Orochimaru's Escape Night: A Ghostly Encounter! Kamizuki Yu: Snake Uncle, Your Sage Art Cheat Has Expired

The rain pattered steadily, washing over the dark night of Hidden Leaf Village.

Orochimaru carried a sealing scroll containing the essence of his life's research.

Tonight was the best opportunity to break free from this decaying village.

The people waiting to receive him had long been arranged, and his escape route had been planned to perfection.

A cold curve touched his lips.

Hidden Leaf, farewell.

Or rather, farewell forever.

As he stepped out of his final hideout and prepared to melt into the deeper darkness, a figure stood quietly at the end of the alley ahead, as if he had been waiting for quite some time.

Rain soaked the man's simple robes, yet did nothing to diminish his leisurely bearing.

"Kamizuki Yu." Orochimaru's pupils narrowed slightly before he let out a low, hissing laugh. "So it's you, Advisor. Out for a stroll this late at night?"

He studied Kamizuki Yu, swiftly assessing him in his mind.

A young advisor—so what if he has some skill? What can he do to me?

He was one of the Legendary Three, with countless trump cards at his disposal.

"Waiting for you." Kamizuki Yu's reply was brief and direct.

"Waiting for me? Hehe, have you come to see me off?" Orochimaru extended his long tongue and licked his lips. "How touching. Such camaraderie between colleagues."

Before his words had faded, he flung out his hand.

[Hidden Shadow Snake Hands]!

Several savage venomous snakes shot from his sleeves, lunging straight for Kamizuki Yu's face.

They were followed by several kunai wrapped with explosive tags, sealing off every possible angle of escape.

He cast an A-rank ninjutsu with casual ease. He intended to end this quickly.

Kamizuki Yu's body swayed faintly as he moved like a phantom through the gaps between the snakes and kunai.

Those lethal attacks did not so much as touch the corner of his robe.

"Is this all you've got, Orochimaru?" His calm tone sounded utterly mocking to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru's expression darkened.

Such mastery of taijutsu?

"It seems I'll have to show you something real if I want you to obediently make way."

He formed hand seals and slammed both palms against the ground.

[Summoning Technique: Manda]!

"Boom!"

A massive cloud of smoke erupted, and a terrifying purple giant serpent coiled within the narrow alleyway, its scarlet eyes fixed on Kamizuki Yu.

Manda roared irritably, "Orochimaru! Another small fry? If you summon me again to deal with this kind of trash, I'll swallow you first!"

Orochimaru ignored Manda's complaint. A flash of cold light gleamed in his hand as the Kusanagi Sword slid from its sheath.

"Advisor Kamizuki, dying beneath my [Manda's Serpent Formation] will be your honor."

The sword's tip pointed directly at Kamizuki Yu. Manda's enormous body moved in tandem, and countless small venomous snakes poured from the gaps in its scales, joining Orochimaru's swordplay to form an inescapable net.

This was [Manda's Serpent Formation].

Faced with this near-certain death trap, Kamizuki Yu's expression remained calm.

The next moment, an overwhelming surge of natural energy erupted from his body, so vast it made one's breath catch.

Two long, narrow purple markings shaped like serpents quietly emerged around his eyes.

[Perfect White Snake Sage Mode], activated instantly!

Cold and powerful sage chakra swept through the entire area. Even the rainwater in the alley seemed frozen by that overwhelming aura.

Manda's furious hissing stopped abruptly. For the first time, fear appeared in its enormous snake eyes.

It sensed suppression from the depths of its bloodline.

"Sage Mode?!" Orochimaru blurted out, disbelief written all over his face. "How is that possible...?"

He had painstakingly researched it for years, even using himself as an experiment, yet he had failed to perfectly master this power. And this young man had achieved it so easily...

Kamizuki Yu did not give him more time to think.

He moved.

There were no hand seals, no flashy motions. He merely took a simple step forward.

Yet his figure vanished from where he stood.

Orochimaru's pupils shrank sharply. Relying on battle instinct, he raised the Kusanagi Sword horizontally before his chest.

"Clang!"

A crisp metallic collision rang out.

Kamizuki Yu had appeared before him at some unknown moment, casually pinching the sharp blade of the Kusanagi Sword between two fingers.

Under the enhancement of sage chakra, his physical strength far surpassed steel.

"This sword has been wasted in your hands."

His fingers tightened slightly.

"Crack."

Orochimaru's prized Kusanagi Sword was forcibly snapped apart!

No—it had not simply been broken. Kamizuki Yu seized half the blade and swung it backhandedly!

"Slash!"

A fountain of blood burst from Manda's enormous head.

Using the broken Kusanagi Sword blade he had taken, Kamizuki Yu effortlessly sliced off nearly half of that vicious serpent head.

Manda let out an agonized wail. Part of its gigantic body crashed down, crushing the surrounding houses.

It was badly wounded, but not fatally so.

Kamizuki Yu had held back. After all, the snakes of Dragon Cave might still prove useful in the future.

Orochimaru staggered backward, clutching the broken hilt as all color drained from his face.

Horror!

Unprecedented horror!

The other man's strength completely exceeded the bounds of his understanding.

This was not power an advisor of Hidden Leaf should possess. This was simply... a monster!

I have to escape!

That was the only thought left in his mind.

[Living Corpse Reincarnation]!

As long as his soul remained intact, he could rise again!

He would find a new vessel, lie low, and then...

Just as he prepared to activate his secret soul technique—

A subtle change came over Kamizuki Yu's calm eyes.

His left eye became an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, its sinister pattern slowly rotating.

Pale purple ripples spread through his right eye, and the embryonic form of a Rinnegan emerged!

An irresistible spiritual pressure and ocular power instantly enveloped Orochimaru.

He felt as though countless invisible chains had bound his soul. The activation of [Living Corpse Reincarnation] came to an unprecedented standstill!

How is this possible?!

His secret soul technique had never failed!

"You want to leave?" Kamizuki Yu's voice seemed to rise from the depths of hell. "Did I permit it?"

Sage chakra surged again as he lightly pushed off from the ground.

The earth cracked.

In the next instant, he shot toward Orochimaru like a cannonball.

He used no ninjutsu, only taijutsu empowered by sage chakra.

One punch.

Simple, direct, brutal.

Orochimaru tried to disperse the force with [Soft-Body Modification], tried to evade with a snake substitution.

But a peculiar repulsive force clung to Kamizuki Yu's fist.

That was the Rinnegan's [Almighty Push]—a basic application.

All of Orochimaru's defensive methods and substitution techniques were as fragile as paper before that absolute power.

"Bang!"

A dull impact echoed out.

Orochimaru's body flew away like a kite with its strings cut, smashing through several walls before being driven into the ground by that single punch.

Smoke and dust filled the air.

Kamizuki Yu slowly withdrew his fist, and the purple markings around his eyes faded away.

He walked to the edge of the crater and looked down.

Orochimaru lay at the bottom, with an unknown number of bones broken. Blood seeped from all seven of his facial openings, and his chakra was in complete disarray.

He struggled to open his eyes and looked at Kamizuki Yu standing above him. His gaze was filled with despair, resentment, and profound helplessness.

His prideful intelligence, strength, and forbidden techniques had all proven so utterly insignificant before this man.

"Wh... why..." he forced out with his last remaining strength.

He could not understand when Hidden Leaf had gained such an unfathomable existence.

Kamizuki Yu did not answer.

Some things required no explanation.

He merely looked at Orochimaru calmly, as though he were observing an experimental subject about to be reclaimed.

Orochimaru sensed the absolute control hidden beneath that calmness, and an icy chill rose within him.

He had lost.

Completely and utterly.

A measure of quiet returned to the alley, leaving only the sound of rain and Manda's faint, mournful cries.

Kamizuki Yu turned around, preparing to deal with what came next.