Disclaimer: Refer to chapter 1.
AN: Chapter title: Eyes of a Snake!
"This is…This changes everything."
Danzo Shimura was not a man who was very easily surprised. He was not a man who was ever surprised. He had made it a goal in his life to eliminate surprise, to eliminate as many of the unknowns of this world as he could because they were a danger he could not afford.
Yet he could still be surprised.
As he was now.
Surprised and horrified at what Naruto Uzumaki had so casually unleashed upon the village, the twin tides of death that ran across the village, that seemed to only grow in size and scope the longer it remained free to roam further and further.
He was one of countless eyes to lay witness to the Fifth and Sixth Cohorts of the boy's personal army, the force he had titled as his Orange Legion.
He was not the only one to see what such a power promised.
He was not the only one to see the might of the Kyubi's Jinchuriki.
He was one of the few to realize the truth of Naruto Uzumaki in that moment. He saw the truth, the reality that Naruto Uzumaki could not be trusted. His Legion could not be trusted.
A set of golden eyes watched the sudden surge with interest.
"My, my, he certainly seems like an interesting boy, doesn't he Kabuto?" Orochimaru of the Sannin merely observed the orange armored tide as it swept through the streets, as it cascaded over the rooftops, as it left a lake of blood in its path. It left no survivors, it left none free from death.
He smiled.
"He'll certainly be interesting to see grow." Orochimaru merely watched as his force was shattered, as the Sand Shinobi began to pull back with no other option but to face death as his enhanced Shinobi fell one after the other, fell to the blades that would not stop, fell to the shields that did not waver, and fell to the force that seemed to have no end. A thousand sweeping out on either side seemed to only grow more and more, grow larger and larger without an end in sight.
One armored form fell only to be replaced by what seemed like five fresh blades.
Ten could fall in the front and twenty would surge to replace them, surge to cover their blade in the blood of their foe.
None could fall and another dozen could appear eager for the chance to spill blood, eager for the chance to be part of the unstoppable tide that was the Orange Legion.
A truly countless number of voices unleashed the same battle cry, a countless number of hands wielded the same blade, a countless number of arms held the same shield, and a countless number of eyes gleamed with utter delight at the carnage they wrought as they descended upon their foe.
Orochimaru watched it all and found himself unable to do anything but smile at the sight.
"Such an intriguing technique." The pale skinned Sannin licked his lips at the sight of such a force, his thoughts already proposed theory after theory on how it had come to be, why it had come to be, how it could be bettered, and, most important of all, how he could obtain such a power.
The sheer opportunity this was nearly made him forget where he was.
A pair of Root ANBU attempted to kill him.
He crushed the skull of one with his hand and the other was victim of a pair of snakes that appeared from his sleeves in little more than a blink of an eye. The serpents moved with speed unbefitting of their massive size as they wrapped around their target, bit down, and injected their masked form with corrosive venom. They didn't scream as they dissolved, as they gave a final attempt to kill him with the same venom burning them away.
It failed when the snakes constricted, shattered the brittle bones and let blood and more explode outwards from the sudden surge of pressure as thick coils of muscle were put to use.
"These children should know better by now." Orochimaru was spotless from the gory demise that had befallen the Root. He looked almost disappointed that another pair of lives had been so callously thrown away by Danzo.
They were the sixteenth and seventeenth, respectively, lives of such promising research specimens that had been tossed aside in another vain attempt to take his own. He was almost growing annoyed with whatever plot Danzo had in mind, why he sent so many of his precious assassins to their deaths.
"I could give you boys and girls hours and you would never manage to kill me no matter how many times you tried." Orochimaru, in truth, wasn't that annoyed. Meeting Jiraiya again had made him remember just how exhilarating a fight could be, how much his devotion towards his research had improved him, see how his once teammate had strived to follow after him and grow in strength. The Root branch of the ANBU Black Ops were nothing like that, could never be anything like that. They were unique but painfully uncreative. They all attacked in the same way no matter how many times it failed.
Attack with everything in the most expected manner. Ignore the idea of the self, only think of the greatness of Konoha. All attacks were nothing but suicidal bullheaded charges in the end, easily predictable even if he was only half paying attention to them.
He couldn't help but sigh at the waste.
The fourth must have had an ancestor from the Kaguya Clan. Dilution in the blood had made the rare trait much less prevalent but he had seen the blades of bone sprout from her wrists with his own eyes.
The ninth had a natural talent it seemed to wield two different Nature Transformations simultaneously. Kekkei Genkai eluded his grasps but the control he showed was simply flawless. It was impressive even to him.
The thirteenth had a wonderfully unique shadow technique. He would guess it was a kind of latent bloodline from the Nara with their aptitude with them. His shadow had seemed to be more like a Summon than a simple manipulation, something more akin to a doppelganger.
Regardless of their unique traits, he had slain them all with as much effort as one would devote to dealing with a rat that had made the mistake of leaving its home of shadows for the ever so tempting allure of the light.
"You wouldn't like me to get annoyed either Danzo-san, I might feel the need to destroy that entire place of yours because of that, reveal all you're little secrets while I'm at it to all the fools above your head." He knew the old man watched him. He knew the Telescope Technique just as much as Hiruzen, had likely mastered it to a similar extent.
And he did not waste time observing Academy Students with it.
His threat should be clear to the elder.
The underground facility could so easily be utterly destroyed but it could just as easily be revealed to all those who unknowingly traveled above. It could be revealed and all of its secrets, all of the darkness that thrived where light could so seldom reach, would be revealed in all of its dark glory.
It would destroy the man far better than killing or maiming him ever would, it would destroy his silent legacy that he had strived to keep hidden away in the shadows of their world. If it was revealed, if the secrets that laid within the darkness were ever uncovered, it would destroy everything he had worked for.
All the evil he had done to protect the village would be known.
He would be given a legacy, the thing he strived to avoid.
He strived to forever be the shadows that laid within darkness itself, had so painstakingly found and molded the shadows he dwelled in into an all-consuming abyss none could fathom the depth of. He had laid seeds in too many shadows, let his particular darkness spread throughout the world. He had envisioned a silent legacy.
If he let his agents continue their uninspired attempts on his life, Orochimaru would make sure everyone knew the name Danzo Shimura. Everyone would know it and all of his work, everything he had done, and then the Sannin could simply observe as he was torn apart by a rabid public.
A public image was such a pain to maintain, something he never strived for in the past or the present.
"Should you really be so unconcerned about this Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto observed the tide of steel with the pale skinned man, taking in as much as he could of the information before him as he adjusted his ever present glasses. "The boy is singlehandedly ruining your invasion, ruining your chances to kill Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"Oh I won't be killing the old man today." Orochimaru continued to observe, note how the Root ANBU at last withdrew from their multitude of hiding locations. It seemed Shimura would not risk all he had being exposed. Not now at least. "After running into Jiraiya-kun…it'll be a waste of time to bother with fighting Hiruzen. I need to be at my best when I kill him." His golden eyes drifted to the man that held himself high above the village, that silently watched on as his children were held by the Third Hokage of Konohagakure. "Besides, Rasa-kun was a bit too eager with all of this. He ruined my chance to kill that old man at his best when he decided to pull his little trick earlier."
"Do you regret not killing him then Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked the obvious question and one third of the Sannin found it in himself to simply laugh.
"Of course not. His little stunt with the Daimyo, his battle with Hiruzen, and what he's done with the Ichibi is enough for now. Despite stealing the pleasure of killing my old teacher at full strength from me, it'll almost make up for it to see what he'll do now that the Hokage has his children, what will happen now with the Ichibi gone…it's all too amusing for me to bother with regretting not killing him like I thought about." Orochimaru's grin widened, spread across his face as he took in the state of his once home.
Chaos reigned. The Shinobi of Konoha rallied with the tide of steel, pushed with it to slay the invaders once and for all. The tide grew, green added to orange. It was impressive to see, a display of the power of the so-called Will of Fire of the Hidden Leaf.
Hope had seemingly been ignited within the Shinobi of Konoha despite their strongest still being so far away, despite the clans so jealously preserving their manpower for their heirs. The Shinobi of lower status were sent out first, sent out to die and become nothing but a name on a wall.
They would keep dying but their belief in victory had been ignited.
They forgot their place as cannon fodder and instead seemed to believe they were accomplishing something great as they pushed back against the invaders.
None of them seemed to notice that the tide of steel continued to grow, continued to sweep out wider and wider but did not thin. It did not thicken but it did not find itself stretched thin, it could not overreach itself with so many a part of it.
None noticed how two thousand blades so swiftly became so much more.
'You'll certainly be an interesting one Naruto-kun. I can't wait to see how you grow, what you really become with so much power in your hands…'
"This boy is certainly going to cause changes to any plans you had for the invasion Orochimaru-sama." Kabuto made a rather accurate observation from where the two resided within the village, able to see so much of the chaos that Naruto's army was spreading with such ease. "He's certainly a powerful asset for Konoha to have so readily available. Those clones of his are like nothing I've seen on any mission. Not even some of the stronger Kekkei Genkai I've seen can come close to power like this."
"Don't attempt to compare such simple things with what's in front of you now Kabuto." Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with a thirst for knowledge, a lust for it that knew nothing of the things known as boundaries born from ethics or morals, no restrictions were worth every being deprived of the answers he sought all his life. "This technique is nothing like some Kekkei Genkai, it's far too simple a term to explain what this boy has done."
"Are-Are you saying you believe what those reports talked about Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto seemed actually shocked as he turned to the pale skinned Shinobi in full, disbelief covering his face as he stared at the Shinobi that had earned the epithet the Snake Sage during the Second Shinobi World War and had so swiftly become his mentor in many fields.
He was not speaking lightly when he considered Orochimaru one of the smartest, if not the smartest, Shinobi to ever live past or present. For him to buy into the insanity in the report was outrageous. It was complete insanity and everyone seemed to want to believe his overpowered Shadow Clone technique was something it wasn't.
"Of course I don't Kabuto-kun." Orochimaru laughed at the mere thought of it. "These fools are too narrow-minded to even begin to understand what that boy's done. I only agree with what they've called it." Delight came to his golden eyes and his smile widened. "A Kekkei Mora is the only way to classify such a unique ability."
"L-Lord Orochimaru! It's just some ridiculous clone technique! That stupid brat just overcharged some Shadow Clones with the power of the Nine Tails!" Kabuto was not exactly thinking clearly. The sight of the clones surging across the village had reminded him just how close he had come to death when the invasion began not even an hour ago.
"Do you think I won't cut through you?" Naruto smiled at the ANBU. The shadows cast across his face by the light of the Chakra across his blade made it appear demonic. "I have no problem with such a thing!"
He had gotten a taste of such power and he had not forgotten how it had screamed of nothing but death. If had promised oblivion and the one who wielded it would deliver such a thing with a smile on his face.
"Come now Kabuto, don't let your little encounter with Naruto-kun turn you into a fool." Orochimaru laid a hand on his student's shoulder as he suddenly appeared within his personal space. "It makes me reconsider spending so much time teaching you, drawing out your potential. You should know better than to play like that. That boy possesses something unique, possesses a power that is like no other because it's been shaped by things utterly unique to him."
The eyes of the Snake Sage narrowed as he looked towards the stadium the invasion had been launched from.
"There is something that makes that boy dangerous not to this village, not to the Land of Fire, and not to the rest of the five great nations. He's become a danger to the entire world."
His smile fell away. He had never seen Naruto Uzumaki in person before this day, he had seen a picture of the Jinchuriki once and that was all. The Uzumaki blood flowing in his veins from his mother had drawn his interest for a brief period of time before he discarded such a thing. The boy was the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi since his birth and was only interesting to see the long term effects of the seal the Fourth Hokage had used. It hadn't held his interest since it was an experiment that involved purely observation of the subject. The Third was no fool and kept too close an eye for him to take him away, Danzo monitored the boy too closely to risk one of his few double agents within Root taking him.
All of it was rather worthless in truth, it had only taken a few days of observation to see that the boy was completely unaffected by the beast sealed inside him as he grew. The only effect he could see was an abysmal level of Chakra control but that could have also been blamed on the boy being a fool who lacked the barest shreds of patience.
The Jinchuriki of the Ichibi had drawn his interests away not too long after his observations. The boy was clearly influenced by the beast, the seal was somehow a mess he enjoyed simply observing as the host's mind fell apart and served as a complexity he simply enjoyed unraveling as time went on. The Jinchuriki of the Hachibi was even more interesting. His strange draw to the moon, his control being strained during a full moon to such an extent that the Hachibi could manifest itself even under additional seals, it was all very interesting to see. There was so much more interesting than some prankster of a boy in Konoha, one who showed behavior painfully in line with what he had expected of such a loud boy, and one far too risky to try and grab without good enough reason.
The Third had learned to increase security around Jinchuriki after the prior host was kidnapped right from under their noses.
Orochimaru almost regretted not keeping up to date on the boy, not seeing him up close until today.
He had absolutely no idea what he had done since his initial look at him so many years ago.
His smile returned. There was certainly a fondness in them, like the Snake Sage was seeing a friend he had no idea was a friend until mere moments ago.
"There is something about Naruto Uzumaki…something almost terrifyingly strange."
He released his student. His smile somehow widened as his eyes sharpened, distance became nothing to him. He analyzed the boy so far away, saw the power that flowed so freely from his body, the power that was distinct to only one beast in this world.
"Yes, Naruto Uzumaki is certainly different from all the others."
His concentration had lapsed again.
Three charged him from the shadows this time. They had hidden themselves well, masked themselves under the abundance of Chakra the battles waging across Konoha released into the village. It was an impressive skill that Danzo had sullied once again it seemed. Such a trio of interesting Shinobi wasted in the Root program, snatched up by Danzo out of some misguided sense of using them.
He did nothing.
He merely looked to Kabuto.
Blue Chakra enshrouded the hands of his gray haired student as he dashed forward without another moment wasted. The first was easy to kill, a blow to the chest shredding his heart with an injection of Chakra. The other two were smarter, they avoided his hands as they moved around him to strike at Orochimaru from either side, drive their blades through him in addition to the explosive that were already beginning to burn across their bodies.
Kabuto was there before they could manage it.
He hardly spared the two a glance before both had plunged their blade through the other. His Genjutsu skills still needed some work but it was still leagues above what the Root could notice before it was too late. A push was all it took to send them plummeting from the rooftop and to their fiery and, in Orochimaru's opinion, far too loud demise.
Why involve explosives in an assassination attempt? Any Missing-nin worth the title knew the particular smell of an explosive tag from across a room. They would be hard pressed to miss such a substantial amount like the two were wearing.
"That was rather lazy of you Lord Orochimaru. I thought you would want to take down the last three." Kabuto adjusted his glasses once the Chakra around his hands died down. "You dealt with the first seventeen easily enough."
"It would have been greedy for me to kill all of these assassins." Orochimaru turned his attention away from the far off Naruto Uzumaki, his attention was shifted elsewhere for the moment, where the Toad Boss, Gamabunta so effortlessly dealt with a trio of his summons. "Hm, it seems Jiraiya-kun couldn't leave well enough alone. He's summoned some of his Toads to aid the village." Gamabunta. Gamaken. Gamahiro. All three were some of the most deadly warriors that resided on Mount Myoboku. "It seems like he's not going to waste any time when it comes to this village. He cherishes it far too much to not overreact."
Orochimaru observed Gamabunta for a moment longer, his tanto clashing with the razor sharp fangs of one of the serpents for only a moment before both pulled away. He turned his eyes away from such a sight and towards the main gate of Konoha.
It remained a bloodbath. Sound and Sand Shinobi refused to cease their assault to gain ground just as much as the Leaf Shinobi refused to give them ground and continued to provide an admirable defense. It was a stalemate growing bloodier and bloodier that would draw to a close rather soon. The tide of steel would reach it within the next few minutes in addition to Konoha's more veteran Shinobi arriving sooner rather than later. Both would make sure that the invaders would be forced to pull out of the village, use another foothold or risk complete destruction at the hands of Shinobi they faced. Yes, things had swiftly turned against the invaders it seemed. The plan had truthfully gone into disarray when the plan to unleash the Ichibi sealed inside Gaara was ruined when the beast had decided to run from Naruto Uzumaki than fight, the Kazekage could not kill the Hokage in battle and even now he remained locked in a stalemate with the elderly Hokage with his children held by Konoha, and nearly the entirety of the Sound and Sand Shinobi that had laid in wait in the stadium had now either been killed or fled out to the streets.
And, if he wasn't mistaken at the power in the air, Maito Gai had opened more than a few of the Eight Gates. The Sound Four were rather soundly trounced by such a fearsome display of strength from the powerful Jonin.
One who could rival Kakashi Hatake would be anything but weak after all. He required tremendous talent to match the natural genius of the Sharingan user after al.
Yes, things we're very much against the invading force now. Far too much for many, even the most deluded and fanatical of Shinobi, to even bother with thinking of victory. Survival would likely take root in their minds eventually and force them to flee or face the inevitability of death.
It was lucky that Orochimaru had planned for such a thing. He knew any attack on the village would gain only momentary success at best, a brief accomplishment before the more veteran and powerful Shinobi of Konoha attacked the invaders and decimated them. He had once been a key figure in those strategies, his presence alone enough to strike fear and terror into the hearts of many Shinobi. His prowess on the battlefield had made him a living legend, a deadly combatant with few equals.
He knew this was the outcome of any invasion.
He knew and had been ready.
He would never had played his hand in orchestrating all of this if he wasn't rather certain of his inevitable success in it. It would be a tremendous waste of time and resources if failure was even an option. He knew the defenses of the village, knew the strength Konoha possessed, and would never have attacked if he was not certain of its destruction.
If not that, the carnage he planned to impart upon his once home would at least cripple the village. The scavengers lying in wait could do the rest for him. He could relax and observe the chaos the world was plunged to, a disorder that simply bred more research opportunities. Stress was good for exposing hidden talents he would gladly take and grow into something useful.
"This invasion is going so poorly for us Kabuto." The Snake Sage chuckled. "It'll only be that much better when I see how they react to my newest experiments."
"Should I go get them ready then Lord Orochimaru?" Kabuto asked a question he did not need to.
"Lady Chiyo should have placed the seal as I requested." Orochimaru slowly formed the needed hand signs, he relished the destruction he would soon unleash on the village, the chance to show his superiority to Hiruzen, to Jiraiya, to them all at last. "If she failed I'm sure she won't be missed in whatever Sunagakure becomes after this disaster is over with."
He finished, he could feel the Chakra he had molded resonate with the seal so far away.
He smiled.
"RELEASE!" The world seemed to still for a moment with the shout.
The seal far away burned with a malicious power. It blazed with a corrupted power. It erupted with raw fury.
AN: So, if you ever wondered what Orochimaru's thoughts were on a lot of things, you now have them. Now onward to an author's note:
First off just countless thanks to everyone who reviewed Orange Legion, who decided to favorite and follow Orange Legion, and to everyone who just sat down and read what is the longest story I've ever written on this site so far.
Now for Orange Legion itself: This story has become a pain to write. I don't know why and I don't know how it happened. It just did since the last update to it wasn't even in the second half of 2018. It was in April. Something happened at some point that made this story very, very, very difficult to write. I tried side projects to take my mind off it, to see if it was just burnout at trying to just write and write, but its not that. The story is just something unpleasant to write now.
Other chapters are written since I honestly was trying to finish off the invasion in this update but I just keep hitting roadblock after roadblock in them, keep getting to long stretches of time where I'm just stuck in one spot with no idea how to get to where I want to go next. I know what I want to have in the future but it seems impossible to get past the story's present.
To make a short story even shorter: I stopped liking to write Orange Legion.
I'll hopefully find a way to push through but I don't count on it. I'm not trying to abandon this story but it seems closer and closer to happening the more I try to write through this invasion arc. I'm trying to avoid making this story just one of many abandoned stories on this site but it is challenging. I debated just skipping over the invasion like I listed as an option in the last update but I couldn't do that. I spent so much time working to this, spent so much time building to the invasion, that I felt it would be a disservice to just skip it because it got hard to write for. Maybe things will change and maybe they won't but like I said, I have several more chapters in the works. Hopefully this thing with Orange Legion clears up and I have fun writing it again.
If the worst does happen and I suddenly say I'm abandoning Orange Legion I would encourage anyone reading this to make your own Orange Legion, to see what you can do with the idea. Even while I'm still trying to write this thing I would encourage anyone to take up the idea of Orange Legion and make it into your own story.
Peace.