Once Orochimaru disappeared, Jiraiya said quietly, "One last chance, Tsunade. Won't you stop?"

"You're asking a redundant question, Jiraiya," she replied, lightning still crackling around her hands. "Besides, you're the one going against your own teammates."

He snorted. "Playing the friendship card in this kind of situation isn't going to work on me, princess."

"Then I'll play you the memory card." She said lowly, "Remember the first year we were Genin together? How we pushed Orochimaru away and defended Akano Uchiha?"

"Ok, we were all at fault," he retorted, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the memory. "Even if Orochimaru was bullied first, his actions were still extreme and wrong. Because of what he did, Akano's arm never healed properly. Orochimaru basically ruined that guy's career as a shinobi."

She shrugged. "And so... what does it matter?"

"What?" he asked, stupefied by her comment.

"We nearly lost a friend because of what we did." She swallowed and said thickly, "He was poor but he tried to buy us presents. He cares about us and in return, we couldn't even stand up for him. Our duty as not only teammates and friends is to defend the other."

Jiraiya said vehemently, "I'd rather lose him as a friend and see that he walks down the right path, than support him and see him go mental."

Tsunade gave him a weak smile. "I suppose... that's the difference in our stances then. After losing my grandfather, granduncle, and nearly losing Orochimaru because of that incident, I've sorted out my priorities. I don't want to lose the people who are dear to me. I'd rather let the world burn, than... than lose Nawaki, Orochimaru and you."

"Tsunade..." Jiraiya protested.

"My loyalty lies with those I love. I will not betray him, no matter what." She raised her head up, a single tear sliding down her cheek. "I don't want to fight you but you leave us no choice! You're the one betraying us!"

Tsunade raised her foot up high and brought it down with a thunderous crash, causing a straight line of wood to implode right at Jiraiya's feet. As he leaped backward to avoid the spikes, she charged forward and grabbed onto one of them. Using it as a pole, she swung herself and slammed her foot deep into Jiraiya's stomach, causing him to cough out a mouthful of blood.

"Jiraiya-chan!"

Jiraiya cried, "Hold her!" Fukasaku and Shima both lashed out their tongues to her arms and he quickly formed a hand seal. "Toad Oil Bomb!" His mouth swelled up and he shot out a massive wave of sticky oil at Tsunade, coating her from head to toe in it. All of a sudden, Orochimaru burst up from the floor behind him and tried to snap at him. With no other choice but to get bitten by poisonous fangs or drop Tsunade, he let her go and leaped over onto a tree that was overhanging the platform.

Tsunade coughed and spat out the oil in her mouth as Orochimaru coiled himself around her protectively. "This oil is impeding my movement," she said, trying to shake her arms. "It's too heavy."

"Hsssss."

She looked down as Orochimaru dipped his tail in the oil and wrote 'heat' on the ground. "Alright, hold him off for me for a bit." Closing her eyes in concentration, she began speeding up her chakra flow to warm her body up and force it to sweat. Water and oil don't mix because of their difference in polarity. If she can create a surface of water from her skin, she could make the oil slide off her.

"Fire Release: Big Flame Bullet!"

Orochimaru quickly turned and slammed his long tail into the pool of water, sending a torrent of liquid at the ball of flame that was headed towards them. Steam hissed from the impact and at the same time, Tsunade had cleared her body of the oil. "Orochi! Boost!" He lowered his head and let her jump on. With a mighty cry, he flinged her at Jiraiya and she reeled her fist back to slam it into the tree. With one move, she blew it into splinters and her eyes flashed to the right as she caught sight of him jumping onto another platform. "No escape!"

"Crap! Boss, ma'am! Barrier up!"

"As you want Jiraiya boy!"

The three of them formed seven hand seals and three seals came out from under Jiraiya's feet, before enveloping him in a triangular prism of dense chakra made up of pure natural energy.

"Shadow Clone Technique!" As Tsunade fell towards them, she formed three shadow clones. "Lightning Release: Heaven's Fall!" Lightning cackled down the length of their right legs and they all targeted a different face of the prism. As they slammed their foot down, the prism cracked on contact. To follow up her attack, she and her clones leaped backward before rushing at the triangle a second time. As their fists connected, the prism shattered into pieces and she sucked in a deep breath. "Ninja Art: Poison Fog!" The poison she used was a paralyzing type that wouldn't endanger Jiraiya's life, and she prayed that it would hit so they wouldn't have to fight further.

"Kiddo!" cried Shima, her purple hair bouncing slightly in panic. "It's comin from all sides!"

"Ma! Just use wind!" Fukasaku shouted.

"Oh... right."

Orochimaru's eyes widened and he hastily snatched the real Tsunade back and slithered underneath the platform to avoid being hit with the poisonous fog being blown back at them.

"Damn it," she said in frustration, jumping onto his back and running down his length to leap onto another platform. "Orochimaru! I'm ready!"

He sped back up onto the platform and opened his mouth wide. With a fling of his head, he shot his Kusanagi sword straight out at Jiraiya, who easily sidestepped it.

"Is that it?" taunted Jiraiya, wearing a grin on his face. "That was soooo-"

"Jiraiya-chan!"

Tsunade caught onto the sword as it flew at her and she twirled in her hand. "Try dodging... this!" With her immense strength, the sword flew at a break-necking speed that far surpassed the Kusanagi's normal flying speed.

It was only thanks to his sage's mood own boost to speed that he managed to dodge it, albeit it still cut deeply past his right arm, spilling blood down onto the ground. As Orochimaru rose up to try and finish him off, he said with a grunt, "I'm not going down that easily!" Twisting in midair, he dodged him and kicked hard at a fang, making the serpent reel back in pain.

"Boss, ma'am! Back me up!" His eyes darkened and he spewed out another large volume of oil. "Sage Art: Bath of Boiling Oil!" The three each spat out a torrent of oil, wind and fire to create a devastating flow that melted the platform and even the trees that had grown tall enough to reach the platforms, the majestic boughs turning to sludge under the intense heat.

Orochimaru cried out in agony as he tried to phase out of range, but half of his body was caught in the blast as he dived downward. With a huge input of effort, he finally managed it and he hurriedly came out over to where Tsunade was. Dropping at her feet with a heavy crash, he cried out feebly as the lower half of his body smoldered and leaked out pus and blood, his once white scales now a bloody black and brown.

"Orochimaru!" Tsunade cried out in horror at the terrible injuries. "H-hold on! I'll save you!" Quickly placing her hands over him, she began trying to soothe the excruciatingly painful burns and heal him.

Jiraiya landed right before her and held a kunai to her throat "There's no way he's moving that body with those injuries. I'm not letting you heal him either, Tsunade. It's over."

"Fuck you!" She screamed at him, not stopping her healing as the white snake squirmed and shook in agony. "This is your teammate! He's sees you like a brother! Without him, you would have died back there with Kushina! How could you do this to him?!" Tears streamed down her face as she cried, "I may be blind and wrong, but I'm loyal! You're an ungrateful bastard, Jiraiya!"

"I'm doing what's right! There was no other way to stop you two."

Tsunade laughed mirthlessly. "If hurting the ones who loved you most is the right thing to do, then screw it!" She pressed herself into the kunai, drawing a line of blood before Jiraiya quickly withdrew it. "Even if you kill me, I'm not stopping! So go ahead and kill me if you're really that heartless!"

To hear her conviction and determination in helping him, Orochimaru felt his heart clench up and he struggled to move his head towards her, even though he was half blinded by pain and nearly unconscious from the agony. He can't let their efforts go to waste like this. He can't let her fight this alone either. If they lived... they were going to live together and fight together. If they die, then they should die together.

"Wait, somethin is happenin Jiraiya-chan!"

"What?" Jiraiya took a step back, his eyes widening in shock. Orochimaru, despite the fact that he was burnt within an inch of his life and suffering horrific pains, was pushing himself to rise. But what was strange most of all, was the way he was breathing and twitching.

"Orochimaru!" With her hands on his body, she could feel the pressure and heightened activity of his chakra flow. "What are you doing! Stop!"

Jiraiya asked quickly, "What is he doing?"

Tsunade trembled as she answered, "I... I had a feeling that Goro must have done something to forced Orochimaru's chakra flow to sustain his transformation technique. In a way, it's like he's caused that gateway to keep taking in the flow. Orochimaru is... I think he's trying to exhaust his chakra. Without chakra, the technique can no longer be sustained."

The female frog gasped. "If he doesn' do it properly, he can run all out of chakra and die."

Fukusaku murmured, "Perhaps he believes he can. Still, it is a big gamble."

"You crazy snake!" Jiraiya bent down to his level and screamed at him. "This is not worth it! Stop it!"

Tsunade put a hand over her mouth and choked on her tears. She knew that it might have come to something like this. Orochimaru was a man who would stop at nothing to get what he wanted. His passion and his great drive on one side was absolutely admiring. He was an incredibly hard worker who never took it easy just because he was a genius. He always did his best for his goals. But on the other side of the coin, he didn't understand how far was too far.

"Orochi..." She laid her head down on his and tried to hold him as he shook and trembled. "I'm... I'm here. No matter what happens, I'm still here with you."

Jiraiya bit on his lips and turned away from what he was seeing. Even if they were wrong, he could not ignore the strength of Orochimaru's conviction and passion, or Tsunade's genuine loyalty and affections. No matter what people said or judged about him, Orochimaru was true to himself and his goal, never letting people dissuade him from what he believed in. It was both a fault and a quality Jiraiya admired. As for Tsunade, even if she was too optimistic (like their sensei in his opinion), he couldn't completely fault her for only wanting to watch out and support those she cared about. She was very loving and that was something he liked about her, despite the fact it was sometimes misplaced.

He thought back about the time he had seen her cover for her brother when he was about three. It had been him who had accidentally broken some silly expensive vase when her family was at some kind of big clan party. Because he and Orochimaru were her teammates and the Hokage's student, they had been welcomed to attend. He had watched with Orochimaru as another kid took the blame and Nawaki got off scot free. While thirteen-year-old Orochimaru approved of the act, he didn't.

"How could you not feel guilty about letting someone else get hurt when they were innocent?" Jiraiya had said angrily after he pulled her aside to speak about it.

"I do feel guilty. But I refuse to give away my own baby brother," she had said defiantly. "Better that I wrong a stranger than family and friends. Besides, he's still young. I'll teach him when he gets older."

"You're not wronging your brother, you're doing what is right."

At this, Orochimaru spoke up in his usual mellow voice. "What is considered right comes from different perspective, Jiraiya. For example... I doubt you'd be very amused if I was to give you away every time you peek in on women at hot springs, right? Wouldn't you consider it a betrayal, despite the fact that what I did was 'right'?" Orochimaru's lips curved. "If there's something I believe in, it is this. If there is one single thing for which all humans should be forgiven for regardless of circumstances, it is acting out of 'love'."

Jiraiya realized that it was that day, he learned something important about his two friends. Tsunade's strong love and loyalty, something that he considered to be very beautiful, can sadly be very blind and misplaced. As for Orochimaru, he would probably never consider himself to be wrong with his twisted logic, and would find some way to always justify himself. Jiraiya believed that no matter how deep or true a love is, justice and morals should not be forsaken. Compassion for others is what creates order and peace for the world and if everyone followed Orochimaru's quote, the world would be a very cold place to live in.

Jiraiya gnashed his teeth as he returned to the situation at hand, feeling his insides twist at the sight of his friend who was practically writhing from the pain. Even though he knew that what he was doing was right, he still partially hated himself for causing his close friend such agony, and being responsible in pushing him to go this far in trying to remove the transformation technique. Although Orochimaru was in this state, he was still fighting and Jiraiya was stunned by his determination. But he was certain that no matter how hard his friend fought, he no longer had any chance of success in trying to obtain that kinjutsu.

All of a sudden, Orochimaru hissed loudly, his body glowing hot white before it was enveloped by smoke as he finally broke the locked chakra path. He panted heavily as he finally returned to human form. "Tsu... nade."

"Orochimaru!"

He had to bite down on the inside of his cheeks to stop the tears of pain from leaking out of his eyes as she leaned over him and began trying to heal his burns. "Tsu... nade. It hurts."

"I know," she cried, tearing spilling down her cheeks as she did her best to heal him. His clothes had been burnt into his very flesh. The injuries were grievous and some of the most serious ones she's ever had to deal with. "Hold on Orochimaru, I'm here. Ju-just try not to think about it." She burst into more tears. Try not to think about it?! What the heck was she saying? How can you not notice burns that reached so deep that you can see your own bones!

"Orochimaru," Jiraiya said weakly, reaching out for him "Come on, let's… go back to the village and get you treated."

"Don't touch me!" Orochimaru snarled, his face contorted with pain. He breathed out and in heavily, his brows covered in sweat. "Even if I have to crawl up these stairs with my hands, I will do so. I am not giving up."

Shima sighed and said, "Kiddo, just grab him and transport him back before he dies on the spot."

"Orochimaru," Tsunade sobbed as the burns continued leaking blood and pus. "I… I can't treat this. We have to go back-"

He shook his head, his voice cracking. "Tsunade, give me a food pill."

Jiraiya said in exasperation, "What good is restoring your chakra when your body is messed up like this? Give it up!"

"Shut up. Don't you dare underestimate me." He groaned as Tsunade lifted his head up and fed him a pill from his side pouch." Swallowing it, he grabbed onto her hand. "Do you remember what I said before, about refusing to die for you?"

She nodded, looking down into his solemn face.

"Now is your chance to turn back. Go with Jiraiya and be safe. I will tell him to lie and say that I forced you. That I deceived you or use genjutsu. Jiraiya loves you. He will do that for you if you quit helping me now," he said, gritting his teeth in pain.

"No." She said firmly, her eyes still wet. "Wherever you go, I'm coming along. I'd rather we die together than... than have you leave me!" She put a hand over her heart and said tearfully, "I hate loss just as much as you do. You know that."

He put a hand on the back of her head and pulled her close until their foreheads touched. "Alright, Tsunade-hime." Gently pushing her back, he looked up at the sky and opened his mouth wide. Saliva spilled out from the side and slowly, a pale hand began to emerge outwards.

Stunned by the sight, Jiraiya found himself unable to move as he watched the hand stretching out and out to reveal an arm, then a shoulder, all the way till Orochimaru emerged out, dropping to his knees and covered in liquid. "What... is that?"

Orochimaru slowly rose up and stood before his old lifeless body. "A new technique that I've invented, my friend." His golden slit-shaped eyes sharpened to daggers as he laughed. "We are hindered by our bodies. It can only exert so much power, or take so much damage. But with this technique..." He opened his arms wide and grinned in triumph. "The user can be reborn and continue fighting, no matter how fatal his injuries are."

"You-" He coughed as Orochimaru threw another smoke bomb at his feet.

"Tsunade!" Grabbing her hand and pulling her up, they ran for the stairs while Jiraiya was engulfed by smoke. With some difficulty, he regurgitated out the last tablet and he clutched it to his chest tightly.

She looked at him with concern. "Orochimaru... that jutsu..."

The corner of his lips twitched. "Insightful as always. It costs a great deal of chakra and I haven't perfected the technique yet."

"What are the side effects?" Tsunade asked, squeezing his hand.

"This body can give away at any moment." He looked over at her and said, "You are in great danger when we face off against that 'demon', because of how risky this gamble of mine is. That's why I gave you a chance to abandon me, Tsunade."

She smiled at him, touched by the sentiment. "I was always a sucker for poor gambles, Orochimaru."

He looked at her fondly and brought her hand up, kissing the back of it. "I want to let you know that whatever happens, I'm grateful to you. Ever since I was a kid, you've shown me love and trust when I don't deserve it. Back there, you were even willingly to accept death at Jiraiya's hands because of me. If we live through this, I promise, I will try to become a better man to deserve you, and be a shinobi that Sarutobi-sensei and the village can be proud of. For you, this wind will change to spin the windmill in a less cold and harsh manner."

It felt like her heart had just leaped into her throat at what he was saying. All she could was stare at him with wide eyes, her mouth forming an o of surprise.

Giving her a charming smile, he said, "With you by my side, I can learn to love. Will you stay with me?"

"A hundred yes," she said in delight. If they hadn't been running like their lives depended on it, she would have tackled him to the ground.

"Then let's live through this, hime." He let go of her hand and jumped up to lodge the last tablet into its spot. The effect was immediate as the door rumbled and the five spots glowed brightly. Slowly, it began to open and Orochimaru turned around to see Jiraiya racing for them. Reaching out into his pouch, he took out three shurikens and threw it. Forming the correct hand seals, he shouted, "Shuriken Shadow Clone technique!"

Tsunade watched as the three shurikens multiplied to a hundred and headed straight for Jiraiya to impede him. Turning back to the doors that was taking way too long to open, she said, "Screw the dramatic effect." Reeling back her fists, she punched them wide open to reveal nothing but a solid opaque fog wall. Taking a step back, she gulped. Ok... perhaps there was a good reason the door was dramatically opening.

"Come hime. There's no point in hesitation now," he said as he took her hand and headed in.

"Oh no you don't!"

Tsunade stumbled as Jiraiya's white hair extended and wrapped around her right arm, trying to pull her back. "Let me go!"

"I'm not letting you die!" He said quickly, "Boss! Ma'am! Please!"

Fukusaku and Shima both shot out their tongues to grab her arm as well, trying to pull her back. Orochimaru was halfway in and he struggled to pull in the opposite direction.

"You're both hurting me!" Tsunade growled and dug her feet into the ground. "Jiraiya let go now!"

All of a sudden, a strange force wrenched them all through the fog wall and the door slammed shut with a bang. Inside was pitch black darkness and she hurriedly reached out for Orochimaru as Jiraiya and his frogs withdrew from her. "Orochimaru!"

"I'm here."

She could feel his arms wrapping around her and helping her up. "Orochimaru, I can't see anything. What's happening?"

"Hold on hime." The glow of green fire illuminated their faces as he formed a ball of fire in his hand.

Suddenly, the bright blue lines that had been carved into the ground lit up and formed some kind of strange circle, composed entirely of strange ruins. From what they could now see, the room they were in were gray and bare, with only stone columns on each side that led all the way up to an altar. On the altar was a skeleton that was clutching a scroll to its heart and Orochimaru said excitedly, "There it is. That's the scroll."

"Orochimaru." Tsunade pulled on his shirt and gulped when five spots glowed red. From them, five different body parts rose out and began to reassemble themselves into a human form. The head of a beautiful girl with violet eyes and red hair, attached itself onto a slender torso that had a hole in the middle of its chest. Next, arms and legs came on before a heart inserted itself into the hole, and began beating out in plain sight. Chakra poured out from the ground and chakra strings sewed themselves into the body to hold it together. However, the most nightmarish thing about it, was that all the parts had a different skin tone, indicating that the body being formed up was a macabre patchwork of body parts taken from different people and being fused together. From behind the body, a sudden white mist rose up and settled over it and a voice spoke.

The fair head

It must connect all with bloody threads

The body that sustains

It had to be led by bloodstains

The arms that reached

To collect them the laws had to be breached

The legs that traverse

They will trample over those who considers this perverse

The life giving heart

From life I take and make it into an art

They moved closer together as the woman lifted her head, her violet eyes burning with light. A white hime-kimono with wide sleeves that reached down to the ground, enveloped her terrifying body. A purple obi hugged her waist and black tomoe symbols adorned the edges of her sleeves. She swept aside her long blood red hair as she hovered before them. "Hmmm... such large chakra reserves... so young and talented. Now come, bow down before me before I begin the ritual."

Jiraiya put his hands over his face and let out a long breath. "I knew I should have just forfeited this mission from the beginning when Tsunade cursed us."

Orochimaru said coldly, "What do you mean, ritual?" He noted that she seemed disconnected with time. Did getting sealed away for such a long time, caused lapses in her memory? Or was she delusional and insane?"

The woman scoffed, her soft lips curled in slight impatience. "Do not be silly. You travelled all this way to transcend the flesh. To become a part of something great and eternal, did you not?" She gestured to her body before saying, "I see that you even have an Uzumaki with you today. She is beautiful. She will serve perfectly as my new head. But then again, you are also very beautiful. I might just wear you for today, and wear her the next. The other one is rich in chakra, but lacking in appearance. I'll just drain him dry. If he survives, he has my blessing to leave." Her lips spread into a wide smile. "Now, shall we begin?"

Tsunade immediately felt cold all over and she backed up into Orochimaru's chest. She looked as Jiraiya quickly placed himself in front of them protectively.

"Look here," Jiraiya said with a forced grin. "No one is going to wear my friends like they're some kind of disposable outfit." He went into his dramatic kabuki pose and grinned, "You'll have to get past me, the strong and gallant Jiraiya! The one and only, toad sage of-"

Both Fukusaku and Shima punched his face, exasperated at him for always trying to pull a dramatic pose and introduction even in very dangerous scenarios. "Jiraiya-chan! This is not the kind of situation to be-"

The woman said coldly, "How dare you speak to me in such a fashion." She slashed a hand at the air and brought down a crushing weight of chakra laced air that flattened them all to the ground. "You were all brought here to serve as my new body. You have no right to even talk without your mistress's permission."

Orochimaru realized that she truly didn't understand that she had been freed from a seal for god knows how long, and believed that she was some kind of entitled being of power that deserved worship. This temple had served as a place of worship for her and her acolytes or followers, meaning she must be immensely powerful and renowned in the past. Going into a bowing position, he lied, "Forgive us for our disgraceful behaviour. We only wish to understand what and how we are contributing to... something great and eternal."

The woman's violet eyes softened."It saddens me that I must repeat this to you all. The mind is immortal, the soul transcends eternity but the body decays. It is always the body that holds us back." She touched the beating repulsive heart. "The curse of decay. It is what will allow you to kill your enemies and reduce them to dirt before your feet. But you must never forget that you live the same curse if you want to be great and eternal." She smiled in a deranged fashion as she held up her arms, her red hair beginning to dance behind her. "You've seen my first body when you entered this temple, have you not? I was beautiful, powerful and all-seeing. But it is all meaningless when it will eventually fade away." Her lips curled. "I refuse to lose everything thanks to those brats of Kaguya." Her brows furrowed as she saw them looking at her. "But enough... it is time to pass to me your bodies and chakra."

Orochimaru arched a slender eyebrow after what he's heard. It looks like he'll definitely need to research alittle more after this. At the very least, what this monster said confirmed that chakra was the basis of longevity and that this ancient clan was the key to immortality and true power. "You may know the secret to prolonging your pathetic existence." His eyes glinted maliciously as he raised his hand and snakes erupted from his sleeve to wrap itself around her. "But you've preyed long enough. It's your turn to be preyed on."

She blew the snakes off with an explosion of chakra, sending blood splattering across the ground and she cackled. "That hunger is almost as great as my own. Delightful! I accept your challenge!"

Orochimaru glanced over at Jiraiya. "If you don't want to die, you'll have to join forces with me."

"I'll still kick your ass and make sure you don't lay a hand on that scroll after this," Jiraiya replied as he ran for the other side of the room.

"Hmph." He smirked and gestured for Tsunade to get into position on the other side of the room. Adjusting his feet on the glowing rune stone floors, he bit onto his thumbs and slammed his hands down on the ground. "Triple Rashomon." The ground shook and rumbled before it broke apart to reveal the three demonic blue, red and green gates rising up in a formidable gesture of solid defense. The gates grinned down wickedly as they formed a closed triangle around the woman and with a flick of his fingers, his legendary Kusanagi sword cut through the doors to return to his hand. Throwing it up, he formed two hand seals and the sword multiplied to fifty, hovering dangerously over their heads. It didn't seem to deter their opponent at all, as she jumped up to try and escape. "Your turn, Jiraiya."

Jiraiya looked at the two toad sages on his shoulder and said, "How do you two feel about some... karaoke?"

Fukusaku laughed with his wife before they both leaped off his shoulder, their cheeks puffing up. "Sage Art: Frog Call!" The two unleashed a highly pressurized song that cracked at the ground enveloped by the Rashomon gate and knocked her back down with a thunderous crash. As she tried to sit up, her body trembled all over from that paralysis effect of the song.

"Tsunade!" shouted Jiraiya. "You're up!"

"Let's party!" She dropped down with a devastating drop kick to the shoulder before elegantly twisting in midair and landing a second kick to the head. As the demon slammed into one of the gate, she dropped low and kicked up at her chin, sending her flying upward. Leaping up with her, she unleashed a devastating combination of kicks and punches that brought forth the sound of cracking sound of bones, before unleashing one final strike at the stomach and tearing a hole right through it. But to her horror, no blood gushed out. Only rot and the stench of decay met her hand and nose and she quickly jumped back onto the roof of her gate. "She's already dead on the inside," she said, flicking off the sludge on her hand. "This... is unholy. And I'm not even religious."

"Told you two that this was insane," Jiraiya said, his lips thin as he watched the woman slowly began to stand back up.

Orochimaru said darkly, "This isn't over yet. Jiraiya, your strongest fire technique. Tsunade, keep your eyes open and back us up in case something goes wrong." Raising his hands up, he brought them down and all fifty Kusanagi swords flashed blue and shot down in a rain of cold steel, turning her into a pincushion.

"Sage Art: Bath of Boiling Oil!" Jiraiya and his toad sages performed the same devastating attack they had used earlier on Orochimaru, causing a waterfall of super heated oil to fall down and drown and melt the woman to nothing for good measure. Although the gates contained the bath of hot oil, violent orange and red light spilled upward to wash the room in a bloody destructive red color that drowned out the blue glowing runes on the floor.

As they watched the liquid swirling around in their man-made pot, Tsunade asked, "Do you think it's over?"

"My swords punctured every inch of her," Orochimaru replied calmly, keeping a cold eye on the boiling oil bath. "She was completely pinned. She couldn't have escaped that." But then he and his teammates froze when they heard her voice.

"I thought I already told you to disregard the body that is cursed to perish from the moment it was created. Such a foolish waste of chakra."

The bath of simmering hot oil exploded like a volcano and they all leaped backward to avoid the deadly rain. But as Orochimaru touched the ground, he felt something wrapped around his neck.

"You are the most beautiful here. I'll take you first."

Tsunade and Jiraiya gasped and ran towards him, their mouths wide open and screaming at him. But for some reason, he couldn't hear anything they were saying. The edges of his vision clouded over and darkness began to creep into his sight. Cold hard ground met his knees as he dropped and it felt like he was sinking into a deep and dark abyss.

So you won't let me use your body. But you would let a demented woman take it instead? How amusing.

Orochimaru found himself regaining consciousness and he dug his nails into the ground. "My... body."

If you die, I die as well. Then my true form will be missing a piece. I don't want that.

The darkness began to recede alittle further and he could see his sword lying before him. When the oil bath exploded, it must have sent his sword flying as well. He could feel that little piece of that monstrous tailed beast urging him on. But since he swallowed Tsunade's necklace, it didn't have the power to influence his mind or take over him like before. The choice it was telling him to make, now depended wholly on himself. His hand tightened around the boiling hot handle of his sword, burning his skin.

You consider yourself to be a lucky white snake right? Now's the time to test that. Will you take the gamble... or no?

"Tsunade," he rasped, picking up his sword, his arm shaking violently. He gave her a weak smile. "Bet that I will die, my love. And Jiraiya... thank you for everything, my friend."

Tsunade felt her world crumble before her as Orochimaru thrust his sword through his chest, spraying out a large volume of blood. "OROCHIMARU!"

Beside her, Jiraiya roared, "ORO!"

Darkwings13:

-In episode 117 of Naruto Shippuden, Tsunade wanted to come to Jiraiya's aid if anything was to happen to him. She values his well-being over her duty as Hokage to the village, and Jiraiya had to point that out and remind her that Konoha will never be stable if the leaders keep changing (brings me back to the opinion that Kakashi being Hokage was completely pointless. Thanks, Kishimoto! DX ). She puts her heart before logic multiple times throughout the Naruto manga/anime. As Hokage, she should HAVE put Sasuke into the Bingo book as a missing-nin. Every village followed this code and law but she ignores it for Naruto's sake. This puts alot of other villages at risk because they wouldn't know that they'd be letting a missing-nin/criminal waltz in or something. I completely understood how angry the Raikage and his village would be at her for allowing this. She was also the first of the Sannin to leave the village and not care about it anymore, despite the fact that as the granddaughter of the First, grandniece of the Second and student of the Third, she should have been the last to leave. Then, during the 4th war, despite all Kages coming to the consensus that Bee and Naruto should be kept out of the war, she breaks it first. The decision turns out to be right but it clearly shows again, Tsunade has little regard for rules and common sense and always follows her heart. She is a very loving and loyal person but it's been shown time and again, how flawed that love is. :) I wanted to leave an explanation for her actions from the last chapter until now, so that all you dear readers can wrestle with your thoughts and emotions on it before I explain it more in this chapter. (Cuz I felt the same way, especially on the Sasuke bingo book thing. He joined Oro's who's an S class missing nin. THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE BOOK.)

-I've written it in a way that would make most support Jiraiya's stance last chapter. But after this chapter, especially at the part where Orochimaru got half his body burnt, what is the general opinion now? :D I'm super curious to know.

-If there's something I believe in, it is this. If there is one single thing for which all humans should be forgiven for regardless of circumstances, it is acting out of 'love'. The quote from Orochimaru comes from the Mitsuki one shot, Naruto: The Path that the Waxing Moon illuminates.

(`•ω•´๑) First, my favorite review for last chapter is definitely yours, BlackLady777! It's ABSOLUTELY perfect that I don't think I need to explain anything further. Your analysis was spot on as to why I wrote it in that way and tried to portray them in their cannoness as much as possible. I was going to use this chapter as something to add on more with the last chapter but your review/analysis has summed up my reasonings and thought process very nicely, so I don't feel that I need to explain myself in this chapter or later on the Sannin's relationships and insights. It's impressive, especially for being able to recall the chapter where I hinted in the conversation between Orochimaru and Lady Mito. I will put a special author's note at the top of chapter 29, to let future readers know to take a look at your review for the chapter to enrich their reading experience in a way. Sparking deep discussions and analysis is my whole joy and goal, which is why I write such long ass author notes at the end for added information and replies xD Thank you so much! I can't even add more because all of your words are pretty much my words for last chapter.

(So I'm rewriting this because for SOME REASON all my other replies to the other reviews didn't save. DAMN THIS SITE SOMETIMES!)

(ᗒᗨᗕ) No worries at all JigokuShoujosRevenge! I'm happy to have sparked such a passionate reaction from you! It was what I was going for lol. She's really flawed when it comes to always following her heart, like how she didn't put Sasuke into the bingo book because of Naruto. Like how even Sarutobi had to put Orochimaru in there, because it was the right thing to do, especially as Hokage. I also tried to mirror the situation almost with that one scene where Sasuke was leaving the village to find Orochimaru and Sakura could see that she couldn't persuade him otherwise, so she wanted to join him. Of course, both girls kinda grew up later where they tried to stop Oro/Sasuke. Sakura with trying to kill him, and Tsunade with punching the living daylight out of Oro. They both couldn't do it in the end though.

(＾ω＾) I know, he's such sweetheart, right hxshigaki76? Oro is pretty lucky to have such a good bro. I feel like he's more appreciative of that than Sasuke for Naruto haha. He even made an effort to mention that 'He never changed' to Tsunade when he saved her in the fourth war. Which reminds me that Dan 'saving' Tsunade did nothing since she got bisected anyways and was gonna die until her real lucky white snake showed up. Gawd Kishi, he's just making me hate Dan for being an utterly useless character all over. Anyways, I hope you liked this chapter where I really tried to show off Jiraiya's powas my friend!

(≧▽≦) Teehee I'll maybe write more snakey Orochi cuteness in the future. But the poor guy has definitely had enough of being stuck in that form lol. And as for a real kiss, they'll have to survive this crazy stuff first. I know, I'm a cruel cruel woman. Bwahahhaa! I'm glad you enjoyed reading my friend! Much happiness yay!