Three days passed in a flash.
Evening came. The sun set, and thick fog rose over the sea. Two sea turtles rolled and played on the surface, planning their great baby-making scheme.
Suddenly, a dark shadow drifted through the dense fog overhead, silent as a ghost, startling the male turtle.
"Haha, no more discomfort in my feet! Sky Walk Technique — finally mastered!"
Cheerful laughter echoed through the fog, frightening both turtles into diving deep. The shadow drifted over hundreds of meters of sea before landing lightly on shore.
It was Mizuki.
"Finally able to soar through the sky freely. Speed is adjustable — at the slowest, I can hover motionless in midair; at the fastest, I can reach about 300 km/h, equivalent to high-speed rail."
He wanted to fly faster, but his tenketsu limited him, preventing further increases in chakra output. Besides, the faster he flew, the greater the air resistance. Still, 300 km/h wasn't slow at all.
"As for chakra consumption, flying at top speed burns through more than half my chakra in ten minutes."
He calculated that at full speed, he consumed 0.01 Ka units of chakra per second.
Not much!
With his total chakra capacity of 11.3 Ka, he could fly at maximum speed for nearly 20 minutes, covering over a hundred kilometers in one go.
"With the ability to release Rasengan at long range, and now the Sky Walk Technique, I finally have the power to stand firm in the ninja world."
Since his transmigration, Mizuki had been constantly on edge, thinking three steps ahead with every move, afraid of one misstep leading to disaster.
But as his strength grew, his tense nerves could finally relax. Now, even if he stood opposed to Konoha, he had no fear.
Of course, if he could stay in Konoha, he wouldn't leave. After all, Konoha had the most geniuses!
"Hmm, dinner time must be coming soon!"
Just then, a rumbling sound echoed in the distance, accompanied by intense chakra fluctuations.
The next moment, the thick fog dispersed from the aftershocks of battle sweeping in. Mizuki saw a giant serpent coiled in the forest. A hundred meters away, orange-red Nine-Tails chakra swirled wildly.
A snake? And there seemed to be someone standing on its head.
"A serpent this huge — the only one who could summon it is Orochimaru!"
Why would Orochimaru appear here?
Mizuki was shocked! Had the butterfly effect triggered by his transmigration begun to take effect?
"It must be for Sasuke!"
This was the last thing Mizuki wanted to see. Sasuke was a cash cow — if Orochimaru took him away, wouldn't he lose three high-multiplier return opportunities every month?
"Troublesome. Zabuza isn't dealt with yet, and now an even more twisted Orochimaru shows up."
Mizuki rushed toward the forest at high speed. At the same time, he retrieved the Super Food Pill that Naruto had returned to him from his storage ring and swallowed it. The pill could restore 10 Ka units of chakra within one minute, allow him to go three days without food or water, and permanently increase his chakra recovery speed by 0.3 Ka per minute.
Facing Orochimaru, Mizuki didn't dare be careless — his condition had to be at its peak. The mostly depleted chakra within his body began rapidly recovering.
In the forest, three Konoha ANBU — Elephant, Boar, and Eagle — faced Orochimaru directly. Though it was three against one, the three ANBU were already at a disadvantage.
The killing intent emanating from Orochimaru made them feel as if they were standing in a raging storm at sea.
"Orochimaru, why have you appeared here?" Elephant's tone was grave, his eyes behind the mask filled with wariness.
He wore a cat-faced mask and was among the elite in the ANBU ranks. But facing Orochimaru, he had no confidence at all.
He knew how strong this Sannin was. Years ago, even Kakashi, then the ANBU captain, couldn't last a single move against him.
Orochimaru stood atop the giant serpent's head, looking down from above. His smooth, shoulder-length black hair, pale face, purple eye shadow, and distinctive cold vertical pupils filled viewers with dread at a single glance.
He had no interest in these three ANBU. His gaze focused on the three figures behind them.
Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were all in a daze, their eyes filled with terror, their limbs trembling. They had been overwhelmed by Orochimaru's killing intent, suffering severe psychological trauma.
Orochimaru looked at Sasuke, and a smile spread across his face as his disgusting long tongue extended from his mouth, stirring through the air. This led the ANBU to mistakenly believe his target was the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki.
"Eagle, take Naruto and Sasuke and leave quickly. Boar and I will hold him here." Elephant instructed.
Eagle said nothing. He turned around, grabbed Naruto and Sasuke, and rapidly departed.
The Jinchūriki was of paramount importance and could not be lost. Sasuke was also a priority protection target as instructed by the Third Hokage.
As for Sakura, she was just a civilian ninja — if she died, she died.
Orochimaru didn't care about this at all.
"So that blond-haired one is the Nine-Tails brat? Too bad, I'm only interested in the Uchiha. However, today I came here not for him. I'm looking for Mizuki. Where is he?"
Eagle didn't stop. Instead, he increased his speed by a third. Who knew whether Orochimaru's words were true or false — taking Naruto away was the safest option. Though carrying two people, his speed remained fast, and in moments he had covered several hundred meters.
But just then, an eerily beautiful young man blocked his path. He wore white clothes and had white hair, two cinnabar dots between his eyebrows, and a purple butterfly-knot sash around his waist.
"I am Lord Orochimaru's subordinate, Kimimaro Kaguya. Lord Orochimaru needs these two to draw out Mizuki. I hope you will put them down."
Eagle's path was blocked. Elephant and Boar noticed immediately.
But they couldn't help. Holding off Orochimaru alone would take everything they had — no energy to spare for Eagle.
The two exchanged glances and nodded.
"Orochimaru, you are an S-rank missing-nin from Konohagakure. Since we've encountered you today, we will do everything in our power to capture you." Elephant declared loudly.
"Hehehe!" Orochimaru sneered, "Just the two of you?"
Boar shouted, "Don't underestimate us! We're not ordinary ninja — we are Konoha elite jōnin who have inherited the Will of Fire!"
"Heh, the laughable Will of Fire!" Orochimaru scoffed.
Elephant struck first, forming hand seals rapidly.
Raiton: Shichū Shibari ▻ Lightning Release: Four Pillar Bind
Four massive pillars rose from the corners around the giant serpent, trapping it in the middle. Lightning flashed across the pillars, electrocuting the serpent until its entire body turned charred black, hissing madly.
Raiton: Jūrokuchū Shibari ▻ Lightning Release: Sixteen Pillar Bind
Twelve more pillars appeared, forming an enclosed structure that completely trapped the serpent inside. Electric light filled the interior, and the serpent's cries were pitiful.
Finally, with a poof, the serpent released the summoning jutsu due to its injuries and returned to Ryūchi Cave.
Elephant didn't relax. Instead, he continued forming seals.
Katon: Suyaki no Jutsu ▻ Fire Release: Fired Pottery Technique
Inside the structure, flames appeared from nowhere, turning the interior into a blazing furnace.
"Ahh~"
Orochimaru's agonized screams rang out.
Boar asked, "Is it over?"
Elephant's expression remained grave, "I don't know, but Orochimaru, one of the Legendary Sannin, shouldn't be this easy to deal with."
The sixteen lightning pillars dispersed, revealing a charred corpse on the ground.
Boar exclaimed joyfully, "Burned to death!"
But Elephant frowned, sensing something wrong, "Be careful — he's probably not dead!"
As he spoke, the corpse's back split open. A hand emerged, then a head, then the entire body. The scene was slimy and utterly disgusting.
Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique!
Seeing this, fear rose in Elephant and Boar's hearts.
Sakura, behind them, had finally broken free from Orochimaru's killing intent, but this scene frightened her into screaming. Her eyes rolled back as she fainted.
"Hehehe, not bad ninjutsu! However, thinking you can deal with me using such techniques — you're too naive. I originally didn't plan to do anything to you, but since you struck first, I won't be polite. After all, I'll destroy Konoha sooner or later. Killing a few of you first will only increase the success rate of the Konoha Crush Plan." Orochimaru extended his tongue and stirred it through the air, his slender hands rising slowly.
He dropped to all fours and opened his mouth wide.
Poisonous snakes poured from Orochimaru's mouth, one after another, instantly covering the ground in a writhing mass. They spread toward Elephant and Boar like a wave.
"Hehehe, Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes — die in agony as ten thousand snakes bite you!" Orochimaru sneered.
Elephant formed seals rapidly and shouted:
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu ▻ Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
A large fireball shot from his mouth, crashing into the snake horde and burning a wide swath. But there were too many snakes — one Great Fireball wasn't enough. The gap refilled immediately.
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu ▻ Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu ▻ Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique
…
If one fireball wasn't enough, he'd use more.
Doton: Nentsuchi Otoshi ▻ Earth Release: Sticky Earth Drop
Boar joined the attack. A portal to another dimension appeared in the air, summoning massive amounts of clay that fell into the snake horde, trapping large numbers of them.
But still, countless snakes writhed forward.
Endless!
"If this continues, our chakra will run out, and we'll have no strength left to resist. Forget the snakes — attack Orochimaru directly from range. He's summoning them. Kill him, and the snakes will disappear."
The two redirected their ninjutsu toward Orochimaru.
Seeing this, Orochimaru sneered, "Naive!"
He raised both hands, preparing to form seals.
Just then, he paused. He turned his head to look in a particular direction. Though dense trees blocked his view, he sensed an unfamiliar chakra presence.
"Oh? Finally." His hands continued forming seals without pause, "Mizuki, today I'll show you my strength — Orochimaru's strength. I will make you serve me willingly."