressed fury burning in the Daimyo's eyes.
"He hasn't been seen in days, Doto-Sama. Kari has stepped up and covered his responsibilities thus far, but she hasn't had any of our crew lead training under Yaiji or know what Juugo was envisioning with his plans."
"And why is this only being brought to my attention now if he's been missing for days?"
"We expected him to show up again, Doto-Sama. I was working with your architects for the resort and was under the impression he'd had to turn his attention elsewhere for the rail project. When we heard nothing from him and he didn't show up, I of course brought it immediately to your attention. Making the trip back here and leaving my project unsupervised only to find him here resolving something with you directly would have been grossly negligible."
That was, mostly, bullshit. Really, they had been looking everywhere for the young man and hoping they could find something that would point the missing rail engine towards someone else so they could bring it up and cast doubts to whether it had been Jugo. As it was, they hadn't found anything and the circumstantial evidence all pointed towards him being the culprit.
He shouldn't have been surprised, he'd known that Juugo was a Shinobi– or something similar, at least– and obviously that meant he was here for some specific purpose. It had been foolish to hope he was just here looking for a fresh start to his life. After all, who the hell would choose Yuki no Kuni of all places for that? You would have to truly be out of options, in that case, and to get to such a point, well, you probably weren't the sort of person Hyuran would want working on– or leading– one of his crews.
He really should have known better, he had just been relieved to have answers for some of his other problems.
"So you're saying that around the same time one of my new engines disappears, so too does one of your crew leads? Someone who was being trained to operate and maintain such engines?" It was obvious from the tone of his voice that Doto was already sure of what had happened. Hyuran could only hope that meant the man's ire would direct itself that way too and not fall on his own shoulders.
"Yes, Doto-sama."
The carefully restrained rage boiled over, spilling beyond his eyes and over his lips as his scream echoed through the palace and his armored fist fell to crush the arm of his throne;
"Then FIND HIM!"
-AN-
I don't really have an excuse for just how long it's taken me to update this. Calling it quits for the day a few paragraphs into writing one day turned to putting off writing entirely for a day, and then a week, and before I knew it I was weeks behind and, as far as I can recall, I wasn't actually doing anything else. I have no idea where that time went or what I put it into, but I did buckle down to finish 158-A so that this could be posted. 158-B is also halfway completed, so that's rather promising.
In addition to progress on the next chapter, I have sat down with my roadmap and made a list of the scenes I'm going to cover from now until Sealkeeper's conclusion and determined the order they'll appear in. There's roughly 100 chapters to go which should- assuming my estimate is anywhere near close to accurate, which it probably isn't- be somewhere along the lines of twelve chapters or 120,000 more words. That is, of course, assuming each scene is about 1000 words so it's likely that might be a rather low estimate. Still, the end is in sight. Not sure if that should be comforting or disappointing but I do have to admit that after six and a half years of work I'm looking forward to being able to say I've kept my promise and completed the story.
I hope to see you all there at the end.
-AN-
Thanks, as always, goes to my incredibly patient patrons for their continued support.
Lord Generals
Cephalon Keeper, Michael Huber, B4NH4MM3R, Jacklefrackle
Lord Marshals
Ronji, MythicFool, Pope Gregory Trivium III, Sedition, Luxano,
Lord Majors
The SHARP fox, Malte Krain, StayFrosty, Noah, Alex Robb, Jeremy Webb, Jamel, McKinzie, Tjk9399, Raymond Saragian, magicheart 0, Gamer91, Marcothephoenix, Ben Peek, Xerxes8796, Joe I
Lord Commissars
Tim Keizer, Daron Smith, gabriel reynoso, Romulan, Shi_no_Kage, Whatzzzzzzzup, Nick Payne, Christopher, Desertgem1, Daniel Witry, Liam Kearney, TormisD92
Lord High-Inquisitor
Janus
Lord Inquisitors
Angel Morales, Bob Ross, Brendon, Joe Schumacher, Michael Friede, Cameron Yourell, Nilzor, Chase, Maroner, Forseeti, Carlos Campbell, Thanyx, Chace Gannon, Slip123, Godfrey Kawi, Nicholas Hoover, Nicholas Liu, Supernowy, Milton Pereira, YGO, Louis Lennin, OldManCain, Sivellan, Brandon Romero, MB, Brandon, LoneSaiyan, Para, Nekrull DeUmbrus, Jennifer carpenter, HKaz, Pantheras, Marin Dimovski, MasterT941, J. G., Tyrell2000, Gobo, June Tai, james escobedo, Sebastiaan asselbergs, Perez, Hentai Prince, James, TheGreatBubbaJ, TheAbsoluteMonarch, Polo Pannini, JonCotterill, Zack Crum, SMatatabi, Theepicslime, Matthew Smith, Wrex, DamnedThrice, DualEquinox, THE META, Carl Confoy