Snake Formation vs. Ant Swarm

After the three left, a voice rang out in the empty woods. "Orochimaru came too? Is he here to destroy the Uchiha Clan as well? This is bad—White and the others are in danger!" Jin immediately used his unique space-shifting technique. The scene before his eyes changed, and he arrived beside White.

White jumped at Jin's sudden appearance. "Why do you always suddenly appear beside me? You're in such a hurry. What happened?"

"Orochimaru has infiltrated Konoha! Aunt Lanhui Zi and Kimimaro are still here, right?" Jin asked.

"They're both here. We didn't know what was happening outside, and we were afraid of causing you trouble, so none of us went out," White said.

Jin quickly kissed White. "That's great! Orochimaru hasn't discovered us yet! Get ready to fight. Several powerful Kage-level experts have infiltrated Konoha. Something happened to the Uchiha Clan, and I need to head back immediately. Whatever you do, don't leave this house. I'll explain everything tomorrow."

White was caught off guard by Jin's kiss and stood there blankly, not knowing what to say. Only after Jin had left did she come back to her senses, then told Lanhui Zi and Kimimaro the news. At top speed, Jin informed the Third Hokage that Orochimaru had infiltrated Konoha and that Akatsuki's two-man team and Itachi had returned to Konoha. The Third Hokage had not been idle either and was assigning tasks to his subordinates. At the same time, he summoned the heads of the major clans, told them that Itachi had killed some members of the Uchiha Clan and fled as a traitor, then relayed the information Jin had given him. In an instant, all of Konoha was placed under martial law.

Konoha's villagers seemed to have caught the scent of tension in the air. They hid in their homes, quietly waiting for something to happen. The Uchiha Clan had suffered a sudden upheaval, losing many of its elites and becoming comparatively weaker. The Third Hokage dispatched a small number of ANBU members to help reinforce the Uchiha Clan's defenses, while most of the ANBU led the village's ninja in preparation to kill the invading enemies—Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, and Akatsuki, the terrifying organization that would do anything for money.

Night had fallen long ago. Only the faint moonlight made it seem not quite so late.

"Clan Head! Young Master Sasuke has been captured by a mysterious ninja!" a servant reported.

"What? Go after him!" Uchiha Fuchiu roared.

Jin stood atop Hokage Rock, watching Konoha through binoculars. By the faint moonlight, he spotted a familiar woman carrying a child as she ran toward the village gate. Jin swiftly teleported to Lanhui Zi's house. Seeing that all three were there, he did not linger, immediately teleporting again to Konoha's gate.

"Who's there?" the guards at the gate shouted.

"Go inform the Third Hokage at once. Orochimaru is attacking the gate." Jin was still using the same disguise.

"Ah—ah—" Two screams rang out as the gate guards were killed by Orochimaru.

"Hisss—we meet again! This time, I don't have time to listen to your nonsense!" Orochimaru said, flicking out his tongue.

"If you put that child down, I'll let you pass!" Jin could see clearly now. That child was his younger brother, Sasuke.

"It won't be that easy! Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique!"

"Not bad! Binding Technique!"

"Space Shift!" Jin swapped places with a nearby tree. At the same time, Sasuke in Orochimaru's hands was replaced by a large rock.

Jin used the Body Flicker Technique to reach Sasuke and scooped him up. Damn it, the Sharingan's space-shifting ability burns through way too much chakra! His Mangekyō Sharingan had opened the moment he used Space Shift.

"Wind Release! Great Breakthrough!" Orochimaru snarled furiously after seeing that the child in his hands had become a rock. A massive hurricane swept toward Jin.

"Watch my self-created water-earth composite ninjutsu! Frozen Earth Barrier!"

"Looks like I really have to get serious! Myriad Snake Formation!" Countless snakes crawled out of Orochimaru's mouth and surged toward Jin.

"Ant Resurrection Technique!" Jin summoned the countless ants he had once tortured to death, then roared, "Myriad Forms Mutation Technique!" The ants Jin had summoned immediately began emitting lights of every color. Some grew larger, some smaller, some changed shape, and some changed color. "Let's see whether your snake swarm is stronger or my newly created ant swarm is stronger! Oh, and I forgot to mention—the technique I just used gave every ant a different ability."

Moments later, the ant swarm and snake swarm collided. Orochimaru and Jin both watched to see whose technique was stronger.

A kunai silently pressed against Jin's throat. Jin smiled. "Orochimaru, the one in front of you is only my substitute."

Jin's kunai was already pressed against the throat of the suddenly appearing Orochimaru.

"Oh? Interesting, but you still lost!" Orochimaru's voice sounded from behind Jin. Orochimaru thrust out his kunai. Bang! It was only one of Jin's shadow clones.

Orochimaru rapidly formed hand seals. "Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hands!" He struck backward.

"Fire Release! Dragon Flame Technique!" Jin had concealed himself and watched Orochimaru turn his head. He immediately unleashed a powerful attack. A line of fire connected directly to Orochimaru, followed by a huge mass of flames flying toward him.

Bang! A substitution log fell to the ground. Orochimaru had escaped disaster with the substitution log. By then, the ant army and snake formation had already wiped each other out. Jin held Sasuke tightly and stared at Orochimaru across from him.

"Pretty impressive! The Third Hokage is here, so I won't play with you anymore. Let my prey grow a little bigger first." Orochimaru swiftly vanished.

Jin had no intention of stopping him. Orochimaru was not someone who could be killed easily. Besides, the Third Hokage had already arrived, and Jin still had Akatsuki's other two members to deal with. Jin quickly ran toward the Third Hokage and handed Sasuke directly to him. "Orochimaru has left. Find those Akatsuki people quickly. I don't want anything else to happen to the Uchiha Clan!" Jin concealed himself and ran toward his home.

"Didn't you promise me that you wouldn't hurt my younger brother? Were you just fooling a child?" From the shadows, Itachi and the other two had watched Jin's battle with Orochimaru from start to finish. If the Third Hokage had not come running over to interrupt them, the three of them might have been able to determine just how strong Jin really was.

Although Itachi watched Sasuke get captured by Orochimaru, he did not ask why, because Jin and Orochimaru had already started fighting by then.

"Orochimaru doesn't know about our promise. Once we return to the organization, we'll warn him," Pain said.

After hearing that, Itachi said nothing more.

"It seems it'll be difficult to strike back now, won't it? Still, I'm becoming more and more interested in that short old man. We need to find an opportunity to test his skills. Maybe he could become one of our members too. For now, our task is to settle outside Konoha and wait for that old man to come out. Also, Itachi needs to take the opportunity to kill a few members of the clans. What a strange fellow—he insists on killing his own clansmen!"