It's Me. Don't You Miss Me?

Someone was standing there.

His skin was pale as paper, and his golden slit pupils glinted coldly in the dim light. Eerie purple eyeshadow was painted around his eyes, and his black ponytail hung down to his waist. The blue-green tomoe earrings swayed gently with each step.

"Clack."

The three chips in Tsunade's hand slipped from her palm and hit the floor. One rolled twice before stopping right in front of Lin Zi.

Lin Zi glanced down at the chip, then walked over to the gambling table. His golden slit pupils sized Tsunade up and down. A forked tongue slipped out and slowly licked his lips.

"So you're the Tsunade around here?"

He tilted his head, the snake-like pupils reflecting Tsunade's dazed, drunken face.

"You're more like..." He reached down and picked up a chip, spinning it between his fingers. His tone was calm but cutting. "A sore loser with a gambling problem than I imagined."

"Thump."

A fat customer beside them finally couldn't take it anymore. His legs gave way, and he slid right off his stool and under the table, rattling the chips across it.

"O-Orochimaru!"

"It's Orochimaru, the S-rank rogue ninja! Run!!"

The gambling den erupted into chaos.

Those closest to the door scrambled out, knocking over chairs and losing their shoes without even noticing.

In no time, the place was completely empty. Those who hadn't managed to get out hid wherever they could, crouching down or cowering behind the counter, trembling as they prayed not to be found.

"What, am I the enemy of the entire Shinobi World or something?"

Lin Zi looked around the empty room, then down at the fat gambler still trembling by his feet. He raised a hand to his forehead in exasperation.

With a sigh, he tossed the chip back onto the table and turned to Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were still staring blankly.

"Let's go, you two. We can't keep playing with things like this, can we?"

"Oh, right. I nearly forgot. Miss Shizune, if you don't mind, come along too. It's too noisy in here."

He nodded, and without waiting for a response, turned and headed for the door. His black ponytail swung behind him as he stepped out into the night first.

"Jiraiya..." Tsunade's voice sounded distant, as if she had just been dragged up from deep underwater.

She instinctively shrank back, then dropped into her chair. Her drunkenness vanished completely, and a layer of cold sweat broke out across her back.

"Am I going crazy, or have you defected?"

She stared hard at the figure outside the door. In her memory, this man absolutely shouldn't have been here.

Not during the turbulent years when they had been known as the Sannin, nor in the long years afterward, when he had defected from Konoha and become an S-rank fugitive.

"I haven't defected." Jiraiya scratched his head, looking helpless. "But him... it's a long story."

He lowered his voice and leaned close to Tsunade's ear.

"There are things you'd have a hard time believing even if I told you. Anyway, that snake isn't the one we know. He fell here from another world. As far as I know, only I'm aware of it, but I figured there was no harm in telling you. You'll have to deal with him sooner or later."

"...He isn't the Orochimaru from this world?"

Tsunade's throat felt dry.

"That's more or less the idea."

Jiraiya sighed and pulled Tsunade, still dazed, up from her chair.

"Come on, let's get outside. Look how badly he scared everyone."

Shizune clutched Tonton, her little face pale, and followed the two of them on unsteady legs.

As she stepped out of the gambling den, the night breeze made her shiver.

Outside, Lin Zi stood with his hands behind his back, his black ponytail drifting gently in the night wind.

Hearing their footsteps, he turned half his face slightly. His golden slit pupils looked like two cold amber stones in the lantern's dim, yellow light.

He licked his lips, his gaze passing over Tsunade and Jiraiya before settling on Shizune. His tone was languid, yet carried an undeniable pressure.

"Should we find somewhere else to have a fight... or catch up?"

"You bastard!"

Tsunade stared hard at that face. Her shock lasted only a moment before anger and pain began to tangle in her mind.

"Wearing Orochimaru's face..." she gritted her teeth, each word forced through them. "Playing tricks here—what are you really after?!"

Clearly, she didn't believe for a second that this was Orochimaru.

"Don't believe me?" Lin Zi shrugged and turned toward the edge of town. "Then let's go somewhere else and see for yourself. Follow me."

No one spoke along the way.

Tsunade clenched her fists, her nails almost digging into her palms. Jiraiya walked between them and tried to speak several times, but Tsunade's murderous expression stopped him each time.

Clutching Tonton, Shizune followed at a quick trot, shoulders hunched. She barely dared to breathe.

Only after they entered a shadowy wood, where the moonlight was broken into fragments by the canopy, did Lin Zi stop and turn around.

"Here should do." He tilted his head, his golden slit pupils glinting coldly in the shadows. "Tsunade, how do you want me to prove it?"

Tsunade didn't answer him.

A fist that tore through the air was her reply!

Boom!

The punch was impossibly fast. Tsunade shot forward like a cannonball, her fist whipping the fallen leaves into a vortex before landing squarely on Lin Zi's face! It was at least ten times heavier than Might Guy's punch earlier!

"What did you think our bond back then..." Tsunade's furious roar shook the leaves from the trees. "Meant to you?!"

Smash!

Lin Zi's head burst like a crushed watermelon, sending blood and flesh flying.

But the next second, the scraps suddenly turned into a pallid heap of shed snake skin and flopped limply to the ground.

The real Lin Zi emerged from the shadows beside a tree. He rolled his neck, unharmed.

"Hiss..." He sucked in a breath and touched his cheek. "Tsunade, your monstrous strength is as terrifying as ever."

"Enough talk!" Tsunade spun around. "Jiraiya, you're joining in too!"

"Tsunade, stop fighting. He really is—"

"If you're not going to fight, shut up!" Tsunade glared at him. Jiraiya opened his mouth, then sheepishly stepped aside and fell silent.

Tsunade stamped both feet into the ground, chakra surging into her soles.

"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"

Rumble!

The earth was struck as if by a massive hammer. Cracks spread out like a spiderweb from the spot where she landed, and the entire surface of the ground heaved up. Rocks and dirt poured toward Lin Zi like a downpour!

Lin Zi was pushed half a step back by the blast of air. He rubbed his forehead in exasperation. "Looks like we won't be able to talk tonight unless I beat you into submission."

He brought his hands together. The chakra around him abruptly changed, and a cold, violent surge of Natural Energy burst from his body.

Two horns suddenly thrust up from his head. The purple eyeshadow around his eyes deepened until it was almost black, and a nictitating membrane slid over his pupils.

"Sage Mode... activate!"

Tsunade's pupils contracted. "Orochimaru in Sage Mode?"

"Sage Mode from Ryūchi Cave." Lin Zi grinned, his forked tongue licking his lips. "You've heard of it, haven't you?"

"Heard of it? Of course I have!"

The diamond-shaped mark on Tsunade's forehead suddenly lit up. She raised a hand and wiped it away, releasing the seal.

"Strength of a Hundred Seal: Release!"

Boom!!!

Vast chakra poured out of her body like floodwaters bursting through a dam, forcing the ground beneath her feet to sink.

Tsunade's hair whipped wildly in the chakra storm. She looked like a lioness driven into a frenzy.

"Come on! Show me what kind of monster you really are!"