Orochimaru Was Horrified

"Retreat? How long can you keep that up?"

Uchiha Ye said, the wound in his neck already healed.

"But you're right. This should end."

He stomped hard on the ground and poured his power into it. "Lava Scorch Shot!"

"Whoosh!"

In the next instant, Tobirama Senju appeared at a Flying Thunder God marker some distance away.

But before he could react, the ground beneath his feet trembled violently, and scorching hot magma erupted upward.

"Gah!"

Tobirama's hair stood on end at the sight.

He had no choice but to use Flying Thunder God again and retreat.

But—

The same thing happened as soon as he appeared again.

He was forced to retreat once more!

"This guy... Could he be planning to..."

Tobirama understood Uchiha Ye's intentions in an instant.

He was going to destroy all of Tobirama's Flying Thunder God markers, then wait for him to run out of options.

Once the last marker was destroyed, Tobirama would have nowhere left to escape.

He gritted his teeth in frustration, but there truly was nothing he could do to Uchiha Ye.

At this point, Uchiha Ye had control of the situation.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

And so, as Tobirama kept using Flying Thunder God to dodge, his markers were destroyed one after another.

Until... the last one!

"Boom!"

This time, Tobirama had no way to dodge.

He could only face the magma erupting almost at the same instant he appeared.

But—

Just as the magma was about to hit him, he managed to shift himself slightly in midair.

He only lost half his body to the flames.

"As expected of the Second Hokage. I didn't think you could still turn the tables in a situation like this!"

Before Tobirama could hit the ground, Uchiha Ye had already used the Body Flicker Technique to close in, his right arm blazing brightly. "But it's over!"

He threw a punch, his voice sharp. "Hellhound!"

But Tobirama's eyes suddenly narrowed, and he grinned. "Kid, this is exactly the chance I've been waiting for. Go to hell!"

"Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags!"

He summoned a vast number of Explosive Tags, which shot forward and stuck to Uchiha Ye's body.

Uchiha Ye had backed him into a corner, but why couldn't he seize the initiative in turn?

The attack was already incredibly fast, and it had come without warning. How could Uchiha Ye possibly dodge it?

Even Six Paths Obito had been hit by this move from Tobirama in the original story.

That showed just how powerful it was!

"Explode!"

As his head was blown apart, Tobirama unleashed this final attack as well.

He had observed Uchiha Ye carefully!

Whenever Ye used his ability, he couldn't use that strange power that let him become immune to piercing attacks.

Tobirama was sure that by the time he reassembled, Uchiha Ye would have been reduced to nothing but mangled scraps!

Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags wouldn't stop until their target was blown to pieces!

"Oh no!"

Seeing this, Sasori of the Red Sands, who was fighting Orochimaru, couldn't help but turn pale.

"Is he finally... dead?"

Orochimaru couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This was an Enhanced Edo Tensei Body he had made specifically to deal with the pursuit.

It was just as strong as he was!

He thought it was perfectly reasonable for it to defeat a junior like Uchiha Ye.

After all, Tobirama was the experienced Second Hokage.

How many battles had Uchiha Ye even fought?

How could he be Tobirama's match?

The fact that he had repeatedly forced Tobirama onto the back foot was already impressive enough.

"Hmm? No!"

Orochimaru's eyes suddenly sharpened. His expression changed as he looked into the distance and exclaimed in disbelief, "He actually used his ability to nullify the damage from Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags?!"

The place where Uchiha Ye had been blown to pieces was covered in scattered magma.

Then the magma gathered again, reforming into Uchiha Ye.

Completely unharmed!

Sasori was overjoyed at the sight and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

But Orochimaru had a terrible feeling, a creeping dread that something was about to go very wrong.

Uchiha Ye turned into magma again and lunged straight at Tobirama, whose body was still regenerating. The magma pinned Tobirama in place, and Ye controlled his hands to form seals at high speed. "Impure World Reincarnation... Release!"

In an instant...

The world blazed with light, and a beam of light descended to envelop Tobirama!

Tobirama's body began to glow, and Uchiha Ye immediately pulled away from him.

This move only used magma to forcibly control someone else's movements.

It could certainly have unexpected effects!

But the conditions required to pull it off were difficult to meet.

First!

The target had to be weak enough.

That part was manageable!

But the second condition was much harder.

The target's body had to withstand the extreme heat of the magma.

That was difficult!

Only a Reanimated Body could do it.

After all, it was still made of earth.

It could withstand the nearly nine-hundred-degree heat he was producing now.

In short, it was an ability he could only use in this particular situation.

But—

The shock his whole sequence of actions caused was undeniable.

"Impure World Reincarnation... can be undone like that, too?"

Watching Tobirama's soul separate from his body, Orochimaru's expression darkened. His thoughts surged, and horror raised goosebumps across his skin.

This was information even he didn't know!

Based on his research so far, he had thought that an Edo Tensei could only be stopped if its caster released the technique or if someone sealed it with Sealing Jutsu.

But Uchiha Ye had clearly shown him a third method.

"Hahaha, Orochimaru, judging by that surprised look, I take it this wasn't what you expected!"

Seeing this, Sasori couldn't help teasing him. "Looks like I really was right. Ye knows things you don't!"

"Heh, you're probably not getting away today!"

This only made Orochimaru feel more uneasy.

As for Tobirama...

Even though his soul had left his body, he refused to go. He actually tried to forcibly reunite with his body.

How could he allow himself to leave a threat to Konoha behind?

"Great Eruption!"

But how could Uchiha Ye give him that chance?

Before Tobirama could reunite with his body, Ye had already thrown a punch, blasting the body to pieces.

"Tobirama Senju, go back to the Pure Land in peace!"

Uchiha Ye grinned. "The dead shouldn't worry so much about the affairs of the World of the Living!"

Tobirama roared, full of resentment. "Damn it!!!"

But he couldn't resist the pull of the Light of the Pure Land.

"Who the hell are you?!"

Tobirama demanded, "How do you know how to release Impure World Reincarnation, when I never even included the method in Konoha's forbidden jutsu records?"

Just like Orochimaru, Tobirama found Uchiha Ye...

mysterious and dangerous!

He had let someone this dangerous remain in the world. He had truly failed in his duty.

"Do you think I'd tell you?"

Uchiha Ye scoffed. "Do you take me for a fool?"

How could he possibly tell an enemy his secrets?

Even if the enemy was already dead!

Tobirama left, brimming with resentment.

Uchiha Ye immediately turned his gaze to Orochimaru. "Now it's your turn, Orochimaru!"

Faced with Uchiha Ye's playful yet dangerous gaze, Orochimaru felt a chill run through his body.

"How did things end up like this?"

Even Orochimaru couldn't help feeling that the end was near.

As Uchiha Ye approached, Orochimaru's already vertical pupils narrowed even further.