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Twin Demons. Chapter 28
🕑 Added 2025-09-24 21:45:56 +0000 UTCMenma returned from the academy alone. Today, the boys had regular lessons, while the girls were sent off to the so-called “kunoichi courses.” There, future kunoichi weren’t taught how to mix poisons or kill silently — but how to care for their hair, paint their nails, and bat their eyelashes at boys. For Naruko, this was worse than torture. She’d been left among giggling girls sharing secrets on “how to make a boy like you.”
Of course, she rebelled, grumbled, protested — but she still went. Academy rules.
Menma, however, didn’t really understand her resistance.
[What’s so bad about being liked? Beauty is a weapon too. And Naruko is clearly going to grow into a beauty. Boys already look at her more than at Sakura. Strange that she doesn’t notice.]
The shrine was as quiet as always. He slipped off his shoes, walked across the cool stone tiles, reached his room, and set his backpack with textbooks in the corner.
On the table lay an open scroll with the Rashōmon Gates technique. Menma glanced at it — and his mood soured.
[I’ve got an idea how to turn this “fence technique” into something actually useful. But it means overhauling the entire formula, rewriting seals, testing dozens of variants… Months of work. If I’m honest — the Hokage just dumped useless junk on us to keep us busy for at least half a year.]
“Forgive me for entering uninvited,” a voice whispered softly behind him.
Menma spun around instantly, his heart sinking.
A white snake writhed on the floor. Its mouth opened wider, wider — unnaturally, impossibly — and from inside crawled a human figure. First a pale, thin hand. Then a face with chalk-white skin, long black hair, and serpentine eyes.
“Orochimaru,” Menma croaked, his throat dry.
“Oh, you know who I am,” the man’s lips curled upward, revealing ivory fangs. He was clearly savoring the moment. “How delightful to meet a clever child. Their brains… taste exquisite.”
[In my house — a serial killer, exiled from Konoha for experiments on children. Calm down. Stop trembling! Pull it together, coward. Think! If he wanted to kill me or kidnap me, he’d have done it already. That means he came to talk. Fine. Let’s play. I’ll play along.]
Menma deliberately sat down on a chair, crossing one leg over the other.
“What do you want in my home?” he asked, as if the intrusion of a legendary missing-nin was a daily occurrence. “Surely there are other holes in the world to crawl into?”
“It’s surprisingly cozy here,” Orochimaru strolled lazily along the wall, fingers gliding over the spines of scrolls and books. “But what I like most is this barrier. No one eavesdrops. Not ANBU, not your esteemed Hokage. Here you are alone… and no one will come to help.”
His eyes gleamed as he clicked his teeth predatorily.
“Don’t forget about my big red friend,” Menma smirked, patting his stomach. “He’s always with me.”
The snake-eyed man chuckled softly, approval hidden in the sound.
“Quick on your feet. No wonder they call you a genius. Truly your father’s son. Though, you know… by your age Minato had already graduated the academy. Yet here you are, still a student.”
“No reason to rush,” Menma shrugged, keeping his composure. “So what do you really want?”
“Simply… to tell a story.” Orochimaru leaned against the wall, arms folded across his chest. His voice turned soft, almost hypnotic. “Tell me if you’ve heard it. A boy. An orphan. A genius. He comes under the Hokage’s gaze. A mutually beneficial arrangement begins. The boy works, gives, contributes… In return, he’s granted techniques. But over time he realizes: he gives more than he gets. Yet he can’t protest — too dependent.”
“Enough,” Menma cut him off. “You came here to narrate my life?”
“No,” Orochimaru bared his teeth, his smile stretching wider, colder. “That’s my story. But I’m glad to hear you caught the resemblance. I see it too. That’s why I’m here. I came… with an offer.”
Menma shot to his feet.
“I’m not going anywhere with you!” His voice rang with steel. “You’re a child killer and vivisector!”
“Whose words are those? My dear sensei’s?” Orochimaru’s tone dripped with bitterness. “I thought you’d already learned not to trust politicians. Or have you forgotten how they hid your parents’ names from you?”
“Right now, I’ve got far more reason to trust the Hokage than a runaway murderer,” Menma replied coldly, sitting back down.
“Mistrust. A habit of searching for hidden motives in others. A hunger for knowledge and power. That’s what your personal file says,” Orochimaru chuckled. “With such a disposition, they’ll never let you leave Konoha. They’ll lock you in an underground lab and only let you out for war. I know what I’m talking about. My file said the exact same thing.”
Menma frowned.
“I don’t understand where you’re going with this.”
“What if I told you there’s a place free of politics?” Orochimaru’s gaze bored into him, as if trying to hypnotize. “A place where you can grow without limits.”
“I’d say that’s an uninhabited island,” Menma snorted.
“Once — yes. But now I’ve settled it. Refined it. Built laboratories, gathered techniques from all over the world.” He smiled smugly. “My library grows constantly. I can grant you unlimited access to it.”
“I suppose you want payment,” Menma said dryly.
“Correct. You’ll craft scrolls of techniques for me.”
[So that’s it. Now it’s clear why he crawled in here.]
“Surprised you even know about my talent,” Menma said, narrowing his eyes. “Hiruzen assured me production was kept in deep secrecy.”
“Among his trusted ANBU are some who preferred my power to sweet speeches about the Will of Fire.” Orochimaru’s eyes gleamed predatorily. “You can do the same.”
Menma crossed his arms. “You want scrolls from me and promise techniques in return. How are you any different from the Hokage?”
“I don’t clutter your head with empty slogans about patriotism or hide a long list of secrets behind my back,” Orochimaru’s voice carried no trace of jest. “I don’t pretend to be a kindly grandfather. I may not look pleasant — but I am real.”
“Fine, I hear you.” Menma slowly rose from the chair, feigning boredom. “But as I said before, I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“I don’t expect an answer today.” Orochimaru spread his hands in mock surrender. “If a jinchūriki disappears from Konoha, sensei will unleash a storm. He’ll send hounds across the world, and one of the first places they’ll stop is with me. And I’m not ready for guests yet.” He smirked. “But in three years — that’s another matter. By then, sensei will give you less and demand more. Trust me, I know him better than most.”
“We’ll see,” Menma said curtly.
[Honestly, this maniac is already getting on my nerves. Konoha isn’t paradise, sure — but a snake’s den isn’t heaven either. The sooner he leaves, the better.]
“By the way,” Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and flashed his serpent’s grin, “I didn’t come empty-handed. I have a gift for you.”
“I’ll pass,” Menma cut him off sharply. “The Hokage doesn’t like it when I accept gifts from strangers — especially from nukenin.”
The Snake Sannin chuckled quietly, and there was something… mournful in his laugh. “How familiar. At your age, I too racked my brains over how to grow stronger without angering my sensei. Pleasant to remember.”
“All very touching…” Menma frowned. “But you talk too much.”
[I’m seriously considering running to the Hokage and spilling everything. So far Orochimaru’s been nothing but a headache, and a few extra trust points with Gramps definitely won’t hurt.]
“I told you, I know how you think,” Orochimaru suddenly grew serious. His voice dropped, low and almost hypnotic. “I can make you stronger. Faster. Much faster. It’ll give you a leap in taijutsu. And it’ll all look like coincidence.”
Menma narrowed his eyes.
“What kind of power? And let me warn you right away: I don’t need your cursed seal. I know how everyone in the village treats your student. Worse than a rat.”
“I think the reputation of the Hero’s son would make up for a few inconveniences,” Orochimaru drawled lazily. But when he caught Menma’s dark glare, he stopped joking. “No, I’m not talking about the seal. What I’m offering isn’t tied to me directly. It’s… evolution. Releasing the beast inside. You’ll become faster than the Inuzuka, stronger than the Akimichi. Tempting, isn’t it?”
“‘Not tied to you,’ you say…” Menma clearly had doubts, eyeing his opponent’s long tongue and fangs.
“You got the result right, but the technique isn’t mine,” Orochimaru explained. “Such methods exist everywhere. In the Land of Water — the Hoshigaki clan. In the Land of the Sea — shinobi with fish mutations. In the Snake Clan — they helped me evolve. Even the local Inuzuka have techniques for temporary beast transformations. The difference is that I can make the effect permanent.”
“And what will I end up looking like?” Menma frowned. “With gills and a three-meter tongue? No thanks.”
“In your case, it’s simpler.” Orochimaru pointed at the dark whisker-marks on his cheeks. “You began mutating in your mother’s womb. I’ll only help finish the process. You’ll become closer to the Kyūbi.”
“Details.”
“Sharper pupils, claws keener, hair thicker. Overall you’ll still look human. Just with power.”
[Sounds like the zero-tail form… Honestly, I can work with that.]
“My sister needs this boost too,” Menma said firmly.
“Of course,” Orochimaru smirked. “Your file states it plain as day: unbreakable bond with your sister. I accounted for that. My offer extends to her as well.”
Menma fell silent. For several minutes he studied every movement of the Sannin, every word. No trap was obvious yet.
[If he wanted to harm me, he’d have done it quietly. Right now, showing himself like this is a risk. This really does look like recruitment: slow nudging, promises of power. And yes, that fits his style. And refusing free power would be stupid.]
“Fine,” Menma finally said. “I accept your gift. What do you need from me?”
“Nothing,” Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in satisfaction. “I’ll handle everything myself. And in such a way that sensei won’t suspect a thing. Wait for it.”
Once again he dissolved into the maw of a snake. Scales rasped across the floor, and the vile white creature slipped into a crack.
Menma exhaled loudly and sank back into his chair.
[Great. As if Kurama wasn’t enough, now I’ve got another manipulator. Again pushing me against the Hokage and against Konoha. I feel nostalgic already. Now the real trick is playing this game so that the profit ends up mine.]
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