Thirty-Six: Undying Flame

"Black rain..."

Orochimaru stood outside Amegakure, staring blankly at the black rain falling from the sky.

No, it wasn't rain.

Seeing that the droplets ignited everything they touched the moment they landed, Orochimaru finally understood what this was.

It was fire.

Flames cooled to an extreme degree had been condensed into a black liquid under the manipulator's influence, yet they retained the burning properties of fire.

Furthermore, this black flame was no ordinary fire.

Standard flames would shrink upon contact with Water Release, and could even be instantly extinguished by a large volume of water.

But these flames did not shrink at all.

No, at the moment of contact, they had set the water itself ablaze.

"This kind of flame... is it a ninjutsu? Or perhaps..."

A look of curiosity appeared on Orochimaru's face.

Who could be unleashing such flames within Amegakure?

Could it be...

The figure of a certain person instantly flashed through his mind.

But he did not recall that person being capable of using such flames.

Then who could it be?

Accompanied by the rising flames, a thunderous explosion erupted from the direction of Amegakure, and shortly after, a black silhouette dashed rapidly out of the village.

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he watched the figure become clearer amidst the smoke.

Black hair, red eyes, carrying a blonde woman on his back—it was indeed Uchiha Sakuya.

He had truly rescued Tsunade.

However...

Uchiha Sakuya's eyes... a sun?

Seeing the sun-like pattern in Uchiha Sakuya's pupils, Orochimaru felt a surge of confusion.

What was that...

"Go!"

Sakuya did not stop beside Orochimaru, instead rushing straight past him.

Orochimaru snapped out of his daze and hurriedly followed.

In the moment of their escape, he took a quick glance back toward Amegakure.

The black flames, having lost their master's control, were still burning within the village.

Moreover, they were intensifying.

It was as if they would not rest until everything in Amegakure had been burned to ash.

"Sakuya-kun, that flame..."

"We'll talk later."

Sakuya did not say much more.

Under Orochimaru's astonished gaze, the sun patterns in his eyes slowly rotated.

Finally, they reverted back into the shape of the Three Tomoe.

"Orochimaru, were you waiting outside to meet us?"

Tsunade, on Sakuya's back, asked, "What about Dan Katō and Jiraiya?"

"I had them return to the village first," Orochimaru replied. "The Salamander's toxin is a priority."

"Mm."

Hearing this, Tsunade looked at Sakuya with concern.

"Sakuya, your body..."

"I can still manage."

Now that they were temporarily safe, Sakuya caught his breath, and the tomoe in his pupils gradually faded.

A sharp, piercing pain surged through Sakuya's bone marrow as the Sharingan deactivated.

"Cough!"

He let out a muffled groan and stumbled to a halt, his entire body trembling from the intense agony.

"Sakuya-kun!"

Orochimaru hurriedly steadied him.

"Put me down, Sakuya!"

Tsunade also shouted anxiously.

"It's... it's nothing."

Sakuya took a deep breath, suppressing the sharp pain.

"It is merely a side effect of overusing my dōjutsu; it is no longer an issue."

"Let us find a place to rest first."

Orochimaru looked around, and seeing no pursuers, he let out a sigh of relief: "We should be safe for the time being."

"Mn."

Sakuya nodded, and under Orochimaru's lead, they hurried to find a clean cave.

"Lady Katsuyu, please help Sakuya heal."

As soon as Tsunade was set down, she spoke to the summon clinging to her.

"Understood, Lady Tsunade."

Katsuyu hopped off Tsunade and crawled onto Sakuya's shoulder.

"I am in your care."

Sakuya smiled and nodded at the summon.

He was quite curious about the summons from Shikkotsu Forest, though now was hardly the time.

As Katsuyu's gentle Yang-natured chakra poured into his body, Sakuya let out a long sigh and closed his eyes to rest.

It had to be said, this sage from Shikkotsu Forest was truly remarkable.

In just half an hour, his injuries were essentially fully recovered; aside from a lingering deficit in his chakra, he was effectively back to normal.

He glanced at Tsunade, who was also resting with her eyes closed while being treated by another Katsuyu clone, and felt his heart settle.

Seeming to sense he had awakened, Orochimaru, who was guarding the cave entrance, turned his head.

The two exchanged a look, and Sakuya rose silently, walking out of the cave.

"Heh heh, looking at your complexion, Sakuya-kun, you have recovered quite a bit."

Orochimaru spoke softly.

"Mn, though my chakra is still somewhat depleted."

Sakuya took out a Military Ration Pill and chewed it: "The injuries are no longer a concern."

"That is good."

Orochimaru nodded, then turned his gaze back toward the direction of Amegakure.

Sakuya followed his gaze and saw the village covered in black flames.

"Amegakure is still burning. It has been over an hour since you emerged, yet even after all this time, the fire in Amegakure has not ceased; it is even intensifying."

Watching the surging black flames, a flicker of wariness crossed Orochimaru's eyes.

He did not care for this kind of fire that could burn away all vitality.

"That fire cannot be extinguished."

Sakuya explained to Orochimaru: "That black flame can burn everything. It is not just buildings; anything it touches becomes its fuel, including the earth, ninjutsu, the weather... even the air itself..."

"Truly a terrifying flame."

The wariness in Orochimaru's eyes deepened: "Is that flame something from within Amegakure?"

If Amegakure possessed such a flame, then in the ongoing Second Shinobi World War, Amegakure would be a difficult opponent to handle.

If they were pushed into a corner and unleashed such flames, he wondered who could possibly deal with them.

"Rest assured, that black flame is called Amaterasu, and it is my dōjutsu."

Sakuya said: "My Mangekyō dōjutsu."

"Mangekyō... Sharingan, is it?"

Orochimaru recalled the sun-like red eyes he had seen on Sakuya earlier, and realization dawned on him.

He had heard the legends of Madara Uchiha, yet he had never imagined that Uchiha Sakuya would actually possess those very eyes.

"Can Amaterasu ignite toxins?"

Orochimaru asked again.

"...It can."

Sakuya nodded: "It burns everything; aside from sealing jutsu, there is no way to deal with it."

Of course, in future version updates, those who possessed the Rinnegan could use the Preta Path to decompose Amaterasu into chakra and absorb it, but for the current version of Konoha:

Black flames—touch them, and you die!

"The Scroll of Sealing... a fire-suppression type of sealing jutsu?"

Orochimaru said thoughtfully, "But as far as I know, there is no such sealing jutsu in the current ninja world."

"Oh?"

Sakuya raised an eyebrow.

"Not even Jiraiya knows it?"

He clearly remembered that in the original story, Jiraiya used the Seal of Fire Suppression to seal away the Amaterasu that Itachi Uchiha had unleashed.

Yet, it didn't exist now?

Was it because the timeline was too early, and this type of sealing jutsu hadn't been developed yet?