Orochimaru gazed at his forr teammate unconscious on the ground and his face was devoid of expression. 'So after all these years, it has co to this. Sorry Tsunade. But to further my goals, your sacrifice is needed.'
He then turned his attention to his guards. He looked at Kimimaro, Jirobo and Kidomaru and spoke. He saw the blood flowing from the corner of Kimimaro's mouth and frowned. 'Even after all the preparations, Tsunade was still able to inflict significant internal damage to Kimimaro.'
"You three. Head back to the base and secure it. This is a delicate ti. I don't want any unexpected incidents." The Snake sannin gave the order.
Kimimaro stepped forward and bowed. "Yes my Lord. We'll make sure nothing happens till you return."
"Make sure to heal your injuries. Shizune's poison jutsu isn't sothing you can simply shrug off."
"Understood my Lord."
The Snake Sannin then turned to the remaining mbers of the Sound Five. "Sakon, Tayuya. We need to move quickly. You know what to do."
The two guards nodded and went to the two sleeping bodies on the ground. Tayuya picked up Shizune while Sakon carried Tsunade. Orochimaru looked around and noticed that their pet was missing.
He inwardly smiled as he couldn't sense Tonton anywhere nearby. 'It must be on its way to the village. This battle was bound to draw attention. Even if they sent their entire force to search, they wouldn't find .'
"Let's go." On Orochimaru's orders the group split up and went in two directions. Sakon and Tayuya followed Orochimaru, carrying their captives while Kimimaro and his team went to the main base in the Land of Sound.
Shortly after all parties left the area, a strange figure appeared out of the tree several ters away. A figure with the body of a plant and wearing the Akatsuki robes. Zetsu looked at the scene and was confused.
"Well, that was unexpected. You think she did sothing to make Orochimaru mad?" The white half asked his partner.
"No. Tsunade had been wasting her ti getting drunk and gambling this last year. I doubt she had crossed paths with Orochimaru at the ti. That snake must have sothing planned." Black Zetsu replied.
"I see. You're probably right. Still, I didn't think she'd put up such a fight. Even outnumbered she was holding her own."
Unlike his other half Black Zetsu knew that they weren't battling with anywhere near their full power. "No. It only looked like that because Orochimaru and the others didn't go for any killing blows. For so reason they want her and her student alive."
"What do you think Orochimaru's plan is?"
At the white half's question, Black Zetsu beca silent for a few monts. "I have a few ideas but I can't make any solid conclusions. Let's see if we can follow them."
The two disappeared into the ground and tried to pursue their target. As they neared Orochimaru the Snake Sannin suddenly stopped while his subordinates kept going.
"Kuku Is that you Zetsu." Orochimaru spoke as he kept looking forward.
Zetsu, who was hidden in the ground several ters away, was annoyed. 'He knows.'
"If you're going to keep following I'll see for myself just how durable you really are. Or we can part ways and you can go spy on soone else." With those words Orochimaru vanished from Zetsu's sight.
The Akatsuki spy was hiding underground and decided not to pursue the Snake Sannin. "His sensing skills are sharper than I thought." The white half remarked.
"He must have so thod to detect us. Still it's expected that he's a lot more vigilant than usual. He just attacked and kidnapped Tsunade Senju. This incident will definitely cause an uproar once it gets out." The black half spoke.
"So what do we do now? Should we tell him?"
"Yes. This is a big incident. Let's go find Madara." With the final say from Black Zetsu, the spy began to move in a different direction. Towards the Mountain Graveyard where Obito was.
Leaf Village.
It was shortly an hour past midnight. Hiruzen was still in his office going through several docunts. As he was working, two Anbu suddenly appeared in front of him. "You summoned us, Lord Hokage?"
Hiruzen looked up from his docunt and saw the Anbus Bear and Snow standing in attention in front of him. He had tasked Bear with infiltrating the Root forces and Snow with investigating his own ninjas. An assignnt that was given years ago.
"Yes. First, Bear, I have a task for you." Hiruzen gave Bear the scroll Danzo had given him earlier and spoke. "I'm sure you made a copy of every mission report of the last decade from the Root Archive when you first infiltrated the organization. I need a copy of the reports of the missions ntioned in that scroll."
"What is this about sir?" Bear asked the old leader.
"Danzo ca to see a few hours ago. He gave this scroll and it was his justification for disobeying my orders and continuing with his operations. The missions on that scroll goes all the way back to the ti of the Uchiha massacre. Based on the mission's details, it suggests that if it wasn't for Root the village would have been embroiled in several major fights with other nations. The actions the Root took, mainly assassination and subterfuge missions on certain targets around the world, reduced the tensions between the great nations and smaller villages."
"So essentially Danzo is saying he's the reason we have peace right now." Snow couldn't help but remark.
Hiruzen nodded. "Yes. So of the incidents took place near our border and I've had so Jonins investigate it at the ti. On the surface of most of these events there wasn't much. It looked like a straightforward assassination by people who had a grudge against them. But now with this The scroll gives a detailed account of what the targets were up to and what their intentions were If it's true then Danzo's actions could be sowhat justified but"
Bear suddenly understood why the Hokage wanted the report copies he made. "You want to make sure the information on that scroll is accurate."
Hiruzen nodded in agreent. "Yes. I need to know the authenticity of this information. They have figured out that they have a spy in their midst. So the reports in their archive might have been edited now to match what Danzo gave . But that won't be the case for the copies you made. I need those docunts by tomorrow morning."
"Yes sir."
The Hokage then turned his attention to Snow. "Have you completed the investigation?"
"Yes sir. It'll take a few hours to compile the report though."
The old kage nodded. "That's fine. Make sure to get it to by morning So how is it? Is it as bad as we feared?"
Snow was silent for a few seconds before he replied. "No sir. Danzo was paranoid and limited the number of agents he had within the ranks so they wouldn't be found out. But so of them are in key positions in certain squads."
Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Get that list by early morning."
"Understood sir."
Just then Bear spoke. "Lord Hokage. Can I ask you sothing?"
"What is it, Bear?"
"If the information on my reports corresponds to the reports in Danzo's scroll, are you going to show him leniency?" He asked the question that's been on his mind.
Hiruzen was silent as he thought about the question. "No. I gave him an order and he disobeyed. It doesn't matter what Danzo says. I'm not going to let Root operate for much longer. Under Danzo, the Foundation is an uncontrollable, unpredictable elent."
'I need to talk to sensei when he returns and update him on everything that happened. If Danzo has proved himself loyal then No. He's crossed far too many lines for to back down now. Still, I need to talk to him alongside sensei. After that I will decide whether I have to kill him or not.'
Mountain Graveyard.
It wasn't long before Zetsu reached the hidden location. He saw a masked ninja ditating on the center of the layer and got closer.
"~Big News. We have big news Madaraa~" White Zetsu spoke in a sing-song voice.
"Would you be serious!? This is important." The Black half reprimanded his counterpart.
Obito sensed their presence the mont they arrived near the base. He turned in their direction and spoke. "What is it, Zetsu?"
"It's Orochimaru. He attacked Tsunade and captured her along with Shizune."
Obito was curious and was slightly concerned with this new developnt. "Orochimaru attacked and captured Tsunade? This is certainly unexpected. What could he be after?" The man rubbed his chin and muttered to himself. He then looked to his subordinate.
"Zetsu, did you manage to track his location after he captured them?"
"I'm sorry, Madara. But he managed to notice . He made a threat that I have no doubt he would have followed through if I kept going after him. I lost track of him after, so I ca to inform you." Black half replied with a calm voice.
"It's not surprising that he picked up on you. He's been studying all the Akatsuki mbers since he joined. He's developed asures to evade your surveillance after all. So losing track of him isn't surprising... That snake is skilled at disappearing when he wants to. Zetsu, did you notice anything peculiar about his actions or any hint of his intention?" The masked Obito asked his spy.
"Hmm... Orochimaru seed determined and focused. Based on the way he and his team fought, there was a sense of urgency in their actions. He didn't waste any ti subduing Tsunade and her student. Orochimaru and his team took them down before Tsunade could use her summons."
"Did you watch the whole fight?"
"Yep. We recorded the whole thing for you." White Zetsu replied.
"Show ."
At Obito's command Zetsu showed him the battle that took place between the Sannin and their subordinates. Obito watched the fight and noticed sothing.
"He didn't use any lethal attacks. He wasn't trying to kill them or even seriously injure Tsunade. The sa goes for Shizune. He needs them for sothing."
Black Zetsu agreed with Obito's speculation. "Yes. That's what I think too. Since he went after her it may have sothing to do with her dical skills."
Obito had a slightly different theory in mind. 'Or her Senju bloodline. He always had a fascination with forbidden techniques and unique bloodlines. But why now? Why not sooner? Or is it sothing else?'
"What should we do? It won't be long before the Leaf village finds out what happened and they won't be happy." Black Zetsu looked at Obito for the next course of action.
The masked Obito nodded his head. "We're going to the Rain Village. We need to inform Pain of this incident."
"Got it." Zetsu nodded and disappeared into the ground while Obito vanished in a swirl.
Hidden Rain Village.
The masked Uchiha, Zetsu, Konan and Pain stood on the top floor of the tallest tower in the Rain Village. An orange haired man wearing the distinct Akatsuki cloak looked at the village and the people below through the window.
"So, Orochimaru is making moves again huh. This could complicate our plan." Pain spoke with a calm tone.
"He's always been a wild card. But his actions now have the potential to escalate tensions between the great nations." The masked 'Madara' spoke as he leaned on the wall.
"Agreed. We need to keep an eye on the situation. Orochimaru's actions could potentially disrupt the balance of power we've been working towards." Konan crossed her arms and gave her thoughts.
Pain slightly nodded his head and turned to Zetsu. "Continue monitoring the Leaf village and Orochimaru's movents. If anything significant happens, report it imdiately."
"Pain, shouldn't we inform the other mbers of the situation?" Konan asked her friend.
The Orange haired man nodded. "Yes. But not now. We need to know more about his plans. Zetsu, gather intel on Orochimaru's movents for the last year. We'll call for a eting tomorrow and inform them of the situation."
"Yes. I'll get it done." Zetsu disappeared into the ground monts later with his new task to complete.
"You should increase the patrol squads around the border. The Leaf will be sending teams to investigate the matter soon and they won't be so ordinary Chunins." Madara spoke with a grave tone.
"I'm aware." Pain gave a short reply and returned his gaze to the view outside.
"Don't engage unless absolutely necessary. We still need so more ti. So for now it's best to stay in the shadows and observe." Madara spoke once again but he got no reply from Pain. Konan kept her impassive face as she looked at the masked Uchiha.
Madara didn't say anything more and disappeared monts later, leaving the two top mbers of the organization on their own.
"Nagato, what do you think Jiraiya sensei is going to do?" Now that it was only just the two of them, Konan used her friend's real na and spoke in a softer tone.
"We'll find out soon. One thing is for certain. Sothing drastic is going to happen in these next few days. I can feel it." Pain replied as he looked at the rain pouring down from the sky.
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Author's Note:
Things are about to heat up. I told you guys that canon will have an explosive start I just pray that this arc cos out great by the ti I'm done with it
A few things to clarify about the previous chapter.
01.. Why Tsunade didn't summon Katsuyu.
Orochimaru wouldn't have given her the chance as a battle of such a large scale is not what he wants.(it's given in the chapter) It's why Orochimaru didn't use his summon as well.
02.. Why Tsunade didn't use her diamond seal?
It may not seem like it but the fight was fast paced. And Orochimaru knew that if she released the seal on her forehead it would take a long ti to defeat her. He knew the seals she needed to make to release that jutsu so he would have stopped it. And even if she did use her seal, Orochimaru would have used Shizune and threatened her. Not only that, Tsunade noticed that Orochimaru and his team weren't trying to land lethal blows. So why would she release the seal and just waste her chakra?
03.. The gas poison used on Tsunade that made her go unconscious.
It's stated in the chapter. Orochimaru made this specifically for Tsunade. He knows just how strong her dical Ninjutsu is. So he would have created sothing to counter that strength.
04.. Did I over power sound five?
Not exactly. In the ani and manga, they've had a fight with Genma and his team before they t the Shikamaru squad. But that was glossed over. And Orochimaru has been training the team in preparation for this fight. And gave them all detailed reports of Tsunade and Shizune's fighting skills.
But that's not to say that the sound five ca out unhard. Tsunade was able to wound them but their teamwork and Orochimaru also made it possible to avoid deadly attacks from the female sannin.
I hope this answers any questions you may have.
If you like my story and want to read ahead, then check out my P.a.T.R.E.0.N page. I've uploaded up to 30 additional chapters there.
Patre /MonkWithAPen(No space)
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