The moment Lin Zi woke up, the stone beneath him dug painfully into his back.
He grimaced, rolled over, and stared blankly up at the canopy.
Two days ago, he'd still been lying somewhere you could call a bed. Today, he had the sky for a blanket and the earth for a bed. He'd gone straight from a blazing temper to a blazing killing intent.
"Guess I'll make do. It's fine." He raised a hand to shield his eyes from the glaring sun and grumbled inwardly, "System, get ready to start a new character."
[Beep! Host, please name the character you wish to draw.]
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Lin Zi sat up cross-legged and dusted off his backside.
"How about Sasuke Uchiha? No matter which route, Sasuke's plenty strong, right?"
He rubbed his chin, muttering, then shuddered.
"No, wait. What if I get that womanizing, rose-tinted version of Sasuke? With his seduction skills, there's no way he'd bring Tsunade back."
[Confirmed: he would not bring her back. However, the chance of drawing that route is extremely low.]
"Even a low chance is too much. I'm not gambling." Lin Zi shook his head furiously.
"Let me think... Is there someone who'd get a screen full of shocked reactions wherever he went, and could even talk Tsunade—or Jiraiya—into coming back with him?"
A man's figure slowly came to mind.
Pale skin, golden slit pupils, a languid way of speaking, and a gaze that gave you goosebumps.
Orochimaru.
But Orochimaru from a different route.
"System, choose Orochimaru and start the draw."
[Beep! The host has confirmed the character. Beginning draw—]
[Congratulations, host! You drew "Orochimaru, the Spirit Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave"!]
Lin Zi froze for a second. "What the hell is a Spirit Snake Sage? So I got the Orochimaru who swapped personalities with Jiraiya?"
[The host's comprehension is truly MAX.]
"Cut the sarcasm." Lin Zi rolled his eyes. "Skip the nonsense and possess me."
As soon as the words left his mouth, a transformation began.
His hair grew wildly, then tied itself into a long black ponytail that reached his waist. The color drained from his skin as if it had been bleached, leaving it paper-white.
Eerie purple shadow spread around his eyes. His pupils narrowed into two slender golden slits, and a blue-green, tomoe-shaped earring appeared, weighing down his earlobe.
The strangest change was his tongue. It grew long and thin, and its forked tip couldn't help licking his lips, leaving a cool sensation.
"Hiss... This body..."
Then memories flooded into his mind like a rising tide.
Countless snake-based ninjutsu, Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu, secret techniques for activating cells, and a nearly greedy way of sensing Natural Energy—it all felt as if someone had stuffed him into a washing machine and put it on spin.
Lin Zi clutched his head and groaned. Veins bulged at his temples, and cold sweat soaked his back in an instant.
A few minutes later, he jerked his head up. A glint of demonic light flashed in his golden slit pupils as he gasped for breath.
"Phew..." He rubbed his temples, his voice now low and hoarse.
"Even with a personality like Jiraiya's, there's way too much knowledge in Orochimaru's head... It's giving me a splitting headache."
Lin Zi stood up and rolled his stiff neck. His joints clicked softly.
He looked down at his palm. A tiny white snake slithered out of his sleeve and looped around his wrist twice.
"Right. I'd better get ready. Time to find Tsunade."
He set off toward a town near the Land of Fire's border.
The morning mist had yet to clear. Lin Zi had taken only a few steps when his golden pupils narrowed. The sensing ability granted by Ryūchi Cave Senjutsu detected three sources of chakra rushing toward him from the southeast.
They were probably Konoha trackers.
But the cold, slimy quality of their chakra was just like something crawling up from underground.
Lin Zi's lips curled into a dangerous smile, and his tongue flicked over them.
"Tch. I've barely changed skins and someone's already come delivering themselves to me? I hope they're not too fragile. I still need to practice my skills while playing the part."
Shadows shifted among the trees ahead. Three figures emerged from the morning mist.
Yamanaka Fu led the group, with two Root operatives behind him.
The three of them saw Lin Zi's paper-white face and Orochimaru's trademark golden slit pupils. They clearly froze for a moment, then spread into a triangular formation.
"Missing-nin Orochimaru." Yamanaka Fu's voice was flat. "Why are you at the border of the Land of Fire?"
Lin Zi tilted his head. His forked tongue darted out to lick his lips. "Missing-nin? When did I become one?"
He spread his hands, and a laid-back, Jiraiya-style drawl emerged from Orochimaru's eerie voice, creating a startling contrast.
"And what are you Root rats blocking my way for? Why don't we talk this out? If we can't come to an understanding, I'll go complain to the Third Hokage and tell him his men don't know how to behave."
"...What?"
Yamanaka Fu and the two operatives were completely dumbfounded.
Was this Orochimaru? Would Orochimaru call the Third Hokage "old man"? Would he complain?
"What are you playing at?" Yamanaka Fu tightened his grip on his sword.
Lin Zi sighed, a hint of helplessness in his snake-like eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about. So, could you let me through? I'm in a real hurry."
Yamanaka Fu didn't waste any more words. The first rule of Root was that when a target behaved incomprehensibly, they should subdue him with force.
All three moved at once, kunai and short swords lunging at Lin Zi from three directions.
"Honestly, why does everyone go straight to fighting?" Lin Zi stepped back half a pace and brought his hands together. "Fine. I'll just knock you out."
Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode—activate!
Two horns suddenly sprouted from Lin Zi's head. The purple shadow around his eyes darkened, and a translucent nictitating membrane slid over his pupils—the special membrane snakes used to block genjutsu.
He pressed one hand to the ground.
"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation."
The loose stones beneath his feet, the gravel, and the broken bricks buried in the soil seemed to have been switched on. They came alive in an instant.
They grew, twisted, and fused into two stone snakes that shot forward, striking the two Root operatives precisely in the temples.
Thud! Thud!
Neither man made a sound before crumpling to the ground.
Yamanaka Fu's pupils contracted. From the moment they attacked to the moment his teammates fell, less than a second had passed.
"Listen carefully."
Lin Zi straightened and brushed the dust from his hands. His golden slit pupils swept coolly over Yamanaka Fu.
"I couldn't care less about all that missing-nin nonsense you're spouting. I'm looking for someone on behalf of another person. Take your two little rats and go back. Don't make things difficult for me."
Yamanaka Fu glanced at his unconscious teammates on the ground, then at the horns on Lin Zi's head and his inhuman eyes.
He said nothing. Grabbing both men by the collars, he vanished into the depths of the forest.
Root had always been quick to retreat. If they couldn't win, they ran—without wasting a moment.
[Beep! Emotional fluctuations detected in Yamanaka Fu and the Root fodder.]
[Orochimaru (Spirit Snake Sage) roleplay progress increased by 3%. Current compatibility: 3%.]
"So little." Lin Zi pursed his lips and dispelled Sage Mode. The horns on his head shrank away. "Guess that's what you get with fodder."
He brushed off his clothes and continued toward the town.
"Hey, the person up ahead—is that—"
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