Naruto: I Became Orochimaru's Apprentice-Chapter 45: What’s 3 More Months?

The damp air of Ryūchi Cave was suffocating, thick with the scent of decay and the ever-present slithering of unseen serpents. Teriyaki sat hunched in the darkness, his back pressed against the cold, uneven stone. His body was little more than sinew and scars now, hardened by months of torment. He had stopped counting the days after the first few weeks, but he knew—somewhere deep inside—that three months had passed since Orochimaru had abandoned him here.

He had lost much in those months. His sense of time. His sense of self. The sound of his own voice had become foreign to him. The whispers of the snakes had replaced everything else, their hissing voices weaving into his thoughts like a second skin.

"I only want to kill him."

The words slithered through his mind, curling around his thoughts like a noose. He had dreamed of it every night, his vengeance taking shape in a hundred different forms. He would tear Orochimaru apart. He would choke the life from him with his own bare hands. He would make him suffer as he had suffered.

"But how?" His voice was raspy and lost. He had no idea how to kill Orochimaru, he was nigh immortal and survived in the original series no matter the circumstances. Still, he could only think of his hatred for Orochimaru as he trained with the snakes.

The hatred was the only thing keeping him sane.

Or perhaps he had already lost his sanity, and it was the only thing keeping him alive and with a purpose.

The cave trembled slightly, the air shifting. A presence. A familiar one. Teriyaki did not need to look to know who it was.

Footsteps echoed softly through the cavern. Slow. Unhurried. Mocking.

"Oh?" Orochimaru's voice slithered through the darkness. "Still breathing? How fascinating."

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Teriyaki did not move at first. He merely tilted his head up, his dull eyes locking onto the snake-like figure approaching him. Orochimaru stood at the entrance of the cavern, golden eyes gleaming with something unreadable.

For the first time in months, Teriyaki felt the weight of his own existence. His fingers twitched against the dirt. His breathing slowed. A flicker of Sage Chakra hummed beneath his skin, unstable but present. The snakes around him coiled, but they did not attack.

Orochimaru's smirk widened. "Ah... I see. You've changed. Three months have done things for your body... Thank me for modifiying you for this specific purpose."

Teriyaki's lips parted, his voice rasping from disuse. "If I attain sage mode, you'll be the first person I kill."

Orochimaru chuckled, stepping closer. "Good. Then I suppose you're ready for the next step."

Teriyaki did not react the way Orochimaru expected. There was no fear. No hesitation.

There was only movement.

Teriyaki lunged.

His body blurred, the remnants of Sage Chakra surging through his limbs. Orochimaru barely had time to tilt his head before a fist came crashing down. Stone shattered beneath the impact, dust billowing into the air. Teriyaki was already moving again, twisting, striking, aiming to rip him apart.

His body had been modified during the torture sessions, his mind worked faster, thoughts flooded in and his reaction time was far superior. His limbs had been enhanced, his body absorbed sage chakra far better now.

He had mastered the body flicker technique even more as he became more in touch with his body after 3 months of isolated training.

Orochimaru danced away with inhuman grace, his laughter bubbling up like venom. "Ah, I see. You hate me now, don't you? This is but a fraction of what I felt when you took Konoha away from me."

Teriyaki's breathing was ragged, his body trembling from exertion. He was not yet strong enough. The Sage Chakra flickered, unrefined, barely held together by will alone. But he did not stop. He would never stop.

Orochimaru sighed theatrically, dodging another strike with ease. "You lack control. You're letting your emotions dictate your actions. That won't do."

Teriyaki snarled, his vision blurring at the edges. His body was breaking down, still too weak, still unworthy in the eyes of the cave. The energy within him was untamed, erratic. He could feel it gnawing at him, threatening to consume him.

Orochimaru watched him struggle, his expression unreadable. Then, without warning, he moved. A single strike to Teriyaki's chest sent him sprawling to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Tsk, tsk. You're not ready," Orochimaru murmured, crouching beside him. "But you've survived. That in itself is... pleasing."

Teriyaki coughed, blood dribbling down his chin. He glared up at the man who had put him through hell, his hatred burning brighter than ever.

Orochimaru reached out, his fingers brushing against Teriyaki's forehead. The contact sent a jolt of something cold and terrible through him. "You belong to this cave now," he whispered. "Whether you attain sage mode or not, your fate will be decided here."

Teriyaki's vision darkened at the edges. His body refused to move. The world spun.

"Rest now," Orochimaru said, standing once more. "I will bring you great news the next time I visit."

Orochimaru vanished leaving Teriyaki back to the training.

Water dripped from the jagged stalactites, pooling in shallow crevices where he could cup his hands and drink. It was never enough to satisfy his thirst, but it kept him alive.

Food was another struggle. The snakes didn't feed him—if anything, they waited for him to collapse so they could devour him instead. He had to hunt them first. In the beginning, it was desperate and clumsy; he would lunge at smaller serpents, wrestling them with what little strength he had, biting into their flesh when he had no other option. The taste was metallic, raw, and foul, but he forced himself to swallow.

As time passed, he grew sharper. He learned to track their movements, to anticipate their attacks. His reflexes became honed, his strikes precise. He no longer killed just for survival—he killed to assert his place in the cave.

The snakes noticed.

Some began to watch him, unblinking, waiting. Others slithered away as if acknowledging him as something more than prey.

But no matter how many he killed, no matter how much he ate, the hunger never left him. The cave was changing him. And deep down, he wondered if he was even still human.

"With all these modifications... I definately don't feel human at all."

He couldn't explain it, but there was always a metallic feeling in the back of his head. Was it the chip? Had his brain been altered?

He was left lying in Ryuichi cave, his questions unanswered and his life in shambles.