Orochimaru had expected it to be at least a little difficult to slip away from the Guard barracks, even after they were settled in for the night. After all, the bulk of the Guard was completely unaltered, at least so far as the resistance's best efforts could determine. The officers were altered to ensure their loyalty, and the Emperor seemed to trust that and the threat of Blanking to keep the rank and file in line.
It wasn't a bad plan, Orochimaru had to admit. The Blanks were an effective weapon of terror, both directly as soldiers and as the threat of joining their ranks, but they were nearly mindless, and not suited to governing the Empire they had conquered. The renegade Sannin wasn't certain whether that was a limitation of the Master PC or the Emperor, though he suspected the latter.
Still, the Guard were unaltered, and that meant they were unsafe. Particularly here, in the heart of the Imperial Palace, were Orochimaru the Emperor he would have ensured that the Guard was watched carefully by trusted eyes. Instead, the powerful genjutsu he used to cloak his passage was nearly pointless, as he encountered nothing but half-aware guards and tired servants as he made his way down the ornately decorated corridors.
Even as a veteran of thousands of infiltrations, Orochimaru's heart began to speed up as he entered the better protected areas of the palace, closer to the chambers of the Emperor and his "brides." Finally, events were beginning to move. After so much cautious manipulation, prodding the resistance to bolder and bolder acts, the nascent rebellion had attracted the Emperor's interest.
With a few carefully calculated moves, he could ensure that interest strengthened. By watching the Emperor's reactions, he would be able the gauge the limits of the Master PC, at least as wielded by that simpleton, all to prepare for the moment when he would seize its power for himself. And, best of all, the rebellion would even thank him for using it as his tool. He would earn their trust, and they would never think to question his word when he claimed that he had destroyed the Master PC... for, unlike the fool calling himself the Emperor, Orochimaru knew just how much more powerful such a weapon would be if none knew he wielded it.
The guards at the entrance to the dungeons, former Leaf ANBU if Orochimaru judged right, were alert, but it only took him a bit more concentration to cloud their senses as he slipped by. It took him less than ten minutes to find the room he was looking for, but it was a busy ten minutes.
Three guards died silently in that time, their only mistake crossing Orochimaru's path. Orochimaru had decided to take the time to paint the leaf sigil of Konoha on the corridor wall in their blood, then wasted a few moments pondering whether Sarutobi would have been horrified or amused by that particular touch. The old geezer couldn't have denied him the right, though. As bizarre as it was, Orochimaru was fighting to save Konoha and the Fire Country from slavery.
Fortunately, the prisoner he was looking for was for the moment alone in the torture chamber. By the Emperor's standard practice, it would have fallen to Hyuuga Hinata to interrogate her, and as powerful as he was, Orochimaru was no young firebrand who sought to test his strength at any opportunity. He had seen some of the Emperor's other brides in battle before, and he knew just how difficult a fight any of them was likely to be.
The door's lock broke easily, and Orochimaru slipped into the room, noting that the blonde kunoichi's drug-addled eyes didn't rise to meet him. He laid one hand on her bare back, not caring that he pressed down painfully on her wounds, and sent a probing coil of chakra into her. As he expected, there was no sign she had been altered by the Master PC, though even he wasn't certain whether that meant she hadn't been.
Then his hands started to glow a pale green as he activated a medical ninjutsu and set to clearing the girl's mind and healing the worst of her wounds. Orochimaru was no expert medic like his former teammate Tsunade, but his quest to master all the world's techniques had not skipped over this field. His talents would more than serve to get Temari on her feet, at least long enough for the escape.
It didn't take long before she began to respond, looking over her shoulder to see who her savior was. He smiled, only slightly menacingly. "Orochimaru," he introduced himself. "I don't believe we've met, at least formally."
"Why," she said weakly, than began to cough.
"Am I risking this?" Orochimaru asked. After an instant's thought, he decided to be honest. "To win your teacher's trust." His smile widened. "And to irk this Emperor."
Thin blades of chakra suddenly severed the chains suspending the kunoichi in the middle of her cell, but Orochimaru supported her and kept her from falling.
"Thank you," Temari said. She took a deep breath, then added, "What now?"
A loud sound shook the prison cell, and Orochimaru smiled once more, this time doing nothing to hide the menace in it. "The palace's guard barracks just exploded," he said simply. Another, smaller series of explosions sounded. "And that would be the other prisoners being freed," he added, before forming a rapid set of seals, then pressing both hands against the stone wall. The sheer force of his chakra shattered the wards designed to prevent such things, and the rock began to melt away, forming a small tunnel leading upward.
"After you," Orochimaru said, and Temari complied.
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(Posted Fri, 09 Nov 2007 07:18)
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