Chapter 283 - Rescue Tsunade Senju
"I'll try to make it as painless as possible… Fare well." Orochimaru gazed at the sleeping form of his former friend/teammate for a few more seconds and then turned to a dark corner of the room.
"Bring her." Orochimaru ordered and a shadow disappeared from the corner.
As one his bodyguards went to bring Shizune, Orochimaru thought about the response the Leaf village would take.
'Tsunade's pet should no doubt reach the village by morning or at the latest noon. When sensei learns what happened he'll do everything he can to look for me.'
Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a small laugh. 'I could have stopped the message but where is the fun in that? It's much more entertaining to know that sensei is squirming in panic. He'll know time won't be on his side. Fortunately for me, I've taken countermeasures. He won't be able to get to me here. Now all I need to do is wait for the results.'
—-
In an eerie dimly lit room the pained groan of a female could be heard.
"Oohh…" 'What happened to me?'
Shizune woke up from her sleep and slowly looked around. She immediately realized she was in an unknown area and her teacher was nowhere nearby.
'Damn it. It's Orochimaru…. Did he only kidnap me or… What's going on?'
She was on the ground and moved her hands and feet only to find out that they were restrained with heavy chains. The young medic looked around trying to find anything useful for her to use for her escape.
'Not good. They took all my hidden weapons and poisons. Moreover I can't bring my hands together to form seals and manipulate my chakra.'
She focused on her internal chakra and tried to increase the strength of her arms but it didn't show any results. The medic took a closer look at the chains holding her and noticed small seals on them. 'So that Snake also sealed my chakra. This isn't good.'
Shizune turned her head and took note of every inch of the room. 'Ok. Looks like I'm in some sort of a dungeon with my limbs restrained and my chakra sealed. Ok think. What do I do?'
As she was trying to come up with a plan, Shizune suddenly heard the door unlock. A figure she recognized from the earlier fight entered the room and came near her. The person had light blue grey color hair with long bangs that covered one eye. The strangest detail was the 2nd head hanging limply from the upper back of the person.
"Who are you?" Shizune asked. There was anger in her voice.
"My name is Sakon. One of Lord Orochimaru's trusted guards." Sakon spoke with a condescending smile as he looked at the chained medic.
"Where am I?"
Sakon just smiled at the woman. "You have a lot of questions don't you? Well, I'm not here to answer any of them."
He moved to the chains restraining Shizune. He was about to release his prisoner but stopped and looked at the woman. "We have your sensei. So don't even attempt to grow a brain. If you do anything we don't tell you, both of you will die."
Shizune stilled hearing the threat. 'They have Lady Tsunade? No. This can't be…'
Seeing that the young medic understood her situation, Sakon proceeded to remove the chains and in a few moments freed her. "Follow me."
He turned around and began walking with a reluctant Shizune following him. "Where are you taking me?"
"To your sensei. Now shut up and be quiet."
Shizune was angry but she knew the dangerous situation she was in. 'Do they really have Lady Tsunade? If they do then I need to be more careful. I need to find a way to get us out of here without them knowing.'
Soon the two reached a large door and Sakon walked through followed by Shizune. She immediately froze upon seeing Tsunade restrained in a medical bed, asleep. She rushed over to help but a cold chilling voice stopped her.
"Don't move."
Shizune turned to the side and saw Orochimaru's malicious gaze. His intent and powerful presence was suffocating to her. Sweat dripped down the side of her face as she looked at the Snake Sannin. But she mustered her courage and didn't back down. "What did you do to her?"
"Nothing drastic… yet." Orochimaru spoke and slowly raised his right hand. Shizune saw a syringe with a blue liquid inside and she suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Hey what is that?"
Orochimaru chuckled and moved closer to the sleeping Tsunade. "You'll find out soon."
Shizune realizing his intentions moved to stop him but suddenly she heard a strange melody and her body froze. She couldn't move. 'What is this?'
It only took her a couple of seconds to figure it out. 'Genjutsu. I need to escape it.'
She struggled and brought her hands together to disrupt the chakra flow. Shizune got free but by then it was too late. Orochimaru had injected the blue serum into Tsunade's body.
"What did you just do? What was in that syringe?" Shizune rushed near Tsunade and looked at her.
A few seconds after the serum was injected into her, Tsunade began to experience pain. Even though she was unconscious she was in agony. A pained groan escaped her lips and her body pulled the chains tight.
"It has begun." Orochimaru spoke as he looked at Tsunade.
"What's happening to her?"
"I created a serum using the first Hokage's DNA. But to stabilize and perfect it, I need Tsunade. And that's also why you're here alive." Orochimaru replied and turned his attention to the young medic. "Tsunade's body is currently undergoing a metamorphosis. Her cells are being destroyed and recreated into something new. Her entire DNA is being rewritten."
Shizune's eyes widened when she heard that. "But something like that… It will kill her."
"Maybe. But that's why you're here. To make sure that doesn't happen. Now, your teacher needs you. Since the process has started it can't be stopped unless it's either completed or she's dead. So don't focus on trying to come up with a plan to escape. Concentrate on keeping her alive."
Shizune gritted her teeth but she couldn't do anything against someone as powerful as Orochimaru. She immediately brought her palms atop Tsunade and used her medical diagnostic jutsu. Her palms glowed green and Shizune immediately found out what was happening to Tsunade's body.
'That serum Orochimaru injected has already begun to cause biochemical reactions within her cells. Her vitals are slowly becoming erratic.'
Orochimaru stepped back and kept a close eye on both medics. 'Tsunade's cells will start to undergo rapid mitosis and differentiation soon but will it lead to wood-like structures within her body? I made sure to reduce the presence of yang chakra but what was present is still too much for an ordinary person. Let's see if you can handle the power of the First Hokage.'
Orochimaru looked at Tsunade's apprentice trying to keep her teacher from dying. 'Yes. It was an excellent choice to use Shizune. But it's a shame I'll have to kill both of them. If this experiment is successful I have no doubt Tsunade would be able to use wood style. Maybe not on the level of the First Hokage but her strength and chakra would definitely increase. She'll most certainly hold a grudge. I can't have that. Once Tsunade's blood is stabilized, I can handle the rest. At that time I'll kill them both. I'll dispose of Shizune but Tsunade's corpse will be a valuable research tool. Kukuku…'
While Orochimaru was scheming, Shizune was praying in her heart. 'Please Tonton. Hurry. You're our only hope.'
—-
Leaf Village: March 21.
Time: 6:00am
Daichi and Kensei were at the village gates. The guards were verifying Kensei's documents and soon he was given the clearance.
Daichi looked around and noticed that the patrol ninjas were fewer than last night. 'The Hokage hasn't completely lifted the emergency lockdown but the severity has been reduced.'
Kensei looked at Daichi and had a small grin. "It'll be a while before I get back. Try not to cause any incidents before then."
"I'll make sure to keep my head down. I promise…" Daichi replied with a grin. But the smile dimmed. "Are you sure you don't want any escorts for this journey? You are going to the Hidden Sand village…" He asked with a serious face.
Kensei nodded. "I'm not that helpless that you need to worry about me boy. I'll be fine. I'll return within two weeks."
Daichi nodded and said goodbye to his grandfather. Kensei left the village and soon disappeared out of Daichi's sigh. He turned around and only walked a few steps before he heard a very familiar sound.
"Oink oink."
'What the… Is that…?' Daichi immediately turned around expecting to see Tsunade and Shizune but was surprised to only find Tonton running straight towards him.
'Where are the others?'
As Daichi looked at Tonton he immediately noticed its panicked body language. His eyes narrowed and he immediately ran up to the little pet pig.
"Oink oink oink…"
"What's wrong Tonton?" Daichi asked, seeing the restlessness of the pig. He suddenly noticed the blood stains on its clothes and his eyes narrowed. He carefully examined the garments and quickly found a piece of paper safely tucked inside. He unruffled the paper as he read its contents he became shocked.
"How the hell did this happen!?" Daichi unknowingly exclaimed out loud. He looked at the message written.
Ambushed near the border. Orochimaru plus 5 assailants. In trouble.
The note contained the location and time of the attack but nothing more.
'This is definitely Shizune's handwriting. And it's written in blood. She mustn't have had much time.'
Daichi immediately opened the Mini-Map and tried to locate his sensei but it was of no help. 'Damn it. I can't find either of them on the map. My map now shows most of Fire country but the fact that I can't find them… Did Orochimaru take them out of the country?'
At that moment a quest appeared. One of the most important quests he got till date.
[Quest created - Rescue Tsunade Senju.]
[Orochimaru has kidnapped Tsunade Senju and Shizune Kato several hours ago for unknown purposes. Their lives are in danger. Their current location: unknown. Find out where Orochimaru is hiding them and rescue your Teachers before the time runs out. Successfully bring Tsunade and Shizune alive to the Leaf village to complete the mission.] [Time limit: 60 hours]
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[Conditions:]
[Find the location of Orochimaru's hideout.]
[Do not let Orochimaru capture you or anyone with you during the rescue mission.]
[Rescue Tsunade and Shizune before the time limit and bring them to the Leaf village.]
[Escape from Orochimaru and his guards. ]
[Do not die.]
[Defeat/Kill Orochimaru's Guards(Bonus)]
[Defeat/Kill Orochimaru(Bonus)]
[Destroy Orochimaru's base(Bonus)]
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[Rewards:]
[150000 Exp.]
[New Title.]
[Stat points(Bonus)]
[Special Stat points(Bonus)]
[Reputation increases with Leaf Village citizens.]
[Reputation increases with Fire country citizens.]
[Your name will spread all over the globe.]
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[Failure:]
[Possible cancellation of the coming Chunin exams.]
[Possible civil war in the Leaf village.]
[Failure to rescue Shizune Kato: Possible enmity between Tsunade and the Leaf village. ]
[Failure to rescue Tsunade Senju: Attack on the Leaf village in the near future/ Fourth great ninja war in the near future.]
[Death of Jiraiya and several significant others.]
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[This quest is automatically accepted.]
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[Warning: Failure of this quest will have several other unknown consequences in the future]
Daichi looked at the quest that popped up and his hands slightly trembled as he saw the consequences of the Failure. 'Damn it! The time limit is 60 hours. That means two and half days… Not good. That's too short of a window to find them… No. I can't waste time just standing here. I need to get to the Hokage tower and alert him.'
Daichi quickly picked up Tonton and rushed straight to the tower. He ignored the ninjas nearby and moved as quickly as possible. Daichi flared his chakra to alert the guards in the tower of his arrival and soon he burst into the Hokage's room.
He saw the Hokage, his personal guards, Inoichi and Ibiki all looking at him with confusion at his brazen entrance.
"Daichi. What is the meaning of this?" Hiruzen asked in a calm tone as he looked at the boy. He then noticed the pig in Daichi's hands and immediately recognized it as Tsunade's pet.
"Lord Hokage. It's Tsunade sensei. She and Shizune were attacked by Orochimaru." Daichi spoke without wasting any time.