"Didn't Konoha's Technical Department prepare a contingency plan for this?" Naruto asked quietly into the headset.
"No. Tsunade's Medical Team is on its way, but with something on this scale..." Deer Shadow's voice was filled with helplessness as well. "It'll take at least three days to prepare a drug that can alleviate it. And this looks like some kind of irreversible..."
Just then.
A chill wind suddenly swept through the street thick with the smell of blood.
With the wind, countless white snakes crawled out from the sewers and shadows. They did not attack the Resistance Army. Instead, they precisely coiled around every one of the "Smilers."
"Although the technique is crude enough to make one laugh, this really is Kabuto's masterpiece."
A hoarse, magnetic voice came from the highest tower of the Daimyō's Palace.
Everyone's eyes converged on the tower's peak.
A long-haired man in a light-purple kimono stood there. His skin was pale as paper, and his golden, vertical pupils held the amusement of someone examining a white mouse.
Orochimaru.
The moment the rogue ninja who had initiated the "Konoha Crush Plan" and was one of the Sannin appeared, Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi instinctively assumed battle stances.
"Orochimaru?! What are you doing here?!" Asuma shouted sharply.
Orochimaru ignored them. Instead, he extended his long tongue, wrapped it around a wisp of purple-black mist floating in the air, and lightly "tasted" it.
"Truly... lacking in beauty."
He wrinkled his nose in distaste. "That fool Kabuto actually poured high-dimensional Chaos energy into these mortals' brains as if he were dumping slop. This isn't merely Pollution. It's a waste of materials."
As his voice fell, the white snakes coiled around the civilians suddenly began to glow with a ghostly blue chakra.
"Sealing Art: Five Elements Reversal."
Orochimaru formed a hand