Kotoamatsukami!

The sword that had pierced White Dove's chest was wrapped by a tongue nearly fifteen meters long, coiled around its hilt. The tongue's owner slowly "swam" up from beneath Gyuki.

Waist-length black hair, Tomoe earrings, purple eyeshadow, and golden, slit-pupil eyes.

Such distinctive features naturally made it easy to recognize who had arrived.

Orochimaru!

This former member of the Konoha Sannin, once known as the "Cold Lord," was now an S-rank missing-nin.

"White Dove, your body and Sharingan are truly beautiful. But now they belong to me!"

Orochimaru stared feverishly at Uchiha White Dove, whose chest he had just run through from behind, as if he were looking at a priceless treasure.

Luckily, the "contact lenses" concealed his eyes, keeping Orochimaru from seeing the Mangekyo. Otherwise, he would have been even more obsessed.

Even so, he had noticed something unusual about White Dove's Sharingan.

No one understood Tailed Beasts better than he did.

An ordinary three-Tomoe Sharingan could never control a Tailed Beast with genjutsu. Not even Uchiha Shisui, the Uchiha with the greatest skill in genjutsu, could do it.

So naturally, Orochimaru coveted White Dove's Sharingan even more.

As for Samui and the others, he ignored them completely.

As a veteran Kage Level fighter, he usually fought the Raikage or the Tsuchikage. He wouldn't waste his time on minor characters like these.

Of course, if they were foolish enough to court death, he wouldn't mind gaining a few more research subjects.

But then something unexpected happened.

"When did you decide you'd already won?"

At White Dove's words, his body, pierced through by the blade, suddenly turned into a flock of doves that scattered in every direction.

Dove Clone Technique!

Because they were tangible clones, they were highly convincing—and unlike Shadow Clones, they didn't vanish the instant they took a heavy blow.

"Yamete (This is bad!)"

Just as Orochimaru sensed something was wrong—

Coo!

A dove appeared beside him.

It instantly transformed back into Uchiha White Dove. He had taken off his contact lenses, revealing his Mangekyo.

"Kotoamatsukami!"

Seizing this rare opportunity, White Dove unleashed the trump card he had been preparing for his opponent.

Kotoamatsukami!

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

In particular, his promise to let Samui's team leave had seemed to a seasoned Kage Level fighter like Orochimaru like clear proof that he had overexerted himself and was in poor condition. That was why Orochimaru had chosen to launch a sneak attack.

White Dove really had expended a great deal of energy. After all, he was only a quasi-Kage.

But although he was drained, he wasn't actually in such bad shape.

He had trained in Taijutsu diligently since childhood and had earned enough money to invest in plenty of resources. When it came to basic physical attributes, he far surpassed Itachi, the weasel.

So White Dove still had the strength to deal with Samui's team. But after sensing Orochimaru, he had deliberately pretended he was out of strength, giving the man an opening to attack.

And after landing his attack, Orochimaru would naturally be at his most relaxed. White Dove took advantage of that moment to unleash Kotoamatsukami at full power.

At that moment, his ocular power poured out of his Mangekyo as if it were free.

Ocular power was the main cost, but his chakra was draining at a frightening rate too, as though it were being sucked right out of him.

Not far away, Samui's team was gathered in front of Gyuki's eyes. They didn't waste the chance, trying every method they could to wake Killer B.

As for interrupting White Dove or attacking him while they had the chance—

They didn't want to get themselves killed.

The more desperate a situation was, the more dangerous a powerful fighter became. Their mission was to get their teacher out safely, not to kill Uchiha White Dove.

White Dove naturally knew what Samui's team was doing, but he didn't let it distract him at all.

Compared to Orochimaru, Killer B was nothing.

Whether they could escape also came down to luck.

Because reinforcements were already on their way.

When Orochimaru appeared, White Dove had crushed a capsule-like object, releasing a scent.

The scent would reach Izumi, who carried a Scent-Tracking Bug, and the bug would pick it up. That would bring her and Tekka to the rescue. Inabi, meanwhile, would take Kakashi and retreat alone to the place they had agreed on earlier, where they would wait for the others before returning to the village together.

The scent was the "signal."

Signal flares were far too conspicuous for covert use, so most ninja had discreet ways to pass on signals like this.

Izumi and Tekka were elite jōnin with three-Tomoe Sharingan. Samui's team would need luck to escape them safely, so White Dove had no need to focus on them.

White Dove was now channeling Kotoamatsukami with all his might.

Put simply, Kotoamatsukami was like a "will-altering device," so he had to be extremely careful when setting it up. He couldn't let his target notice anything wrong or contradictory.

For example, making Orochimaru completely loyal to him wouldn't be a problem.

But given Orochimaru's personality and intelligence, sooner or later he would become suspicious. With his keen mind, he would definitely realize he had been caught in a genjutsu, then find some way to turn the tables.

For someone who dared to cut into his own soul, a mental seal like Kotoamatsukami might not be all-powerful.

That was why the details of the setup mattered!

In White Dove's design, nothing contradicted Orochimaru's past experiences or personality. He had simply made himself Orochimaru's only "understander," someone who understood what Orochimaru pursued.

Well... it was like forming a bond with him.

The fewer and simpler the details, the less likely Orochimaru was to realize he had been caught in Kotoamatsukami.

After all, White Dove hadn't changed Orochimaru's original personality or memories. No matter how closely he examined himself, he wouldn't find anything unusual.

Of course, only someone as exceptionally clever as Orochimaru required this much caution.

With someone like Killer B or Danzo, he could twist their personalities completely and recruit them as subordinates, without worrying that they would notice anything strange and betray him.

Kotoamatsukami could twist Orochimaru's will and personality too.

But the problem was that distorting him would also destroy his ability to research and create. So when using Kotoamatsukami on Orochimaru, the first priority was to preserve those abilities.

In that regard, Orochimaru's talents were on par with, if not greater than, those of the Second Hokage.

The Second Hokage was simply too rational. That naturally left him without the same touch of "madness" in his research, limiting his capacity for invention and discovery.

Anyone else in the Shinobi World would have thought White Dove was wasting his power.

He could have used Kotoamatsukami to change Orochimaru's mind and personality, turning him into a loyal snake. Instead, he had chosen only to become Orochimaru's "bond" and "moonlight"—the one he held dearest.

That wasn't just wasteful. It was a complete waste!

But to White Dove, Orochimaru was his own "cheat code," and the key to making some of his ideas succeed.

With Orochimaru's help, he could bring many of his ideas to life and truly gain an unfair advantage.

So any amount of Kotoamatsukami was worth spending to secure that advantage.

One use of Kotoamatsukami!

White Dove felt as if he had been completely drained.

His ocular power and chakra were both spent.

He was utterly exhausted, as if he hadn't slept for days.

Luckily, compared with him, Samui's team was more focused on saving Killer B. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

He didn't know how they had managed it, but they had brought Killer B out of Tailed Beast Transformation and back to his Jinchūriki form.

White Dove summoned the last of his strength. As Killer B recovered, he carried the genjutsu-bound Orochimaru away at full speed, keeping him from hitting the ground and disrupting the effect of Kotoamatsukami.

"Omoi, take B-sensei and retreat!"

Samui immediately tossed Killer B onto Omoi's back, then prepared to withdraw.

But what she hadn't expected was that Karui had other ideas.

The red-haired girl pulled out several Kunai and hurled them straight at White Dove, who was tens of meters away, still staring at Orochimaru.

"You..."

Samui grew anxious when she saw what Karui was doing.

White Dove had used genjutsu to put their teacher, Killer B, in danger. Naturally, she was furious too.

But their most urgent task was to get their teacher to safety, not launch an unauthorized attack. If this caused an unexpected complication, they'd be in trouble.

Just as the Kunai were about to hit White Dove, who stood motionless and stared at Orochimaru...