Rumors of my death have been widely fictitious. Sorry I haven't updated in 21 days (exactly). This chapter went through 4 revisions because I wasn't happy about it. And it has more words than my other two combined. I also found a Japanese translator online yesterday and put some Japanese words in.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Ghost Rider. They are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Marvel. I do, however, own my OC in this chap.

"Regular talking"

Thoughts

Demon speech

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This chapter contains my first fight scene (it's kind of a prototype) so bare with me. And if anyone is expecting Naruto or Ghost Rider in this chapter, sorry to disappoint you. But if anyone wants to meet the bad guy and know what Orochimaru is doing, then gosh darn it, read on!

I put two pop-culture references in here. See if you can find them.

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Below Heaven lies Hell, and below Hell lies the cave.

Chapter 3: The Revival

Caves were a place of darkness and despair. Every year, hundreds of cave explorers lose their lives, either to cave-ins or their own foolishness. It is said that the deeper one goes, the closer to Hell one gets. This saying went especially true for the Cave of Dread.

Located in the far reaches of Desert Country, this cave goes so far down that light and oxygen are nearly nonexistent. There is no plant life, and thusly no animals. The ceiling and floor are covered in stalagmites and stalactites, sharpened by the centuries so that they looked to be the teeth of some giant monster. It is nearly unbearably hot because of a few steam vents that lead to underground magma pockets. Other than that there is nothing else of great interest.

So it would be only simple to ask why a snake and seven others were to be found down there. And the answer is also simple. They were looking for something.

"Orochimaru-sama, are we nearing our destination?" asked the white haired medic-nin, Kabuto.

The snake sannin chuckled, "Ku ku ku. Have patience, Kabuto-kun. We will get there when we get there."

The six Sound-nin following behind merely kept quiet. They knew that it was in their best interest to not annoy Orochimaru. The loss of the young Uchiha had provoked the snake Sanin into killing anyone who annoyed him in the smallest detail. The only reason Kabuto was still alive was because his medical prowess was far too important to lose.

Two of the ninja were Jounin of the Sound village and would protect the Otokage from any danger, although what kind of danger they would find down here they did not know. The other four Chunin and were being used as mere pack mules, and were thusly easily replaceable.

The two right behind the Sannin and the medic were carrying the essentials for this mission: food, fresh water and camping gear. The one behind them was carrying two heavy oxygen tanks in case the air supply became too low. The final one had the most unusual pack. He was carrying a large satchel that was lumpy in a few places. He wondered what was in it, but didn't dare ask.

The group had been walking, climbing down, and going deeper into the earth for what felt like hours. Finally, they came upon a dead end. The four grunts were utterly confused, but Orochimaru merely grinned and pressed a small part of the wall and it began to glow.

Suddenly words started to spread out in a spiral pattern. They appeared to be Latin, a dead language that not many today could read.

"Alright then Kabuto-kun; it is time to use that book I gave you," Orochimaru said to his right hand man. "Everyone else may rest for a bit," he said, addressing the other six.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama. I will do my best," Kabuto replied. He then set to work trying to decipher the strange language before him.

After an hour, Orochimaru asked how he was fairing. "I am doing well master. From what I have been able to translate, if we make a blood sacrifice we should be able to get into the hidden chamber. It doesn't have to be serious, just a small amount will do. But after we do so, we will have to get past a 'stone adversity', what ever that means."

Motioning to the nearest grunt, he told him to bite his thumb. Said grunt did so and swiped his thumb across the spiral. As soon as he did, the wall began to shake and rocks began to fall down, nearly crushing the ninja, but they avoided them easily.

The rocks stopped falling and everything stood still. But something was bothering Kabuto. The wall should have opened so why didn't it? Did I perhaps mistranslate? Looking back down at his book he realized what was wrong.

"Orochimaru-sama. I mistranslated. It doesn't say 'adversity', it says 'adversary'."

"What do you mean 'adversary'? We must fight someone? No matter, they will easily be destroyed," the Sannin said confidently.

He then heard one of the grunts yell out in fright, "Very bad thing!"

Orochimaru turned around and couldn't help but smirk. The rocks that had fallen from the ceiling had combined themselves together to create a stone golem, towering above the group, easily topping fifteen feet. With surprising speed, the golem swung at the Oto-nins.

Orochimaru, Kabuto, and five of the ninja avoided the attack, but one Chunin was too slow. The golem's heavy arm caught the unfortunate shinobi and slammed him against a wall, turning him into a bloody smear.

Orochimaru pointed to one of his Jounin, "You, take it out." He was confidant that this nuisance would only require one of his best.

The Jounin smiled, finally able to fight. He performed a few hand seals, put his hand up around his mouth and said, "Futon: Oto Dangan no Jutsu!" (Wind Release: Sound Bullet)

An invisible beam of sound flew from his mouth at the golem and hit with enough force to topple an elephant. When the cloud of smoke cleared, the stone creature was in peaces. The Jounin could only smile at his victory, until the pieces lifted up into the air and reformed the rocky giant.

"All right then. If this bastard wants a fight, then give it a fight. Both of you," Orochimaru yelled to his two Jounin, "destroy that thing!"

The Jounin nodded and placed themselves on either sides of the golem. At the same time, both performed the same set of hand signs, held their palms out and shouted, "Futon: Tsuin Taihou no Jutsu!" (Wind Release: Twin Sound Cannon)

As the powerful attacks closed in on the golem, it seemed the ninja's victory was assured. But just before they hit, the golem separated into thirds, and the attacks went right through it.

Both Jounins dodged, but the Chunins standing behind them were hit and killed.

Orochimaru was beyond pissed. The stupid creature was making a fool out of him. If even his best ninja couldn't destroy the golem, then what did that say about him? He decided to take it out himself.

As the golem reattached itself, Orochimaru started making hand signs. After a dozen, he jumped high above the golem and shouted "Hyoukai Dokueki no Jutsu!" (Corroding Venom) and spat a foul smelling ooze from his mouth. When it hit the stone giant, smoke began to rise from its body.

After a minute in lumbering around in what seemed like pain, the golem finally melted into a puddle, the acid having done its job.

With the defeat of the guardian, the wall moved upward, revealing the chamber within.

"Excellent. We have finally reached our goal," Orochimaru said with an evil smile.

As the Sanin led his four remaining subordinates into the chamber, Kabuto had to ask the question that had been plaguing his mind throughout this whole trip.

"Orochimaru-sama, please forgive me for asking, but what exactly is our goal?"

Orochimaru looked at Kabuto and gave him an insane smile. "All right then. I suppose everyone deserves a little history lesson. After all, it's not everyday you get to meet death itself."

The snake Sannin continued to walk further into the chamber, talking as he went.

"Well, when I was still in Konaha I found an ancient scroll that told the legend of Kurogenshu Dark Sovereign). It said that 1,000 years ago, an individual practicing the dark arts made a deal with a demon to give him the power of life and death. The demon agreed but only at the price of his soul. With the contract fulfilled, the demon took his prize and the human gained the ultimate powers, immortality and the power to kill with just a touch of his legendary weapon, the Kyoufugai (Dread Scythe).

In battle he was a sight to behold. His very presence on his horse Cavallido (Pale Horse-Italian) would inspire great fear in those who opposed him. Thousands of enemies would come at him at once, and all of them would die, leaving not even a scratch on him. The legend says that he killed over ten million people alone. It also said that the 10 million souls of the victims were gathered together into a scroll. If anyone is able to find the scroll, they will be able to resurrect the dead as their own personal army."

The sound Nin following said not a word, believing that such a tale was absolutely impossible.

Orochimaru continued his tale. "And of course, wherever there is someone with power, there will be someone who will try to take it away. A trio of holy warriors banded together and were somehow able to separate Kurogenshu from his weapon and his steed. And if that wasn't enough, they then split his mind and body and sealed them within two of the warriors using the Gyokuji (Sovereign's seal) calling upon Kami himself to help rid the world of Kurogenshu's evil. The final warrior made sure to seal the scroll under another seal and then sent the Kyoufugai and Cavallido to opposite ends of the earth."

Orochimaru paused as the group approached two stone statues and a seal that was carved on the cavern floor. To Kabuto this looked liked no seal he had ever seen before. But to Orochimaru's eyes, he could tell that this was most defiantly what he had been searching for.

"Ku ku ku. Here it is gentlemen. The most destructive force that will ever plaguemankind. It is under this seal that we will find the scroll of 10 million souls."

Kabuto could hardly think of the potential. With an army 10 million strong, nobody could stop them. Even if every village combined their forces, they would fall to the Sound.

"Now we will break the seal and gather the army," Orochimaru said to his reaming four followers.

Orochimaru explained what everyone should do. His two Jounin stood in between the two statues (AN: statue, Jounin, statue, Jounin-in a circle) and the Chunin took the satchel and placed it in the middle of the seal. Orochimaru handed him a Kunai and told him to open it.

The Chunin did so and was shocked by what was in it.

A beautiful young girl with long brown hair, totally naked, lay before the Chunin. He looked to Orochimaru questioningly and the Sanin replied, "She is the virgin sacrifice. Surely none of you thought that power of this magnitude could so be so easily obtained. All you need now do is pierce her heart," Orochimaru replied with a sadistic smirk.

Kabuto was not disturbed by this, having helped his master in much more horrifying experiments. But the other three were horrified, especially the Chunin, at what he was being told to do.

For a second, the Chunin considered refusing to do it. Until Orochimaru sent a very large amount of killing intents his way, showing the Chunin's death to be more horrific than hers if he did not do it.

So with a heavy heart, he plunged the Kunai into the young girl's heart, earning a small gasp of pain from the unconscious victim.

At first nothing happened, and the Chunin was afraid that he had satanically murdered someone for no reason.

But then the blood began to seep into grooves of the seal, and an unholy light shone from it. The Chunin and two Jounin tried to get away, but found that their feet would not move. With nothing short of complete horror on their faces, the Jounin saw that the statues next to them had turned their heads to look at them.

The statues opened their mouths and said, "You foolish mortals have no idea the horror you have unleashed upon the world. For a thousand years we have kept this great evil in check, but now it is released. If the weapon, steed, and scroll are found, humanity will be no more."

Orochimaru gaped at what they had just said. "What do you mean!? If the scroll of ten million souls is not here, than what is sealed?" The statues did not reply. They merely gave one glance full of pity and loathing to the snake Sanin and crumbled to dust.

The light then died down and a lone figure stood where the girl had lain mere moments before. It was a skeleton, nearly six and a half feet tall.

The skeleton reared back its head and gave the most terrifying laugh that any of the ninja had ever heard.

"AH HAH HAH HAH HAH! I'M FINALLY FREE!"

It then noticed the terrified Chunin at its feet and the two Jounin still routed to floor.

"But before I take my revenge on this world, I need some nourishment," and it grabbed the Chunin by the head. With a sickening popping and crunching sound, the ninja's very flesh receded into his mouth, followed shortly by muscles and finally the organs.

All of these body parts were added to the skeleton, but it seemed not enough, for it now looked partway completed, with some organs, muscles, and an eye still missing.

"Not yet. Just two more should do." The monstrosity dropped the remains, now merely a skeleton itself, to the floor and made its way to one of the Jounin.

While Jounin are rigidly trained to be resilient to horrific sights, this Jounin was only a rookie, having past his exam barely two months ago. As such his mind seemed to have shut down temporarily to save itself from what was happening. When the creature grabbed him around the head, he regained his scenes and screamed bloody murder.

This did not stop the monster as the Jounin experienced what his subordinate had just gone through. Now the horror looked nearly complete, with just a few inches of skin and the right lung, both kidneys, and liver missing (which could be seen through the missing skin).

It turned its sights on the last Jounin. This one, however, was a veteran of 12 years and was prepared. With some quick hand signs he shouted, "Futon: Oto Dangan no Jutsu!"

A beam of sound even more powerful than that used against the golem was launched at the creature. It merely laughed and knocked the blast away with its hand, destroying part of a wall.

It grabbed the Jounin and finished its life draining technique.

It was revealed to be a man looking to be almost thirty years old. He had stiff black hair, a long black trench coat, and black combat boots (he looks kind of like what Blackheart did in the movie).

"Now time to see if my death powers have returned," he said with an insane smile.

Orochimaru realized that he had mistakenly released Kurogenshu, the Dark Sovereign himself, into the word. And it seemed the he was going to be his first victim.

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Thank God! That took too freakin' long!

The reason I used a different seal than the one the fourth Hokage used to seal Kyuubi in Naruto is because that jutsu had the Shinigami take the souls of the sealer and the sealed. But Kurogenshu had traded his soul for power and didn't have it anymore.

If you want to picture the life draining, it's kinda like what Imhotep did in 'The Mummy'.

In naming my OCs, I just took the translations and combined them together, so please do not tell me that I misspelled something. I did it on purpose.

In the next chapter, we see what Johnny Blaze has been up to, Orochimaru makes the best out of a bad situation, and Naruto trains and learns about the deal he made.

I will try my very best to have chapter 4 up within three weeks.

Be sure to R+R!