The forest near Konoha pulsed with suffocating tension, the shadows of the trees twisted by the flickering glow of dying flames.
Takeshi, covered in blood, his katana trembling in his hand, was panting with his back against a massive oak. Anko Mitarashi, a predatory figure, stood facing him, her brown eyes blazing with sadism.
Shadowy snakes slithered around her, ready to strike. Her katar was sheathed, but her hands were weaving a threatening jutsu.
Takeshi, drained of chakra, could feel death looming. He was no longer the hunter, but the prey. Desperate, he gambled everything.
He sheathed his katana, raising a trembling hand, his breath ragged.
"Anko... wait…" he murmured, his voice broken yet calculated.
She raised an eyebrow, her snakes pausing, though her gaze remained ice-cold. The boy knew her name—she needed to know more.
"You've got five seconds before I gut you, kid. Talk."
Takeshi, relying on his knowledge of the original story, took a breath.
"Orochimaru... you want his head, right? I can help. I know where he's hiding." He watched her face, hoping for an opening—but the effect was explosive.
The name Orochimaru made Anko flinch, her eyes widening with rage. "You dare say his name?" she hissed, her chakra flaring.
"Damn... not the reaction I was hoping for…" Takeshi quickly assessed.
Without warning, she lunged, her fist smashing into his jaw. The impact slammed him against the tree, bark cracking under the force, blood spurting from his lip.
"You know nothing about him!" she roared, her knee slamming into his gut. Takeshi collapsed, breathless, blood dripping onto the moss.
She grabbed him by the collar, yanking him up brutally, her katar brushing his throat.
"Where did you hear that? Speak, or I'll cut you up!"
Dazed, Takeshi spat out a bloody wad.
"I've... got information..." he gasped, trying to buy time. Anko, furious, slammed him to the ground, driving a senbon into his shoulder. Pain shot through him.
"What info? You one of his dogs, huh?" she growled, punching his cheekbone.
A crack echoed, his vision blurred, blood dripping from his brow. He raised a shaky hand.
"Not... his dog... I want... to kill him... like you..." he murmured, playing on her hatred of Orochimaru.
Anko, suspicious, slowed her assault, the senbon still pressed to his neck.
"You're a liar," she hissed, but a flicker of interest lit her eyes. She lifted him again, pinning him to the tree, her shadow snakes coiling around his wrists, immobilizing him.
"Where is he? Talk, or I'll rip your tongue out." Takeshi, out of strength, tried one last trick.
He faked unconsciousness, eyes half-closing, while channeling the last of his chakra into a Body Flicker Technique.
He vanished, reappearing five meters away, katana drawn, trembling.
Anko, surprised but amused, chuckled. "Persistent little thing, aren't you?"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
A wave of serpent-like flames roared, scorching the ferns. Takeshi, exhausted, threw a kunai marked with a Flying Thunder God seal, teleporting behind a rock.
The flames brushed past him, singing his hair, the heat biting his skin. He formed a shadow clone—a desperate diversion. The clone charged with its katana raised, while Takeshi, hidden, planted a kunai rigged with an explosive tag into the ground.
Anko sliced through the clone with her katar, dispelling it, but the kunai's explosion threw her back, tearing her cloak.
She got up unharmed, her predatory smile widening.
"Nice trap, but you're running on empty, kid."
She summoned her Snake Technique, shadows crawling in a deadly web. Takeshi, trapped, slashed at the serpents with his katana, but Anko surged forward, her katar slicing across his chest. Blood splattered the ground, and he staggered, his weapon falling from his hand.
Takeshi cursed himself for wasting all his merit points earlier... now he was in a tight spot.
She pinned him to the ground, her knee on his chest, her senbon pricking his jugular.
"Last chance. Where is Orochimaru?" she growled, her eyes digging into his.
Panting, Takeshi played his final card.
"A hideout... in Taki... I can take you there…" he murmured, locking eyes with her despite the pain.
Anko, intrigued, eased the pressure slightly.
"Taki, huh? You better not be lying." She stood up, her shadow snakes retreating, but her katar remained ready.
Takeshi, on the ground, spat blood, his body broken. Anko stared at him, an ambiguous smile on her lips.
"Not bad, for a brat," she murmured, her eyes sliding over his muscular torso, his scars gleaming with sweat and blood.
"And kind of handsome too. Maybe you are useful after all."
She sheathed her katar, her snakes vanishing into the shadows.
"But if you're lying, I'll skin you alive."
She crouched down, her face close to his, her warm breath on his cheek.
"Get up, kid. We're going to talk."
Takeshi, exhausted, forced himself upright, his gaze wary but determined. How the hell was he going to get out of this?