In the Land of Snow, thousands of miles away.
Inside a luxurious bedroom in the daimyo's residence.
Uchiha Xin sat at the bedside, planning to tease Kazahana Koyuki, who had just been crowned and changed into casual clothes.
His hand had only just settled on Koyuki's waist.
Xin's brows suddenly drew tightly together.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan automatically appeared in his right eye, its five-pointed star pattern turning slightly.
He clearly sensed that the Amaterasu mark he had left on Orochimaru had been triggered.
This was a contingency he had secretly planted during their deal in the Forest of Death.
He had set the triggering conditions long ago.
If Orochimaru made a killing move against the Third Hokage, or the Third Hokage forcibly used the Reaper Death Seal.
Amaterasu would erupt instantly.
All of this was to guard against that cunning viper Orochimaru going back on his word.
Xin's gaze turned cold.
You were quick to run.
Xin snorted inwardly.
He withdrew his hand and rose from the bedside.
"I have something to take care of."
Xin turned toward Koyuki, his tone immediately becoming serious.
Confusion filled Koyuki's face, and she stood up after him to ask.
"What happened?"
"I need to go back to Konoha."
Xin answered simply.
When Koyuki learned he was leaving, the blush instantly drained from her face.
Melancholy and reluctance took its place.
She clutched the hem of Xin's clothes tightly and looked at him with worry.
"Will you come back?"
Koyuki's voice was soft, carrying the vulnerability of someone afraid of losing him.
Xin reached out and ruffled Koyuki's hair.
"Don't worry."
Xin gave her his promise.
"I'll be right back."
Before his words had faded, Xin activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Space warped.
His figure instantly vanished from the room without a trace.
Koyuki stood there blankly, her hand still held in a gripping position.
She gazed toward where Xin had disappeared, her heart full of unease.
She was the only one left in the empty room.
Koyuki couldn't help sighing softly, worried that he would take too long to return, and even more afraid that he would never return at all.
Deep in the dense forest outside Konoha, the shadows of trees swayed.
Orochimaru led the Sound Four swiftly through the forest, retreating in disarray.
Amaterasu's black flames had just burned through both his wrists. Although he had barely saved his life with the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique, his expression was now extremely dark.
"Lord Orochimaru, are you all right?"
Tayuya followed at his side, asking with worry all over her face.
Orochimaru ignored her and simply kept sprinting with his head down.
Suddenly, Orochimaru stopped short, narrowed his eyes, and stared fixedly at a clearing ahead.
"What is it, Lord Orochimaru?"
Jirobo brought his massive body to a halt and followed Orochimaru's gaze in confusion.
Without warning, the air ahead began to distort.
A vortex of ripples spread through space.
With both hands in his trouser pockets, Uchiha Xin stepped out of the vortex from thin air, smiling as he casually blocked their path.
"Orochimaru, you're pretty quick on your feet."
Xin looked at Orochimaru with a smile, but his tone instantly became sharp.
"We had an agreement. You could do whatever you liked with the Konoha Crush Plan, but the old Third had to stay alive."
Xin's gaze turned cold, and an invisible killing intent spread.
"Yet you struck to kill, trying to murder the Third. Did you let my warning go in one ear and out the other?!"
Cold sweat seeped from Orochimaru's forehead, and alarm bells rang in his mind.
He knew all too well how terrifyingly powerful the boy before him was.
The Sound Four, however, knew nothing of Xin's capabilities.
Seeing a Konoha brat of around thirteen dare show Orochimaru such disrespect, they were immediately furious.
"Where did this suicidal Konoha brat come from?!"
Sakon stepped forward with a vicious grin, cracking his knuckles.
"You dare talk to Lord Orochimaru like that? You must be tired of living!"
Kidomaru also drew a kunai and chimed in disdainfully.
"Lord Orochimaru, let me teach this big-mouthed fool a lesson!"
Orochimaru's expression changed drastically, and he was just about to stop them.
"Shut up!"
Xin didn't even form hand seals. He merely swept a cold glance over them.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan in his right eye activated instantly.
The sharp five-pointed star pattern spun rapidly in his pupil.
Tsukuyomi: Illusion World activated.
Immense ocular power instantly pierced the mental spaces of the Sound Four.
Sakon and Kidomaru, who had been shouting a second ago, suddenly went rigid.
Tayuya and Jirobo also instantly stood motionless, as though immobilized by a spell.
Extreme terror instantly covered all four faces, their eyes widening.
Cold sweat rolled down their foreheads, and even their breathing nearly stopped.
Watching his four capable subordinates lose their ability to fight in an instant, Orochimaru felt a chill inside.
He secretly swallowed, forcibly suppressed his fear, and feigned submission.
"Shin-kun, you've misunderstood."
Orochimaru forced an ugly smile, trying to argue his way out.
"I didn't kill Teacher Sarutobi. He's still alive and well. I only wanted to teach him a lesson."
Orochimaru's eyes shifted as he tried to drive a wedge between Xin and the Third.
"Shin-kun, you're a survivor of the Uchiha Clan."
Orochimaru deliberately lowered his voice, his tone beguiling.
"The Third Hokage was one of those pulling the strings behind the Uchiha Clan Massacre."
"He tacitly permitted that slaughter. Why are you still risking your life to protect that hypocritical old man?"
Orochimaru stared into Xin's eyes, hoping to see anger and uncertainty.
"Are you finished?"
Xin coldly interrupted Orochimaru.
He looked at Orochimaru as though he were a mere clown.
"I need him alive. That's enough. It's not your place to sow discord here."
Orochimaru's face instantly turned livid.
As one of the legendary Sannin, when had he ever been treated with such contempt by some greenhorn?
After these repeated humiliations, Orochimaru was thoroughly enraged.
"Since you refuse to do this the easy way, don't blame me for being ruthless!"
Orochimaru bit his thumb, rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, and slammed them onto the ground.
"Summoning Technique!"
Boom!
A huge cloud of white smoke shot into the sky.
The earth trembled, and the surrounding trees were instantly snapped by the violent rush of air.
An enormous purple serpent thrust his head out of the white smoke.
Manda coiled in the forest, flicking his scarlet tongue and radiating a suffocating aura of ferocity.
"Orochimaru!"
Manda lowered his head, his slit pupils full of displeasure and irritation.
"You dare order me around whenever you please! This time, I want a hundred living sacrifices!"
Orochimaru pointed at Uchiha Xin ahead.
"Kill him, and you'll have your sacrifices."
Manda followed Orochimaru's finger and saw Xin standing on the ground.
"This Konoha brat wouldn't even fill a gap between my teeth!"
Manda let out a deafening, wild laugh, his tone full of disdain.
"Orochimaru, you're getting more useless with age. You even need to summon me to deal with a brat like this!"
Xin stood where he was, listening to Manda's mockery, his gaze turning utterly icy.
"A mere reptile dares yap in front of me."