The Poisonous Snake's Shedding Tail to Survive and the Dead Silence of the Forest of Death

"Heh heh heh... Heh heh heh heh heh!"

The bizarre, shrill laughter, mixed with ultimate pain and morbid ecstasy, scraped back and forth across Kabuto Yakushi's eardrums like a rusted saw.

He watched the scene before him in terror.

Orochimaru, that forever elegant and composed man who had engraved coldness and poise into his very bones, was currently curled up in the filthy snow like a stray dog whose spine had been broken. Traces of muscles distorted by sheer agony still lingered on his face, but those golden slit pupils burned with a flame unprecedented and fierce enough to scorch the soul down to nothing—fanaticism!

"Lord Orochimaru..." Kabuto Yakushi's voice was dry and trembling. He reached out a hand, yet dared not touch him.

He could sense Orochimaru's body shaking violently—not from the cold, but from an uncontainable shudder spreading from the depths of his soul.

That "Grace", that mark, what on earth was it?

Not only had it failed to destroy Orochimaru's will, but instead... it had ignited the deepest madness within his heart!

"Let's go! We have to leave!" Kabuto Yakushi gritted his teeth fiercely, a trace of absolute resolve flashing through the gaze behind his lenses. Hesitating no longer, he forcefully hoisted one of Orochimaru's arms, dragging him as they stumbled away deeper into the forest.

"Go? Heh... Why should we go, Kabuto?" Orochimaru let himself be dragged, his head hanging limply as an incoherent murmur issued from his throat, "Truth... I've seen the truth of eternal life... That perfect Yang Release... That supreme life form..."

His words were intermittent, yet they chilled Kabuto Yakushi to the bone.

He had gone mad.

Lord Orochimaru had been completely broken by that man... that Fifth Hokage, who was like both a god and a demon.

Right at that moment,