The person who had suddenly appeared left Anko completely stunned.
This was Lord Orochimaru's home, yet the person she had mistaken for someone else during the day was here. Was it a coincidence?
How could there be such a coincidence?!
She involuntarily stepped forward twice and cried out in shock, "You... you are..."
A meaningful smile suddenly curled across the man's lips. Anko was far too familiar with that smile. That familiar expression perfectly overlapped with the person in her memories, leaving her frozen on the spot.
"Lord Orochimaru..."
"Anko." Byakuryu spoke slowly, and even his voice had changed into one she knew well—low and hoarse, like a fine thread passing through her eardrums.
"Lord Orochimaru, it really is you... Lord Orochimaru!"
Anko's eyes instantly reddened. She rushed forward, wanting to tightly embrace the person she had longed for day and night.
Yet the moment she reached him, Byakuryu shot out a hand like lightning and clamped it tightly around her throat.
"It has been a long time, Anko." Byakuryu gripped Anko's throat tightly as he spoke.
Anko struggled to breathe beneath his restraint, her face flushing red. Her throat moved as she forced out a sentence with difficulty. "Lord Orochimaru... why..."
Byakuryu sneered. "You seem to have adapted well to this body, but I need it more now. Why not give it back to me?"
As he spoke, he formed a hand seal with one hand. Anko suddenly felt an unprecedented agony sweep through her entire body. Her ears rang, her vision blurred, and her very soul trembled as though it were about to be torn apart.
Why... why was Lord Orochimaru treating her like this...
Her mind went blank, quickly filled by that endless pain.
What Byakuryu had used was a secret technique to pull Anko's soul out