The sannin didn't keep Haruma waiting long.
Five days later, he had finally finished digesting the memories of Kushina and mito and fragments from the Yamanaka and Nara clansmen. That same day, while reclining on the sofa and letting Karin practice massage techniques on him, familiarizing herself with human pressure points, his wood clone sent a sharp alert through their shared link.
The clone, hidden in the house with the byakugan and mind's eye activated, had detected a surge of powerful chakra entering Tanzaku Town.
Through its vision, Haruma immediately saw the figure, tall with a presence impossible to mistake. There was no need to check her hair colour, the overwhelming chakra and familiar figure made her identity obvious.
The granddaughter of the First Hokage. The princess of Konoha. One of the legendary Sannin, Tsunade.
At her side was another formidable presence, a jonin-level chakra that belonged to Dan Kato's niece, Tsunade's talented apprentice, Shizune.
"Tsunade is here, that means Orochimaru and Jiraiya won't be far behind." Haruma mused silently, keeping his eyes closed as Karin worked.
He didn't move immediately, instead instructing his clone to continue monitoring Tanzaku until Orochimaru showed up.
The following day, two more chakra signatures entered the town. Both were strong, and Haruma recognised them at once.
Orochimaru and Kabuto.
Stretching lazily where he lay, Haruma allowed a small smirk to tug at his lips. "The time to step into the sky has finally come."
With a flicker, his body vanished from the room, leaving only the balcony curtains whipping in the air.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru remained unaware he was being watched. After arriving, he went straight to meet Tsunade, who was drinking in a random bar at the edge of town.
Tsunade, startled by the sudden reappearance of her old teammate who had betrayed everything and everyone, nevertheless followed him and Kabuto with Shizune into a deserted alley.
Knowing his own sins could never be washed away with sentiment, Orochimaru skipped the several emotional appeals he had previously thought of using. Instead, he offered Tsunade the temptation of the Edo Tensei, the chance to see her long-lost lover and younger brother once more.
For a moment, a very small yet meaningful moment, Tsunade's heart wavered, but reason cut through.
Edo Tensei was no true resurrection, only a forbidden technique that desecrated the dead. She neither accepted nor refused, and Orochimaru, unfazed, simply left her with an address and some time to think things through.
He and Kabuto slipped out of Tanzaku after that, but as they entered a grassy field outside town, they stopped.
Not far ahead stood a lone figure cloaked in black, hood up, back turned toward them.
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes narrowed, Kabuto, however, felt an immediate, suffocating unease. His experience as a spy had made him sensitive to danger, and the chakra emanating from this figure carried not only threat, but the heavy stench of death.
The figure turned. A white mask covered his face. Unlike ANBU's animal masks, this one was featureless, pure, and smooth.
In that instant, both Orochimaru and Kabuto froze. Not of their own will, their bodies had been seized. Their surroundings warped, The clear blue sky bled into a crimson twilight, the grassy field became a lake of blood, and the air thickened with dread.
"…Itachi?" Orochimaru muttered, as black iron nails drove through his body in the illusion space.
The pain was familiar.
Sharingan. It had to be the work of Itachi himself.
After all, aside from Kakashi, the orphaned Sasuke, and Danzo, only Itachi wielded the sharingan and of those listed, only Itachi's power could overwhelm Orochimaru so effortlessly.
He assumed the masked man was Itachi who had come to warn him off of Sasuke but then the illusion shattered like glass.
Reality slammed back, and Orochimaru's eyes widened. He and Kabuto were bound by Adamantine Sealing Chains, the legendary technique of the Uzumaki clan. Gleaming silver links wrapped around their bodies, blue light pulsing as black sealing script spread across their skin. Their limbs were locked by fuinjutsu, their chakra sealed.
Chains that belonged only to the Uzumaki bloodline and the sharingan too, the power of the Uchiha.
Two legacies thought nearly extinct, both within the hands of one man.
Orochimaru's composure shattered at the revelation. "Sharingan… Adamantine Sealing Chains… limb-binding seals… Who the hell are you?!"
The masked figure ignored him. With one hand, he gripped Orochimaru's head. The other hand flew through hand seals.
"Psycho Mind Transmission."
Yin chakra surged into Orochimaru's mind, tearing into his mind and running through his memories. Haruma's sharingan spun wildly, guiding the search. In just a few moments he had found what he wanted, what he had been looking for.
Edo Tensei.
But he didn't stop there. He continued rifling through Orochimaru's memories, ignoring the sannin's futile resistance. Bound by both chains and sealing arts, Orochimaru and Kabuto could do nothing but endure his mind reading.
Haruma could have devoured Orochimaru outright, absorbing all his knowledge and power instantly, but now wasn't the time for that. To consume him too early would be a waste of potential.
No, when the time came, he would take everything from him.
For now though, he would strip Orochimaru of what he needed most.