Orochimaru's Defection

Leaf Village's morning was torn apart by piercing alarm bells.

Hyuga Xiao stood by the window of the Branch House dormitory, watching dark figures shoot out from the direction of the Hokage Tower. They were ANBU elites. A stifling atmosphere hung over the village; even the usually bustling market was unnaturally quiet.

"Xiao, something huge happened."

Tokuma Hyuga pushed open the door, his expression grim enough to drip water. Lowering his voice, he spoke as rapidly as a barrage of bullets. "Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Ninja, defected! At dawn, he took all the core materials from his laboratory, killed three guards, and now ANBU is pursuing him at full force."

Xiao turned around, his calm expression surprising Tokuma.

"Specific intelligence."

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

Xiao's pupils narrowed slightly.

"Go on."

"Anko suffered an emotional breakdown during the interrogation." There was a trace of pity in Tokuma's voice. "She attacked the interrogation ninja and shouted that she wasn't Orochimaru's puppet. She's being held in solitary confinement now. ANBU suspects Orochimaru left some kind of forbidden technique mark inside her body."

The alarms outside continued to blare.

Xiao lightly tapped his fingers against the windowsill. His rhythm was steady, but his eyes were as cold as ice.

A system panel appeared in his vision:

[Fate Node warning: Mitaraishi Anko's turning point of fate 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, then immediately understood. "Ko Hyuga from the logistics team. He..."

"Have 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 a Branch House member..."

"Precisely because I'm from the Branch House." Xiao turned around, a sharp glint flashing through his eyes. "An inconspicuous Branch House boy, utterly 'loyal' to the Main House and merely hoping to live peacefully—who would spare a second glance if he went to deliver some supplies?"

Tokuma fell silent.

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

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

The Interrogation Division was located three levels underground in Leaf Village.

The cold corridor reeked of disinfectant, while the torches on the walls cast wavering shadows. An ANBU ninja stood guard every ten meters, eyes behind masks sweeping over every person who passed.

Hyuga Xiao pushed a supply cart, kept his head lowered, and walked softly.

His Byakugan had silently activated the moment he entered the underground level. Within his flawless three-hundred-and-sixty-degree field of vision, the chakra flow across 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 said coldly, "Identity."

"Hyuga Branch House, logistics team, Hyuga Xiao." Xiao raised his head and revealed a perfectly measured, somewhat timid smile. "By order of the Main House, I've come to deliver today's supplies to the Interrogation Division."

He handed over his pass.

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

"Yes."

Xiao pushed the cart into the supply warehouse. He moved slowly, deliberately placing several boxes in the wrong positions while counting the supplies, then crouched down to rearrange them. Throughout the process, his Byakugan remained fixed on 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!"

There was desperate sobbing in her voice, along with the crisp sound of something breaking—she had probably smashed something.

Xiao's fingers paused slightly.

He heard ANBU's harsh rebukes, the hum of binding techniques activating, and Anko's struggles gradually turn into whimpers. It sounded like a wounded cub uselessly throwing itself against an iron cage.

[Countdown to Fate Node intervention: 3 minutes]

The system prompt flickered at the edge of his vision.

Xiao stood up and pushed the empty cart toward the exit. As he passed the corridor outside the isolation room, he "accidentally" crashed into the cleaning tools placed at the corner of the wall.

The bucket tipped over, and dirty water spread across 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! Right away!"

Xiao clumsily wiped the floor, looking every bit like a genuine thirteen-year-old boy. Yet he had already shifted into a blind spot outside the isolation room's door.

A faint light seeped through the crack in the door.

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

Two interrogation ninja stood before her, their tones icy.

"Mitaraishi Anko, what did Orochimaru leave inside your body?"

"Tell us, and we can help you."

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

"Watch your words!"

"Am I wrong?" Anko suddenly laughed, her laughter thick 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 to erode her consciousness. If this continued, Anko would either be consumed by the Curse Mark or be classified as "high-risk" and disposed of by ANBU.

Now.

Xiao formed an extremely subtle hand seal within his sleeve. It was a chakra fluctuation technique the Hyuga Clan used to convey secret messages, one he had learned from ancient texts. A thread of chakra, so faint it was nearly impossible to detect, followed the dirty water across the floor and silently seeped into the isolation room.

That thread of chakra trembled lightly beside 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 on the floor. Her pupils constricted sharply.

Who was it?

She instinctively wanted to look up and search, but the vigilance ingrained through years of training made her restrain herself. She merely shifted her foot slightly and stepped over the wet patch.

The interrogation ninja noticed nothing unusual and continued pressing her. "What did Orochimaru say to you before defecting? 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 isn't worth taking away, nor is one worth Leaf Village being overly wary of. Satisfied now?"

The two interrogation ninja exchanged a glance.

That explanation... did fit Orochimaru's character. That man truly viewed his disciples as experimental material and discarded the ones that did not qualify.

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

"Understood."

The door closed.

In the corridor, Xiao had already packed up the tools and was pushing the cart away with his head lowered. As he passed the isolation room, his Byakugan swept over it one final time.

Anko sat in the chair, still keeping her head lowered.

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

By the time he returned to the Branch House dormitory, it was already evening.

Tokuma Hyuga was waiting 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 been classified as a 'low-threat observation subject.' She's safe for now."

Tokuma let out a breath of relief, then frowned again. "But what good does that do? She's Orochimaru's disciple. ANBU won't let her go 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 tapped 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 clustered there, and the powers are chaotic. It's the best place for him to establish a new base." Xiao's voice was quiet, yet carried a certain certainty. "ANBU's pursuit won't succeed. If one of the Three Legendary Ninja were that easy to capture, they wouldn't be one of the Three Legendary Ninja."

"You mean..."

"Wait." Xiao raised his head, his gaze profound. "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 ANBU loosens its surveillance of her."

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

"Not get her out." The corners of Xiao's lips curved into a faint smile. "Give her a choice—keep staying in Leaf Village as a 'failure,' or come with me and personally tear apart the one who carved that Curse Mark into her..."

The room fell silent.

Tokuma looked at the boy before him and suddenly felt a chill. That calculation, that patience, that coldness which treated human hearts and the situation as chess pieces... was he really only a thirteen-year-old Branch House boy?

"By the way." Xiao suddenly spoke. "How has the Main House reacted?"

"Lord Hiashi went to the Hokage 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 families.' Also... the guards at the Main House Treasury have been tripled."

Xiao lightly tapped the map with his fingers.

"It seems our surveillance crystal from last time made them wary." 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 flickered on.

The village had seemingly returned to peace, but the undercurrents surging beneath its surface had only just begun.

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

The words in the water on the floor 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 within her heart.

She clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms.

Orochimaru-sensei... no, Orochimaru.

You said I was a failure.

Then I'll live and prove you wrong.

In my own way.