"You're certain?" Orochimaru's voice was smooth, almost casual, but his golden eyes studied Saeko with sharp intensity. "This is not a path you can walk back from."
Saeko met his gaze without flinching. "I know." No hesitation. No doubt.
This was a gamble, a lifetime decision. Once she stepped into his world, there was no turning back. But what was left for her here? A peaceful life after the apocalypse? A return to normal?
No. That wasn't her.
Orochimaru hummed, not quite a chuckle but close. He could see it. The way she held herself. The way her fingers flexed slightly, eager, impatient. She had already decided.
A world of shinobi, he had told her. Not just ninja, but samurai too. A place of battle and strength. Somewhere she wouldn't have to hold back. Somewhere she wouldn't feel out of place.
Of course, she could die, cut down before she even had the chance to stand on her own.
But did she care?
No. If she died, that just meant she wasn't strong enough. And the weak had no right to complain. That was the law of the world. This one, the next—probably every world out there.
That answer, so absolute, so resolute, earned a glint of approval in Orochimaru's gaze.
"Very well."
He didn't waste a breath. With a flick of his wrist, he pulled out a scroll, slapped a hand on Saeko's shoulder—gone. Just like that. Stored away, ready to leave.
Just her.
The Takagi duo? Gone before sunrise. No surprise there.
Some might think they had the courage to stand against him, but no. It wasn't bravery, it was fear. Fear of dying. Fear of losing each other.
Yesterday had wrecked them. A real-life death game. No wounds, no missing limbs—but their minds? Shattered.
One slip-up, one damn squirrel, and they nearly bit it. If something that small shook them, what the hell would they do when the real monsters showed up?
And shinobi?
They didn't hesitate. No second chances. Death was just part of the job.
So they ran.
Straight into the dead, thinking that was safer than staying with him.
Fear makes people do dumb shit.
Did he care? Not really. Maybe once, back when he saw potential in everything. When he hoarded talent like a dragon with gold.
But now?
He wasn't some desperate fool begging for followers.
They ran? Fine. He took the one who wanted to come.
Simple.
He had power. He had time.
Them? Who even knew if they were still breathing?
Were they free? Or had he captured them without their knowledge?
Could they even leave without his permission?
"Let's go."
The moment the travel card hit its limit, gone.
Shinobi World.
Orochimaru landed exactly where he had left.
His gaze dropped to a red flower with strange blue veins.
A smirk.
"One month," he murmured, stepping forward.
Time moved the same in both worlds. He knew because before leaving, he had planted that seed. A local breed—one that took exactly a month to bloom.
"Let's see how that clone handled the situation," he muttered, reaching out to take control.
In the next second, the dimly lit cave disappeared, replaced by the sterile, metallic gleam of a laboratory.
His hands instinctively moved inside his robes, retrieving a scroll. He unrolled it with practiced ease, scanning through its contents.
A record of daily events.
He had left the command to maintain it, because he couldn't access the memories himself.
One major flaw of this ability.
Even if the clone was destroyed, it wouldn't pass anything back. No recollections, no insights. Just gone.
Flipping through the notes, most of it was routine. Nothing stood out. Nothing worth his attention.
Except one name.
Amachi.
A rogue ninja from the Land of the Sea.
If someone didn't know him, well… just think of him as a miniature version of Orochimaru.
Only, where Orochimaru had vast curiosity, Amachi had a singular obsession.
Hybrids.
Orochimaru had been searching for him, because from what he remembered in the anime, the man had summoned something rare.
A water elemental.
Even in all his years of research, he had never encountered one personally. Only vague mentions in records, scattered details in scrolls.
And yet, here it was.
A creature so rare that even he, with all his knowledge, had never laid eyes on one.
He had to know more.
But first, he needed to return to the village. He had commanded the clone to leave the village, so there wouldn't be two of him present at once.
Yes, there were clone techniques, but no ordinary clone could survive for a month.
He needed to get back to his lab soon. While he was conducting experiments in Highschool of the Dead, it wasn't the same as working at his own table, in his own room, in his own lab.
He had many plans, many ideas.
Most of them might not be useful, but his scientific mind refused to discard any of them.
His past life memories had only amplified certain aspects of his personality, like his lustful nature, but they hadn't dulled his scientific curiosity.
Despite knowing the fate of this world, he would still do many things, if only to satisfy his curiosity.
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