Chapter 45

"You," snarled Orochimaru, "Must you always ruin everything?" 

I ignored him and charged, scalpel in hand. I slashed towards him. He dodged, but not fast enough. A small cut appeared on his cheek and a drop of blood dripped down. His tongue came out and he licked the blood off. Disgusting… 

While he was doing that, I raced towards him again. Strengthening my legs with chakra, I kicked him hard in the stomach, sending him crashing into a tree. Using the same method as Sasuke, I sent chakra strands to wrap around him and pin him to the tree. 

This time, the strands were strengthened with Isobu's chakra as well as some Senjutsu. Orochimaru struggled against the strands but couldn't get out. "What do you want?" he asked. 

"A lot of things," I answered, "But mainly I want to know about Sasuke. His seal… it only has one tomoe." 

"Damaged goods," answered Orochimaru, "Never happened before. It's all your fault you know." 

"Not really," I said, "If you hadn't…" 

"Either way," said Orochimaru, "As he grows, the seal will grow with him. Eventually it will become three tomoe." Then, he faded into the tree. 

I cursed and turned around. Orochimaru stood behind me. "If you want a fight," he said, "I'll give you one." His mouth opened and he spit out a sword. Kusanagi. What were its abilities again? I couldn't remember. 

He raced towards me, sword brandished. I dodged the slash of his sword and dropped the scalpel in my pouch. In a single fluid motion, I pulled out my tanto. Our blades connected, sparks flew in the air and clanged. 

I infused my blade with chakra and enhanced the strength in my arms. I faked a jab with my tanto. He dodged and left an opening. I punched him, slamming Orochimaru into the floor, Tsunade style. 

The floor cracked like a spider web. Orochimaru turned to mud. I heard a hiss and turned just in time to see three snakes, with swords sticking out their mouths, shooting towards me. I ducked. Shifting my weight to my left foot, I spun and slashed the air above me. Thump. Thump. Thump. Three snake heads fell to the floor. Where their blood hit, the floor began sizzling. Poison. I jumped backwards. 

Orochimaru, being adept in all elements, spit fire at me. Paired with wind jutsu, its range was much more than I could dodge. I threw my kunai up but the seal on it just burned to ash. "Isobu!" I shouted. 

I felt his chakra envelop my body and when the fire disappeared and I opened my eyes, I saw his spiked shell covering me. It faded and I stood up and looked around. I sensed the chakra to my right. He was underground. 

I ran and slammed my foot into the floor. A crater appeared and Orochimaru jumped away. I ran after him and slashed my blade. This time it connected. A line of red appeared at his side. He clutched it and winced. I took the chance and aimed for his head. 

Something wrapped around my wrist, stopping me an inch away from him. Something grabbed my legs and wound around my waist. A snake coiled around my sword hand. It squeezed hard. I winced and dropped my tanto. Uh oh… 

Orochimaru coiled around my entire body, pinning my arms to the side. He squeezed and I gasped for breath. Not again… He squeezed and I struggled to breathe. 'Isobu, help?' 

"Too dangerous," he responded, "Your body cannot handle my power anymore." 

'Just do it! I'm going to die anyway!'

"Fine… " 

Chakra enveloped my body and Orochimaru uncoiled around me, looking burned. One of my eyes was closed and I could sense three tails flowing behind me. "Beautiful," said Orochimaru, "I will take home three tails today." 

Isobu growled in my head. "Beat him. You better win."

Orochimaru thrust his sword at me and I turned to the side as the sword grew longer and longer. So that was its ability… What a pain. 

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu." I made a bunch of shadow clones and ran for him, slashing with tantos and chakra scalpels. 

I tried to stab him in the stomach. He kicked me aside. POOF! Shadow clone. I tried to catch him off guard by attacking from above. Poof! Also shadow clones. Poof! Shadow clone… It was getting hard to see because of all the dust. 

I felt him grab me by the wrist and Orochimaru flung me hard and far. "Wind Style: Gale Palm." 

I shielded myself with my arms but the wind pushed me and I slammed into a row of trees. "Cough…" I tasted blood in my mouth and I stood up shakily. 

"Uhhh Rin…" said Isobu, "We can't keep this up for long. That cursed sealing already weakened you." 

"Don't worry," I said, "I have a plan." 

"Does it involve potential death?" 

"Maybe?" I began to absorb the chakra from the air. Slug Sage Mode! 

"Power ups?" asked Orochimaru as we walked towards me. 

I teleported behind him and kicked him in the back. He flew forward, coughing up blood. I continued this pattern, appearing at random places to kick and punch him. I stepped back. He was curled up on the floor. 

Nevermind. He stood up and groaned. He glared at me then licked his lips. Using his mouth, he bit his finger and started making hand signs. "Oh no you don't!" I darted towards him, scalpel in hand and stabbed… a very large snake. 

I jumped back as it hissed at me and attacked. I infused my blade with Senjutsu and aimed for the eye. It closed its eyelid and shook its head. I flew off and hit the floor. Pain shot through my body and I winced. 

Orochimaru was smirking at me. He was smirking! Like a child… The snake slithered up to me and flicked its tongue. I braced myself but an attack never came. "Orochimaru…" sssssaid the ssssnake, "You never told me I was fighting a ssssslug'sssss ssssssage…" he sssssaid, "You musssst fight her yoursssssself." With that, he left, leaving Orochimaru alone. 

I stood up and groaned. Orochimaru didn't give me a single moment to rest and charged towards me once more with his hidden shadow snake hands. I lept to my feet and ran but one dug its fangs into my ankle and I fell. I cut it off and threw the snake head but the poison was already in my system. I screamed as the pain spread throughout my body. It was in my system. I was poisoning my pathways. I winced. 

Orochimaru wasn't in the greatest state either. He was slower and weaker. It looked like it hurt to move. His body was bruised from the punching and kicking I had given him. One side was soaked red. 

I tried to punch him and he parried. I swung my foot, catching his ankle. He fell and I channeled my chakra into my fist. I gasped in pain. My punch slammed him into the floor again but he stood up and jumped away. Whatever this poison was, it was affecting my chakra pathway. Using chakra simply hurts. 

I attacked again and hit him square in the face. It was a mud clone. "Behind!" shouted Isobu. 

I turned just as Orochimaru thrust his sword right below the apex of my heart. "Agh!" He pushed it in so that I could feel the hilt of the blade. Then he twisted it and pushed me against a tree. 

"Rin!" shouted Isobu. 

I gasped in pain then stopped. Every part of a fight was an opportunity. "Strength of Hundreds Seal… unseal…" More chakra rushed through my body. Too much. I winced at the burning pain in my pathways. 

I channeled all of that chakra into my scalpel. The lines disappeared and Orochimaru grinned, thinking he had won. Then I slashed as hard as I could. The scalpel glowed before it turned red as I slit his throat. 

He stumbled back, pulling out his sword and clutching his throat. He tried to speak but all that came out was a gurgle of blood. Using the last of my strength, I ran and punched as hard as I could, slamming him into the floor. A smoking crater appeared. This time, it was the real Orochimaru. It was a dead Orochimaru. 

I picked up his blade, still fresh with my blood. I raised it and stuck it right where his heart was. He was dead and I had made sure of it. 

I stumbled back collapsed, curling in a fetal position. "Rin…" called Isobu, but through the burning of my pathways, I could barely here, "Rin…"