Naruto: Fate System

Why was it said that Tsunade's momentary hesitation could alter the entire trajectory of the world line?

Because it was her last opportunity to clear up all the misunderstandings surrounding her.

At that time, as long as she had spoken up, she could have easily dispelled all the doubts her teammates had about her.

After all, Orochimaru and Hiruko had been her teammates for years. There was still a foundation of trust between them. Years of shared missions, victories, and losses that had bound them together like family.

Or so they had thought.

Even if she later had to face Shin's deliberate targeting by exploiting her hemophobia, at least Hiruko's misunderstanding of her wouldn't have run so deep.

However, upon seeing the chains, Tsunade, due to a fleeting hesitation, squandered that final chance.

It was a mere coincidence—a stroke of luck for Shin, who hadn't expected the chains to have such an effect.

But if every lucky coincidence could be seized and perfectly leveraged, then luck ceased to be mere chance; it became destiny. And Shin was a master at turning chance into certainty.

At this moment, with the misunderstanding cemented, he advanced toward the barrier step by step, a gleeful smile on his face and a bloodstained sword in his hand.

The cracks are forming. Now to shatter them completely.

Then, he turned his back on Tsunade, slightly raising the sword and letting the blood drip slowly down the blade at an angle.

The sight struck her heart like the deepest of fears! Her breathing became shallow and rapid, the world around her beginning to blur at the edges. Move... why won't my body...

"Tsunade won't help you. She's been away from the village for three years. Don't you understand yet?" Shin said directly to Hiruko.

Shizune, shocked, stared at his back, her hands instinctively reaching for her senbon. What is he saying? What nonsense is he spouting?

Tsunade wanted to argue, but fear gripped her body, leaving her trembling and unable to utter a word.

Orochimaru was the first to realize something was amiss. How did he know about her condition? Did she tell him? No...

Cool-headed as always, he ordered Hiruko, "Don't be reckless. Get Tsunade and let's go!"

Orochimaru's judgment was spot-on. At this juncture, the misunderstanding was too entrenched to resolve with a few words. The best course of action was to retreat with Tsunade.

He trusted her. The years they'd spent as teammates had built a bond stronger than the current chaos threatening to tear it apart.

Yet, he couldn't directly reveal her hemophobia.

He wasn't certain if the enemy had deliberately exploited this weakness or stumbled upon it by chance. The calculated way Shin manipulated the blood suggested the former, but he couldn't be sure.

Revealing it might dispel Hiruko's doubts, but it would also push Tsunade into greater danger. Thus, he had no choice but to stay silent, watching as the situation spiraled further out of control.

Orochimaru found himself in a dilemma—protecting Tsunade meant deceiving Hiruko, while informing Hiruko of the truth would mean betraying Tsunade.

Ultimately, he chose to harm Danzō instead, leaving Hiruko to the Root leader's troubles.

"Go, Hiruko!" he shouted.

But now that Shin's trap had taken hold, he wasn't about to let them leave so easily. The battlefield was his stage, and every player was moving exactly as he'd planned.

"Stop them." he said.

At the same time, he shifted his focus from Orochimaru to Hiruko, making him the primary target. His blade whistled through the air, forcing Hiruko to dodge awkwardly.

He immediately felt the pressure. The attack came faster than he expected, driving him back step by step. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he struggled to keep up with Shin's assault.

At this time, his power was no match for the Sannin. In the original storyline, Hiruko defected from Konoha because he felt overshadowed and bullied by the Sannin, driven by his inability to keep up with their genius.

However, it was hard to imagine the Sannin actually discriminating against a lagging teammate given their personalities. The truth lay buried under years of insecurity and self-doubt.

If anything, Tsunade repeatedly breaking Jiraiya's bones in spars might be more akin to bullying.

This revealed Hiruko's innate insecurity, sensitivity, and fragility.

Shin's genjutsu magnified these emotions.

The illusion also partially deceived his senses, making him overlook Tsunade's trembling. In his distorted vision, she stood tall and cold, watching his struggle with indifference.

Thus, he grew increasingly angry, his attacks becoming more distorted. Why won't she help? After everything we've been through...

"Why are you just standing there watching?!" The sword sliced through his sleeve, drawing a thin line of blood.

As Shin's blade swung at him again, Hiruko dodged clumsily but was soon kicked to the ground. The impact drove the air from his lungs, and he tasted dirt and blood.

"Aren't we comrades?"

Konan's paper butterflies descended like a storm, transforming into explosive tags that erupted into a blaze of fire and smoke.

Through the flames and haze, Hiruko saw Tsunade's cold, emotionless face, showing no concern.

The genjutsu twisted her features into a mask of indifference, though in reality, she stood paralyzed by her own demons.

"Have you really betrayed us?" The flames reflected in his eyes as he stared at what he thought was his former teammate.

The illusion of Tsunade turned her back and walked away without hesitation. The genjutsu played perfectly on his deepest fears, showing him exactly what he dreaded most.

"TSUNADE!!"

Just then, a snake lunged at Hiruko, sinking its fangs into his neck and jolting him back to reality.

"Calm down. It's a genjutsu. I told you to stop dwelling on it—just leave now!" Orochimaru shouted.

But Shin wasn't about to let them escape. His hands flashed through seals with practiced precision.

"Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!"

This technique wasn't inherently powerful but had immense potential depending on chakra levels. And Shin had chakra to spare since his physique upgraded.

A massive wave surged forth, obscuring Hiruko's vision once again, making it impossible for him to discern reality from illusion.

In his eyes, Tsunade continued to merely watch, never offering any explanation. The water distorted her image, making her seem even more distant and cold than the genjutsu had portrayed her.

The water crashed through the forest, uprooting trees and turning the ground into a swamp.

Orochimaru, turning his lower body into a snake, swam through the water to reach Tsunade and Shizune.

He dispelled his barrier and grabbed Tsunade's hand, feeling her trembling through the contact. Her skin was cold.

"Tsunade," he said, holding her face and forcing her to meet his gaze. "We need Katsuyu. Now."

Through her haze, Tsunade's instincts responded to the urgency in his voice. Her hands moved almost automatically through the familiar signs.

"S-summoning Jutsu."

With a crash, a massive blue-and-white slug emerged from the water.

Orochimaru quickly guided Tsunade and Shizune into the slug's protective mouth before taking position atop her head. Though he had done his best to save Tsunade, what he saw next caused him to frown deeply.

Below, Shin stood atop the unconscious Hiruko, flanked by Kakuzu, three masked creatures, and Pakura with her Scorch Release. 

Before Pakura floated a desiccated, charred snake—the one Orochimaru had sent to retrieve Hiruko.

Under the Scorch Release, even the cold-blooded succumb to heat. Orochimaru could save only one teammate. Choosing to rescue Tsunade meant abandoning Hiruko.

As Hiruko awoke and locked eyes with him, he shouted, "You all abandoned me!"

Thus, fate came full circle—Hiruko ended up hating the Sannin after all.

Orochimaru, drenched and expressionless, merely observed from above, his thoughts unreadable.

He was once a man who loved to smile. Though the gesture cast doubt on his character at first glance, he wielded it effortlessly in any situation.

It served as both shield and weapon, keeping others guessing about his true intentions.

In the original story, even when Itachi defeated him with a single move, severing his arm and cornering him into a desperate situation, he could still laugh wildly, as if nothing could break his composure.

Pain was temporary, after all, and defeat merely a stepping stone to greater experiments.

But now, a rare moment had occurred where even Orochimaru couldn't muster a smile.

He was someone who could fearlessly face any personal crisis with a grin. But when a comrade fell into an inescapable trap, even he felt powerless, unable to feign cheer.

The last time he had experienced such a sense of helplessness was during the previous war, watching helplessly as Nawaki was blown apart before his eyes.

That moment taught him the fragility of life. The lesson had driven him to seek immortality, to transcend such weakness. And here he was, once again reminded of the fragility of bonds.

A comrade he had known for so many years had so easily turned against him.

People often say that the limit of rationality was betrayal, and Orochimaru had long tread that path. The final slivers of camaraderie he held for his companions were among the few threads still linking him to humanity. But that thread seemed on the verge of breaking.

"Take Tsunade and leave," Orochimaru commanded.

As you wish, Orochimaru-sama. May victory be yours," Katsuyu replied, as polite as ever.

The next moment, the massive slug disintegrated, splitting into countless smaller slugs that scattered in all directions.

Many of these smaller slugs, each large enough to swallow an adult, mingled with the others, making it nearly impossible to discern where Tsunade was hidden among them.

At the same time, Orochimaru leapt forward, charging alone toward Shin's group.

He did so both to cover Tsunade's retreat and to make one final attempt to save Hiruko.

No matter what wrongs Orochimaru might have committed against Konoha in the original story, at this moment, he lived up to the title of Konoha's commander.

One of Kakuzu's mask monsters was the first to react.

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

From the mouth of the lightning mask, a sharp lance of lightning shot out, attacking Orochimaru from two angles simultaneously.

But in the next moment, he transformed into a snake, his body liquefying and reforming in an instant as he dove into the water and evaded the attack.

The lightning struck the water's surface, sending sparks across the flooded terrain, but Orochimaru was already gone. He turned the waterlogged battlefield to his advantage, his body twisting through the murky depths.

Befitting his legendary status, Orochimaru was fighting with everything he had.

"Ten Thousand Snakes Wave!" The water erupted as countless serpents burst forth.

Only Konan, who remained airborne, avoided the swarm, while Shin, Kakuzu, and Pakura leapt into the air to evade.

Pakura retaliated by launching her fireballs at the snakes. The snakes caught in the attack instantly incinerated into blackened, curled-up fragments, their bodies crumbling to ash. 

In a sense, her Scorch Release countered Orochimaru well, as snakes, like all carbon-based life, were vulnerable to desiccation. Unless Orochimaru's future research could develop creatures immune to dehydration, this disadvantage would persist.

However, at this moment, he was unconcerned about the loss of his snakes.

Using the brief distraction they provided, he swiftly swam to Hiruko's side. Without directly approaching, he sent a snake forward, which bit Hiruko on the neck, breaking the genjutsu binding him.

"Fool! Run!" Orochimaru hissed.

Hiruko hesitated, still dazed from the genjutsu's effects, asking, "What about Tsunade? Is she still watching from the sidelines?"

Orochimaru said nothing but emerged halfway from the water, casting Hiruko a glare. That glare was a clear warning: My patience for idiots is limited.

Awakened by Orochimaru's killing intent, he quickly regained his clarity.

Orochimaru then summoned another snake, larger than the first, which grabbed Hiruko by the back of the neck and threw him dozens of meters away.

But this delay left him surrounded. So this was their real plan.

Konan's paper spears descended from the sky like rain. Orochimaru's body twisted in impossible ways as he dodged across the water in zigzag patterns.

Meanwhile, Kakuzu's wind mask activated.

"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"

A high-pressure gust tore through the air with a deafening roar, dispersing the surrounding water and leaving Orochimaru exposed in the eye of the storm.

Then a water bullet shot forward, transforming into a blade mid-flight. The sword cut through Orochimaru's defending snakes with wet, meaty sounds and slashed toward his face.

In a split-second decision, Orochimaru opened his mouth impossibly wide, spitting out the Kusanagi to deflect the blade.

Though the sword's path was altered, it still grazed him, slicing open a long gash across his chest. 

After such a long fight, this marked the first time Shin, with his team's help, managed to land a direct hit on Orochimaru.

Even so, the Snake Sannin retaliated instantly, summoning several venomous snakes to force Shin to defend.

Using his serpent-like lower body, Orochimaru retreated rapidly while releasing a dense poison mist, preventing Pakura from approaching.

For half a year in the shinobi world, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the slipperiest opponent Shin had faced. Even temporary death wouldn't mean the end for Orochimaru. His immortality techniques made him nearly impossible to defeat permanently.

But fortunately, Shin's goal wasn't to kill him.

As Orochimaru finally made his way back to Hiruko, grabbing his incompetent comrade to leave, something unexpected occurred.

When Orochimaru's blood accidentally dripped onto Hiruko, a sudden transformation began.

The blood seemed to unlock some kind of seal within Hiruko. White spore-like tumors began sprouting across his body, rapidly growing until they almost engulfed him.

Orochimaru pierced one of the tumors with a kunai. But instead of blood or pus, rampant tree branches burst out, nearly injuring him.

"Wood Release?!" Orochimaru quickly retreated, dodging the piercing branches and turning to Shin as he immediately realized the cause.

"What did you do?!"

Instead of denying or evading the question, Shin casually tossed an object toward Orochimaru.

"This is a substance extracted from a creature called White Zetsu."

"Interested? I have plenty more."

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