Susanoo and the Eight-Headed Serpent

"That was a good opportunity just now; why didn't you take the chance to escape?"

Orochimaru asked with a sinister chuckle.

Having planned for this and having obtained quite a bit of information on Shisui from his subordinates, he had been suppressing Shisui throughout the fight.

Shisui sneered and replied, "You overestimate yourself."

As he spoke, his hands moved at a speed too fast to follow, weaving through a series of hand seals.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

Uchiha Shisui threw several Fuma Shuriken with both hands while simultaneously spitting out several large fireballs.

Once the shuriken and fireballs merged, they created a new, rotating formation.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three of the evil spirits were struck head-on, instantly vanishing into nothingness.

The Uchiha Clan was well-versed in Fire Style techniques, and as an outstanding member, Shisui was naturally no exception.

Did I finish him?

Orochimaru put away his flute. Although his sound-based genjutsu was wondrous, its level was too low; while it was sufficient to deal with ordinary opponents, it lacked the necessary potency against someone like Uchiha Shisui.

"I admit you are a troublesome brat!"

He sneered and said, "But since you've run into me, you might as well surrender obediently!"

With that, he pressed his palms together.

"Many Mandara Formation!"

Orochimaru then opened his mouth wide, spewing out countless snakes that surged toward Shisui like a dense, living mountain.

Although Shisui's ocular power could control some of the snakes to make them kill each other, compared to such a massive quantity, what he could control was merely a drop in the bucket.

Snakes possessed an incredibly keen sense of smell and extreme speed; they quickly surrounded Shisui. Seeing that Uchiha Shisui was about to be swallowed by the mountain of snakes, a cold smirk appeared on the corner of Orochimaru's mouth.

As long as Shisui was bitten once, the battle would be over.

Just as he thought the outcome was decided, a loud bang echoed out, and the venomous snakes he had summoned were scattered in all directions as if thrown by some immense force.

Following that, a massive entity of physical chakra struck out.

Orochimaru dodged the attack with a quick flash.

However, the Blind Snake beneath his feet was instantly wiped out.

This is...

Orochimaru's pupils constricted, and he stared in shock at the green energy construct in the center of the clearing.

Uchiha Shisui's eyes had changed; they were no longer the three-tomoe pattern, but a strange, new design.

A green chakra construct had also manifested around him.

The Mangekyou Sharingan had finally appeared!

Orochimaru was filled with intense excitement; he couldn't help but lick his lips, his eyes burning with fanaticism.

Is this the legendary Susanoo of the Uchiha Mangekyou Sharingan?

It is truly powerful!

He was determined to have this body!

"Orochimaru!"

Uchiha Shisui fully manifested his Susanoo and slowly pushed it toward him.

"Do not harbor any ambitions toward Konoha, or else I, Uchiha Shisui, will not let you off."

He said coldly.

Susanoo was his strongest technique, possessing both offense and defense, and was truly wondrous.

With the Blind Snake now dead and Orochimaru's immunity to genjutsu broken, the scales of victory had tipped in favor of Uchiha Shisui.

Hahahaha!

Orochimaru laughed wildly for a while before finally gasping for air, "To think I would be looked down upon by a brat; it is truly unpleasant. Listen well, Uchiha brat: to thank you for your Mangekyou Sharingan and your body, I will bring out my own trump card."

He suddenly bit his finger and wove a series of hand seals.

"Eight Branches Technique!"

A massive cloud of thick smoke rapidly enveloped the forest.

As the smoke cleared.

A colossal monster appeared before Uchiha Shisui.

With eight heads and eight tails, this was Orochimaru's strongest state: the Eight-Headed Serpent.

One of the massive snake heads slowly opened, and Orochimaru's figure emerged from its maw.

He spat out a precious sword and looked at Shisui with a cold sneer.

"Uchiha brat, let me show you the power of my Eight-Headed Serpent technique."

As he spoke, he commanded the Eight-Headed Serpent to charge toward Shisui.

A perfect opportunity!

A flash of red light immediately streaked across Shisui's eyes.

His genjutsu could finish off an opponent in an instant.

Yet, it remained ineffective.

The Eight-Headed Serpent continued its assault.

Orochimaru had already merged with the Eight-Headed Serpent, once again achieving immunity to genjutsu.

Shisui's heart sank rapidly; with his genjutsu rendered useless, he would now have to face the Eight-Headed Serpent's frenzied onslaught.

Eight snake heads lashed out, attacking from different directions.

Shisui commanded his Susanoo, struggling to keep up with the defense.

Two fists are no match for four hands, let alone eight snake heads.

Shisui did not possess Itachi's Totsuka Blade, and relying solely on Susanoo made it difficult to pierce the Eight-Headed Serpent's tough scales, causing him to be gradually suppressed.

In a short while, several snake heads tightly coiled around the Susanoo's arms, while the others pinned its body in place.

Just then, Shisui sensed a disturbance beneath the ground and hurriedly flashed outward, causing his Susanoo to be broken instantly.

A snake head suddenly burst from the earth, and Orochimaru, wielding the Kusanagi Sword, swiftly emerged from the serpent's head to strike at Shisui.

He had long since identified the weakness of the Susanoo, commanding the snake heads to burrow underground to launch a surprise attack from below.

Die!

Orochimaru let out a sinister laugh, the Kusanagi Sword in his hand aimed directly at Shisui's right chest.

He did not intend to kill Shisui, but rather to claim this body for himself; even if he were pierced by the Kusanagi Sword, he could repair the damage perfectly.

Uchiha Shisui's chakra was nearly exhausted, and he had no time left to use his Body Flicker technique.

At this moment, he suddenly closed his eyes, only to snap them open a split second later.

Orochimaru felt a bright light flash before his eyes, and his body involuntarily came to a halt.

What is happening?

He suddenly felt his eyelids grow heavy, his mind went blank, and he slowly closed his eyes.

Crash!

The Eight-Headed Serpent form was broken!

The figures of Orochimaru and Uchiha Shisui fell from the heights to the ground.

Uchiha Shisui clutched his eyes, gasping for air.

In that split second between life and death, he had involuntarily activated his strongest genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami.

The genjutsu of Kotoamatsukami was impossible to break.

Due to the urgency of the situation, he had merely planted the thought of sleep in Orochimaru's mind. For a heaven-defying genjutsu capable of permanently altering a person's will, this was an extreme waste.

But there was no other way; the situation was critical, and it left Shisui no room for other thoughts.

Although his eyes would require a cooling-off period, capturing Orochimaru and eliminating a hidden threat to the village was worth it to Shisui.

Just as Shisui forced himself to stand up through the intense pain in his eyes, a figure suddenly appeared behind him in an instant.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.

Hōzuki Mangetsu's patience had finally paid off.

Orochimaru and Shisui had both suffered, leaving him with a perfect opportunity.

Shisui's eyes were, after all, some of the strongest Mangekyo in the Hidden Leaf.

Although Kotoamatsukami was currently on cooldown, if he could obtain the cells of the First Hokage, Hashirama, in the future, it was not impossible to unlock them.

"Uchiha Shisui, I'll be taking those eyes of yours!"

Hōzuki Mangetsu said with a beaming smile.