Chapter 13: Orochimaru's Visit.
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Naruto is the work of Masashi Kishimoto.
Author's Note: Do you like long chapters like this? I'll be publishing chapters like this from now on. Each chapter will be around 4k+ words, although the upload schedule will slow down…
*A lot of you are asking about Naruto's character and what he plans to do in the future, I used the next chapter to answer those questions without breaking too much of the fourth wall. (0 w 0) Look forward to the next chapter, it'll be spi-cy!
*This chapter was originally 3 separate chapters, but I felt that the pacing was too slow so I ended up merging them together. I scrapped around five to six chapters because, wow, the story became wonky after chapter 15 (LOL).
Shaking his head, Naruto took over his body and looked around. After locating the bodies of the two jonins, Naruto took out a scroll and stored their bodies inside. Even if one has a missing head and the other only has half of its body left, they were still good research materials.
They were jonin, after all, he could use their bodies to research unorthodox fuuinjutsu.
For example, he had the idea of sucking other people's chakra and making it his own. He had this idea when he was just four years old, specifically when he removed the foreign chakra from his head.
Another idea he had was creating zombie puppets with the help of fuuinjutsu. Imagine having an army of zombies that can use chakra, and they wouldn't die unless you seal them away or destroy their entire body.
When he returned to his apartment, Naruto took out the two jonins' bodies and washed them using clean water. Then, he wrote a seal on the chest of the jonin with a missing head, and on the leg of the other jonin whose upper body was missing, specifically, everything above his waist was burnt to ashes.
"Fuuin: Preservation Seal."
After activating the seal with chakra, the bodies of the two jonins were covered in lines of complex seal symbols.
The Preservation Seal is a commonly used sealing technique to preserve food for a long time, but it can be used to preserve other things too as long as it wasn't alive. Almost every Storage Seal has a Preservation Seal incorporated inside of it.
"With this, I can create new ways to use seals."
Being a fuuinjutsu expert was similar to being a scientist. There was a lot of testing involved, and there were more failures than successes. That was why he collected every "research material" he could find. He found it ironic that he had a similar obsession to Orochimaru, his father's rival when it came to the thirst for knowledge.
While Naruto studied the corpses, Orochimaru was studying the cells of Uzumaki Karin. He then frowned.
"Why is this… wrong? An Uzumaki should have high vitality, but the vitality of Karin's cells is similar to a regular civilian. Is it because her father is not an Uzumaki? Or is it something else? No, she has the 'Heal Bite,' her vitality should be off the charts, yet…"
Orochimaru mused. He was so obsessed with the Uchiha's sharingan that he barely looked at any other bloodline, but now, he was regretting that decision.
"Too bad, Karin's chakra system had already matured. Wait, maybe that's the reason her cells don't have as much vitality as the average Uzumaki!"
Once a person's chakra system matures, it'll be difficult for a ninja to improve their skills such as ninjutsu and genjutsu. Even their chakra levels would begin to plateau. In other words, it was like switching from easy mode to hard mode.
"Uzumaki Naruto's body just gets more and more appetizing to look at. Once I have him, I'll study his body to my heart's desire! Fu-fu-fu."
Karin's chakra system matured too early and thus, was no longer interesting in Orochimaru's eyes. Apart from Itachi's body, only Naruto's body interested him.
"Sigh, if only I knew the value of an Uzumaki's body earlier, I would've kidnapped that Uzumaki boy from the Amegakure. Damned Jiraiya, if he listened to my suggestion and killed the brat, I would've collected and studied the corpse. Maybe then, I would've discovered this gold mine earlier. No, the Uzumaki are a gem mine!"
After sighing for a long time, Orochimaru cleaned his laboratory equipment and left the room. As he walked out of the lab, Kabuto greeted him.
"Master Orochimaru, the two jonin we sent failed in capturing Uzumaki Naruto," Kabuto reported. He didn't understand why his master became so obsessed with the Uzumaki when he had yet to finish his research with the Uchiha, but he shrugged it off as his master's unique taste.
Hearing Kabuto's report, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and licked his lips.
"And how did that happen?" Orochimaru inquired.
"We have no idea, master. The bodies were taken away. Only the ashes of one of them and the blood and brain matter of the other were discovered. There were signs of battle, suggesting that they had a fierce struggle."
Kabuto described the damage done to the forest. More specifically, the aftermaths of the dozen wind-style jutsu used.
"Interesting… this can no longer be delayed. I will capture the boy myself. His body will be great research material!"
Orochimaru licked his lips one final time and headed to the armory.
Late at night, Naruto couldn't fall asleep and ended up opening a large scroll. He usually did this when he was studying something so he could write down any important notes and thoughts he had while studying.
His notes were messy and looked like it'll fly away at any moment. The words he wrote could barely be recognizable, they looked like random squiggly lines. Perhaps he was the only person in the world who can understand his messy handwriting.
Thankfully, his handwriting was perfect when writing seals.
"I was attacked two times inside the village in just two days. Who says no one will attack me tomorrow or in the next couple of days?"
Naruto chuckled and added, "Plus, the enemies that come for me kept getting stronger. First, they were only chunin. But then, two jonin came after me the next day. If I follow that pattern, wouldn't a kage attack me tomorrow?"
Naruto laughed at the ridiculous idea. Currently, he was brainstorming how to leave the village quietly without attracting the attention of any Konoha ninjas. If even one Konoha ninja get a whiff of his unauthorized departure, he would be chased down for the rest of his life.
"I can use the Transformation Technique, but that technique is useless against experienced ninjas, let alone the byakugan of the Hyuuga," Naruto rubbed his chin.
"Maybe I can create a modified Transformation Technique using fuuinjutsu?" Naruto thought and picked up a pencil.
As the sound of scribbling filled up the room, Naruto slowly filled the right-most area of the giant scroll with simple and complex formulas and solutions.
"This formula will hide the chakra fluctuations of the jutsu… but it's not compatible with this other formula… this formula… this…"
As his muttering filled the room, Naruto felt the passage of time slow down. He entered his focused state, in which his thinking speed will increase by a notch. The fox told him that this was a unique ability that some people had, and it was godsend for Naruto as who is aspiring to become the best fuuinjutsu master.
When he finished the initial formula for the seal, Naruto wiped his forehead and noticed that the sky had turned dark already.
'It's late,' Naruto thought and glanced at the giant scroll in front of him.
"Thankfully, it's usable despite being unstable… let's try it out," Naruto decided and weaved hand seals to perform ninjutsu.
"Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique!"
Poof!
With a puff of smoke, Naruto turned into an average-looking kid with brown hair and brown eyes. He didn't change his height and his general body shape because the seal formula wouldn't work if he did so. At least, not the current seal formula that Naruto formulated in under one night.
"No, I look like a noble."
Although his hair and eye color were both brown, his face was like that of an aristocrat. It was his natural face that he inherited from his mother and father. He often saw people of noble descent when he roamed around the outskirts of the village near the village gates.
These nobles were visiting Konoha for trading and political purposes.
"Ninjutsu: Transformation Technique!"
Poof!
As the smoke subsided, Naruto's face and complexion changed. Now, he looked like a delicate, sickly child, like a breathtaking flower that would wilt with one touch. His complexion was pale, his eyelashes were drooping and slightly curved, his nose became round, and his face had a bit of baby fat.
Overall, his appearance would make mothers squeal and want to knead his face.
Naruto looked at the mirror and couldn't help but squeeze his nose, chuckling as he did so.
"It's better. I look like I'd fall and collapse into a meat puddle if I did any strenuous activities, but that is what I'm looking for. Now, let's try the seal formula if it works," Naruto nodded and took out a brush and a bottle of ink.
Before opening the bottle of ink, Naruto took off all his clothes and stood in his room naked. Then, he dipped his brush into the chakra-infused ink and began writing sealing symbols all over his body.
When he was done, he looked like he bathed in ink, but he didn't care. He went to the mirror and double-checked that all parts of his body were properly covered in ink, not a single corner of his body was spared, not even the back of his ear.
"Here it goes."
"Fuuinjutsu: Body Mimicking Seal, activate!"
Naruto released chakra and covered his body in chakra, activating the seal. In a flash, his body began to heat up like he was inside an oven.
Despite that, however, he only felt hot and uncomfortable, but he didn't feel any pain. Naruto smiled, the seal formula he created lengthened the transformation process so the user won't feel too much pain, and it seems that it worked better than expected.
After an hour, the ink on his body began to fall off, but a faint outline of the seal remained in the form of chakra. A few moments later, all the ink fell into the floor and even the faint chakra on his body dissipated.
Naruto brought his arm near his nose and sniffed. Then, he touched his entire body and pinched his skin to test the seal's performance.
"Perfect. My smell is different from my original odor, so even if a dog sniffed me, they wouldn't recognize who I am. Furthermore, the seal is stable, much more than I thought. I'm lucky today, I won't have many troubles in enhancing this seal in the future."
Naruto pondered for a while before taking out a kunai. Then, he sliced a bit of his skin and watched as blood trickled down from the wound.
"Good, even when wounded, the transformation didn't dispel. It even looks authentic, aside from the chakra that flows out with the blood."
Satisfied, Naruto went to slumber town.
Step… step… step…
A man with long, black hair slowly walked toward a giant gate with the word fire painted in the middle. With each step, he got closer to the gates and the frown on his face deepened.
'This place brought back a lot of bad memories,' the man thought. His golden, snake-like eyes scanned the tall walls surrounding the village beyond those giant gates, and when he was about to enter the village, two guards stopped him and asked for his identification.
"Maru Chioro, 27 years old, I live in the Land of Grass and my sensei (teacher) ordered me to meet with a merchant in the village named 'Makito.'"
Without so much as a pause, the long-haired man spat out his personal information. The guards nodded and told him to wait as they verified his information. A few minutes passed by in silence.
'Sigh, the nostalgia this place brings me is quite interesting, but alas, I'm not welcomed in this place,' the man's eyes glimmered in cold light for a split second before disappearing. Right now, he was Maru Chioro, the son of a merchant in the Land of Grass.
After waiting for a few more minutes, a ninja approached the two guards who stopped him and flickered away after handing out a scroll. One of the guards opened the scroll before gesturing to Maru that he was free to enter the village.
"Welcome to Konohagakure!" The other guard said before turning away from him.
The man smiled, tasting the irony in his mouth but didn't say anything.
'Hmm, this place didn't change one bit,' the man thought and walked deeper into Konoha. When he passed by a shop that sold pork skewers, he bought two sticks and ate them on the spot.
'Doesn't the Akimichi own all the pork in Konoha? This tastes good. I wonder if I should kidnap their clan head so he can raise some pigs back in my village,' the man chuckled as he kept walking.
"Hmm?"
He was walking leisurely in the direction of the hokage tower when he suddenly heard a soothing tune. Looking to his right, he saw a giant tree and a little boy below it. The boy had brown hair and a face that would earn the envy of most girls. His eyes were closed as he played the flute in his hands.
'Oh? His chakra is enormous for his age. Is he from a clan?' The man shook his head. 'He can't be from a clan. His clothes are too shabby. If he's from a clan, then that clan must be either poor or cruel to treat such a child poorly. Maybe I can take him with me,' the man thought and walked near the boy under the tree.
The boy kept playing his flute, not sensing his presence. Chuckling to himself, the man put his hand in his pocket and frowned.
'Where'd I put my genjutsu scrolls?'
He fuddled around his pocket for a while before sighing. Then, he sneakily summoned a candy from a storage scroll on his wrist and took his hand out of his pocket.
"Fu-fu-fu, what a beautiful tune. May I know your name, little man?"
Startled, the brown-haired boy stood up and snapped his eyes open, revealing his glossy, amber eyes.
'Such beautiful eyes…'
"U-umm? Mister?"
Hearing the boy's confused voice, the man chuckled again and gave the boy a candy before repeating his question.
'I wonder if his massive chakra volume is connected to his amber-like eyes. The ninja world is too vast, after all. You never know if the friendly man beside you is actually a mass murderer.'
The man chuckled, then the boy answered his question.
"Hiruko. Maki Hiruko is my name, sir. Thank you for the candy."
Seeing the slight bulge on the boy's cheek, the man couldn't help but pinch it before asking.
"Why are you playing by yourself?"
The man notice the boy's demeanor suddenly shift and his head slightly lowered. The boy hesitated for a while before answering his question.
'So his parents died when he was born. An orphan then, we're pretty similar, I hope he has a talent for ninjutsu,' the man thought and smiled kindly to the boy.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to remind you of a sad memory. Here, I'll give you another candy."
Seeing the man giving him another candy, Hiruko took it with a smile and thanked the man.
"I'm going to see a friend in the village, I'll be back in a flash. Do you want to go with me? I can bring you to my village, you can have a lot of friends there who are good at music," the man offered.
"But, I'm not allowed to leave the village…" the boy suddenly paused and looked at the man, hope filling his dull, yet glimmering eyes.
The man chuckled again and patted the boy's head.
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon. When I return, we will leave this place," the man smiled and gave the boy another candy before leaving.
Chioro, the long-haired man, strolled around the village for a bit heading toward an old-looking apartment. When he was in front of the apartment, his steps halted and three masked ninjas appeared next to him. They were the ANBU guards.
"State your identity."
One of them said in a robotic tone.
Hearing that, the man chuckled and reminisced for a moment before answering.
"My name is Chioro, what seems to be the problem?"
The man kindly said, his eyes curling up to a smile, but he sneakily performed a hand seal.
"You are not… a-allowed… e-enemy!"
Before the three ANBU could do anything, they fell to the ground, limp.
Hisssss—!
From under the three ANBU, three small snakes crawled out and climbed into the man's body before disappearing into his clothes.
"I'll have to hurry."
Then, he entered the old apartment. The moment the door opened, he froze and frowned.
'Was I tricked? Damn it. I didn't expect that old geezer to trick not only the civilians but also his own ninjas. Well played, sensei.'
The man's frown quickly vanished and he sighed, closing the door and returning to the place where he met Hiroku.
The apartment was empty. There was furniture, but as a veteran ninja, Orochimaru, disguised as Chioro, could tell that there was nothing inside the room.
"Fu-fu-fu, were you bored?"
Hiroku jumped when a voice suddenly whispered in his ear. Turning around, he saw the kind man who gave him three candies earlier.
"No, I was playing with my flute. I wasn't bored at all," the boy said with a smile.
'This boy is a charmer. When he grows up, he'll slay a lot of woman's heart. Too bad, women won't even have the chance to see him grow up.'
Orochimaru chuckled darkly, but his kind expression remained.
"Let's go, we're leaving the village," Orochimaru said and grabbed Hiroku's hand. The two walked in silence for a while until they reached the village gates. The guard post was empty, and a sticky, red liquid splattered on the walls but Hiroku didn't notice.
"Are we really leaving the village?"
Hiroku asked, causing Orochimaru to chuckle.
'This boy is too innocent. He's perfect for brainwashing.'
"Yes, we are leaving the village. We are going to the Land of Sound. There are a lot of people there who play the flute like you," Orochimaru said while patting Hiroku's head. Then, he gave Hiroku another candy.
"Wow! I'm leaving the village!"
Hiroku readily accepted the offered candy and walked further and further away from the village together with Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, Hiruzen and Danzo were arguing.
"You fool! How could you lose the jinchuuriki?!"
Danzo roared.
"And what would you have done? Take the child into your ROOT base and brainwash him against me? Danzo, I know what you are doing, so don't abuse my patience!"
Hiruzen argued. He didn't have an excuse as to how he lost Naruto, but he didn't want to be outdone by his rival.
Earlier this morning, he felt tired all of the sudden and his mood fluctuated from time to time. He suspected that someone drugged his tea. Unexpectedly, Naruto went missing, so he called Danzo to his room only to regret it.
"YOU FOOL! This isn't the time to be quarreling, send your ANBU to search for the jinchuuriki immediately, and I will send the ROOT for backup!"
Danzo gazed at Hiruzen with contempt. He couldn't believe it, Hiruzen actually argued with him over petty matters instead of focusing on the important issue at hand.
"Che, what, you think you're hokage? I know what to do. ANBU!"
"ROOT!"
After the two old men finished their argument, they called for their elite troops.
In a flash, the hokage office was filled with dozens of ANBU and ROOT ninjas.
"ANBU, search around the village and look for Naruto's trace."
Hiruzen ordered.
"ROOT, go outside the village and recall all of our shinobi. Then, search the Land of Fire and bring the jinchuuriki back to the village."
Danzo ordered only to hear a roar by his side.
"Danzo! You can't just do whatever you want in the Land of Fire, the Daimyo will not like it!"
"And what do you want me to do?! Watch as the jinchuuriki is captured by some unknown bastard?! Even if the jinchuuriki was only trapped inside a trash bin in the village, I'll still search around the Land of Fire to make sure!"
As the two old war hawks bickered with each other, the ANBU and ROOT looked at each other before leaving the room to carry out their mater's command.
It didn't matter if Hiruzen didn't want ROOT to mobilize, or if Danzo despised Hiruzen, ANBU will only obey Hiruzen, and ROOT will only obey Danzo.
After Orochimaru and Hiroku left the village, they walked at a faster pace. Orochimaru would sometimes carry Hiroku in his arms if they the road was too rough for a person without shinobi training to cross.
After a day of traveling, Orochimaru and Hiroku were found by a ROOT ninja. Orochimaru killed the ROOT ninja in an instant, completely forgetting about Hiroku on his side. He only remembered about Hiroku when he clapped beside him, catching him off guard.
"Hiroku?"
Orochimaru's mind went blank. Should… a child be clapping when someone died in front of him?
"Mr. Chioro?"
Seeing Hiroku's oblivious expression, Orochimaru shrugged his shoulders and asked what Hiroku thought about the ROOT ninja he killed.
"He's weak. He died in an instant, I don't think he's a good ninja. But at least his blood is pretty…"
Hearing Hiroku's response, Orochimaru realized why Hiroku was an outcast back in the village. The boy liked seeing blood!
Meanwhile, inside Hiroku's head, there was a giant fox talking inside.
'Naruto, keep this desire at bay. There's a reason why the Uzumaki never left the Land of Whirlpools. It's to protect themselves from becoming too bloodthirsty. Even your mother became a demon on the battlefield once she saw the blood of her enemies. Interestingly, she never lost control when seeing her ally's blood.'
The nine-tailed fox coughed for a bit before continuing.
'Either way, keep your bloodlust to a minimum but don't completely suppress it. If you suppress it, the moment you fail to control yourself, all your suppressed bloodlust will burst like a volcano.'
'Okay, thanks for the warning.'
On the other hand, Orochimaru was silent as he thought.
'Pretty? Is he talking about the blood that sprayed like a fountain? Damn, his temper reminded me of Kushina.'
Orochimaru shivered at the thought. Despite Kushina never using the nine tails' power, she was a fearsome kunoichi. She killed entire armies on her own with the help of her chakra chains and her katana. She also had an ingenious way of using fuuinjutsu during battle.
Furthermore, every battlefield she took part in would be painted in blood. It was like she wanted to water the grass using the blood of her enemies, it was too gruesome even for Orochimaru's taste.
On the other hand, her sword was a legend in itself. It would soak up blood and make itself stronger. In fact, the last time Kushina used her sword, it could clash with the swords of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. It can also endure the sharpness of his sword, the Sword of Kusanagi, for a while.
'It's a pity that her sword broke after her sealing technique malfunctioned. I never got to study it. What was that sword called again? Was it Blood Demon Sword, or was it Sword of the Blood Demon? I forgot. That woman changes the name of her sword like she's changing clothes.'
Snapping out of his thoughts, Orochimaru smiled and spoke to Naruto.
"Hiroku, do you think that blood is pretty?"
"Yeah…"
After "Hiroku" agreed, he felt the need to slap himself. He revealed such crucial information to the enemy. For the first time, he doubted his intelligence.
'Oh well, there's a lot of bloodthirsty shinobi out there, maybe it's not that important,' he thought and justified himself.
"Do you think it's weird?"
Hiruko asked.
"No, not at all," Orochimaru smiled and decided to tell a story to Hiroku. "Did you know? There was a woman famed as a demon on earth because when she saw the blood of her enemies, she would go on a killing spree. She even went as far as to use the blood of her enemies to make her sword stronger."
Orochimaru said in a slightly tense tone. Even after Kushina's death, he was still terrified of that demon. Not only was Kushina bloodthirsty, but she was also sadistic. Of course, she never showed her sadism in front of her beloved Minato, Orochimaru sneered.
"Wow, there's such a person?"
'Hold on. Naruto, he's talking about your mother.'
'. . . What?'
Naruto was stunned, he almost lost his composure, but he calmed himself lest his disguise was exposed.
'WHAT?! My mother had such a title? Why didn't I know? She was awesome on the battlefield, right?'
'If 'awesome' meant slaughtering humans like pigs, then she was. The reason you didn't know is that Konoha hid it from the public. A maniac doesn't exactly rhyme with a 'peaceful' village.'
While he was secretly elated to have such an "awesome" mother, Naruto's expression remained the same outside. His control over his expression was top-notch. Currently, he looked "shocked."
"Yes, her name was Uzumaki Kushina. My team once met her when we were fighting the enemy's army. Tsunade fainted on the spot, fu-fu-fu."
Once again, Naruto was floored.
'Tsunade? Wait, is this man… is he Orochimaru?!'
'Oh? This person is Orochimaru? I almost didn't notice. His disguise is as good as you, Naruto.'
Orochimaru's current appearance was with the help of suppressing his chakra and some makeup. There were a lot of pale men with long hair in the world, so Orochimaru's appearance wasn't too obvious if you weren't looking for him.
Furthermore, his chakra was suppressed to the point that he was invisible to Naruto and the fox's sensing ability.
"All right, Hiroku, since you like blood so much, I'll bring you to my lab. There, you will see a lot of blood. Are you interested?"
Orochimaru was planning on taking Naruto to his hideout, giving him some sleeping pills, and then bringing him to his lab. But it seems that he can take Naruto directly to his lab. He wanted Naruto to trust him, so he could only spend more effort in brainwashing Naruto.
After all, Naruto was going to be his next vessel.
"Sure!"
'A lab? Sure enough, it is Orochimaru. Shit, I think I dipped my toes in shitty water. How to escape…'
As they walked toward the Land of Sound, Naruto brainstormed ideas on how to escape from Orochimaru.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind.
'I can use the seals inside the Phoenix Scroll! While individually, they are useless in the current situation, if I combine them and weave a net, I might be able to escape Orochimaru!'
Naruto was bound to create "masterpieces" of his own, and each one of them is recorded in the "Uzumaki: Phoenix Scroll." Although it sounded extravagant, at the moment, only five seals are recorded in the phoenix scroll, three of which were the Living Body Imprisonment Seal, the Explosive Scroll Seal, and the Body Mimicking Seal.
Naruto had no plans to defeat Orochimaru. That was impossible. He couldn't expose his jinchuuriki status either as doing so would force him to return to the village. Furthermore, if he uses the nine tails' chakra now, Orochimaru and the ROOT will realize that he has a technique to change his body to the point that it was impossible to see through. Even Orochimaru only sensed his strong chakra.
If the village learned about that, forget about being locked inside the village, the nine tails might even be stripped from him.
'All right, let's do this.'
[An hour later]
"U-um, Chioro, I need to pee…"
Naruto "shyly," said. Hearing this, Orochimaru chuckled and turned around.
'That… was easier than expected.'
With Orochimaru turning his back toward Naruto, and Naruto being so close to Orochimaru, Naruto could do more damage than he thought.
'That seal will work just~ fine. Thank you for being so stupid, Orochimaru. You forgot the no.1 rule in the jungle. Never show your back to the enemy.'
Silently taking out a brush, Naruto dipped it in chakra-infused ink inside his clothes, being careful as to not alert the oblivious Orochimaru. Then, he wrote a symbol on his palm.
It was an "X" symbol. Perhaps even if Orochimaru turned around at this moment, he wouldn't think anything of it. It looked too simple to be a seal!
After the seal was drawn, Naruto closed his eyes and carefully arranged the chakra inside the symbol that he drew on his palm. After ten seconds, Naruto opened his eyes and received the shock of his life.
Orochimaru was staring straight at him. If he moved his head for even a bit, he would bump into Orochimaru's pale face.
'Shit!'
Panicking, Naruto pushed his palm toward Orochimaru's chest.
"Fuuinjutsu: Four Repeating Nightmare Seal!"
Caught off-guard, Orochimaru was about to take "Hiroku's" hand off of his chest when suddenly, he heard something behind him. Turning around, his eyes widened in shock.
A white-haired man was standing in front of him. It was Jiraiya, his "friend."
Jiraiya's white hair was dyed red with blood, one of his eyes was missing and the other was barely hanging from his eyes sockets as tears of blood flowed from both of his empty eye sockets. Jiraiya's body twitched, and then he fell to the floor, limp and unmoving.
Squinting his eyes, Orochimaru realized that Jiraiya's limbs were shredded.
'Why is Jiraiya… hold on, is this a genjutsu?'
Orochimaru shook his head while also shivering at the same time. He almost believed that the genjutsu was real. Only a few genjutsu could do that. Coupled with his weakness against genjutsu, Orochimaru realized that he was in trouble.
"Release!"
Suddenly, the "genjutsu" disappeared and Orochimaru woke up in his bed.
'What? Why am I in bed?'
Before Orochimaru could think further, someone knocked at the door.
Creaaak…
The door creaked open as it revealed a young man with short white hair and round reading glasses.
"Master Orochimaru, Uzumaki Karin has awakened her chakra chains."
"Oh? Amazing, she awakened her Uzumaki blood?"
Orochimaru replied almost instinctively, but he didn't notice it. When he stood up, Orochimaru froze. He couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.
'Let's check Karin's condition first.'
Awakening the chakra chains as an Uzumaki meant that their Uzumaki blood was awakened. It meant that her potential in fuuinjutsu and her vitality would soar to the sky.
An hour later, Orochimaru was laughing in delight. His appearance had changed. His body was now that of a woman and "she" had blood-red hair.
"Success! I can't believe that Karin's body was so compatible with mine! With this, her body wouldn't reject me and I can live out her entire life-span!"
As he laughed, he choked on his own saliva.
"Cough! Cough!"
"Master Orochimaru, here's water."
Drinking the water that Kabuto gave him, Orochimaru cleared his mind.
'Hold on, this jutsu shouldn't be ready yet… there should still be a couple of months left before I can switch vessels!'
"IMPOSSIBLE!"
'AM I IN A GENJUTSU?!'
Orochimaru roused his chakra.
"Release!"
Nothing happened.
"RELEASE!"
This time, Orochimaru mobilized his entire chakra system to get rid of the genjutsu.
Swoooo—
Then, everything started spinning and after a moment, his world turned dark.
"Gasp!"
Orochimaru gasped for air as he awoke from his bed. He was sweating profusely as if he had a nightmare.
'Was it all a dream? What the hell?'
Orochimaru took several deep breaths and calmed down. When he looked around, memories came flooding into his head and he smiled.
'It really is a nightmare. I can't believe I had a nightmare.'
"Orochi! Wake up already! Idiot-Jiraiya is so loud, I want you to accompany me to see him so I don't lose my hearing at a young age!"
Suddenly, a girl's voice sounded out from behind the door. Hearing her voice, Orochimaru smiled and replied to his loud-mouthed teammate.
"All right, I'm coming, Tsunade. Is Hiruzen sensei there yet?"
"No! That old geezer is late today for some reason. I heard he was having an important meeting..."
"Okay…"
As Orochimaru talked with his teammate, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.
"Oh right, where's Jiraiya?"
"He's waiting by the hot spring."
"Oh."
'That's right, it doesn't feel right without Jiraiya here. The three of us should always be together.'
Shrugging their shoulders, Orochimaru and Tsunade walked away and went to the hot springs to fetch Jiraiya.
Behind Orochimaru, he didn't see that his room was slowly crumbling apart.
*Author's Note: This won't be the last of Orochimaru~ (^w^) /
I'm planning on creating a [pa t reo n] in the future, so if you enjoy my story and want to support me, you can! I'll give you my link after chapter 15. (^_^)