"Fuck...!"
Impulsively, Juzo acted. Perhaps, this action was done out of the thought that he was the weakest among everyone on the site. Sasori's death meant that he could be killed just as easily, if not more.
"Juzo-san, wait!"
Kisame was the one to shout, alerted by the fact that the kunais with the seal of Flying Thunder God were scattered around them.
'Logically speaking, the one whom he would target next is...!'
Orochimaru, having reached a conclusion, acted.
At the same time, just before Juzo reached Akashi, Akashi vanished.
"Kisame!"
Kisame swiftly turned, seeing Akashi at his back.
Orochimaru's mouth gaped open to an abnormal extent. His tongue stretched out to an impossible distance, and wrapping around Akashi's wrist with a surprising precision, stopped Ryuma's advance to Kisame.
By then, Kisame was already swinging the terrifying Samehada. The way the sword-creature wriggled looked as if it were eager to consume a new food.
Time seemed to slow down as Samehada's sharp, spiky, and scale-like surface was about to strike Akashi.
Then, Akashi disappeared again, along with Orochimaru, who was in contact with him.
"Where did he go?!"
Kakuzu growled as he looked to his left and right, but Akashi wasn't found.
"...He ran away?"
...
"You..."
Once again, Orochimaru found himself surprised by Akashi's tactic.
'I see how it is... he initially set the condition that enabled him to set up the Flying Thunder God—tricking us that he'd only use it to attack us rather than separate us like this.'
Furthermore, it wasn't that Akashi couldn't do this to others, given how fast he was. The fact that Orochimaru was the one whom Akashi took out of the group meant that from the start, he was the target.
"It will take some time before Hidan recovers. Sasori is dead. Among the remaining four, the two swordsmen are far too predictable, and the fact that Kakuzu's specialty lies in ninjutsu... makes me a perfect counter to him."
Akashi was nonchalant, having maintained a calm and cold demeanor from the start of the battle.
Frankly speaking, Orochimaru found this ridiculous.
'This one is strong... yes, just like the leader. At the same time, he is different...'
"From a brief exchange earlier on, I noticed that you possess an abnormal healing factor."
As Akashi spoke, Orochimaru examined the surroundings.
'Forest and humid... yes, we are still in the land of rain. Yes, I do recognize this site... we aren't too far away from the other members.'
Orochimaru gauged the time based on the information.
'Fifteen... no, ten minutes.'
Kisame's Samehada is able to sense chakra, and hence, is known as a quasi-sensor. Orochimaru deduced that in ten minutes, the other members would find them.
"Snake summon, healing factor, forbidden techniques..."
Akashi listed Orochimaru's arsenal of skills. He seemed to be in a hurry, but at the same time, relaxed.
"Hmm... you seem to have an ulterior motive in isolating me from the others, Akashi."
"Funny how you say an ulterior motive when you have no idea what my main motive is."
"Heh, that, the leader already revealed. It is to find another one who's from the other world like you, isn't it?"
The two of them vanished from their positions.
When they reappeared, Orochimaru's body was burning under flame. His arms were sliced clean off his shoulders.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth, although he quickly hid it with a cocky smile, ignoring the fire around his body as if he couldn't feel the pain. The fact that he was sweating proved otherwise, however.
Then, his mouth opened abnormally. From his mouth, another body, exactly identical, made its way out.
'It resembles a snake molting its skin.'
Thought Akashi as he witnessed Orochimaru making his way out of the gaping mouth of his burning, previous body.
"From what I can tell, you managed to achieve a pseudo-immortality somehow. Although it does not look as inexplicable as Hidan's case, the fact that you were able to do it, and that said immortality relies on a snake-like feature..."
As Orochimaru stood up, the previous body was already reduced to nothing but ashes.
'Seven minutes more to go...'
"Surely, this speaks of the involvement of senjutsu."
"..."
The natural energy is the embodiment of positive and negative chakra, developed from the will possessed by the nature of the world.
'It is the key to the comprehension of Yin Release, for positive and negative chakra serve as the impurities that hamper my focus.'
Akashi had to crack the code down.
"How many times are you able to perform this feat? By no means are you capable of performing Yin Yang Release to reconstruct another body. The only possible explanation is that through the use of senjutsu, you acquired the malleable property of a snake's body."
"...I didn't know that you were this interested in what I can do."
Orochimaru no longer had the luxury to hide his foul mood. Frowning as he stood up, he growled in frustration. Not bothered with Orochimaru's remark, Akashi continued to lay out his thoughts, however.
"You stockpiled corpses, or bodies in your own. I'd assume that fuinjutsu is involved to achieve that. Shifting your will, consciousness, and soul from one body to another... now, that must be a jutsu that is original to you. Aren't you impressive, Orochimaru?"
"What do you want, Akashi?"
In the midst of Orochimaru's frown, a glimpse of intrigue surfaced.
"You first demonstrated power to defeat me in a single go. Evidently, you've been holding back previously when facing the six of us at once, probably to assess our skills—whether they match what you saw in your own world or not. However, based on how you are trying to lead a conversation here, you aren't necessarily trying to kill me like the others..."
Akashi, breaking his poker face, chuckled lightly.
"Kisame and Juzo are simplistic people. Kakuzu and... Hidan probably joined Akatsuki for nothing more than money and pure bloodshed. Ironically, Sasori is quite a readable fellow as well, even though his body is mostly that of a puppet. You, however, are different."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"My other self in this world managed to satisfy their desires. I see that loyalty exists in them, but not in you."
"...And therefore, you wish to make a deal of some sort with me? And make me betray the leader?"
"Do you not understand? If I was able to reach such a conclusion in a short span of time, in the middle of the fight, do you think my other self won't be able to figure it out?"
That was when Orochimaru froze.
"I see that pride in the attitude of my other self. He'd probably know, or at least believe, that I am strong. Do you believe that he'd expect the six of you to defeat me?"
"...If he knows that there is something fishy about me, and if he sent us to you for me to get killed by you, why would he send all of us in the first place?"
"Because he is uncertain."
Akashi could see the thought process of his other self.
"Once he began to be suspicious about you, there is no guarantee about the others. That's what doubt does to a person."
"...So he decided to have all of us killed instead?"
"Indeed."
Orochimaru remained stoic for a moment.
"Then..."
Suddenly, Juzo was found above, swinging Kubikiribocho down.
Akashi evaded, and upon the greatsword struck the ground, a huge dent was created from the impact.
"Graaa!"
Kisame followed up, trying not to give Akashi any room to use his skills. He swung Samehada horizontally, and the monster-like blade was heading directly toward Akashi's head.
'From underneath...'
Akashi sensed a vibration in this state. Without a doubt, it was Kakuzu.
'Hidan isn't here, which means that he's still knocked out. Just these three for now, I see.'
Akashi shifted his eye and stared at Orochimaru, who wasn't moving but spectating the scene with a troubled expression.
"..."
As Juzo pushed his feet off the ground to launch himself at Akashi for the second time, Akashi was now surrounded by three from left, right, and below.
At the last moment, Akashi chuckled.
Then, he exploded.
Orochimaru shielded his face as the wind violently blew from the aftermath.
'Shadow Clone Explosion technique... just how many jutsus does he know?!'
What made Orochimaru feel a chill down his spine, even more so, was the fact that he was talking to a shadow clone the whole time.
'Just in case he was wrong and I decided to pull out a surprise attack of some sort, he set up a backup plan...'
At the same time, this made Orochimaru believe Akashi's words even more. He could see the same degree of coldness that he saw in the leader of Akatsuki, the alternate Akashi. The idea of killing all six members of Akatsuki to get rid of any potential betrayal and chaos from the inside of the organization sounded quite likely.
When the dust cleared, Kakuzu was found dead, with all his hearts having been punctured, not just by the explosion, but also by Akashi's Ryuma that flew in unexpectedly following the explosion.
Juzo was at a critical state, bleeding everywhere from his body, with his Kubikiribocho broken. Lying and coughing blood, it was evident that he would be dead within a few minutes.
Kisame was the one who seemed to have managed to fend against the explosion. Although huffing, the fact that he held Samehada at his front meant that the monster-like blade managed to absorb the chakra from the explosion.
Akashi, appearing from the side, caught Ryuma, who flew back into his hand.
'...How many times did this man manage to trick us?'
The ways Akashi used clones sent Orochimaru into disbelief.
It was as if he were a magician of some sort. Somehow, he knew when to swap his body with a clone, every single time.
'If it's him...'
Orochimaru quickly made a calculation of his own.
He walked up to Kisame.
"Kisame, can you fight?"
"Yes... but not much more. Samehada is screaming. She's in pain."
"Is that so?"
Kisame, sweating profusely, glared at Akashi, who stood across them.
Then, he felt a kunai penetrating his chest. His eyes widened as the blood dripped out of his mouth. Samehada fell out of his hands.
Turning around, Kisame saw that it was Orochimaru who did it.
"Why..."
That was the last word Kisame muttered before he fell to the side, dead.
Orochimaru, directing his gaze to Akashi, sighed.
"...Now, there is no turning back."
Watching as Orochimaru opened his mouth with nervousness, Akashi felt a human-like quality in this world's Orochimaru, one that he couldn't feel from the real one outside.
"My true identity isn't a member of Akatsuki, just as you speculated."
Laying his hand on his chest, Orochimaru stated in a tone different from his previous one—more stoic and truthful. The gleam in his eyes, too, mellowed.
"I am a spy from Konohagakure, which is on the verge of falling as the war against Amegakure prolongs. I was tasked with the assassination of your other self, 'Hattori Akashi,' but didn't manage to find a window up until now."
Orochimaru seemed to be in a chaotic mess of emotions after he spoke the truth. Looking down, he seemed to be collecting his thoughts.
Looking back up, he then spoke,
"We may be able to benefit from each other."
"That's what I've been thinking from the start."
Akashi believed that this was the first step to finding Konan.
'Wait for me, Konan. I'm coming.'
Upon Orochimaru's call, the two of them left the scene.