"Lord Souya! Konoha Ninja are guarding every direction! We haven't found any weak points in their defenses." A masked Anbu Ninja from Sunagakure hurried up to Souya.
"Konoha isn't that easy to deal with, of course! But since we've started this fight, we have to achieve something! Even if we fail, we can't let Konoha off easy!" Souya's eyes shone with determination.
Then he shouted, "Have everyone gather in my direction! I'll lead the charge and punch through Konoha's defensive line!"
"Yes!" The Anbu Ninja quickly pulled out a signal flare and fired it into the sky. A ring of red smoke blossomed overhead, then steadily contracted, clearly marking their position.
"Quite the spirit!" Orochimaru stuck out his tongue. He had naturally heard Souya's words.
But Manda, whom Orochimaru had summoned, was in a very foul mood. He had no interest in chatting here. Feasting on fresh prey was his favorite thing, and the stronger the person, the more distinctive the taste.
A purple blur flashed past.
Bam!
Gold Sand scattered everywhere. Just ahead and to the side of Souya, a rising wall of gold blocked Manda's massive tail as it swept toward them.
A huge crater had appeared in the middle of the wall, showing just how terrifyingly powerful the blow had been.
Seeing his sneak attack fail, Manda's eyes flashed with menace. His enormous body surged forward, and his massive head came crashing straight down toward Souya.
Souya remained calm. He gripped the Starfall Rod, pouring all the Chakra in his body into it without holding anything back.
Purple-blue light instantly flared within the Starfall Rod, followed by tiny sparks of deep-red light that blossomed inside it like decorations.
After all, Sasori had gone to great lengths to have the craftsmen of the Land of Artisans forge it. Since it had been made in this form, it had lost Samehada's ability to devour Chakra, but its capacity to store Chakra was no weaker.
Souya slammed the Starfall Rod into the ground.
Thud!
The Chakra stored in the rod beforehand, the Chakra inherent to the weapon, and Souya's own Chakra combined. A vast torrent of Chakra surged underground like a river bursting its banks.
The Gold Sand on the surface churned violently, like towering, roaring waves.
Vast swaths of Gold Sand surged upward and clung to Manda's body. At first, Manda could still swim across its surface by manipulating Chakra.
But as the Gold Sand surged more violently, even his enormous body began to sink under its pull.
"Roar!"
Manda growled and thrashed violently, tearing apart swathes of Gold Sand.
But the Gold Sand kept multiplying, leaving him overwhelmed.
Clang!
A clear metallic impact rang out. At some point, Orochimaru had drawn a gleaming sword and swung it straight at Souya.
"Nice reaction!" Orochimaru said approvingly.
But his hands showed no mercy. His sword struck with the ferocity of a storm, unleashing a relentless assault on Souya.
Fortunately, Souya's Taijutsu was solid, too, and he swung the Starfall Rod so swiftly that it formed an impenetrable defense.
Before long, though, Souya noticed tiny chips appearing all over the surface of the Starfall Rod. When he ran his fingers over it, he could clearly feel the discomfort caused by the dents.
"So this is the Kusanagi Sword?" Souya stared at the treasured blade in Orochimaru's hand. Its silver gleam was like moonlight coating its surface.
"I didn't expect you to know your weapons!" Orochimaru licked the blade, and an even more dangerous aura suddenly erupted from him.
Snake Throat Swallow!
Orochimaru's mouth suddenly opened to an unbelievable size, and a venomous snake shot out from within. It moved like a spring compressed to its limit before snapping back.
Souya only had time to raise his rod to block, but the snake split apart in an instant. Two heads lunged out from either side and bit down hard on Souya's neck, pouring all the venom from their glands into his body.
The rest of the snake's body immediately wound around Souya and squeezed him tight. Its strength was so great that his bones creaked.
But Orochimaru showed no sign of triumph. Instead, he turned to the side.
As Orochimaru turned, the body of Souya, still held in the snake's jaws, suddenly turned into Gold Sand and slid to the ground.
The venomous snake's fierce gaze turned bewildered. Its mouth was already stuffed full of hard Gold Sand.
Souya reappeared in front of Orochimaru, who looked at him with interest.
But Souya seized the opportunity to curl his right hand into a fist. The Gold Sand beneath Manda, whose flow had begun to slow, picked up speed again.
Solid arms of Gold Sand coiled around Manda. He struggled desperately, stretching his body this way and that; the slightest misstep would let the Gold Sand pull him under.
Orochimaru naturally wasn't going to let Souya use his techniques unimpeded. He flicked his right hand, and his arm suddenly transformed into a mass of writhing snakes. Their bodies stretched like rubber as they lunged toward Souya.
Shadow Snake Hands!
Souya raised his left hand and pointed. Two arms of Gold Sand suddenly burst from the ground amid the snakes, clamping tightly around them.
The snakes' charge came to an abrupt halt. As the Gold Sand arms tightened, they forcibly snapped Orochimaru's snake arms in two, and snake corpses littered the ground.
But when the severed snake bodies retracted into Orochimaru's right hand, it became a perfectly intact human arm again. The damage to the snakes had no effect on him.
"Heh... That rod is quite impressive, too!" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly as he stared at Souya's Starfall Rod.
A strange ninja tool never before seen in the Ninja World, and one with considerable power at that, would naturally attract Orochimaru's attention.
After all, the materials used to make the Starfall Rod were already extravagantly rare. Aside from Souya, even if someone else got their hands on them, they probably wouldn't think of melting them down and reforging them.
"Orochimaru, would you be interested in a deal?" Seeing that Orochimaru wasn't attacking for the moment, Souya cautiously spoke while controlling the Gold Sand to keep harrying Manda.
After all, he was facing a powerful opponent on Orochimaru's level. The slightest mistake could leave him without even enough time to use the Substitution Technique.
Fortunately, Orochimaru wasn't the kind of speedy Lightning Release specialist Souya feared. Souya believed he couldn't win, but escaping should still be possible.
If he ran into Minato or the Raikage, Souya figured he wouldn't even dare stand on the ground. Taking to the sky might be his only chance of survival...
"Oh? What kind of deal?" Orochimaru's gaze flicked almost imperceptibly toward the area behind Souya's flank.
"I can provide you with funding and personnel. I can even take part in your experiments and help you research Forbidden Jutsu." A verdant green glow of the Mystical Palm Technique rose from Souya's left hand.
Meanwhile, the Gold Sand swamp beneath Manda continued to expand.
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