At the border of the Land of Fire.
A breeze carried dew through the air. A small snake slipped out of a crack, surveyed its surroundings with its vertical pupils, then returned underground.
Before long, a weary figure emerged onto the surface and trudged toward the edge of the forest.
Facing the increasingly dry wind, Orochimaru gazed at the distant yellow sands, his face pale. They marked the natural boundary between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Once he crossed that border, he could briefly escape the village's pursuit.
Only one person was pursuing him: Jiraiya. After receiving intelligence about him, Jiraiya had dogged him relentlessly, intent on persuading him to return to the village. But the village could no longer accommodate his ambitions. There was no going back.
Over the past few days, the Medical Ninjutsu he had developed had healed most of his injuries. Even the most troublesome one, the depression in his chest, had gradually begun to recover.
At first, he had thought the palm print merely sealed chakra, as the Gentle Fist typically did, and had admired the exquisite technique of the Hyuga Branch Family member he had taken an interest in. Only later had he gradually realized something was wrong. That palm strike seemed to have left a special kind of chakra inside him, constantly eating away at his body.
While he was still puzzling over what that special chakra was, he had encountered Jiraiya...
He had realized that the Hyuga Branch Family member had mastered Senjutsu. That strike had been a Gentle Fist infused with Senjutsu. No wonder it had been so powerful.
Senjutsu was a power he wanted to learn but could not, yet now a member of the Hyuga Branch Family possessed it.
That talent left him a little