The being standing in the forest stared down at his own body with golden, slit pupils.
Then he turned toward Guren.
"Orochimaru-sama…" Guren clutched her abdomen, trying to rise and kneel, but her legs gave out before she could even get halfway up.
That injury wasn't minor. A Rasengan, when it actually landed inside the body, was brutally destructive. More so than Chidori in many cases.
Chidori focused on penetration and bodily enhancement. It punched through defenses cleanly, lethal in a straight line. But when Rasengan broke through and detonated inside, the internal damage spread outward like a grinder.
Guren had taken a Nine-Tails-boosted Rasengan directly to the stomach.
If her crystal barrier hadn't slowed it, and if the crystallization on her skin hadn't absorbed part of the impact, her organs would have been shredded on the spot. Even so, her insides were a mess. Standing up was already beyond her.
"Orochimaru-sama" crouched down and placed a hand over her wound.
Soft green light bloomed.
Medical ninjutsu. High-level medical ninjutsu.
Guren's pupils shrank. As the pain eased slightly, she shoved him away with a sudden burst of strength.
"Who are you really?" she demanded. "Orochimaru-sama… or Kabuto?"
As far as she knew, Orochimaru didn't specialize in medical techniques like this.
A familiar chuckle answered her.
"Relax, Guren."
Orochimaru's voice came from that mouth.
Guren exhaled sharply in relief.
Then Orochimaru continued, almost thoughtfully, "That said… I didn't expect you to choose this, Kabuto."
Guren froze.
Why did that sound like a question?
The next voice made her blood run cold.
"I'm sorry, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto said from the same body. "This was the only choice I had."
Silence followed.
"…I see," Orochimaru replied calmly. "That's understandable."
Whether he truly understood or not hardly mattered. He didn't even fully grasp his own condition yet. One body. Two wills. Intertwined at the cellular level.
Not possession. Not reincarnation.
Something far messier.
This state was nothing like his usual body-hopping technique. Sharing a body felt wrong. Unclean. Temporary, at best.
He needed time. Research. A secure base.
"Let's go," Orochimaru said. "Guren."
"Yes…!" Guren answered quickly, suppressing her confusion and following him as best she could. Whatever this was, the one giving orders was still Orochimaru-sama.
As they moved through the forest, Orochimaru's thoughts drifted not to his body, but to the future.
Even fused with Kabuto, weakness lingered deep in his cells. That technique… it had been designed to counter him. Directly attacking regeneration at the cellular level.
Too precise. Too familiar.
Orochimaru frowned slightly. For a moment, he felt as if that boy understood him far better than he should.
A coincidence?
He pushed the thought aside.
Recovery came first. Study second.
Then… chaos.
The simplest way to destabilize the shinobi world had failed. But the principle remained unchanged. The world only fell into war when the strongest pillar cracked.
That was how it had begun before. The death of legends. The shaking of Konoha's dominance.
If the strongest village fell, the others would move. Cloud would act first. The rest would follow.
This time, Konoha had held.
So the plan would change.
Stone? Mist?
Orochimaru smiled faintly as the forest swallowed their figures.
None of this reached Fujimoto Tōma.
If he had known how badly he'd wounded Orochimaru, he might have been startled by his own results. As it was, he assumed Orochimaru and Kabuto had escaped with injuries. Serious ones, but survivable.
Back at the inn, everyone had regrouped.
"Tōma," Jiraiya said at last, voicing what had been bothering him. "Why do you have a Ryūchi Cave summoning contract? As far as I know, Orochimaru was the one holding that scroll."
That was the strange part. If Orochimaru had given it to him, he would've known. And if he'd known, he would've prepared for it.
"I got it at Mount Myōboku," Tōma replied calmly. "Not just Ryūchi Cave. I also have a contract with Shikkotsu Forest."
His gaze flicked briefly to the slug on Tsunade's shoulder.
"Yes," Katsuyu said gently. "What Tōma-sama says is true."
Jiraiya and Tsunade both froze.
All three great summoning regions.
That wasn't normal.
That wasn't coincidence.
They exchanged looks but didn't press further. Some questions crossed into territory even teachers didn't have the right to probe.
Naruto, however, was incapable of reading the room.
"Tōma! Tōma!" he shouted, breaking the silence.
"Yes?" Tōma looked over.
"Teach me that move! That one! It was awesome!" Naruto's eyes sparkled as he replayed the Rasenshuriken in his head.
"Tch," Jiraiya said. "That's not something you can learn right now."
"I can teach it," Tōma said casually.
Naruto exploded with joy. "Yes! You're the best, Tōma! Way better than Pervy Sage!"
"Hey!" Jiraiya snapped. "What did I do now?!"
"Pervy Sage took forever just to teach me Rasengan, and it's not even as cool!"
"That's because you're not ready!" Jiraiya roared. "That technique is an advanced form of Rasengan! Have you even mastered the base version?"
Naruto froze, then scratched his head and looked at Tōma.
Tōma nodded. "He's right. Rasenshuriken is Rasengan plus wind nature transformation. You need both."
"…What's nature transformation?" Naruto asked.
Tsunade burst out laughing. "You can't even use Rasengan properly and you're aiming for that? Go to bed."
"I can use it!" Naruto protested. "I'm not lying!"
"Oh?" Tsunade smirked. "Lying's a bad habit."
"That's it!" Naruto snapped. "You old—!"
Veins popped on Tsunade's forehead.
The two stormed outside together, Naruto determined to prove himself, Tsunade determined to teach him manners. Shizune hurried after them in a panic.
As Naruto left, Tōma called out, "Naruto. If one person can't do it… use two."
Naruto paused, confused, then nodded anyway.
Tōma watched him go, thoughtful.
Naruto hadn't mastered Rasengan before the battle. He'd used it only under the Nine-Tails' influence. Without that power, he'd need another method.
Shadow clones were a shortcut. A useful one.
But not the end goal.
One day, Naruto would do it alone.
For now, step by step was enough.
The inn grew quiet again, leaving only Tōma and Jiraiya behind.
...
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