Hunt

Three days later. Valley.

The wind swept over the cliff walls, carrying fine grains of sand. On the dried-up riverbed, Orochimaru and the other three had been lying in ambush for an entire morning.

Yunju lay behind a boulder, keeping his breathing low. His position was in a natural depression midway through the valley, with a clear view of the entire passage. Kabuto was thirty meters to his right, while Kimimaro was farther away to his left. Orochimaru stood beneath a dead tree at the valley's narrowest point, completely exposed—he was the obvious bait.

Yunju's palms were soaked with sweat. Not from nerves, but from waiting. The closer the target's arrival drew, the faster his heart beat, yet the clearer his thoughts became. He repeatedly went over the task Orochimaru had assigned him: eliminate outside variables; if necessary, support their side or hold the enemy back.

"They're here."

Yunju held his breath and turned his gaze toward the valley entrance.

At the front walked a man in a white Kazekage robe. The wide robe swayed gently in the wind, revealing the dark armor beneath. His steps were neither hurried nor slow, his bearing relaxed, even somewhat casual—the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa. Two ninja followed behind him, their steps orderly and their gazes alert. The symbols on their forehead protectors belonged to Sand Hidden Village. Both were special jonin.

Yunju quickly confirmed it to himself. No large escort, no chunin or genin. Rasa had brought only two men.

Orochimaru's intelligence had been accurate.

Rasa's group drew closer.

Orochimaru stepped out from beneath the dead tree, smiling as he walked with unhurried ease. Rasa stopped and gave him a once-over. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, while his stance remained relaxed.

"Orochimaru, have you prepared your end of our agreement?"

Orochimaru smiled. It was a gentle, proper smile, as though two old friends were catching up.

"Of course."

Yunju's fingers had already settled on the hilt of his kunai. There was no change in Orochimaru's tone, but Yunju caught the breath behind that word—the ending neither rose nor fell, but landed flatly, like a blade laid lightly upon a table.

"However, Lord Kazekage, there's no need for you to go to Konoha anymore."

Rasa's pupils abruptly contracted. In that instant, the chakra around him went from loose to taut, like a fully drawn bowstring. His Kazekage robe stirred without wind as chakra surged around his body—but it was too late.

Yunju moved.

"Lightning Release: Quick Flash!"

With a thrust of his left hand, a highly compressed sphere of lightning flew out from behind the boulder and exploded in the middle of the valley. Blinding white light swallowed everything. The two special jonin were simultaneously blinded by the intense flash. They instinctively retreated, hands on their kunai, but could not lock onto their targets.

A dozen seconds.

Yunju knew he had only a dozen seconds.

He did not look toward the two jonin. Instead, he stared fixedly in Rasa's direction. Kimimaro rose from the shadow behind Rasa—not leaping out, but rising. His body burst up from beneath the earth, his right hand pressed against the ground.

"Dead Bone Pulse: Bone Spear."

Sharp white bone spikes thrust up from beneath Rasa's feet, so fast that they were little more than white blurs. Rasa did not even have time to retreat before instinctively lifting his foot to dodge—but there was not one bone spear, but three. Three bone spears burst out at different angles, sealing every route of escape. Rasa's body was forced to tilt left, his balance shifting, and his hand seals were interrupted.

Orochimaru struck.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."

His right arm transformed into dozens of venomous snakes. They did not shoot out from his sleeve, but directly surged from beneath his skin, like a black tide crashing toward Rasa. The snakes coiled around Rasa's arms, torso, and neck, tightening to lock his joints, seal the fingers he needed for hand seals, and block the flow of chakra within his body. Rasa gritted his teeth and forcibly drove his chakra, trying to break free from the snakes' bindings—but the instant his fingertips moved, Orochimaru's other hand had already slipped into the Kazekage robe.

The Kusanagi Sword. A short blade. No sound, no flash, no chakra fluctuations—only a cold silver gleam.

The sword tip pierced through armor, skin, and muscle, pinning itself precisely into the chakra core between his heart and spine. Blood seeped soundlessly from beneath the Kazekage robe.

Rasa's eyes opened wide. His mouth parted, but no sound came out. His fingers twitched twice, then fell limp. Less than five seconds had passed from the beginning of the ambush to his collapse.

At the same time, the two special jonin finally regained their sight.

What they saw was Rasa going limp in Orochimaru's arms. There was no time for shock—Kimimaro had already blocked their path.

Cursed Seal: First State. Black markings spread from Kimimaro's neck to his cheeks, and his chakra surged. White bones thrust from his palm, forming into a bone sword.

"Sawarabi Dance."

The ground exploded. Dense bone spikes burst from beneath their feet like a white forest, each one as thick as an arm. The two special jonin were forced into the air, but Kimimaro was faster. His bone sword swept across, and the first head fell to the ground. The other jonin landed on a bone spike, which pierced through his foot. His body tilted, and the next sword stroke had already pierced his throat.

One minute. Two special jonin, annihilated. No one sent a signal. No one escaped the valley. Blood seeped into the dried riverbed and was absorbed by the sand, quickly darkening in color.

Yunju stood up from behind the boulder, his legs a little weak, though not from fear. He looked at the corpse in Orochimaru's arms, still wearing the Kazekage robe, and slowly let out a deep breath. So this was what it was like to kill a Kage—not an earth-shattering clash of ninjutsu, not a desperate back-and-forth battle to the death, but an ambush, a blinding flash, a bone spike, and a short blade. Five seconds.

"Yunju."

Orochimaru's voice interrupted his thoughts. Yunju hurried over. Orochimaru handed Rasa's corpse to him to support, then took a step back and formed a simple hand seal. Orochimaru's body began to change—not the smoke-shrouded transformation of a Transformation Jutsu, but something far stranger. His pale skin darkened into Rasa's wheat-colored complexion. His face, height, and build twisted and reassembled. Even his chakra fluctuations were changing.

Orochimaru shed his original body. Not like taking off clothes, but like shedding skin. A complete, human-shaped husk fell to the ground. The new "Rasa" stood where the old one had been, dressed in a Kazekage robe identical to the corpse's, down to every scratch on the armor.

Orochimaru spoke.

"Let's go." His voice, tone, and rhythm of speech were exactly the same as Rasa's.

Holding Rasa's corpse, Yunju looked at the "Rasa" before him and felt a chill run down his back.

"Yunju, Earth Release."

Orochimaru's voice brought him back. Yunju set the corpse down and formed hand seals.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall."

A stone wall rose from the ground, not vertically, but at an angle to cover the corpse. Then came a second wall, and a third, completely sealing Rasa's body beneath the earth. Yunju roughened the surface of the stone with chakra, blending it with the surrounding sand and gravel until there was no sign that the ground had ever been disturbed.

Kabuto crouched nearby, green medical chakra glowing around his hands as he dealt with the bloodstains on the ground. He was not wiping them away, but using chakra to break down and evaporate the blood cells that had seeped into the soil, leaving not even a scent behind.

Kimimaro stood to one side. His bone sword had already withdrawn into his body, and his face showed no expression. The cursed seal markings were fading, his breathing as steady as if he had just returned from a walk.

Orochimaru—no, he should now be called "Rasa"—stood in the center of the valley, examining his new body. He lowered his head to look at the bloodstains on the Kazekage robe, then wiped them with one hand. The blood vanished. Not wiped away, but absorbed into his skin.

"Next," Orochimaru said, "I'll go to Konoha in the Kazekage's identity. You—"

He glanced at Yunju.

"Kimimaro will take you to the nearest base. Stay there with the Five, and wait for my instructions. If the plan goes smoothly, perhaps we'll welcome a friend."

Kimimaro and Yunju nodded.

"Then let us part ways here."

The valley returned to silence. Wind and sand would soon cover the traces of battle. The stone walls would blend into the cliff faces, and the bloodstains would vanish completely. Everything that had happened here today would remain known only to the four of them. There would be no fifth person.

Yunju turned and followed Kimimaro out of the valley.

Was this what a Kage-level battle was like? Fast, precise, ruthless.