"Huh. The legends here tend to change the landscape when they fight. Lord Orochimaru could do that for one fight likely, but it would take a lot out of him."

"That's about the same with serious cape fights too."

"How do people gain power in your world?"

"Through horror and trauma. Something in us snaps and activates something inside ourselves. We all gain a different power from it."

"Huh. Do powers increase over time?"

"Sometimes. Usually people just use their powers more efficiently. It makes a difference though."

"Huh. Enough training here could probably get most people to pretty damn powerful, though maybe not legendary."

"And Orochimaru is one of those legendary people."

"He isn't on the level of the First Hokage or Madara, but he's one of a rare kind, yes."

"Who are they?"

"Both were Leaf shinobi. Uchiha Madara led the Uchiha clan, and the First Hokage led the Senju clan, who were major enemies during the Warring States. They apparently decided to end the fighting? And founded Konoha together. Though a few years later or so they had a disagreement and Madara left, though the Uchiha stayed. They were reportedly both ludicrously powerful, and one fight they had reshaped a massive amount of the landscape."

"Where did he go? Madara."

"Traveled around the Elemental Countries? I don't know his history that well, and there's a lot that never got written down. He eventually died fighting the First Hokage."

"Interesting. I'm a big fan of history. I might take a few years and have a research break."

"A lot's not written in general. The villages cling pretty tightly to their information, even irrelevant stuff. But Lord Orochimaru has been making a large point of collecting all the information he can, he likely has something somewhere."

So she definitely needs to find a better way to get around and into restricted places. Maybe she should ask Sasuke-sama when she sees him next.

She hms. "How are you feeling?"

"Hm. Now that I'm paying attention, there's - not quite a headache, but like my skull's getting tighter, and my bones are humming. But not."

"Sounds about right. But would if I..." 

She closes her eyes and concentrates.

"S̤͕͔̲͎̣̦͎̬̀͒̃̿̀̿l͚̪̭̝͚͇̑̓́̌̍͡e̢̖͈̲̬͉̺̮͆̑̂̾̈̾͑̅͛ͅe̷̡̬̫̖̥̐̽̋͌̂͢͝͡ṕ̷̨̛͇̯̭̦̍̉͊̀."

He sways, visibly pushing against it, falls to his knees, and fights it longer than he reasonably should be able to -

But does, eventually, sleep.

Well, now she feels kind of bad. Whoops.

-- she wonders what he has in his pockets. She kneels next to him and indulges her curiosity. If he has anything booby-trapped, it will hurt, but it can't kill her.

Weapons of various types - mostly knives, but some shuriken, small needles, capsules, and garrote wire. There's also scrolls, and a few seals on the inside of his clothes. Some pills in various colored holders, too.

She takes one of his knives and adds it to her collection of sharp things, one scroll, and a few pills. This world is so interesting.

Eventually, she lies down beside him and hums a little song to while away the time. Maybe he'll hear it in his dreams and it'll push the insanity along a bit.

He twitches and shudders in his sleep, making no noise even as he's clearly deep in the grip of nightmares. He awakens suddenly, at one point, eyes flying open as he leaps to his feet, knives appearing in his hands, glancing around wildly. "I know you're there - release! - get out of my head!"

She frowns up at him.

"There's nothing there. I mean, it's long dead. Probably. Maybe."

He flinches away from and then whirls on her. "You - you're the one - " A dangerous glint enters his eyes, and he lunges for her, knives splayed, faster than most Movers can manage.