Snake and Sasori (Part 2)

Upon hearing Sasori's words, Orochimaru's expression remained unchanged, but a faint killing intent flickered within his eyes.

As one of the Sannin of Konoha, his status in the shinobi world was incredibly high. Although he acknowledged that Sasori was a ninja of his own caliber, to be spoken to with such arrogance, as if his life were already in the palm of his hand, filled Orochimaru with deep fury.

"Oh? Then I would also like to experience the high-level techniques of Sasori of the Red Sands for myself," Orochimaru said with a smile, licking his lips with his tongue.

Since Sasori had delivered himself to his doorstep to serve as a sparring partner to test the power of his new body, there could be nothing better.

However, the man standing nearby with the unknown Kekkei Genkai dōjutsu still made Orochimaru extremely vigilant. It wasn't just because the man possessed the aura of a powerhouse, but more importantly, the attitude Sasori had displayed toward him just moments ago.

"Are you two coming at me together, or one by one?" Orochimaru probed. Although he was confident in dealing with Sasori now, if the opponent had another ninja of the same level or even higher, Orochimaru would have no choice but to flee.

Sasori controlled Hiruko to take a few steps forward and said slowly, "My intervention alone is enough."

Before the words had even faded, the mechanical tail at the rear of Hiruko, resembling a scorpion's stinger, lunged violently toward Orochimaru. The tip of the tail glinted with a black sheen, clearly coated in poison.

No one dared to underestimate the poisons crafted by Sasori, and Orochimaru was no exception. Quickly dodging the incoming tail, Orochimaru charged toward Hiruko.

"Hiruko: Needle Eight Waves!"

As Hiruko's mouth opened, countless poison needles shot out like a dense rain toward the oncoming Orochimaru. However, Orochimaru pressed his hands together, and his body became as supple as a snake.

Relying on his fluid, serpentine movements, Orochimaru wove through the dense barrage of poison needles, managing to evade every single attack without a scratch.

Just as Sasori prepared to retreat to avoid Orochimaru, who was nearly upon him, four brown snakes as thick as thighs suddenly erupted from the ground beneath Hiruko, biting down hard and pinning Sasori in place, rendering him unable to move.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"

Orochimaru finished his hand seals for an Earth Release ninjutsu, and several sharp stone spikes suddenly shot up from the ground, completely impaling Hiruko.

Seeing Hiruko destroyed, Orochimaru did not show any joy, for he realized that what he had finished off was merely a Sand Clone of Sasori.

In that split second, Sasori had used incredible speed to retract Hiruko into a Storage Scroll while simultaneously creating a Sand Clone to distract Orochimaru, allowing himself to escape using a substitution technique.

"As expected of Sasori of the Red Sands; you truly aren't so easily killed," Orochimaru said, turning to face Sasori, who had now revealed his true form.

Although Sasori was actually over thirty years old, he had turned himself into a Human Puppet after fleeing Sunagakure. Once his body became a puppet, he would no longer age, retaining the appearance of a teenager.

Looking at Orochimaru, Sasori knew he had to bring out his true strength, or he would never be able to defeat his opponent.

He pulled a scroll marked with the character 'Three' from his cloak sleeve, and amidst a puff of white smoke, a male Human Puppet with blue hair and a grey mantle appeared by his side.

"This is..." Orochimaru's expression shifted into one of recollection, and suddenly, his snake-like pupils contracted violently in shock.

"This is the Third Kazekage! I never imagined that the Third Shinobi World War was actually caused by you, Sasori of the Red Sands!"

The trigger for the Third Shinobi World War had been the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, and until the war ended, no one knew what had truly happened to him. But now, seeing the Third Kazekage Human Puppet used by Sasori, everything was self-evident.

Soon, Orochimaru suppressed his shock, instead revealing an expression of intense interest as he licked his lips. "I have always wanted to study the Magnet Release of the Third Kazekage."

Sasori said expressionlessly, "Then your chance has arrived." At this moment, Sasori's voice had also shifted to that of a young boy.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

"Senju Sōbu!"

Orochimaru's right hand suddenly erupted with dozens of brown venomous snakes lunging toward Sasori and the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, while the puppet controlled by Sasori extended a multitude of mechanical arms from its right hand.

The two remarkably similar techniques collided; Orochimaru's snakes were clearly far inferior in strength to the mechanical arms of the Human Puppet and were torn to shreds in an instant.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!"

At that moment, the Third Kazekage Human Puppet opened its jaw, and a massive amount of black iron sand formed a dense rain, instantly engulfing the area where Orochimaru stood.

Magnet Release and iron sand were the unique Kekkei Genkai of the Third Kazekage. Refined through the highly concentrated chakra of the Third Kazekage, the weight and destructive power of the iron sand far exceeded ordinary sand-based ninjutsu. This was the reason the Third Kazekage was known as the strongest Kazekage.

Once the iron sand penetrated a target, the victim would not only suffer excruciating pain, but the Third Kazekage could also use the iron sand to disrupt the chakra within the victim, thereby rendering them unable to fight.

Facing the Third Kazekage's powerful Magnet Release, Orochimaru dared not be careless and immediately performed his signature defensive ninjutsu to block the attack.

"Rashōmon!"

A massive gate engraved with a demonic face rose from the ground, blocking Orochimaru's front.

With a loud crash, the mechanical arms of the Third Kazekage Human Puppet and the iron sand rain slammed into the Rashōmon. The gate held for a brief moment before being overwhelmed by the powerful onslaught and collapsing with a thud.

However, that moment of resistance was enough for Orochimaru to dodge Sasori's assault. Using the Rashōmon to block Sasori's firepower, Orochimaru circled around to Sasori's flank, quickly forming hand seals as his body transformed into dozens of snow-white, arm-thick snakes that lunged at Sasori.

There is something wrong with this technique! Pain, watching from the side, immediately detected the hidden killing blow within Orochimaru's jutsu through his Rinnegan.

However, Sasori, standing opposite Orochimaru, lacked such dōjutsu and failed to notice the trap hidden within the technique.

"Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!"

After the Third Kazekage Human Puppet flew into the sky, a massive amount of black iron sand erupted from its body, forming countless spreading iron sand spikes that covered the entire area.

Yet, to Sasori's shock, the white snakes Orochimaru had turned into seemed to lack physical form, passing right through the Iron Sand World Method.

By then, it was too late to dodge; dozens of white snakes swarmed forward, biting down hard on Sasori's body. The parts of Sasori that were bitten began to freeze, until his entire body was encased in ice, eventually forming a massive block of ice.

The ninjutsu Orochimaru used was called 'Huanluo Snake Substitution', a clone technique he had developed alongside Yusuke that combined genjutsu with elemental chakra. The only difference was that Yusuke's clone used crows, while Orochimaru used snakes.

Because this clone technique lacked a physical body, it was incredibly eerie and could usually deal a devastating blow to an enemy encountering it for the first time. If the enemy could not discover the true principle behind the technique, they would be left completely helpless.

It's actually a genjutsu clone combined with Ice Release! I've never heard of Orochimaru having Ice Release abilities. Watching from the sidelines, Pain remained expressionless, but he was deeply puzzled, as he had never heard of Orochimaru possessing an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

Pain could never have imagined that the Orochimaru currently standing there was no longer using his original body, but had instead used a forbidden technique to seize the body of a young ninja who possessed an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

At this moment, Orochimaru's body stepped out from the massive block of ice that had sealed Sasori, fully confident that his Ice Release had successfully restrained Sasori's true form.

Just as he was preparing to seize the floating Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Orochimaru suddenly saw the puppet spit a spear of iron sand from its mouth, thrusting it violently toward him. Orochimaru dodged immediately, his heart filled with confusion.

The figure inside the ice is undoubtedly Sasori's true body, so the Third Kazekage Human Puppet should have no operator left. Why is it still moving? Orochimaru pondered secretly while cautiously observing his surroundings.

"There!" Suddenly, Orochimaru spotted a black-robed figure hiding behind a large tree, using chakra threads to manipulate the Third Kazekage Human Puppet.

It turned out that just as Sasori was being frozen by Orochimaru, he realized he couldn't escape in time. He released a new puppet body, while the Regeneration Core carrying his soul detached from his original body and attached itself to the new puppet frame.

"Sasori, let me handle this."

Pain stopped Sasori, who was about to continue his attack, and prepared to defeat Orochimaru himself.

In the brief exchange just now, Orochimaru had held the upper hand. In Pain's view, the possibility of Sasori defeating Orochimaru alone was not high.

"Tch~"

Hearing Pain's words, Sasori pursed his lips and said nothing more. Orochimaru, meanwhile, turned his head to look at Pain standing to the side.

Suddenly, without any warning, Orochimaru's body elongated rapidly, appearing in front of Pain in the blink of an eye.

"I'll be taking these eyes!"

Although Orochimaru did not yet know that Pain's eyes were the Rinnegan, his instincts told him that these eyes, which he had never seen before, were far from simple.

Watching Orochimaru, who wore an expression of excitement, Pain remained cold and indifferent.

"Almighty Push."

Accompanied by a massive shockwave, Orochimaru was sent flying back violently. However, because Orochimaru's body had undergone soft-body modification, this type of impact-based strike could not cause him significant damage.

Watching Orochimaru in the distance, who was dazed and still trying to figure out the situation, Pain slowly extended his right hand.

"Banshō Ten'in."

Influenced by Pain's Banshō Ten'in ability, Orochimaru felt his body pulled by a powerful gravitational force, flying back in the opposite direction from which he had just been sent.

However, Orochimaru was a veteran of a hundred battles with reflexes far beyond the average person, and he immediately took countermeasures.

His hands quickly formed seals, and Orochimaru once again unleashed the Huanluo Snake Substitution, his body transforming into dozens of white snakes that lunged toward the approaching Pain.

Watching the dozens of white snakes snapping at him viciously, Pain remained calm and composed, a thin, long black rod extending from his left sleeve.

"Die!"

Behind the dozens of white snakes, Orochimaru's ferocious face seemed to appear.

Standard thanks to everyone for your support!!!

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Regarding the rope tied around Orochimaru's waist in the previous chapter, some readers pointed out it is a special type of Japanese attire. The author has made adjustments and additions to that part of the previous chapter.

Additionally, the body Orochimaru reincarnated into is not Haku, but merely an unnamed Ice Style ninja.

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