Naruto continued walking forward, completely ignoring Orochimaru's shouted protests.
Even if Orochimaru screamed until his throat gave out, it wouldn't matter. Today, no matter what happened, Naruto intended to extract useful information from the snake Sannin's mouth. One way or another, Orochimaru would talk.
The only thing Naruto needed to be careful about was controlling his strength properly. The last time they'd fought, in the Forest of Death, he'd accidentally blown Orochimaru into paste. That had been messy and inconvenient, forcing the snake to body-swap and delaying everything.
Can't let that happen again, Naruto reminded himself. Need him intact enough to answer questions.
"Naruto-kun, if you come any closer, I'm going to lose my temper!" Orochimaru's voice rose higher, tinged with genuine desperation. "I'm being so reasonable here! I even offered to give you the Living Corpse Reincarnation technique! Why do you have to be so aggressive?"
His back pressed harder against the laboratory wall. The cockroach cage kept getting closer, those disgusting insects skittering over each other, their movements creating that awful rustling sound.
I'm being perfectly polite, Orochimaru thought with rising indignation. I'm offering cooperation, valuable techniques, diplomatic solutions. But does he listen? No! He just keeps advancing with those—those things!
Anger began to bubble up beneath the fear. Orochimaru's expression shifted, his usual composure cracking to reveal genuine fury underneath.
Naruto caught the change immediately. His smile widened with satisfaction.
Good. I knew it. I knew Orochimaru wouldn't be so easy to deal with. The sudden shift in demeanor confirmed Naruto's suspicions. All that talk about giving me techniques, about being reasonable, about cooperation—it was all manipulation. Deception. Within a single minute, he's already showing his true colors.
The lesson was clear: never trust a rogue ninja, especially one as infamous as Orochimaru.
"Oh, I see," Naruto said, his voice carrying mock revelation. "So we're going to fight after all. How fortunate that I didn't believe Orochimaru promises. All those offers, all that smooth talk—they were just tricks to deceive me, weren't they?"
The enlightened expression on Naruto's face was deliberately exaggerated, almost theatrical.
Hearing those words, Orochimaru felt something hot and bitter rise in his throat. This is too much. This brat is deliberately provoking me. Bullying me with my own phobia!
The injustice of it made his chest tight. His hands clenched into fists.
"Evil Snake Winding! Jagei Jubaku!"
The words burst from Orochimaru's mouth as his patience finally shattered. His hands moved in a blur, forming seals so quickly they were almost invisible. Years of practice meant he barely needed hand signs at all for his signature techniques.
A massive snake materialized from thin air, summoned through the space-time contract. Its body was easily three meters in diameter, scales gleaming wetly under the laboratory lights. The serpent's yellow eyes fixed on Naruto with predatory focus as it lunged forward, jaws opening wide enough to swallow a person whole.
Just knock him back, Orochimaru thought desperately. Get some distance. Get away from those cockroaches!
His internal monologue was almost a whimper. Using my greatest fear against me like this... it's shameful. Dishonorable. I feel injured just thinking about it!
Naruto watched the enormous snake rushing toward him and couldn't help but sneer. "So it's a fight you want, Orochimaru-senpai? Fine. Let's have a proper contest then."
With casual ease, Naruto tossed the cockroach cage backward over his shoulder. "Sasuke, catch!"
Sasuke's hand shot up, snatching the cage from the air with perfect precision. The moment his fingers closed around the wire mesh, he activated Flying Thunder God.
In a flash of yellow light, Sasuke vanished from the laboratory entirely.
He reappeared outside the cave system, standing on solid ground under open sky. The muffled sounds of the underground laboratory reached him even here, but at least he had fresh air and space to maneuver.
Smart move, Sasuke thought, setting the cockroach cage down carefully. Naruto's about to get bigger. Much bigger. When that happens, his destructive power becomes immense.
Sasuke had witnessed it before—Naruto's full Iron Body transformation. The way his body expanded from 1.7 meters to a towering 10-meter giant, muscles swelling to accommodate the massive increase in power. In that state, Naruto's every movement caused collateral damage. The very air displaced by his punches could knock people off their feet.
Orochimaru's laboratory wouldn't survive the next few minutes. Better to stay outside and avoid eating dust.
Besides, Sasuke reflected with cold pragmatism, my role here is just as a guide. The actual fighting? That's for Naruto, the muscle-bound monster.
Sure enough, barely three seconds after Sasuke's departure, a thunderous BOOM echoed from underground.
The earth trembled. Cracks spider-webbed across the ground. Then, with explosive force, the roof of the laboratory blew apart.
Debris fountained into the air—tiles, support beams, chunks of stone and earth. Through the cloud of dust and destruction, something massive emerged.
A severed snake head, easily two meters wide, flew through the newly created hole like a grotesque missile. It tumbled through the air, blood spraying from the stump of its neck, before crashing into the forest fifty meters away with bone-breaking impact.
Then Naruto's head rose through the opening.
But this wasn't the normal-sized Naruto. This was the transformed version, the Iron Body state that multiplied his already impressive size. His head alone was nearly a meter tall, blonde hair wild and spiked, blue eyes burning with battle lust.
His hands followed, each one large enough to palm a person's entire torso. Those massive hands gripped an enormous snake body—more than ten meters of thick, muscular serpent—like it weighed nothing at all.
Without hesitation, without mercy, Naruto swung.
CRASH!
The snake's body smashed through what remained of the laboratory roof. Tiles exploded into fragments. Support structures splintered like kindling. Dust billowed up in choking clouds.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
The destruction continued, rhythmic and devastating. Naruto used the snake like a demolition tool, swinging it in wide arcs that obliterated everything in its path. Walls crumbled. Ceilings collapsed. Storage units containing who-knows-what experimental materials shattered and spilled their contents.
From the wreckage, a figure shot into the open air with the fluid grace of long practice.
Orochimaru landed thirty meters away, touching down lightly despite the explosive exit. Two coffins floated behind him, suspended by some technique, following their master like obedient dogs.
His face was a study in barely controlled emotions—fury warring with pragmatic assessment, frustration fighting against calculated planning.
My laboratory, Orochimaru thought, watching years of work literally being smashed to pieces. All those samples. All those experiments. All that data. Gone.
The loss hurt. Physically hurt, like a knife between the ribs. This base had taken months to establish, had cost a fortune to equip and stock. The specimens alone represented irreplaceable research opportunities.
But Orochimaru forced himself to breathe deeply, to think strategically rather than emotionally.
It's all garbage, he told himself firmly. Compared to Naruto, everything else is worthless. Those samples, those experiments, that equipment—all of it is trash compared to the prize standing right there.
Naruto is the real treasure. If I can obtain him, capture him, study him, claim his body as my next vessel... then I can rebuild ten laboratories. A hundred. It won't matter.
The mental pep talk helped. Orochimaru's expression smoothed out, regaining some of its usual serpentine calm.
One minute later, the rumbling finally stopped.
Naruto dropped what remained of the snake—now thoroughly dead, its body broken in dozens of places. He surveyed his handiwork with satisfaction.
The laboratory was gone. Completely gone. What had been an underground complex carved into solid rock was now an open crater, exposed to sunlight, littered with rubble. Dust still hung in the air like fog.
"There," Naruto said, his voice deeper and more resonant in his transformed state. "Now there's plenty of room to fight properly. Won't be so constrained."
Hearing this casual assessment of his destroyed base, Orochimaru's mouth twitched.
He's right, though, the snake Sannin admitted internally. Combat between high-level shinobi requires space. Fighting always costs money—in destroyed property, in collateral damage, in resources consumed.
If I didn't have Oto Village's financial support, I couldn't afford to maintain my research at all. Since ancient times, scientific study has been expensive. The pursuit of knowledge requires funding, and lots of it.
The philosophical observation did nothing to ease the sting of loss, but at least it provided context.
After his moment of reflection, Naruto's attention shifted to Orochimaru himself. Those massive blue eyes locked onto the snake Sannin with predatory focus.
That's when Naruto noticed the two coffins floating behind Orochimaru. His gaze lingered on them for a moment, but he didn't seem particularly concerned.
Probably just corpses he dug up for study, Naruto assumed. The man's obsessed with dead bodies and forbidden techniques. Makes sense he'd keep coffins around.
But today's objective went beyond simple combat. Naruto needed information, needed to control his strength carefully to keep Orochimaru conscious and capable of talking.
With that goal in mind, Naruto stepped forward, his massive foot creating a crater in the ground. Then he charged, closing the distance with terrifying speed despite his size.
Orochimaru's voice cut through the air, low but clear. His hands moved through hand seals with practiced precision, each gesture flowing into the next without wasted motion.
The seals formed a sequence Sasuke recognized from his studies—a high-level technique, something that required both skill and preparation.
In an instant, Orochimaru's hands clapped together. "Kai!"
The two coffins behind him reacted immediately.
THUD. THUD.
The coffin lids, previously sealed tight, suddenly flew open. Not from the outside, but from within—as if something inside had pushed them with tremendous force. The heavy wooden boards hit the ground with dull impacts, creating small craters.
Then figures emerged from each coffin.
They moved with inhuman fluidity, stepping out of their wooden prisons and taking positions in front of Orochimaru. A protective formation, creating a barrier between the snake Sannin and the approaching threat.
The moment Naruto and Sasuke saw those figures clearly, their pupils constricted sharply.
Recognition hit like a physical blow. These faces, these distinctive appearances—they were famous. Legendary. Impossible to mistake for anyone else.
The figure on the left had long black hair that fell past his shoulders in a wild mane. He wore a black, form-fitting combat suit beneath red laminated armor. The armor bore the Senju clan symbol on the left shoulder—a distinctive logo known throughout the shinobi world. Red iron guards protected both wrists, practical and battle-worn.
Everything about this figure screamed a single identity: Senju Hashirama, the First Hokage. Founder of Konohagakure. The God of Shinobi himself.
And standing beside him, the figure on the right was equally recognizable.
White hair, spiky and distinctive. Konoha shinobi standard armor, blue in color with white fur collar. That fur collar—the mink that he famously wore in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, earning him the nickname "Generation of Mink Lovers."
Senju Tobirama, the Second Hokage. Younger brother of Hashirama. Creator of countless forbidden techniques. A tactical genius who'd shaped the very structure of modern shinobi villages.
Both stood with blank expressions, their faces devoid of normal human emotion. Their eyes were dull, unfocused, lacking the spark of genuine life. Even their breathing seemed mechanical, automatic rather than natural.
The explanation was obvious.
"Shocked, aren't you?" Orochimaru's voice carried unmistakable satisfaction. A smile curved his lips, transforming his face into something pleased and dangerous. "Naruto-kun, Sasuke-kun, standing before you are Konoha's First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, and Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama."
He spread his arms in a theatrical gesture, as if presenting prized possessions.
"The strength of these two Hokage-sama is well-known throughout the shinobi world. Especially Hashirama—his power is legendary. They say he could reshape landscapes with his techniques, could summon forests with a thought, could battle tailed beasts to a standstill."
Orochimaru's smile widened, showing teeth.
"And now, Naruto-kun, you'll have the honor of fighting both Hokage-sama simultaneously. Consider it a privilege. Not many people get to test themselves against legends."
The threat was clear, wrapped in false politeness.
Naruto's expression didn't change. If anything, his grin grew sharper.
"The First and Second Hokage. Impressive, Orochimaru. You really do have substantial tricks up your sleeve." Naruto's voice rumbled with his enhanced size, each word vibrating through the air. "But judging by the aura they're giving off, by the chakra I'm sensing from their bodies... how much of their living strength do they actually possess?"
His eyes narrowed, assessment complete.
"Relying on dead people to fight your battles? That seems unreliable, Orochimaru. The dead are just echoes. Shadows of what they once were."
Without waiting for a response, without giving Orochimaru time to issue commands or coordinate strategy, Naruto charged forward.
His massive legs ate up the distance in two enormous strides. His right fist drew back, muscles bunching with terrible purpose, then shot forward in a devastating straight punch aimed directly at Senju Hashirama's chest.
The air screamed as his fist displaced it. The ground cracked beneath Naruto's feet from the force of his movement.
And the First Hokage, reanimated corpse or not, raised his arms to block.
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