The Arrogant Duo

In the shadows, a single eye peered through a gap, staring fixedly at the white silhouette blotting out the sky on the outskirts of Konoha.

The ground trembled, and the muffled sound of collapsing houses echoed from afar, as if an ancient behemoth were gnawing at the earth.

Danzo's fingers tightened around the armrests of his chair. The tremors from the distance made his shoulders tense, but he immediately suppressed that flicker of agitation, replacing it with a cold, mocking snort.

A Root operative knelt silently before him, voice lowered to a whisper.

"Lord Danzo, shall we intervene?"

Danzo turned his back, thumping his cane against the floor with a dull thud.

"It is useless for us to intervene now," he said in a low voice. "That is not a battle we can participate in."

He walked to his chair and sat down slowly; this was the sacrifice Konoha had to make for that ultimate goal.

"I told you, Original World Orochimaru," Danzo's lips curled into a sneer, "you will not remain arrogant for long."

Meanwhile, facing the incoming snake-head attacks, Lin Zi began to dodge repeatedly.

The eight heads of the Yamata no Orochi lashed out like eight giant whips from every direction.

Lin Zi's figure moved like a slippery white snake, weaving through the ruins. Every time a snake head slammed down, a deep crater exploded into the earth, the gale-force winds stinging his cheeks.

"You think being big makes you impressive?"

Lin Zi spat, his pupils rotating at high speed to track the movement of the eight heads.

One head launched a sneak attack from the side, its blood-red maw wide open, corrosive venom dripping from its fangs. Instead of retreating, Lin Zi surged forward, slamming his palms into the ground.

"Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"

Rumble! The ground instantly animated; countless massive stone hands erupted from the soil, clamping onto the snake head's jaws like a bear trap, holding firm no matter how it struggled.

"Stay still!"

Lin Zi leaped onto the restrained head, his right arm hardening instantly. His fist, surging with Senjutsu energy, smashed heavily into the crown of the snake's skull!

BANG!!!

The blow caused the head to shudder violently, scales shattering and flying off as the Yamata no Orochi let out a deafening roar of pain.

The other seven heads whipped around simultaneously, their serpentine eyes roiling with fury.

"It's not over yet!"

Lin Zi used the recoil to spring away, twisting his body in mid-air to evade another lunging head.

He formed hand seals, chakra gathering frantically in his throat.

"Sage Art: White Rage Technique!"

A red dragon of light roared from his mouth, diving straight into the gaping maw of another snake head!

A blinding flash and a piercing shriek erupted inside the head. The skull was shredded from the inside out, the eyeball burst instantly, and pale, jagged bone shards pierced through the flesh.

The massive body of the Yamata no Orochi thrashed wildly, its eight bone spurs carving deep furrows into the earth.

Lin Zi landed on the ground, stepping on a scale that had just fallen from the Yamata no Orochi, its edges still hissing with corrosive smoke.

He brushed the dust off his knees and looked up at the white shadow blotting out the sky, his golden slit pupils filled with disdain.

"I thought you had more to show. If this is all you have... you can't even touch a single hair on my head."

The central head of the Yamata no Orochi suddenly split open.

Original World Orochimaru slowly emerged from the bloody maw, his long black hair dancing in the foul wind, his face wearing that nauseatingly arrogant smile of one who holds everything in his grasp.

"In this form," he spread his arms as if embracing his own masterpiece, "I am completely immune to any fatal injury. In a sense, I have achieved ultimate immortality. And you—what do you have to defeat me?"

"Yes, I know."

Lin Zi replied flatly, too lazy to even take a stance. He crossed his arms, his snake-like eyes sweeping over the surroundings—the broken walls, the ruins, and further off, the brightly lit residential area of Konoha.

"Then you should also know," he suddenly smiled, a smile that sent a chill down Orochimaru's spine, "where we are right now, shouldn't you?"

Orochimaru, inside the snake's mouth, clearly froze for a moment.

He followed Lin Zi's gaze. In the night, the silhouette of Konoha looked like a sleeping giant, and they were standing right on the tip of the beast's nose.

The smile on Orochimaru's face stiffened for an instant. He masked the flicker of gravity in his eyes well, twisting his face back into a hideous grin.

"The wailing of a loser..."

"Whether it's a wail or not, you'll find out soon enough."

As the eight heads launched another frenzied assault, the earth of the entire Konoha village began to tremble!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The thunderous sound of the snake heads slamming down was like the beating of war drums, shaking villagers from their beds in their sleep.

The cries of infants and the screams of women merged into a cacophony. Someone pushed open a window, saw the eight-headed serpent atop the distant ruins, and collapsed to the floor in terror.

"What is that?"

"A snake! Such a massive snake!"

"Konoha... is Konoha going to be destroyed again?!"

The Anbu reacted far faster than the civilians. Dark shadows darted out from rooftops, treetops, and sewer grates, their voices beneath their masks chillingly calm.

"Civilians evacuate! Head to the underground shelters! Move!"

"Notify the Hokage! Immediately!"

In the direction of the Hokage Office, a golden light suddenly exploded, shooting toward the outskirts of the village like a retrograde meteor.

Minato Namikaze hadn't even fastened his Hokage Cloak properly, the warmth of Kushina still lingering on his person.

He had been home for less than half a stick of incense when he sensed that world-destroying chakra outside the village—the Eight Branches Technique! That cold, viscous, serpentine stench was something he would never mistake for as long as he lived.

He had no time to look back at his wife; fueled by a resolve to die, he formed hand seals, unleashing the full power of the Flying Thunder God!

"Third Hokage!"

Minato's voice tore through the night sky amidst the golden light.

"I am here!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped from a rooftop on the other side, his Adamantine Staff tracing a sharp arc in his hands, his combat gear snapping violently in the wind.

The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, dove toward the battlefield like two cannonballs.

On the ground, Tsunade and Jiraiya were already sprinting at full speed.

Tsunade's pace was so fast she left shallow craters in the ground with every step, while Jiraiya ran with a scroll unfurled behind him, the veins on his forehead bulging.

"That bastard Orochimaru! Was he lying to us after all?!"

Jiraiya's roar was filled with unspeakable fury and the pain of betrayal.

"Idiot!"

Tsunade slapped the back of his head, her pace never faltering.

"Didn't you sense the two chakra signatures?!"

Jiraiya paused, immediately centering his mind to sense the area.

Sure enough, two familiar, cold chakra signatures were entangled above the ruins; one belonged to Lin Zi, carrying the unique, vitalizing aura of Ryūchi Cave, while the other also carried a serpentine scent, but one filled with pure, icy malice.

"The Original World Orochimaru has returned!"

Jiraiya's pupils shrank.

"Yeah! It can only be that!"

Tsunade gritted her teeth, the Yin Seal on her forehead glowing with a blinding light.

"Pick up the pace! If that bastard intends to harm Konoha, I will tear him to shreds!"

The two transformed into blurred shadows, shattering the air as they rushed forward.

But faster than them was Minato.

The golden light exploded at the edge of the ruins, and Minato Namikaze landed on one knee, the hem of his Hokage Cloak whipped up by the shockwave.

He looked up, his azure pupils suddenly contracting.

Before him was a scene he would find hard to believe for the rest of his life.

Under the pale moonlight, atop the ruins.

Lin Zi, in Sage Mode, stood before the Yamata no Orochi, natural energy swirling around him. He gripped a Kusanagi Sword infused with Senjutsu, driving it deep into the crown of the Yamata no Orochi's seventh head!

And inside the central head of the Yamata no Orochi, the Original World Orochimaru was covered in blood, his expression twisted as the eight heads thrashed wildly, turning the entire landscape upside down.

Two Orochimarus.

Tearing into each other.

Minato stood frozen, having forgotten even how to breathe.

"Fourth Hokage! What are you standing there for? Why are you dazed?!"

Lin Zi was standing on the seventh head of the Yamata no Orochi, gripping the hilt of the Kusanagi Sword with both hands before yanking it out.

Squelch! A spray of foul black blood erupted. He shook the blood droplets from the blade and turned to look at Minato, who was still rooted to the spot, his face filled with speechlessness.

"Prepare the sealing jutsu! We can't kill this thing, we can only seal it!"

"Who are you calling... 'this thing'?!"

Inside the central head of the Yamata no Orochi, the face of the Original World Orochimaru twisted into a grotesque shape.

He had never been addressed with such a term in his life, let alone by another version of himself!

In a fit of rage, his chakra surged wildly. The scales on the surface of the Yamata no Orochi stood on end with a sharp shing sound, like countless sharp white blades unsheathed at once, gleaming with a chilling light under the moon.

"I will tear you apart!!"

Orochimaru shrieked, and the massive body of the Yamata no Orochi thrashed violently, one section of the snake body, as thick as a house, sweeping out horizontally!

The air whistled as it was displaced, and the ruins along its path were ground into powder as if they were made of paper, smashing directly toward Minato Namikaze!

"Jiraiya-sensei should still be on his way!"

Minato's pupils shrank, his figure instantly transforming into a streak of golden light.

He narrowly scraped past the underside of the snake body, the gale making his Hokage Cloak snap violently, a few strands of his golden hair severed by the force of the wind, drifting in the air.

As he landed on one knee, he looked up and shouted to Lin Zi.

"We'll hold him off for a moment! We'll seal him together once Jiraiya-sensei arrives!"