"A descendant of the Yuki clan from Four-Star Village!"
Seeing Haku's sudden arrival, Orochimaru paused, deciding not to leave just yet. He had a feeling that something interesting was about to happen.
"Judging by your tone," Orochimaru said with clear interest, "you're here for Sasuke Uchiha too? And your so-called master…" His eyes narrowed. "What? Does the Four Star Consortium want the power of the Uchiha clan as well? That makes sense. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to gather the remains of the Yuki and Uzumaki clans."
He chuckled. "I just didn't expect you to set your sights on Konoha. That's foolish enough to make me laugh. Hehehe…"
Orochimaru had heard about Gato's sudden investment in building a ninja village in the Land of Waves, but he hadn't bothered looking into it. A village funded by a wealthy merchant but lacking skilled ninjas wasn't worth his attention. Between the pressure from the Akatsuki hunting him and his preparations for the fall of Konoha, he hadn't bothered gathering intel.
Otherwise, I would have already captured the Yuki and Uzumaki clans and brought them back to my base.
"Gato?" Haku covered his mouth and chuckled contemptuously. "He's just a puppet. He isn't even worthy of carrying Menma's shoes!"
A puppet like Gato was easily identified with a simple investigation. Haku had no reason to hide anything; their actions were destined to draw attention anyway.
"So, he's just a surface-level puppet?" Orochimaru nodded, looking enlightened. "No wonder a stingy merchant would spend his fortune on a ninja village. If that's the case, it makes sense..."
Haku ignored Orochimaru and reached out toward Sasuke, who was crouched on the ground groaning in pain.
"What are you doing?" Sakura stepped forward, tense and wary, blocking his path despite their amicable previous meetings.
"Sakura, move aside! Let him through!" Before Haku could speak, Sasuke shakily rose to his feet, his face pale with pain, and pulled Sakura aside. "I trust him more than Orochimaru. If you don't explain the price I'll pay, I'll pay it."
Haku smiled slightly, taking out a talisman with the Flying Thunder God seal drawn on it. At the same time, golden-red chakra glowed in his hand, covering the talisman before he tossed it outward.
Whoosh!
The talisman vanished, and a shadow clone wearing a Four-Star Mask appeared before Sasuke. Without a word, the clone struck Sasuke directly in the abdomen.
Instantly, a massive amount of golden-red chakra erupted from the palm. Like a raging flood, it surged into Sasuke's body.
"This... is pure Tailed Beast chakra!!!"
Orochimaru recognized it instantly. He was quite knowledgeable about Tailed Beast chakra—he still had half a horn from the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, in his laboratory. Unfortunately, aside from Jinchuriki and the legendary Kinkaku and Ginkaku, no one had ever been able to use it while alive.
Furthermore, the Fourth Raikage of the Hidden Cloud Village had used his entire village's resources to replicate the deeds of Kinkaku and Ginkaku. He had a large number of people devour the Eight-Tails' tentacles. As a result, not a single person obtained the Eight-Tails' chakra; they all died on the spot.
Therefore, seeing the shadow clone infuse Sasuke with Tailed Beast chakra, Orochimaru was instantly enraged and charged forward.
"Damn it! Stop right now!"
As he spoke, Orochimaru instantly formed hand seals, his two arms lashing forward. He unleashed his most frequently used ninjutsu: Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!
Instantly, more than ten pythons of varying lengths and thicknesses coiled together, shooting through the air at incredible speed. They all rushed toward Sasuke, who was enveloped in gold and red.
However, the pythons were only halfway through the air when they were all impaled on the ground by ice needles carrying a chilling aura.
Ice Release: A Thousand Flying Water Needles!
"Excuse me, but please don't disturb my master right now."
Haku, who had been some distance away, somehow appeared in front of Orochimaru. With a single kick, he sent the charging Orochimaru flying backward.
His face wore an apologetic smile, seemingly sincere, but the words he uttered were anything but.
"Of course, you can't leave yet either. You'll still be Sasuke's target after he gains his power."
Hearing Haku's words, the furious Orochimaru chuckled in exasperation. "How arrogant! You think you can stop me?"
The moment the word "me" left his lips, Orochimaru suddenly sprang to the ground, his mouth agape.
"Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!"
Whoosh!
Instantly, tens of thousands of venomous snakes of all kinds surged from his mouth. Forming a terrifying tide, like a tsunami, they crashed toward Haku, who stood in his way. As these venomous snakes drew near, they unleashed sharp blades from their mouths, aiming straight for Haku's body.
Faced with this overwhelming swarm of terrifying snake blades, Haku's lips parted slightly.
"Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal!"
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In an instant, icy mist swirled, and the temperature plummeted. The ice mirrors that had previously surrounded the enemy now stood in a row, firmly erected in front of him, blocking the swarm of venomous snakes.
Simultaneously, Haku, submerged within the ice mirrors, held four thousand senbon between his fingers. In a flash, he leaped from the leftmost ice mirror to the rightmost. The senbon in his hands flashed at the speed of light, slicing through the venomous snakes that crashed into the ice mirrors.
Tear!
Snake bodies snapped, snake blood splattered. Countless venomous snakes were cleaved in two, falling to the ground in front of the ice mirrors.
"What powerful Ice Release!"
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes were fixed on Haku, who was moving at the speed of light within the mirror. Then he opened his mouth again, and a python emerged, spitting out a rapidly extending blade.
The Kusanagi Sword!
Whoosh!
The blade transformed into a white streak, shooting out like lightning. In the blink of an eye, this sword tip, supposedly forged from the hardest material, shattered the leftmost ice mirror.
Orochimaru then forcefully swung his head to the right.
Whoosh!
The hard Kusanagi Sword followed the swing, slicing toward the left. It swept through like a hot knife through butter, instantly cutting through most of the ice mirrors. With a broad laugh, Orochimaru showed no sign of stopping, cutting toward the last ice mirror.
However...
Clang!
Orochimaru's smile froze on his face. From the last ice mirror, a hand enveloped in golden-red chakra emerged. This hand held a thousand needles, also imbued with golden-red chakra. It easily blocked his incredibly sharp Kusanagi sword.
"Tailed Beast Chakra!!!"
"Impossible!!!"
"You're clearly not a Jinchuriki! How can you use Tailed Beast Chakra!!!"
"If that's the case..." Orochimaru suddenly realized something, turning his head to look behind Haku.
"Sasuke Uchiha!!!"
[System Notification: Exchange Successful!]
[Corruption Points -2000]
---
If you are enjoying the quality of this translation, please consider supporting its growth. Your Power Stones and reviews are essential for our ranking on the platform.
For those who wish to read ahead, I have over 100 advance chapters available on my P@treon starting at just $5. You can find these at [email protected]/Rogue_Soul.
Your support helps me maintain this translation pace.