51 045 – Strategic Manoeuvering: War Prep {PT. I}
OTOGAKURE'S HEADQUARTERS
"Are they reliable?" we asked the sannin, reviewing the list of names he handed over to us.
Orochimaru nodded. "They are some of my best."
"Can I see them then?"
"Of course." The Sannin turned around, waving over the four ninjas lingering at the edge of the lab with his bloody, viscera-stained hand. The cell obediently approached.
"This is Sound Four, originally Sound Five, the group currently serving as my elite bodyguard unit. Although all five are merely at the level of a Tokubetsu Jonin, working together they can threaten even a low-kage. If they all activate their curse marks and work together, a distracted or particularly careless Kage is also a viable target."
"Six arms?" we asked gesturing with our chin at the fellow to the left.
"Kidōmaru? I was experimenting with some biological modifications to see if having multiple limbs can allow the parallel use of multiple jutsus."
"Did it work?"
"No." Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment. "The human mind is incapable of controlling that many chakra processes and technique computations at once. And while the usefulness of the extra arms can be argued from a certain perspective, it wasn't enough to justify the associated drawbacks. A passable experiment. You seem unusually interested, Sasuke-kun. Do you want the Jutsu?"
"Yes."
"It will cost you though."
"I have a few body modification techniques of equal value I am willing to exchange for it."
"We have a deal then."
"Good. The others?"
"Jirōbō was, and still is, my most successful experiment on low-cost physical strength amplification. Tayuya is the unit's Genjutsu and Summoning expert, and the twins are arguably the most skilled in the cell. Well, while that title still belongs to Kimimaro, his illness has long rendered him less than reliable."
"...How strong was this Kimimaro before his illness?"
"About low-kage, why?"
"If he is that useful, why don't you just kill him and bring him back using Edo Tensei? You claim to have some mastery of the technique, don't you?"
The lab fell silent as the members of Sound Four exchanged horrified glances.
"How could I not have thought of that?" Orochimaru muttered, his expression pensive. "Sasuke… I must say, you have a rather refreshing perspective."
"What about the other two teams?" we asked, dismissing the empty praise.
"Ah yes, Guren's and Arashi's cells. Tayuya, go find Guren and Arashi for me. Tell them to come with their full compliments."
"Y-yes, Orochimaru-sama."
…
We were perusing some of Orochimaru's notes when the redhead returned with eight shinobis in tow.
To our surprise, we recognised one of them.
"Mizuki?"
The silver-haired man's eyes narrowed suspiciously as we observed him. "Sasuke? What are you doing here?"
"I ought to be the one asking you that. Last I heard you had a seventy-thousand ryō bounty on your head; how are you still alive?" we asked, genuinely intrigued.
Our former instructor's expression turned a tad uncomfortable. "Let's just say working for Lord Orochimaru comes with certain … benefits."
"You seemed very much acquainted, Sasuke-kun?" Orochimaru asked looking between the two of us.
"Mizuki taught at the academy for a while. Given the fact that he couldn't handle even Naruto at the time, I struggle to understand how he has survived this long with such a bounty on his head."
"Ah," Orochimaru said, glancing at his pale-faced subordinate with fresh eyes before quickly dismissing him. "I see. Anyways, this is the other cell. Individually, they are a tad more competent than the two-fifths of Sound Four, but the synergy between the members of the unit leaves much to be desired. Still, they make up for the disparity through surplus numbers."
Our gaze panned across the group in contemplation. "She must be Guren then?" we asked singling one out of the group. "The crystal user?"
"Yes," Orochimaru confirmed.
"Let me see those crystals of yours, Guren," we said, speaking directly to the kunoichi. One of her delicate eyebrows rose before the air surrounding us suddenly began to crystallise.
"Impressive," we said, peeling off the ceiling behind her and dropping to the ground. Our sharingan surfaced as we walked past the young woman to the crystal pillar, running our palm down the structure's smooth, hard surface. "This nature transformation … I was doubtful at first, but this? The molecules are much too well-aligned for it to be Earth Release."
"How do you think it was made?" the sannin asked. We turned around just in time to catch a strange glint flashing through his eyes. Our brows furrowed in a frown as we considered the question.
"Despite the differences, its molecular structure looks a lot like Earth Release so it is safe to assume that Earth is a major constituent. To be able to rearrange the molecules in a manner that precise requires a medium through which the molecules can freely move around. Both Wind and Water are suitable candidates, although Wind might be far too energetic to work in practice, so Water it is. Once the molecules are all arranged in their proper positions what remains is to flash freeze the lattice; in this case, doing so would require a sudden infusion of energy into the fluid medium to excite it enough so it may cleanly escape the lattice structure, therefore hardening the entire broth into a crystal. That would be … Fire Release?"
We pulled on our chakra, moulding earth and water into Mud Release before flashing it with fire. A shiny, yellowish mass formed in our palm.
"Is that—"
"No," we said interrupting the speaker. "The energy infused was not concentrated enough to allow the fluid medium to cleanly escape. It messed up the lattice on the way out, hence the mass is an amorphous solid, not a crystal." We looked up at the few confused stares in the crowd.
"It's glass."
We pulled again on our chakra, moulding earth and water into mud, but this time flashing it with the more potent Lightning Release. A mass of green formed on the glass in our palm.
"Earth, Water and Lightning?" we asked, looking up to meet Guren's stupefied stare.
"Heh! You actually did it?" Orochimaru chuckled. "How many nature transformations do you really know, you little smug bastard?"
"A bunch," we replied vaguely.
Content with the results we glanced down at the greenish crystal in our hand, reshuffling the molecular lattice a few times to cycle through several colours before settling on a pinkish tone similar to Guren's; the glass we turned clear a moment later. We toyed around with the clumps in our hand for a moment before flashing them with Lightning Release again. The lattice of the crystal broke down immediately due to how conductive it was, its extremely organized structure enabling vibrations to flow through it in the form of a wave.
In comparison, the amorphous glass fared much, much better. It fared even better than standard Earth Release did.
Nice.
We dispelled the shadow clone trapped in Guren's crystal pillar, reviewing its' experience in the prison. With our analysis of the technique now complete, we freed ourself of the distraction as we turned to regard the rest of the cell. None of the other members had anything that particularly interested us so we quickly catalogued them before turning to face the Sannin.
"I want to see the last cell."
…
Team Arashi was a mild disappointment; they were easily the most disappointing of the three groups. They weren't useless, but they had no members particularly exotic like the rest did either. With a sigh, we focused our mind on a more troublesome issued
"Even with aid from our friends in Sunagakure, we would need more bodies before we can attempt to take on Konoha," we told Orochimaru as we followed him down a flight of stairs.
"More? " the sannin asked, incredulous.
"Obviously. The fact that you can't summon the other two Hokages is a strong indication that Konoha is summoning their dead. Even on a small scale, a development like that would seriously threaten our chances of success.."
The sannin stood in silent contemplation for a while. "If that is the case," he finally said, "then I suggest you find an old associate of mine. En Oyashiro. He is a discreet man in possession of a very special collection of… talents. And if the price he would be more than willing to join our merry band."
"Can you reach him quickly enough?"
"My summons can."
We nodded. "Understood. So, where is this En Oyashiro fellow now?"
The sannin smiled. It was a playful smile.
We didn't like it.
"Sasuke-kun," he tutted, making us contemplate reminding him of his fragile mortality again.
"Have you ever heard of the Coliseum?"
