The Orochimaru Mangekyō Sharingan, who met its gaze, was stunned for a moment. Even the attack of the Impure World Reincarnation Third Kazekage lost its target. He stood there blankly, letting the black Iron Sand scatter all over the ground.
Orochimaru, trapped in the Genjutsu, appeared dazed, muttering to himself, his face occasionally showing expressions of terror and horror, clearly unable to extricate himself from the Genjutsu.
However, Uchiha Itachi failed to seize this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. He cast the fifth layer of Genjutsu again, ensuring that Orochimaru would not be able to break the Genjutsu in a short time. Then, Uchiha Itachi rubbed his slightly sore eyes and turned his gaze to another battlefield.
The Senju Clan, having awakened Wood Release, are absolutely Konoha's hope for a future resurgence; they must not be allowed to perish here.
Since the night of the Uchiha clan massacre, Uchiha Itachi's eyes, which had lost their color, regained some brightness, and a new goal appeared in Uchiha Itachi's heart.
slap slap slap
The crisp applause echoed in the silent night, sounding quite abrupt. Uchiha Itachi's alertness instantly spiked, but the black Iron Sand scattered nearby had already quietly condensed into sharp Senbon, which, along with the applause, pierced towards the nearly unsuspecting Uchiha Itachi.
Pfft~
The sound of a sharp weapon piercing flesh rang out, and several holes appeared in the black and red auspicious cloud robe. The bright red blood made the red auspicious clouds on the robe even more vivid.
Uchiha Itachi, clutching his badly injured left arm, quickly retreated to create distance. The Third Kazekage did not choose to pursue him at close range, giving Uchiha Itachi a brief opportunity to re-observe the battlefield.
Orochimaru was still trapped in the Genjutsu and could not extricate himself, but the Third Kazekage had regained his mobility. The black Iron Sand scattered on the ground had condensed into various weapons, and the huge triangular structure made of Iron Sand that floated in mid-air was even more intimidating.
But from the direction from which the applause came, another Orochimaru stepped out!
Uchiha Itachi was startled. Perhaps the one appearing now was the real Orochimaru. Then who was the other Orochimaru?
It wasn't a clone, nor Genjutsu, nor a clumsy Transformation Technique. Could it be...?
Orochimaru walked to the side of the ' Orochimaru ' who was trapped in the Genjutsu, pinched a corner behind ' Orochimaru ''s ear, and then tore it off forcefully. The entire face was violently peeled off, and under the human skin mask, the ninja who was trapped in the Genjutsu was none other than Orochimaru's assistant, Kabuto Yakushi.
" The Vanishing Facial Copy Technique."
Uchiha Itachi spoke in a chilling tone about the Ninjutsu Orochimaru used. It was a Ninjutsu that few people in Konoha practiced. The difficulty of mastering the Ninjutsu was not high, but the Vanishing Facial Copy Technique required peeling off the face of a living person bit by bit while they were still alive. Moreover, it did not last long, at most three days, after which the peeled face would begin to slowly dissolve.
Although it is unknown how Orochimaru altered his appearance, it is undoubtedly Vanishing Facial Copy Technique.
"As expected of Itachi, he recognized this Ninjutsu at a glance. But you've already used up the Genjutsu you set up beforehand. What are you going to do next?"
The moment the words left his mouth, the Third Kazekage, whose arms had transformed into two enormous steel swords, charged forward, unleashing countless Kunai, Shuriken, Senbon, pressing down on the lone Uchiha Itachi with unstoppable force.
The torrential rain created by the Cutting Technique gradually subsided, and a beautiful, mythical crystal dragon emerged from the cumulus clouds. Naoki Senju leaped down from the top of the crystal dragon's head, doing a 270-degree forward somersault. It would have been perfect if there had been a pile of hay on the ground, but unfortunately, there was only a Kakuzu in a rage below.
"Be careful..." Guren's soft warning was drowned out by the howling wind.
Before Naoki Senju even landed, a ball of scorching flame shot into the sky.
Fire Style: Searing Migraine.
" Wind Release: Pressure Damage."
"Combined Ninja Art: Flaming Wind Chaos."
After using the composite Ninjutsu on the sky, Kakuzu was still not satisfied. Since obtaining the Earth Grudge Fear secret technique, he never thought that one day he would lose two Earth Grudge Fear Clone without even seeing the enemy, and with such low-level and clumsy methods as Explosive Tag and high-altitude throwing.
" Water Release: Water Severing Wave."
The sharp stream of water cleaved the towering flames in two, clearing the sky. The terrifying flames were reduced to scattered small flames, which slowly died out in the cold, high sky.
After destroying the composite Fire Style, the Water Release Ninjutsu changed form, condensing in Naoki Senju's right hand, and using the speed of falling from the sky, it rushed towards the black dot on the ground with unstoppable force.
But this scene stirred up Kakuzu's hidden fears...
At that time, he had just wiped out those useless high-ranking officials of Takigakure and stolen the secret technique ' Earth Grudge Fear ' that no one in Takigakure had mastered, becoming a missing-nin wandering between countries.
Just when he was feeling lost, two ninjas from the Kumogakure in the Land of Lightning found him and promised to give him the identity of Kumogakure ninja, but in return, he would have to serve them.
He agreed without hesitation, and after completing several tasks, he gathered five hearts of different attributes and painstakingly mastered the Earth Grudge Fear Technique. However, the next task nearly cost him his life...
The mission was titled... Pursuing Konoha Ninja.
The terrifying Water Release, the endless stream of secret arts, the terrifying speed that left no time to react, and the corpses scattered all over the ground—after all four Earth Grudge Fear had died, he saw one of the two Kumogakure being cut in half by a single Water Release Ninjutsu.
Then the evil and terrifying Nine-Tails Chakra erupted completely...
What followed was the news of the Second Hokage's death spreading throughout the Shinobi World. It was then that he learned that the two Kumogakure were named Kinkaku and Ginkaku, two of the high-ranking members of the Kumogakure. The ninja who killed Ginkaku and destroyed four of his Earth Grudge Fear bodies, bringing him to the brink of death, was none other than the Second Hokage.
And today, that terrifying Water Release Ninjutsu reappeared. I vaguely remember that this Water Release Ninjutsu was called...
" Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade."
After a freefall from hundreds of meters in the air, the water that Naoki Senju was swirling rapidly around his right hand formed a massive waterspout the instant it touched Kakuzu. As the Chakra output increased, the waterspout expanded again, engulfing the two Earth Grudge Fear that couldn't dodge in time.
One of the few S-rank Water Release Ninjutsu Ninjutsu, a forbidden Water Release recorded at the very end of the list of forbidden techniques, Water Release ultimate technique that no one except the Second Hokage has mastered, has reappeared after many years.
The rapidly spinning water flow continuously Kakuzu through the bodies of Kakuzu and Earth Grudge Fear, leaving gruesome wounds. Their left arms were almost completely severed, with only some black threads connecting them.
But Kakuzu is indeed a powerful figure who has survived the chaotic Warring States period, the First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, and the Third Shinobi World War to this day.
Even amidst the waterspout, he refused to give up, gathering the remaining wind and fire attribute Earth Grudge Fear into his body, and concentrating his Chakra Hand Seals:
" Earth Release: Multiple Hardening Technique."
During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Ginkaku was on the same battlefield as Kakuzu and Kinkaku. Upon seeing Kinkaku's Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak, he remarked, "It's like this again. It seems Ginkaku has already been killed."
It's been a long time, so there might be some discrepancies, but that's the general idea.
The outcome of the initial pursuit was that the Second Hokage killed Ginkaku and severely injured Kinkaku. It's quite reasonable that Kinkaku would unleash the Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak in a fit of rage after Ginkaku's death.
Kakuzu was missing-nin at the time, so the most likely way he could have witnessed this battle was by joining the elite forces of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. Furthermore, Kinkaku and Ginkaku pursued the Second Hokage after assassinating the Second Raikage, yet their elite forces did not defect. Therefore, either these people were traitors, or they were all missing-nin from other villages, or perhaps a combination of both.