Naruto: Saving the Uchiha from the Plunder System Chapter 42

"Why have we lost so many ninja?"

"Didn't you gather even a scrap of useful intelligence?"

With his and Killer B's involvement, the war had originally been going smoothly.

Konoha had been steadily driven back as they defended against Kumogakure's surprise attacks.

But starting a few days ago, ninja on their side had begun to disappear one after another.

By now, a full twenty Jonin had vanished without a trace.

There were even more Genin and Chunin.

At this rate, they might as well surrender outright!

"Lord A, Konoha has most likely adopted the same strategy as us. They formed surprise attack squads specifically to target the ninja teams we sent out to gather intelligence."

"That is why things have reached this point."

Mabui analyzed the situation calmly.

When A was furious, she was the only one who dared to speak up.

"Of course I know that. What I find strange is... how were they able to do this?"

Even if the enemy had adopted the same strategy, locating their ninja across such a vast border was no easy task.

For them to suffer such severe casualties, there was only one possibility.

Konoha knew the locations of their ninja teams like the back of its hand.

"That is the one thing I haven't been able to figure out either."

Mabui frowned.

Other than her, the overall commander, no one knew the locations and assignments of Kumogakure's various ninja teams clearly—not even A or Killer B.

Under those circumstances, how had Konoha been able to ambush their teams with such precision?

"Forget it. Pull the ninja back. Once we're ready, launch a full-scale frontal assault on Konoha!"

At A's words, Mabui nodded.

Kumogakure could not afford to drag this out.

Since Konoha had already cracked their previous strategy, the only way to win this war was to end it quickly.

Late at night.

Uchiha Mirai headed toward the Konoha camp, somewhat disappointed.

He had spent the entire day without finding a suitable Kumogakure ninja team to target.

Those battle-crazed fools seemed to have all withdrawn into their camp.

"Have I gone too far lately?"

Uchiha Mirai silently reflected on it.

Perhaps too many Kumogakure ninja had died by his hand recently. Until Kumogakure came up with a countermeasure, they would likely no longer keep sending ninja teams to harass Konoha as they had before.

After all... they had been losing dozens of ninja every day, including quite a few Jonin.

No ninja village could withstand losses like that.

Just as Uchiha Mirai was thinking, dozens of venomous snakes swiftly coiled around his body, opening their jaws and biting down viciously.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

Uchiha Mirai's body turned into dozens of crows and scattered in every direction.

At the same time, an enormous fireball fell from the sky and swallowed every snake whole.

As the scent of cooked meat gradually drifted through the air, Uchiha Mirai turned his gaze toward the dense forest beside him. "Orochimaru, come out."

"As expected of Mirai-kun. You really are perceptive."

Orochimaru emerged from the shadows with a smile. Under the moonlight, undisguised killing intent showed on his unnaturally pale face.

"What do you want?"

Uchiha Mirai looked at Orochimaru and asked calmly.

"I merely wish to ask you a question, Mirai-kun." Seeing that Uchiha Mirai had not been affected at all, Orochimaru withdrew his killing intent.

"According to my intelligence, Kumogakure's ninja have suffered severe losses these past few days and have now even withdrawn into hiding."

"However, I investigated the other surprise attack squads we sent out. Though they achieved some results, they killed fewer than a hundred people combined."

"Such losses are negligible to Kumogakure. They should not have been enough to make someone like A reach this sort of decision."

Orochimaru laid out his analysis bit by bit. "No matter how I considered it, the only possible variable was you, Mirai-kun."

Uchiha Mirai raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"So?" A sharp gleam flashed through Orochimaru's eerie vertical pupils. "Then let me see how you accomplished such a thing, Mirai-kun."

"Shadow Snake Hand!"

Orochimaru's arm transformed into dozens of venomous snakes, their gaping maws opening as they lunged at Uchiha Mirai.

"Wind Style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Sharp wind blades sliced every venomous snake in two.

Immediately afterward, Uchiha Mirai rapidly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Majestic Annihilation!"

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

A sea of flames devoured everything ahead, and Uchiha Mirai quickly retreated.

Where he had been standing, Orochimaru burst from underground with the Kusanagi Sword clenched in his mouth.

Uchiha Mirai drew his blade to block Orochimaru's attack, and the two quickly became locked in combat.

"Mirai-kun, you truly keep surprising me more and more."

Orochimaru stared at the scarlet Three Tomoe Sharingan in Uchiha Mirai's eyes, his face filled with curiosity.

Whether in ninjutsu or taijutsu, the young man before him performed remarkably well. Even against him, he was not at the slightest disadvantage.

Was this truly something a boy who had only graduated from the Ninja Academy a year ago could accomplish?

Thinking back to the first time he had met Uchiha Mirai, Orochimaru could not help but sigh.

Back then, although Uchiha Mirai had defeated Kakashi Hatake, he had still seemed quite immature in Orochimaru's eyes.

Who would have thought that in just one short year, he would grow to this extent?

"Orochimaru, let's stop here for today."

Uchiha Mirai swung his blade and forced Orochimaru back. "There's no point in continuing this fight."

Hearing Uchiha Mirai's words, Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips. "Mirai-kun, are you saying I'm not even qualified to make you use your trump card?"

"How insulting..."

As the Third Hokage's disciple, Orochimaru had not heard anyone speak to him like that in a very long time since making a name for himself.

"All-Snake Summoning: Life Reaping Technique!"

Orochimaru dropped to the ground, and thousands upon thousands of venomous snakes crawled from his mouth, quickly encircling everything within dozens of meters around Uchiha Mirai.

"Mirai-kun, every one of these venomous snakes carries deadly poison. One bite could very well cost you your life."

"Whether you survive or not depends on your own ability."

The moment Orochimaru finished speaking, the snakes on the ground lunged at Uchiha Mirai all at once.

Knowing Orochimaru's personality, Uchiha Mirai understood that unless he taught him a profound lesson, he would not let the matter rest easily.

Uchiha Mirai snorted and, at the very last moment, threw the long blade in his hand toward Orochimaru.

"Is that all?" Watching the incoming blade, Orochimaru dodged it with ease.

He had thought Uchiha Mirai possessed some unknown trump card. Yet at the critical moment between life and death, he could not even launch a proper attack.

Orochimaru shook his head in disappointment and released the summon of the All-Snake Summoning: Life Reaping Technique.

But in the next second, Orochimaru's pupils suddenly contracted.

Uchiha Mirai, who should have been lying on the ground at death's door and waiting for him to treat him, had vanished!

An immense sense of danger rose from the depths of his heart.

His instincts, honed through countless brushes with death, made Orochimaru sense the stench of death.

"Rasengan!"

Orochimaru's body was sent flying. After smashing through several massive trees, he crashed heavily into the ground.

"That was really close. I nearly died..."

A new body crawled out from his mouth. Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Mirai ahead of him, lingering fear still in his heart.

If he had not used the Snake Substitute Technique at the final moment, that strike might very well have killed him on the spot.

But...

How had Uchiha Mirai, who should have been devoured by the snakes, appeared behind him without making a sound?

Orochimaru's gaze unconsciously shifted to the long blade embedded in the tree trunk where he had just been standing, and the expression on his face gradually turned to shock.

"Could it be..."

"Chidori!"

Pfft!

A mouthful of blood burst forth as Orochimaru stared in disbelief at the heart Uchiha Mirai had pierced.

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple, Orochimaru was no stranger to Konoha's various forbidden techniques.

What Uchiha Mirai had used was undoubtedly the Flying Thunder God Technique.

Only this kind of spatial movement could evade his senses and appear at his side without warning.

But...

Orochimaru did not dwell on why Uchiha Mirai had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, a forbidden technique sealed within the Book of Seals. Instead, he considered another question.

If Uchiha Mirai had used his long sword as a medium when he first cast the Flying Thunder God Technique, then how had he suddenly appeared beside him this time?

"Orochimaru, you've seen my trump card. Whether you survive now depends on your own skill."

Orochimaru, You Can't Become Hokage

Uchiha Mirai did not choose to kill Orochimaru.

It would be far too regrettable for a scientific madman like him to die here just like that.

Besides, with Orochimaru's endless life-saving methods, he did not believe the other man would be killed so easily.

"Mirai-kun, you truly have given me quite a shock."

Just as Uchiha Mirai had expected, Orochimaru shed another layer of snakeskin and crawled out of his original body, panting heavily.

Though he looked somewhat bedraggled, there were no visible injuries on him.

The Snake Substitute Technique could block all damage received, but it consumed an enormous amount of Chakra.

After using it twice in succession, even Orochimaru felt a trace of fatigue.