"Did I get him?"
Orochimaru watched Makiya, who was now enveloped by a swarm of snakes. His narrow eyes narrowed slightly. As a renowned ninja on the battlefield, Makiya wouldn't be caught so easily.
Suddenly, crows scattered from the swarm of snakes and took to the sky. Their hoarse, shrill cries echoed through the woods, like harbingers of death, emitting an ominous aura.
"Genjutsu?" Orochimaru deactivated the jutsu. The writhing, constricting snakes gradually vanished, leaving the ground in ruins.
*Pfft!*
A golden longsword pierced through Orochimaru's body from behind, instantly bursting through the resistance of flesh and bone. It emerged from his chest, carrying a splash of eye-catching crimson.
Orochimaru's body jolted. He turned his head with difficulty to look back, his narrow, cold eyes widening instantly, filled with shock and disbelief.
Blood surged up his throat, spilling uncontrollably from the corner of his mouth and trickling down his chin. His breathing became rapid and heavy, his legs grew weak, and he could no longer support his weight, sinking to his knees.
Makiya: "..."
He suspected Orochimaru was insulting his intelligence. However, the veteran powerhouse had certainly seen much of the world; his performance of being ambushed and dying was as realistic as it got.
Out of everyone in the Shippuden era, Orochimaru and a few old-timers were the best at surviving. Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado stayed in the Konoha headquarters, which was one thing, but Orochimaru wandered the ninja world daily. Having caused so many major incidents yet still living until the Boruto era was a testament to his survival skills.
Makiya applied force to his wrist, and the golden blade sliced upward, splitting Orochimaru's head in half. Brain matter and viscera splattered everywhere.
The Orochimaru-style Body Replacement involved crawling out of the mouth of a dead body. Now that he had split the head in two, he wanted to see how the man would use that move.
Makiya stood his ground, holding his flaming golden sword, waiting calmly.
After a moment, seeing that Makiya had caught on, Orochimaru stopped acting. The corpse on the ground began to tremble violently, and its belly swelled uncontrollably as if it had become ten months pregnant in an instant.
*Pfft!*
The jonin vest was torn apart by the expanding belly. The skin became thin as paper, and a large mass of black matter could be seen writhing inside the corpse's stomach.
A giant snake's head devoured all of Orochimaru's internal organs and then desperately burst through the belly. A thick, fishy stench filled the woods.
The giant snake's maw opened wide, its pink throat writhing. A slime-covered Orochimaru emerged from the snake's mouth like a genie from a lamp. His entire body was limp and boneless, and his long, thin tongue flicked out to lick the slime off his face.
This scene nearly made Makiya vomit. He had thought Orochimaru was a pervert while watching the anime, but seeing him in person, he realized the anime had been too conservative. Some of Orochimaru's jutsus were truly twisted.
"Your strikes are quite decisive, Makiya-kun," a raspy voice croaked from Orochimaru's mouth. He stared at Makiya with golden pupils, seemingly unafraid of Makiya's Sharingan genjutsu.
"It seems you're the one who attacked first. Stop being so cryptic. What do you want with me?" Makiya sneered, waving his hand to dispel the flying sword.
"That was just a test. Since a secret is a secret, it's best not to let a third person know." Orochimaru slithered out of the giant snake's mouth like a real serpent. He spat out a scroll and handed it to Makiya.
The scroll was also covered in slime.
Makiya's lips twitched. He picked up two leaves to grab the scroll. Suddenly, Orochimaru's arm transformed into a snake and coiled around Makiya's hand. Like a python strangling its prey, he attempted to crawl up Makiya's body.
*Boom!*
Makiya suddenly exploded. Golden flames spread along Orochimaru's arm, gradually engulfing his entire body.
Orochimaru let out a piercing scream. Multiple giant pythons surged from his body in an attempt to stop the flames from spreading. However, the golden fire was impossibly fast. His body twisted and deformed in the flames as if being kneaded by an invisible giant hand.
As the flames continued to burn, Orochimaru's figure grew increasingly blurred, and his aura dissipated rapidly. Finally, Orochimaru was completely swallowed by the golden fire, leaving only scorched earth and wisps of foul-smelling smoke to prove he had ever existed.
With a thud, the scroll fell to the ground and rolled into the grass. The scorching flames hadn't damaged it in the slightest.
A moment later, Makiya appeared in the woods. He picked up the scroll and opened it to read. It contained a location and a single sentence: 'Makiya-kun, do you want to know the secrets of Senjutsu? If so, come find me here.'
A question mark popped up in Makiya's mind. Why did Orochimaru think he would definitely go? It was just Senjutsu; he could research it himself with enough time. It would just be a bit slower.
He casually burned the scroll. Makiya had no intention of keeping the appointment. He was currently enjoying learning medical knowledge from Tsunade and didn't want any unnecessary complications.
Besides, being too eager would only devalue his worth. If he ran over the moment Orochimaru invited him, it would look cheap. He'd let him sit and rot for a while first.
Quietly returning to the camp, Makiya continued to oversee the field hospital, treating the endless stream of wounded. He integrated the knowledge he had learned in other worlds while deepening his understanding of the human body in the ninja world.
He discreetly stashed away a small vial of blood and used the Mystical Palm Technique to treat a member of the Hyuga clan. After the injury stabilized, he called for a nurse to take the patient back to the ward.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Rice Fields—another small nation neighboring the Land of Hot Water—the wild winds howled across a massive prairie.
Wild grass taller than an adult grew rampantly on the fertile land. Shattered bones were faintly visible in the soil. A centipede crawled out of an eye socket in a skull, the flesh having long since been picked clean.
A chaotic battle had once occurred here, resulting in countless ninja casualties. Their bodies had become nutrients, returning to nature's embrace.
In the center of the plain, a small fox poked its head out of the grass. Its four paws stepped lightly on the mud without making a sound. Suddenly, it pounced forward, pinning down a fat field mouse.
Behind the fox, a striped python hissed, its cold eyes staring straight ahead as its massive body slowly approached its prey.
*Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Two figures appeared in the center of the plain, scaring the fox into bolting away.
"Open!"
A special chakra pulse spread out, and the ground rumbled, sinking down to reveal a hidden trapdoor. The door was etched with intricate patterns, and a musical note symbol was embedded in the center.
The two pushed the door open and entered a dark passage. Torches along the stone walls lit up one by one, extending deep into the interior.
With another loud rumble, the ground slowly returned to its original state.
The plain looked unobstructed, but a massive base was hidden underground, filled with chakra fluctuations. If a member of the Hyuga clan were to accidentally look down with their Byakugan, they would surely be shocked by the base's enormous structure.
This was one of the main bases Orochimaru had operated for years. The Land of Rice Fields bordered the Land of Fire and was roughly equidistant from the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud frontlines, making it convenient for Orochimaru to travel back and forth to collect materials.
In a laboratory at the very bottom of the base, an Uchiha clansman was tied securely to an experimental table. Gagged, he writhed and struggled desperately. His bare torso was covered in needle marks, and a special pattern of three tomoe was branded onto his neck.
An incomplete Cursed Seal of Earth!
This was an experimental subject Orochimaru had 'picked up' from the Hidden Stone frontline. Small skirmishes between the Hidden Leaf and Hidden Stone occurred daily, so a few missing people were perfectly normal. With Orochimaru's skills, an ordinary Uchiha stood no chance of resisting.
Unfortunately, precious test subjects were used up one by one. Recently, the Uchiha clan had been gradually withdrawing from the Hidden Stone frontline, moving their main forces to the Hidden Mist side. Once the Uchiha Orochimaru had secretly captured were used up, he would have to go to the Hidden Mist side to snatch more people.
Wearing a white lab coat, Orochimaru slowly entered the laboratory, looking down at the experimental records in his hands.
A memory was transmitted to his brain. Orochimaru glanced through it and realized it was from the snake clone he had sent to contact Makiya, which had been killed instantly.
"Quite blunt, Makiya-kun. I've prepared a gift for you. I wonder when you'll come to my door." Orochimaru stuck out his tongue and licked his lips, revealing a twisted smile.
In Orochimaru's eyes, there was no possibility that Makiya wouldn't come.
Through various investigations, he had confirmed that Makiya had been inquiring about Senjutsu for a long time. Danzo's intelligence also indicated that Makiya was a pursuer of power, spending all his free time training in taijutsu and developing new ninjutsu. He was an Uchiha who hungered for power.
Orochimaru was certain that faced with the temptation of Senjutsu, Makiya wouldn't be able to resist.
Seeing Orochimaru enter the room, the bound Uchiha became extremely agitated, muffled sounds coming from his gagged mouth as his eyes nearly burst with rage.
"Mmm, Orochimaru, I'm going to kill you!"
"Impressive..."
Orochimaru operated the computer for a few moments, and a helmet covered in wires lowered from above, settling onto the Uchiha's head.
As Orochimaru set the parameters, the room began to vibrate. The hum of machinery transmitted through the walls into the room. Special chakra surged along the conduits, forcibly being poured into the Uchiha's brain from the metal helmet.
A look of anticipation flickered in Orochimaru's eyes. However, as time passed, only the pattern of a two-tomoe Sharingan appeared in the Uchiha's eyes. Forget the legendary Mangekyo; it hadn't even evolved into a three-tomoe.
"Sigh, a failure." Orochimaru sighed, reaching out to stop the experiment. After recording the data as usual, he turned and walked out of the room.
The green Susanoo had towered over the Land of Grass. Although Shisui hadn't used it for long, it had still been noted by observant parties. Firsthand intelligence was sent to both the Hokage and the Tsuchikage.
Ohnoki's reaction aside—the appearance of both Wood Style and Susanoo nearly made the old man think he had traveled back in time to the end of the Warring States period when the hidden villages were first established. He was currently sulking in the Hidden Stone Village, sending out a large number of scouts to gather intel.
Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi had lost a few more hairs. Dealing with Makiya Uchiha had already drained his wits, and now Shisui Uchiha had appeared. His few remaining hairs were starting to follow the lead of his prostate—acting up every single day.
If the Hokage got the intel, it meant Danzo got it. The old schemer pored through numerous ancient texts and found Tobirama Senju's research materials. He believed that the power of the Mangekyo was too dangerous and must be under his own control. Thus, he ordered Orochimaru to begin researching the conditions for the artificial evolution of the Sharingan.
The butterfly's wings flapped violently. Although Orochimaru hadn't experienced being instantly defeated by Itachi, after reading the materials sent by Danzo, he became interested in this powerful strength and planned to lay his own hands on it secretly.
It just so happened that Danzo had also asked him to eliminate Makiya Uchiha. To kill two birds with one stone, Orochimaru decided that as long as he occupied Makiya Uchiha's body, he would fulfill Danzo's request and obtain the power of the Uchiha.
Now, he just had to wait for Makiya to show up.
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