"Chiyo... Ebizo you came along too...fufufu" A low, cold laugh escaped Orochimaru as he stared at his two captives.
Ebizo let out a quiet sigh. 'Once captured, we lost everything.' Falling into Orochimaru's hands... they wouldn't be leaving the Land of Fire without paying a heavy price.
He paused, then added with another sigh, "Don't bother trying the Yamanaka clan's techniques on us. We have seals in our minds that will activate the moment you touch a village secret."
"Oh?" Orochimaru watched them with amusement. He chuckled. "No matter. You're still valuable for now. We can deal with you properly once Sunagakure decides not to surrender."
"I don't know who killed Danzo, but they made a terrible miscalculation," Ebizo said, his voice heavy. "With him gone... your village is stronger than ever."
It was a truth he had only fully grasped after arriving at the camp and seeing so many Uchiha. Danzo had been the one relentlessly suppressing them, and with him out of the picture, the Third Hokage's resolve seemed to have softened. The man's existence had created uncertainty for everyone.
A sinister smile touched Orochimaru's lips. He didn't disagree. He had never expected Danzo's death, but the outcome was a victory on all fronts. He had gained control of Root, the Uchiha had lowered their guard enough to be integrated, and Konoha was finally united. 'A perfect outcome and all it took was a life of a sewer rat dreaming of becoming a lion,' he thought.
As for who had killed Danzo... even if the trail wasn't cold, Orochimaru had no interest in pursuing it. Anyone who could kill Danzo and vanish that quickly possessed a terrifying level of speed and strength.
'Time to go... hmm, perhaps I'll wait a moment longer.' Orochimaru had been about to leave, but he paused, sensing a familiar and formidable presence nearby.
A moment later, Tsunade swept the tent flap aside. She entered with a white cat cradled in one arm, her every step radiating an imposing strength.
"Well, look at this," she said, her eyes landing on Ebizo. "I thought you were only after Chiyo. How did you end up with her brother, too? Takeshi never tells me anything!" Tsunade crouched down, peering at him. "You've gotten old." The last time she had seen him on the battlefield, he had looked much younger.
"I've heard that one before," Ebizo said, his tone flat. "You don't need to say it every time we meet."
'Must you keep remining me that I was practically delivered to you? I have some dignity left, you know.' He felt a deep sense of despair, but he refused to let it show on his face. Instead, he affected an air of nonchalance, as if this prison were his own home. It was the only way to maintain his composure.
But Tsunade was here to provoke him, and she held nothing back. "What's the point of grabbing him? If he'd stayed in Suna, they might have surrendered sooner. Now that he's here, Rasa is the only one in charge, isn't he?"
Her dismissal was blatant. Capturing Chiyo was part of the plan, but taking them both was counterproductive.
Orochimaru only smiled. "He's already here, so it hardly matters. If it becomes a problem, we can always send him back."
'These damn Konoha bastards,' Ebizo cursed inwardly. 'Every last one of them. Once I'm free, I'll kill you all.'
But it was just a thought. Konoha was simply too strong. Even if he returned, he would likely be forced into retirement, his influence gone. Saying anything now would only make him look pathetic.
"Where's Chiyo?" Tsunade called out, craning her neck to see deeper into the tent. "Old friend, aren't you going to say hello? Were your puppets damaged? I remember how proud you were of your Ten Chikamatsu Puppets. How many did he break? That cat learned my techniques, so I doubt he showed any restraint."
Chiyo, who had been pretending to be asleep, felt a sharp pang in her chest. How many were broken? She couldn't even remember. Three, maybe five. Three of them were damaged so badly that even she couldn't restore them to their former glory.
'That hateful black cat and Tsunade!' Her heart ached, but to show it would only give Tsunade the satisfaction she was looking for. So Chiyo remained silent. What was there to say? When you've lost, anything you say is wrong.
"It's a shame Ebizo came along," Tsunade mused aloud, as if speaking to herself. "Otherwise, Suna might have considered surrender. Now... Rasa is young and impulsive, desperate to prove himself. He's probably about to do something foolish."
The Sannin were veterans. They had not fought Rasa many times, but they understood the minds of young men eager for power. He wouldn't give up until he had been thoroughly broken.
Chiyo and Ebizo said nothing. They knew she was right, but what could they do?
Orochimaru said suddenly. "Ebizo, how about we let you go back?"
Ebizo shot him a sideways glance before retreating into the corner and feigning sleep again.
'That scheming snake,' Ebizo thought. 'He's truly wicked.' If he returned now, he would be branded a traitor, no matter how the war ended.
"Let me know if you change your mind," Orochimaru said with a smile.
The two Sannin left, leaving the siblings to sit in the suffocating silence of their makeshift prison. Chiyo wanted to lash out at her brother, but she knew he had only acted out of anxiety for her sake, so she bit her tongue.
Ebizo wanted to apologize, but his mind was already caught in the trap Orochimaru had set. Should he return, reputation in tatters, and try to help his village? Or should he stay here and see this through to the end? It was a vicious choice.
--**--**
The next day, Takeshi woke with the sun.
It wasn't that he couldn't sleep, in a quiet place, he could sleep all day. But a military camp was never quiet. Long before dawn, shinobi were already running drills and changing shifts. Tucked inside his sleeping bag, the muffled thud of footsteps on the ground was perfectly clear to his feline ears.
After some thought, the black cat decided to get some fresh air and do a little training. He had to put on a convincing show, after all. He couldn't just suddenly manifest a perfected Sage Art: Gate of the Great God, that wouldn't make sense. He needed to make it look like he was still developing it.
Konoha was on high alert. Orochimaru and Tsunade both predicted another attack from Sunagakure, so reconnaissance missions were more frequent than ever. People were constantly coming and going.
Takeshi found a spot at the edge of the camp and began to practice. He entered Sage Mode and deployed a small-scale Gate of the Great God, his target a passing rabbit. The jutsu was small and the target weak, so it consumed very little chakra.
But the key wasn't the rabbit, it was the gate itself. He was working on a small modification. He couldn't alter the jutsu's core function, but he could change its appearance, adding carvings that resembled black cloth to the torii, making it look more like a gate to a graveyard. If he really wanted to be dramatic, he could probably add an inscription like 'Tomb of [victim's name]' above it. The effect was wonderfully macabre.
After a few practice runs, he spotted some familiar figures leaving the main camp. Orochimaru and Tsunade were escorting someone out. It was Ebizo.
'What, are they really sending him back?' Takeshi's curiosity was piqued, and he followed them.
Orochimaru noticed him almost immediately. He stopped and turned, watching the cat approach with an interested expression.
"Meow~ Leaving so soon, Ebizo?" Ebizo didn't know what the cat wanted, so he just stood there silently.
"We're sending this nuisance back where he can cause trouble for his own village," Tsunade said, her tone sharp. "Keeping him here just means one more mouth to feed."
"Ebizo is returning as a gesture of Konoha's friendship," Orochimaru added smoothly. "Do you have any parting words for him, Takeshi-kun? If not, we should escort him past the border. We wouldn't want him getting lost on the way home."
"Meow~ What's there to say..." Takeshi paused, looking at Ebizo earnestly. "Just one thing: don't come chasing me for no reason anymore. It's pointless, isn't it? You can't beat me anyway."
His encounter with Ebizo had been brief, but the man and his subordinates had provided him with a generous amount of points for very little effort. All things considered, he was grateful for the contribution.
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