Snake Shadow (Please Vote)

Land of Fire, Konoha.

Though the title of "Sannin," bestowed upon them by the "Demigod" Hanzo during the Second Shinobi World War, felt humiliating to those who knew the truth, it had objectively elevated the reputations of the three Hokage disciples to new heights.

Their fame had risen from the village level to the world stage.

The rise in reputation and status gave Orochimaru greater freedom. A few years later, as his growth in strength gradually slowed, he could no longer suppress his desire for research. Especially after discovering the treasure that was Jugo, he plunged headfirst into the sea of science and could not pull himself free.

Rustle, rustle~

Inside a cold, damp base, a small snake flicked its tongue as it slithered forward.

Torches that were not particularly bright lined the walls on either side of the passage it traveled through. Beneath them were cells after cells, each iron door bearing a small opening. Behind them were numb faces, standing by their cell doors every day and instinctively yearning for the scent of the outside world.

The small snake continued onward and slipped into the brightest room.

"Oh? A Kirigakure ninja discovered Amachi's experimental base?"

A young man with pale skin and waist-length black hair frowned slightly. His narrow eyes, lined with purple shadow, narrowed as a fierce glint flashed through his golden vertical pupils.

"Amachi... he still has some use..."

After thinking for a moment, Orochimaru turned away from the operating table. Leaving behind a Shadow Clone, his true body slowly sank into the ground.

Land of the Sea, Mysterious Island.

By the time Araki emerged after gathering all the laboratory's documents, Kisame and Zabuza still had not seen the "lord" Amachi had mentioned.

"You bastard, were you just bluffing to toy with us?"

Zabuza's gaze gradually turned dangerous.

Since the Kisame Squad's mission was to investigate the Sea Demon, whether Amachi had other people behind him affected the completion of their mission. They could not be careless.

"Hmph! Enjoy the last moments of your lives!"

Amachi's tone remained as arrogant as ever, and a cold sneer suddenly appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"Not good, underground—"

Zabuza's expression changed slightly as he cried out.

Boom!

The ground beneath the three of them instantly shattered. An incomparably thick Mottled Giant Python thrust its head out, opened its bloody maw, and swallowed Amachi together with the wall behind him. It then lashed out with its tail.

Smack!

The thick, hard snake tail struck the side of the cave with a tremendous crash. The rock wall could not withstand such force and shattered instantly. Dust filled the cave as broken stones flew everywhere.

Though Zabuza's warning had been rushed, the three of them were alert people to begin with and had not been caught by the giant snake bursting from the ground.

They now stood some distance away, watching the fleeting snake shadow with different expressions.

Zabuza was puzzled. He could not figure out where the giant python had come from or what it was doing. Judging by how it had swallowed Amachi in one bite, perhaps it was not an enemy, merely a wild beast that had wandered in by accident?

Kisame, meanwhile, looked grave. With his experience, he quickly realized who in the entire Shinobi World was most famous for using snake summons.

"We seem to have provoked a major problem. Get out of here first!"

Kisame bared his teeth and sprinted toward the cave entrance.

Having guessed the newcomer's identity even earlier, Araki had already cast [Gale Palm] to speed the three of them up.

A fierce wind blew in from behind, helping them rush outward even faster.

Araki could not currently apply the [Grace of the Wind] buff to others, but since all three of them were moving in the same direction, he only needed to have the gale blow from behind and provide a one-way boost.

The three ran at top speed. By the time Orochimaru's figure slowly rose from underground, no one remained at the scene except Amachi, who was crawling out of the python's mouth.

"Amachi, can you tell me what happened here?"

A cold, slimy voice slowly rang out, one that immediately brought soft-bodied creatures to mind.

Before he even had time to clean the slime off himself, Amachi respectfully spoke as soon as he heard Orochimaru's question.

"The enemies are three Mist Village ninjas. One of them has a shark face. I think he would be very helpful to our research, so if possible, please capture him alive. The other two are just brats. They are not worth worrying about."

"A genin squad?"

Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his cheek, interest gleaming in his golden vertical pupils.

"A shark-faced Mist Village ninja who would be very useful for our experiments? Kirigakure has such excellent material?"

Outside Mysterious Island.

"Captain, what do we do? Retreat or fight?"

Though Araki felt that with Kisame at his side, they should not fear Orochimaru on the open sea, he still needed to ask the person involved before making a decision.

Kisame was conflicted as well. If he had been alone, or rather, if Zabuza had not been there, he felt he could still exchange a few moves with Orochimaru.

But with Zabuza's current strength, he probably could not even withstand the aftershock of one of Orochimaru's casual ninjutsu.

Kisame did not want to see his subordinate die because of his own desire to challenge the strong.

Thus, after gritting his teeth, he still spat out a single word.

"Retreat!"

However, against someone as powerful as Orochimaru, it was not as simple as leaving whenever they wanted.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

A dense barrage of air-piercing sounds rang out as a cloudlike swarm of shuriken shot toward the three of them.

Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique?

Araki recognized the Third Hokage's signature ninjutsu at once.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Kisame rapidly formed hand seals, and a curved wall of water surged up to envelop the three of them, blocking the enemy's attack.

But that delay caused them to miss their best chance to escape.

"Zabuza, leave first, then fire a flare for reinforcements!"

Kisame casually found an excuse to send Zabuza away, then said to Araki.

"Araki, the enemy is one of Konoha's famed Sannin. Be careful!"

"Don't worry, Captain!"

Araki quickly formed hand seals, then gripped his sword with both hands. The muscles in his arms bulged slightly as he swung forward with all his might. A translucent crescent-shaped wind blade flew from his sword, spinning toward Orochimaru in the distance.

[Slash Wave: New Moon]!

Though it was merely a variation of a C-rank ninjutsu, bolstered by Araki's solid mastery of Wind Release, the slash was no weak attack. The howling wind it produced made even Orochimaru choose to avoid its edge.

After using the Body Flicker Technique to dodge the Flying Slash, Orochimaru formed a dazzling series of hand seals. A water dragon covered in flashing lightning rose before him and charged at Kisame and Araki with a violent roar.

[Compound Ninjutsu: Lightning Water Dragon Bullet]!

Such a compound ninjutsu was difficult to block with Water Release alone, but Kisame naturally had his own method.

"Water Release: Water Clone Technique!"

Three identical Kisame figures instantly appeared ahead and stood in a line.

"Water Release: Multiple Water Formation Wall!"

Splash! Splash! Splash!

Three broad water walls rose simultaneously from the sea, forming three consecutive barriers in the path of the [Lightning Water Dragon Bullet].

This was the chakra-ton approach. Even if he could not use an opposing elemental ninjutsu to counter and break the attack, he could wear down the enemy's ninjutsu with a sufficient amount of chakra.

Watching the mighty [Lightning Water Dragon Bullet] pierce through two water walls before being completely worn away, Orochimaru fell silent for a moment in the distance.

He felt that this shark-faced Mist Village ninja had somehow turned Water Formation Wall into [Summoning: Rashomon].

The famous defensive ninjutsu [Rashomon] worked the same way. If one gate could not block it, summon two, three, four, or five. In any case, sheer numbers would eventually win.

"Hehe, it seems you are not ordinary ninjas after all."

Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth. "But for the sake of research material!"

The hand seals he formed suddenly changed.

"Ninja Art: Wicked Snake Winding!"

Rumble!

A thick python suddenly burst from beneath Araki and Kisame, swaying its head and tail as it tried to ram them into the air.

Sensing the disturbance on the sea surface, the two immediately leaped high backward. At the same time, Araki swung his sword downward and unleashed another long wind blade!

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