AN: Rewritten BLADESMITH. Provided more context at the end. Also, I definitely recommend if you're hesitant about rereading, to only read the first half of the chapter where it's all completely rewritten/new.
Caveat: I've archived all reviews and review replies from deleted/altered chapters.
Present
The Way of a Ninja
4 Months Into the Second Shinobi World War
The mess that litters Orochimaru's apartment makes the cage-like room even smaller.
With rampant urbanization, the Leaf Village made sure to build as many apartments possible for its short-lived tenants. He got the short end of the stick with the Shinkyou Apartments[1]—the shortest distance from the Academy and the Hokage Tower all at the cost of having a bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a laundry room lumped into one space taking only 5 seconds of brisk walking to cross end to end. The window, placed above his bed, at least gives the illusion of the place being bigger.
Though, never much while dawn creeps its way inside.
It's no surprise his bed has the lovely function of being his study desk. Strewn across the cheap fabric are scrolls, books, and scrawled notes. He borrows most of his collection from the Leaf Library, but still has a sprinkle of works purchased outside his village. There is a theme amongst the chaos: pictures of human bodies, skulls, corpses, the chakra network, death records.
On his bedside table, with its ancient cover, is the book of the dead.
"Sujihime."
A slender, black snake slithers his forearm, peaking over his hand to watch. "Yessss?"
"You are the all-knowing, recording snake, correct?" He barely pauses for a response. "You must have seen the Second Hokage in combat."
"Even if I had, the life of a human isss secondsss compared to my existencccee. What purposssee would I remember one man?"
After all this time, he still cannot understand these creatures. He has to master these snakes—he's done it before, right?—but these cold-blooded fiends leaves him uneasy. There is a history about them, one intermingled by blood and bone. Like the Toad and Slug summons, the Snake summons have lived a long, long time.
If Sujihime is the summon in charge of keeping track of information and the other snakes, surely the snake will remember that Second Hokage. Especially with the bad blood between the two. Why is this snake making his job difficult?
Once he can reanimate the dead and override the sacrifice, he and his undead army can unendingly throw themselves at Madara's and Zetsu's feet, exhausting the two so that he could kill them both. Regardless of their motives or pasts—their megalomania is going to get innocents killed. More wars, more devastation—the mangled body of Tsunade, the impale corpse of Jiraiya—how can he sit and wait for 40 years so that Naruto Uzumaki can save the day? Only after years of pain and having a family prematurely stripped away.
Once he clears this hurdle, nothing is stopping him from ending everything.
He knows the task is seemingly impossible, but that does not matter. It's the very least a former sociopathic murderer can do, after all.
"Earth Release: Mud Doll."
Mud drips from his palm. It congeals and morphs into a vaguely humanoid shape. Its form ripples at edge, threatening to burst at any moment. He draws the tip of his long fingernails close to its surface, right at its stomach. Delicate, he sends energy coursing through his hand, into the now quivering doll.
Suji slithers away from the scene. "What isss thisss…? Natural energy?"
"Natural energy is the energy that already exists in nature," he says instead, eyes focused on the mud doll. "If I balance this energy with my spiritual and physical energies, I can perform Sage Mode, correct?"
"Yesss…"
"What is nature? The atmosphere? The plants?" He flickers his gold eyes towards the snake. "Are humans not apart of nature? Do their rotten bodies not return to the ground, and to nature itself?"
"A human, at death, returnsss to their environment. Everything—itss chakra, itss body, and itss ssssoul. What isss your intention?"
From the center, the mud doll splits in half.
"I wonder," he mumbles, "could you make a soul out of natural energy?"
The pale hue of dawn emerges. With it comes a grayish bird perched on his windowsill, chirping for his attention.
He waves the bird off to the aviary. No time for playing games—the Third Hokage needs him.
The Hokage Tower is bustling with activity, as always. Ninja scouts relay messages back and forth from the Fire Daimyou and the Leaf's allies, sprinting past him like his existence is negligible. Guarding the doors is none other than the two Anbu members who have been there for a decade now.
Takibi Aburame is hidden almost entirely by clothes. A black hood, a mask, gloves, boots, sunglasses. He towers over all three ninja with obscured eyes.
Shimizu Nara is far more liberal with her appearance. Her pants are tied just below her knees, showing off her cheap sandals. Her sleeves are short enough to see not just the edge of her Anbu tattoo, but tattoos of a sun on fire. Her brown hair is tied into a high ponytail, hair leaning down one side.
Her gaze falls upon him, nonchalant. "Look who's out the hospital! So messed up, you ain't even land in the general ward, but the confidential ward! You really gave Lord Hokage a shock, yunno."
His expression reveals nothing.
"Top notch Anbu are s'posed to know a lot," she says, hunching up her shoulders. "How come we don't know anything about your mission, huh? How come you walked away one man less? The great Orochimaru failed a mission and got it purged so it won't hurt him, huh—?"
He clears his throat. Ignoring Shimizu, he stares at the door.
Her dark eyes want to penetrate his soul. It does not matter. She does not matter.
At last, she leans back. "Hm. Takibi? Think we let him in?"
"Lord Hokage said it was urgent," her partner states, a river having more of a melody than the Aburame's voice.
She rolls her eyes. "Can't go against orders, huh?"
The two pour their chakra into a seal placed on the walls next to them. Shimizu gestures to the door. He opens and enters without looking back.
Hiruzen throws all of himself into his work scattered across his desk, eyes moving fluidly through the organized disorder. If Biwako weren't so busy, she'd have him clean the desk up ("Appearances, Hiruzen; you're too soft as a leader!") after berating him for two decades now. It's the sound of the door clicking shut that finally pulls the man's attention away and to his old student.
Compared to the simpler days, Hiruzen has aged far too much.
"Come, come," his former teacher beckons, no smile, no pleasantries. It'd be stupid to expect as such now, but that was his norm. "I am afraid there is no good news to share."
He stops before his desk. Hiruzen hands him a scroll, hand trembling slightly.
"The Land of Water had not entered this war—not after all the in-fighting and damage since the First War. The only cohesive power about them is their Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist—something we believed was once myth. However, Anbu spotted four men in the Land of Fire, each Mist ninja, one wielding a sword possibly alluded to in the tales."
He unravels the scroll. The mission goes into more intricate detail of the lore, but nothing of the four men. "Did we not gather any intelligence on them?"
Hiruzen raises a brow at that—ready to interject before he finished. "I need you to do that—if you're healed, that is."
He does not respond.
"We have every reason to believe the Land of Water and the Land of Earth are working together as they did in the First War. We know Earth needs to cut across our territories and villages if they stand a chance at defeating us. Even then, we have the home-field advantage. What better way to even the odds if these Swordsmen—these supposed men who have toppled minor countries bigger than Land of Whirlpools and islands—marched into Grass Village and helped Earth reach the Leaf?"
The Land of Earth betrayed the Land of Water with the killing of the Second Tsuchikage and Mizukage from the previous war. Earth is the first reason the latter is decaying from within. The second reason being that the Land of Water has cut itself off from the rest of the world.
The Third Mizukage, Minakami, and the Water Daimyou, Kaimen, work together to prevent Water from seeking outside help. Locked within its waters are its people and the faux history revealed in scraps made by the few lucky enough to escape. The savage land is ripping itself apart trying to keep itself self-sustaining. A collection of islands cannot provide for itself. The entire ordeal is no different than a self-eating snake[2].
However, the country is surrounded by deep sea and with an unknown amount of power due to the lies it feeds its people. There is no way the Leaf can reach the shores of even the more outlying islands without suffering massive loses. The only thing any country can do is hope a civil war rights the wrongs of the land.
Of course, he doesn't have much hope of this happening. It never happened originally.
"Orochimaru, we need every bit of information we can gather from whoever these Swordsmen are. Are they as powerful as the tales claim? How can we defeat them? What can we do to prepare for an unknown threat?"
He rolls the scroll closed, slipping it into his breast pocket. "You expect me to fight them."
"Without killing. Who knows what may replace them? We need intelligence. It isn't as if we can use Anbu and have them fight fairly. Those men will know we are watching." Hiruzen rubs his lips. "It would be best not to sway Water to war with us. I am not the man my teacher was. We cannot afford this suffering to go on for too long."
His chest tightens. "Even if Water is violating the rules of war."
"As long as we have no evidence of Water doing so, there is nothing we can do but gather evidence. Is this not what a ninja is?"
"Lord Hokage, a ninja is a weapon that fights and dies forever," he says, scowling.
Hiruzen keeps his gaze steady, unable to admit fault in his words.
He can't face those eyes of his. But, it is not as if he will stay silent. "Why must we always resort to fighting? We ninja are bleeding and dying. When we kill to justify our home, we are only hurting others. They will become ninja who will go on to kill for their home, Lord Hokage."
"I am aware. More than you will ever know." Hiruzen heaves a deep sigh. From inside his sleeves, the man pulls out his old pipe. His hands are pale against it, skin dry and peeling.
"You tell the Leaf you want to do so many things the previous Hokage would have never done." He drops his gaze to the floor. No longer can he hide behind facts—pieces of his feelings slip out. "Why do you continue the status quo, Sensei?"
"You cannot convince a man he is wrong until he loses it all."
Hiruzen lights the pipe. Silvery smoke wisps drift upwards and across the tensed stress lines of his face.
"That will never change. The only way we can protect the good is by killing the bad. We may incarcerate where we can, but death is always an eventuality. However, not for this mission. I do not want anyone to die. Consider yourself lucky this is the way I've given you, Orochimaru."
As quick as his heart opened, it closes. "There is a better way, Lord Hokage."
"There is never."
"We can be better. Let us win our wars without blood! Why battle with blades and violence, when there is a simple solution?"
Hiruzen looks at him, expectant, patient.
"Lord Hokage, we can try psychological warfare."
Why go into battle against a ninja's blade and will when there is an easy, bloodless solution? Break the ninja's mind. Break it into innumerable pieces. Shatter the resolve at the core, and may the ninja fall without ever releasing a single Ninja Technique.
The current fate of the world is to groom children into fighting bloody wars as heroes. No different than his other world. But there, he was a nobody who succumbed to a fragile existence. Here, he can be better, do better, make better choices.
He'd be damned if he let himself die in combat like a nobody.
Hiruzen, though, is shaking his head. The reality is too much for his conventional, frail mind. "Never. We must never resort to such underhanded, cowardly tactics, Orochimaru. To die on battle is to be honorable."
Honorable?
Funny he says that, since his own mentor died throwing away his life to buy time.
"The world looks to us," Hiruzen says, calmer now. "We must lead by example. If we descend into chaos and trickery, how could we ever draw the limit? A mind is far more delicate than a body, Orochimaru. You kill a body, you stop the person. You kill the mind, and no one will know what is to come."
He clenches and unclenches his fists behind his back.
At the end of the day, Hiruzen's approval outweighs his anger.
It's so stupid, too.
For him, though, he can withstand another battle.
"Your job is to act as the will of the Hidden Leaf Village. You are to intercept those men and gather intelligence. Something to help us should the Land of Water threaten to rise up. Do I make myself clear?"
He clenches his fist.
"As you wish, Lord Hokage."
The team required for the S-rank mission must be made up of the most talented Jounin ninja who can handle illusions. Three people fall into that category. Only two planned to meet him at the gate in thirty minutes.
The heiress of the Hyuuga Clan and the best kunoichi the clan's produced so far, Hinome Hyuuga[3] is a force to be reckoned with. Using her Byakugan's above average range, Hinome can see clearly pass the chaos of battle, deception, and manipulation with ease. His graduation class affectionately dubbed her the Ice Princess. The name arose from several reasons, but the easiest reason was the way she looks.
Her hair is a deep black with dark blue sheen to it, thick and wavy, held back in a high ponytail. Some of her hair trails down the sides of her face as if blocking the outside world from reaching her deadpan, porcelain face. The top she wears, a loose fit made more pronounced at the large cuff-frills, is never messy nor wrinkled. Were it not for the black mesh undershirt she wears, it would be difficult to determine what is skin and what is fabric. The rest of her attire is the formless shinobi war uniform, stylized with a white sash decorated by the Hyuuga Clan's emblem.
The heir of the Uchiha Clan and better known by his Bingo Book moniker Cherry Blossom Bloodshed, Takenaka Uchiha[4] is a talented Medical Ninja and illusions specialist. The Uchiha and he became good friends in the Ninja Academy, being a naturally social boy who "adopted" him into the former's friend group. He was even the best man for Takenaka and Hato's wedding—which did not make any Uchiha happy—and got to meet their baby a couple years back: Fugaku Uchiha.
Takenaka prefers to wear a red, long-sleeved shirt with all the usual Uchiha markings—the high collar, the emblem—underneath the standard uniform. Like Hinome, this modification isn't allowed, but who would aggravate an heir who's done so much for the village?
Takenaka really likes red and his friend never learned the reason why—the fabric of his forehead protector is red, the ribbon tied into a bow holding back his dark hair is red. It is the Uchiha who suggests the trio meet up on the red bridge that never saw many people these days. There, he explains the mission in greater detail.
Hinome holds onto his every word. Her eyes are not activated but they are piercing all the same. "If we are going against sword specialists, why do we not have more sword specialists? Are you planning on not attacking them?"
"No Leaf shinobi can compare to the expertise of the Seven Swordsmen," he says. This fact, though, is more the result of his foreknowledge and less on the world's current information. The Bingo Books hardly have any pictures of the men, let alone the abilities of the swords. "Why engage them on their front when we have our own advantage?"
Hinome does not break her sharp gaze.
"We will be able to intercept them at Kohaku Village[5]," he adds. "Lord Hokage ordered an evacuation, so there are no innocents at risk."
"Near the Naka River? Fighting Mist shinobi near water hardly seems sensical."
"We have no choice, Hinome. There will be too much open ground by the time we catch up with them. Any longer and they will reach The Village Hidden in the Grass in a week."
"All hell will break loose at that point," Takenaka says with a smile. "I wonder if Grass would remain our ally if we let the Swordsmen waltz into their territory…"
"You know the answer to that," Hinome says, not off-put by his words.
A minor country, the Village Hidden in the Grass likes to ally itself to whichever country provides the most support. For the previous war, Grass allied itself with the Leaf and gave excellent Land of Earth intel. In return, the Leaf lent its shinobi, academic resources, and mission priority for a decade. Due to its distance, there is no absolute certainty if the Grass would continue to remain as the Leaf's ally once again. If anything, the Land of Earth might sway the country this time around.
"This is so thrilling," Takenaka says. "Life's always more interesting with you around, Orochimaru."
With a lengthy journey ahead, the trio move quickly during the brief travel periods. It's nothing new for him, though he finds his body aching more than usual. Tsunade insisted he was ready for combat. He wonders how true that really is.
10 kilometers away from the village[6], the trio rest in a hotel before the open expanse of land begins. They share the room and crowd in a circle on the floor, around a tray of rice wine and lamb meat. It makes little sense for them to arrive to battle exhausted and sore.
"I seriously can't picture you in a wedding dress, Hinome." Takenaka is red-faced from all the alcohol. The Uchiha is not drunk—he would never let his guard down. "Shoma is either lucky or the world's unluckiest man."
Hinome glares half-heartedly. When Takenaka grabs his cup for another sip, she swipes the cup away and drinks the last of his wine, hidden by her overflowing sleeve.
Takenaka gasps like she killed his firstborn.
He allowed himself one cup of wine. He's not so sure if Tsunade's addictive personality rubbed off on him. Now is not the time to find out.
"Thanks to you, my parents are pushing me to have children," she says and sets the cup down. "It's annoying. Once I get pregnant, I can't be a kunoichi for some time. What am I supposed to do? This is all I've done. I can't be a mother."
"I second that." Takenaka pauses. "Ah! Sorry, I mean, I didn't think I could be a dad. No parent is ever ready for children, though. No child is the same. I suggest you ask for as much help as you can."
"As if. It's not as if my parents raised me well. Mother was always so sick. I could never see her. Father was so critical of everything I did. Higure has never been the same." The line of Hinome's shoulders fall.
"Is your dad really all that bad?" At this, Takenaka's brows lifts. "We've known each other for nearly 20 years. I've never even seen him!"
Orochimaru tends to avoid clans. Noble clans even more so. Knowing what he knows, he's glad he forgone the chance to meet her parents.
Hinome's gaze into the depths of her cup hardens. "Consider not meeting him a pleasure. I'm also glad I haven't met your parents, Takenaka, Orochimaru."
Takenaka nods. "Okay, okay. Fair points. My family pressured me to unlock the Sharingan young. It only awakens through suffering. So"—he waves his hand dismissively—"make of that what you will."
"The broken should not be parents," Orochimaru comments at last.
"Hm. Among us, you are the luckiest, Orochimaru." Hinome regards him with a stare neither relaxed nor angered. "You are not the heir of any clan. You are a nobody with no path set in stone. You could have a family or not. Nobody would bother."
He is not held to anyone's standards. No one can decide his legend. Not even this knowledge of a world before.
Those around Tsunade are notoriously unlucky, but, this time, perhaps luck is on his side.
"If Orochimaru gets tired of being lonely"—Takenaka had crawled to his side and hooked an arm around his shoulders—"Hato and I would love to have him around! Wouldn't that be fun? It'd be a never-ending sleepover! Only with adult responsibilities."
A smile grows on his face, though he turns away and pushes the Uchiha off. "I do not like sleepovers."
Takenaka only grins deviously. "That's not what you said when we slept together under the stars."
Hinome, in a swift motion, takes her cup and launches it at Takenaka with a little chakra.
The man's dark eyes clear for a moment. Long enough to lock onto the cup and grab it an eyelash before his nose. The force blows the strands of hair that escaped his ponytail.
Hinome smooths her hair down and says, "Why are you always saying weird things? I was there, too. Plus, I have now reached my Takenaka-quota and will be sleeping now."
Takenaka sets the cup down. "Sorry, sorry! Come on, it's been years since we did missions together! It's all so exciting! Hinomeeeee…."
He follows Hinome's lead and cleans the table.
Kohaku Village is devoid of Naka River flows quietly, cool under a hot summer's day. The village isn't particularly large—most Leaf territories lack a big enough economy or population to be anything but small and unassuming. A lot of the buildings are outdated and weathered by rain and sunshine.
Two Nine Tails statues guard the gate of Kohaku Village's Residence of the Village Chief. The foxes' jaws are wide open, fangs ready to tear into flesh and bone. He wonders why the foxes would need to guard a massive, multi-story building that looks like the remainder of a fortress turned home.
Orochimaru digs in his pockets for two apples. He places the offerings in both mouths.
"Are you that worried something gonna go wrong?" Takenaka had watched him. He leans against the stained gate, hands in pockets. "We're all Jounin, Orochimaru. It's not like that mission. Things will never be like that ever again."
He nods, willing it to be true.
Hinome's footsteps echo. She announces her arrival and silences her steps. "The cavalry will arrive in forty minutes. Four men, three walking, one inside a carriage. There's nothing inside the carriage, though the structure is odd."
His ears perk up. "How so?"
"It's metallic. The man should be burning up. Following that, he has good chakra reserves, but nowhere near the other three. He's unlikely to be a hostage."
Takenaka's smile falls while he joins the duo.
"Additionally, the men aren't wearing anything particularly unusual or lethal. I saw the weapons, though. Twin swords covered in chakra and a sword wrapped in tags of some kind. The third and fourth did not have theirs unsealed, I suppose."
Orochimaru cannot remember those swords at all.
Ignoring his throbbing heart, he raises his palm. In his hand two snakes manifest. "You two will need to swallow Migihime and Hidarihime. They will not affect any part of your chakra or movement. It will be a way that I can remain in contact and know where you are at all times. I will remove them after battle."
Hinome hardly ever emotes anything. Even so, Orochimaru can see she is disgusted. "You get creepier every time I see you, Orochimaru."
"I apologize…"
Takenaka, though, plucks Hidarihime and swallows the slender snake with an audible gulp. He pats his chest saying, "Never thought I'd get a chance to eat a snake. It's not bad, just salty and thick. A little cold, too. Nothing you're not used to, Ice Princess."
If looks could kill, he would have been dead the moment his grin formed. Hinome huffs and swallows Migihime, spurred on by his words. Her expression is blank.
"How is it?"
"I aim to forget this ever happened," she replies.
The Swordsmen take their time crossing the distance. They can see the three of them as plain as day, it's not even noon, and they do not hasten their pace at all. They stroll up to the village like friends preparing for a meet-up.
When they are within speaking distance, they stop.
The carriage trails behind them a good deal. The rider does not step out.
The three Swordsmen stand side by side. On the far end, a young man grins at them. His sword is massive, though he effortlessly holds it with one hand on the sword grip and rests it behind his shoulder. The sleeveless mesh undershirt shows just how lean his olive skin is. One pants leg is rolled up to his knee for no obvious reason. From here, Orochimaru can see his narrow, burgundy eyes.
On the other end is a tanned man donning a large overcoat and no shirt underneath, his muscular and scarred torso visible. His outfit is uniform and neat. Silver prison chains are wrapped around his neck. On his massive hands, thickset gloves. Two sword handles peak from behind his shoulders.
In the middle is a very slender man, bordering on emaciation. His face is pale, gaunt, sleep deprived. Greasy hair falls from one side of his head the color of bone. His olive-green kimono is two sizes too big, something that would expose his chest and neck had they not been wrapped in bandages. The blue-gray eyes that meet Orochimaru are placid.
"Greetings, Leaf ninja," the man says, curtsying. "We've got no deal with you. Best run back home and play dead."
"We will not let you past," he says, summoning all his strength to sound threatening.
"I don't really care about fighting, you feel me? You, uh...must not get who we are. We're the Swordsmen. I'm Motochika Sei. The little guy's Chuushaki Kamakura. Big one's Musabori Miyamoto. I doubt you heard of all the stuff we've done, so we tell ya a lil bit. Make a good Bingo Book entry, okay?"
He doesn't recall their names. No doubt it's the result of the Land of Water's suppression and disinformation.
The man with the twin swords, Musabori, lets out a groan. Deep and hoarse, it reverberates. "Motochika, forgive me, but it drives a man crazy nobody knows who he is. What's the point of all those missions if not a soul recognizes us?"
The thin man, Motochika, sighs. "Fame is a virtue and poison, my friend. If everyone knows who we are, it'd make fights boring. They could predict us. You wanna have fun, no?'
"Why are we talking?" The last one, Chuushaki, slams the butt of his sword onto the ground. Like this, he can see the young man has tied his hair into a bun. "C'mon, c'mon! Let's destroy them! Let's destroy this whole place!"
"Patience, Chuushaki. We don't know who these tools are, either."
"Actually," Takenaka says. His voice has a harsh edge to it that Orochimaru forgot existed. "Who's your friend behind there? Let's get acquainted, too."
Motochika points behind his shoulder. "The…horse? We stole him a few stops back. I call him Horse, but Chuushaki prefers—"
"You'd be wise not avoid the question, Swordsman," Takenaka interrupts.
"How'd you know—wait a minute? That's the legendary Eye Technique, no? The Byakugan." His eyes have a spark of life in them. "Boys, the lady doesn't have that weird seal, too. We can grab her eyes and make a quick buck off them."
Hinome narrows her eyes. "Try."
"I like the sound of that." Musabori grabs the handles of his swords. "I'll get her eyes real good."
"Enough about eyes, who's the person—"
"You're driving me crazy!" Chuushaki's nasally roar stops Takenaka. "I'll destroy you so much, there won't be enough left to cremate you! Fight me!"
Chuushaki swings his sword in a wild fashion, striking the ground and laughing.
Seconds later, the sword explodes.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] shinkyou (心境 ), state of mind. (It's written in Katakana in universe.)
[2] Ouroboros. Not Japanese, but I like the symbolism. Besides…Kishimoto does draw from Western culture at times, so (shrug)…
[3] hinome (日の目 or 日目) means sunlight (literally: eye of sun).
In Japanese color theory, white means purity and death.
[4] takenaka (竹中) means "within bamboo" and within the idiom: 竹馬の友 (takeba no tomo) meaning childhood friend.
Red means ridding of evil and prosperity of one's family.
[5] Kohaku is the name of the family who governs the land so is untranslated, but it means amber. (Also, I had Dr. Stone on the mind, so sue me…)
[6] Unnecessary, but if you want to understand the scope of their journey, Kohaku Village is 1780 square km away, or 10 hrs 30 minutes briskly walking. In ninja speeds, the journey is within minutes, but this also means pushing their bodies upwards to 130 km/h or average car speeds. (A human can only run max 5 mph for context.)
AN:
Altered opening scene because it was bothering me—too generic (which I went for to ease you into the new setting). Since a complaint was "nothing is going on" even though things were happening, I realized to you it felt like the conflict had no overarching reason to be there. I provided more build-up and context as well as established Orochimaru's base understanding with Edo Tensei.
(Is this a retcon? He was already at this level, but I didn't want to tell you this immediately, to keep you guessing. Regardless, Edo Tensei development has not changed from beginning to end.)
Removed a scene with you-know-who. It's kind of unnecessary. I added it to show Orochimaru's current morality, but I dunno, not feeling it.
Removed a scene with an oc character. I like it (I'm biased, duh), but this also was provided to set up an understanding of his character after the setting shift. Removed because it bloated the chapter and fit better elsewhere (fully re-written).
Also! No one noticed this, but Orochimaru's oc team consists of a red and white color scheme! Japanese color theory….? No…?