### **Chapter 20: Shattered Illusions**
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The remnants of Kabuto's body still lay in the corner of Ethan's chamber. His lifeless form, once so full of ambition and cunning, was now nothing more than an object—an object to be discarded, a footnote in Ethan's long and tumultuous journey toward power. The act had been swift, almost too clean, and yet it hadn't left Ethan with the sense of satisfaction he had expected. Instead, he felt a strange emptiness, as if his very core had shifted in the wake of Kabuto's demise.
The rogue bloodline within him hummed with power, urging him forward. It was intoxicating, the sheer amount of energy coursing through his veins, but there was a gnawing feeling at the back of his mind—a quiet voice that whispered of consequences. He had grown used to silencing those voices, but they had begun to persist. Was it the bloodline, or was it his own conscience, pulling at him like a thread threatening to unravel the whole?
Ethan stood motionless, his gaze fixed on the remnants of the man who had once been a trusted ally. He could feel the shift in his thoughts, the subtle changes brought about by the rogue bloodline's influence. He was no longer the scientist from Earth, the genius who had sought to control life itself. Now, he was something else entirely—a creature consumed by power, by hunger, by the need to bend the world to his will. His past was becoming a distant memory, fading beneath the overwhelming weight of the bloodline's call.
But as the hours passed, and the adrenaline from the kill began to fade, the emptiness remained. Ethan began to question his own path. Had he become what he had once sought to destroy? A monster? Or was this simply the next step in his evolution?
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The next morning, Ethan stood on the balcony of his lair, staring out at the sprawling forest below. The vast expanse of trees seemed endless, a perfect reflection of the power that now surged through him. He had everything he wanted—control, strength, influence. Yet, as he watched the world below him, the weight of his choices began to settle over him like a heavy shroud.
The sound of footsteps approaching broke his reverie. Ethan turned to find Orochimaru standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable. Despite the layers of history between them, Orochimaru had always been a figure of constant presence, a reminder of Ethan's own ambitions. But now, that presence seemed more like a reminder of everything Ethan had forsaken.
"You killed him," Orochimaru said simply, his voice devoid of judgment.
Ethan's gaze hardened. "He was a liability. He had outlived his usefulness."
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, his eyes flickering with something like amusement. "Useful? Or a mirror? Perhaps you killed him because you saw a reflection of yourself in him—someone willing to do anything for power."
Ethan bristled at the insinuation but didn't respond. Orochimaru had always known how to strike at his insecurities, how to twist the truth into something sharper than a blade. But Ethan refused to let it shake him. "I don't need you to lecture me, Orochimaru. I made a choice. Kabuto had no place in my world."
Orochimaru's smile widened, but it was cold, like the smile of a snake preparing to strike. "You think you've created your own world, Ethan. But what you're really doing is playing in someone else's. You've absorbed their power, their ambitions, their flaws. And now, you wear it all like a second skin. But it doesn't change who you are."
Ethan turned his back on Orochimaru, the weight of his words lingering in the air. "What do you want, Orochimaru? You've always been one for games, but you've never been a player. You're just an observer, a relic of a past that no longer holds sway over me."
Orochimaru's eyes glinted with something like interest, though his voice remained calm. "Is that so? Then why are you still afraid, Ethan? You've done what was necessary—killed Kabuto, broken Sasuke's spirit—but in the process, you've shattered something else. Haven't you? You've shattered the illusion of your own control."
The words hung between them, sharp and biting. Ethan's grip on the railing tightened, his knuckles white as he fought to hold onto the fragile thread of composure he had left. Orochimaru was right. There was a crack in his armor, a place where the doubt he had buried so deep had begun to leak through. And no matter how much he tried to ignore it, it was there, gnawing at him.
"I didn't need him," Ethan muttered under his breath. "I don't need anyone. This is my destiny."
Orochimaru's lips curled into a knowing smile. "Is it? Or is it just another illusion? One you've built, brick by brick, to protect yourself from the truth."
Ethan turned sharply to face him, his eyes cold and full of the same unrelenting determination that had always guided his actions. "What do you want from me?"
Orochimaru didn't move, his posture relaxed, but his gaze unwavering. "I want you to face the truth, Ethan. All this power you seek, all this control you claim to have—it's built on sand. The bloodline that you've embraced is not something you control. It controls you. And when you finally realize that, it will be too late."
Ethan took a step forward, his eyes burning with intensity. "I control my destiny, Orochimaru. No one else. Not you, not Kabuto, not anyone. I will make the world bow before me."
Orochimaru's smile faltered for a moment, but then it returned, colder than before. "You may think you've won, Ethan. You may think you've overcome everything. But in the end, you'll find that nothing lasts. Not even your power."
Ethan's breath quickened as a surge of chakra pulsed through his body. The rogue bloodline responded, its presence growing stronger, demanding release. His vision blurred, the edges of his perception becoming tinged with red as his thoughts became more primal.
"You're wrong," Ethan hissed, his voice low and full of conviction. "I am the storm. I am the one who shapes the world. And I will never stop."
With those words, Ethan vanished in a blur of speed, leaving Orochimaru standing alone in the vast, empty chamber. The silence that followed was deafening.
---
Hours passed, and Ethan's mind churned with his thoughts. He had to act—there was no time to waste. But the doubts that Orochimaru had planted in his mind continued to linger, gnawing at him like an itch he couldn't scratch. Was he truly in control? Or had he merely become a puppet of his own ambition, dancing to the whims of the very power he sought to dominate?
Sasuke. Kabuto. Orochimaru. They were all part of a larger game, one that Ethan had been playing without fully understanding the rules. His enemies, his allies—they were all part of his design, and yet they seemed to be slipping through his fingers. He could feel the walls closing in, the weight of his decisions pressing down on him.
And yet, the hunger inside him—the rogue bloodline—urged him forward, pushing him to take more, to conquer everything in his path.