Orochimaru's Defection

The sharp wail of alarms tore through Leaf Village's morning.

Hyuga Xiao stood by the window of the Branch House dormitory, watching shadows shoot out one after another from the direction of the Hokage Tower. They were ANBU elites. An oppressive atmosphere hung over the village, and even the usually bustling market was unnaturally quiet.

"Xiao, something big happened."

Tokuma Hyuga pushed open the door, his expression grim enough to drip water. Lowering his voice, he fired off words like a string of cannonballs. "Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Ninja, defected! Before dawn, he took all the core research materials from his laboratory, killed three guards, and now the ANBU are pursuing him with everything they have."

Xiao turned around, his calm expression catching Tokuma off guard.

"Specific intelligence."

"Orochimaru's laboratory has already been sealed off. All test subjects and materials have been secured." Tokuma took a deep breath. "His student, Anko Mitarashi, was taken away by the ANBU for questioning early this morning. The news from the Interrogation Division... isn't good."

Xiao's pupils contracted slightly.

"Speak."

"Anko suffered an emotional breakdown during the interrogation." Tokuma's tone carried a trace of pity. "She attacked the interrogation ninja and screamed that she wasn't Orochimaru's puppet. She's being held in solitary confinement now. The ANBU suspect that Orochimaru left some kind of forbidden technique mark inside her."

The alarms outside continued to blare.

Xiao lightly tapped the windowsill with steady fingers, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

A system panel appeared in his vision:

[Fate Node Warning: Anko Mitarashi's fate turning point has been triggered]

[Current intervention probability: 87%]

[Recommended action: Establish an anchor of trust when Anko is at her most vulnerable]

"Tokuma." Xiao's voice was soft. "Who from the Branch House is assigned to deliver supplies to the Interrogation Division today?"

Tokuma froze for a moment, then understood. "It's Ko Hyuga from the logistics team. He..."

"Make him 'suddenly fall ill.'" Xiao cut him off. "I'll go in his place."

"Xiao, that's too risky." Tokuma lowered his voice. "The Interrogation Division is full of ANBU right now. You're just from the Branch House..."

"Precisely because I'm from the Branch House." Xiao turned around, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes. "An inconspicuous Branch House boy, utterly 'loyal' to the Main House, who only wants to live peacefully—who would spare a second glance for him just because he delivered some supplies?"

Tokuma fell silent.

He watched Xiao take out a faded logistics uniform from the cabinet, his movements unhurried. This boy was only thirteen, yet his composure and calculations made even Tokuma, an adult, feel a chill.

"Keep an eye on the Main House's reaction for me." Xiao put on the uniform, his tone even. "Hiashi should be busy showing his loyalty to the Hokage right now. He won't have time to care about a small move by someone from the Branch House."

The Interrogation Division was located on the third underground level of Leaf Village.

The cold corridor reeked of disinfectant, while the torches on the walls cast flickering shadows. Every ten meters, an ANBU ninja stood guard, their eyes behind their masks sweeping over everyone who passed.

Hyuga Xiao pushed a supply cart along with his head lowered, his steps light.

The moment he entered the underground level, he silently activated his Byakugan. Within his flawless three-hundred-and-sixty-degree vision, the chakra flow throughout the entire floor was clear. Interrogation rooms, holding cells, surveillance rooms... and, in the special isolation room at the very end, a violently fluctuating mass of chakra.

That was Anko.

Her chakra was as chaotic as a storm-tossed sea, mixed with a cold, viscous foreign presence—Orochimaru's Curse Mark.

"Stop."

Two ANBU blocked the end of the corridor. One of them asked coldly, "Identity."

"Branch House of the Hyuga Clan, logistics team, Hyuga Xiao." Xiao raised his head and revealed a perfectly timed, slightly timid smile. "By order of the Main House, I'm delivering today's supplies to the Interrogation Division."

He handed over his pass.

The ANBU inspected it carefully, then used some kind of technique to verify its authenticity before waving him through. "Go in. Put down the supplies and leave immediately. No lingering."

"Yes."

Xiao pushed the cart into the supply storage room. His movements were slow. While checking the items, he deliberately misplaced several boxes, then crouched down to arrange them again. Throughout the process, his Byakugan remained locked onto the isolation room.

A suppressed roar came from deep within the corridor.

It was Anko's voice.

"Let me go! I'm not... I'm not his puppet!"

Her voice carried desperate sobs, along with the sharp crack of something breaking—she had probably smashed something.

Xiao's fingers paused slightly.

He heard the ANBU's rebukes, the hum of binding techniques activating, and Anko's struggles slowly turn into whimpers. She sounded like an injured young beast futilely throwing itself against an iron cage.

[Fate Node Intervention Countdown: 3 minutes]

The system prompt flashed at the edge of his vision.

Xiao stood up and pushed the empty cart outward. As he passed the corridor outside the isolation room, he "accidentally" knocked into the cleaning tools placed in the corner.

The bucket tipped over, and dirty water flowed down the corridor.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Xiao hurriedly crouched down to clean it up, his voice full of panic.

An ANBU frowned and walked over. "Clean it up quickly!"

"Yes! I'll be done right away!"

Xiao clumsily wiped the floor, looking every bit like a real thirteen-year-old boy. But his position had already shifted into the blind spot outside the isolation room.

A faint light shone through the crack beneath the door.

Through that sliver of light, Xiao saw Anko bound to a specially made chair, her hands and feet locked in chakra-suppressing shackles. Her hair was disheveled, tears stained her face, and her hollow eyes stared at the ceiling.

Two interrogation ninja stood before her, their voices cold.

"Anko Mitarashi, what did Orochimaru leave inside you?"

"Tell us, and we can help you."

Anko's lips moved, her voice hoarse. "Help me? You just want to confirm whether I'm a dangerous object, then decide whether to destroy me or keep using me..."

"Watch your words!"

"Was I wrong?" Anko suddenly laughed, her laughter dripping with mockery. "Isn't Leaf Village exactly like this? Useful tools are kept. Useless ones, risky ones... are disposed of."

She raised her head, and something in her eyes went completely dark.

"After all, I'm just experimental material."

At that moment, Xiao saw the Curse Mark at the back of her neck faintly darken as cold chakra began eroding her consciousness. If this continued, Anko would either be consumed by the Curse Mark or be deemed "high risk" and disposed of by the ANBU.

Now.

Xiao formed an extremely subtle hand seal inside his sleeve. It was a chakra fluctuation technique the Hyuga Clan used to transmit secret messages, one he had learned from ancient texts. A thread of chakra so faint it was nearly imperceptible flowed along the dirty water on the floor and silently seeped into the isolation room.

That thread of chakra vibrated gently near Anko's feet, forming tiny words visible only to the Byakugan:

[Live for yourself]

Anko's body suddenly stiffened.

She lowered her head and saw the fleeting trace in the water stains on the floor, her pupils abruptly shrinking.

Who was it?

She instinctively wanted to look up and search, but the vigilance ingrained by years of training kept her under control. She merely shifted her foot slightly and stepped on the wet patch.

The interrogation ninja noticed nothing unusual and continued pressing her. "What did Orochimaru say to you before he defected? Did he reveal his next plan?"

Anko was silent for several seconds.

When she spoke again, her voice was much calmer. "He said... I was a failure."

"What?"

"He said my talent was insufficient to withstand his techniques, so the Curse Mark he left on me was incomplete as well." Anko lowered her eyes, her tone self-mocking. "A failure wasn't worth taking away, nor was I worth Leaf Village being overly wary of. Satisfied now?"

The two interrogation ninja exchanged glances.

That explanation... did fit Orochimaru's personality. That man truly viewed his own students as experimental material and discarded those who failed to meet his standards.

One of them turned and left the isolation room, speaking quietly to the ANBU in the corridor. "Preliminary assessment: the Curse Mark is unstable, but its threat level is low. Recommend temporary detention and observation."

"Understood."

The door closed.

Out in the corridor, Xiao had already finished cleaning up the tools. He pushed the cart away with his head lowered. As he passed the isolation room, his Byakugan swept over it one last time.

Anko sat in the chair with her head still lowered.

But her fingers curled lightly within the gaps of the shackles.

By the time he returned to the Branch House dormitory, evening had fallen.

Tokuma Hyuga waited in the room. The moment Xiao returned, he shut the door. "How did it go?"

"Contact successful." Xiao took off the logistics uniform, his tone calm. "Anko has now been classified as a 'low-threat observation subject.' She's safe for the time being."

Tokuma let out a breath of relief, then frowned again. "But what use is that? She's Orochimaru's student. The ANBU won't let her off easily."

"That's why we need the next move."

Xiao walked to the table and spread out a map of the Shinobi World. His finger landed on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice Paddies.

"Orochimaru will definitely go to the Land of Rice Paddies after defecting. Small countries are scattered there, and the powers are chaotic. It's the ideal place for him to establish a new base." Xiao's voice was soft, but carried absolute certainty. "The ANBU's pursuit won't succeed. If one of the Three Legendary Ninja were that easy to catch, they wouldn't be the Three Legendary Ninja."

"You mean..."

"Wait." Xiao raised his head, his gaze deep. "Wait until Orochimaru gains a foothold in the Land of Rice Paddies. Wait until the Curse Mark inside Anko becomes unstable because of the distance. Wait until the ANBU's surveillance of her relaxes."

Tokuma suddenly understood. "You want to... get her out then?"

"Not get her out." The corner of Xiao's mouth lifted into the faintest curve. "Give her a choice—stay in Leaf Village as a 'failure,' or come with me and personally tear apart the one who carved that Curse Mark onto her."

The room fell silent.

Tokuma looked at the boy before him and suddenly felt a chill. That scheming, that patience, that coldness which treated both human hearts and the situation as chess pieces... could he truly be just a thirteen-year-old from the Branch House?

"Oh, right." Xiao suddenly spoke. "What was the Main House's reaction?"

"Lord Hiashi went to the Hokage's office three times today." Tokuma came back to himself and hurriedly reported. "On the surface, he was expressing the Hyuga Clan's outrage over the defection. In truth, he was testing the Hokage's attitude toward bloodline-limit clans. Also... the guards at the Main House's secret vault have been doubled."

Xiao lightly tapped the map with his fingers.

"It seems our surveillance crystal last time put them on guard." He paused. "But it doesn't matter. Let them be nervous. The more nervous they are, the more openings they'll reveal."

Outside the window, Leaf Village's lights gradually came on.

The village appeared to have regained its calm on the surface, but the undercurrents beneath had only just begun to stir.

And in that underground isolation room, Anko Mitarashi leaned against the cold wall and closed her eyes.

The words in the water stains replayed over and over in her mind—[Live for yourself].

Who was it?

That Branch House boy delivering supplies? Or someone else?

It didn't matter.

What mattered was that those words were like a seed, quietly taking root in the most barren place in her heart.

She clenched her fist, her nails digging into her palm.

Orochimaru-sensei... no, Orochimaru.

You said I was a failure.

Then I'll live and prove you wrong.

In my own way.