Before Orochimaru descended into the cave, he suddenly heard a deep, guttural roar echoing from within. A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Hmm? Don't tell me... the 'child' you mentioned is playing with bears and beasts now?" he asked.
Djinn chuckled but gave no direct answer. "If you're curious, why not ask the boy yourself?"
Orochimaru shook his head and stepped into the cave.
It stretched deep into the earth. After only a few paces, the light vanished. Yet, Orochimaru moved forward without hesitation—his enhanced night vision rendering the darkness meaningless. The cave walls were scarred with claw marks, as if some frenzied beast had been confined here and gone mad.
"How intriguing," Orochimaru murmured, quickening his pace until he reached the depths.
There, he found a burly figure kneeling on the ground, a feral growl rumbling low in his throat. It was the same roar he'd heard earlier.
"The natural energy here is thick," Orochimaru observed.
But his eyes quickly caught something more interesting—the thick iron shackles clamped around the figure's ankles.
Such restraints might hinder a normal person. But someone enhanced by natural energy? This was a laughably poor cage.
"If they fear him so much, why not simply kill him?" Orochimaru wondered aloud. "Why lock him away like this?"
He stepped closer, releasing a small pulse of his own aura, then casually flicked a stone shard with his fingers.
At once, the figure's head snapped up, revealing wild, bloodshot eyes. Deep inside, a flicker of human consciousness still struggled.
Crack.
The stone struck the boy's forehead. He flinched—and then the bestial instinct overwhelmed him.
With a furious snarl, the cave erupted in wind as the beast lunged forward. The distance vanished in an instant.
Yet Orochimaru didn't move.
He simply stood there, golden eyes calm, curious.
The beast's claws halted inches from Orochimaru's face. The boy—Jugo—gritted his teeth, forcing out broken words:
"Run… now…"
He was losing control. He didn't know who this stranger was or why he'd come. He just didn't want to kill anyone again.
Orochimaru smiled. "Fascinating. Truly fascinating."
He studied the youth—massive, primal, and trembling. Not just from rage, but from a desperate struggle for sanity.
Orochimaru had seen talent before—Kabuto had been a prodigy, mastering Sage Chakra even at Chūnin-level—but this boy… he was something else.
He wasn't molding chakra mixed with nature energy.
He was nature energy.
Like the White Snake Sage. Like the Slug Sage.
Pure.
This boy was a relic of a time when sages were born, not trained.
"AAAAHHH!"
Jugo finally snapped. The beast within took full control, and he lunged again, talons raised to strike.
BOOM!
A crash echoed through the cavern. Rubble flew. Jugo slammed into the rock wall—again.
But Orochimaru wasn't smiling this time out of cruelty. Rather, he was gauging him.
And every time Jugo leapt forward, Orochimaru swatted him back. Again. And again.
For fifteen full minutes, the cave resounded with the brutal cycle of attacks and counterattacks.
Each time, Orochimaru held back just enough. Just enough not to kill.
Eventually, Jugo collapsed, exhausted. His rage flickered out. His eyes—finally—cleared.
Orochimaru approached, melting the shackles around his ankles with a whisper of chakra. He slung the boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and carried him out into the sunlight.
Blinded by the sudden brightness, Jugo shielded his eyes. It had been so long.
Orochimaru dropped him under a large boulder and looked down.
"You don't need to know who I am," he said. "What matters is that I like you."
He smiled. "I'll help you control your madness. No more hiding in caves. No more chains."
He had already deduced what plagued the boy. The bloodlust wasn't innate—it was a side effect of nature energy itself, unchecked and wild.
Even if Jugo hadn't asked for help, Orochimaru would have studied him. He was too valuable not to.
Jugo hesitated, then whispered, "…Alright."
He didn't want to kill anymore. Anyone. Ever again.
Orochimaru turned to leave, but paused. "Oh, and there's going to be an earthquake soon. A disaster."
He glanced over his shoulder. "If you care about the people in the village at the mountain's base, I suggest warning them."
Jugo eyes widened. "How do you know that?"
"Does it matter?"
Orochimaru licked his lips.
"Believe me or not—it's your choice. Their lives or your silence."
Jugo said nothing.
Then, without another word, he turned and ran, barefoot, down the mountain.
"After it's over," Orochimaru called after him, "you can come back and find me."
Jugo didn't look back.
But he nodded.
---
Ryuuchi Cave.
Orochimaru, seated in meditation, opened his eyes.
Before him sat the White Snake Sage, ancient and amused.
"Now," she said, "shall we return to the real topic? How will you help me transform?"
She narrowed her eyes. Her mind was reeling—Orochimaru, her former student, had succeeded in evolving… something even she had pursued for a thousand years.
And he had done it in mere years.
Orochimaru tilted his head, eyes gleaming.
"Before I answer… indulge my curiosity. What's happening here?"
He gestured around.
Ryuuchi Cave was… different. Ghostly apparitions drifted through the air—spirits, human and animal alike. Foxes. Bulls. Translucent shapes of long-forgotten onmyoji warriors. The gloom was alive with memory.
The White Snake Sage exhaled a puff of smoke, chuckling.
"Just a little game."
She waved her pipe.
Wind surged, and all the spirits were swept before her, crumpling into little white paper cutouts.
"Shikigami," she explained. "Borrowed tricks from onmyoji, five or six hundred years ago. When yokai still walked the world."
"But the leylines dried up. The onmyoji vanished. The monsters faded."
She leaned back in her throne, voice dry. "But their echoes? Still amuse me."
Then she tossed a few worn books at him. "Take these. Read if you care to."
Orochimaru bowed slightly. "My thanks, Sage."
He handed the books off to a summoned snake. But his focus had already returned.
"Let's continue."
He recounted his experience in Loulan—detailing the surgery, the transformation, the overwhelming natural energy. Of course, he carefully edited the truth—leaving out the little white snake and the Sun's energy, replacing it with tales of a lucky encounter with wild energy.
The White Snake Sage listened, sifting for truth and lies.
But ultimately, it didn't matter.
She didn't trust Orochimaru.
She never would—unless she could see it with her own eyes, or better yet, experience the transformation herself.
She let out a slow breath, eyes narrowing.
"How much fusion fluid do you have?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow.
"Enough," he said simply. "More or less changes the speed, not the result."
"Then let's test it—" the Sage turned to the three snake princesses behind her "—on them first."
The three snake maidens instantly collapsed in terror.
"Great Sage, spare us!"
"Spare you?" she hissed. "I'm offering you immortality. I will undergo this process myself eventually. You should be honored to go first."
The youngest, Tamakihime, tearfully begged, "Please… let my sisters go first. I'm not ready."
Towards shot her a furious glare. "No! I disagree!"
She turned to Orochimaru.
"This operation is dangerous. The strong should go last, to preserve knowledge and increase success rates. Let her go first."
Her pleading eyes met his.
Orochimaru chuckled.
"Well said. The strong shouldn't be sacrifices for the weak."
That logic—right or wrong—fit perfectly in Ryuuchi Cave.
And the White Snake Sage smiled.
She believed in domination, not mercy. And if Orochimaru had survived a thousand years longer, he wouldn't have relied on force.
He'd have built a cult.
He'd have taught his followers shame and devotion, fear and love.
And in the end, they would have begged to be offered on the altar.
Willingly.
_____________________
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