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You are making a mistake boy, the voice whispers. You are no match, no match at all,” and Kinoe - no, Tenzou - might once upon a time have flinched away, pulled back and ran because the presence of this snake means Orochimaru knows he’s here and knows he is coming.
Once upon a time, Tenzou would have been scared.
But that was a long time ago. And now, Tenzou can only find anger.
And Tenzou has a list of people to kill, a list of people who need to die and this man is at the top.
He grabs the snake in his hand and lets it writhe in his grip, it’s fangs exposed and hissing without restraint, desperate to ensnare a piece of skin and inject its poison.
Tenzou reaches his other hand up and clamps down on the snakes head and squeezes until he feels the bones crunch and snap in his hands and the blood drips through his fingers.
Tenzou steps over the body of the shinobi he just killed, one of Orochimaru’s minions and lets the snake fall to the ground.
He continues through the trees, and his heart pulses no faster than usual. He does not sweat, his hands do not shake and his steps do not waver.
This is what he has trained for after all. This is what he was built for after all. This is what Orochimaru and Danzou created.
Tenzou has only faltered once when ordered to kill someone, Kakashi Hatake, and that was the moment he realised.
He realised a lot of things, one of them being for his entire life, he has only ever been someone else's tool.
That was also a long time ago, and Tenzou hasn’t faltered since.
His feet crunch through the undergrowth and Tenzou lets himself feel. He can feel every tree, every flower, every river and every animal.
flowers bloom out of each step, flowering pinks and purples, blues and oranges.
Tenzou walks to Orochimaru’s hideout and pauses a few metres from its entry.
All Tenzou has ever done is obey and obey and obey. All Tenzou has ever done is be a good shinobi, a good experiment.
He takes a breath and plants move with him, the trees sway with each measured breath and the grass shivers with every movement.
Tenzou closes his eyes and lets his chakra rage.
He takes one carefully measured breath and focuses, lets the sage markings burn their way across his skin and for a moment, even with his eyes closed, Yamato can see every living thing around him in such clarity, he can’t help but smile.
He opens his eyes and his chakra bursts along with him. He goes through the seals that he has been so desperate to use and slams his hands into the forest floor.
“Senpō Mokuton: Shin Sūsenju” Tenzou whispers, mostly to himself, mostly for the thrill of saying it.
There’s a deep, low rumble and the Shodai’s thousand hands statue rises from the earth.
Orochimaru created him. Orochimaru created this. So, it’s only logical that he die by him as well.
Tenzou doesn’t smile, but he doesn’t need to. Orochimaru needs to die, and Tenzou is more than happy to accommodate it.