Chapter Fifteen: The Tragic Heart of the Wind

“Who… are you people!?”
Feng Xin felt a rush of anxiety—he couldn’t help it. If there had only been the sickly-looking boy, there wouldn’t have been much to fear; he would have just seemed like a frail invalid. But when that sickly youth stood beside the other, whose mere presence radiated a sense of sinister danger, even the invalid seemed suffused with that same dark aura. Most of all, this was Hell Valley! The name alone sent chills down the spine. And the thousand attacks they had endured this past week were all too real. Under these circumstances, anyone emerging from Hell Valley could hardly be simple. “These two must be truly dangerous people,” Feng Xin thought warily, keeping Chino firmly behind him. He knew that a direct confrontation with these two could only end in disaster. He had to keep Chino, whose emotions teetered on the edge of collapse, under control.

Orochimaru was at that moment attuning himself to the newly acquired power within him. He frowned slightly; this “immortal power” had a sense of uncontrollability that displeased him. “Heh, it’s similar to natural energy,” he mused, extending his long tongue to lick his lips, a glimmer of interest appearing in his eyes.

Having returned to life, Orochimaru was now intrigued only by two kinds of power: that of the Otsutsuki clan, from whom all chakra originated, who had only ever planted a single divine tree in this world—its power manifesting as the Rinnegan; and Sage Mode, the power to harness nature energy directly through the human body. Though the processes differed, both paths led to the essence of nature energy. The immortal power he had just gained, and the force that had revived him, both seemed akin to the latter, as if they, too, allowed direct use of nature energy through the body. So far, this power seemed good for nothing but ensuring immortality.

But the nine Rashomon gates that had appeared earlier made it clear that this force was far from simple—there must be other uses for it. “Sage Mode originated with higher-order summoning beasts. Since this power is similar, perhaps they know something about it?” The mystery excited Orochimaru, who had never heard of the Rashomon legend nor knew if his speculation was correct. But the unknown always thrilled him.

As for whether there was some conspiracy or scheme behind this power—Orochimaru didn’t care. He didn’t mind if others tried to deceive or manipulate him.

Orochimaru turned to Feng Xin and Chino. At that moment, the daughter of his old friend wore a face full of fear, shock, stubborn defiance, disbelief, resentment, and shame—a maelstrom of emotions. Orochimaru could understand. Hell Valley was gone, meaning Chino’s clan had vanished. And now, with the perfectly preserved corpses emerging from the crimson hot springs, it was easy enough to imagine that some outsider, arriving in Hell Valley with a purpose, had slaughtered the entire Chinoike Clan on a whim. He and Kimimaro could easily be mistaken for such people.

He chuckled. In his previous life, Chino had known the Chinoike Clan had destroyed itself, and had projected her hatred for that tragedy onto the Uchiha Clan, her sworn enemies. In this life, by some twist of fate, he himself had become the focus of her suspicion. “And that shame—ha! She must have recognized me as the ‘sister’ who shared the hot springs with her.” He’d once transformed into a girl to bathe in the hot springs and happened to meet Chino there; it was his hint that had led her to escape the Bamboo Village early and come to Hell Valley. The wind he’d sent her way was now beginning to show its effects.

He’d never regarded that hot spring encounter as anything significant; such fragile human emotions mattered little to him. “The Blood Dragon Eye—perhaps synthesizing the Rinnegan requires its genes as well.” That was Orochimaru’s ultimate goal, though for now, it was only a hypothesis, just another piece in his complex game. This misunderstanding suited him well, for it would drive Chino to seek out the Sound Village—a favorable outcome, since she would make an excellent experimental subject for his “eye experiments.”

“Let’s go, Kimimaro,” Orochimaru said, calling to his companion and deliberately ignoring Feng Xin and Chino. The business here was finished; it was time to return to the village. The Shinobi World War was about to erupt, and he had preparations to make.

When Orochimaru and Kimimaro vanished in a blur, Feng Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had truly feared that Chino would scream and charge headlong at those two—such recklessness would have been disastrous. Even if there was a vendetta, it was better avenged in secret; an open confrontation would have been suicide.

Turning around, Feng Xin saw Chino’s face twisted with terror, shock, stubbornness, disbelief, resentment, and shame. He couldn’t help but gather her into his arms. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here,” he whispered.

But Chino was thinking of Orochimaru’s eyes—the very same eyes as the “sister” who’d shared the hot springs with her. Especially with that faint, mocking smile at the corner of Orochimaru’s lips, her feminine intuition screamed that they were one and the same! Had she really shared a hot spring… with a man? And now, as Feng Xin held her—he, too, being a man—she found herself in a man’s arms again. Her sensitivity flared; she pushed Feng Xin away, leaving him utterly bewildered.

What’s gotten into her? In the past, whenever there was trouble, she’d always let him hold her.

“I…”

Confronted by Feng Xin’s confused and puzzled expression, Chino had no idea how to explain. The more she thought about it, the more flustered and angry she became, until at last she turned her irritation on Feng Xin. With a huff, she spun on her heel and stormed off, leaving Feng Xin scratching his head in confusion.

…

Meanwhile, Orochimaru and Kimimaro were making their way toward the Sound Village. As they passed through a forest, they stopped. Kimimaro glanced at Orochimaru, awaiting instructions.

“Wait here a moment. I must visit Ryuchi Cave,” Orochimaru said. His summoning beasts—the snakes—were among the highest-ranking of all summoning creatures. He needed to ask them about Rashomon. With Chino and Feng Xin present earlier, it had been inconvenient to act, but now the time was right.

“Yes,” Kimimaro replied, expressionless, perching on a nearby branch.

With a bang, Orochimaru activated the Reverse Summoning Technique.

…

At that moment in Ryuchi Cave, a crisis had erupted. In fact, chaos had reigned there for a week. Countless snakes had been summoned and slaughtered, never even making it back to the cave. This amounted to a massacre.

A gigantic green serpent raised its head and spoke in human tongue: “It’s confirmed—the human named Orochimaru, who formed a contract with us, is the one responsible!”

A massive blue serpent lifted its head and said, “We’ve lost over two thousand of our offspring!”

A colossal brown snake followed suit: “And this Yamata-no-Orochi—he, too, is the result of that human’s actions!”

Each of these monstrous snakes stretched over a hundred meters long, faces twisted into terrifying visages. Yet all three behaved like subordinates, reporting to the enormous white serpent coiled on the throne.

Atop the dais, the massive white serpent was toying with a young eight-headed, eight-tailed snake. The fierce little serpent tried in vain to bite through the white serpent’s scales, but could do no harm. It looked for all the world like a snake child putting on a show of bravado for an elder.