Orochimaru walked ahead while Saeko followed behind, her gaze fixed steadily on him. He could feel her eyes on his back but had no idea what she was thinking. Not that he particularly cared. She might become useful in the future, but right now, she wasn't.
When another horde of zombies appeared, he didn't use ninjutsu. Instead, he chose something he rarely relied on: kenjutsu.
Drawing the Nichirin sword he had acquired from the gacha, Orochimaru instantly closed the distance. With swift, precise movements, he sliced through the necks of the zombies, severing their heads cleanly, one after another, without exception.
Within seconds, the area was cleared. Only lifeless bodies remained on the floor, blood pooling around them.
"Did you see it?" Orochimaru asked as he continued walking.
A quiet voice responded behind him. "No… you were too fast."
Saeko's eyes burned with intensity. She wasn't lying. He had moved too quickly, and he knew it. Still, he gave a small nod and said, "There will be plenty of chances."
Suddenly, he paused.
Seeing this, Saeko asked, "What happened?"
Her eyes scanned the surroundings, searching for anything unusual, but she saw nothing. Nothing except corpses littering the ground and the burning city ahead.
As for signs of life, there were none.
Aside from the zombies slowly shuffling toward them, there wasn't a single normal human in sight.
The next moment, Orochimaru was suddenly beside her. Before she could react, his hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. She felt the firm grip around her as he made her face the ground.
In a blink, Orochimaru used Body Flicker to appear on the roof of a nearby building with just one floor, then jumped to the next.
Taking a brief moment to steady herself, she realised his sudden actions might have startled her, though he meant no harm. Meanwhile, Saeko tried to push away any inappropriate thoughts, as this was the first time a man had touched her like that.
As they continued to leap from one rooftop to another, Saeko, trying to stay calm, finally asked, "What are you doing?"
Orochimaru's tone was casual as he replied, "One of my clones found someone interesting. Since you're quite slow, it's best if I carry you."
The person he saw in the memories from his dispelled clone wasn't just anyone. They were a character from another anime. Not from Highschool of the Dead like Saeko, but from a completely different world.
That confirmed it.
This world was indeed a mashup.
A grin slowly spread across his face. So, that's how it is. Let's see how many surprises this world still has in store for me.
He immediately increased his pace, and within minutes, he was standing in front of a mall.
Orochimaru only released Saeko once her feet touched the ground. Without waiting for her to recover from the dizzying experience of being carried across rooftops, he moved forward without a word.
Passing through the broken door, he stepped over the corpses his shadow clones had already cleared out. Inside, the scene was chaos—fallen shelves, scattered items, and blood staining nearly every inch of the floor. But Orochimaru ignored it all.
His gaze landed on a woman descending the stairs. Her white coat was mostly soaked in blood, and her silver hair clung to her face in damp strands. In her hands, she held a broken cleaning mop. Hardly a weapon.
But Orochimaru recognised her.
He knew there were many things hidden beneath that fragile appearance and inside her body.
"I didn't tell you my name… Yoruichi Shih–," the woman said, narrowing her eyes as she studied him.
Orochimaru cut her off coldly. "If you want to join me, it's better you start by telling the truth."
Hmph, Yoruichi… Why don't you tell me this is Bleach? he thought with a dangerous glint in his eyes.
Seeing his expression darken, the woman finally spoke. "Vermouth."
Yes. She was Vermouth. The dual-identity woman from Detective Conan.
When Orochimaru's shadow clone had arrived at the mall earlier, it was just clearing out zombies and gathering supplies. Some normal humans had been inside at the time, but to them, the fire-wielding man was more terrifying than the undead. Especially after seeing his face—they had all panicked and fled. Of course, Orochimaru didn't care about them. Whether they spread word of his existence or not didn't matter. He had no intention of staying in this world forever.
Still, one woman had approached him instead of running away. She said she wanted to follow him.
The clone wasn't particularly interested. But the fact that someone dared to come near him piqued its curiosity. Turning to face her, it studied her carefully, and then recognition flashed in its eyes.
After staring for a few long seconds, the clone said only one word:
"Wait."
Then it dispelled, transferring all its memories to the main body.
As for why the clone hadn't brought her directly, things had changed. Not just Orochimaru, but even his clones had started to develop more personality. Attitude.
In emergencies or combat situations, they remained obedient and efficient. But outside of that, their behaviour seemed to act on their own whims.
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Some anime suggestions for mashup
Suggestions regarding detective conan