Wood Style: Pitcher Plant Technique

Hiruko's stench was overwhelming, and Obito and Ryūsetsu instinctively covered their noses.

Liao Wu took out the Flame Uchiha Gunbai and looked at Hiruko mockingly. "Hiruko, don't think I don't know that you've tried several times to trick me into leaving the village so you could attack me."

"If I hadn't struck first, you would've killed me long ago."

"Enough. I won't waste any more words. If it were Orochimaru, I might have to avoid his edge."

"But you, Hiruko? The farther away you die, the better!"

"Bastard!"

Hiruko formed hand seals, then transformed into a huge White Python and spat venom toward the area where Liao Wu stood.

Liao Wu quickly dodged, then looked at the White Python Hiruko had become.

He guessed that Hiruko had used the Chimera Technique to devour Orochimaru's White Snake Cells, allowing him to transform into a White Scaled Serpent.

"Liao Wu, I'm going to capture you, tear you to pieces, and then bury you in a toilet."

Liao Wu formed hand seals. This time, he only needed one—the "Tiger Seal."

"Fire Style: Ghost Lantern Technique!"

Ghost Lantern was the Grass Village's "Kusano Hana" secret Fire Style technique. It wasn't included in the Uchiha Clan's Archives of Fire Style techniques.

When this Fire Style was unleashed, dozens of lantern-shaped fireballs resembling Hannya appeared all around them.

Moreover, it required only one seal, making it far more convenient than ordinary Fire Release Ninjutsu.

Liao Wu's Ghost Lanterns filled the Underground Space, leaving the White Scaled Serpent Hiruko had become with nowhere to hide.

All the Ghost Lanterns burned him at once, blazing fiercely like a snake being roasted.

But Hiruko didn't cry out. Instead, he let out a cold chuckle. "Liao Wu, I'm already dead. You can't kill me again."

Hiruko was now a Reanimation Body. His Chakra was nearly infinite, and he was practically immortal, able to recover quickly. Fighting him was almost like fighting a ghost.

Obito watched Hiruko recover with some fear. "What is this? How is it even more sinister than your technique, Liao Wu? Is this really a Leaf Ninja?"

Obito felt that his Worldview was being rebuilt from the ground up.

Ryūsetsu stared at the recovering Hiruko in astonishment. The Grass Village excelled at imitating the Ninjutsu of other ninja villages, but this kind of technique had clearly exceeded the limits of what the Grass Village understood.

This was... a Forbidden Technique!

Liao Wu wasn't frightened. Ordinary Ninjas suffered badly when they encountered Reanimation Ninjas, because Sealing Techniques were Secret Techniques, not common vegetables available to everyone.

But Liao Wu's Fire Style: Heavenly Prison was a type of Sealing Technique.

Even without a Sealing Technique, in such a narrow environment, all he had to do was drop a pile of rocks on Hiruko to pin him down and prevent him from moving.

Liao Wu formed a seal. "Spore Technique!"

Three White Zetsu Clones suddenly emerged from his body. White Zetsu Clones were the highest-level Clone Technique.

If Clone Techniques were ranked from the worst to the best—

then the Clone Technique taught at the Ninja Academy had undoubtedly bottomed out.

Hashirama's Wood Style clones were difficult even for Madara Uchiha to distinguish, so they could be ranked at the very top.

The best clones were White Zetsu Clones.

White Zetsu Clones could absorb a Ninja's Chakra and replicate their Chakra and Ninjutsu. Even the Byakugan had difficulty seeing through them. Only Golden Body Naruto, with the aid of Malice Perception, could distinguish them.

White Zetsu Clones could also turn into Spores and attach themselves to a target without being noticed, continuously absorbing the target's Chakra.

The Fly Mayfly Technique, Root Concealment Technique, rotting and decomposition, and White Zetsu Cells could be said to be Hashirama Cells focused on support.

Liao Wu's White Zetsu Clones stood together and formed hand seals in unison.

"Wood Style: Pitcher Plant Technique!"

The three White Zetsu Clones instantly merged into one, becoming a massive Pitcher Plant.

The Pitcher Plant extended more than a dozen vines, attacking and binding the White Phosphorus Serpent Hiruko had transformed into like snakes.

"Wh-what is this thing?"

Bound by the Pitcher Plant's vines, Hiruko felt all the Chakra in his body draining away.

Moreover, the Pitcher Plant emitted a rotten, foul stench that made Hiruko feel it was far too much like the Dai Faction.

If Hiruko had witnessed Hashirama Senju's Advent of a World of Flowering Trees, he would have known that the technique Liao Wu was using was a simplified version of Advent of a World of Flowering Trees.

Hiruko was completely immobilized. In the blink of an eye, the Pitcher Plant drained his Chakra and forced him back into human form, then drew him into its calyx, digesting and breaking him down.

But Hiruko was currently a Reanimation Body. With no blood or flesh, he couldn't be digested. The Pitcher Plant could only serve as a seal to restrain him.

Liao Wu was busy running away and had no time to deal with Hiruko.

He took Obito and Ryūsetsu with him and used the Root Concealment Technique to escape underground.

Inside the belly of the Great Snake that had swallowed Tobi.

Black Zetsu suddenly appeared, clinging to Tobi's body.

"Tobi, stop playing around. We need to go after Liao Wu."

Tobi looked a little disappointed. "I still wanted to see what it felt like to be pulled out."

"..."

Black Zetsu didn't know what to say. A White Zetsu like this must have been surnamed Mitarai in ancient times!

With a thought, Tobi directly absorbed the White Snake that had swallowed him, leaving it as a dried snake, then pursued Liao Wu's location.

Madara's entire base was surrounded by the giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave, while a White Zetsu Army guarded the perimeter. There was no way Liao Wu could escape.

The main chamber of Madara's Underground Base.

Orochimaru rode Orochi inside and saw the Yama Demon Statue he'd glimpsed earlier, along with the Withered One-eyed Elder in front of it.

Orochimaru's face lit up with delight. Just as he had guessed, Madara had already become a Withered Wood Body, clinging to life by a single breath.

"This junior Ninja, Orochimaru, pays his respects to Lord Madara!"

Madara slowly opened his Sharingan.

White Zetsu merged into Madara's body. Madara's white hair gradually regained its luster. In the blink of an eye, he straightened his back, and color slowly returned to his skin.

Madara took on the appearance of a sixty-year-old man, and an immense aura erupted from his body.

"Brat, how dare you bully me!"

Orochimaru suddenly stopped smiling!

"Damn it, did we enter a snake den? Why are there snakes everywhere!"

Liao Wu spat out a Great Fireball, burning a group of venomous snakes charging at him.

Liao Wu had put Obito and Ryūsetsu down. The two of them were using Ninjutsu to exterminate the venomous snakes swarming toward them from every direction.

Obito was still hung up on what had happened with Hiruko. "Liao Wu, what exactly was wrong with Hiruko? Why couldn't he be killed?"

Liao Wu ignored Obito. "Why do you care so much? You should be praying that Teacher Minato can come save you!"

"Teacher Minato..."

Obito felt somewhat melancholy. So much time had passed. He didn't even know whether Minato still recognized him.

"You two, move aside. I'm going to use a wide-area Fire Style!"

"Right!"

Liao Wu formed hand seals and unleashed Great Fire Annihilation, spewing out surging flames that burned all the venomous snakes charging at them to death.

"Good. Let's keep running!"

Suddenly, Liao Wu felt a sharp pain seize his heart. Obito and Ryūsetsu felt it too.

Liao Wu could endure it, but Obito and Ryūsetsu were already clutching their heads and rolling on the ground.

It was the Curse Mark!

What Liao Wu had feared most had still happened. Madara's outward manner might be grand and heroic, but after growing old, he had started playing dirty.

He had placed Curse Marks on everyone in this base.

"Liao Wu, where are you planning to go, Na'er?"

Black and White Zetsu appeared. No, it wasn't Black and White Zetsu. It was the Black Zetsu and Tobi Combination.

Tobi's lively personality was something White Zetsu couldn't imitate.

"Lord Liao Wu, hurry and help Lord Madara! Lord Madara's body is already at the end of its strength. He can't hold on for long."

Liao Wu activated the White Zetsu Cells in his body, suppressing the Curse Mark around his heart.

"Fine, fine, fine. Madara really is an old man who refuses to die and has become a menace. He makes himself sound so noble, yet he even placed a Curse Mark on a child like Ryūsetsu. How am I supposed to trust him?"

Black Zetsu said, "Liao Wu, you're such a sly bastard. Lord Madara has never trusted you, either."

"Let's make a deal. You help Lord Madara restore his strength, and I'll help you remove the Curse Marks."

Liao Wu looked at Obito and Ryūsetsu, who were clutching their heads and wailing in agony, his expression dark.

Obito repeatedly slammed his head against the wall beside him, seemingly trying to kill himself. "...Liao Wu, don't listen to him. You absolutely can't let Madara Uchiha restore his youth, or everything will be over."

"As a Leaf Ninja, you must have the Awareness of Sacrifice for the village!"

"Enough—"

Liao Wu grabbed Obito's head and snarled viciously, "Sacrifice! Sacrifice! Why are people like you so unafraid of death? Once you're dead, there's nothing left."

Obito was weak, but he refused to bow his head. "Because... I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"

Liao Wu's pupils contracted.

Hokage. When he was young, Liao Wu had looked up to the radiant Third Hokage just as Obito did.

He can be replaced!

Thirty years had passed. Liao Wu was no longer the hot-blooded youth he had once been. The bullet he had fired in his childhood had personally killed the person he was now.

Passion had never meant recklessness, and ignorance had never been an original sin. The young should press forward without hesitation and shatter every fate.

Liao Wu roared, "I'm not running anymore! I'll never run again!"