Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters used within the story.
Been dying to read Sasuke-centric fanfictions that involve him possessing the Rinnegan, actually be overpowered and not focused on romance. I could not find much however, but after months of deliberation and assembling a somewhat coherent plot, I finally did it!
I also needed to find an excuse for him to have the Rinnegan in his arsenal, so here it is: Time Travel.
The Snake and his Spy
Chapter 1
Orochimaru loved his life. Some people may even say a little too much, but he would disagree.
A man who lived on Earth as a shinobi left very little after his death. He would be swept by the Earth into a cold, dark grave, alone and forgotten by those who remained in the world of the living.
The names of great warriors and accomplished individuals such as the Kages or daimyos were once revered and whispered with awe and admiration. But as the years pass and memories blurred, the stories that once sang of heroic exploits and mighty deeds would gradually be replaced by new narratives, new heroes, and new eras. It was the natural rhythm of existence, the cycle of life and death.
Orochimaru wanted to be the one to break this cycle, to be on top, to be the one to conquer death—a fate shared by all.
Traumatized by war and bearing witness to the thousands of wasteful shinobi lives snuffed out by numerous conflicts, Orochimaru discarded banal values such as morals and principles to accomplish one of his most ambitious dreams… immortality.
However, in order to achieve such greatness and live in a world where the weak were ruthlessly crushed under the oppressors, one must also seek out power.
Power allowed a man to do as he pleased, the ultimate enabler. Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama were the pinnacles of such men, men who flattened mountains with their prowess, men who were unable to be killed by any ordinary shinobi—only by themselves or by another who possessed similar power.
A key similarity between the two legendary figures was that both of them boasted legendary bloodlines. The Sharingan and the wood-style Kekkei Genkai.
Orochimaru salivated at the prospect of obtaining either of the two powerful abilities. However, most of his attempts bore no fruit.
Orochimaru discarded his search for a shinobi who utilized the elusive wood style at the scale of someone as powerful as Hashirama. He knew such an individual would be impossible to find with the Senju clan nearly extinct. His failed human experiments destroyed another possible path to success.
Individuals who claimed ownership of the Uchiha bloodline limit were also very few since Itachi's murder frenzy in Konoha.
Since his failed attempt at obtaining Itachi's body, Orochimaru decided to sink his claws into the more revenge-obsessed younger brother who despite exhibiting immense talent, was far too easy to manipulate and take advantage of. It was only a matter of time before he took over the boy's body and obtained the glorious bloodline.
Truly, Sasuke was a fool for willingly giving up his entire life for only revenge. If only—
The door to his laboratory creaked open, interrupting the rogue Sannin from testing his latest concoction, a vial of liquid that enhanced Shinobi's performance on the battlefield.
"Orochimaru." The subject of his previous thoughts spoke in an authoritative voice. The nerve of that brat to speak as if he owned the place! But patience was of utmost importance, a lesson hammered many times on the battlefield during times of war and the leader of the Hidden Sound did took such lessons to heart.
The fact that the Uchiha's left eye was covered by hair did not escape Orochimaru's perceptive gaze.
"Ah, Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru spoke pleasantly. He placed the vials on the hard wooden table littered with scrolls and turned his body, giving full attention to his rebellious apprentice. "What do you desire here? This lab is rather uneventful for someone such as you."
The boy seemed to stare at him, black eyes piercing, searching for something.
The stare-off lasted for a few seconds and before the snake Sannin could feel the remnants of his conversational patience run out, the impertinent boy spoke. "Orochimaru, you are… pathetic."
Serpentine eyes widened at the sheer audacity. Orochimaru knew the boy was insolent and possessed an uncanny ability to infuriate anyone in his presence, but this?
"You, one of the three legendary ninja, are well and truly pathetic," the boy once again repeated his previous insult to further twist the knife in the wound. "You couldn't handle my brother, so you went after me… the weaker one."
The smile the Uchiha wore was mocking, and full of arrogance. His chin jutted upwards and his head back, fully looking down on him.
"I'm stronger than you, much stronger. I could end your very existence on a whim. So, I do not see a reason to hand over my body an inferior Shinobi just to achieve my goals."
Then his uncovered right eye turned red, with three tomoe spinning until they returned to their respective places.
"But most importantly you… disgust me. The way you revel in manipulating lives, disfiguring bodies, it sickens me," the boy continued. His voice, a stark contrast to his stony expression, rang like cold death. "Countless lives lost in your futile quest for power, all while deluding yourself into thinking you could match the brilliance of the Uchiha. But in truth, you are nothing more than a slithering serpent, nurturing a hawk. Your inevitable demise was sealed, despite your repulsive attempts to fill the void with drugs born from your monstrous experiments."
Snake-like eyes glared at the insolent child. How dare he! Orochimaru would destroy this worthless brat! He reached for the curse mark in order to—
Then his eyes widened. "What did you do?"
Sasuke smiled a self-satisfied subtle smile. "You finally noticed…?"
The Uchiha moved his left hand to pull down his collar and show his 'master' the region where the snake Sannin placed the heaven-cursed seal. Smooth unblemished skin remained in place of the mark.
"You…" Orochimaru couldn't believe what he was seeing. The mark, his crowning achievement in the art of sealing, had been effortlessly eradicated by the boy when he had seen it just yesterday?! Rage coursed through his veins like a large fire in a lush green forest. "What did you do?! How?!"
"Your weak chakra pales in comparison to mine," the boy retorted, his voice dripping with smug superiority. "Tell me, can the feeble flame of a candle ever hope to stand as tall and mighty as the blazing inferno of the sun?"
Sasuke tilted his head to the left, a subtle movement that caused his dark hair to shift and reveal…
"Rinnegan." Orochimaru breathed in awed fear and reverence. Purple concentric circles decorated with six commas remained in place of what should've been dark black eyes.
First, his curse mark had been removed, and now this?! How?! How had Sasuke accomplished both monstrous tasks in a day?!
Orochimaru decided he needed to run away and escape to regroup. With gravity manipulation in Sasuke's arsenal, just like the leader of the Akatsuki, the Uchiha would be nigh untouchable. Most of the rogue Sannin's offensive techniques relied on having him make contact with his adversary to deal a damaging blow.
"Forbidden Art: One thousand sn-"
Orochimaru did not know when it happened or how it happened. All he knew was that a devastating blow sent him rocketing through several layers of wood, stone, and concrete until he could see the sun. The world continued to rush by with trees, bushes, and large rocks being nothing but a blur to his eyes. Time seemed to distort as his body collided with a jagged hilltop, a collision that offered no mercy, only searing pain.
He descended soon, gravity pulling him down cruelly. It was only his chakra that prevented Orochimaru's accelerated descent to the ground to prove fatal.
"Impossible…" he spat. HOW?!
That speed! That power! He couldn't even see Sasuke move let alone react in time. What the absolute hell happened to Sasuke?! Orochimaru knew the boy had been plotting to take him down in the three years he had known him, but this? This was a whole different person altogether.
He needed to leave. My hideouts, my experiments, my new vessel he thought bitterly, as he spat out a new, uninjured, unblemished body. All gone.
He had lost far too much in his attempt to gain the Sharingan. Obtaining Sasuke's or Itachi's body now seemed an impossible dream. It was funny that now the older brother seemed much easier to take down than the younger.
In any case, Orochimaru needed to leave. NOW.
A quick series of hand signs, Reverse Summo—
"ARGH!!!!" A long, sharp construct of pure lightning chakra severed both his arms. Orochimaru staggered and stumbled backward until he was once again backed to the hilltop.
"You're not going anywhere," Sasuke said as he appeared in front of his former master. He couldn't fathom that the shivering and scared little boy in the forest of death would now stand so arrogant looking down on him.
Fighting Sasuke would be fruitless he realized. The speed and power difference with the Rinnegan being in his opponent's possession was astronomical. Escaping was also pointless as proven by the Uchiha's lightning-fast reaction speed. It would be utterly useless to—
No! He refused to give up! Years after years of plotting, experimenting, and obtaining as much knowledge as possible would not be reduced to worthlessness!
However, before he could even attempt to retaliate, he was grabbed by his collar and forced to stare into his estranged student's brilliant red eyes.
The world around them shifted and twisted, morphing into a sinister laboratory scene.
Agony exploded through Orochimaru's hands and legs, eliciting a guttural cry of pain that echoed through the room. His eyes widened with a mix of shock and horror as he realized he was immobilized, pinned to a bed with nails and chains.
The bed itself was pinned vertically, suspended on a stone wall. The room's dim lighting, provided by flickering candles, cast eerie shadows upon the figures that surrounded him.
To his dawning horror, Orochimaru recognized the subjects of his past experiments—the individuals from whom he had ruthlessly experimented to obtain the curse mark, more specifically when he used Jugo. They stood there, a haunting presence, their eyes filled with a mixture of anguish and vengeful fury.
Pure, unadulterated hatred coursed through his body for Sasuke. He knew deep down that this was a genjutsu, a twisted illusion designed to amplify his suffering. Yet, the pain inflicted by the nails that bore into his flesh, the restraints that held him captive, was undeniably real.
"Killing would be a mercy for someone like you," the ominous voice of Sasuke echoed in the room.
Deformed men and women stood before him, tainted by Jūgo's partial Sage transformation, carrying scalpels, syringes, needles, and other medical tools he had used for careful experiments.
The nameless faces walked toward him with a sense of purpose, justice, and vengeance.
Hot, white agony seared through nearly every point in his body and Orochimaru howled in pain as the human manifestations plunged their weapons into his skin. A man could place his hand on the nukenin and he would feel no less than six bleeding wounds.
And as more and more vengeful apparitions closed in, Orochimaru realized the true price of his sins—an ending of suffering, a taste of the pain he had so callously inflicted upon others. At this moment, he knew there was no escape, no reprieve. He was going to meet his end.
Orochimaru, one of the three legendary ninja, Konoha's most wanted would die screaming and wriggling, something he hadn't envisioned in years.
Kabuto ran.
Shimmering candles, metal framed lanterns carried by earth sculpted forms of snake like creatures rushed by. Body flickering across various corners allowed him to seamlessly navigate corners and obstacles in his way.
Finally, he reached the room from which the sounds of the earth shattering and the unmistakable piercing resonance of Sasuke's Chidori had emanated.
As he approached the wide-open door, something felt off. Sunlight flooded the room, casting an unusual brightness that seemed out of place in Orochimaru's domain. Something's wrong.
With caution in his every step, Kabuto extended his senses, seeking out any potential intruders which let him discover that there seemed to be only a single person in the room. However, he could not decipher the intruder's chakra signature nor their position. Orochimaru's prized spy was not someone who possessed powerful sensing techniques like that Uzumaki girl.
Seems like I'll just have to risk it. Kabuto prepared himself for a potential confrontation, his repertoire of long-range and close-combat techniques at the ready. He gripped two chakra-infused shuriken firmly in his hands.
With vigilance, the rogue ninja advanced towards the open door, his body positioned to face the intruder head-on. Step by step, he moved closer until he reached a vantage point that granted him a full view of...
"Sasuke?" He questioned in mild surprise. The Uchiha prodigy sat nonchalantly on a wooden chair, one arm draped over the handle of his vertically suspended sword, and his right leg casually crossed over his left.
Unusual that an Uchiha would cover their most prized possession observed Kabuto, seeing Sasuke's left eye hidden behind his long hair.
"Kabuto." Sasuke remarked coolly in a deliberate lazy drawl.
"Where is… Lord Orochimaru?" The bespectacled spy questioned with a slight frown.
A slight smile grew on Sasuke's face, full of smug superiority. "Why don't you took a look?"
The previous dark eyes were no replaced by the men at red image of the Sharingan and Kabuto was pulled into the world of illusions.
And then he saw.
He witnessed Orochimaru's crushing defeat. The sheer speed at which Sasuke moved was beyond human, a blur of lightning-quick motion. The raw strength of Sasuke Uchiha was on full display, a force that overwhelmed Orochimaru's renowned power.
However, what truly sent a chill through his spine was what happened after the one-sided fight. Kabuto glimpsed Orochimaru's horrifying final moments, a gruesome culmination of his dark and twisted existence. The once powerful Snake Sannin, now reduced to a pitiful victim, met his demise in a whirlwind of agony and despair.
It did not miss his perceptive gaze that not once was Sasuke's left eye revealed. Only a dark abyss remained in place of black eyes.
"Have you seen your fill?" Sasuke queried.
Kabuto couldn't speak. If what he had witnessed was no falsehood, then his adversary was without a shadow of doubt far beyond his skill level. In any case, since both fighting and escaping would be superfluous, he needed to negotiate for his life. He opened his mouth to—
There was a blur.
One second Sasuke sat with utmost casualness and the next he was in front of Kabuto, a lightning coated hand placed on the grey haired ninja's shoulder.
"Stay." The order came with a chiding tone, like a master talking to his pet dog.
To his growing horror he realized he could not move. Sasuke had paralyzed him completely from neck to toe. Only his face seemed to exhibit some form of motion.
"What did you do?" Kabuto asked with intense trepidation and fear.
"You're a medical ninja. Such things are so basic that even a Genin would know better." Sasuke spoke, condescension colouring his tone.
The Uchiha's face then shifted to one of intense concentration. The rogue spy felt Sasuke push chakra into… him? "What are you doing?" The past few minutes had been nothing but surprise after surprise.
"Nothing of your concern." Sasuke spoke with casual dismissal.
The chakra transference stopped. Then Sasuke's left hand, the one that had been placed on Kabuto's shoulder moved to palm his abdominal region.
Sasuke pulverized his gut.
Kabuto struggled desperately to prevent what was about to happen, but a guttural scream was forcibly wrenched from his throat, a desperate cry for help that would go unanswered. Blinded by pain, he realized his lower internal organs were exposed to the world, bleeding relentlessly.
Monster.
At that moment, in his point of view, Sasuke was a far bigger monster than Orochimaru could ever hope to be.
Amidst the intense whirlwind of pain and the overwhelming dread, he managed to just barely managed to make out Sasuke's next words.
"I'd be disappointed if you died."
Then he was gone.
"Fire style: Art of the Dragon Flame!"
Sending a few fire dragons in the sky, Sasuke reflected on the events that occurred in the last few minutes.
Removing the curse mark had been an easy task to fulfill. He crushed Orochimaru's spiritual presence in his mind scape with his far more powerful Yin chakra. The rest of the curse mark mainly consisting of highly poisonous and near uncontrollable sage jutsu—which he had mastered with an hour—was removed with the help of the chakra absorption power of the Rinnegan. Instead of pulling in chakra, he flushed out the contaminated presence and allowed the sage chakra to flow harmlessly into the ground.
After that it was only matter of clearing the trash, Orochimaru and his subordinates. Testing his speed and power against someone of his former teacher's caliber revealed that he far outclassed a large contingent of the current Shinobi alive. He was still inexperienced in the use of his god-given power, but it was good to know that the Sage of Six Paths lived up to his name.
"Kirin!" He yelled.
The large dragon constructed from pure lightning descended upon the lands with a roar that shook the Earth.
The annihilation that came after that satiated some of his destructive desires.
Explosions of unparalleled magnitude engulfed Orochimaru's once-secure hideout, transforming it into a chaotic storm of flying debris. Shards of stone, wood, and concrete were sent afar, hurtling through the air like deadly projectiles. Walls crumbled, pillars splintered, and once-solid foundations were reduced to rubble. Orochimaru's dark legacy was swallowed by the inferno, erased from existence with a savage finality and extreme prejudice.
Information gathering Shinobi may have protested against Sasuke's methods to eradicate a place that may contain valuable information, but he did not care. To him it was a place of horrific experimentation and a symbol of oppression. Some things needed to be removed to begin anew, a clean untainted white future that would be better in every way possible.
Shadow clone jutsu. A perfect copy of himself appeared next to him before quickly evacuating the premises, intent on reaching the other hideouts. He had witnessed firsthand the unspeakable suffering endured by those trapped under Orochimaru's rule, and now it was his duty to liberate them from their horrible fates.
He no longer needed the assistance of Karin, Jugo, or Suigetsu to achieve his goals. He was perfectly capable of executing his current objective by himself; the complete elimination of the Akatsuki.
The purpose of placing Orochimaru in his genjutsu wasn't just to torture the man, it was also to uncover some important information. Information on the powerful organization. His former teacher had often spoken of a 'leader' but never went into great detail about the 'leading' figure of the Akatsuki.
Pulling out the information from Orochimaru's head had him realize that there was another possessor of the Rinnegan before Obito. There was no doubt that this was the same person that had destroyed the Village Hidden in the Leaves back when he was still consumed by his quest for vengeance.
Most likely highly experienced in the use of these eyes, he thought placing his left hand over his powerful dojutsu.
In any case, he would need to eliminate this man and any subordinates he had with him.
And if what he had dragged out of the snake's head was true, then he would need to head the the Hidden Rain to accomplish the task.
Sasuke vanished from the location in a lightning enhanced body flicker, intent on completing his mission.
"Hmm?"
"What happened great Sage?" Questioned the smaller toad.
"The future..." breathed the older, wiser and larger counterpart. It was impossible, an occurrence that had never happened in years. "I can no longer see it..."
A beat.
Then, suddenly, he saw. He witnessed something extraordinary, something far beyond his jurisdiction, something...
The great Sage, Gamamaru rose to his full height, fully aware and fully healthy for the first time in years. The smaller toad was beyond mesmerized by such a sight.
"Summon Jiraiya. NOW."
AN: Expect 3-4k max. Can't write much more than that per chapter.
Also, Sasuke is ridiculously OP here, the Sasuke that fought Kaguya and Naruto at the end of the series. It is also highly fight and plot-oriented. I enjoy those type of fics the most, so imma write them.