"Could this really be where I meet my end?"
He had thought that with a Reanimation Body to help him, he wouldn't possibly end up in such a desperate situation.
A Reanimation Body was practically a cheat.
As long as he, the user, didn't die, he would be almost invincible.
And the one he had summoned was Tobirama Senju.
How could he possibly lose under those circumstances?
But reality could be cruel.
Uchiha Ye, someone completely beyond his expectations, had turned everything upside down.
"Orochimaru, looks like your good days are over!" Sasori of the Red Sands grinned at the sight. "It seems the day you become my Human Puppet isn't far off."
Orochimaru's eyes grew even more steely, but he was clearly at a loss.
"Dog-Biting Crimson Lotus!"
Orochimaru had only just dodged the attack unleashed by the Third Kazekage when Uchiha Ye's strike came down on him like a dogged pursuer.
He could naturally use Water Release to counter the enormous Flame Dog rushing at him.
But Sasori of the Red Sands clearly wasn't going to give him enough time.
The Third Kazekage was already gathering Iron Sand, preparing to unleash another attack.
If Orochimaru took Uchiha Ye's attack head-on, he wouldn't have a chance to dodge the Third Kazekage's Iron Sand.
Even he wouldn't dare risk the poison coating that Iron Sand.
But if he retreated—
Against Uchiha Ye's terrifying ability to predict his moves, Orochimaru didn't think he'd come out any better.
For all he knew, before he could even regain his footing, Uchiha Ye would already be waiting at his landing spot, ready to strike a fatal blow.
But in this situation, he had to choose.
"Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!"
Orochimaru formed hand seals at incredible speed and unleashed a towering torrent to block the Flame Dog. Then he bit his finger and quickly formed another set of hand seals. "Summoning Technique!"
He landed, slapped the ground, and shouted, "Triple Rashomon!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three iron gates carved with grotesque demon masks burst from the ground.
In the next instant, the storm of attacks unleashed by Sasori of the Red Sands through the Third Kazekage rained down. "Iron Sand Drizzle!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless massive Iron Sand bullets slammed into the Rashomon gates, their impacts echoing all around.
The first gate, then the second, were quickly breached.
Only the third remained standing.
Water clashed with lava, and dense fog billowed out, swallowing Uchiha Ye, Sasori, and Orochimaru until they couldn't see a thing.
And this was the chance Orochimaru needed.
In terms of strength, he couldn't possibly stand against Uchiha Ye and Sasori of the Red Sands together.
If he kept fighting, he was sure to die!
Taking this opportunity to get away was the only sensible choice.
He softened his lower body into a snake's tail and hurriedly rushed off to escape.
But—
"Orochimaru, did you think I'd give you the chance?"
Uchiha Ye's voice suddenly sounded behind Orochimaru, sending a chill down his spine.
He had expected Uchiha Ye to come after him, given his incredible perception.
But he hadn't expected him to catch up so quickly.
It was as if the fog didn't exist at all, as if it couldn't hinder him in the slightest.
Uchiha Ye's right arm had turned to lava, forming a massive molten fist. It swept away the fog in an instant and bore down on Orochimaru with the terrifying force of Strength of a Hundred. "Great Eruption!"
The strike was absolutely terrifying!
Even the air cracked and boomed, then warped and blurred under the heat of the punch.
"Whoosh!"
Orochimaru was Orochimaru, after all. Facing the terrifying strike, he softened his entire body and twisted himself into an arc, narrowly dodging it.
"Truly a man worthy of the title Sannin!" Uchiha Ye couldn't help but praise him at the sight. But then his eyes narrowed. "But I'm not the same as before, either."
His battle against Tobirama Senju had greatly improved his Sharingan's perception.
Through his current two-Tomoe Sharingan, Orochimaru's movements looked slow.
And this posture of his left him with plenty of openings.
Most importantly, if Uchiha Ye struck again, Orochimaru would have a hard time dodging.
After all, no matter how fast Orochimaru's reflexes were, they still had their limits!
"Meteor Fire Rain!"
At Uchiha Ye's command, the missed molten fist instantly turned into a shower of blazing projectiles, streaking toward Orochimaru's bizarrely contorted body as if they were drawn to him.
"Hiss!!!!"
At that moment, even Orochimaru felt his scalp go numb.
Uchiha Ye was giving him no chance to dodge at all.
There was no way he could avoid the attack!
"Ugh!"
He stretched his neck and immediately spat out another version of himself, then continued his winding escape without pausing for even a second.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The scalding lava consumed the body he had shed, while the newborn Orochimaru kept fleeing.
"Heh, running?" Sasori of the Red Sands called out again, his voice tinged with mockery. "Did you ask for my permission, Orochimaru?"
"Iron Sand World Method!"
In an instant, Iron Sand covered everything within a hundred meters of the moving Orochimaru.
Then countless Iron Sand spikes linked together, spreading downward and piercing into the earth.
"Not good!!!"
Orochimaru's pupils contracted violently. Faced with this indiscriminate, all-encompassing attack, he could almost see the Shinigami beckoning him.
Even after turning into a snake and deftly dodging through the narrow spaces, his body was still slashed in several places.
Immediately, his body grew heavy, his head spun, and his vision blurred!
The poison had taken effect!
"Damn it!"
Orochimaru shouted and used the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu again, shedding his body and creating a new one.
"Snake Servant Jutsu!"
Not daring to hesitate for even half a second, Orochimaru shed his skin and transformed into a humanoid serpent made up of countless little snakes.
Then...
He exploded into countless little snakes that surged in every direction.
This was his ultimate means of survival!
As long as even one little snake survived, he could live on.
But...
"Do you really think... that's possible?"
Uchiha Ye's voice rang out, utterly emotionless and calm, as indifferent as a god's.
His body blazed brilliantly, like a fallen sun, and unleashed wave after wave of scorching heat. "Molten Realm: Scorch Flow Explosion!"
Hum!
A wave of heat capable of destroying everything surged outward.
Seeing this, Sasori of the Red Sands, having learned from experience, was carried into the air by the Third Kazekage, avoiding the world-ending attack.
Sss!
Like a solar storm sweeping through, it left not a blade of grass standing. Even the earth was scoured away and melted by the scorching heat.
Within a hundred-meter radius, it was as if the world had become a furnace. Not a single one of the little snakes managed to cry out before they were completely annihilated in the heat that seemed to warp space.
Half a minute later!
The ground was still searing hot, but the commotion had died down.
There was no sign of life within a five-hundred-meter radius.
Radiating out from Uchiha Ye, the landscape changed in gradients, from lava to crystallized scorched earth, to scorched earth, and finally to ruins.
Before you continue