The Terror of Kage-Level Strength

"We have to report all this to Lord Hokage immediately. This guy..."

Kakashi's gaze wavered constantly. Even an elite jonin like him found it hard to suppress the terror and lingering fear in his heart when faced with something this horrifying.

What kind of cruel methods had it taken to turn his own people into this?

He prided himself on having a heart as hard as steel, one that could withstand an enemy's brutal torture. But compared to him, Orochimaru's viciousness was likely far beyond theirs. After all, this man had once served as an officer in Konoha's interrogation division.

Gulp. Everyone could hear each other swallowing. The air was thick with a cloying, nauseating stench of blood. Oda Misuzu could no longer hold it in and bent over at the side, vomiting bile.

"Glare!"

Something suddenly emerged from the darkness beside them. Everyone's pupils contracted slightly, especially Itachi, whose Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared at once.

"Welcome to my Snake Cave. This is where I grew up, my delicate little Konoha companions."

An exceedingly effeminate voice arose from the darkness. Long black hair hung down like a woman's, golden vertical pupils gleamed beneath purple markings that stretched to his nose, and his pale skin looked as though he had just crawled out of a pile of corpses. Blue-green tomoe-shaped earrings hung from his ears.

One look was enough to make him seem sinister, like the cold menace of being watched by a python.

Though the Anbu outnumbered him, they all felt a suffocating pressure in that instant.

"Orochimaru, do you know what you're doing?"

Kakashi gritted his teeth as he spoke, forcibly suppressing the palpitations that felt like a tiny snake crawling over his heart. As the leader of the Anbu squad, if he were the first to collapse in the face of a powerful enemy, the entire team's morale would fall apart.

Yet his back was already soaked in cold sweat. He had never expected that Orochimaru, who usually acted so flippantly even before Lord Hokage, would give off such overwhelming pressure when facing other powerful opponents.

"Of course I do. Don't you think it's beautiful? In my pursuit of life's mysteries, I've taken another step forward. So, are you here to congratulate me?"

Orochimaru slowly removed the bloodstained glove from his hand and tossed it aside. Madness and delight could be heard in his voice. Perhaps feeling that the blood at the corner of his mouth was inelegant, he actually used his absurdly long snake-like tongue to lick all around his face.

"That's disgusting!"

The muscular Chi spoke with disdain, but in the next second, Orochimaru's head burst from the earth beneath his feet. His twisting, snake-like neck wrapped around him in a deadly coil.

Chi wanted to turn around and counterattack, only to discover that his entire body had become unable to move at some point. Even his neck could not turn an inch. It was a suffocating sensation.

The man's voice was right beside him, and he could vaguely feel hot breath against his face.

The next second, like an animal hunted by a python, Chi was bitten viciously on the neck by Orochimaru. Amid a crack, something snapped. His entire body was tightly constricted by that snake-like neck, while the giant man's legs twitched and spasmed continuously like the cries of something on the verge of death.

With just one move, a fighter nearly at jonin level had already been subdued.

So overwhelmingly strong!

"Is this all you're capable of? The Anbu these days really disappoint me."

"Don't get cocky!"

Hearing the provocation, Kakashi forced himself to bark back.

But such a bizarre method of attack was something even he, despite his countless battles, had no idea how to deal with.

The slightest misstep could strike his own teammate.

"Oh, Kakashi, Itachi Uchiha. So you're here too. Bloodline Limit eyes... it's been a long time since I've seen them."

His voice carried a sinister hissing sound, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue.

Though the man's body was over there, Orochimaru's head had appeared dozens of meters away as if he were Xing Tian, connected only by that stretched neck.

Kakashi had just been about to act when hearing his name called made him stop.

No one wanted to be greeted in such a manner. Being targeted by a Kage-level powerhouse was a terrifying prospect.

After all, Kage-level figures possessed not only monstrous strength. Their extensive knowledge of jutsu, accumulated connections, and ability to make use of them were all indispensable.

They weren't acknowledged because they became Kage level; they became Kage level because their abilities had been acknowledged!

According to the records, this man had completed 118 S-rank missions. That was probably equivalent to the workload of their entire Anbu force combined.

"Let him go. We can still talk. What you've done here is indeed unforgivable, but perhaps the Third Hokage may show leniency and grant you bail. Don't act rashly, or Lord Third will never forgive you."

Itachi shouted from the side. He sounded as if he were advising him, but he was actually fanning the flames.

Sure enough, after hearing that shout—

It seemed to touch some forbidden scale. Orochimaru's head spat out a new body, white saliva dripping continuously onto the ground. Then a pale man in a white robe stood before them, a purple shimenawa rope tied around his waist. He stood easily atop the original long-necked head, looking down on them with utter contempt.

With his keen senses, he could vaguely tell that the only one truly worth being wary of was the brat called Itachi Uchiha.

But no matter how exceptional the other party was, how skilled could a mere brat possibly be?

Could it have been his imagination?

The recent experiments must have exhausted him and made him overly sensitive.

The only thing he needed to worry about was how to take away those Sharingan with experimental value. Konoha was truly considerate, sending him such a splendid gift.

"My experiment is nearly complete anyway, and this place has little use left. It wouldn't be impossible to use you for experiments. As for you, brat, trying to use that old man, the Third Hokage, to pressure me is far too wishful."

Sure enough, anger appeared on Orochimaru's face. When he was enraged, even the lords trembled.

[Hidden Shadow Snake Limbs]

In an instant, several snakes shot out from Orochimaru's sleeves to ambush their opponents. The snakes would bite or constrict their enemies. This sudden activation required no hand signs, and the lightning-fast attack left everyone aghast.