The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, #TheMadSageOfUzushio , A Naruto Fan Fiction, Chapter 26: The Trial Of Orochimaru Under The Judgement Of The Dragon King
The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, #TheMadSageOfUzushio , A Naruto Fan Fiction, Chapter 26: The Trial Of Orochimaru Under The Judgement Of The Dragon King
Chapter 26:
The Trial Of Orochimaru
Under The Judgement Of The Dragon King
The Raikame speeds its way through space to complete the mission of Shintaro’s ‘three hour tour’ to retrieve the blood treasury of Uzu. On the deck, Yuntaro, Jugo, Sarada, and Chocho play Jugo’s therapy music for Matsuri, as Shinki continues to hold her while she shakes. Gara watches them expressionless, as the sand from the gourd strapped to his side floats and whirls around him in agitation. Gara’s sister Temari stands next to her brother, distraught at the revelation of Matsuri’s condition after having disappeared so long ago. Naruto’s training clone stays maskless to have a face to face with the new ‘Neji’, now Otsutsuki Maruduku. Uzumaki Himawari gazes with wide eyed curiosity at the reincarnation of the Uncle Neji that her mother always told her about, with the fixation being suddenly mutual, as her mother and father both take notice.
Uzumaki Himawari:
What are those things you’re wearing over your eyes?… What are you hiding?…
Otsutsuki Maruduku:
I’m not hiding anything!… These are scientific laboratory observation and protection goggles… Really there just a poor replacement for my old Byakugan… In this life my natural eyes are quite different…
Maruduku removes his goggles to reveal a pair of purple Rinnegan.
Otsutsuki Maruduku:
Inarguabley my new eyes are far more powerful than my old set… But I’m so used to it… I still miss the old ones… I know I shouldn’t… My father is always lecturing me about that… about moving on…
Uzumaki Himawari:
Can I try them?!?…
Otsutsuki Maruduku:
Hai… You can have them… I have dozens… They’re standard laboratory equipment in the empire…
Uzumaki Himawari:
Domo!…
Maruduku gives her his goggles, and begins to instruct her as to it’s features and uses, as Naruto’s main body has a partial conference elsewhere among the available kage and ex kage. With Gara diverted by personal concerns, his brother Kankuro stands in his place. The available kage and ex kage all take turns grilling Shintaro and Shikamaru on their choices involving them with the flotilla and the imperial family before they were ready.
Uzumaki Shintaro:
All in all I still think it went pretty well…
Kurotsuchi, Tsuchikage:
With all due respect boytoy… we created a cosmic celestial incident just by showing up… And your son personally launched a blood feud with a member of the imperial family… How is that… going ‘pretty well’?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
We accomplished a lot with that trip to the flotilla… There can be no open conflict with the empire… The Demon Hunter Guild provides some wiggle room within which to operate… especially for some members of my own family… Another means of buying time… unfortunately… is playing the game of empire… the game of dynasty… But only those who are the direct descendants of the emperor can play that game for us… and that is no easy game to play… And it is certainly not my desire to play it!… But it wasn’t my idea…
Darui, Raikage:
Who’s idea was it?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Believe it or not… the ghost of Uchiha Madara… But he had grander ambitions of taking over the empire…… Regardless… we need to play that game just to buy time till we figure something else out at a minimum… But we can’t necessarily make them go along with that… especially given the cost they’ve already paid…
Akimichi Karui:
We all talked it over with Shikamaru and Naruto… As much as I hated the idea… I knew that it was necessary… And I’m glad that I did!… That one shot on Enrio’s head after all these years makes it all worth it!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
I’m glad that you enjoyed your return to the flotilla… But I would have preferred putting off the family reunion a little longer… It was not my intention for my own children to start a family feud with the imperial family…
Akimichi Karui:
Too late!… That feud’s been on since before I was born!… Baca sennin!..
Uchiha Sasuke:
It was a bit messy… But it was very revealing… Enkio was downright cordial and civilized compared to Enrio… But he’s the real threat long term… That much was obvious… But we took him by surprise though… Did you see his reaction to the successful performance of the Fade to Black Seal against Enrio?… by Sarada and the others?…
Nara Shikamaru:
At a minimum they’re taking us more seriously now… which is something of a double edge sword… one among a few that we’re unavoidably juggling right now… Enkio seems to respect and trust us well enough to let us take Maruduku… But he could just be overconfident… He didn’t exactly hide the fact that we were doing exactly what he wants us to…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Enkio almost never attacks or fights directly himself… He’s capable of it… But he feels that’s a failure of strategy that’s beneath him… as the so called god of science and wisdom… as well as mischief… Enrio’s behavior is all too predictable… And even the emperor has little patience for it… But Enkio handed us something of a soft ultimatum… by giving his regards to Kaguyasama… and suggesting that Maruduku may wish to talk with her… If this doesn’t happen… it then begs the question why… Which means he already knows why… And that he wants to nudge… if not force the issue… We may have to unseal Kaguya now…
Uchiha Sakura:
Unseal Kaguya!?!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Hai… And not only do we have to unseal her… we have to be very careful how we go about it… Enkio’s confidence and trust… suggest more confidence in his own treachery… than trust or respect for us… There is no way he would trust us with his son after having effectively lost one of his own jinn to us… unless he already had other agents in place… and not just jinn… but I suspect my little brother Toshiro as well…
Kurotsuchi, Tsuchikage:
If Toshiro is involved with the empire… then making peace and reconciling with Toshiro… might help us with the empire…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
I can’t afford to be that optimistic… not without knowing what really happened to him… when I thought he was dead after the fall of Uzushio…
Senju Tsunade:
What did happen to him?… Besides fathering two children with the Fifth Mizukage…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Two children?… with a woman from Blood Mist Village?… Sumimasen… But that’s how Toshiro would have referred to it… back when I still knew who he was…
Terumi Mei, Fifth Mizukage:
That’s how he referred to it when he spit in my face… And his mouth was full of blood at the time so it had a very dramatic effect when he did…
Misuno:
Meisama!…
Terumi Mei:
You can call me mama now!… Misunochan!… These two are mine and Toshiro’s… Her and the current mizukage were fraternal twins… I know what happened to Toshiro at the fall of Uzushio… Because I was there… I happened to him… I captured him… for my mizukage…
Senju Tsunade:
That’s an awfully affectionate tone… a tone of devotion…
Terumi Mei:
I was an enthusiastic zealot back then… I was part of what made the Blood Mist bloody… Our mizukage at the time was under the control of Uchiha Madara… or so we’ve pieced together after the fact… because we didn’t know this at the time… The Fourth Mizukage ordered us to conduct a fast and deep penetration raid of Uzushio… which didn’t arouse suspicion except for the fact that it seemed like a suicide mission… But everyone the mizukage involved in it didn’t care as long as they got to attack a hated rival anyway… myself included… It was just the mizukage… me… Ao… And the Seven Swordsmen Hidden in the Mist… plus a rogue ninja from Suna… on loan from the Akatsuki… a little known mercenary band at the time… It was Sasori of the Red Sand… Sasori helped us plow our way forward with his army of puppets… Then we penetrated through to Uzushio in order to place some seal on the ground in the center of Uzushio… The Fourth Mizukage himself placed the seal… from some mysterious scroll he had… Then he ran as hordes of demons began to spew out from the portal opened by the mizukage… Then he ordered us to run… and to capture any valuable targets for potential interrogation about Uzumaki Clan secrets on the way out… It was beyond shocking what unfolded… even by Blood Mist standards… That was what started to open up my eyes about the mizukage and the Blood Mist village… for me… Ao… and most of the swordsmen who were involved… That’s what made us investigate the mizukage to begin with… But it took a while to discover the truth… and longer to expose it…
Senju Tsunade:
How long did it take?… Long enough for children?…
Shizune:
Tsunadesama!…
Senju Tsunade:
That’s mamasama to you!…
Terumi Mei:
I captured Toshiro… catching him by surprise as I was running in terror from an evil that I had no understanding of… And he was running blind towards the source of the demon hoards… blinded by terror of what was happening in his absence… It doesn’t excuse anything… but I probably saved his life by capturing him…
Chojuro, Mizukage:
I’m guessing that father wasn’t grateful…
Terumi Mei:
Hai… He wasn’t… But the mizukage was… And so was I… until I watched the mizukage gauge out his eyes in front of me as the mizukage made me watch… It may sound superficial… but I always thought that Toshiro was a rather attractive enemy...
Misuno:
Mama!…
Terumi Mei:
He was… We’d had run ins in the past… I may have entertained fantasies… But to see that brutally and gratuitously ruined in front of me while the mizukage lectured me… He kept explaining how the special Uzumaki Clan insight was enhanced by blindness… as compensation… And that we were doing Toshiro a favor… to compensate him for his losses… It was all too much… And I was responsible for it… So I took responsibility for Toshiro’s care… And we grew close… Some time before things could change well enough for me to arrange for his freedom… he escaped… without learning anything about my pregnancy… I didn’t even know that Toshiro was still alive till he showed up attacking Konoha…
Misuno:
You never saw or heard from him again?…
Terumi Mei:
Iie… I went looking for him… I had to take a sabbatical for my pregnancy… for the sake of discretion… And I was hoping that Toshiro might return home… So I left for Uzushio… And I had my children among the ruins of Uzushio with my mother’s assistance… I waited for as long as I could there… But Kiri was in turmoil… The exposure of the compromise of the mizukage brought a lot of things to a head by force… And almost no one had enough clout to take the helm and chart a new course… I was a hero of the village in the old order… and I was part of what brought down that order when it became compromised… I was the only real option at the time… I couldn’t go looking for Toshiro… because the Blood Mist Village had to die… and be reborn… for the sake of Kiri… as well as for Toshiro… and my children… But that was a long time ago… And apparently Toshiro has been very quiet and very busy in all that time… or very absent… possibly not even on the planet… given the involvement of demon portals…
Senju Tsunade:
Toshiro didn’t just drop off a manifesto when he attacked Konoha… He delivered an invitation… All family are welcome in Uzushio he said… And he laid down personal challenges to Shintaro and Naruto by name… for the leadership of the clan… I don’t know how serious he is about that… or if it’s part of some other subterfuge… But we may have to take him up on that just to find out what happened to him… and what’s happening in Uzushio…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
I can’t focus on my brother right now… As it is… We’ve left the botanical maze in a bit of a demonic mess… Gamarasama will be even more furious with me than usual… And we will still need to create a stable portal for our planet to access the flotilla… if not multiple such portals for the alliance… That will be required for any ongoing regular operations in the flotilla… And that is a key battlefield against the empire… even though it’s a neutral zone with respect to the Great Celestial War…
Nara Shikamaru:
That’s why it’s crucial… and not just for us in the shinobi alliance… It will be crucial for every ninja village on our planet… We going to have to call a wider summit when we get back… among other things…
Uchiha Sasuke:
For now… we can start with the botanical maze… It’s a popular attraction in the flotilla… But it’s also an ongoing problem thanks to demons… If we solve that problem and secure the maze for the public… we can take credit for that… and have a base of operations within the flotilla… along with a reason for our presence… We can even expand the maze… and modify it more to our liking… to secure and hide whatever we want…
Uzumaki Naruto:
The village hidden in the botanical maze… Maze Village!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
You can send a party back to the flotilla to handle the rest… after we fetch the Blood Treasury of Uzu from the archive world of the dragon king… I established a portal there connecting it to my design school office… That planet was where I raised Karui… where Karui and Yukai were born… I was given safe haven there for my family… in exchange for creating the flotilla and managing the archives for the dragon king as his head librarian… That is where the treasure is safely stored… But Orochimaru and I also have business with the dragon king… And many of you may wish to attend…
Akimichi Karui:
Here we go again…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Does Orochimaru know what this business is?… Are we allowed to know?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
All will be revealed in the presence of the dragon king…
Akimichi Karui:
Hah!… That sounds familiar!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Hush Karui!…
Elsewhere, deeper in the hold of the Raikame, Orochimaru, Mitsuki, and Karin have a private conference, under the watchful view of Yamato and his surveillance detail, watching from the entrance way to the hold.
Orochimaru:
Still no transformation?… We are beset by mad gods my boy… You can’t afford to keep holding back on my account…
Uzumaki Karin:
Why is he holding back exactly?…
Mitsuki:
Because it’s something that I can’t control when I let it out… So I can’t let it out… Because it attacks the people that I care about…
Uzumaki Karin:
Really?… People you care about?…
Orochimaru:
Iie… Just me really… I can’t say that I haven’t earned it… Perhaps the Buckethead Spirit senses that… and reacts badly to it… Legend has it that the Buckethead Spirit is as much an agent of karma… as he is an agent of chaos… You will have to face it sooner or later… for multiple reasons… It’s a part of you now… And you will never master it if you are afraid to use it for my sake…
Uzumaki Karin:
Jugo seems to be managing his condition well enough using music… Seems to have forgotten all about me though…
Orochimaru:
If you want him to pay more attention to you… then maybe you should tell him about your condition… instead of pretending not to care…
Uzumaki Karin:
Maybe you should show more interest in what that mad magician has in store for you… instead of pretending that you don’t care…
Orochimaru:
I care… I can’t wait to find out… Omoshiroi…
Back on deck, Yodo and Arraya hang out with Shikadai in his fox form, and Inojin in his ink form. They compare notes and exchange small talk while their teammates are busy with Matsuri.
Yodo:
Nice tunic… foxy… Are you gonna stay that way the whole trip now?…
Shadow Fox Shikadai:
Iie… I just don’t know what to expect… And too much clothing makes me hot and itchy in this form…
Yodo:
That’s a shame… But it suits you… like a living walking talking plushie!…
Arraya:
He’s… He’s not a plushie!… He’s Garasama’s nephew!…
Yodo:
And he’s the only one Arraya?… Don’t make me tell conspiracy theories out of Suna… Don’t you think that Garasama’s personal family ghost story is enough to deal with at the moment?…
Ink Form Inojin:
Conspiracy theories?… Wicked!… What kind of conspiracy theories?…
Arraya:
Please Yodo!…
Fox Form Shikadai:
Yeah Yodo… Please… What kind of conspiracy theories?…
Yodo:
Only the worst kept secret in all of Suna… a family secret… You see… while the adults were all wondering about the mystery of Shinki’s mother… since he definitely wasn’t one of Temari’s… his mother just had to have been some acquaintance of Garasama’s or Kankurosensei’s… Therefore... he just had to belong to some ex-girlfriend of Gara’s… of which there was only one… Since everyone knows that Kankurosensei doesn’t socialize… But the reason that everyone knows that Kankurosensei doesn’t socialize… which nobody ever mentions… is because he has a not-so-secret wife!… Who would have been secret… except that she’s a bit of a blabber mouth… Isn’t that right Arraya?…
Arraya:
Hai… Mom can be a bit of a blabber… She’s a powerful medical shinobi!… a powerhouse walking talking chakra battery!… and a strong sensory type!… But she’s a bit too sensitive… She gets confused… forgets to keep secrets… Mom was Matsuri’s best friend during the war… After the war… mom and dad hooked up… Dad wanted to marry her in secret to protect her… being the consummate diehard professional… But she couldn’t stick to that plan… But don’t tell her that… She always forgets when she’s pregnant… She blabbed right out the gate when she had me… then again when she had my little sister… And now she can’t stop talking about dad’s new child on the way…
Fox Form Shikadai:
Except for the pregnant medical shinobi part… cousin Arraya… that sounds like our hokage… Are you sure that your mother isn’t part Uzumaki?…
Arraya:
Who knows… There’s a lot of that in Suna… A lot of Uzumaki refugees fled to Suna after the fall of Uzushio… then changed their names to hide from what they fled… like they were marked…
Elsewhere on deck, a now human form Boruto and Sumirei brief one of Sasuke’s shadow clones about the Otsutsuki Momoshiki situation.
Uchiha Sasuke Clone:
He would eventually take over?… He actually said that?…
Uzumaki Boruto:
Hai… He said that he has been doing so this whole time… Whenever I use my clones… he takes one of them over while I’m too busy to notice… So now I can’t use my shadow clones anymore…
Uchiha Sasuke Clone:
From the sound of it… that’s not going to stop him… but only slow him down… And he says that he’s in love with Sumirei?…
Uzumaki Boruto:
Hai… And he hates me for that too… like he’s jealous or something… on top of just being vengeful… as if vengeance weren’t enough for him… He thinks Sumirei likes me… so he has to go after Sumirei… It’s more petty possessiveness than love…
Kakei Sumirei:
Is it Boruto?… Are you sure?… He seemed rather sincere… He did save me… And he exposed himself to do it!…
Uchiha Sasuke Clone:
You should be grateful for that one quirk… Without that love… you might never have known about him until it was too late… But he revealed himself for the sake of that love… But for the time being… your right… no clones… unless I say otherwise… under my conditions… And I have a mission in mind for you and Sumirei when this latest saga is over… I’ll explain it to Naruto myself… The stone toad gave me an idea… an idea born of prophecy…
Kakei Sumerei:
The stuff dreams are made of… and vice versa…
Uchiha Sasuke Clone:
Let me talk this over with Naruto and Shintaro discretely… No more talk of this to anyone… not even Sarada till further notice… I’ll talk to her myself about this…
Boruto/Sumirei:
Hai…
Sasuke’s shadow clone goes poof and disperses, allowing Sasuke to assimilate its memories of the conversation with Boruto and Sumirei. Then Sasuke taps Naruto on the shoulder and asks Naruto, Sakura, and Shintaro for a private side bar while the others grill Shikamaru fruitlessly for clues about where he sees everything going from here. After several minutes of fruitless grilling, Yukai calls out from the pilot house to the entire ship.
Uzumaki Yukai:
We’re here!… Welcome to the Archive World of the Dragonoid Protectorate… home world of the Archives of the Dragon King Watatsumi!…
The procession of colored streaks against a pink hued backdrop stops in a bright purple flash that reveals a sprawling civilization beneath the Raikame. Karui rushes to the side of the ship and leans over the railing to take in the familiar sights. She is joined at the railing likewise by everyone else on deck, and then by her daughter Chocho, Sarada, and the others after they temporarily stop treating Matsuri to take in the sights themselves.
The sprawling complex appears to consist of an endless series of fortified monasteries and castle watch towers, each with their own colorful banners and crests. The Raikame cruises through the archive world’s pink sky, with a golden ringed green gas giant occupying much of the sky above it, as Karui begins to tear up slightly. The Raikame manages to reach the end of the sprawl, as Yukai lowers the Raikame to rest on the surface of a large lake near the edge of the fortified complex, surrounded by a large forest region, with a small, isolated cottage by a meadow nearby.
Karui wipes her tears away as they settle upon the water and tries to act cool and nonchalant in front of her daughter, failing to do so as her daughter grins at her. The Raikame lowers anchor near the shore of the lake. Then Karui pulls out her flute from her kimono as Chocho breaks the silence.
Akimichi Chocho:
Is this really… your home?… mama?… It’s pretty…
Akimichi Karui:
Ai Chocho… It is pretty… But my home is with you and your father… This is just my old home… But even an old home is no home at all… without old friends…
Karui raises her flute to her lips and begins to play. Various birds and other less familiar flying creatures are stirred by the music and take off into the air from the surrounding trees along the shore of the lake. After a little while Karui gives up on her song and lowers her flute in mild frustration.
Akimichi Karui:
I should have known better than to think that she would just happen to be here… after all this time…
Akimichi Chocho:
Who mama?…
A voice seems to emanate from the water beneath the ship, sounding like whale song with a human woman’s voice.
Watery Woman’s Voice:
Oh… I’m still here… Your father told me that you’d be coming for a visit… You didn’t think that I would miss the chance to see you again… did you?… I’ll try not to be offended…
Akimichi Karui:
Amachan!?!…
Akimichi Chocho:
Amachan?…
A large white scaled dragon’s head emerges from the center of the lake, with red eyes, a white mane down it’s back, and two white gazelle horns on the top of its head, in between two large white fur covered ears.
Akimichi Karui:
Amachan!… You’ve gotten bigger!…
Amachan:
So have you…
Amachan’s body stirs beneath the waters of the lake and rocks the Raikame a little on the surface of the water. The dragon begins to emerge completely from the water, as it slowly slides its body out of the water trying to make a minimum of disturbance to the ship. Then the dragon shrinks down to the size of an Anaconda, and flies over to the deck of the Raikame, and coils itself around Karui, as Chocho and Choji look on in startled terror at the apparent sudden attack. But Karui just giggles and holds and rubs the dragons head against her own.
Akimichi Chocho:
Mama!?!…
Akimichi Karui:
Chocho… Choji… This is my best friend ever!… on any planet!… The dragon princess Amaterasu… the daughter of the dragon king Watatsumi… We grew up here together!…
Akimichi Choji:
It’s an honor to meet you… your majesty…
Akimichi Chocho:
Amaterasu?… Like the jutsu?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
The name Amaterasu was also the name of a sun goddess on Terra Alpha… from before the time of the Otsutsuki…
Amaterasu:
My father named me for an old friend of his… a human woman… who was a sage of Terra Alpha… Are you back for good now?…
Akimichi Karui:
Iie Amachan… My home is elsewhere now… with my family… This is my husband Akimichi Choji… and this is our daughter Chocho… And where we live now is a part of the empire… So you can’t visit… at least not openly… But I can still visit you… And I promise I will now… as soon as I can master these crazy eyes of mine…
Amaterasu:
I’ll hold you to that promise now!… Don’t be stranger anymore!…
Akimichi Karui:
Hai Amachan… Hai…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
If you’ll all follow me… we can fetch the Blood Treasury momentarily… before we have our audience with the dragon king…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Do we need a library card for that?… grandpa librarian?… Or are we trading Orochimaru’s hide for it?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
No need for a trade… or a library card… I didn’t actually keep the Blood Treasury in the archives… They have a bit of an inventory logging and tracking problem at the moment… one that they’ve had for the past four thousand years… give or take a few centuries… It’s one that’s currently in the process of being sorted under my supervision… So… I’ve kept the Blood Treasury out of it… and close to home for safe keeping…
Akimichi Karui:
Close to home?…
Without responding, Shintaro leaps off the deck of the Raikame, and onto the nearby shore, then beckons everyone to follow. Amaterasu shrinks down to the size of a small garden snake and coils itself into a perch on Karui’s shoulder. Then they all begin to leap over to the shore and follow Shintaro. Gara and Shinki help Matsuri over, while Yamato and his security detail escort Orochimaru. The group makes its way through the surrounding woods following Shintaro until they come to a small cottage by a clearing with a meadow of flowers, and with a small pond in the back of the cottage.
Karui grows increasingly tense and remains silent as she approaches her childhood home. But Yukai remains fairly nonchalant having fewer memories to stir. Shintaro walks up to the side of their old cottage and performs a quick sequence of hand seals. Then he places his hands upon the side of the cottage, and the entire cottage explodes and disappears in swirl of swirling multicolored flowers, as Karui watches in startled horror at the disappearance of her childhood home. The swirling mass of flowers converge and coalesce into a small scroll with a red twine binding it, floating in midair in front of Shintaro, before Shintaro grabs it.
Akimichi Karui:
Our home!?!… The treasure was our home?!?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Of course it was… in more ways than one… It was created as a disguise for the treasure that would also provide shelter… since it would always be close at hand that way… Sumimasen daughter… I did not mean to disturb childhood trauma…
Akimichi Karui:
Oh… You didn’t… I just wasn’t expecting it to be gone at some point… I might have wanted to look around inside once more before you just wiped it out of existence forever though!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Sumimasen… I just didn’t want to prolong matters and risk stirring up additional unnecessary trauma…
Akimichi Karui:
It’s fine… I’m not traumatized…
Amaterasu:
What about my trauma?!?… That cottage has been here for a long as either one of us has been alive!… It was all I had to remember you with!… And now it’s gone!…
Akimichi Karui:
Oh… It’s okay Amachan… You can come home with me for a while if you like…
Amaterasu:
I thought I couldn’t visit you there… because it’s enemy territory or something…
Akimichi Karui:
It is… So we’ll just have to keep it a secret… I’m sure Otsutsuki Marudukusama won’t mind… Will he?…
Otsutsuki Maruduku:
I’m just a royal hostage here… But it’s nice to meet you… even for an enemy… If anything… I’m the one who’s not supposed to be here… If you don’t tell anyone about me… then I won’t tell anyone about you… Deal?…
Amaterasu:
Deal!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Now that we have an accord… we really must be moving along… The others will be waiting for us outside the gates of the administration tower…
Uchiha Sasuke:
The ‘others’?… What others?...
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Enough questions… We really must be going… And we are really very late… very very late…
Shintaro shrugs off his grandson’s questioning, and he leads them all along a path through the forest to a large gate at the edge of the sprawling fortified complex. On their way to the gate, numerous reptilian creatures of approximately humanoid shape gather, and greet them to gawk and wave at them along the way. They range in size from that of a small human toddler, to that of twice the size for a human adult male. Their skins range from being snake like and smooth, to being thick and rough like natural body armor. Some even have natural turtle shell like armor plating over parts of their bodies. They widely range in skin coloration with various bright multicolored patterns, solid colors, and grayish hues.
They exhibit wildly varied facial features from smooth scales and human like proportions, and fully alligator like snouts and jaws. Some have human like facial hair of various colors. While others have feathered plumage of various patterns in terms of physical placement and color, like feathered eyebrows, goatees, and mohawks. Assorted combinations of horns, spikes, and fins also makes appearances, along with grinning fangs, gaping beaks, and waving talons, with various snake tongues flicking in excitement as they wave.
They are adorned in clothing that ranges from bright colored loincloth diapers, various elaborately colored robes, and plain sets of armor. There are even a few individuals with nothing but potato sack loincloths and basic spears. Many of the smaller reptilians seem to be carrying wooden practice weapons like they were toys. In spite of all the excitement, the reptilians all remain silent except for an excited low level hissing sound that passes through the growing crowds, as Shintaro silently leads the expedition through the gate, nodding to the crowds as the he does so.
A large six level cylindrical pagoda presides over the center of a courtyard just inside the gate, with panoramic balconies at every level above ground. Numerous and varied banners and ribbons decorate every inch of it with bright multicolored patterns and crests. Further ribbons and banners are attached and hanging from streamers strung from the pagoda roof and balconies to the surrounding walls and watch towers around the courtyard. Ranks of armed and armored reptilians stand to greet them in formation outside the gates, and in the courtyard surrounding the pagoda, along with various robed reptilians.
As they pass through the gate and enter the courtyard, Orochimaru and a few of the others recognize a familiar face among the reptilians, a mostly human looking man in the robes of an orphanage manager, with spiky gray hair, white snakeskin, and yellow snake eyes behind round rimmed glasses. He also has four short dragon’s horns, two on each side of his head, with one of them partial sliced off on one side. He is accompanied by some young human teens in black robes, with chalk white skin and hair, and with red and black Mangekyo Sharingans for eyes. Next to them is another adult male human figure in a black hooded cloak with the hood up.
Orochimaru:
Kabuto!?!… What are you doing here?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Kabuto?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
I brought him here… him and a few of his young orphaned acolytes… I believe some of you have met the Shin clan?… something of a collateral side effect of Orochimaru’s handiwork… Yakushi Kabuto has been teaching them medical ninjutsu at the orphanage to give them something to focus their energies and powers on… in particular their Mangekyo Sharingan… without necessarily becoming weapons of shinobi… not unless they want to be… I approached Kabuto some time ago about an offer to allow them to work and study here… if he approves… I also wanted him here to lend personal testimony to the proceedings… and not just him…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Testimony?… With what proceedings?…
Yakushi Kabuto:
A trial by dragon fire… under the judgement of no less than the dragon king Watatsumi himself…
Orochimaru:
A trial!?!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
More like an extra intense job interview… with your life at stake… Like a line from an old pre-Otsutsuki movie I found in the archives… the dragon king and I are making Orochimaru a job offer that he can’t refuse… for his own sake… He is going to be my replacement here as head librarian for the dragon king… dragon king permitting… Otherwise… this may be the final end… for Orochimarusama…
On this ominous note, Shintaro performs a quick sequence of hand seals, causing his hands to begin to emit an electric purple glow. Before anyone can react or discern his plan or intent, Shintaro jumps Orochimaru, and grabs his head with both glowing hands. The glow is transferred to Orochimaru’s body as Shintaro lets go. Then numerous purple lightning strikes arc out from nowhere and hit Orochimaru from everywhere, including from his own son Mitsuki’s chest, and from the chest of the adult human stranger in the black hood and cloak accompanying Kabuto and the others. After the purple flashes stop, everyone stands in awe, speechless and shocked as a staggering Orochimaru begins to speak.
Orochimaru:
What?!?… What have you done to me?!?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Nothing too severe… It’s just one additional small increment towards justice for you… I created a special seal just for you… with your special curse marks in mind… With those curse marks that you used to use in place of mastering the senjutsu of Ryuchi Cave properly… they now only serve to resurrect and propagate your own unnatural existence at the expense of others… You have turned yourself into nothing but a glorified demon of your own making… just another parasite… As a sworn member of Demon Order of Uzushio… That is something that I simply cannot abide… Fortunately for both you and me… I’m no ordinary demon hunter… And I work for the dragon king… So I have options that no one else has in dealing with you…
Orochimaru:
Tell me what you’ve done!… It feels… fantastic!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
That is only temporary… It’s a summoning seal… It summons all trace amounts of your chakra… however they may be sealed away… and whoever or whatever they may be sealed into… And it draws them all to one place and binds them together in that form… all in one place right here in this current host… which is no real safe haven for you… under the circumstances… You are only feeling a temporary rush as you reabsorb all of your assorted chakra leavings…
Orochimaru:
What do you mean… ‘no real save haven for you’?…
Shintaro conjures forth a shikigami paper mâché fabrication of his ocarina and begins to play. Suddenly, Orochimaru begins to walk in an over-the-top goofy manner towards Shintaro as he plays, gyrating in time to the music.
Orochimaru:
What are you doing?!?… And how?!?…
Shintaro stops playing and allows Orochimaru to regain control of his borrowed flesh.
Uzumaki Shintaro:
The body of the White Zetsu that you currently occupy may last you for hundreds… if not for thousands of years… But it is a mindless creature made of human flesh combined with that of the divine trees of the Otsutsuki… the same divine trees that they are trained to control… most of the Otsutsuki can do what I did even easier than I did… Those who are properly trained to do it… can do so on a whim… if it so amuses them… If I have to… I can turn your new body into a proper tree… and permanently root your feet to that spot forever… And that may yet become your sealed tomb… I simply cannot allow you to return to cheating death as you were before… as nothing more than a glorified demonic parasite… One way or the other… that ends now… But exactly how… will be up to the dragon king to decide…
Orochimaru:
So where is this dragon king now?… Let’s get on with this show!… I can’t wait!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
The dragon king is already here… and has been with us for some time now… Isn’t that right your majesty?…
Something begins to rustle within Mitsuki’s kimono top, then wiggles its way out of the opening for the neck and reveals itself to be the black scaled dragon king, with his white hair and his three golden horns, but shrunk down to the size of a small snake. Then the dragon king flies up high in the sky and enlarges to his full size, as the assembled reptilian creatures tremble in awe at the familiar sight and drop to their knees. The dragon king lowers his head down to their level, whose jaws are big enough to swallow the Raikame whole, then he attempts to speak in a whisper.
Dragon King Watatsumi:
So… Nice to properly meet you Orochimaru… I’ve been watching you for some time now… Shintarosensei has told me so much about you… all of it quite colorful… Are you okay?…
Merest whisper of the dragon king at full size causes a strong wind gust that jostles everyone assembled, and even knocks a few over. Orochimaru’s knees shake, then buckle, and he collapses on them before the awesome spectacle of the dragon king uttering his name with such familiarity.
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Pardon me your majesty… but you would be considerably less overwhelming if you were approximately human size… or at least eye level… I believe that you’ve adequately impressed everyone here…… Any more so and some may require medical attention…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Hai… You’re quite right… sumimasen…
Another few strong gusts of dragon wind blow through, and the dragon king shrinks down to the size of a giant anaconda, but coils itself on the ground next to Shintaro, then lowers its head down lower than everyone else’s to Orochimaru’s eye level.
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Are… you… okay?… Daijoubudesuka?… Is he okay?…
Orochimaru:
Daijoubudesuyo!… I just… I’ve never…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
He may need a minute…
Uchiha Sasuke:
He may need a minute!?!… What about the rest of us?!?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
When the demons attacked you and Sarada in Konoha I asked the dragon king to tag along discretely and observe as I returned to Konoha… I had been meaning to approach Orochimaru anyway… But I had been hesitating to confront the issue… And that attack forced my hand… I had proposed Orochimaru as a replacement for me here as head librarian before… I’ve even been quite thorough laying out his background and history… especially the darker episodes… But the dragon king must observe and judge for himself… But his presence can be overwhelming if he is not discrete… as you can now all vouch for…
Uchiha Sasuke:
You’ve been thorough?… Why can’t I believe that?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Because you can’t allow yourself to believe it… And it’s just as well… You're not here to believe anything… as far as I’m concerned… You’re here to testify as a character witness to the Dragon King Watatsumi on Orochimaru’s behalf…
Uchiha Sasuke:
You can’t be serious… if you think that I would ever give glowing testimony… about that psycho!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
I didn’t say glowing… just accurate and thorough… as you are not only an eyewitness… but also a participant for some of that… which you knew about when you turned a blind eye to it for the sake of the pursuit of power and revenge when you chose to become his protégé… I can relate to your discomfort grandson… since before you were even born kid… That’s how long I’ve been complicit in Orochimaru’s crimes… But history and complicity are not the only considerations here… but the future as well… And we are not the only ones needed to testify here… Isn’t that right Karin?… You and Kabuto are probably the most familiar with him… next to Tsunade and myself… and the absent Jiraiya… But Tsunade is conspicuously silent at the moment…
Uzumaki Karin:
I can relate… But I don’t know what you want me to say either… I don’t even know what I want to say… Orochimarusama was fair and good to me… harsh… more than little strange… but fair… He took good care of me… You saw to that rather than bother to take me with you when you found out where I was!… Orochimarusama has taught me a lot.. almost everything I know… Is that what you wanted to hear?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Essentially… And that is why I asked Mitsuki to allow the dragon king to stow away with him discretely when he returned to Orochimaru seeking consultation on his new transformation… and to deliver a message from me… Talk is just noise… and the observation of action reveals truth more often than any talk… The dragon king himself understands this… and must see and hear for himself… I introduced young Mitsuki to the dragon king personally and privately myself back in Konoha… largely because Mitsuki himself and his very existence is testimony as well… perhaps among the most important testimony here… but not the only such testimony…
Orochimaru:
I understand completely Mistuki… No matter what happens next… I understand completely… Never let yourself believe otherwise… In fact… if you had deprived me of this opportunity by refusing to cooperate in any way… then I might’ve had reason to be seriously cross with you… Swear to me that you understand this and never forget it… no matter what…
Mitsuki:
Hai!… Wakatayo!… I will never forget… But I may not accept…
Orochimaru:
Fair enough my boy… Fair enough… For you as well… my eldest son… There’s no point in hiding your face from me… I just want to know why… and for how long… Log… That was the name you chose for yourself… You might as well answer to it…
The cloaked and hooded adult male with kabuto and his orphans removes his hood and reveals and adult human looking man who looks like an adult clone of Mitsuki.
Log:
I met Shintaro in my travels through Ryuchi Cave… I’ve been training with the White Snake Sage in secret… to master the old-fashioned way… what your engineered shortcut couldn’t do for me… and for you by extension… I have done it father… But I kept it from you… because I couldn’t trust you with the secret… To be perfectly blunt father… I don’t like how you do business… even though I respect why you do it… But even now I am only beginning to master senjutsu properly… I don’t yet have the power to stop you by myself… But Shintaro and the dragon king can do things that I can’t… And I have been an agent of the dragon king for quite some time now… long before Shintaro returned to Konoha…
Uzumaki Boruto:
Woh!… You have an older brother?!?… He looks just like you!…
Uchiha Sarada:
Urusai Baca!… Damarei Boruto!…
Mitsuki:
Actually I have three more on the way… But I never thought of them that way before… They’re just clones of me… mostly…
Log:
That’s always been the problem with him… You don’t see yourself or your siblings that way because he doesn’t see you that way… We are experiments to him… some more successful than others… You managed to do what I could not… not without training in Ryuchi Cave… So he dotes on you more… because you are the fulfillment of his experimental design… But even with your success… your power has become a dangerous burden to you… The very reason that I call myself Log was because I thought that was my name at first… because he was always talking to his recording device documenting his experiment with log entries in my presence rather than talking to me…
Uzumaki Karin:
He dotes on Mitsuki more because Mitsuki lets him… Even if you are just experiments to him… he cares about nothing more so than his experiments… He’s always so obsessively attentive to his favorites… obsessive over every little mystery… But he can certainly be cold hearted bastard about disappointments… Tough love takes on a rather extreme meaning with him… He’s not exactly a normal family man… to say the least…
Yamato:
As the lone survivor of one his experiments… experiments on children!… I’m afraid that I can’t excuse that just because it gave me the power to better protect others… Every atrocity ever committed has its companion rationalization… That never makes it okay… Nothing ever makes it okay!… And it sure wasn’t love!…
Jugo:
He’s always taken good care of me… or good enough… in spite of everything… He taught me music… And now I treat my own condition with it… I can actually feel hope now because of it… So I don’t care why he did it…
Mitsuki:
He taught me music too… And that music gave me a power that threatens to harm him whenever I use it around him… And he still wants me to use it…
Uzumaki Boruto:
You mean… the Buckethead?…
Mitsuki:
Hai… the Buckethead…
Akimichi Chocho:
The Buckethead?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
You are all completely out of your minds!… You can’t be taking this seriously!… Tsunadesama!… Please!… Say something here!…
Senju Tsunade, Fifth Hokage:
I… I don’t know… I want to believe in whatever Shintaro seems to see in my old friend… like the way Jiraiya wanted to… But I can’t trust my own judgement here… Orochimaru is certainly overdue for proper punishment for his crimes… crimes that are not excused for the sake of occasionally producing valuable results… not even living ones… I wish Jiraiya were here… Damn him!… He picked a fine time to be absent… I think he’s dodging me… with his reincarnation…
The voice of Jime Mori, the reincarnation of the deceased Jiraiya, chimes in source unseen from the throngs of assembled reptilians, near by the base of the pagoda presiding over the courtyard.
Jime Mori, Reincarnated Jiraiya:
I’m not dodging you… You lot keep dodging me!… I tried to meet up with you before you left Konoha… But you lot had to leave early!… Then I tried to meet up with you at the flotilla by my own means… But you all had to pick a fight and blow town!… Fortunately… I have access to Shintaro’s portal in his office… And for the record… Orochimaru was my suggestion for Shintaro’s replacement… I never really gave up hope on him… I can’t bring myself to…
Senju Tsunade, Fifth Hokage:
Jiraiya?…
Jiraiya’s reincarnation as the poisonous tree frog spirit Jime Mori hops from shoulder to head to shoulder through the crowd of assembled reptilians by the base of the pagoda, and hops his way towards Tsunade, landing on her shoulder startling her.
Jime Mori, Reincarnated Jiraiya:
And I know a great deal more about the details of his crimes than anyone here… Because I forced myself to study every detail of them when his criminal experiments were first exposed… so that I could better track him down by recognizing the patterns of his pathology… And I have been making a thorough report of all of this to the dragon king…
Yakushi Kabuto:
As have I… And I know some of the worst of it… Because I helped carry it out… We’re just waiting on you people… Our testimony has already been given… It’s not much of a trial to be honest… But could it ever be?… Perhaps we should all be on trial… Eh?… Sasuke?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Speak for yourself… Why do we need a trial?… as opposed to just a grave that will hold him?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
This is no trial… There is no point in a trial… Orochimaru’s guilt is well established… And his crimes are well documented… What is at stake here is not a decision of guilt or innocence… This is only a question of sentencing… And it is only a decision for the dragon king…
Uchiha Sasuke:
How is a new job a matter of sentencing for a criminal psychopath?!?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
That depends upon the job… the conditions… and who’s hiring… And that is all up to the dragon king and the dragon king alone… whether you like it or not…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Okay… the job is to replace you as the head librarian here… serving in the archives of the dragon king… a beyond prestigious position… What are the conditions?… What conditions could possibly make it okay to give Orochimaru any such position of trust?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
It is not a position of trust necessarily… so much as indenture… potentially immortal indenture… for the rest of Orochimaru’s natural or unnatural life… under the strict direct supervision of the dragon king himself…
Orochimaru:
You make it sound like a prison sentence…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
With perks!… Like access to every scroll and artifact in the metaverse’s oldest and most comprehensive library and museum in known history… and the known history of the archives itself is beyond what you can imagine… So much so… that much of it’s secrets are only kept secret by being lost within itself… That is just one of the burdens that you will be tasked with taking on… burdens the likes of which you would have killed just to have a chance to carry… just to see what it’s like…
Orochimaru:
Are you trying to scare me or entice me?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Both… In addition to these… you will also be expected to take on a different burden… one more familiar to you… closure to your heart in your own way… like Mitsuki… in fact… exactly like Mitsuki… If your majesty would explain…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Like you… Orochimaru… I have also dabbled in the design of new life… A similar presumption perhaps… The Dragonoids you see before you here… were created by me… by combining the essence of human and dragon… When I first came across humans I was amazed by their tenacity and adaptability… and their artistry… I was overzealous… and I rushed ahead without regard to any preconceived result in mind… And I have no regrets for that… But I require that they evolve beyond what I made them… And the ultimate resolution of the Great Celestial War may depend on it… and it may not be able to wait for natural evolution to take it’s time perfecting my creations…
Orochimaru:
What exactly is lacking?… if your so satisfied?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
They lack… flexibility… They are powerful… And they are wise… And they are loyal and honorable to a fault… sometimes an extreme fault… They bear grudges that can never be forgotten… both against the enemies of the Dragonoid Protectorate… as well as rival clans within the protectorate… In many ways they are like the samurai of our planet… you might even call it an architype…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
As difficult as it may be to see an end to the Great Celestial War… I have a responsibility to my creations to make that at least possible for them… And they must be able to live in peace with themselves regardless… But I don’t want to destroy what makes them the fierce and trusted protectors for thousands of civilizations that make up the protectorate…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
This world here is just one planet within the protectorate… The protectorate itself is formally autonomous and independent… but nonetheless devoutly loyal to the dragons in general… and to the dragon king in particular… This lone world within the protectorate is dedicated to the dragon king’s archives… And all the Dragonoids here are here out of devotion rather than official duty… The entire planet is like one big monastery… dedicated to the archives of the dragon king… As head librarian… you would effectively be the appointed governor of this entire world…
Orochimaru:
As a prison cell…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Do you think that you deserve better?…
Orochimaru:
Iie… Just clarifying… And the alternative?… Just clarifying…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
The tree tomb… rooted to the spot… for the sake of clarification…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Then allow me to clarify… by asking a few questions… I have been observing discretely for some time now… And I need some additional answers before preceding to a decision… I need answers in particular… of Shintaro’s grandson… Sasuke…
Uchiha Sasuke:
What more answers do you need?… when you already know his guilty history?…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
I want to know about you…
Uchiha Sasuke:
How am I relevant?…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
You are the grandson of my good friend Shintaro… the current head librarian here… And you are also the protégé of Orochimaru… the hypothetical new head… I have been observing discretely for some time now… I heard the conversation that you had with Shintaro… about Orochimaru and Karin… and about Orochimaru and you… I have heard from Karin herself already… But now I have a question for you… When you left Konoha to become his apprentice… did you know what he had planned for you?… to occupy your body as his new host?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Ai… I knew… I’m no baca!… But I didn’t care!…
Sasuke glances over at his daughter Sarada as he starts to talk about the sensitive subject in her presence for the first time.
Uchiha Sasuke:
I only cared for revenge!… in service to hate!… hate based on a lie as cover for a political atrocity… It was mistake born of blind hate… Nothing more nothing less…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Did you trust Orochimaru to let you carry out your revenge?… before taking you over?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Iie… And again… I didn’t care… I had to have faith in my own ability to become strong enough to destroy Orochimaru… or I could never be strong enough to kill Itachi… And if that’s the case then I might as well be taken over… so that Orochimaru could become strong enough to carry out my revenge for me…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
And you trusted Orochimaru to carry out your revenge for you?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Iie… I trusted my own chakra and my spirit of hatred to burn hot enough and bright enough within him to compel him to carry it out… And even failing that he would be compelled by his own nature to seek out Itachi and kill him just to test his new power… I never ever trusted him in the way that you keep suggesting… I’m no baca!… I was only ever a baca for the sickness of revenge and hate… But once I learned the truth of the lies about Itachi…I got over it… eventually… with a little help from my friends…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Oooh!… I love that song!…
Uchiha Sasuke:
What song?…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Oh… Never mind that… I guess you haven’t heard that one… When you were training with him… did he ever hold back any of his secrets from you?… to limit your power?… and make you easier for him to take over?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Iie… If anything… he was excessively talkative… he wanted me to enjoy the secrets and mysteries as much as he did… He only ever got angry with me when I would cut him off because back then I didn’t want to hear about it if it couldn’t make me stronger… And besides… knowledge is power… The knowledge of how to train and use the body leads to physical power… which leads to developing a stronger vassal for him to occupy and exploit…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
And in all of that time… did he ever betray or lie to you about any of that?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Iie… I betrayed and murdered him… once I no longer needed him to get stronger… He couldn’t help me with that anymore because I had become stronger than him… And he was just in the way at that point… And I never liked or approved of how he did things… But it wasn’t because he lied to me… He would lie about petty things… political things… petty intrigue… But he would never lie to me about what he cared about… anything about the great mysteries he obsessed over I could take as virtually sacrosanct…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
So he cared more about those mysteries than possessing you?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Hai… His desire for more powerful vessels is largely to allow himself to live long enough to learn and master everything… his ultimate obsession… But he is completely corrupt and twisted in pursuit of that obsession… with endless collateral damage in its wake…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Power greedy in the pursuit of knowledge?… rather than knowledge greedy in the pursuit of power?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Hai… But power itself corrupts… And he is completely corrupted by his obsessions…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Obsessions like revenge?… Perhaps… You came back from yours… Why can’t he do so… with a little help from his friends?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
He has no interest… And he doesn’t really have what most people might call friends… But he doesn’t care that much for revenge… It amuses him… But he doesn’t care… not unless someone like me gives him a reason to care… if its useful to him in the pursuit of what he does care about…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
And his family?…
Uchiha Sasuke:
I wouldn’t know about that… Mitsuki seems like a good kid… He’s a trusted teammate of my own daughter… But I don’t know that I believe that Orochimaru even sees it that way… just because my grandfather wants to believe it…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Fair enough… Very well then… I believe that I have seen and heard almost everything that I need to… Now I just need to see the Buckethead again…
Mitsuki:
The Buckethead!?!…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
I have known many Buckethead spirits in my time… In fact… I knew the first one… a human musician from before the time of the Otsutsuki… odd fellow… even without the bucket… I watched you while you were training with your father… I saw how the Buckethead reacted to him… and I want to see it again… Orochimaru was right about Buckethead spirits being agents of karma… And I have always found that I could trust their judgement…
Mitsuki:
Iie… I don’t trust it… I refuse…
Orochimaru:
Mitsuki!… You must!…
Mitsuki:
Iie!… I refuse!…
Uzumaki Boruto:
Yeah!… You can’t make him!…
Uzumaki Karin:
I was there when he transformed into that thing… He nearly killed his own father… several times!… You can’t rationally expect him to do that again!…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
I can and do… And I will insist!…
The Dragonoids all stand at attention… and grip their weapons tighter in anticipation of the dragon king’s next words. Chocho walks over to Mitsuki while still in her butterfly form and conjures forth her ocarina into her hands before speaking to him.
Akimichi Chocho:
It’ll be okay Mitsukikun… Your father himself says it’s okay… I can help you if you want…
Mitsuki:
It’s okay… I’ve got this… domo…
Akimichi Chocho:
Ganbatte kudasai!…
Mitsuki summons forth his electric guitar into his waiting hands, then channels his lightening nature chakra through it as he begins to play. Chocho steps back from him wide eyed, as she sees Mitsuki’s elemental sage transformation for the first time. As Mitsuki plays, his body begins to turn black, until he’s nothing but a silhouette of himself with black silhouette fingers continuing to play his guitar.
The top of his head begins to morph its shape into that of an upside-down bucket. A porcelain white face mask with simple eyeholes filled with Mitsuki’s yellow eyes emerges out of the front of the silhouette’s head. A white upside-down bucket emerges to cover the top of his head, with characters upside down on the side of the bucket that read ‘Choza’s Fried Chicken! With Special Secret Recipes From Uzushio.’ The Buckethead stops playing, and the guitar in his hands turns black, then changes shape into a pair of black nunchaku, one in each hand, as he turns to Orochimaru, and begins to spin them.
Uzumaki Karin:
Here it comes…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Here what comes?…
The Bucketkead launches himself at Orochimaru and begins to pummel him with a rapid succession of swinging blows from his nunchaku, as Orochimaru refuses to mount an adequate defense.
Akimichi Chocho:
Mitsuki!… Stop!… You don’t have to do this!… Forget what I said before!… You don’t have to do this!…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
Do not interfere!…
Akimichi Chocho:
Mitsuki!…
Uchiha Sarada:
Chocho!… You can’t!…
Akimichi Chocho:
But it’s my fault!… I talked him into it!…
Uchiha Sarada:
It wasn’t just you!… This is not on you!…
The buckethead continues to pummel Orochimaru relentlessly, but Orochimaru still refuses to mount an adequate defense, as he starts to show signs of weakening. Panicked that Mitsuki might actually kill his father at her urging, Chocho calls out to Mitsuki one more time in desperation.
Akimichi Chocho:
Mitsuki!… Stop!… Mitsuki!…
The pummeling continues obliviously, as Chocho raises her ocarina to her mouth to play. She plays the chakra resonance jutsu for wind that she’s most familiar with and superimposes her voice over her playing to get the Buckethead’s attention.
Akimichi Chocho:
Mitsuki… Please stop… You don’t want to do this… This is not justice… This is not karma… This is not for you… Come back to us Mitsuki… Come back… to me…
Uchiha Sarada:
‘Come back to me’?…
The Buckethead stops his pummeling as if in response to Chocho’s pleading as well as her playing, then turns towards her, nunchaku still spinning in his hands. The Buckethead jumps over to where Chocho stands playing and lands in front of her, as she continues to play with unblinking focus while Mitsuki’s nunchaku continue to spin. Chocho stares into Mitsuki’s eyes through the Buckethead mask as she plays, trying to reach him somehow with her music.
The pair of black nunchaku stop spinning in the Bucketheads hands, then they morph into Mitsuki’s guitar again, powered up by lightening nature chakra as the Buckethead begins to play along with Chocho. They play together for a few moments as they maintain eye contact. Then the Buckethead freezes perfectly still, before fading back into color as the bucket and the mask disappear, revealing Mitsuki’s restored normal appearance.
A relieved Chocho excitedly celebrates by lurching towards Mitsuki as she lowers her ocarina and wraps her arms around Mitsuki, and plants a mutually enthusiastic celebration smooch on the Mitsuki’s lips. She lingers there for a moment before she realizes that she just did this in front of everyone and both her parents. Chocho pulls her arms away and backs away a few steps from Mitsuki, shocked and surprised by her own behavior.
Akimichi Chocho:
Oh my!… Oh my!… Sumimasen!…
Chocho flies straight up in her butterfly form then transforms into her full-size giant sea turtle form, startling even the dragon king. Then she starts to fly off towards the ringed gas giant in the sky.
Uchiha Sarada:
Chocho!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Sarada!… Go after her!… Stay with her!… Bring her back if you can!… But stay with her!… Imperial body guard!…
Uchiha Sarada:
Hai!… Wakata!…
Sarada changes into her dragon girl form and leaps straight up into full flight as she transforms into her full-size full steam dragon form, and flies after Chocho, again startling the dragon king.
Dragon King Watatsumi:
My my Shintaro… Your family is always so full of surprises… such surprising talents… and such lovely playing… But I believe that I have seen and heard enough… No more witnesses… No more testimony… No more need… I have my decision…
Orochimaru stands up shaky from his pummeling to face his fate. The dragon king flies up and enlarges himself until his jaws are large enough to swallow a grizzly bear whole. Then the dragon king flies back down and snaps Orochimaru up into his jaws, chews for a bit, then swallows.
Uchiha Sasuke:
Is that his punishment?…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Hai… Part of it… Apparently… he got the job!…
The dragon king begins to regurgitate something and coughs out a green glowing steaming phlegm gob, down onto the ground in front of Shintaro, with green glowing steam emanating from the otherworldly phlegm mass. The green glow of the phlegm blob begins to pulsate as the gob begins to move slightly, as if something inside were trying to get out. A white snakeskin covered humanoid hand with white talons pierces the membrane of the green glob and begins to peel it away, as something begins to climb out of it. A naked white scaled reptilian form resembling a dragon gargoyle version of Orochimaru staggers its way to its feet as it climbs out of its green phlegm cocoon.
The gargoyle Orochimaru has white bat like wings with dragon spikes and no hair on them, and a long thick whipping dragon’s tail with a spiked fin on its end. Thick white dragon scale natural body armor covers his body, with white talons on his hands and feet, and large spiked fins covering his ears. But he still has long straight black hair still on his head, and the same yellow snake eyes in his skull. Shintaro emits shikigami flurry and fabricates a simple black hakama skirt to cover Orochimaru’s lower half, with a hole in the back for his large tail.
Uzumaki Shintaro:
Congratulations… You are now an indentured servant to the Dragon King Watatsumi for the rest of your natural or unnatural life… which may be quite long under the circumstances…
Orochimaru:
Omoshiroi!…
Uzumaki Shintaro:
You are now a member of the Dragonoid species… Thanks to special power of the dragon king’s… instant reincarnation and transformation… instant fresh start… And the natural lifespan of the Dragonoid species is about ten thousand years… give or take a few centuries… And by my estimation… you are about middle aged… give or take a few centuries…
Uchiha Sasuke:
Have you gone mad?!?… your majesty!?!… How can you possibly trust him?!?…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
I do not trust him… And I do not have to… I own him… And I believe that I understand him… And while I certainly do not approve of his methods… I approve of his zeal for mystery… And I approve of his family… which he clearly prioritizes in his own way… And he must certainly continue to do so… I won’t have it any other way…
Uchiha Sasuke:
What the hell ever convinced you of that?…
Dragon King Watatsumi:
You did… among others… You and Mitsuki… and young Princess Chocho as well… During your apprenticeship… you were always given all of his best secrets because he cared more about them than possessing you… and that doing so was clearly just a twisted means to higher ends… When I observed Orochimaru and Mitsuki discretely… I saw how Orochimaru repeatedly took more damage than necessary… prioritizing his son over his own wellbeing… over and over again… Whatever the reason… I approve… And the Buckethead spirit does as well… for what it’s worth… The Buckethead spirit may have attacked Orochimaru for his clear guilt… But the Buckethead would not have been so easily dissuaded if there weren’t something of value in him… I owe a profound debt of gratitude to young Princess Chocho… for highlighting that for me with her lovely performance…
Orochimaru:
Omoshiroi…
There Is No Alone!
Forever Never Ending!
There Is No Escape!
There Is No Point In Pretending!
For compilations of previous chapters in paperback hardcopy:
The Mad Sage Of Uzushio, A Naruto Fan Fiction: Volume 1: Chapters 1-17 Paperback On Amazon.com