I Will Become the Wind

CHAPTER 9 | Snake Devours Its Own Tail

Orochimaru's hideout was just as unsettling as all the others Naruto had visited recently. Given the present company, and the fact that they were in the future dimension again, it was probably even worse.

The tunnel-like hallway was dark and cold. The torches along the walls were placed too far apart, casting the floor and spaces in between into inky shadow. Even as they walked past countless doors through the labyrinthine hallways, there didn't seem to be anyone else around. Without Kabuto here, did Orochimaru simply live in this big place all by himself?

"Where are we going?" Naruto broke the silence.

"To retrieve something we need."

"Why? What is it?"

Orochimaru didn't seem the least bit concerned about them trying to run away, or attacking while his back was turned. He spoke without turning around.

"To state the situation simply: Obito-kun could not return to your dimension because you, his link to that dimension, got taken out of it. You must have figured that much out already, to seek help from Minato."

"Yeah, so what can we—"

"The only way to return is to find another anchor connecting that dimension to the outside. It takes a very uncommon sort of power to jump between utterly disconnected dimensions. Even as you are with both eyes, Obito-kun, you still require a pathway. You have yet to reach the full extent of your abilities. I assume you already understand what it will take to develop your Sharingan further?"

Obito scowled. "The point is, we don't have a pathway. That's the whole problem."

"Fortunately, you do."

Orochimaru stopped in the hall. He pressed his palm against the stone wall, and a hidden door slid open. He stepped through the door without waiting for them to react. They looked at each other again and followed him inside.

This hidden room was much larger than the one Naruto had stumbled into back in his own time. It was full of quietly humming instruments and glowing interfaces, including a row of aquatic tanks large enough for human-sized specimen. Thankfully, they were empty—at least, as far as Naruto could tell.

Further along, he took note of a kind of console covered in switches and buttons. If they needed to cause some quick chaos, that would be a likely place to target.

Against the back wall there was another control module, and attached to it was a gleaming steel pod, poised at a 45-degree angle, also large enough to hold a person.

But what was inside wasn't a person. Through the thick plastic of its top half, they could see one of the Zetsu clones. In appearance, it was no different from the ones they had fought and been during their stay in the future.

"This doesn't explain anything." Naruto pointed at the clone, which appeared to be in some kind of stasis. At any rate, its eyes were closed, and it wasn't moving. "If you're suggesting we go back to being plant monsters, you can forget it."

"No. That would do nothing to solve your problem. I warn you that what I'm suggesting may be even harder to accept. But if you listen carefully before deciding, you will see there is something we can both gain from it."

"Yeah, I doubt it."

Orochimaru once again chose to continue explaining rather than respond. He typed a command into the control board, and the plastic covering on the pod glided down slowly, exposing the clone to the air. It didn't even twitch.

"This is the same state both of you were in while your souls were here, except in reverse," Orochimaru said patiently, his dry, husky voice breaking through their disgusted trance. "When the soul leaves, the clones will remain identical to the summoned person for a while, but after the borrowed energy runs out, it will return to its original form. And yet, it is irrevocably altered. It is still a living thing, but its capacity for consciousness is forever tied to the soul that once inhabited it. Even if that soul is no longer in this dimension."