Didn't Your Mother Teach You? (Seeking Collection, Recommendations, Monthly Votes)

Mount Nagao.

Ninja Art: Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!

Lord Orochimaru didn't hold back from the start, appearing directly as a torrent of snakes erupted wildly from his sleeves.

"Earth Style! Earth Flow River!"

Seeing this, the Iwa-nin side immediately released an Earth Style ninjutsu under their Squad Leader Ninja's command.

With a rumble, countless snakes were buried under churning earth, a series of dull thuds dying out in the river of soil.

"It's Orochimaru of the Sannin!"

Spotting the snakes, the ambushing Iwa-nin's faces turned grim. They hadn't expected Konoha to send him—it was a message to Iwagakure.

The war: Konoha is ready.

"Don't panic! No matter how strong, he's still human! Lucky for us, we prepared well enough. This time, we'll make Konoha pay dearly!"

Boom!

The ground of Mount Nagao split open, and dozens of ninjas leaped up from the cracked earth, all wearing Iwagakure forehead protectors—clearly their elite forces.

"Damn! So many Iwa-nin, Tokuha, didn't your Byakugan catch this?"

Seeing this, the Konoha ninjas' faces twisted in shock.

Hyuga Tokuha, in charge of reconnaissance, also paled. His Byakugan was unmatched for scouting, but he never expected the Iwa-nin to hide deep underground, cleverly evading his detection range.

"Everyone, kill!"

The Iwa-nin emerging from below bared vicious grins.

To reap a bigger harvest, they'd deliberately left traces on Mount Nagao, aiming not just to wipe out the outpost's defenders but to swallow all of Konoha's reinforcements in one go.

Iwagakure had put immense thought into this ambush.

A gleam of cunning flickered in Orochimaru's cold snake eyes.

Meanwhile.

Mitsui Hiyori came to Orochimaru's side and said in a low voice, "Lord Orochimaru, Tori Mori Outpost is under attack. They probably can't hold out. Should we..."

He glanced at the Iwa-nin side. The gap in numbers was too stark; forcing a fight now was clearly unwise.

And this was obviously a premeditated trap by the Iwa-nin. The situation at Tori Mori Outpost was likely dire.

The Iwa-nin only needed to send one Jonin to kill off the few left behind.

Orochimaru's face turned cold, but he curled his lips instead. "It's too late to go back. Rather than saving them, it's better to annihilate the Iwa-nin here. That way, they die meaningfully."

Mitsui Hiyori froze, a chill rising in his heart.

He understood the deeper meaning in Orochimaru's words.

Three Genin and a Chunin in exchange for a group of elite enemy ninjas.

Not a loss!

As he spoke, Orochimaru's mind flashed to Qifeng's simple face.

Last time in the Land of Hot Water, when Kaguya Senjin, the Kirigakure Jonin, vanished without a trace, and Qifeng survived intact, Orochimaru had taken note of that little Corpse Collector.

This time, I wonder if you'll make it?

Since Orochimaru showed no sign of retreat, the Konoha ninjas could only grit their teeth and charge.

Orochimaru didn't stop them.

He just licked his lips.

The ninja world's impression of him was still stuck in the Second Great Ninja War, when the Sannin survived together against Hanzo of the Salamander, the "Demi-God."

They never considered how much he'd changed over the years with his talent.

Biting his finger, he formed hand seals and slapped the ground.

"Summoning Ninjutsu!"

Boom!

As the massive smoke cleared, a colossal creature covered in purple scales appeared on Mount Nagao.

Manda!

Mount Nagao, already small, was practically dwarfed by Manda's size.

Orochimaru leaped up, landing on Manda's head.

"Orochimaru! Did you bring enough sacrifices?" Manda showed no fear of Orochimaru, arrogantly demanding tribute before the fight even began.

"Heh." Orochimaru just smiled.

Tori Mori Outpost.

Qifeng knelt on one knee, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, his Sharingan fixed on the Iwa Jonin standing opposite him, Tsuchi.

Tsuchi raised an eyebrow, glancing at him with mild surprise. "Kid, not bad physically."

In his view, brats like Qifeng from Konoha were nothing—one punch would be enough to deal with them, just like the two Konoha ninja he'd taken out outside earlier.

He just hadn't expected that after eating several of his punches, the kid only coughed up some blood.

Qifeng silently licked his gums, spat out a mouthful of blood, and slowly pushed himself up from his knees, his muscles aching unbearably.

But his bones showed no sign of cracking or breaking.

He bared his bloodstained teeth, forcing a grin. "You're way off from the Kumo-nin jonin."

The grudge between Iwagakure and Kumogakure dated back to the Second Great Ninja War, when the Kumo-nin had launched a sneak attack deep into the Land of Earth.

Hearing himself compared to those lumpy freaks from Kumogakure only stoked Tsuchi's rage further.

He glanced down at the Konoha ninja corpses Qifeng had neatly arranged on the ground, then suddenly sneered. "A pile of bodies—why bother making them look pretty? It's pissing me off!"

He lifted his foot.

Bam!

A Chunin's head burst like a watermelon, splattering into a blur of blood and brain. Tsuchi's foot ground down on the Konoha forehead protector, his toe twisting.

The Konoha emblem warped and screeched under the pressure, letting out an ugly creak-creak sound.

Seeing this, Qifeng's face darkened instantly.

Tsuchi caught the shift in Qifeng's expression, let out a snicker, and said nothing as he moved his foot toward another Chunin's head.

Corpses he hadn't even touched yet!

"Did your mother never teach you—" Qifeng's mouth opened, a hoarse voice crawling out.

"Huh?" Tsuchi froze.

The next second, Qifeng's figure vanished without a trace.

Tsuchi's pupils shrank, and he instinctively raised his arm.

Schlick!

A sharp, pale white bone pierced straight through Tsuchi's muscular arm, stopping just short of his chest. If he hadn't reacted fast enough and coated his arm with Earth Style Chakra, that thrust would've skewered him clean through.

But that wasn't what bothered him. What bothered him was the ghastly sight Qifeng had become.

Sharp, sturdy white bones jutted out from his chest, abdomen, and back.

Especially on his right hand—spiraling rings of bone coiled around it, forming an eerily sharp spear. That was what had pierced Tsuchi's arm.

Even the seasoned Iwa Jonin Tsuchi had no idea how to describe what he was seeing.

Qifeng's body was taut, like a giant bow pulled to its limit.

He pressed forward step by step, twisting the bone spear in his arm, forcing Tsuchi back against the wall until his body was pinned there, his center of gravity lifted, unable to fully leverage his strength.

"What the hell are you?!" Tsuchi gritted his teeth against the pain in his arm.

The Uchiha's Sharingan, the Kaguya Clan's lost Shikotsumyaku—how could two Kekkei Genkai be concentrated in a single Genin from Konoha?

Qifeng's cold, blood-red Sharingan stared at him without a trace of emotion, and he simply said:

"Did your mother never teach you—don't you fucking touch other people's corpses?"