Flying Thunder God: Second Step!

In the dim underground chamber, the smoke from the Summoning Jutsu gradually dispersed.

Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head, his vertical golden snake eyes gleaming coldly as he looked at "Asura," who had calmly retreated after landing his blow. Complex emotions churned in his eyes.

They were a mixture of the humiliation of being toyed with, wariness toward an unknown power, and fury at having his bottom line crossed.

"Forget a hundred—even a thousand, I'll get them for you!" Orochimaru's hoarse voice dripped with killing intent.

Having been toyed with twice by "Asura," Orochimaru was utterly enraged!

"Heh heh, you said it!" Manda roared. His enormous body crushed against the rock wall, sending rubble raining down as his tail lashed toward Menma!

Menma looked up at the giant snake, which nearly touched the ceiling, and frowned slightly.

"With a body that huge, are you trying to bring this whole cave down?" Menma muttered, knowing he needed to end this quickly.

If Orochimaru lost, he could still use the Reverse Summoning Technique to flee to Ryūchi Cave. But if Manda collapsed this cave and buried the Iburi Clan, Menma would be heartbroken.

After all, he had already considered this smoke-transforming clan his private property.

"Then I'll use this." Menma took out several specially made kunai with his left hand while his right began condensing a "Mini Spiraling Ring."

Unlike the "Spiraling Ring," which was as large as a Wind Style: Rasenshuriken, this "Mini Spiraling Ring" was only the size of a fist. Yet the extremely compressed dark-attribute chakra within it and the ring of star-like Wind Release chakra wrapped around it possessed an energy density that made one's heart tremble!

This was an enhanced version of the Spiraling Ring that Menma had developed in the Limited Tsukuyomi world.

The "Spiraling Ring" was like the original Rasengan. By compressing it to the extreme, it became the enhanced "Mini Spiraling Ring." Continuing that ultimate compression would eventually create the "Great Spiraling Ring," comparable to the Super Shinra Tensei.

As Manda's massive tail tore through the air and swept toward him, the kunai became streaks of silver light and shot at Orochimaru.

Standing atop Manda's head, Orochimaru merely shifted slightly and evaded the kunai. Several strands of black hair fluttered in the gale raised by their passage.

At the same time, his hands began forming seals, preparing to launch a ninjutsu attack.

Even if he could not kill "Asura," he would destroy this cave completely! He would make the Iburi Clan, who had betrayed him, pay in blood!

But just as Orochimaru formed his hand seals, Manda's tail swept across the ground—and "Asura" vanished.

An invisible killing intent struck from behind Orochimaru!

The battle instincts he had forged through years of life-and-death struggles made every muscle in his body tense, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

But it was already too late—

Boom—!!!

The Mini Spiraling Ring slammed brutally into Orochimaru's kidney, and the extremely compressed dark energy exploded around his waist.

Orochimaru, already wounded, had more than half of his waist ripped apart by dark-attribute chakra and Wind Release chakra. The agony was like being torn apart by a wild beast!

Menma, who had suddenly appeared behind Orochimaru, held a specially made kunai in his left hand. The Mini Spiraling Ring in his right sent Orochimaru and Manda crashing to the ground together.

Rumble—

Manda let out a pained hiss as the shockwave viciously drove his massive head into the ground. The crater it created cracked outward like a spiderweb.

Orochimaru's Summoning Jutsu was dispelled.

"Cough..." After Manda vanished, Orochimaru was smashed into the crater.

But immediately afterward, that body, nearly broken in two, began to dissolve. A pale arm stretched out from Orochimaru's mouth, and another Orochimaru quickly crawled free from it.

Once the freshly shed body escaped, slime-covered fingers brushed aside his wet long hair, revealing snake eyes burning with thirst for knowledge and killing intent.

The "Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique," one of Orochimaru's signature ninjutsu.

"Why do you know the Flying Thunder God?!" Orochimaru's voice trembled with excitement as the tip of his tongue unconsciously licked across his lips.

He recalled Konoha's shinobi over and over again, from the deceased Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, to the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, and even Namikaze Minato's several guards.

Yet none of them matched the person before him.

It was as though "Asura" had appeared out of thin air!

If Orochimaru's battle instincts had not made him prepare the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique in advance, that terrifying jutsu would likely have shattered his kidney.

"The Flying Thunder God... and that jutsu so similar to the Rasengan..." Orochimaru's nose twitched slightly. Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he unexpectedly thought of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, who had died in the Night of the Nine-Tails three years ago!

"Could it be Namikaze Minato... no... impossible... I personally saw Minato and Kushina's bodies buried..." Sweat seeped from Orochimaru's forehead.

During the Nine-Tails Incident, Orochimaru had still been one of Konoha's higher-ups, and afterward, he attended the burial of the Fourth Hokage and his wife.

With his years of research into the human body, there was absolutely no way Minato and Kushina's corpses had been mistaken.

Besides... he had later taken some of Namikaze Minato's cell samples.

None of the clues Orochimaru knew could explain the origin of the person before him.

But there was at least one thing Orochimaru was certain of: the other party was definitely a Konoha shinobi!

At that moment, Grim Reaper and Yume had already escorted the Iburi Clan away from the underground chamber. Only Menma and Orochimaru remained.

"Is that all you've got?" Menma's footsteps echoed through the silent cave.

Under the dim light, "Asura" slowly emerged from the fading smoke and walked toward Orochimaru. With every step he took, that invisible coercion grew heavier.

Even Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, felt an oppressive force bearing down on him.

This kind of danger inevitably reminded him of his battle against Hanzo the Salamander during the Second Shinobi World War!

Meanwhile, Menma was considering how to make Orochimaru serve him.

Orochimaru's research ability was undoubtedly the strongest in the entire Shinobi World, but he also had his own pride and would not easily submit to anyone.

Even before Nagato, who possessed the Rinnegan, Orochimaru had dared to covet those "Eyes of God."

When facing Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan, Orochimaru had also harbored all sorts of ulterior motives.

Making Orochimaru submit would not be easy.

With Menma's current strength, he could not completely control Orochimaru either, unless he obtained Shisui's Mangekyō Sharingan.

But...

Menma strolled leisurely around Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, lying in the crater, clutched his wound. His snake eyes brimmed with venomous hatred as he stared fixedly at "Asura" like a poisonous serpent.

"I advise you not to use Living Corpse Reincarnation too often," Menma said slowly in a low voice.

As for how "Asura" knew the secret of the "Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique," Orochimaru was first shocked. Then an eerie twitch appeared on his pale face.

"No... you couldn't possibly know... Living Corpse Reincarnation..." Laughter forced its way from deep in his throat, while the fingers covering half his face spasmed with excitement.

Living Corpse Reincarnation was a forbidden technique developed by Orochimaru but not yet used, the ultimate secret behind his pursuit of immortality.

Orochimaru was certain that he had never revealed this technique to anyone!

"Interesting... too interesting..." Orochimaru covered his wounded abdomen with one hand and half his face with the other. The left eye visible through his fingers was filled with madness.

"Attacking Konoha, attacking Cloud Village, calling yourself Danzo, possessing a ninjutsu extremely similar to the Rasengan, knowing the Flying Thunder God, accurately intercepting my escape route, and even knowing about my Living Corpse Reincarnation, which I have never used..."

"I understand now." Suddenly, the laughter stopped. Orochimaru lowered his hand, and his expression became unusually clear-headed.

"You are a Konoha shinobi! But you are not a Konoha shinobi of this era!"

Orochimaru slowly straightened up and looked at the mysterious masked man before him, ecstatic as if he had discovered a new continent.

He shouted, "You came from the future... didn't you, Asura!!!"

Menma: Huh?