Hello all Storm here with a new chapter! Here we'll be seeing Naruko and Satsuki returning to Konoha with Naruto, along with getting a look at the Akatsuki, which will be having a surprise member with Zetsu not being in the picture. So, without further ado.
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Within a hidden cave seven projections appeared, these being the remaining members of the Akatsuki organization.
"Mard Geer, why have you called this meeting?" Asked the leader of the Akatsuki, Pein, while looking at Mard Geer, the only member who didn't have a partner.
"And where are Kakuzu and Hidan?" Asked Konan, not seeing the "Zombie Duo", having last heard they were in the Land of Ancestors to capture the Kyūbi Jinchūriki.
"Funny you should mention them, it would seem the unkillable "Zombie Duo" have now been killed. Someone has recently collected the bounty on Kakuzu's head, luckily I was able to recover his ring for his replacement." Mard Geer revealed, much to the rest of the Akatsuki's shock at hearing someone actually managed to kill Kakuzu and Hidan, though they were skeptical on the Jashinist's death.
"How can you be so sure Hidan is dead as well? Perhaps he's just been cut into several pieces and scattered everywhere." Said Sasori, skeptical Hidan was dead, given while Kakuzu himself was incredibly difficult to kill, he was still killable.
Hidan on the other hand, you could cut his head off, stab him in the heart, drown him, electrocute him, break his neck, and any other method to kill him. And he'd get back up everytime like it never happened. With Kakuzu even confirming all these methods during the early days of their partnership and he tried killing Hidan, only to fail each time.
"Hidan may be unable to be killed physically, but he can still be killed. All one would need to do is destroy his body entirely until there was nothing left or extract his soul to leave an empty shell. That there's no body means if he is dead, then it's unlikely we'll find anything left." Itachi stated, knowing Hidan's immortality wasn't perfect and he could still be killed under the right circumstances.
"Sasori have your spy network keep their eyes and ears open for any sign of Hidan, whether it's his head or a piece of him we can used to find the rest of his body. If they find nothing, then it means that he's truly dead with his ring having likely been destroyed along with his body." Said Pein while frowning, not liking the chance of Hidan's ring being destroyed as it'll mean any Jinchūriki they capture the extraction will take even longer.
"So, who's gonna be taking Kakuzu's ring then?" Kisame asked, wondering who'd be replacing their bounty collector.
"I already have someone in mind to take Kakuzu's place. You all remembering Tobi, correct?" Said Mard Geer with his trademark smirk, while a new projection appeared of Tobi.
"Hi senpais! I'm with Mard Geer-senpai right now and heard what happened to Kakuzu-senpai and Hidan-senpai! Though it's sad that they're gone, but I promise to do my best in Kakuzu-senpai's place!" Tobi said with a salute, much to the annoyance of a few members at his personality.
"Yes, Tobi will be Kakuzu's replacement as well as Mard Geer's partner. And until we can confirm Hidan is dead or not, we will need another member to replace him. For that, Mard Geer and Tobi will be going to deal with Orochimaru and recover his ring." Pein said, knowing if Hidan's truly dead, then they needed to recover Orochimaru's ring so the sealing process doesn't take even longer with two rings gone.
"What?! Leader-sama, you can't be serious?! Sending that idiot after that snake bastard! Me and Sasori were meant to kill him!" Deidara said, annoyed at anyone else getting the chance to kill Orochimaru besides them, even more so that Tobi was being sent instead of them.
With Sasori sharing his partners annoyance, especially with his personal grudge against his former partner, but knew better than to voice his annoyances like Deidara.
"You had your chance to kill Orochimaru before and failed, I refuse to have you both fail again in dealing with the traitor and recovering his ring. And do not underestimate Tobi, there's a reason he was an unofficial member until we had an opening, one you'll see when they return with Orochimaru's ring." Pein said while looking at Deidara and Sasori with a warning look, already knowing that Mard Geer and Tobi will be able to kill the Snake Sannin.
"What of the ones who collected Kakuzu's bounty?" Questioned Pein while looking back at Mard Geer, wanting to know if they can find out who's responsible for Kakuzu and Hidan's death.
"You'll be surprised to hear; it was three children. The first being the Kyūbi Jinchūriki and Itachi's own little sister, while the third was a boy. His name is Naruto Kazama from what I gathered, with him having spiky white hair, pale skin, icy blue eyes, and three whisker marks on his cheeks. What's more, it seems he alone killed Kakuzu and Hidan." Revealed Mard Geer, much to the surprise of the rest of the Akatsuki to hear a single kid killed the "Zombie Duo", not to mention his appearance.
"Are we sure the Kyūbi Jinchūriki doesn't have a fraternal twin, we don't know about?" Questioned Kisame, as from the description of Naruto's appearance, along with how similar their names are, it sounded like he was the Kyūbi Jinchūriki's twin brother.
"Regardless of who he is, the fact he could take down Kakuzu and Hidan, despite how difficult they are to be killed and were even considered immortal, it means he's already incredibly powerful. Potential at Kage-level if he was able to do it single-handedly. So it'd be in our best interest to stop him from growing any stronger and reaching his prime, which could make it unlikely for any of us to defeat him." Konan said, not even sure if Pein would be able to stop this Naruto Kazama, if he were to grow even stronger.
"Yes, but we also can't risk engaging him, should he prove even stronger than he appears to be. Until we have more information on him and his abilities, we will have our spies keep an eye on him to learn more Naruto Kazama." Said Pein as he ended the meeting, with the projections soon vanishing.
*Mountains' Graveyard*
Meanwhile, within the Mountains Graveyard, Mard Geer stood up from his seated position.
Mard Geer is a tall, lean young man, with him usually seen with a smirk on his face. Mard Geer's dark purple hair is long and wavy, reaching his shoulders even whilst the majority is tied up in a very large ponytail. Additionally, his messy bangs all but obscure his dark, slanted eyes.
He wore a long, black jacket trimmed with a light-colored flame pattern; the lapels are a matching lighter color as well. The cuffs of his jacket are rolled up, revealing a light-colored inside, which contrasts the black outside of his jacket, and have a black line cutting through the edge of the fabric. The jacket itself is tattered and splits into four torn fabric segments at the tail. Beneath the jacket, he was wearing a frilly black V-necked shirt, lined in a lighter color, that closes down the middle and is adorned with a buckle just below his clavicle; just below this is a piece of fabric that Mard Geer keeps over this shirt but under his jacket, that circles the majority of the lower half of his torso. The rest of his attire is simple, consisting of light-colored pants that lay lazily over the top of rather plain black boots and have, on each leg, a seam running down the middle, as well as two pairs of buckles that form an X on the thigh and lower calf. And over all of this he wore an Akatsuki cloak that was left unbuttoned.
"Well, it would seem you've gotten the chance to join the Akatsuki much earlier than expected Tobi. I'm sure you're ecstatic to work with your senpais and of course, your new ring." Mard Geer said with a smirk as he turned to face Tobi and handed him his ring.
"It's just us now Mard Geer, yet you still refuse to call me Madara." Said Tobi, dropping his persona, annoyed that Mard Geer refuses to call him Madara Uchiha, only to tense as Mard Geer looked at him over his shoulder as his black eyes turned into his own Sharingan.
"Do not forget who I am Tobi. Madara-sama may have entrusted you with his plans, but I am his true will. I shall only refer to you as Madara-sama to keep up appearances once it's revealed that he's still "alive", but when it is just us and the trash that gets in our way Tobi, I will call you as such. Unless of course, you'd prefer me referring to you by your real name? I'm sure Itachi, Nagato, and Konan would love to hear it." Mard Geer said mockingly, making Tobi narrow his eyes as the artificial human.
"Let's go, we still have a mission to complete." Tobi said before vanishing in a swirling distortion while Mard Geer merely smirked and sunk into the ground.
*With Naruto, Naruko, and Satsuki*
Naruko and Satsuki were relieved as they finally arrived back at Konoha, along with being accompanied by Naruto after they'd collected Kakuzu's bounty. With them being greeted by the gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu.
"Hey, Naruko and Satsuki! Took you guys long enough to get back, are you picking up on Kakashi's habits now?" Kotetsu said with a smirk, only to see the two girls flinch at the mention of the Jōnin, along with now taking notice of the bandages covering Naruko's eye.
"Where is Kakashi and Sakura anyway? And who's he?" Questioned Izumo, not seeing Kakashi or Sakura, while looking at Naruto suspiciously.
"This is Naruto Kazama, he helped us out when we ran into trouble on our mission." Naruko replied, with the Uchiha nodding in agreement.
"And Kakashi-sensei and Sakura…they're…" Satsuki said, but could only shake her head, much to Izumo's and Kotetsu's shock as they immediately understood what happened.
"Damnit." Kotetsu muttered at how they've lost two comrades.
"Come on, we'll escort you to Tsunade-sama. You too, I'm sure she'll want to meet you as well." Izumo said while looking at Naruto, knowing the Hokage will want to see him as well.
The trio nodded as both Chūnin guided them through the village to the Hokage's Tower, with Naruto subtlely glancing around to take in the village. Seeing some people were glaring at Naruko and started whispering about her, along with even glaring at him suspiciously. It made the Ōtsutsuki mentally scoff, seeing the girls weren't exaggerating about Konoha not liking outsiders.
'It must be a miracle they even let anyone enter their village, if this is the reception they give visitors.' Thought Naruto while maintaining his calm expression as they soon arrived at the Hokage's Tower and headed up to the Godaime's office, getting his first look at Tsunade Senju.
'The new generations are certainly rather…gifted.' Thought Naruto while looking at Tsunade, admiring her curvaceous figure and noticeably large breasts.
But while seeing she was a very beautiful woman, what had Naruto's attention was the diamond shaped mark on her forehead.
'The Strength of a Hundred Seal.' Thought Naruto as he immediately recognized the seal, given the fact he created it.
Having created it with the intent to have his followers use it to store up their Chakra in a single point of their body, usually their forehead since it acted as a good focal point. With it intended to be used as a power boost should they encounter anyone stronger than they could handle. But there was a problem with it, in that any user needed very precise Chakra Control to use it successfully.
Given they needed to keep good control over the Chakra being stored in the seal, while just a single slip up could…make their heads explode from the stored up Chakra. Leading to him deeming it a failure since it was too risky and dangerous to use.
'Though I can sense that the one she's using is altered, likely making it safer to be used while still requiring perfect Chakra Control. That she's also one of Asura's descendants helps as well.' Thought Naruto, having heard about Hashirama Senju and his Mokuton, it didn't take him long to realize the Senju Clan were Asura's descendants like the Uchiha were Indra's.
With Tsunade looking up after hearing them enter her office, only to immediately notice Kakashi and Sakura weren't present, Naruko's eye was bandaged, and they were accompanied by a stranger.
"Izumo, Kotetsu, you're both dismissed." Tsunade said, with the Chūnin nodding as they exited the office.
"What happened? And who is he?" Asked Tsunade while looking at Naruko and Satsuki, prepared for the worst on what happened.
"This is Naruto Kazama, we met him on our way back from the Land of Ancestors after he saved us when we ran into some trouble, when we were ambushed by members of the Akatsuki." Naruko replied, making the Senju's eyes widen in shock that they were attacked by members of the Akatsuki.
"They were called Kakuzu and Hidan, we tried fighting them off but they were too strong. Kakashi-sensei was killed by Hidan after he used some ritual that linked them together, making it so any wounds inflicted on Hidan appeared on Kakashi-sensei, with Hidan stabbing himself and killing Kakashi-sensei. Which did end up doing this." Explained Satsuki as she activated her Mangekyō Sharingan, much to Tsunade's shock.
"After that, he tried attacking Sakura, but I got her out of the way only to be slashed across my eye, with Kakuzu then killing Sakura as well. Then we just tried running to escape, but eventually they caught up. It was only thanks to Naruto showing up we managed to survive, he also killed Kakuzu and Hidan as well." Naruko said, with Tsunade mentally cursing at what happened.
'I didn't think they'd be ambushed by the Akatsuki like that! Damnit!' Thought Tsunade, not believing how a simple mission could end so badly, while the bandages around Naruko's eye, it wasn't hard to guess where Kakashi's Sharingan was now.
Before she looked at Naruto warily, given the fact he as strong enough to kill two Akatsuki members, one that Takigakure believed was strong enough to be sent to assassinate her grandfather, and the other who was rumored to be immortal. That he could kill both them showed he had to at least be at a Kage-level, despite being so young.
"You have my thanks for assisting my Ninja and saving their lives." Tsunade said, grateful that he saved both girls, especially Naruko since she was like a surrogate daughter to her despite how she could get on her nerves at times.
"But while I'm grateful, I'm sure you understand why I also can't just let a Kage-level Ninja walk into my village, especially since Konoha is still recovering from a recent invasion." Added Tsunade since while she's grateful, she also can't let a potential threat walk into Konoha, especially not when they're still recovering from the Suna/Oto Invasion.
"Of course, I doubt any leader would be foolish enough to do that. However, after saving Naruko and Satsuki, I am interested in the chance to join Konoha after I managed to get to know them a little. And I've also grown weary of constantly traveling and do wish to join a Hidden Village as a chance to have a sense of structure." Naruto replied, which only made the Hokage more suspicious of him, finding it all rather convenient now.
Team Seven being attacked by the Akatsuki with Kakashi and Sakura are killed, both of whom would be seen as expendable and unnecessary to everyone else. While Naruko and Satsuki, the Kyūbi Jinchūriki and one of the last Uchiha in the world are the only ones to survive. Then this Kage-level Ronin shows up out of nowhere, killed both Akatsuki members and now wants to join Konoha.
"I think it'd be good to let him join granny, since he really helped us out a lot and even came with us back here rather than just leave on his own." Said Naruko, with Satsuki nodding in agreement.
"He could have also simply left us to fend for ourselves against Kakuzu and Hidan, but saved us anyway, then helped us even more afterwards. And yeah, he could have just left once they were dead, but he stuck around while we recovered before coming back to the village with us." Satsuki added, making Tsunade look between the two before looking back at Naruto.
'I better not regret this.' Thought Tsunade, willing to give him a chance if the girls, especially Naruko, were vouching for him.
"Alright, I'll allow you the chance to join Konoha. After being interviewed by some of my Ninja, to make sure you really aren't a threat." Tsunade said, wanting Anko, Ibiki and Inoichi to interview and interrogate Naruto to try and get some information out of him.
"That's understandable, I'll be happy to provide any information they need." Said Naruto, with the Godaime nodding as two Anbu appeared on either side of him before escorting him out of the office.
"Satsuki, Naruko, you are both dismissed. Though I'd advise you to go to the hospital, just so I can make sure you're healing properly." Said Tsunade, with Naruko and Satsuki nodding, though the Uzumaki grumbled in annoyance at having to go to the hospital, before they left the office as well.
Once they were gone, Tsunade let out a tired sigh while pinching the bridge of her nose before leaning back and looking up at the ceiling.
"Do you know anything about this kid, ever heard of anyone named Naruto Kazama? Anything about who he is and where he came from?" Tsunade asked to seemingly no one, before her old teammate Jiraiya entered through the window.
The Toad Sage having been in the village at the time and noticed Naruko and Satsuki returning without Kakashi and Sakura, but with a stranger. Leading him to head to the Hokage's Office to listen in on the meeting to see what happened and who the stranger was.
"No, I've never heard of anyone by that name or anyone matching his appearance. And I've definitely never heard of a Kage-level Ninja that young being seen anywhere, not even a rumor about him." Replied Jiraiya, which was only more concerning, since one would think a Kage-level Ronin, especially one so young, would get some kind of attention.
"Then any ideas on how he could have remained hidden?" Questioned Tsunade as she looked at her old teammate, with Jiraiya rubbing his chin in thought.
"Just two at the moment. Either he's like that Haku girl, the one from report on Team Seven's mission to the Land of Waves, who was reported to be at least low-Kage with the praise Zabuza gave her on being stronger than him. But was able to hide herself from the world by staying in Zabuza's shadow to avoid getting any attention. Meaning this kid is like her and really good at covering his tracks, or there's a lot more to him than we may think." Jiraiya said, with neither option offering any comfort.
"That's what I was afraid of, as either option makes him incredibly dangerous. We'll have to keep a close eye on him, I was thinking of him being on Team Seven as a Genin. As for their new senseis, I think Anko and Yūgao would be good choices. With the Akatsuki attack being the perfect excuse to have both of them, acting as extra protection for Team Seven." Tsunade said, Jiraiya nodding in agreement at the idea.
Especially for Yūgao, who could use a break from Anbu with how she lost her fiancé not too long ago, and will now learn that her former team leader and someone she looked up to as a role model is now dead as well.
"Though is it such a good idea to have him that close to those two?" Jiraiya asked, concerned about his goddaughter being around such a powerful unknown, one that could likely manipulate them both with how he saved them.
"You know what they say, keep your friends close and your potential enemies closer. I'd rather have this kid where I can see him more easily and surrounded by Ninja I can trust to keep their eyes on him. Plus, it'd be better to have him with Ninja he's familiar with than complete strangers that'd make him more suspicious." Replied Tsunade, knowing it was dangerous but she wanted to make sure Naruto was kept close where she could get her hands on him should he prove to be a threat.
"Okay, that's fair. But would it be better to assign Tenzō as one of their senseis, just in case?" Said Jiraiya, both with the Kyūbi and as a means to restrain Naruto if he is a threat.
"There hasn't been any issues with the Kyūbi so far, and with Naruko now having Kakashi's Sharingan and Satsuki awakening her Mangekyō Sharingan with the loss of their team, I doubt there will be any problems. But I'll have Anko or Yūgao swapped out with him, should there end up being any trouble, despite Naruko's new safety net." Tsunade, with the Toad Sage only being able to nod at her reasoning.
*With Naruto*
Meanwhile, Naruto had been taken to Konoha's T&I Division, just without the torture part, with him being questioned Ibiki Morino and Inoichi Yamanaka. With him having first been questioned by Ibiki, going over rather basic questions before going into the more important ones. Once that was done, Inoichi then used his Mind Transfer Jutsu to look through Naruto's memories to search for any inconsistencies or potential false memories. Finding none and that everything lined up with the answers he gave them.
"He was rather compliant." Inoichi stated, looking into the interrogation room as he and Ibiki reviewed everything they've learned, while Naruto had simply sat calmly throughout it all.
"Yeah, that's what annoys me. He gave us everything we wanted to hear, never once hesitating in any answer no matter what I asked. And there was no signs of false memories or alterations?" Ibiki asked while looking at the Yamanaka, who shook his head.
"Even the most well-constructed and refined false memories have at least one mistake, no matter how small, that can make any story unravel. Yet I didn't find anything, everything is exactly as he said, grew up an orphan, was self-taught using anything he could get his hands on before he began traveling the nations to gain experience until he ended up the Land of Ancestors where he happened on both Naruko Uzumaki and Satsuki Uchiha running from the Akatsuki members and saved them." Said Inoichi, summarizing everything Naruto told them and what he saw in his mind.
"Hmmm." Said Ibiki, frowning in annoyance.
"Are you annoyed that we didn't find anything to show he's lying or that he's potentially being completely honest?" Inoichi asked, looking at the interrogator.
"Both. I'll go tell the Hokage the kids passed and is cleared to join the forces." Ibiki replied before exiting the room with Inoichi following to let Naruto out.
Neither of them knowing that Naruto was able to hear everything they said, making him mentally smirk.
'They're good, I'm just better.' Thought Naruto, since this isn't his first time on infiltration missions, they just became less frequent after he left the Land of Ancestors and started building his empire.
Having learned how to give enough information to satisfy people, while being secretive enough to not make them suspicious. Knowing if he's too honest or too secretive it'd make people suspicious, with their needing to be a balance between honesty and secrecy.
And for the false memories, he's spent years creating carefully constructed memories should he ever encounter someone capable of reading his mind, they'd only see what he wanted them to see. Even the Sage of Six Paths would be hard-pressed to find a flaw in them and think they were genuine.
'I wonder who the Hokage will have watching me now?' Naruto thought in amusement, knowing even if he passes this interrogation they'll still be watching him.
At least he can amuse himself with their attempts to get more information out of him.
*Konoha Hospital*
"So, are there any problems granny?" Naruko asked as she sat in a hospital bed while Tsunade gave her an examination to make sure her new eye was connecting properly, with Satsuki having joined her and sat in the corner of the room.
"The only reason I'm not hitting you for calling me that brat is because it'd be counterproductive at the moment. And no, there don't seem to be any problems, that kid looks like he's done a perfect job in transplanting the eye. Even better if he was able to make it so you could actually turn it off and on." Replied Tsunade, actually impressed at Naruto's skill in Medical Ninjutsu, not seeing any problems from the transplant and knew it'd function as if Naruko was born with it.
Which only makes her all the more suspicious of who he really is, as well as what his intentions are, the Senju could only hope she's making the right choice in letting him join to keep an eye on Naruto. Before their attention turned to the door, when Ibiki walked in and handed Tsunade the report on Naruto's interrogation.
"Here's the report Hokage-sama." Ibiki said, with Tsunade nodding as she took it and began looking things over.
"Thank you Ibiki, you're dismissed." Tsunade said, with the interrogator nodding as he left the room.
"Is that the interrogation report they made on Naruto?" Questioned Satsuki, getting Naruko's attention, with both girls being curious on if he'll be allowed to join Konoha.
"Yes, it is. And from the looks of things…he'll be joining Konoha's forces. And I've decided to have him be the new member of Team Seven as a Genin." Revealed Tsunade, much to their confusion.
"Uh…not that we're complaining to have him be on our team. But isn't he a little too powerful to be a Genin?" Naruko asked, given Naruto is definitely way above Genin-level.
"Wouldn't it make more sense if he was a Jōnin?" Said Satsuki, even though he's above Jōnin-level as well, but that'd be the highest rank he could get.
"It's precautionary, since he's still a stranger we know nothing about, we'll see about changing his rank once we're sure he can be trusted. Speaking of…what do you two know about him?" Questioned Tsunade, looking over the report, wanting to know if he's told them anything new he didn't tell Ibiki and Inoichi.
"Just that he's spent a lot of time traveling, practically his entire life, and that he's self-taught." Satsuki replied, giving a few half-truths on what they've learned about Naruto, with the whiskered blonde nodding in agreement.
"He also doesn't stay in one place very long, with him basically just appearing when we were cornered by the Akatsuki. Along with being pretty detached from the rest of the world since he never really stayed in one place long enough to learn anything of what's going on." Added Naruko, including the latter part to help explain if Naruto is confused or doesn't know something being talked about.
"I see." Tsunade muttered, keeping her expression calm, while hiding the hurt she feels at Naruko hiding something from her in regard to Naruto.
She can tell the girls are telling the truth, but not the whole truth, only part of it. Something she doesn't like, but also understood why they aren't telling her everything since naruto did save their lives, even if she doesn't like it.
'At least they still seem to be loyal to the village.' Thought Tsunade, taking solace that they still seem loyal to the village rather than to Naruto himself.
It also merely gave her more of an incentive to have Anko and Yūgao keep as close of an eye on Naruto as they can. Along with seeing if they can extract, really seduce, anything out of him to try and find out who he really is.
*Land of Sound*
Meanwhile in the Land of Sound, Orochimaru was looking at the Sound Four, which consisted of Sakon and Ukon, Jirōbō, Kidōmaru, and Tayuya. The Sannin doing his best to hide the pain he's currently in, both from the feeling of his arms and his body rotting away, needing to get a new host body as soon as possible. Not to mention the beating he took from Tsunade after failing to get her to heal his arms.
"Your four will be going and infiltrating Konoha, bring me Satsuki Uchiha now. Convince her to come if you can, to prevent any trouble, but if she can't be convinced then take her by force. Though do not injure her in anyway, I want her perfectly healthy when she arrives. Now go, quickly!" Orochimaru ordered, knowing he didn't have much time before he needed to change bodies.
With the Sound Four nodding before immediately took off out of the base and began making their way to Konoha to retrieve Satsuki for their master.
Though unknown to the Sound Four, not long after they left, Oto was infiltrated as Mard Geer and Tobi appeared within the base.
"You go find where Orochimaru's keeping his ring, I'll deal with the snake myself." Mard Geer said, heading towards where he could sense Orochimaru before Tobi could respond.
'Tsk, at least there will be one less problem to deal with after this.' Tobi thought in annoyance before he began searching the base for where Orochimaru could be keeping his ring.
While Orochimaru had made his way back to his chambers to rest and conserve what strength he had left, needing to hold out long enough until Satsuki was brought to him. Only to suddenly tense before quickly jumping down the hall. Getting out of the way just in time as multiple thorn covered vines burst out of the walls and would have ensnared him.
"Impressive, even in your severely weakened state you're still fast enough to dodge my vines. A true shame you chose to betray the Akatsuki, your talents would have been put to better use." Said Mard Geer with his smirk widening as he walked out of the shadows, with Orochimaru's eyes widening at the sight of him, internally panicking that the Akatsuki is after him again.
"Many Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Orochimaru shouted as multiple snakes shot out of his sleeves and launched themselves at Mard Geer.
With Mard Geer merely waving his hand causing more vines to shoot out of the wall, wrapping around the snakes before tearing them into pieces. While Orochimaru quickly entered his Slithering Snake Mode to get away, only to find his path blocked by a wall of vines shooting out of the walls in front of him.
"I'm afraid you won't be escaping this time Orochimaru, and in your current condition, I don't see you being capable of even landing a single hit on me. The only thing you can do is lay down and die." Mard Geer said wickedly before waving his hand again causing more vines to shoot out of the walls at Orochimaru, who moved as quickly as he could to dodge them.
Only to cry out as one of the vines managed to wrap around his tail, pinning him down before more vines appeared and ensnared his body. The vines tightened around his body before with a hand gesture from Mard Geer, they tore him into pieces. Though this was revealed to just be a Snake Clone, as Orochimaru rose up from the ground behind Mard Geer.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!" Said Orochimaru, opening his mouth wide open and unleashing dozens of snakes that launched themselves at Mard Geer, opening their mouths as blades emerged to impale the artificial human.
"Explosion." Mard Geer said rotating his index and middle finger in the air, causing more vines to burst from the wall behind him covered in roses, blocking the snakes from reaching him
Then not a moment later, the roses glowed brightly before triggering a large explosion, with Mard Geer creating a wall of vines between him and the explosion. With Orochimaru not being so lucky as he was thrown down the hall, crashing into the ground, grunting in pain and unable to even get up.
"Are you quite finished? I do hope so, as I would prefer not wasting any more time than I already have on you." Said Mard Geer while making an opening through his vines as he approached Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin now fully panicking, knowing he was helpless to do anything and was unable to use most of his Jutsu.
'I have no choice!' Thought Orochimaru before his body began transforming into a large white snake composed of much smaller snakes, while still having his face, with several launching themselves at Mard Geer who merely had more vines rip them apart.
Though he raised a brow when their blood dissolved into the air, only to suddenly find his body not responding to his commands.
'Ah, poisonous blood that dissolves in the air and paralyzes anyone that inhales. Then this must be his Immortality Jutsu.' Thought Mard Geer, not feeling worried at being paralyzed as he could already feel his body recovering.
Before Orochimaru lunged forward and swallowed him whole, with the large snake body then soon falling over dead.
*Mindscape*
Looking around the mental plane, Mard Geer saw all of Orochimaru's previous hosts souls enveloped in flesh-like cocoons, leaving only their faces revealed. With him seeing a cocoon starting to form around his own body before he saw Orochimaru emerge from the ground.
"Well I didn't think that would work, but I suppose your body will do and grant me even greater power." Orochimaru said, not sure if he'd actually succeed in taking Mard Geer's body, but seeing it worked he began enforcing his will to suppress his mind and soul to take complete control.
With Mard Geer merely looking at the Sannin boredly, even as his body was being covered in the cocoon, only to soon smirk and start chuckling. Making Orochimaru tense at the sound before the artificial human threw his head back, laughing madly until he stopped and looked at Orochimaru with a dark smile, who was shocked at seeing he had the Sharingan.
"Thank you…for letting me in." Mard Geer said before suddenly their positions were reversed, with him being free and Orochimaru being encased in a cocoon.
"Wh-what?! What have you done?!" Shouted Orochimaru, freaking out at his Jutsu being reversed like that, while Mard Geer smirked and approached the Sannin.
"These eyes you desired so much, they are far more powerful than you could imagine, more powerful than any other Sharingan. They were made by Madara Uchiha himself, for I am his will given form. One such as you could never hope to take my body, not when I possess power beyond your comprehension. But I do thank you Orochimaru, for all the Jutsu and abilities you shall grant me. In the end, you were still a benefit to the Akatsuki in the end." Mard Geer said mockingly, as Orochimaru could only look at him in shock and horror before he was fully encased in the cocoon.
*Real World*
Mard Geer burst out of the snakes corpse, chuckling lowly as he stepped out of the body and wiped off the blood and bits of flesh on him.
"Now to ensure you shall never return." Mard Geer said, having the knowledge of how Orochimaru made his Curse Marks and that he placed a fragment of his soul inside each of them, fragments that could revive him should he ever die.
Going through handsigns, Mard Geer clapped his hands together at the end with a dark smile.
"Release!" Said Mard Geer as he felt each Curse Mark vanish one-by-one.
*With Sound Four*
The Sound Four made their way through the Land of Fire towards Konoha, only suddenly stop and fall to the ground grabbing their necks in pain.
"Fuck! What's going on?!" Tayuya said at suddenly feeling a striking pain in her Curse Mark.
"I-I don't know!" Said Jirōbō in pain as his Curse Mark flared up,
"I-is Oro-Orochimaru-sama punishing us?!" Kidōmaru said since only Orochimaru could make their Curse Marks flare up like this.
Though suddenly the pain stopped as the Sound Four panted, only for their eyes to widen as they touched the back of their necks. Only for them to not feel anything, nor could they activate their Curse Marks either. They were gone!
"Th-they're…they're gone! Our Curse Marks are gone!" Sakon said, freaking out that their Curse Marks are gone.
"No fucking shit, dumbasses!" Tayuya yelled, but was also freaking out.
Given if their Curse Marks were gone, then that meant…Orochimaru is dead.
*With Anko*
Meanwhile, Anko was resting outside of the Forest of Death after getting some training done, with the Tokubetsu Jōnin enjoying some dango and red bean soup. Only for to flinch and grab her neck when she felt her Curse Mark suddenly flare up.
'Ah! What the hell is happening?!' Thought Anko, knowing her Curse mark only does this when Orochimaru is nearby, and she doubts her former teacher would be foolish enough to come here after his failed invasion.
Before she gasped as the pain suddenly stopped, shocked when she touched her neck only to not feel anything.
"Wh-what? What the fuck?! It's…it's gone! But…but that would mean…" Said Anko with wide eyes as the realization hit her before she grinned brightly and began laughing.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He's dead, he's finally fucking dead! Oh Kami, he's finally dead at last!" Anko said, happily at realizing Orochimaru was dead and she was finally free of her last connection to him.
*With Satsuki*
Satsuki had returned to her apartment after Naruko's examination was finished, the Uchiha being eager to finally rest, still feeling exhausted with everything that's happened. Having already stripped down into her underwear, only to flinch and rub her neck in pain when she felt her Curse Mark flare up.
'Damnit, is this thing reacting to when I had to use it before? Is that seal still holding it back?' Thought Satsuki before looking in a mirror and pulling down her hair aside to look at the Curse Mark.
Only to be surprised as she watched it suddenly fade away until it was completely gone, the ravenette tentatively touching the spot where it was. Seeing it was really gone, as if it was never there to begin with.
"What the hell?" Satsuki muttered in confusion, wondering could have caused that to happen.
*With Mard Geer*
"And so ends the Snake Sannin." Mard Geer stated after feeling the last Curse Mark fade away before seeing Tobi appear in a swirling vortex, the Masked Uchiha looking at the dead snake.
"It would seem Orochimaru's experimented on more than just his prisoners." Said Tobi, not expecting Orochimaru to have gone far enough with experiments to turn himself into such a monstrosity.
"Did you get his ring?" Asked Mard Geer, with Tobi nodding in response and holding up the sky blue ring with the kanji for "void" on it.
"Yes and with Orochimaru now dead, we can take our leave." Tobi replied, pocketing the ring while Mard Geer nodded in agreement.
With both Akatsuki members taking their leave from Otogakure now that their mission was complete.
So, what did you think, good. Yep we get a look at the Akatsuki and see that Zetsu's replacement is Mard Geer himself, who is revealed to be Madara's true will given form, without Black Zetsu around to highjack the creation. With the Akatsuki learning about Kakuzu's and Hidan's deaths, with Tobi being brought in to replace Kakuzu and partnered with Mard Geer, before they're sent to deal with Orochimaru and recover his ring. Along with seeing that unlike Zetsu manipulating Obito, Mard Geer isn't going to pretend he's his creator, only doing so to keep up appearances, but doesn't hesitate to remind Obito he's the one in charge. Then we see Naruko, Satsuki, and Naruto returning to Konoha where they're brought to Tsunade and tells her about what happens, with Naruto expressing his "interest" in joining Konoha, much to her suspicions before agreeing after the girls vouch for him but after having him questioned. With Ibiki and Inoichi not finding any flaws in Naruto's given story or memories, making him cleared to join, with Tsunade having him on Team Seven with Anko and Yūgao keeping an eye on him. Finally we see Orochimaru sending the Sound Four to bring Satsuki to him only to be attacked by Mard Geer, doing his best to fight him off in his current condition, before becoming desperate enough to try and take his body. Only to fail as Mard Geer reverses the process and take Orochimaru over, with him then using his new knowledge to destroy the Curse Marks, which the Sound Four, Anko, and Satsuki all notice, before he and Tobi take their leave. So, for those that like the story, thanks for your support. For those that don't or at least don't like the direction taken, you're more than welcomed to drop the story. But thanks for giving the story a chance anyway.
Storm out