One-Wave Takedown

"Die, you bastard!!"

The Fourth Raikage roared like thunder. He stomped the ground and reached Orochimaru in an instant.

Lightning coalesced around his arm as he swung it down like a battle-axe.

Boom!

The axe blow passed through Orochimaru's figure and cleaved a massive crater into the earth. Cracks stretched into the distance, and a towering tree toppled with a crash.

"Shadow Clone? No... That's just an afterimage!"

The Fourth Raikage was taken aback. As one of the Shinobi World's few Taijutsu masters, he knew all too well how terrifyingly fast someone had to be to leave an afterimage behind.

Orochimaru specialized in ninjutsu. How could he move that fast? How could his body possibly withstand it?

"Hoo..."

Not far away, "Orochimaru" let out a long breath, as though he meant to empty all the air from his chest and abdomen.

As he began to inhale, pale markings crept across his face, and a layer of yellow light ignited along the Kusanagi Sword's blade.

The Fourth Raikage's pupils contracted. "Senjutsu?"

At once, the doubt in his mind was answered.

With Natural Energy bolstering him, Orochimaru's physical abilities really would improve significantly.

But when had Orochimaru learned Senjutsu? As far as the Fourth Raikage knew, Jiraiya was the only one in Konoha who could use it. Even the late Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had only mastered a little of it.

"Senjutsu? You could call it that, but more precisely, it's solar energy."

"Orochimaru" smiled. Warm yellow markings crisscrossed his face like war paint, adding a hint of masculine strength to his otherwise delicate features.

"Solar energy?"

The Fourth Raikage scowled at Orochimaru beneath the deep night sky, thinking he was talking nonsense. He didn't know that Orochimaru wasn't making it up.

Solar energy wasn't the same thing as sunlight. Otherwise, could Sun Breathing only be used during the day? How would it work against demons that appeared at night?

In fact, after the land had basked in sunlight during the day, some of the solar energy had been absorbed into the earth. Now, Orochimaru was relying on that energy to enter Demon Slayer Mark mode.

That was also why he didn't have to worry about the gathered solar energy bursting him apart in the middle of the night.

The Fourth Raikage didn't know the details, but he knew one thing: shinobi who could use Senjutsu could no longer be judged by ordinary standards.

Besides, the speed Orochimaru had shown earlier made him wary. He resolved to proceed carefully.

"Aren't you going to attack? You know, you don't have much time either."

"Orochimaru" curled his lips into a grin and let out a cackle. Flames suddenly blazed along the Kusanagi Sword in his hand. "Never mind. What's the point of testing a sword if I wait for someone to come to me? Better to keep my feet on the ground."

The instant he finished speaking, "Orochimaru" vanished from where he stood. The Fourth Raikage tensed and raised his arm to block on the right.

Clang!

A wave of heat hit him in the face, and a black streak appeared on his golden arm guard.

The Fourth Raikage immediately countered with a heavy punch. His fist, wrapped in lightning, carried an unstoppable force.

But as his fist reached Orochimaru, the afterimage shattered like a bubble.

"Tsk, tsk... You're built like a bodybuilder. You ought to be wearing nothing but underwear, but you've even got armor on."

"Orochimaru" flashed onto a tree trunk, surprise on his face. He smiled. "But how many more hits can you block with just that?"

The Fourth Raikage shot back in his harsh, gravelly voice, "How long can you keep this up?"

His gaze fell on Orochimaru's legs. A patch of crimson showed through his shinobi clothes. Clearly, even with Senjutsu bolstering him, a body that hadn't been trained for this sort of thing could hardly bear such incredible speed.

That bastard Orochimaru had been telling the truth and lying at the same time. But there was one thing that seemed true now: this was his first time using Senjutsu.

"It's a bit much for a first attempt, but I can keep it up all day without breaking a sweat."

A strange smile appeared on "Orochimaru's" face. "But you don't have time to find out. Your men won't give you the chance."

His words were meant to undermine the Fourth Raikage, hinting that the Kumogakure fortress might already have fallen.

The Fourth Raikage's hair and beard bristled. His fierce expression didn't change, but the lightning around him grew even more intense.

"Orochimaru" didn't care whether he'd gotten under his skin. He leapt down from the treetop and slashed at the Raikage with all his might, flames wreathing the blade.

For a time, lightning and scarlet flame clashed, and bursts of noise rang through the air as the fight grew increasingly fierce.

Meanwhile, the Konoha shinobi and the Kumogakure shinobi chased one another to a spot near the fortress.

The three Uchiha jōnin exchanged glances. Seizing a lull, they rapidly formed Hand Seals and shouted, "Summoning Technique!"

Poof!

After a cloud of white smoke, three brown snakes, each dozens of meters long, appeared and crushed countless trees beneath them.

The Uchiha jōnin drew a breath, suppressing their excitement. One pointed toward the fortress. "Forward! Destroy that fortress!"

"Hissss!"

The three snakes hissed. Instead of obeying, they opened their jaws toward the Uchiha jōnin, clear saliva dripping from the corners of their mouths.

Facing the three snake summons' imposing presence, an Uchiha jōnin stepped forward, waved an arm, and scolded them. "Are you going to defy Lord Orochimaru's orders?"

Sensing the constraint of the temporary contract, the snakes let out unwilling hisses and charged toward the fortress, venting their resentment and wild instincts on the Kumogakure shinobi.

The Uchiha jōnin breathed a sigh of relief, then looked toward their captain. "Should we keep going and summon Manda? He's even more unruly than these snakes."

"We have to summon him. With Manda, we'll have a much better chance of taking down the Kumogakure fortress this time."

Shinsuke Uchiha gritted his teeth. "Get the others to clear out of this area."

The other Uchiha jōnin didn't hesitate. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from where they stood.

The sound of blades clashing rang through the woods. They held back the Kumogakure shinobi nearby, leaving Shinsuke Uchiha alone in the area.

He bit his fingertip. Blood soaked into the temporary contract he had drawn on his palm. "Summoning Technique!"

"Orochimaru... No, you're not Orochimaru. That bastard dares disturb my rest?"

A cold voice rang out from the white smoke. Manda poked his head through it and glared at Shinsuke Uchiha, his bright, lantern-like eyes full of menace.

"Heh. Orochimaru gave you a contract, so you think you can summon me? Are you looking down on me?"

Manda's arrogant attitude made veins twitch on Shinsuke Uchiha's forehead. What angered him even more was that Manda's ferocious presence genuinely made him feel uneasy.

Forcing down his complicated emotions, Shinsuke Uchiha managed a stiff smile. "Manda, that's the Kumogakure fortress over there. Lord Orochimaru told me to tell you to destroy it."

"You think you can order me around?"

Manda lashed his tail, gouging a huge crater into the earth.

After venting his anger, he paid no mind to Shinsuke Uchiha, who had barely dodged in time. Instead, he fixed his eyes on the nearby fortress, his gaze full of hatred.

He had mostly recovered, but the scars left by the Raikage were still visible on his belly.

Now was the time for revenge.

Meanwhile, as Shinsuke Uchiha watched Manda charge toward the fortress, fury flared in his Sharingan. He swore that one day, he'd make that snake pay for this.