OROCHIMARU JOURNEY from NARUTO MULTIVERSE to OMNIVERSE with GACHA

Let's go, Orochimaru thought, briefly glancing back at the mall before turning away. There was still more to learn from Vermouth, but this wasn't the place.

He had already started walking, his pace steady and uncaring. Seeing that, Vermouth frowned slightly. She had expected at least a flicker of curiosity—some comment, some probing question about her identity. After all, most people wouldn't just walk away from someone like her. But Orochimaru?

He didn't even look back.

Still, she was in no position to complain. With a quiet sigh, she followed him.

Just as they stepped out of the mall, Orochimaru's eyes shifted left—and narrowed. Up ahead, near the edge of the parking lot, he saw Saeko shielding a small child, her bokken raised against a slowly approaching group of zombies.

He didn't need to guess what happened. The moment she hadn't followed him inside, he'd suspected something had gone wrong. Now he had confirmation.

Vermouth noticed his gaze and followed it, her eyes landing on the scene.

The child couldn't have been more than six or seven, clinging to Saeko's leg with terrified eyes. The zombies weren't moving fast, but they were getting closer—and Saeko looked tense, torn between protecting the child and attacking.

Vermouth clenched her fists.

She wasn't exactly a saint—far from it. She'd done things that would make most people question her morality. Lied, manipulated, even killed. But even she had a line.

And that line was kids.

Her instincts screamed at her to step in, but she held back. Would Orochimaru even allow it? Would he see it as weakness? A waste of time?

But she didn't have to wonder long.

In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru disappeared from her side. With a burst of body flicker technique, he reappeared between Saeko and the zombies.

His movements were fluid.

A kunai flashed in his hand, and before the first zombie could even groan, its head was severed. Then the next. And the next. Orochimaru didn't stop until every single one of them lay twitching on the ground, motionless.

Saeko let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The child clung to her tighter.

Vermouth approached carefully, her boots crunching over broken pavement and bloodied gravel. She glanced between the corpses, the child, and the pale-skinned man calmly wiping his kunai clean.

"I hope you don't make a habit of acting on your own," Orochimaru said coldly, his sharp gaze fixed on Saeko.

He wasn't shouting. He didn't need to. His tone was enough.

While he preferred his specimens to act independently, that freedom only applied when their actions didn't risk causing him inconvenience or loss. Saeko, as far as he was concerned, had potential. Something worth grooming. Something worth watching. But not something worth cleaning up after.

"Sorry…" Saeko muttered, eyes lowered. She knew what she did was risky. Someone like Orochimaru wouldn't have hesitated to kill—not just her, but even the child she'd tried to save. Sentiment didn't matter to people like him. Only results.

Orochimaru didn't respond immediately, simply flicked the last drop of blood from his kunai before turning his gaze.

"Do you know a place we can use? Big and empty," he asked, looking directly at Vermouth.

She was still visibly shaken—not by the zombies, but by the way Orochimaru had closed the distance in an instant.

"I… there's a mansion nearby," she said, recovering quickly. "Owner is on foreign trip last I checked. It should be secure enough if we block the entrances."

He gave a nod. That was enough.

"Lead them there."

With that, Orochimaru vanished again using Body Flicker.

A moment of silence followed before Vermouth turned to Saeko. "Let's go."

Her eyes briefly flicked to the young girl clinging tightly to Saeko's leg. Do I know her? Something about the child's face felt oddly familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"Yeah… thanks," Saeko nodded, then crouched down to the girl's level. "Do you know where your parents are?"

The child's expression darkened for a moment before she quietly muttered, "Dead."

Both women fell silent, the weight of the word settling between them like fog.

Vermouth hesitated, then asked gently, "Do you have anyone else to go back to?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she realised how pointless the question was. Even if she did, how would we find them in this chaos?

The girl looked up at Vermouth, trying to hold back her emotions, then shook her head and mumbled, "No one."

Vermouth frowned. Something about her tone… it felt off. There was more to it than just grief. But she quickly dismissed it. She's just a child who lost her parents… of course she's not going to act normal.

Still, a strange feeling lingered in the back of her mind.

"We should leave. They're gathering again," Vermouth said, eyes narrowing as more zombies began to shuffle into view.

Saeko didn't waste time. She picked the girl up and nodded.

The two of them moved quickly, Vermouth following. She glanced at Saeko, wanting to ask about her relationship with Orochimaru—but decided against it for now. There would be time for questions later.

Outside, she spotted a car that looked mostly intact. Approaching it without hesitation, she crouched down, examined the lock, and began working it with a small tool she pulled from her coat.

Saeko raised an eyebrow, watching her with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Is she a thief? she wondered, but kept her thoughts to herself and simply got in once the door opened.

The car roared to life after a quick spark of ignition, and within seconds, they were speeding away from the blood-soaked mall, leaving the undead behind.

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Pokemon