Crash—
The torrential rain suddenly ceased. The sound of raindrops weakened as a shadow loomed, blocking the light.
Obito and Itachi slowly looked up.
Above them hung three massive snake heads, their narrow, vertical pupils gleaming with savage light.
Hiss—
Their forked tongues lashed the air like twisted, razor-sharp tridents.
The serpents opened their bloody maws, viscous saliva dripping from their fangs. With terrifying speed that belied their massive size, they lunged at the two comparatively minuscule humans.
"Orochimaru!"
Itachi and Obito narrowed their eyes, their three-tomoe Sharingan activating. Stepping on tree branches, their bodies blurred into shadows and split left and right to dodge.
Boom—
The three snake heads swept through the surrounding forest, obliterating the spot where the two had just stood.
Trees were flung aside, earth exploded upward, and a massive crater several dozen meters wide was smashed into the ground.
Whoosh—
Itachi and Obito reappeared over a hundred meters away on either side of the serpents, narrowly evading the strike.
The two moved with perfect coordination. Without needing to communicate, they paused only briefly before dashing forward at full speed, turning into streaks of black.
Their goal wasn't to fight Orochimaru—they were heading for Uchiha Yu.
Obito's eye, beneath his spiraled mask, glared hatefully at Orochimaru, who stood atop a snake's head in a red cloud cloak. Obito's expression darkened, his blue cloak billowing violently.
He was aware Orochimaru had temporarily left the Akatsuki for solo operations.
But what he hadn't expected was that Orochimaru would secretly aid Uchiha Yu's defection, bringing people with him and even stealing a trove of Sharingan eyes that should've belonged to Obito.
To Obito, Yu's existence had become a major threat.
Yu was an uncontrollable, dangerous variable—one that could severely jeopardize Obito's plan to create a new world with Rin.
Had he known earlier that Orochimaru and Yu were in contact, Obito would have convinced Nagato to let Pain eliminate Orochimaru while he was still within Akatsuki's reach.
"Focus on dealing with Yu first. Once this is over, and Orochimaru returns to the organization, I'll use the Akatsuki to trap and kill him."
With a furrowed brow, Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan spun into view. He activated Kamui, space distorted, and he vanished from beside the giant serpent.
The snake that had locked onto him now stared around blankly, confused by the sudden disappearance.
"..."
Orochimaru remained calm and composed, unaware he had just been sentenced to death in someone's mind.
He ignored the disappearing masked man and instead fixed his cold, golden, slit-pupiled eyes—framed by purple eyeshadow—on Itachi's chest, speaking in a deep voice:
"Heh… Itachi.
In this world, only I can unlock your body's full potential.
The Uchiha clan fell to this state because of you. You have no purpose left in the shinobi world. So why not give your body to me?
As for your mother…
Uchiha Yu will take good care of her.
And your brother…
I'm quite interested in Sasuke too. I'll take good care of him for you."
From atop the central snake head, Orochimaru gave a sinister grin and ordered the giant serpents to launch another attack on Itachi.
Even now, he avoided looking directly at Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Originally, Orochimaru saw Itachi as a younger generation—someone beneath him—and didn't consider him a real opponent.
But when making their plans, Uchiha Yu had repeatedly warned him: "If you fight Itachi, never make eye contact with his Mangekyō Sharingan."
Only then did Orochimaru start to treat Itachi more cautiously.
In truth, when Orochimaru stole Kakashi's eye, had Kakashi used it to cast a genjutsu, Orochimaru might not have succeeded so easily.
Once again, the three serpents lunged at Itachi.
"Did you just say Sasuke?"
Itachi's previously calm face suddenly darkened. He lifted his head to stare at Orochimaru atop the giant snake—who didn't dare meet his gaze.
Facing down the three serpents—
Itachi stood unmoving atop a tree branch. He didn't dodge. Or perhaps, he had no intention of dodging at all.
Suddenly, space warped.
Obito appeared beside him, placing one hand on Itachi's right shoulder. He spoke coldly:
"Let's go…"
Before the words finished, Itachi's expression turned grim, and he pushed Obito's hand away from his shoulder:
"Give me three minutes."
Beneath the mask, Obito didn't question it. He glanced sidelong at the charging serpents, sighed inwardly, and said coldly:
"Then let's deal with Orochimaru first."
Orochimaru had dared to interfere in the Uchiha massacre.
That alone had already pushed Obito to his limit.
If Orochimaru insisted on disrupting things—then they'd use Itachi's strength to kill him first.
Boom—
The three massive snake heads lunged forward once more.
But this time, before they could reach Itachi and Obito's location, they slammed into a towering wall of burning orange-red flames.
Boom—
The giant snakes were knocked back, their heads reeling and dazed.
Mist billowed in the midst of the storm.
"Hmm?"
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply, watching as a massive orange-red flaming skeletal hand emerged from the white mist, as if it had appeared from nowhere like a ghost.
The fire-clad hand ignored the serpent's bite and grabbed the head of the giant snake beneath Orochimaru's feet.
Hiss—
The serpent tried to struggle, but couldn't move an inch.
Crack-crack-crack—
The skeletal arm rapidly became encased in chakra energy lines, transforming into armor from the shoulder down to the fingers.
"..."
Orochimaru's expression changed drastically as he instinctively glanced at Itachi's previous position.
Then he saw it.
A colossal half-body energy being, cloaked in blazing chakra armor shaped like a black tengu, now stood opposite the giant snakes—like a mountain of chakra fire.
Boom—
The snake under Orochimaru was crushed, its skull shattered in Itachi's Susanoo's grasp. Blood exploded like blooming red flowers in the storm, mixing with rain as it streamed down the clenched fiery fist.
Itachi stood at the center of Susanoo's protection, gazing down coldly at the plummeting Orochimaru.
Every cell in Itachi's body screamed in agony from maintaining the Susanoo—but he didn't care.
Right now, he wanted Orochimaru dead—to eliminate a threat to Sasuke's future.
"..."
Obito glanced around at the burning chakra flames, feeling the immense power they radiated. His thoughts were tangled and heavy.
Itachi was going all out.
"Hissss… So this is the true power of the Mangekyō Sharingan? It's godlike!"
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes flashed with unrestrained greed, his tongue flicking out to lick his lips.
In the next moment, his face twisted, cells frantically dividing as his body began to expand.
"Godlike power… I, Orochimaru, possess it too!!"
Hiss—
As he fell, Orochimaru's body grotesquely transformed. Eight white-scaled serpent heads sprouted from his growing frame, and his original body became a white mountain-sized serpent, slamming into the earth.
The ground shook violently.
Trees exploded into splinters and flew through the air.
S-Class Forbidden Jutsu: Yamata no Orochi!!
The Yamata no Orochi stood even taller than the blazing orange Susanoo. Its eight heads stared furiously at Susanoo with glowing golden eyes, and their jaws opened wide to unleash piercing shrieks.
"..." Obito.
Staring at the creature, whose presence was no less intense than Susanoo's, Obito couldn't help but admit—no matter how much he despised Orochimaru, the man truly lived up to his reputation as a Konoha S-Class rogue ninja—and was indeed worthy of joining Akatsuki.
But Itachi remained unfazed. His Susanoo's right hand transformed into a flaming spiritual sword.
"Totsuka Blade!!!"
The eight serpent heads of Yamata no Orochi writhed wildly, hissing as their eyes fixed on the flaming longsword in Susanoo's right hand.
This was the legendary weapon Orochimaru had long desired—he never expected it would be hidden within the power of the Mangekyō.
The orange-red Susanoo charged toward Yamata no Orochi, plunging the flaming blade into one of its central heads.
Hiss—
The serpent tried to dodge, but the spiritual sword suddenly extended, catching it off guard and piercing straight through one of its heads.
The burning blade pierced through the snake's skull and emerged from its mouth.
Hiss—
At that moment, Orochimaru—inside the Yamata no Orochi—felt like his entire body was being incinerated by the hottest flames on earth.
"Uchiha Yu did not deceive me…"
"Itachi must not be underestimated…"
Orochimaru had no intention of sitting still and taking the pain. Enduring the searing agony of the Totsuka Blade, he immediately commanded the other snake heads to launch a counterattack on Susanoo.
Besides honoring his deal with Uchiha Yu, Orochimaru also had a deep, personal desire to possess Itachi's body. Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked everything in this battle.
Meanwhile, on a nearby cliff—
"We can't wait any longer."
Jiraiya's expression grew solemn. Seeing Orochimaru using forbidden jutsu to delay Itachi's arrival filled him with dread. He could not allow Hizashi to die here.
By now, Uchiha Yu had already led over ten thousand ninja to hunt down the Hyuga clan's unit.
Before Tsunade could say a word—
Jiraiya formed hand seals, pressed his palms to the ground, and performed a summoning jutsu, calling forth Gamabunta. Then he leapt off the cliff, landing steadily atop the giant toad.
"Gamabunta—head to the Valley of Judgment!!"
°°°
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