Chapter 74
Crawling his way out, Orochimaru looked at his destroyed hideout. That was a close call. If he hadn't flooded the hideout with water before activating the explosives to cave it all in, he might not have had a chance to escape and would have gotten buried with his assailant.
But he expected it not to be the end. Gathering his breath, Orochimaru checked on his condition. It wasn't the best, but his body was now healed; he only lacked about a third of his chakra. Still enough to put up a fight against anyone.
Only five seconds were given to Orochimaru to rest, as after that, the ground shook under his feet. A figure of a man shot out from the earth coffin like it was nothing. He even looked unscathed.
Orochimaru would love to dissect his body and see what it was made of. But he didn't think he would agree to it, even if it was in the name of science and not just his pure curiosity. Well, there were other ways to learn about someone else's body without dissecting it, even if they wouldn't yield the best results.
"Summoning jutsu."
Just as his opponent came from the ground, Orochimaru was prepared to meet him. A giant snake came from the ground and swallowed the man. And with this, it was over. At least it would be if it were any other shinobi.
Within five seconds, the snake exploded from within, as the man walked out of the blood and flesh around him. Again, unscathed. Calmly walking out of it, like it was nothing but a simple obstacle. Orochimaru guessed that no half-measured way would be able to stop him.
"Do we have to continue this?"
"No, but I guess you didn't come this long way to me to let me escape," Orochimaru replied.
"No, I did not. Shinra Tensei."
Orochimaru had no way to react to an invisible force that blew everything away in the path of his opponent. His mud clone was completely wrecked. It was a fast and destructive jutsu with little to no time to react.
There was no weakness to exploit, no opportunity to take. This fight would be his loss, but Orochimaru didn't think that hiding would be able to save him either. And there definitely was no way to run away; he would be found soon enough.
"Who are you?" Orochimaru asked, moving under the ground, trying to think of the best method to win.
"I am Pain," Orochimaru's opponent replied. "It is all you need to know. It is all you will ever know. Chibaku Tensei."
It seemed Pain wasn't going to play with Orochimaru, as he made a black sphere from his hands that rose into the air. Orochimaru instantly could feel a powerful, attractive force pulling everything in the vicinity to it.
The ground split, and Orochimaru was forced to get to the surface, as he was also pulled into it. But before he was forced into it, he was caught by Pain's hand. Once again, his neck was being crushed by a tight grip.
The black sphere above them stopped pulling everything into it and fell to the ground. In a few seconds, it grew into an enormous boulder that would crush anything if it fell on them. Another jutsu Orochimaru didn't find any weakness in.
But it didn't mean Orochimaru didn't have a few tricks up his sleeve either. Opening his mouth wide, a sword came out of him, almost piercing through Pain's head, only for him to tilt it and evade it. Yet it was just the start of it, and snakes started to come out from within Orochimaru's mouth.
One after another, until they buried them both, biting Pain in inflicting him with deadly venom. Of course, again, Orochimaru and the snakes were blown away. Though it was better than letting his neck be crushed.
This physical strength was impressive; it probably even rivaled Jiraiya. And he still couldn't see any weaknesses in those jutsu. Orochimaru tried to see if venom did anything, but Pain's body seemed to be immune to it.
How irritating but also fascinating it was. These jutsu weren't something that could be replicated; they were one of a kind. But sadly, unlike with anyone else, if Orochimaru tried to observe them anymore, he didn't think he would be able to walk out of this situation alive.
Yet running away didn't seem to be a good option either. Even if he managed to escape from him, there was no way he could keep hiding for long if they managed to find him so easily to begin with.
"Are you done hiding?" Pain asked as Orochimaru walked out of the ground.
There was no point in a long-distance fight. His gravity-based jutsu made it impossible for Orochimaru to keep his distance. And they were now in an open field. If Orochimaru tried to hide, Pain would know that he was hiding in the ground.
What was left was close combat. In other words, taijutsu. Orochimaru wasn't the best at it, but he wasn't going to be caught lacking by anyone. He had his own techniques that might be useful against such an opponent.
Rushing at him, Orochimaru at least expected a slight reaction, but he got nothing as his hand reached for Pain's chest. His sidestep was flawless, barely any movement, and he waited only for the last moment to do so.
But Orochimaru didn't let Pain strike him while he was in a disadvantaged situation. His body from the waist up expanded, wrapping around Pain. Like a snake, Orochimaru started to crush Pain's body. And yet there was still no reaction from him. Cold as stone.
And as he expected, there was a reason behind it, as Orochimaru was blown away once again. This time, the invisible force hit him directly, and he was sent flying, crashing into the ground. Even he had difficulty standing up once again.
But he finally learned everything he needed. There was a limitation on how often Pain could use that jutsu. From Orochimaru's calculations, it was five seconds. To most, that wouldn't even be considered a limitation, as most jutsu needed at least that much time to use.
"The playtime is over." That was the last thing Orochimaru heard as an unknown weapon stabbed his torso, pinning him down to the ground. "In the end, you were nothing special. You should have stayed out of our sight or joined us. But since this is your choice, I can't do anything but kill you."
Orochimaru collapsed to the ground as his heart was stabbed next. Those rods weren't made of any material Orochimaru knew. If only he had more time to analyze them, but he barely had time to scrape them with his nails as they were pulled out of him together with his last breath, as he collapsed to the ground. Lifeless.
…
The masked man looked at Nagato. Of course, he wasn't alone; next to him, like a guardian angel, stood Konan. She had completely recovered from her fight with Orochimaru, even if she didn't sustain much of an injury to begin with.
It was Pakura who suffered the most. But all the masked man cared about was how easy it was for him to control the Hero of Suna. He had his doubts about her at first, but now they were gone. She was neither powerful enough to pose any danger to him, nor was there any reason left for her to betray Akatsuki.
All she amounted to was being a useful tool to be used. And when the time comes, the masked man would use her to the fullest. But until then, there were many other things to take care of and preparations to be made.
"Orochimaru is dead," Nagato said as he looked at the masked man.
"Did he pose any danger?" the masked man was curious.
"No. Though he wasn't in his best condition," Nagato replied. "Still, I doubt even at his best he could pose any danger to me."
How funny. The masked man still remembered the days when he was Obito Uchiha. How much he admired shinobi like Orochimaru. And yet these kinds of legendary shinobi were a disappointment in the end. Falling under his feet.
But now he had no name. Not a real one at least. And there was no admiration left for anyone anymore. All that mattered was the mission. For this was a cruel world, and one could get lost in it far too easily if they lost their focus even for a moment.
"Regrettable," the masked man didn't care about Orochimaru, but he had to admit, he would have been useful. "At least he won't interfere in our matters anymore."
The masked man stepped away from Nagato and Konan. They were still guarded against him too much. They were no fools to trust him, nor did the masked man expect them to do so. As long as their motivations were the same, they would all continue to work together either way.
At least as long as they thought their goals were the same. They might think they were smart to be so guarded against him, but it just made it so much easier to manipulate them. To use them while they thought they were using him.
They were foolish, but useful tools. At least until the time when he wouldn't need them anymore. But at least he knew he could control them. There was someone, or should he say something, he didn't even try to control, as he knew how useless it would be to try.
"Is it as he said?" the masked man asked after he left Nagato at a safe distance.
"Yes," Zetsu replied. "Orochimaru didn't put up much of a fight. Disappointing, I must say, but we already expected this much."
"Well, then, it doesn't matter anymore if he was still working under the Third Hokage's orders or not. But considering how he chose death rather than join me, it is clear he made his own decision outside anyone else's influence."
"He seemed to have been working on something. Too bad we won't ever find out what it was," Zetsu replied. "I looked over everything he had, but couldn't find anything useful, even on his body, so I left his corpse. Should I have collected it?"
"No, there is no need. Leave it to be torn by dogs," the masked man replied. "There are other things I am more concerned with. Did you manage to look into it?"
"Sadly, no. I barely managed to escape," Zetsu replied. "Suna failed, but the Third Hokage's actions were bizarre, like he was aware of things he shouldn't have been, so I left as soon as I felt something was going wrong. And I came right to you to observe Orochimaru's fight."
The masked man thought for a moment about whether he should trust those words, but in the end, he dismissed the idea of Zetsu lying to him. He had to admit the Third Hokage was more of a problem than he expected.
"So, we still can't confirm the Nine-Tails jinchūriki?"
Zetsu's silence told him everything. How crafty of the Third Hokage. Was he keeping this Karin Uzumaki for a long time? At this point, it wouldn't even surprise him. The masked man was already losing confidence in his knowledge the moment Naruto Uzumaki was given to the Uchiha clan.
Who would give their most powerful weapon to a force they couldn't completely trust? And then the masked man learned of another Uzumaki. Also a child. And now the masked man had his doubts.
Even Minato must have had some reservations about making his own son into that monstrosity. Did he have another Uzumaki prepared for such a possibility from the start? A girl, too, with purer blood, it seemed.
How tricky. That damn old man was playing games with him, even though he shouldn't even know of his existence. No, he suspected that Minato managed to convey some kind of message to the Third for him to take such actions.
Neither Naruto nor Karin was particularly hidden, but they were kept secure. One was with the Uchiha, the other one could be said to be with the Senju, since it was Tsunade Senju herself who looked after that girl with her mother.
Neither was easy to approach, and it seemed their plan to use Suna and Kumo for some distraction failed, too. The Third Hokage completely avoided any conflict as if he suspected something. All his plans seemed to fail under the watchful eyes of the Third Hokage.
Checking his hand, the masked man could only frown even more. His injuries still needed time to heal completely. It was a miracle he survived Minato, and if he were to face the Third Hokage, he needed to be in his best condition.
But it seemed that it couldn't be avoided. The Third Hokage was playing way too well with an unknown enemy. The masked man seemed to be left with no other choice. For his plans, he would need to get rid of that old man.
…
How long had it been? From the setting sun, he summarized that it was long enough. After observing the surroundings, Orochimaru lifted his right hand and punched his heart until it started to beat normally once again.
Absolute power taints one's mind, making one far too arrogant and dismissive of others. Leaving plenty of opportunities for the weaker ones to exploit that blindness, the absolute power had.
They didn't even take his body. He wished they would at least extend this much courtesy to him; as much as it served him better, he didn't particularly like to be treated like trash that could be so easily discarded.
Leaving his body as he emerged from his mouth, Orochimaru looked at his weakened form. It would suffice for now. And most shinobi would be fooled by finding his body still lying on the ground, with all the organs intact. But from now on, he would need to be in disguise and let his death become a reality.
It seemed even those legendary eyes weren't worth that much with an incompetent user. Just moving his heart a bit and stopping it from beating was enough to fool them. He had prepared far more to fake his death, but now it seemed to be quite useless and foolish to do so.
Now, he only needed to change his face and move under another name. Not too difficult a thing to do. And it would get him out of the sight of the Akatsuki until he was ready to take them on. There were far too many interesting shinobi with them.
Quickly collecting the kunai with Pain's blood on it, scraping the residue of those rods that pierced him from his old body's fingernails, Orochimaru spat out a scroll where he put everything he needed inside.
He got enough for now. His research was awaiting him. And it was better not to test his luck if, by some chance, they would come to check on him or try to collect his body. He still couldn't believe they didn't do it to begin with. There were plenty of secrets on his body for nations to go to war for, and here it was left to rot.
A.N. This chapter should have been uploaded a few days ago, but because of the blizzard in my area, I have lost electricity for almost the entire weekend. So, I dind't had a chance to upload it, sorry for the wait.
As always. Thanks for reading and supporting me. If you want 7 more chapters of this story and 42 chapters in total with all my current stories, please consider supporting me on pa treon ironworlf852. Thanks in advance.