As his Observation Haki swept out, Shihōin Naraku suddenly slashed down, cutting Orochimaru, who had emerged from the streets on either side, in half. Flames spread over him and instantly set him ablaze.
But clearly, this was not Orochimaru's real body. What the flames burned to ash was merely a shed snakeskin.
"This guy really is exactly like a snake."
Shihōin Naraku really disliked the sight of snakes packed together. They could not hurt him, but the problem was that they were too disgusting.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
Another Orochimaru appeared, throwing a shuriken at Shihōin Naraku while rapidly forming hand seals.
Dense masses of shuriken instantly filled the sky. Countless hidden weapons, as numerous as raindrops, wove together in midair into a deadly net that descended over Shihōin Naraku.
Shihōin Naraku looked up. Tens of thousands of shuriken rapidly closed in!
"Clang, clang, clang..."
Slashing, sweeping, thrusting, twisting, flicking, cleaving...
In Shihōin Naraku's hand, Kurikara became a dancing black dragon, instantly shredding the net formed by countless hidden weapons.
"Clink, clank..."
The destroyed weapons fell around Shihōin Naraku, tracing a perfect circle!
Not a single weapon fell inside the circle, much less struck Shihōin Naraku.
Orochimaru, who had been preparing a sneak attack, abandoned any intention of fighting Shihōin Naraku at close range when he saw this.
That soul-wounding blade was already troublesome enough. With Shihōin Naraku's swordsmanship added to the mix, if Orochimaru dared approach again, Naraku might very well turn him straight into snake stew.
But if he stayed away, figuring out how to defeat his opponent also gave Orochimaru a headache.
Impure World Reincarnation was countered, that blade could injure souls, and, for some unknown reason, the snakes he summoned did not dare hurt Shihōin Naraku.
For the moment, Orochimaru really could not