Shanks was roaring when the tavern door burst open. Orochimaru glanced up. 'This must be the infamous entrance of the Mountain Bandit l', he thought, recalling the scene from his memories.
Orochimaru didn't intervene. He was secretly looking forward to seeing Red Hair get his head bashed in. He quietly observed the situation unfold, his peripheral vision catching Luffy devouring the Devil Fruit while watching the spectacle. A smirk crept onto his face. 'That deliberately opened box... wasn't it prepared specifically for Luffy?'
'Tch, that sly Red Hair,' Orochimaru thought as a wine bottle shattered against Shanks' head, the red liquid cascading down. He quickly pulled out his Visual Den Den Mushi and snapped a photo. 'I could've sworn Shanks stiffened for a moment there—but it must have been my imagination.' After the bandits left, Orochimaru silently began cleaning up the mess. 'Honestly, what a nuisance for the tavern.'
Meanwhile, Luffy was arguing with Shanks, furious at his perceived cowardice. As Luffy stormed off in a huff, he suddenly realized his arm had stretched like rubber, his face frozen in horror.
"It's gone!!" Luffy screamed.
"The Rubber Fruit is gone!"
"Luffy, if you ate that fruit, you'll become a rubber man! And you'll never be able to swim again!" Shanks said solemnly, cupping Luffy's face in his hands.
"Ehhh?! You're lying! What'll happen if Orochimaru falls into the sea?!" Luffy wailed.
Orochimaru paused mid-sweep, thinking, 'What an idiot. Shouldn't he be worried about drowning if he falls into the sea?'
He agonized over the upcoming events, desperate to spare Luffy the humiliation. But Luffy's determination to become a pirate depended on Red Hair rescuing him and giving him the straw hat. After wracking his brain, Orochimaru couldn't devise an alternative. 'Guess I'll just stick close and make sure he doesn't get hurt.'
The next day, Orochimaru feigned exhaustion and convinced Luffy to carry him. He transformed into a snake, coiled under Luffy's collar, and remained hidden until the showdown with the Mountain Bandit King. Then he poked his head out, his icy gaze fixed on the bandit. Though the humiliating scene was averted, Red Hair still intercepted the Mountain Bandit King, grabbed Luffy, and fled to the sea. The rest unfolded as in the original story: Shanks lost his arm saving Luffy. Meanwhile, Orochimaru was nowhere near Luffy; he was busy retrieving his severed arm from the Lord of the Coast.
'He'll never owe Red Hair a favor on my watch!'
At the docks:
"I'm not letting you take me away anymore!" Luffy declared casually, hands behind his back, kicking at a pebble. "I've decided to become a pirate myself!"
"You're not cut out to be a pirate," Red Hair said.
"I am!" Luffy declared. "I'll gather a crew stronger than yours, find the world's greatest treasure, and become the Pirate King!"
"So, you want to surpass us, huh? Then... take this hat. It's my most prized possession. You have to return it someday, when you've become a truly great pirate."
Red Hair placed the hat, once worn by the legendary pirate king Roger, on Luffy's head. The sea shimmered behind them, as if the moment deserved its own dramatic theme music.
But in the midst of this heartfelt moment, Orochimaru suddenly appeared.
He violently ripped off Red Hair's coat, tearing his shirt with a loud rip. Grabbing the severed arm he'd retrieved, Orochimaru shoved it back into place. Channeling chakra through his palm, he pressed firmly on the wound, accelerating cell regeneration, reconnecting nerves, and fusing the bones. Finally, he applied a skin graft, promising, "I won't even leave you a scar."
He flexed the repaired arm back and forth, raised it to examine it, and listened for any abnormal sounds.
"Raise your hand! Make a fist! Move it around!" Shanks mechanically followed Orochimaru's instructions.
"Good... repair successful."
The crew and Luffy stared in stunned silence, jaws dropped, as Orochimaru barked orders at Shanks. Tears still streamed down Luffy's face, making the scene utterly absurd.
"Ugh!" A shocked cry echoed across the docks.
"(*?ω?)?╰ひ╯ Me?! Orochimaru! The most unkillable villain in the Ninja World! A fanatic obsessed with immortality who actually achieved it! You think you can just snap your arm off in front of me? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"If I wasn't still a kid and didn't lack the funding for proper equipment, I could clone you a dozen spare arms right now."
"How are you going to swagger in front of Whitebeard now?"
"What? I left my arm in the New Era? I can make sure you stay in the New Era with a dozen extra arms... tui?!"
"You perverted child abductor! If I didn't have my own plans and Luffy didn't need a guide, I would have snapped your neck already."
"And you dared to flirt with Sister Macchiato?! From now on, every punch Garp throws at you will be on my tab! Every single one!"
"Seeing everyone's shocked faces makes me feel great... I grabbed the tattered piece of Red Hair's shirt and wiped Luffy's tears with it. Disgusting..."
"Since I'm here anyway, why couldn't I have arrived a year earlier? Now I'm stuck being some annoying younger brother."
To be continued...