"Ah… ahh… achoo!"
A sneeze echoed across the deserted streets of the outer district, the sound somewhat dampened by the thick layer of snow carpeting the capital. Sakura stopped and turned to her companion and sighed. "What were you thinking, leaving the hotel dressed like that? You're going to catch your death of cold."
For some reason Sakura couldn't quite fathom, Fū was still dressed in an outfit that left her midriff uncovered, as though she simply couldn't resist showing her belly button and trim waist to the world. The weather was far too cold for her to bring out her insect wings, so what exactly was she hoping to achieve?
Fū cocked her head cutely to the side and hit it lightly with her fist, sticking out her tongue.
"Tehe~!"
Sakura rolled her eyes.
Leaving aside Fū's weather-inappropriate dress, she couldn't help noticing the encroaching darkness as the sun slipped beneath the horizon. In contrast to the inner district lit by electric lights, where the capitalists and the nobles kept their grand residences, the outer district relied on older gas lamp posts that had to be coaxed alight one by one by lamplighters, whose sole duty was to do precisely that.
But nobody was coming out to light the gas lamps.
"No wonder there's a prohibition on supernatural powers in the capital…" Sakura murmured to herself, pressing a gloved hand to the pavement. "The houses are all made of wood, and there must be gas lines running everywhere beneath the streets…"
Unlike Konoha and the inner district of the capital, which had already modernised to full electrification, the outer district still relied on natural gas and wood-burning for power. In a nation where people with fire-nature chakra were so common and where everyone lived in wooden houses, this place was just like one big powder keg waiting to explode…
"Oh, hi, Sakura! What are you doing waaaay over there?"
Startled by Fū's sudden greeting, despite their having walked side by side for an hour now, Sakura looked up. A dark figure had slipped out of the shadows of a narrow back alley and was striding towards them.
Judging by her striking, explosive figure…
"Fū, get away!" Sakura roared, extending an arm to hold back Fū. "She's not me— she's the one I've been looking for!"
In the gloom of the night, the dark figure's scarlet eyes seemed to glow, and a gleaming set of white teeth appeared beneath them like a crescent moon as she smiled. A haunting laugh drifted through the air, one that was all too familiar to Sakura…
"Very astute, Sakura-kun," the girl said, grinning madly. "But you are mistaken on one point…"
Sakura's heart sank.
"Orochimaru!" she hissed.
To her relief, she saw that there was only one tomoe in each of Orochimaru's scarlet eyes. As expected of a clone born only a few months ago, Tsubaki could not possibly have possessed the depth of emotion required to evolve her eyes to the max… and Sakura did not believe Orochimaru was capable of sufficient grief to achieve the same.
So why, then, had he taken over Tsubaki's immature body?
"Correct~!" Orochimaru sang in Sakura's voice. "A smart girl like you deserves a prize, wouldn't you agree?"
It had been exactly three years since Orochimaru had seized Kimimaro's body, gaining the ultimate offensive and defensive physique of the Shikotsumyaku, minus his terminal illness— a Kekkei Genkai that paired perfectly with his Eight Branches Jutsu, allowing him to transform into a colossal eight-headed serpent, each scale capable of sprouting diamond-hard spikes.
So why give it up?
"Ah, ah, ah!" Orochimaru said, waggling his finger at Sakura as he felt her chakra surge. "The me standing before you is nothing but a Shadow Clone, so wouldn't it be a shame to destroy it before you've heard what it has to say? I've been waiting for the chance to speak with you alone, so it would be rather troublesome if I had to track you down all over again… people might get hurt."
Unless it was a compatible vessel, Orochimaru would be forced to abandon his body every three years— and even if he were currently occupying a body that suited him perfectly, he would still have to wait another three years before moving to the next. His strength would be at its lowest just before and immediately after the switch, so Sakura had to find his main body and end him before it was too late.
Sakura's endlessly evolving physique, coupled with Orochimaru's complete lack of morals, made for a dangerously potent combination…
"You see, I find myself in quite a bind," Orochimaru said nonchalantly. "Owing to certain circumstances, I've been forced to occupy the backup body I've been cultivating."
Sakura's eyes widened in shock.
Team Guy had reported losing track of Orochimaru, so it could not have been Night Guy who had mangled the Sannin to the point that even he could no longer regenerate Kimimaro's body. And though the shinobi continent was teeming with crouching tigers and hidden dragons, Sakura could only imagine that Orochimaru had challenged that person… and lost.
"Oh?" Orochimaru said, raising an eyebrow. "You do not seem as surprised as I would have expected. How very curious."
After staying quiet so long, Fū could no longer hold back her curiosity. "Is that your twin sister, Sakura?" she asked. "Her chakra is a lot like yours…"
Annoyed by the interruption, Orochimaru turned his gaze to Fū and locked eyes with her. The poor girl let out a piercing scream and collapsed in a heap on the ground, frothing at the mouth, her eyes rolling back to reveal only the whites.
"Fū!" Sakura shouted, rushing to her side and tapping her shoulder, dispelling the illusion with a Genjutsu Release. "Kai!"
"I suggest you listen to what I have to say without any further interruptions," Orochimaru said coolly. "The true identity of the serial killer terrorising the capital is none other than the Akatsuki's immortal duo, whom, according to my sources, you have faced and lived to recount. It would be mutually beneficial for us to be rid of them, don't you think?"
Sakura gritted her teeth and glared at him.
"I'll tell you where Hidan and Kakuzu of the Akatsuki are hiding in the capital, and you and your friends will deal with them for me," Orochimaru said. "And in return, I just might reveal a secret I've found out about Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki…"