"Secret Technique: Eight-Headed Serpent Jutsu!"
As the hand signs were completed, a powerful and malevolent chakra erupted with Orochimaru at its center, surging like a violent black tsunami. The ground trembled violently, seemingly groaning in agony under the weight of this immense power.
Within the surging chakra, Orochimaru's body underwent a startling transformation. His bones crackled and ground against one another as if ancient mechanisms were being rapidly restructured. His skin sagged and melted as if doused in concentrated acid, while his muscles writhed and expanded like serpents as massive amounts of biological matter were generated out of thin air.
In an instant, a colossal entity rose from the ground. Its size rivaled that of a Tailed Beast, casting a massive shadow amidst the flames. Its eight hideous, giant heads towered toward the heavens, their bloody maws spewing a terrifying aura. Massive fangs glinted with a cold light, looking as though they could easily pierce through steel.
"Roar!"
The Yamata no Orochi let out a heaven-shaking roar. Behind it, eight tails—resembling gargantuan swords reaching for the sky—swayed. Each tail was covered in hard, mysterious scales that shimmered with a cold luster, capable of withstanding extreme heat for a short duration.
The eight tails extended outward, thrashing wildly within the scorching sea of fire. The air was churned into a turbulent, raging ocean of currents, carving visible atmospheric vortices into the flames.
These vortices collided and merged, letting out a series of crackling explosions like the chaotic collisions at the dawn of creation. Every swing of its massive frame carried the weight of a thousand tons, forcibly tearing a massive hole in the previously seamless and impenetrable sea of golden fire.
The structure of the fiery vortex gradually crumbled under the brute force. Flaws appeared in the once-magnificent and lethal whirlpool, and golden flames scattered in all directions, igniting the surrounding mountains.
The Yamata no Orochi roared to the sky as if celebrating its escape from its cage and proclaiming its rebirth.
"Makiya!" Orochimaru's voice resonated from the serpent heads. Pupils larger than millstones glared fixedly at Makiya, who hovered in the air. "To force me to use this technique... you have every right to be proud. What an extraordinary body you have. I simply cannot wait any longer."
"From the sound of it..." Makiya retreated to dodge a biting strike from one of the heads, speaking in a measured tone, "you seem to think you can forcibly occupy my body?"
'Has Orochimaru already developed the Living Corpse Reincarnation? I thought that jutsu wouldn't appear until after the Third War.'
'Still, this is good news. The more forbidden techniques Orochimaru has, the more I'll gain after I take him down.'
"Of course." Orochimaru chuckled sinisterly. A disturbingly human-like smile appeared on the hideous serpent heads. As the scales rubbed against each other, they produced a clanging metallic sound. "Rest assured, I will treat your body well and live as you for a time. Do you have any last words?"
Having regained his sense of victory, Orochimaru returned to his talkative self. "My disguise is absolutely flawless. Tell me what you wish to accomplish, and I might just be merciful enough to fulfill a task or two using your body."
'Kill Madara Uchiha, kill Black Zetsu, and wipe out the Otsutsuki clan members who come to plant trees... can you even handle that?' Makiya retorted silently. He looked at the mountain-like Yamata no Orochi and said aloud, "Don't trouble yourself. I've always preferred doing things personally. You should worry about your own skin first."
The eight heads of the serpent spoke in succession, their voices blending into a single, cohesive sentence: "You seem quite confident. Are you waiting for the Hidden Leaf to save you? The aftershocks of this battle have indeed spread far, but it will take time for them to arrive. You won't last that long."
Makiya's expression turned serious. "You're right. It will take them some time to get here. That's why I need to hurry. I must finish you off before anyone else arrives."
"Hmph, such arrogance!" Orochimaru snorted. All eight heads roared toward the sky as an eerie and brilliant light gathered in their maws, seemingly containing enough power to destroy the world.
The chakra fluctuations were very similar to a Tailed Beast Bomb, though the execution resembled Godzilla's Atomic Breath. Makiya recalled the lore of the Yamata no Orochi and concluded this move was likely a pure elemental nature attack. Its sheer scale was only because Orochimaru had gone all out, releasing a massive amount of chakra at once.
According to the records, Orochimaru possessed all seven chakra natures: Fire, Wind, Lightning, Earth, Water, Yin, and Yang. Makiya counted six heads preparing their breath attacks; judging by the colors, it wasn't hard to identify the nature of each jutsu.
The eight heads had a total of sixteen eyes. The two heads not preparing attacks glared at Makiya with predatory intensity.
Makiya was suddenly curious about Orochimaru's current perspective. Wouldn't he get dizzy with so many fields of vision?
Terrifying waves of energy spread rapidly. The serpent maws snapped open, unleashing a torrent of water like a surging celestial river, a rolling sea of fire, a deluge of thick mud with the weight of mountains, lightning dancing like silver snakes, a vacuum wind eye that howled as it tore through all things, and a deadly deep-purple mist of five poisons. These six powers intertwined, forming an overwhelming offensive that moved like a collapsing mountain.
A terrifying chakra fluctuation erupted from Makiya as well. In terms of pure chakra volume, he was miles ahead of Orochimaru. Before he even launched a jutsu, the air became thick with an inexplicable pressure, causing the Yamata no Orochi's attack to falter for a split second.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A sea of flames instantly blanketed the sky, dyeing the world in a golden hue. The fire seemed endowed with life, acting like an indestructible golden shield as it formed a seamless barrier of flames beneath Makiya.
The water dragon was instantly evaporated. The crimson flames were nothing more than a joke before the golden sea. The viscous mud hadn't even reached the high altitude before the thermal radiation turned it into lava that fell out of control. Lightning collided with the fire, resulting in a series of violent explosions, yet it couldn't advance an inch further toward the sky.
The vacuum wind eye tore at the golden flames, forcibly ripping a large gap in the sea of fire. However, the golden fire was boundless; the flames consumed by the vacuum were a mere drop in the bucket, and they were instantly swallowed by even more fire.
The deep-purple poison mist fared even worse. It was repeatedly roasted by the searing heat midway, losing its original toxic properties and turning into a dark green, foul-smelling liquid that splashed onto the ground, corroding shallow pits into the surface of the freshly cooled black lava.
Makiya formed a hand seal, and the sea of fire descended from the sky to envelop the serpent. It was as if the gods above feared the Yamata no Orochi would catch a cold and had dropped a golden quilt from the heavens to keep it warm.
Orochimaru manipulated the serpent heads to frantically spew ninjutsu, but it was all in vain. The fire sea descended with an unstoppable momentum, accurately wrapping around him. No matter how much he struggled, it was useless.
"Rising Sun Blade."
The flames condensed into sixteen giant golden swords, which shot toward Orochimaru under Makiya's control.
Amidst the blanket of fire, Orochimaru attempted to drive his massive body to scatter the flames as he had before. The Yamata no Orochi struggled, its massive frame twisting and stirring up gusts of foul-smelling wind.
The sixteen flaming swords were like blades of judgment from the heavens, carrying endless heat and majesty as they tore through the sky.
The sword blades shimmered with a dazzling light, and their sharp points inspired awe and fear. The sea of fire masked their path, but Orochimaru instinctively sensed something was wrong—a feeling like thorns at his back, as if a great calamity were imminent.
The flaming swords were as swift as meteors, streaking toward the eight heads and thick tails of the Yamata no Orochi. The heads were the first to notice the anomaly and spewed jets of ninjutsu to block the blades.
However, swords condensed from a massive volume of fire were not something crude jets of ninjutsu could compete with. The blades, wider than door panels, sliced through the serpent's hard scales like a hot knife through butter, piercing through the heads without resistance.
Accompanied by a world-shaking roar, searing flames instantly ravaged the interior of a serpent head. Immediately following, the other seven flaming swords hit their targets, pinning the hideous giant heads firmly into the lava.
Orochimaru twisted his heads in agony, but the swords were firmly rooted. The fire spread rapidly through the necks, causing large patches of scales to char and curl. Billowing smoke poured from between the jagged teeth.
Simultaneously, the other eight flaming swords whistled toward the tails. The massive tails thrashed wildly in the air, but Makiya's control was equally agile and precise. With the heads already subdued, the tails were like fish on a cutting board.
Finding the perfect moment, the flaming swords suddenly accelerated, pinning the tails firmly into the lava at their midpoints. The Yamata no Orochi was completely nailed down; no matter how much its massive body struggled, it was to no avail.
"Heh heh heh... you think an attack of this level can defeat me?" Orochimaru's body emerged from the belly of the Yamata no Orochi. The moment he appeared, he was continuously burned by the golden flames. The skin on his face melted like wax, yet he didn't seem to care in the slightest.
Suddenly, Orochimaru's expression changed as he noticed an unusual fluctuation.
"On these blades..."
Pitch-black markings appeared on the flaming swords, like an ancient and solemn vow, shimmering with a strange and mysterious energy.
"A sealing jutsu... to be able to simultaneously perform a sealing jutsu while maintaining such a powerful fire style..." Orochimaru's body gradually melted into white slime, his features twisting and deforming with the liquid. "Makiya... I admit defeat."
Makiya didn't take Orochimaru's words to heart at all. Orochimaru's words were a mix of truth and lies, entirely untrustworthy. He only said that to make Makiya lower his guard, hoping to snatch a sliver of hope from a desperate situation.
The body of the Yamata no Orochi stopped struggling. Its eight heads and tails hung limply in the lava, with only the pinned sections trembling slightly. The golden fire continued to burn, gradually turning the once-mighty body into charcoal.
The battlefield gradually fell silent following this shocking scene. Only the crackling of the burning flames echoed in the air, as if applauding Orochimaru's departure.
A small white snake stealthily emerged from the charred corpse and slipped into the lava with a splash. Its skin looked tender and delicate, yet it could swim freely in the scorching magma.
A small flying sword pinned the white snake dead. Flames spread, incinerating it into ashes.
[Support the story with Reviews, Power Stones, and Comments—they mean a lot and keep me going! 30+ chapters waiting on patreon.com/elite_reads]