Sunagakure's Attack

Orochimaru knew of Ebizo because of Shimura Danzō.

As men both centered on gathering intelligence for their villages, they had naturally crossed paths before.

According to Shimura Danzō, he was a man no weaker than himself.

"Orochimaru-kun, could I ask you to turn back?"

Ebizo wore loose robes, his head wrapped in bandages, both hands tucked into his wide sleeves.

Orochimaru did not respond at once. He surveyed their numbers—only a little over a dozen. He had no idea how many more were hidden in the forest.

Meanwhile, their side numbered several hundred.

Although they held the advantage in numbers, anyone who had made it this far had to be an elite.

Even in terms of elites, they held the numerical advantage.

But if the enemy targeted the weaker ninja, their numbers would be reduced by at least thirty percent.

That would have a major impact on the war in the Land of Rain.

However.

"What if I insist on going through?"

Orochimaru drew out a shuriken, ready to attack at any moment.

"Then I can only make you leave with some of your people."

Ebizo extended his hands and took out two scrolls. As the scrolls opened—

Smoke billowed out.

Ten black puppets appeared beside Ebizo.

The Black Pine Ten.

Imitations modeled after the works of Monzaemon, the progenitor of Puppet Masters.

Their intentions were already obvious. They wanted to weaken Konoha's deployment of active forces in the Land of Rain.

Konoha was currently suffering defeat after defeat there.

There was no need for more words.

Orochimaru immediately threw out his shuriken.

His hands formed seals.

Multiple Shuriken Jutsu.

A dense swarm of shuriken swept toward the Sunagakure ninja like a blanket covering the sky.

Quite a few Sunagakure ninja brought out puppets to block them, while more relied on trees and ninjutsu to defend against the overwhelming rain of shuriken.

Then a roar rose from among the Konoha Ninja.

"Kill!"

War erupted in an instant.

Ebizo did not immediately join the others in fighting the Konoha forces. His eyes, sunk deep in their sockets, looked down toward the ground.

Orochimaru burst out from underground and opened his mouth, spitting out the Kusanagi Sword.

The Ox Head Puppet swiftly moved before Ebizo, crossing its arms and knocking the sword off course.

Orochimaru's head bent slightly as he extended a hand.

Hidden Shadow Many Snake Hands!

His arm turned into countless snake shadows, curling around the Ox Head Puppet and lunging at Ebizo.

Ebizo quickly leaped onto another tree, widening the distance between himself and Orochimaru while evading the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.

His hands deftly manipulated Chakra Threads, and the ten puppets began their assault like a raging storm.

Orochimaru moved like a nimble serpent, flexibly evading the puppets' attacks. Transforming into a snake shadow, he weaved through the puppets.

Whenever Orochimaru drew near, Ebizo immediately pulled away.

As time passed—

Ebizo soon realized something was wrong.

He swiftly looked toward the battlefield. A green figure was beating the Sunagakure forces back step by step.

With powerful taijutsu, he could shatter puppets with a single touch.

The other ninja could not even cast ninjutsu before being kicked away by him.

At the same time, another Orochimaru was attacking the Sunagakure ninja there.

"A clone?"

He quickly turned to look at the Orochimaru before him.

"Why don't you guess?"

Orochimaru wore a mysterious smile as he tried to approach Ebizo again, only for Ebizo to widen the distance once more.

Countless shuriken shot from one puppet and pierced through Orochimaru's body, revealing snake shadows beneath his clothes.

But that also confirmed for Ebizo that the Orochimaru before him was not a clone.

Yet when he looked into the distance, Orochimaru had already used the Summoning Technique to call forth a giant purple snake, which was wreaking havoc among the Sunagakure ninja.

That one was the real body too!

For a moment, he could not tell which one was the original.

Seeing that things had gone badly, one puppet suddenly emitted a violent sound.

"Genjutsu, Mirage Sound Genjutsu!"

In an instant, all the Konoha Ninja fell under the genjutsu, attacking trees as if they were enemies. Only a small number of elites remained conscious.

Orochimaru and Might Duy were among them.

The other Sunagakure ninja swiftly retreated into the depths of the forest, disappearing among the trees in the blink of an eye.

Might Duy had no intention of pursuing them to the end. The other ninja already knew who the key target was.

In an instant, they formed a circle with Orochimaru around Ebizo.

The other Orochimaru and Manda also turned into smoke and disappeared.

That let Ebizo know that the Orochimaru before him was the original.

"A new Clone Technique."

Ebizo's expression darkened. It could actually wield the full strength of the original body.

This kind of clone was far too troublesome.

"Now you're the only one left."

Orochimaru smiled at Ebizo without any intention of explaining.

Inside, he could not help but marvel at how useful the ninjutsu Uchiha Jin had given him was.

By converting Chakra into yin and yang attributes, then cycling it through the creation and release of Fūinjutsu formulas, it could absorb the Chakra dispersed by the opponent's ninjutsu.

If used by a clone, it could maintain an abundant supply of Chakra according to the frequency of the enemy's ninjutsu.

If used by the original body, it could even ensure that Chakra never ran out. As the number of enemies increased, the effect would become even stronger.

It was an exceptionally powerful ninjutsu for group battles.

And that was not its only effect. It could also sense enemies and confuse them with genjutsu.

One ninjutsu, three abilities.

It was something Orochimaru could never have imagined.

I really want to pry open Jin-kun's head and see what's inside.

Ebizo sighed and gave Orochimaru a deep look.

He looked at the number of ninja behind him. Their numbers had barely decreased.

The mission had already failed.

He had not expected Orochimaru to possess such a Clone Technique.

And even less had he expected—

He looked at the bearded man in the green bodysuit.

This man was also extremely troublesome.

Still, it had not been a complete loss. At the very least, he had obtained two critical pieces of intelligence.

Only then did he speak slowly to Orochimaru.

"We will meet again."

Poof.

White smoke rose, and Ebizo vanished.

"Lord Orochimaru."

Everyone awaited Orochimaru's orders.

What should they do now? Those Sunagakure ninja had not gotten far yet.

"For now, head to the Land of Rain battlefield."

Orochimaru's expression sank slightly.

The Land of Rain battlefield was currently focused on defense, mainly gathering intelligence on the movements of ninja from the other villages.

Although quite a few enemy ninja had revealed themselves, they had all been eliminated by Konoha's Root.

The area was mainly guarded by Root ninja. It was impossible for elite ninja like these to have appeared there.

The only places where he lacked precise intelligence were the Land of Rivers, where Sakumo Hatake was stationed, and the battlefield guarded by Jiraiya.

These people should have come from the Land of Rivers.

He was now somewhat worried about what had happened there.

Although Sakumo Hatake was very strong—

Orochimaru did not think he was a particularly good commander.

The defensive line had definitely not collapsed, or he would have learned of it long ago.

But something that affected the course of the war must have happened.