Orochimaru's voice rang out softly, and as he spoke, a milky-white aura emanated from his entire body.
The next moment.
The White Phosphorus Snake's body began to shrink, pulling itself directly from those wooden hands and transforming into a human shape.
Araki's eyes flashed with a sharp light. He wouldn't give Orochimaru any chance to escape. Any underestimation of his opponent could lead to defeat, and the cost of defeat was something he couldn't afford, especially since his opponent was Orochimaru of Konoha Sannin.
" Wood Release: Silent Binding Technique!"
Araki quickly Hand Seals, then his right hand shot out and transformed into pieces of wood, rapidly wrapping around Orochimaru.
The wood is very thick.
It far surpasses the vines that appeared earlier.
These extremely resilient pieces of wood held Orochimaru's body firmly in place after he transformed back into human form.
In an instant.
Orochimaru has completely lost his fighting ability.
" Araki, is this how you treat your teacher?"
Orochimaru's face revealed a sly smile. Even after being completely bound by the wood, he showed no worry or fear whatsoever. His smile appeared extremely confident, as if everything was under his control, like he was testing Araki.
"I am very pleased that you were able to successfully transplant Hashirama Cells. Although I don't know how you did it, it seems that there was a mutual selection between you and the Hashirama Cells. As your teacher, I am sincerely happy for you to see that you have succeeded. You are really amazing!" Orochimaru did not hold back his praise, and his snake eyes sparkled with joy.
"I don't believe you!"
Araki's lips twitched violently. This snake was wicked, full of schemes and tricks. If he believed him, he probably wouldn't even know how he died.
However, at this point, Araki was somewhat troubled. He had run out of poison and only had some Explosive Tag left, but he didn't think the Explosive Tag were powerful enough to kill Orochimaru.
If Orochimaru were to dodge the Explosive Tag even slightly while using them, it could backfire and ultimately help Orochimaru escape.
Therefore, defeating Orochimaru using conventional methods would not be so easy; only Wood Release could be used. He then raised his left hand, which was still his own arm.
Suddenly, Araki's left hand transformed into thorns, which he thrust directly at Orochimaru in front of him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
These sharp thorns attacked Orochimaru directly, piercing Orochimaru body almost instantly, leaving holes in it, making him look like he had been riddled with sieves.
Thorns were incredibly fast, and with Orochimaru bound by the wood, he couldn't dodge them at all.
But...
After completing such an attack.
Araki showed absolutely no sign of happiness.
It was a very strange feeling. He could sense that all his attacks were directed at Orochimaru, but he didn't feel like he was being pierced through.
wrong!
Araki immediately realized that something was wrong.
"Hahahaha!"
Just then, Orochimaru, who was bound by the wood, suddenly burst into laughter. Then, he opened his mouth wide and spat out not a snake or a sword, but himself.
A Orochimaru, with an extremely soft and noodle-like body, bent and elongated in a strange way. Its pale face and cold, yellowish snake eyes reached directly towards Araki, rapidly closing the distance between Araki.
Just as he reached Araki, Orochimaru swiftly slashed down at Araki. His arm, which had been as soft as a noodle, suddenly hardened like iron, as if it would slice Araki in two with this chop.
"Really!"
Araki seemed to have expected this; he had long anticipated that Orochimaru wouldn't be so easily defeated. Even without Chakra, Orochimaru's strength was still astonishing, relying solely on Taijutsu.
Judging from the sheer force of this attack, it was far stronger than Might Duy at his peak. Of course, this doesn't take into account the bonus from opening the Eight Gates Released Formation.
Suddenly.
Araki suddenly controlled the wood in his right hand, pushing it far away, while his left hand continued to unleash thorns, aiming straight for Orochimaru's face.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
Orochimaru's hard arms, like steel, clanged against the wood and thorns with a series of sounds.
After this series of collisions, Orochimaru's forward momentum was halted, but he did not stop. Instead, he opened his mouth again and spat out an extremely terrifying snake head.
This is a snake that looks disgusting.
He opened his blood-red maw, revealing fangs that gleamed with a cold light, and his dim, yellowish snake eyes flashed with an eerie light as he lunged to bite at Araki.
The snake's head had a face similar to Orochimaru's, especially the eyeshadow around its eyes, which was exactly the same. It also had long, dark brown hair. The snake's body was made up of countless small snakes, each with eyes and an open mouth, making the scene extremely terrifying.
What kind of monster are you?
Araki's lips twitched slightly. Even though he was mentally prepared and knew that Orochimaru had many tricks up his sleeve and was very strong, he still felt a strong sense of unease when he saw this scene with his own eyes.
He certainly didn't want to get bitten by that disgusting snake head.
but.
Araki did not release Orochimaru's body.
Up to this point, Orochimaru's attacks are all based on his previous body. Even when he spits himself out snakes, he has never separated himself from the original Orochimaru.
This proves that Orochimaru, whom he captured, was the real Orochimaru.
Araki wasn't quite sure why Orochimaru's original body didn't react after being pierced by thorns, but he could tell from Orochimaru's actions that Orochimaru was now using the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique. The reason he hadn't abandoned his original body was because that was his original body.
Since that's the case.
Orochimaru cannot grow indefinitely.
Furthermore, he believed that Orochimaru had reached the limit of the Chakra he could use.
This judgment formed in Araki's mind in an instant. He immediately channeled his Chakra into his right hand's Wood Release, extending the wood again and pushing it forward rapidly. At the same time, he retreated even faster, trying to create a relatively safe distance between himself and Orochimaru.
Araki's approach was indeed very effective.
Orochimaru's charging snake head could no longer extend after reaching a certain distance, but its ferocious teeth could no longer bite Araki, and the two remained about a meter apart.
Can you go any longer?
Araki stared at Orochimaru. He had now hardened the wood in his right hand, transforming it from its original resilient state to its current hard state. This had an obvious advantage: it directly increased the distance between him and Orochimaru's body, which he had trapped.
Suddenly.
Just as Araki finished speaking...
Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth, a cold glint flashing within, and a sharp longsword shot directly toward Araki's chest.
The two were very close together.
The longsword was much faster than the snake's head.
In the blink of an eye, they were already in front of Araki, with no way to dodge. They could only slightly avoid being stabbed in vital areas.
Pfft!
Suddenly.
The longsword pierced right through Araki's chest, avoiding his heart, but its sharp point still managed to penetrate his body, the blood-red tip emerging from his back.
Suddenly, a sharp, deep pain surged into Araki's heart, causing Araki face to turn deathly pale and large beads of sweat to appear on his forehead.
" Kusanagi Sword!"
Araki's expression changed slightly. He had indeed overlooked the sword's presence, mainly because Orochimaru had already used the Kusanagi Sword before, but he hadn't expected him to take it out again.
Hahahaha!
Orochimaru's terrifying snake head witnessed this scene and burst into laughter. After laughing, the snake head opened, and an unharmed Orochimaru crawled out.
In the very next moment.
Orochimaru, who had been bound by the wood, turned into a limp snakeskin.
"This is the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique. You think you've caught my true form? That's impossible. You'll never catch my true form!"
After Orochimaru jumped out of the snake's mouth, he looked completely different. He had faint Chakra fluctuations around him, which was definitely a huge difference from his normal state, but he was definitely not in the state where he was completely unable to use Ninjutsu.
In a short period of time, Orochimaru was recovering at an astonishing speed, and the confident smile on his face looked so bewitching.
Suddenly, Orochimaru raised his left hand, which immediately transformed into a python and coiled around Araki's body, trapping Araki instead.
"Now the roles of prey and hunter have been reversed."
Orochimaru revealed a wicked smile. The python he held tightly bound Araki, preventing Araki from raising his hands and thus from Hand Seals and releasing Ninjutsu. As the python tightened its grip, blood flowed from Araki's sword wound, staining his clothes red.
" Araki, do you know how much I hate to hurt you? Every drop of your blood is so precious, but I have no choice but to do it. You, as my disciple, are such a worry, so disobedient. I have no choice but to force you."
Orochimaru walked step by step to Araki, his left hand transforming into a python, binding Araki, while his right hand pointed at Araki's Kusanagi Sword.
"You're medical-nin, you should know very well that if I pull this sword out now, you'll bleed to death!"
"But don't worry, I won't do that. I still need to study you carefully!"
"But..."
"Honestly!"
"You've really shown me the charm of Wood Release Ninjutsu!"
"I can't wait to start researching it!"
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with an insatiable greed. By now, he was convinced he had turned the tables. After all, he possessed the strength of one of Konoha Sannin. By binding a Genin with Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, he had already ended the battle, even if that Genin could use Wood Release.
"How did you do that?" Araki asked, puzzled.
"What are you referring to?" Orochimaru smiled and stared at Araki, saying, "I don't mind answering my disciple's questions."
"Have you been hiding your true form inside your body all this time?" Araki was genuinely puzzled. If that were the case, how troublesome would it be to fight? He had just confirmed that it was Orochimaru's true form, but now that the true form was standing right in front of him, he felt a strong sense of bewilderment.
"This is the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique!"
Orochimaru's voice carried an air of arrogance, followed by a face full of pride as he said, "This is my self-created Substitution Technique. I've pushed the originally impractical Substitution Technique to its limit, thus granting it a degree of immortality."
"Actually, it doesn't matter if I tell you, even if you know what's going on, you still can't break my Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique!"
"Because I can now be both a substitute and my true self, and I can switch between the two freely, so when I fought you, I was my true self, and what you just bound was also my true self!"
Are you very confused?
"Because snakes can shed their skin!"