Kabuto Yakushi rose to his feet. At some point, several white snakes had appeared around his body, like extensions of himself, continuously emitting hoarse hisses.
His face was concealed beneath the black hood on his head. Sasuke's Three Tomoe spun slightly as he sneered. "Covering your eyes and using snakes to sense our presence? It's a good way to deal with genjutsu, but unfortunately, it's still useless!"
Kabuto chuckled. "Whether it's useless or not, we'll only know after we fight. If you think this is all I'm capable of, then you're terribly mistaken."
He formed hand seals, and as chakra poured forth, every snake behind him grew twice as large before roaring toward the two of them.
"Hmph!"
"Hmph!"
They snorted coldly in unison, and the patterns in their eyes changed at the same time—the Mangekyō Sharingan and the Eternal Mangekyo.
Purple and red chakra flared up as two Susanoo appeared at once. Amid flying rubble, Sasuke raised his blade and brought it down, severing the snake head lunging at him.
Itachi, by comparison, was far more "gentle." Susanoo's arm seized the snake's head as he said softly, "Sasuke, didn't I tell you not to strike too heavily? If you kill him by accident, all our efforts will have been in vain!"
"I know. But he's already obtained Orochimaru's power. He won't die that easily."
Itachi shook his head lightly, his pupils narrowing sharply. Susanoo exerted force and violently dragged the great snake over. "Sasuke, take off his hood!"
Without needing his command, Sasuke, who had long since grown into a top-tier shinobi, was already directing Susanoo toward Kabuto's hood. The black robe was flipped open, but aside from the enormous white snake, there was nothing inside.
More white snakes emerged from within the robe, quickly splitting apart and winding