Naruto's battle remained deadlocked.
Minato's risky strike had failed to inflict any substantial damage on Orochimaru.
Unless Orochimaru suffered a fatal wound, the White Zetsu clinging to him through the Spore Technique could heal him completely.
Minato knew nothing of White Zetsu and assumed Orochimaru had used some substitution-type ninjutsu to evade the attack.
More importantly, he had allowed himself to be bitten by poisonous snakes in order to touch Orochimaru and leave a Flying Thunder God mark on him.
But with Orochimaru's skin-shedding motion, the Flying Thunder God mark had been left behind on that discarded "shed skin" as well.
That meant not only had his efforts been wasted, but he had also put himself in danger.
The discomfort spreading through his legs made Minato realize that dragging out this battle would only mean a slow death.
Enma was fighting Orochimaru fiercely at close range. Minato took out every remaining kunai on his body and focused his mind.
"Senior Enma!"
He suddenly shouted and flung every kunai in his hand.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Minato formed hand seals at incredible speed. In an instant, the kunai transformed into countless black streaks of light, blanketing the sky as they rained down on Orochimaru with terrifying force.
Enma understood at once, but instead of retreating, he continued grappling with Orochimaru to prevent him from escaping. Those kunai could not harm his indestructible adamantine body.
In the blink of an eye, the ground was filled with kunai like a field of steel grass. Unable to evade them, Orochimaru was riddled with holes.
His expression did not change. He had never intended to dodge Minato's attack in the first place.
Before Minato and Enma's astonished eyes, that massive clump of white matter appeared on Orochimaru's body once more. Like writhing flesh, it slowly