Impure World Reincarnation!

"Ye's control over his abilities has improved this much?!"

Faced with the terrifying wave of heat, Sasori of the Red Sands retreated once again.

Yet he couldn't help being utterly astonished.

When he'd first faced that attack, he'd known it was powerful.

But back then, its deadly heat hadn't been nearly so concentrated.

The instant it neared an enemy, all its power erupted at once, bringing utterly devastating force.

It was also so much faster now that even someone at Kage Level couldn't possibly dodge it.

Most importantly, it was almost impossible to block head-on.

A truly deadly strike!

He knew it!

Even if Orochimaru hadn't died from that attack, he would have been gravely wounded!

The commotion continued for more than ten seconds before finally subsiding.

The once-dense forest was now nothing but a barren, charred wasteland.

A gust of wind swept through, and it all turned to ash and drifted away.

It was an incredibly shocking sight!

"Hah..."

"Hah..."

Uchiha Ye, who had unleashed the attack, clutched the wound on his chest and gasped for breath.

His fight with Orochimaru hadn't lasted long, but it had been exceptionally dangerous.

He'd been wounded right from the start!

Without relying on his strongest attack, it would have been difficult to seriously injure Orochimaru in a short time.

Besides, he needed time to adapt to his increased strength and learn to control the pace of a fight against a stronger enemy.

"Even the Two-Tomoe Sharingan can't see the movements of someone at Kage Level!"

That was the most important lesson he'd learned from fighting Orochimaru.

Only Observation Haki could track Orochimaru's movements and analyze them.

"But..."

He covered his right eye, feeling a faint warmth in his palm.

It wasn't heat from his Devil Fruit Ability, but rather the power of the Sharingan itself.

He knew what that meant, of course.

The sign that his Sharingan was about to advance to Three-Tomoe!

"Interesting!"

Uchiha Ye lowered his hand. Through Observation Haki, he sensed Orochimaru's presence approaching rapidly from underground ahead.

"Lava Scorch Shot!"

Uchiha Ye planted his foot on the ground and poured his power into it.

Boom!

The earth began to tremble rapidly, then burst apart as a surge of molten lava erupted.

A short distance away, Orochimaru emerged from the ground in a rather sorry state.

His body was charred black, and his presence was feeble!

But he immediately opened his mouth. A mucus-covered arm reached out from within, forcing his jaws wide open. A new Orochimaru emerged before Uchiha Ye, covered in filthy slime.

It was Orochimaru's most shameless ability—the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu.

After his original body sustained irreparable injuries, he used this ability to be reborn.

As long as Orochimaru hadn't exhausted his chakra, he was practically immortal.

Orochimaru looked at Uchiha Ye and spoke in a low voice. "What terrifying perception, Ye-kun. Even though I hid my presence, you still found me."

"Even Teacher Sarutobi had a hard time detecting this ability back then. I never expected it to be useless against you."

He stared at Uchiha Ye, his gaze growing feverish. "You don't even have the Byakugan, yet your perception is even more terrifying. I'm becoming more and more interested in your Sharingan."

What had happened to Uchiha Ye?

How had he gained such a strange Lava Release Kekkei Genkai?

And his perception was even more terrifying than the Hyuga Clan's.

The more Orochimaru thought about it, the more fascinated he became with Uchiha Ye—even more than with Uchiha Itachi.

"Heh. You'll find out once you defeat me, won't you?"

Hearing Orochimaru's words, Uchiha Ye laughed. His gaze was so feverish that even Orochimaru felt a little uneasy.

He had the strange feeling that, in Uchiha Ye's eyes, Orochimaru was nothing more than prey.

But he couldn't think of anything about himself that Uchiha Ye might be targeting.

"Unfortunately, Orochimaru, you won't get the chance!"

Sasori of the Red Sands spoke up. He moved forward, controlling Hiruko, whose gaze was ice-cold as he stared at Orochimaru. "Ye can already handle you on his own. With me here as well, there's no chance you'll survive today!"

He carefully looked Orochimaru up and down. A chilling voice came from within Hiruko. "A powerful shinobi like you would make an impressive Human Puppet. I doubt you'd be any weaker than my Third Kazekage!"

At that, Orochimaru chuckled darkly, his shoulders shaking. His expression, however, turned fierce. "Sasori, you sure are bold!"

"Make me into a Human Puppet? Heh. It's not clear who'll win yet. Come on, prove you can do it!"

With that, he quickly bit his finger and formed Hand Seals.

Sasori of the Red Sands assumed Orochimaru was summoning a Summoned Beast and wasn't particularly concerned.

So what if he brought out another Summoned Beast?

Would that let him deal with both Sasori and Uchiha Ye?

Dream on!

But as Uchiha Ye watched Orochimaru form the Hand Seals, he immediately shook his head and said gravely, "No, Big Brother Sasori. He isn't summoning a Summoned Beast!"

Although he didn't know the exact hand signs for the Summoning Jutsu, he knew that it required five seals.

Yet Orochimaru had performed only four—Tiger, Snake, Dog, and Dragon—before slamming his palm against the ground to activate the jutsu.

How could that be a Summoned Beast?

"If it isn't a Summoned Beast, but he still bit his finger to use blood as a medium, then there's only one jutsu it could be!"

At the thought, Uchiha Ye grew extremely grave.

He knew another enemy of the same level might appear next.

"Not the Summoning Jutsu?"

Sasori of the Red Sands looked astonished. "Then what is it...?"

Before he could finish, Orochimaru gave him the answer. Orochimaru shouted, "Summoning Jutsu: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Hearing this, Uchiha Ye immediately understood. "As I thought!"

As black markings spread across the ground and coffins rose from beneath it, Uchiha Ye explained the jutsu to Sasori of the Red Sands, who watched in surprise. "This jutsu is called Impure World Reincarnation!"

"It uses a living person as a sacrifice to summon the soul of the dead from the Pure Land and bring it back to the World of the Living!"

"It's a forbidden jutsu developed by the Second Hokage of Konoha. Those summoned aren't as strong as they were in life, but if the user has mastered the jutsu, the summoned spirits won't be much weaker than they were before."

As he spoke, he looked at the number "2" on the coffin before him and felt his heart sink. "Could it be him?"

Sasori of the Red Sands was quite surprised by what Uchiha Ye had said. "Ye, how do you know all this?"

Impure World Reincarnation?

He'd never even heard of it!

But if it was a forbidden jutsu, it must be closely guarded in Konoha.

How could Uchiha Ye know about it?

It felt like Uchiha Ye knew everything!

Even Orochimaru, hearing Uchiha Ye openly reveal information about Impure World Reincarnation, couldn't help a flicker of alarm passing through his narrow golden pupils.

That was right. How could Uchiha Ye know about the forbidden jutsu, Impure World Reincarnation?

By rights, only two people should know of it now:

The current Third Hokage of Konoha!

And him, the one performing it!

Even if someone else knew, it shouldn't possibly be Uchiha Ye, of all people.