Ch341. Orochimaru

Orochimaru looked at the dissolving six-armed body that ran through all the guards and barged into his laboratory before slumping onto the ground with a desperate and groaning, "Oroch-", and promptly died. Frankly, it was fascinating, to watch the unknown poison corrode the body, changing even bones to a goo right in front of his eyes.

Unfortunately, the two guards chasing Kidomaru entered the laboratory right when Orochimaru's momentary engrossment with the never-before-seen poison just ended and he realized the corpse indeed had six arms and he knew only one person with such physical disfiguration.

"Lord Orochimaru!" One of the two guards exclaimed and straightened, sweat suddenly started rolling down his back. They let an intruder reach Lord Orochimaru's laboratory! That was definitely not good!

"Hm, Riki-kun." Orochimaru impassively stated, looking straight at the six-armed corpse, "That... is Kidomaru, right?"

The guard, Riki, was very reluctant to answer. Something in Lord Orochimaru's casual tone told him to keep quiet. Fortunately for him, his partner was a new guy and a very eager one.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru! That is Kidomaru-sama!" The boy eagerly said...

And Riki didn't even notice when Orochimaru lashed out but the boy's head rolled off his shoulders the second he finished speaking.

"I see..." Orochimaru nodded, his lips twitching downward as the newbie's head hit the ground with a wet thud before his body also gently swayed as gravity claimed it. Orochimaru looked at Riki who was trying his best to ignore the fresh corpse next to him while wondering if he would be next. "Take care of the corpses. I need to send somebody to scout the situation in the Land of Water."

Orochimaru was barely keeping calm. Kidomaru and the Sound Four were essential for his upcoming plan. They were one of his best! He spent a lot of time making sure they were useful. And now... Kidomaru was dead. It was a heavy blow since Orochimaru did not have anyone capable of taking his place for the barrier formation.

'I hope Guren and others got away safely.' He frowned, not understanding what could have happened. It was a B-rank assassination mission and he sent four low-to-mid A-rank ninjas and one high A-rank kunoichi. Frankly, this was supposed to be a breeze for them! He only sent such an overkill of a team for the mission to please Gato while showing the midget to not screw with him. To show him there would be no backstabbing from his side involved anytime soon or else...

That said, he did train his ninjas to retreat rather than die. Orochimaru wasn't sure Kidomaru was the only loss but he was certain that not all of his investments died. 'I have to find out what happened.' He thought as he left the laboratory, leaving the shuddering Riki behind to clean the mess.

"I have survived..." Riki let out a relieved breath, only now noticing how tense he was. He decided to take a two-minute-long pause so he could properly catch his breath.

After he at least somewhat calmed down, Riki looked at the corpse of his colleague, 'Unlucky bastard. This was his first day on guard duty.' He helplessly shook his head, 'Well, better him than me.' And shrugged.

Turning his gaze towards the humanoid goo nearby, Riki frowned. "And I have to clean this mess up. Just my luck." He grimaced.

By now, Kidomaru's corpse was but a bloody and fleshy goo in the form of a human, his liquefied innards spilling onto the ground around him by the second.

"I should start. Once it dries up, it would be a bitch to clean." Riki sighed and walked towards the closet where he knew were the necessary utensils for the job. As a guard whose patrol area was near laboratories, he was the poor sod who was usually given the task to clear the mess Lord Orochimaru made during his experiments. That's why Lord Orochimaru knew his name.

Approaching Kidomaru with a broom, ready to sweep him off the floor, Riki chuckled, "Funny. The spiderman got liquified from the inside out. And here I thought it was supposed to be spiders who did that. Hehe." With a chuckle, he put strength behind his sweep...

Orochimaru who was disgruntledly walking through the corridors of his hideout, deep in his thought, suddenly had to brace himself as a massive explosion shook the underground complex. He whipped his head towards where it came from and his eyes widened, 'Fuck! My laboratory!' He inwardly screamed and started running in the direction from where he came from.

He had everything there! His recent research result, his documents, his precious tools, his best DNA samples from various subjects and bloodlines! All of it!

He reached the hall leading to his laboratory, only to discover it had turned into a massive hole in the ground, enabling him to see the sky as if it was mocking him. The priceless fruits of his months-long effort were vaporized.

'Whoever is responsible for this... I will find you and skin you alive!' Orochimaru seethed in rage.

Unknown to Anko, her little gift did its job at Orochimaru-baiting better than she expected.

...

"Dead and captured? All except Tayuya and Guren who were captured are dead?" Orochimaru darkly asked, tightly gripping the armrest on his chair. It was already a week since Kidomaru's corpse exploded in his laboratory and the scouts finally returned.

Orochimaru was getting a little anxious when not one member of the Sound Four returned during the week. Well, now he knew why, mostly thanks to how chatty the people of Land of Waves apparently were about the happenings, and he was utterly pissed.

Konoha was protecting Tazuna?

Anko Mitarashi of all possible Konoha ninjas was a part of it? Orochimaru could almost imagine the rage of his former apprentice when she realized they were his grunts. Her expression when they activated the Cursed Seal must have been so hilarious!

At least, Orochimaru found it hilarious and felt a sadistic pleasure at imagining that situation for a brief moment before his mind reminded him it was Anko's fault that his elite subordinates were killed and captured.

'Kidomaru died of poison...' Orochimaru suddenly realized. 'Kakashi Hatake isn't all that proficient in poisons. The one responsible for decimating my laboratory should be Anko.' He reasoned. 'If I wasn't so pissed, I would be impressed.'

During the previous week, Orochimaru tried to find out what kind of poison was used. He couldn't really do any analysis since any remains of the poison were vaporized alongside Kidomaru's body but as an expert on poisons himself, Orochimaru had his theory. The only thing that could create such a blast with nothing but a dead body... It was obvious the poison used Kidomaru's chakra to make a bomb out of his body.

How such a thing was possible though... now that stumped Orochimaru.

Alas, he had bigger problems than the small fireworks in his laboratory. Kirigakure took the captured Guren and Tayuya.

The second he got to know that, Orochimaru instantly flared his chakra, activating the self-destruct function of Tayuya's Cursed Seal. That should have immediately killed her... except he felt no response.

'My seal was countered!?' He freaked out, making his breath hitch. The Cursed Seal was his masterpiece! Jiraiya had his Sennin Mode, Tsunade had her Strength of a Hundred Seal, and he had his Cursed Seal. It was his masterpiece and somebody managed to counter it!?

The Cursed Seal was not only a means to enhance his soldiers. Every piece of it contained a small part of his soul from which he could be reborn in the unlikely case he died. The grunt-enhancing function was just a small bonus in Orochimaru's mind.

Orochimaru hissed in anger, 'No. My seal is impenetrable. Not even Jiraiya can do anything about its earliest stage that doesn't contain my soul. Tayuya must be already dead.' He calmed himself and schooled his expression.

"You say that Anko Mitarashi is now S-rank kunoichi? Tsunade's apprentice?" He lifted his eyebrow. "She easily decimated my elites?"

The scout who kneeled in front of Orochimaru slowly nodded, too scared to put it into words lest Lord Orochimaru decided to relieve him of his head.

"Good job, you can go." Orochimaru indifferently stated and the scout vanished in a burst of speed, happy to be dismissed.

"Anko Mitarashi... heh." Orochimaru shook his head in disbelief. He threw away the girl because she was frankly useless. A burden. Worse yet, a burden he felt an attachment to. Now that he heard how strong she became despite the Cursed Seal that limited her growth... Orochimaru was proud. Proud enough to even forget about how her actions almost ruined three years of planning and preparing.

Almost...

"Does this mean we are abandoning the plan?" Kimiro, one of the Kaguya clan survivors whom Orochimaru promised clan restoration and revenge in exchange for his services, suddenly asked, emerging from the shadows near Orochimaru's chair.

"No... this just means I have to get creative." Orochimaru chuckled, his eyes dangerously narrowing as new plans and schemes were forming in his mind. A moment later, his expression eased and a small sly smile appeared on his face, "Heh~, Anko-chan became so strong... Maybe throwing her away was a bad decision. Hmm, looks like we need more allies."

And just like that, Orochimaru's plans for the Konoha invasion did one-eighty.

'I guess I should be grateful. Without Anko so easily killing my elites, I would never realize the forces I amassed are not enough.' Orochimaru chuckled, 'Konoha will rue the day they forced me to remake my plans!'