Encounter in the Land of Rain, Greedy Orochimaru

The forest was dim and murky, washed by torrential rain. Moisture hung heavily between the leaves and muddy water, forming a thick mist.

The cold, pale venomous snake coiled around Ye's left ankle was rapidly tightening, its tail rubbing against his clothes with a faint, wet hiss. Through the fabric, he could feel the icy touch of a cold-blooded reptile against his skin.

The surface of a massive fir tree ten meters away from Ye suddenly softened, rippling in an eerie manner.

A human figure emerged from the center of the soaked trunk without seeming the least bit abrupt.

His pale skin had clearly not seen sunlight for years. Long black hair hung loosely against both sides of his face, while dark purple eyeshadow made his golden vertical pupils appear cruel and crazed. His loose robe fluttered in the downpour, and a chilling aura surrounded him.

Orochimaru. One of the legendary Three Sannin, a rogue ninja who had long betrayed Konoha and was wanted at the highest level by every major nation.

Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils swept over Ye from head to toe, locking firmly onto the young yet powerfully proportioned frame before him.

"Konoha's rotten walls... to think they could produce such a lively specimen. That black hair... and those eyes. An Uchiha brat, running alone to the Land of Rain in the middle of the night. Are you fleeing, or are you... specially delivering yourself to me?"

He would never take a lone young Chunin seriously. To Orochimaru, who desperately craved the Sharingan, this was an utterly perfect vessel for reincarnation.

Ye did not retreat even half a step beneath that overwhelming killing intent, even as the white snake around his ankle bared its fangs and tried to bite through his pant leg.

The mechanical prompt sounded without the slightest delay, transmitting directly into Ye's mind at that instant.

"Ding. The host has encountered Orochimaru. System reward options activated."

"Option One: Lower your head, offer your Sharingan to Orochimaru, and beg to be taken in as his subordinate. Reward: the core medical technique, Chakra Scalpel."

"Option Two: Use the exclusive intelligence that Konoha's upper ranks are plotting to wipe out Akatsuki as leverage and demand a ceasefire. Reward: B-rank Wind Release breakthrough."

"Option Three: Refuse all conversation and defeat him through pure physical force, bringing a tremendous shock to this arrogant Sannin. Reward: Susanoo's initial form, Sage Mode Chakra Enhancement Refinement Method, and a mastery gift pack of B-rank ninjutsu scrolls from all elements."

"Option Three."

The system's confirmation flashed back instantly. A massive amount of hand-sign logic and neural reflex chains for ninjutsu flooded into his mind, accompanied by the rapidly condensing power of Yin–Yang Release within his eye sockets.

Orochimaru launched his attack at that very moment, just as the reward finished merging.

"Don't struggle... Just obediently become my... new body."

Orochimaru's face was filled with fanaticism. As he violently swung his long right sleeve, over a hundred brown-spotted venomous snakes formed from sinister chakra shot from its opening.

This was the B-rank ninjutsu, Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.

The snakes bared black fangs and opened their foul-smelling maws. They sealed off the space from every direction, streaking toward Ye's shoulder blades, chest, and eye sockets with piercing whistles.

Ye had no intention of using evasive taijutsu.

Facing the incoming swarm, he leaned forward slightly at the waist, his back bending to an extent that defied human anatomy. The life force and blood of the Senju Immortal Body erupted violently within him.

Ye drove his right foot down hard.

A huge muffled thud rang out beneath his foot.

The cold, pale venomous snake around his ankle did not even have time to make a sound. Its spinal nerves were crushed through by that stomp, and its body turned into a pile of mangled flesh on the ground.

Rather than retreat, Ye charged brutally into the very center of the snake swarm.

His arms cut through the air with rapid gusts, his bare hands reaching directly forward.

In an instant, both hands simultaneously locked around the necks of the two thickest giant snakes at the center of the swarm, thanks to his precise judgment and the immense strength of his Sage Body.

Veins bulged across his hands as the enormous force crushed the snakes' windpipes.

His arm muscles swelled as he pulled outward with both hands. Feeling the resistance of flesh in his grip, he violently tore them apart with a sharp ripping sound.

Bones, flesh, and fascia tore apart at once, and reeking scarlet snake blood sprayed through the rain.

The countless venomous snakes could not leave a single wound on Ye. Instead, the instant they came into contact with him, they were torn open by his bare hands. Their mangled bodies mixed with filthy blood and fell into the muddy puddles below, which were filled with rotten leaves.

Expressionless, Ye tossed aside the bloodied snake bones in his hands and let the rain wash away the remaining bloodstains.

"This is the stuff... you came up with in that rotten dungeon?"

Ye stood beside a broken fir tree, his voice dripping with mockery.

"Forget Kekkei Genkai. Every day, all you think about is turning into a snake... stealing other people's bodies. Instead of studying proper evolution of life, you insist on stuffing the rotten flesh of these cold-blooded animals into your veins. Disgusting."

"Orochimaru... your so-called research is laughable to the extreme before true evolution of life."

When Orochimaru saw the snake bodies he had cultivated being torn apart with bare hands, the fanatical smile on his face froze.

"No... This is absolutely impossible!"

Orochimaru sucked in a sharp breath, his vertical pupils fixed on the skin of Ye's arms.

During that exchange, several severed small snakes had scraped their fangs into the inside of Ye's forearm.

If it had been an ordinary Chunin, his entire right arm would already have turned black and gone rigid.

But Orochimaru saw with his own eyes that the blood flowing from those wounds on Ye's forearm automatically coagulated within moments.

Before the toxins could spread, the dark muscle fibers destroyed them with scorching vitality. The skin around the wounds healed perfectly in an instant, without even leaving behind a red mark.

"How can an ordinary Uchiha... possess a body like this?!"

Orochimaru's voice became shrill as he stepped forward twice, his expression filled with shock and uncertainty.

"That vitality inside your body... the kind that directly melts toxins away. You don't just have those eyes... What kind of monster did you plant into your own flesh?!"

The torrential rain was immense, blurring the entire forest.

The fallen fir had smashed into the ground, sending black soil splashing in every direction. Intense killing intent twisted the airflow around the rain as it passed through the clearing.

"If you want to see it... come over and do it yourself."

Ye did not take any defensive stance at all.

The smile on Orochimaru's face gradually turned crazed. The icy look in his eyes was completely drowned by greed as he licked his lower lip.

"Too perfect... far beyond imagination. That body of yours... is mine tonight!"

A white flash pierced the deep rainy night. The Kusanagi Sword shot from Orochimaru's mouth, aimed straight at Ye's heart.

Watching the blade draw near, two streams of dark red blood flowed from Ye's eyes. Yet a cold smile appeared on his face as his low voice rang out.

"Susanoo!"