'Crack!'
The moment Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword pierced the Wind Dragon's eye, as if striking a vital weak point, the colossal dragon instantly began to crumble, unleashing invisible shockwaves that churned the air into a violent maelstrom.
Momentum spent and unable to catch his breath, Naruto could only watch helplessly as the infinitely extending blade hurtled toward him.
'Clang!'
In the nick of time, just as Naruto was about to meet his end, a longsword wreathed in blinding blue-white lightning materialized out of thin air!
It was Sasuke, who had been observing the battle all along, finally intervening.
Amidst the thunderous roar of the blade, man and sword merged, channeling super-compressed air currents and lightning into a cone-shaped maelstrom of destructive energy that slashed toward Orochimaru.
Though Sasuke had briefly considered letting things play out, wondering if the Sage of Six Paths might personally intervene to subdue Orochimaru with his divine powers, but he couldn't truly abandon Naruto to certain death.
After all, Naruto had served perfectly as Sasuke's sparring partner all these years, raising a..
'Ahem!'
In short, even though Sasuke had always manipulated Naruto, treating him as his top-tier tool, there remained a sliver of genuine emotion between them.
"You've finally made your move, Sasuke-kun! Hahaha!"
Faced with Sasuke's fierce assault, Orochimaru showed no panic whatsoever. Instead, his eyes lit up with excitement, and he burst into wild laughter.
He withdrew the Kusanagi Sword with one hand while rapidly forming hand seals with the other.
"Wind Release: Emerald Gale Blade!"
Chakra surged through his right hand, violently swirling the surrounding air into a vibrant green blade that shot toward Sasuke like a projectile.
The collision of Wind Release and Lightning Release produced an eerie reaction, electric sparks crackling loudly.
At the same moment, Orochimaru abandoned Naruto entirely and charged directly at Sasuke, Kusanagi Sword in hand, his movements as serpentine and fluid as a snake's.
A cold, gleaming blade flashed through the air, accompanied by a long, surging wave of air trailing Orochimaru's advance. The sword tip, gleaming with a frigid glint, aimed directly for Sasuke's chest.
Sasuke bent slightly at the waist, narrowly evading Orochimaru's strike. His Futsu-no-Mitama Sword surged upward from below with a metallic 'clang'.
As if anticipating the move, Orochimaru had already positioned the Kusanagi Sword to intercept the attack.
"Impressive swordsmanship! And a fine blade you wield!" Orochimaru's eyes burned as he stared at Sasuke, licking his lips with feverish anticipation.
"Hmph," Sasuke sneered coldly. "Your swordsmanship is utter trash."
"Trash? Heh."
Orochimaru remained unconcerned. He had never been skilled in swordsmanship; his ability to effortlessly parry Sasuke's attacks stemmed entirely from decades of combat experience, allowing him to anticipate Sasuke's strikes.
As they spoke, the pair exchanged several more clashes, the clang of blades and the crackle of punches and kicks ringing out incessantly.
"Come, Sasuke-kun! Show me your talent and power!" Orochimaru cackled wildly, his gaze fixed on Sasuke's crimson three-tomoe Sharingan, his eyes burning with intense longing.
Seeing Sasuke's Sharingan begin to rotate slowly, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly and, to everyone's surprise, closed his own.
Since his defeat at the hands of Uchiha Itachi years ago, Orochimaru had dedicated himself to finding countermeasures against the Sharingan.
Beyond developing a few rudimentary sound-based Genjutsu, Orochimaru had also undergone serpentine modifications to his own body.
Most snakes possess poor vision, bordering on blindness, yet they can swiftly detect and accurately capture prey like field mice, frogs, and lizards from dozens of meters away, even in complete darkness.
This is due to snakes' natural infrared heat-sensing abilities and their skin's sensitivity to minute vibrations in the ground or air.
Orochimaru, a man more serpentine than snakes themselves (his true form being the White Scaled Serpent), possessed this very ability!
'Boom! Rumble!'
The two combatants clashed repeatedly, engaging in fierce close-quarters combat that shattered the air with sonic booms. Their Ninjutsu collided, shattering trees, cracking the earth, and pulverizing boulders.
"Sakura, when are we going to jump in?" Naruto asked anxiously, still shaken from nearly being killed by Sasuke's sword earlier. Sakura had given him a sharp rap on the head, forbidding him from rashly charging in again.
"Wait! Quiet!" Sakura snapped, her eyes fixed intently on Sasuke and Orochimaru's battle. She held a pouch of abrasive material in her hand.
But the two were moving too quickly and were too close to each other. Sakura couldn't be certain she could precisely hit Orochimaru with her Water Severing Wave.
Last time in Takigakure, using the Water Severing Wave had been a desperate gamble.
If Naruto hadn't suddenly broken free from his restraints and used the Konoha Dragon God to freeze Kisame Hoshigaki in place, her Water Severing Wave would have missed completely.
Sakura knew well that even the most powerful Ninjutsu was nothing more than an oversized firework if it failed to hit its target.
The two high-speed figures continued their fierce battle. Sasuke's attacks were relentless, each sword strike as swift as lightning and as violent as a torrential storm.
Yet every time Sasuke aimed to strike Orochimaru's flesh, the serpent either evaded the blow with his bizarre Taijutsu or slipped away unscathed thanks to a mysterious, slick mucus, leaving Orochimaru completely unharmed.
"Sasuke-kun, you've truly given me quite the surprise," Orochimaru chuckled, his eyes half-closed, a smirk playing on his lips, his voice raspy. "Whether it's Genjutsu, Taijutsu, or Ninjutsu... 'heh heh heh'."
Orochimaru's smile widened. "But we've wasted enough time today. Even if those Konoha fools are utter trash, they've likely noticed by now."
As he spoke, Orochimaru chuckled softly and flicked the Kusanagi Sword with his finger.
A piercing, cacophonous sound erupted—a dissonant resonance that seemed to emanate from the collective trembling of countless human cells.
'Resonating Piercing!'
A sonic Ninjutsu that unleashes deafening sound waves to paralyze an opponent's auditory nerves!
Orochimaru was the leader of the Hidden Sound Village, and all of its secret techniques were the result of his solitary research and development.
Even Dosu required a specialized gauntlet equipped with multiple perforations to unleash the sound wave ninjutsu Resonating Piercing.
Orochimaru, however, could cast it with a mere flick of his finger.
In an instant, Sasuke's supersonic movements froze, leaving him completely immobilized.
"How do you like my sound-based genjutsu, Sasuke-kun?"
Orochimaru reopened his eyes, a sinister smile spreading across his face as he watched Sasuke struggle. He then formed a hand seal.
'Secret Technique: Bewitching Sound Lock!'
As if countless tiny bagpipes began playing a distant, haunting melody, Sasuke, who had been struggling moments before, suddenly stilled. A massive white serpent coiled tightly around his joints.
"Accept this small gift I bestow upon you, Sasuke!"
Orochimaru's fervent, almost manic voice rang out. His neck elongated abruptly, like a snake's, and his jaws opened wide, lunging toward Sasuke's shoulder to bite.
___
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