Itachi: You're using this to fight your brother?

Orochimaru watched Sasuke's peculiar opening stance, his golden slit pupils flashing with excitement at something novel.

He licked his lips with his tongue, a low chuckle rumbling in his throat.

"Heh... absolutely cannot win against you?"

Orochimaru let his hands hang at his sides, his wide sleeves snapping violently in the wind.

"So confident, Sasuke? Then I shall see what means you have to make me unable to win."

Sasuke ignored his mockery.

He fused the cursed energy within his body with his chakra, slamming it fiercely into the shadow beneath his feet through his meridians.

Sasuke stared fixedly at Orochimaru, his lips moving.

"Furube Yurayura."

"Eight-Handled Sword Divergent Sila Divine General."

The black shadow beneath his feet boiled instantly.

A massive white phantom rose slowly from the black mud.

Nearly three meters tall, its body was covered in knotted muscles, its pale skin encased in armor resembling an exoskeleton.

A massive Sword of Extermination extended from its right arm, and a golden wheel with eight handles hovered above its head.

Mahoraga.

Sasuke released his hand seal, his body swaying from exhaustion.

Without even glancing at Mahoraga, he turned his head directly toward Orochimaru.

"I'll take my leave first," Sasuke said, his voice somewhat weak. "Enjoy yourself."

Orochimaru tilted his head back, his gaze sweeping over the tall, white monster.

He narrowed his eyes, sensing the energy fluctuations emanating from it.

"Is this your trump card?" Orochimaru shook his head, his tone carrying undisguised disappointment.

"The size is certainly impressive, but the quality of the chakra... it seems quite ordinary."

Mahoraga's head, which had been hanging low, snapped upward.

On the face covered by a mask formed of four wings, the corners of its mouth curled upward in a bizarre, twisted, and incredibly ferocious grin.

It turned its massive head, its eyeless mask aimed directly at Orochimaru.

"You actually think I'm ordinary?"

A rough, violent voice exploded directly into the air, shaking the surrounding leaves until they rustled to the ground.

Orochimaru was stunned for a moment.

He had seen many summoned beasts with independent consciousnesses, but a monster this brimming with madness upon its arrival was rare indeed.

Mahoraga did not immediately attack Orochimaru; instead, it whipped its head around to stare at Sasuke, who was preparing to retreat.

"And you!"

Mahoraga lifted its thick right leg, whipping up a gale.

"I've long been sick of Fushiguro Megumi! What a piece of trash!"

"I'll kill you first!"

The massive sole of its foot, carrying terrifying physical kinetic energy, stomped directly down toward Sasuke's head.

"CLANG!"

An ear-piercing collision exploded above Sasuke's head.

A figure in a black cloak with red clouds suddenly plummeted from the canopy above, crashing down directly in front of Sasuke.

Itachi Uchiha held his hands crossed above his head, his forearms covered in high-density chakra, forcibly bracing against the foot Mahoraga had stomped down.

The immense force caused the ground beneath Itachi Uchiha to collapse instantly, soil exploding outward into a deep crater.

Itachi Uchiha gritted his teeth, a flash of shock crossing his scarlet Sharingan.

Such heavy physical force.

Orochimaru watched the suddenly appearing Itachi Uchiha, his eyes narrowing.

"So you've been hiding up there watching the show all along, Itachi," Orochimaru said, his hands moving through seals rapidly. "Then let me see what exactly Sasuke's summon is capable of."

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A violent hurricane erupted from Orochimaru's mouth, transforming into countless wind blades that sliced directly toward Mahoraga's massive frame.

Mahoraga was struck by the wind blades, deep gashes appearing in its white flesh; it roared and turned its attention to Orochimaru.

Itachi Uchiha seized the opportunity to grab Sasuke's shoulder, leaping out of the crater.

"Go." Sasuke grabbed Itachi Uchiha's wrist in return, his tone urgent.

"Once the Taming Ritual begins, it will attack every living thing within its range indiscriminately. It is impossible to defeat—retreat, now!"

Itachi glanced at the monster charging toward Orochimaru. Though his heart was filled with doubt, there was not a hint of a joke in Sasuke's tone.

He did not hesitate. Carrying Sasuke, he leaped repeatedly against the tree trunks, quickly withdrawing several hundred meters away to observe from a thick oak branch.

In the center of the clearing, the battle had already erupted.

Orochimaru slammed his hands together, and the ground shattered with a roar.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"

A mudslide-like wave of earth surged forward, crashing into Mahoraga and forcing its massive body to stumble back several steps.

Orochimaru immediately spat out the Kusanagi Sword, gripped it in his hand, and blurred into an afterimage, closing the distance to pierce Mahoraga's thigh with a single strike.

Mahoraga let out a pained roar. It swung its Exorcism Sword horizontally, but Orochimaru ducked beneath it, using the momentum to carve a long, bloody gash across Mahoraga's abdomen with the Kusanagi Sword.

Orochimaru landed steadily, sneering as he watched Mahoraga bleed.

"Too slow. Is this really all you have?"

Click.

The golden wheel atop Mahoraga's head suddenly rotated one notch.

The Black Dog, White Dog, and Escaping Rabbit hiding in the distance had been preparing to track Sasuke by scent. Just as they reached the edge of the clearing, Mahoraga turned its head and swiped the air with its left hand.

Three small golden wheels manifested out of thin air, landing atop the heads of the two dogs and the rabbit.

"Come, adapt with me," Mahoraga grinned.

The Escaping Rabbit was pressed flat against the ground by the weight on its head, its long ears drooping. "...So heavy."

Orochimaru watched this comical scene, pointing his Kusanagi Sword directly at Mahoraga.

"Adapt to what? Just die with these cannon fodder."

Mahoraga pulled the Kusanagi Sword from its thigh and tossed it aside; white smoke began to rise from the wound on its abdomen.

"You will see soon enough."

The White Dog and Black Dog were forced into the fray. Bearing the wheels, they lunged at Orochimaru from both sides.

The Escaping Rabbit split into dozens of clones, swarming toward Orochimaru's feet.

Orochimaru snorted coldly, sweeping his right leg out to kick the Black Dog and White Dog flying.

He swung the Kusanagi Sword in a semicircle, slicing the swarming Escaping Rabbit clones into black sludge.

"Pathetic," Orochimaru said.

Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

"It will adapt." Mahoraga stepped forward, headlong into the gale.

The Black Dog, White Dog, and Escaping Rabbit could not evade such a wide-range ninjutsu and took the full brunt of the attack, their bodies covered in dense, jagged lacerations.

Naturally, the same was true for Mahoraga.

Click.

The three small wheels and the large one rotated in unison.

Orochimaru noticed that the wounds on Mahoraga's body were slowly recovering.

It doesn't matter. It just has high regenerative abilities; my own are just as strong.

I just need to kill you before you can recover!

On a distant branch, Sasuke watched the battle below, his brows locked tightly together.

Because of the injected chakra, Mahoraga had not only developed an independent consciousness but could even actively distribute its adaptation wheels to other Shikigami, letting them help shoulder the burden of the analysis process.

This was a maneuver previously executed by Sukuna.

Now, Mahoraga could do it itself.

For the battle, this was an overwhelming upgrade, but for Sasuke himself, the difficulty of taming this irritable monster in the future had increased exponentially.

In the clearing, Orochimaru quickly sensed that something was wrong.

The two dogs that had been kicked away were climbing back up, the wheels atop their heads spinning at high speed.

Meanwhile, the wounds on Mahoraga's abdomen and thigh had completely healed.

Orochimaru formed seals again, and dozens of venomous snakes surged from his sleeves, binding Mahoraga's limbs and torso in a desperate attempt to crush it.

Mahoraga did not struggle.

A layer of mucus suddenly secreted from the surface of its body, and its once-hard muscles became as supple as snakeskin.

Sliiiide—

Mahoraga's massive body seemed to lose its bones, sliding directly out of the snakes' death grip.

Orochimaru's golden pupils dilated sharply.

"What?"

"Click."

The wheel atop Mahoraga's head rotated once more.

It took a massive stride forward, its speed more than doubling in an instant.

The Exorcism Sword in its right hand tore through the air with a piercing sonic boom, slashing directly toward the top of Orochimaru's head.

Orochimaru raised the Kusanagi Sword to parry.

"Clang!"

The immense force crashed down along the blade, causing the ground beneath Orochimaru to collapse instantly as the bones in his arms emitted a strained, cracking sound.

Mahoraga clenched its left hand into a fist and slammed it viciously into Orochimaru's chest.

Orochimaru's ribcage caved in immediately, his body sent flying backward like a cannonball until he crashed through three large trees and finally came to a halt.

Just as he attempted to scramble up from the ground, Mahoraga was already standing before him.

Having fully adapted to physical strikes and wind and earth-style chakra, every one of Mahoraga's attacks now carried devastating destructive power.

The Exorcism Sword slashed repeatedly, slicing and crushing Orochimaru's body.

He attempted to use the Substitution Technique and shedding to buy time, but Mahoraga's attack frequency grew ever faster, its strength ever greater.

The Kusanagi Sword was knocked away by the sheer force, and the Exorcism Sword cleaved into Orochimaru's left shoulder without resistance, carving a path downward until it sliced his body diagonally in two.

Blood and viscera sprayed across the fallen leaves as Orochimaru lay dead on the spot.

It turned its massive head, gazing toward the distant direction of Sasuke.

Mahoraga let out a dull, muffled snort from its nostrils.

Following this, its colossal form dissolved into black sludge and vanished completely.

Itachi closed his eyes, remaining silent for a moment, lost in thought, before turning his head to look at Sasuke: "Is this the thing you wanted to summon that night?"