Tsunade and Kitazawa were the last to arrive.
"Hokage-sama."
Uchiha Fugaku, Hyūga Hiashi, Hatake Kakashi, and the others greeted her at once.
Tsunade gave a small nod. One sweep of the eyes and the corner of her mouth twitched—even she felt the lineup Kitazawa had assembled was a bit much. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were marching on Kumogakure, not Otogakure. …Well, better to be cautious.
"There's only one reason I called you here today," Tsunade said, meeting everyone's puzzled looks. "We're taking Otogakure—and Orochimaru."
Plenty of faces showed shock. Orochimaru was Sarutobi Hiruzen's student, one of the Legendary Sannin. Some of them had even fought at his side. Hearing that their target was Orochimaru made it hard to stay calm.
"Orochimaru is a Konoha missing-nin. Whatever it takes, we bring him in," Tsunade declared, all authority.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" the crowd answered as one.
"This operation is covert. We're not racing the clock, but no one is to detect us," she ordered. "Hyūga and Aburame will handle concealment. If anyone's nearby, avoid them."
With a group this big, staying hidden would be hard—but not impossible. These were elite among jōnin.
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" Hiashi and Aburame Shibi replied quickly.
"Move out!" Tsunade swept her arm forward and took point. Kitazawa and the other jōnin fell in behind her.
With Byakugan and kikaichū aiding them, the group slipped silently into the Land of Rice Fields. They halted not far from the Sound.
"There's a Fūma outpost in that valley," Tsunade said. "Fugaku, take a team and secure them—quietly."
Fugaku nodded and left with Itachi and other Uchiha for the valley.
"Hiashi, your four Hyūga squads will stake out the four approaches to the village. No one escapes—especially Orochimaru."
"Understood, Hokage-sama!"
"Sealing unit: when Orochimaru's too busy to notice, deploy the Four Violet Flames Formation."
One order after another, Tsunade showed the Hokage's touch—spinning a tight net around Orochimaru.
"Hokage-sama, task complete," Fugaku reported moments later as he and the others returned.
"Your Uchiha will advance on the Sound with us," Tsunade said, nodding. "Go!"
On command, the jōnin fanned out toward the four sides of Otogakure. After a brief beat, Tsunade sprang forward, blurring into the village at high speed.
"Who goes there?" a Sound shinobi spotted them. Itachi flickered in front of him; a flash of crimson—and the man went slack. Itachi slit his throat with a kunai.
Tsunade ignored the minor guards; her target was the leader's tower. The moment it came into view, she gathered chakra in her legs.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
She landed in front of the tower and stomped. The ground split to pieces; the whole building tottered on the verge of collapse.
"What's happening?!"
"Enemies!"
"Run!"
Sound shinobi poured out of the building.
"Orochimaru! Get out here!" Tsunade roared. The tower couldn't take any more; it crashed down in a plume of dust.
Kitazawa arched a brow. A true iron lady, through and through.
The next instant, a thunderous crack—not from the collapse, but from the bursting earth as a massive purple serpent surged up, maw gaping for Tsunade. A black-haired youth stood on its head, with pale skin, vertical golden pupils, and comma-shaped, blue-green earrings.
"Orochimaru!"
Tsunade clenched a fist and drove it forward. Her blow shattered one of the serpent's fangs.
"Graaah!" Manda howled. Tsunade used the opening to spring up and snap a kick at Orochimaru.
"Tsunade, you're the same as ever—temper unchanged," he said lightly, spitting out the Kusanagi blade and slashing. Tsunade shifted in time, toe-tapping the sword to spring herself back.
Manda recovered. Seeing Tsunade midair, he hammered down with his tail.
Kitazawa flashed through seals, bit his thumb, and slammed a palm to the ground. In a blink, a slug as large as Manda appeared, moved at once to shield Tsunade, and split into countless mini-slugs when struck—taking no damage—before reforming elsewhere. Tsunade landed on its head. "I'll trouble you, Katsuyu-sama."
Kitazawa joined her in a leap, coming to stand at Tsunade's side.
"Didn't invite Jiraiya?" Orochimaru looked at Tsunade and the giant slug with a hint of nostalgia.
As they clashed, Sound shinobi swarmed in and the battle with Konoha's forces erupted. Orochimaru took one glance—Sound was clearly losing. No surprise: it was a young village with few true jōnin. What stung was how sudden Konoha's arrival had been—he hadn't had time to move much of his lab gear. Villages could be rebuilt; equipment cost a fortune. Years of accumulation, gone. Still, that wasn't the concern now. Escape was.
"To deal with you, I don't need Jiraiya," Tsunade said, shaking her head. "Kitazawa and I are enough."
"Your student is impressive. Even in the Sound, I've heard of him," Orochimaru said, eyes sliding over Kitazawa as he unconsciously licked his lips. A near-perfect vessel—shame about the lack of a kekkei genkai. Orochimaru's ideal bodies had bloodline limits. In the original story, his top choices were Kimimaro and Uchiha Sasuke—Kimimaro abandoned only because of the disease.
Kitazawa's mouth twitched. He could guess exactly what Orochimaru was thinking—collecting geniuses and turning them into vessels was his favorite hobby.
"Orochimaru, surrender now and I'll spare your life for old times' sake," Tsunade said coolly.
"Afraid not," Orochimaru smiled.
"Then there's only one way left." Tsunade's fists tightened. Manda lunged first, ramming at Tsunade and Kitazawa. The two vaulted aside, leaving Manda and Katsuyu to their brawl, and split left and right for Orochimaru. He grabbed Kusanagi and cut to intercept.
Clang!
Kitazawa drew Raitei and caught the blade. Tsunade slipped her body and hammered a punch in. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Orochimaru raised his left arm as a mass of vipers poured from his sleeve. Kitazawa reacted instantly—his left hand whipped out Zangetsu, one diagonal sweep cleaving the snakes in two.
In that moment, Kusanagi suddenly telescoped for Kitazawa's head. Tsunade twisted her wrist, diverting the punch meant for Orochimaru into the sword instead. Power surged down the blade; Orochimaru's right hand went numb and Kusanagi spun away.
He didn't panic. "Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!" He fell back and vomited forth a tide of serpents, flooding the ground and surging at Tsunade and Kitazawa.
"What an obnoxious swarm," Tsunade frowned.
"Lightning Release: Chidori Current!" Kitazawa's seals blurred; birdsong crackled and dazzling arcs exploded outward. In a blink, the snakes were wreathed in lightning, popping and snapping.
"Kakashi's Chidori?" Orochimaru thought it looked familiar—but clearly a variant.
Tsunade didn't idle. One Body Flicker and she was in his face, fist roaring forward. Just before impact, Orochimaru's body softened and twisted, her blow slicing through empty air—his Soft Physique Modification letting him contort beyond human limits.
He opened his mouth to taunt—then realized Kitazawa had vanished. A razor-sharp presence bloomed behind him. He turned to see a spinning chakra sphere.
"Namikaze Minato's Rasengan? No—there's wind in it."
Kitazawa burst forward; the Wind Release: Rasengan slammed into Orochimaru's back. Wind chakra sheared like blades, carving flesh. Blood sprayed as Orochimaru pitched forward.
"Is he dead?" Tsunade asked, sidestepping on instinct. It felt… off.
"Not that easy," Kitazawa said, eyeing the "corpse."
"You really have raised a fine student," Orochimaru said as he stood up—out of his own shed skin. Orochimaru-Style Substitution.
"He is, naturally," Tsunade snorted and threw another punch. Orochimaru flicked a finger; Kusanagi on the ground snapped up like a giant senbon for Tsunade.
"Uchiha-Style: Gale Blade!" Kitazawa swept Zangetsu; a searing blade of flame smashed Kusanagi aside. Tsunade's fist closed in. Orochimaru lifted both forearms, "Limb Hardening!" His arms turned like iron; their clash sent both skidding back a few steps.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" He one-handed a seal and hurled a savage gale. A basic wind jutsu in his hands hit like most A-ranks.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!" Kitazawa clapped; water rose from nothing into a bulwark. "Tsunade-sama!" he called, then flashed through more seals. "Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!" A torrent of chakra poured from his mouth, becoming a cataract that merged with the toppled wall into a surging wave.
"Water jutsu on par with a Mizukage," Orochimaru praised calmly even at sword's edge.
Tsunade's expression soured—Orochimaru sounded a little too appreciative of Kitazawa, like he meant to poach him.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" A slab of earth rose before Orochimaru—only to shatter in under a second. It was enough. "Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!" He spat a massive wind orb; it ripped a gap through the onrushing sea. Orochimaru leapt to the water's surface—
—and Tsunade's kick nailed him the moment he landed. Dirt geysered; an earth clone dissolved into the water. His real body reappeared nearby, regarding Tsunade and Kitazawa. After this long, he knew capturing them was unlikely. Much as it pained him, it was time to abandon the Sound and his equipment.
Suddenly Kitazawa flashed signs and split into four shadow clones. Orochimaru blinked, not quite clocking it—until all five Kitazawa began weaving in unison and his face changed.
"The old man actually taught you the Five Release Great Combo Technique?" he blurted. Hiruzen's trump composite—he'd never expected a second wielder.
Too late to think. Before him rose a hellscape—fire, lightning, water, earth, and wind swelling into a sea of chakra. Chaotic yet ordered, they braided into something terrifying and then crashed down—sparks, surging water, blazing arcs, howling wind, earth shaking.
"Summoning: Triple Rashōmon!" Orochimaru bit his thumb and slammed the ground. Air tore; three demonic gates heaved up from the abyss. Even three could blunt a tailed-beast bomb.
The first gate shuddered then exploded to dust. The torrent smashed into the second; it bucked violently, then failed. By the third, the onslaught was half-spent; that gate's role was to dissipate, and the five flows scattered to nothing.
Tsunade bit her lip—she hadn't known Kitazawa had mastered the Five Release Great Combo Technique. Seeing it here shocked her.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. The power of Kitazawa's version was barely beneath Hiruzen's. In Orochimaru's mind, Kitazawa's value climbed again—stronger than most bloodline vessels. A shinobi proficient in seven natures was vanishingly rare.
His eyes slit. Four jōnin from the sealing unit had appeared around them while Triple Rashōmon blocked his view. Their signs were halfway done. He recognized it at a glance: the Four Violet Flames Formation—a barrier that burns whatever touches it. In the original battle with Hiruzen, he'd used it via the Sound Four to keep help away. Konoha's sealers would use it now to keep him from escaping.
Orochimaru burst toward one of the four—but Tsunade was faster.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Boom! The ground split and stone shards blasted at him.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" Kitazawa's shuriken arrived at the same instant; one became a cloud that sealed off every avenue.
That delay did it; the Four Violet Flames Formation snapped into place, caging the three of them.
Orochimaru's face darkened and his hands flew. "Eight Branches Technique!" At this point, no more holding back. His body billowed; clothes tore; white scales surfaced. Tsunade's rubble and Kitazawa's shuriken bounced off.
Two heads sprouted from his shoulders—then eight.
"You actually mastered the Eight-Headed Serpent?" Tsunade's pupils shrank. A forbidden art among forbidden arts—she'd never heard of anyone succeeding.
As her words fell, Orochimaru's necks stretched; his body ballooned. The earth sank under the weight. Across the battlefield, Konoha and Sound shinobi turned to stare, faces stunned. A white, behemoth serpent towered like a bijū—eight heads, eight tails, blotting out the sky.
"This is bad. The Yamata no Orochi is nearly immortal," Tsunade said grimly. She'd read about it in the Scroll of Seals.
Kitazawa recalled its showing: Itachi's Susanoo lopped off every head with the Totsuka Blade and Orochimaru still didn't die—only sealing him worked. Near-immortal vitality, boosted offense and defense across the board. Even so, he wasn't rattled. Itachi was here—and Kitazawa might not need him.
"You won't hold me!" all eight heads bellowed. Ignoring them, the serpent slammed into the barrier. Flames flared; the burns closed almost at once. The formation quaked; soil and flowers blasted upward. The four jōnin maintaining it went pale as their chakra bled away.
"Stop him!" Tsunade hurled a punch. One head whipped around, jaws gaping. Tsunade vaulted higher and drilled her fist into its forehead. Flesh split; blood erupted; the entire head went limp, hanging uselessly. Too big to pop outright, but the point was made.
"TSUNADE!" Orochimaru screamed through the pain—and smashed the barrier apart.
Seven heads snapped to target Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sama!" Kitazawa shouted, flaring into Senju Chakra Mode. Yamata was Orochimaru's last gamble—time to go all in. Tsunade matched his timing, vanishing with a Body Flicker.
Orochimaru wouldn't let her go; his colossal frame heaved as eight tails lashed out like mountains, air shrieking in their wake.
"Typhoon Water Vortex Technique!" Kitazawa layered Wind Release: Rasengan and Water Release: Tearing Torrent—the result, a towering watersheathed cyclone more than ten meters across. The eight tails plunged into it; the outer wind blades flensed scales while the inner superheated steam seared flesh. Hissing, Orochimaru yanked the tails back—charred, smoking, like grilled squid.
Something was wrong. How was that composite ninjutsu hitting like the Five-Style? Two natures couldn't match five… unless—Senju Chakra Mode. With higher chakra throughput, Kitazawa could pour far more power into the same time window—and the mode boosted output besides.
Kitazawa didn't give him time to process. He raised thunderbolt.
A peal like a riven sky—countless bolts lit the heavens. Orochimaru's pupils pinholed. That many bolts?
"Lightning Release: Kirin!"
Guided by Kitazawa, the lightning coalesced into a colossal qilin and dove. It struck Yamata with a world-shaking crash. The ground cratered; mountains groaned as lightning drowned the serpent.
"Aaaghhh!" Orochimaru's screams vanished in the roar.
Hiashi, Fugaku, and the others stared wide-eyed. What lightning jutsu was that? None of them had seen it. Judging by the might—S-rank.
"Five Release Great Combo Technique!" Kitazawa didn't stop, hands flying. Under normal conditions, chaining three chakra-hungry (composite) techniques is impossible—either you run out of chakra or you can't circulate it fast enough. But with Senju Chakra Mode, he could.
Gales howled, flames surged, lightning blazed, water flowed, earth heaved—five natures braided into a tidal wave of chakra.
Tsunade's face was incredulous. How had its power jumped this much? Earlier, Kitazawa's version was about on par with Hiruzen's—now it surpassed it. So that wasn't his full strength?
Hiashi, Fugaku, Kakashi, Shibi—and the rest—silently put Kitazawa on Hiruzen's level. They knew exactly what this technique meant: each nature mastered to a high degree. Add in medical ninjutsu and genjutsu, and he was a young Sarutobi Hiruzen.
One thing was clear in every mind: the next Hokage would be Kitazawa. No one else could compete. Fugaku had planned to back Itachi—he was practically village leadership already—but seeing this, he shelved the idea. Tsunade's first pick would obviously be her own student anyway.
Orochimaru's giant body still writhed in lightning, paralyzed. Yamata's "immortality" kept him alive—but barely. He turned instinctively toward the incoming five-nature torrent. The world seemed to brighten—then five elements swallowed him whole. Paired with Kirin, they reduced the serpent to a charred ruin. Blood that managed to ooze out flashed to steam; once white, the Yamata was now black as charcoal.
"Sealing unit!" Kitazawa shouted, charging in. Orochimaru wouldn't die—not even with Yamata obliterated. Time for phase two: sealing. This was the moment—the triple-tech barrage had left Yamata reeling.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Heavenly Prison!" Kitazawa opened with the S-rank seal from Mui of Hōzuki Castle—a technique that, in the original, could briefly bind a Yin-Release monster born of the Box of Ultimate Bliss.
Then he let fly every sealing jutsu he knew. At his current standing, he wasn't worried about awkward questions; if anyone asked, he'd just say he learned them.
"Four Limbs Weighting Seal!"
"Evil Sealing Method!"
"Cursed Seal of Heaven!"
"Four Symbols Seal!"
One after another, Kitazawa plastered Orochimaru with seals.
Tsunade's mouth twitched. "He's Orochimaru, not a practice dummy…"
~~~
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