Kotoamatsukami!

The sword piercing Uchiha White Dove's chest was coiled at the hilt by a tongue nearly ten meters long, and the owner of that tongue slowly "slithered" up from beneath Gyuki.

Jet-black hair reaching the waist, magatama earrings, purple eyeshadow, and golden slit pupils.

Such an iconic appearance naturally allowed one to recognize the newcomer's identity at a glance.

Orochimaru!

This "Cold Lord," one of the former Konoha Sannin, was now an S-rank missing-nin.

"White Dove-kun, your body and Sharingan are truly beautiful, but they belong to me now!"

Orochimaru stared with fanatical eyes at Uchiha White Dove, who had been run through from behind by his sword, as if he were looking at a supreme treasure.

Fortunately, the "contact lenses" masked his eyes, preventing Orochimaru from seeing the Mangekyo; otherwise, he would have only grown more frantic.

Even so, he still sensed the anomaly in White Dove's Sharingan.

No one understood Tailed Beasts better than he did.

A standard three-tomoe Sharingan could never control a Tailed Beast with genjutsu, not even Uchiha Shisui, the strongest genjutsu user among the Uchiha.

Therefore, Orochimaru's covetousness for White Dove's Sharingan only grew deeper.

As for Samui and her team, he ignored them entirely.

As a veteran Kage-level powerhouse, he usually traded blows with the likes of the Raikage or the Tsuchikage; he wouldn't waste time on such small fry.

Of course, if the other party were foolish enough to court death, he wouldn't mind having a few more research subjects.

However, an accident occurred.

"At what point did you think you had already succeeded?"

Following White Dove's voice, his body, pierced by the blade, suddenly transformed into white doves that scattered in all directions.

Dove Clone Technique!

Because it was a physical clone, it was not only incredibly deceptive but would not dissipate instantly upon taking heavy damage like a Shadow Clone.

"Yabai (Oh no!)"

Just as Orochimaru realized something was wrong.

Coo!

A dove appeared beside him.

The dove instantly shifted back into Uchiha White Dove, followed by the reveal of his Mangekyo, the contact lenses now removed.

"Kotoamatsukami!"

Seizing this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, White Dove unleashed the ultimate technique he had long prepared for his opponent.

Kotoamatsukami!

He had sensed Orochimaru the moment the man approached, which was why he had acted so "weak."

In particular, his promise to let Samui's team leave was, in the eyes of an experienced Kage-level powerhouse like Orochimaru, clear evidence of excessive exhaustion and a poor state, which was why he had chosen to launch a sneak attack.

It could be said that White Dove's expenditure just now had indeed been significant; after all, he was only quasi-Kage level himself.

But while the expenditure was high, it wasn't enough to leave him in such a poor state.

He had spent his life grinding taijutsu and earning money to pour vast resources into his own body; in terms of base stats, he far crushed Itachi, that Weasel.

Therefore, White Dove actually still had the strength to deal with Samui's team, but it was precisely because he sensed Orochimaru that he deliberately feigned exhaustion, thereby giving the man a chance to strike.

The moment the opponent succeeded was naturally the moment they were most relaxed, so White Dove used this opportunity to unleash a full-power Kotoamatsukami.

At this moment, his ocular power poured out from his Mangekyo as if it were worthless.

Although the ocular power was the main drain, his chakra was also being consumed frantically, as if he were being hollowed out.

Not far away, Samui's team, guarding the front of Gyuki's eyes, naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity, using various methods to try and awaken Killer B.

As for taking the chance to interrupt or sneak attack White Dove?

They had no desire to court death.

The more desperate a powerhouse was, the more dangerous they became, and their current mission was to take their teacher and retreat, not to kill Uchiha White Dove.

White Dove naturally knew what Samui's team was doing, but he didn't have the slightest intention of being distracted.

Compared to Orochimaru, Killer B was simply not worth mentioning.

At the same time, whether the others could escape would depend on their luck.

Because reinforcements were arriving soon.

When Orochimaru appeared, he had crushed a capsule-like object, allowing a scent to diffuse.

And this scent would be picked up by the "Scent-Tracking Bug" carried by Izumi in the distance, leading her and Tekka to come for support. As for Inabi, he would take Kakashi and retreat first to the previously agreed-upon location to wait for them to return to the village together.

The scent was the "signal."

A signal flare was too obvious and not suitable for covert use, so most ninjas possessed such subtle means of signaling.

With Izumi and Tekka's elite Jonin strength, and the fact that they possessed three-tomoe Sharingan, Samui's team would need luck to escape the pursuit safely, so there was absolutely no need to focus his attention on them.

White Dove was currently pushing Kotoamatsukami to its absolute limit.

To put it simply, Kotoamatsukami was essentially a "will modifier," so the parameters had to be set with extreme caution to ensure no contradictions or inconsistencies would be detected.

For instance, making Orochimaru one hundred percent loyal to him was naturally not a problem.

The issue, however, was that given the other party's personality and intellect, he would inevitably grow suspicious over time; with that level of genius, he would certainly realize he had been compromised and then find every possible way to bite back.

For a guy who dared to take a scalpel to his own soul, a mental seal like Kotoamatsukami was not necessarily a cure-all.

Therefore, the configuration was crucial!

In White Dove's setup, there was nothing that contradicted the man's past experiences or personality; he merely established himself as the only one who "understood" him and the things he pursued.

Hmm... it was essentially like forging a bond.

The fewer the settings, the simpler they were, and the less likely the target would be to notice they had been hit by Kotoamatsukami.

After all, he hadn't altered Orochimaru's original personality or memories, so no matter how closely the man scrutinized himself, he would never find anything amiss.

Of course, it was only because Orochimaru was such a supreme genius that such caution was required.

If it were someone like Killer B or Danzo, he could completely twist their personalities and directly subjugate them as subordinates without ever worrying about them noticing the anomaly and rebelling.

Although Kotoamatsukami could also twist Orochimaru's will and personality.

The problem was that once twisted, the man's research and creative abilities would be stifled, so when using Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru, the priority had to be preserving those very capabilities.

In this regard, the man was hot on the heels of, or perhaps even surpassed, the Second Hokage.

After all, the Second Hokage was far too rational, which naturally lacked that "madness" in scientific research, thereby placing limits on his creative and research potential.

If it were anyone else in the ninja world, they would surely think White Dove was being wasteful.

He could have used Kotoamatsukami to modify Orochimaru's consciousness and personality, turning him into a loyal snake, yet he chose only to become a "bond" and a "white moonlight" in the man's heart just to preserve his research and creative talent.

It wasn't just wasteful; it was an absolute waste!

But to White Dove, Orochimaru was his "cheat code," and the key to whether his various ideas could actually succeed.

With him, a vast number of his concepts could be realized, allowing him to truly cheat the system.

Therefore, for the sake of this cheat, no amount of waste was too much.

One strike of Kotoamatsukami!

It left White Dove feeling as though his entire being had been hollowed out.

Both his ocular power and his chakra were completely drained.

It felt as if he had gone days and nights without sleep; he was utterly exhausted.

Fortunately, the Samui squad was more focused on rescuing Killer B than on him, otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

He didn't know how they had managed it, but they had actually forced Killer B to revert from his Tailed Beast state back to his Jinchuriki form.

White Dove gathered his remaining strength, and as the man recovered, he used all his might to leap away while carrying the illusion-bound Orochimaru, avoiding any impact with the ground that might disrupt the effect of Kotoamatsukami.

"Omoi, take Master B and retreat!"

Samui immediately threw Killer B onto Omoi's back and prepared to pull out.

But to her surprise, Karui had other ideas.

The red-haired girl pulled out several kunai and hurled them directly at White Dove, who was still staring at Orochimaru from dozens of meters away.

"You..."

Samui was anxious the moment she saw this.

She was naturally furious that the man had used a genjutsu to put Master Killer B in such danger.

But the top priority right now was to retreat safely with their master, not to act on impulse; if this move caused any unexpected complications, they would be in deep trouble.

Just as the kunai were about to strike White Dove, who stood frozen in place, fixated on Orochimaru.