Control

At that moment, Naruto's Rasengan slammed into the first gate, triggering a violent explosion.

The Triple Rashomon Orochimaru used was originally a technique created by the First, Hashirama Senju. The Fivefold Rashomon was likely beyond Orochimaru's abilities, since he wasn't as strong as Hashirama, so he could only summon three gates.

The Triple Rashomon blocked the explosion for just one second before vanishing.

When the explosion had subsided, Orochimaru was seen stuck headfirst in the ground, his feet twisted in opposite directions.

Of course, that was only a layer of skin. Orochimaru had escaped using the Snake Shedding Technique and was now hiding underground, watching what was happening above.

After sensing Orochimaru's location, two Spirit Energy Giant Hands emerged from beneath Naruto's feet and reached for him.

Orochimaru sensed something approaching and hurriedly burst out of the ground, dodging the Spirit Energy Giant Hands. Naruto then kept sending more of them after him.

Orochimaru, meanwhile, turned his lower body into a snake's tail to increase his speed.

As he used the Spirit Energy Giant Hands, Naruto also gathered a small Tailed Beast Bomb in his palm.

Once it had formed, Naruto extended another Spirit Energy Giant Hand from his palm and sent it toward Orochimaru, gripping the Tailed Beast Bomb.

Surrounded by three Spirit Energy Giant Hands, Orochimaru began to panic. He could feel immense pressure coming from the dark sphere. If that attack hit him, he might die.

He immediately formed Hand Seals and performed the Summoning Technique. A giant snake appeared in the middle of the battlefield. It was Orochimaru's summoning beast, Manda.

Manda, who had no idea what was going on, roared, "Orochimaru, have you prepared the sacrifices for summoning me?"

Though Manda was Orochimaru's summoning beast, Orochimaru had to prepare sacrifices for it every time it fought: one hundred living people.

Before Manda could get a reply from Orochimaru, Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb crashed into its head. The sphere gave off a blinding white light, followed by a violent explosion.

Manda's head was blown to pieces. After being summoned, Orochimaru's summoning beast had managed to say just one sentence before being sent back.

Orochimaru had already escaped while Manda was shielding him from the explosion.

After getting away, Orochimaru decided to use his strongest technique, the Eight Branches Technique. He didn't want to drag things out. This kid had too many tricks, and Jiraiya was watching him like a hawk. One careless mistake, and he could really die.

As Orochimaru formed Hand Seals, he vanished from where he stood. A white serpent with eight heads and eight tails appeared in his place.

Naruto didn't waste time. He flashed over to Jiraiya and said, "Pervy Sage, Orochimaru's going all out. If he thinks he can't win, he might run, so keep your eyes on him."

Then Naruto clapped his hands together. His body quickly grew taller, and deep red spirit energy poured out around him. Before long, a gigantic fox shimmering with red light stood in his place, with Naruto enveloped inside it.

This was Kurama Mode. Kurama was now far larger than before, and his once slender body had become robust, with muscles covering him from head to toe.

Training over this period had greatly increased Kurama's strength, even though half of his power remained sealed. Even without that other half, he could now take on eight opponents at once.

As soon as he appeared, Kurama threw back his head and roared. Waves of energy spread in every direction.

The aura alone put immense pressure on Orochimaru, who had transformed into the Eight-Headed Serpent. The battle hadn't even begun, yet Kurama's presence was already this overwhelming. Orochimaru felt an urge to turn and run.

Since Kurama hadn't fought in a long time, Naruto handed over control to the Nine-Tails and watched the battle from inside his mind.

When his roar ended, Kurama lowered his head, dug in his feet, and leaped at the Eight-Headed Serpent. He swiped hard, and one of its heads fell off.

Orochimaru reacted, quickly directing the other seven heads to bite at Kurama.

Kurama leaped backward to dodge the attack, then rapidly formed a Tailed Beast Bomb in front of himself. Unlike Naruto's small version, Kurama's Tailed Beast Bomb was five meters in diameter.

Once it had formed, Kurama opened his mouth and swallowed it. His belly quickly swelled, radiating powerful waves of energy. The ground beneath him shattered and sank under the pressure the instant he swallowed the Tailed Beast Bomb.

A violent beam of energy then surged from Kurama's mouth. This was another way to use a Tailed Beast Bomb. It could be called the Void Dog Cannon.

Naruto hurriedly reminded Kurama, "Leave him alive!"

Kurama immediately reacted and tilted his head upward a little. The Eight-Headed Serpent was enormous and couldn't easily dodge the Void Dog Cannon. If the attack hit it squarely, Orochimaru might be finished.

Fortunately, Kurama adjusted his aim in time. The Void Dog Cannon only sheared off the left half of the Eight-Headed Serpent's body, while leaving a trench hundreds of meters long in the ground.

Though half its body was gone, the Eight-Headed Serpent was still alive. Kurama was about to attack again when he realized Orochimaru had already made a quick escape.

The instant Orochimaru fled, Jiraiya reacted. He quickly used Spirit Energy Body Infusion, leaped forward with all his strength, and punched Orochimaru. The blow drove the upper half of Orochimaru's body into the ground. Jiraiya rushed over, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him up.

As he hung in the air, Orochimaru felt the tremendous aura coming from Jiraiya. He coughed up blood and exclaimed in shock, "How is this possible? How could you have become so strong?"

Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru with regret. "I'm sorry, Orochimaru. Don't worry, Naruto won't kill you."

Naruto hurried over. Seeing Orochimaru in Jiraiya's grasp, he said, "Pervy Sage, hand Orochimaru over to me."

A purple chain extended from Naruto's back. Once it had firmly bound Orochimaru, Jiraiya let go.

Bound by the chains, Orochimaru realized he could no longer use any of his chakra. He looked at Naruto and said, "Adamantine Sealing Chains?"

Naruto nodded. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Naruto Uzumaki—or, rather, Naruto Namikaze."

Bound by the Adamantine Sealing Chains, Orochimaru coughed up blood and said, "I see. So you know everything?"

"What are you referring to? Your deal with Shimura Danzō, or Hiruzen Sarutobi's true nature?" Naruto asked impassively.

Hearing those two questions, Orochimaru continued, "So you know that I have Namikaze Minato and Kushina Uzumaki's bodies."

Naruto only stared at Orochimaru without saying anything.

Seeing this, Orochimaru laughed. "Heh heh heh. Then I'll tell you: their bodies are indeed in my hands, but I don't want to give them to you."

Naruto smiled. "Good, then. I have a way to control someone's soul. Once I use it on you, you'll obey everything I say. But before that, I'd like Lord Orochimaru to enjoy something first."

Naruto placed his hand over Orochimaru's heart. A peculiar stream of spirit energy flowed into it.

Once the energy entered his heart, it immediately raced through his body along his meridians.

Orochimaru began trembling all over, and sweat appeared on his forehead. His clenched teeth showed just how much pain he was in.

Naruto was using the Pulse Severing Hand he had learned before. The technique was meant specifically to torment people. It drove spirit energy into an enemy's heart and sent it through their meridians to certain acupoints that weren't fatal but caused intense pain.

For example, it could make someone feel pain or itchiness. Unless the user withdrew the spirit energy from the victim's body, the sensation would never stop.

In the end, Orochimaru couldn't hold back and screamed. Perhaps years of using Living Corpse Reincarnation had severely damaged his soul, weakening his will along with it.

Tormented by the pain, he shouted at Naruto to kill him.

Seeing Orochimaru scream in agony and Jiraiya standing nearby with a look of distress, Naruto sighed and stepped forward. He withdrew the spirit energy that was coursing through Orochimaru's body.

Once the energy was gone, Orochimaru lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

Naruto then placed a hand on Orochimaru's head and used the Soul Control Art. A short while later, he lifted his hand and released the Adamantine Sealing Chains, drawing them back into his body.

Orochimaru struggled to his feet, dropped to one knee, and respectfully called out, "Master."

Naruto waved a hand. "Just call me sir from now on."

Jiraiya, standing nearby, breathed a sigh of relief. At least Orochimaru had been spared.

After using the Soul Control Art on Orochimaru, Naruto had read his memories. His parents' bodies were indeed in Orochimaru's hands, along with the bodies of Hashirama Senju and Tobirama Senju.

But Naruto didn't ask Orochimaru to hand the bodies over just yet. He told him to keep looking after them.

There was no point summoning the bodies now. For one thing, they didn't have any sacrifices to perform Impure World Reincarnation. And even if they did, Minato's original soul was still in the Death God's stomach. Minato couldn't be reincarnated until the Reaper Death Seal was undone.

Seeing Orochimaru begin to sway as soon as he stood up, looking so unsteady he could barely draw breath, Naruto gathered Kurama's Yang Release spirit energy and healed him.

As the golden spirit energy flowed into Orochimaru's body, his expression relaxed. His injuries were rapidly healing.

Orochimaru then said to Naruto, "Thank you, sir."

Naruto shook his head, indicating that it was nothing.

Once Orochimaru could stand steadily, Naruto called Jiraiya over, and the former rogue ninja returned to the underground base.

The fighting in the base had ended by then. Shisui stood in front of the six people lying on the ground.

When he saw Naruto and Jiraiya return, he asked, "Lord Jiraiya, is it over?"

Jiraiya nodded and pointed behind him.