"Orochimaru! Are you all right?!"
A furious shout rang out in the distance. A figure in a red short robe immediately vaulted over the broken wall.
Jiraiya braced his hands on his knees and gasped for breath. The scroll on his back hung crookedly. Behind him, Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped onto the top of the ruins, gripping the Adamantine Staff, with Tsunade close behind. Her expression was grave.
Lin Zi was wiping his sword on the severed remains of Yamata no Orochi's body. At the sound of the voice, he didn't even turn around; he merely shrugged.
"I'm fine."
He pointed the tip of his sword at the enormous snake head across from them, which was still writhing, and spoke in a breezy tone.
"But your Orochimaru... doesn't seem to be doing so well. I chopped his heads a couple of times, and now he's gone berserk."
Jiraiya followed the direction of his sword, and his pupils shrank abruptly.
Under the moonlight, the gigantic pale snake, as large as a hill, raised its head. Every scale gleamed with a deathly, cold light. The flesh around its previous wounds writhed, regenerating at a visible speed.
"That's..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was hoarse. He gripped the Adamantine Staff tightly.
"The Eight Branches Technique."
He slowly uttered those four words.
"Konoha's S-rank forbidden jutsu... I never thought he'd not only master it, but take it this far."
Jiraiya's expression changed at once.
He stared at the giant snake, then at Original World Orochimaru, whose bloodied body was half inside its head. His lips trembled, anger and grief surging in his eyes as he pointed at Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, you've come to Konoha in the middle of the night. What exactly are you plotting?!"
Tsunade lowered her center of gravity, and chakra gathered around her fist in a dazzling white glow.
"Enough talk. Whatever he's mastered, we're burying him here today."
At that very moment, Original World Orochimaru's golden, slit-pupiled eyes swept over everyone present, finally settling on Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He suddenly grinned, his sinister smile sending a chill down everyone's spine.
"Well... Konoha's sure pulled out all the stops."
He spread his arms as if embracing the farce. All eight snake heads hissed in unison, like a chorus of demons.
"Two Hokage... Oh, and..."
He tilted his head, letting his gaze linger on Jiraiya and Tsunade for a moment. His voice was full of mockery.
"The new Sannin?"
The night wind carried the stench of blood across the ruins, turning the killing intent into something almost tangible amid the rubble.
"Hmm?"
Lin Zi tilted his head. The eight wildly writhing snake heads were reflected in his golden, slit-pupiled eyes, and the corners of his mouth lifted.
"You know the names of all five of us, yet instead of running away, you came straight toward us?"
He folded his arms, his tone light and casual.
"You've got guts, just like that Eight-Tails Jinchuriki from before."
"You—!!"
Orochimaru completely lost it.
Yamata no Orochi's massive body shook violently as its rampaging chakra poured out and flooded the ground beneath it.
Rumble! The earth cracked inch by inch, as if struck by an invisible hammer. Web-like fissures spread wildly, and the shock wave swept chunks of stone into the air.
"Orochimaru! Stop being so stubborn!!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi planted the Adamantine Staff on the ground. His voice rolled across the battlefield like thunder as he stared fixedly at the figure emerging from the snake's head, grief and anger surging in his eyes.
"Teacher..."
Orochimaru suddenly softened his voice. His face twisted into an expression of heartrending sorrow, and his voice trembled.
"Now... you're going to stand with them, too? Even you... are going to abandon me?"
His tone was so wounded, it was as if the whole world had betrayed him.
But the next instant, the enormous snake head at his side reared up. Its gaping maw opened, corrosive venom dripping from its fangs, and it slammed down toward Hiruzen Sarutobi!
"Old man!!"
Jiraiya's pupils shrank. He nearly crushed the scroll in his hands as he pushed off the ground to rush over.
But Lin Zi was faster.
"Whoosh!"
A giant pale serpent shot out of Lin Zi's sleeve like a bolt of white lightning, wrapped around Hiruzen Sarutobi's waist, and yanked him backward!
Boom!!!
The snake head crashed down where Hiruzen Sarutobi had been standing, collapsing the ground into a crater several meters across. Rocks and dirt erupted into the air like a fountain.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stumbled as he was pulled back. He planted the Adamantine Staff on the ground to steady himself, then looked up at Lin Zi, panting.
Lin Zi withdrew the white snake and glanced at him with its serpentine eyes.
"Old man, this is a fight, not the time for a touching teacher-and-student reunion."
Hiruzen Sarutobi opened his mouth, but in the end he swallowed the words on the tip of his tongue and silently nodded. Killing intent gathered in his eyes once more.
"Fourth Hokage! Jiraiya!"
Tsunade suddenly shouted. She pushed off the ground and landed beside Lin Zi.
"Get the Sealing Jutsu ready!"
She paused, her gaze sweeping across the eight still-roaring snake heads.
"The old man, Orochimaru, and I will hold this bastard off!!"
"Understood!" Minato replied at once, his hands already forming Hand Seals at high speed.
Jiraiya bit his thumb and pressed it to the ground.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
White smoke burst forth, and the two Toad Sages appeared on Jiraiya's shoulders.
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Tsunade, and Lin Zi moved at the same time.
The three of them spread out in a triangle, surrounding Yamata no Orochi. Each step they took left a shallow crater in the ground.
Lin Zi stood at the front, holding the Kusanagi Sword across his body. The horns of his Sage Mode gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
"Go!"
At Tsunade's command,
the three of them charged the pale giant snake at once!
"You think you can stop me?"
Yamata no Orochi let out a thunderous roar. All its heads rose at once, their gaping mouths wide enough to swallow a house, while the ground shook violently beneath it.
"Enough talk!"
Tsunade moved first. She pushed off the ground and charged straight at the snake head on the left, raising her right fist high as chakra gathered into a dazzling white glow.
"Strength Enhancement Punch!"
Boom!!!
Her fist struck the snake's lower jaw squarely, jerking its head upward. A large swath of its pale scales shattered, exposing the crimson flesh beneath.
Yamata no Orochi let out a pained roar, its massive body twisting violently.
"Old man!"
Tsunade landed, her feet carving two furrows through the broken bricks. Without looking back, she shouted,
"Its hide is tougher than I expected!"
"Got it!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi gripped the Adamantine Staff with both hands, pouring chakra into it in a frenzy.
"Enma! Extend!"
"Got it!"
The Adamantine Staff suddenly lengthened, turning into a streak of black lightning as it thrust straight toward the central snake head from which Orochimaru's body protruded!
"Teacher, still using the same old trick!"
Orochimaru sneered. The central snake head jerked to one side, and the Adamantine Staff skimmed past its scales, sending up a shower of sparks.
Another snake head seized the opportunity to bite Hiruzen Sarutobi from the side, moving so fast it became a white blur!
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Lin Zi's voice came from behind.
Countless white snakes surged out of his sleeve, wrapping precisely around the attacking snake head's upper and lower jaws and forcing it to a halt in midair!
"Nice work!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped up at once, raised the Adamantine Staff high, and brought it down on the crown of the snake head Lin Zi had restrained!
Bang!!!
The snake head saw stars as white snakes and blood flew everywhere.
"Nice teamwork, old man!"
Lin Zi grinned and was about to press the attack when his expression suddenly changed.
Inside the central head of Yamata no Orochi, Orochimaru was covered in blood, yet a crazed smile spread across his face. He brought his hands together sharply.
Boom!
Every scale on Yamata no Orochi's body flipped up with a hiss, rolling and twisting wildly. Eight bone spurs stretched out from its back, sending rubble flying everywhere, then—
swept across!!!
"Tsunade! Watch out behind you!"
Jiraiya's furious shout came from the distance.
Tsunade had just knocked back one of the snake heads and hadn't had time to turn around when a world-shattering gust struck from behind. Her pupils shrank, and she instinctively gathered chakra behind herself to block it.
Thud!
Yamata no Orochi's bone-spiked tail, like a battering ram, slammed into her!
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