At this very moment, in Ryuchi Cave:
A rhythmic, haunting sound of a wooden fish being struck echoed through the gloom. Beneath high gates and atop a colossal throne, a gargantuan white snake, coiled and leaning against its seat in slumber, snapped its golden pupils open!
This was the master of Ryuchi Cave: the White Snake Sage.
The Sage narrowed its eyes, and its golden pupils flared. In the next instant, it projected the events it had been monitoring in the shinobi world—events it had sensed through its dreams—into an image before it.
This was a unique ability of the White Snake Sage, a technique capable of recording and replaying past and present experiences.
Its name: "Mystic Light of the Soul!"
The image flickered into existence, showing Ren Uchiha having his Tailed Beast forcibly extracted by the Amber Purifying Pot.
"Hiss!" The White Snake Sage's pupils shrank, its face darkening.
"This pawn... I thought I could nurture him until those eyes awakened before seizing him. I expected his 'True Dragon Body' to assist me on the Great Stairway to Dragonhood. But..."
"Ignorant of his own limits, he provoked a monster he couldn't defeat. In the end, his path leads only to destruction."
The Sage watched coldly as the Zero-Tails was pulled halfway out of Ren's body. It shook its massive head.
"Once a Tailed Beast is extracted, a Jinchuriki has but one path... death. Even the Uzumaki clan, with their Sage-like vitality, cannot resist this fate."
"However..."
A sinister, bloody grin split the Sage's maw.
"Fortunately, I have long since prepared a backup! In this situation, I shall sacrifice the pawn. Using his undying trait and that artificial beast, I will foster a soulless vessel for my own use. This artifact's power will actually help me achieve a perfect theft!"
"It saves me the trouble of dealing with the brat further. Those Sharingan are a nuisance anyway—tasteless to eat, yet a pity to throw away."
With a cold flash of its eyes, the Sage's pupils glowed with blinding intensity.
"Sage Art: Transmitting the Strange Shadow!"
On the other side, in Kumogakure:
Atop the crumbling ruins of the Raikage Building, Orochimaru stood with arms crossed within the mouth of the Eight-Headed Serpent (Yamata-no-Orochi). He looked down with indifference at the smoke-filled ruins and the Kumo ninja who were trembling as they pushed a massive object toward him.
Having been caught off-guard, the Cloud ninja were only now organizing a counterattack. But since their main force, the Third Raikage, and the two Jinchuriki were all away, the remaining defenses were, in Orochimaru's eyes, pathetic.
However, there are always exceptions.
"What... is that thing?" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
The object consisted of three thick iron barrels mounted on a cylindrical frame. It featured various recoil mechanisms, aiming gears, and a complex stabilizer system. It looked like a refined version of the primitive "cannons" that had recently emerged in the shinobi world.
Compared to standard artillery, this thing was a work of art—a seamless integration of steel components that possessed an eerie beauty.
Usually, manually aimed cannons couldn't hit a swift ninja, and their explosive-tag payloads couldn't even scratch the first gate of his Triple Rashomon. Orochimaru had studied gunpowder briefly but discarded it after realizing it was far inferior to Fire Style.
Seeing Kumo wheel this out, he sighed hoarsely.
"Shinobi relying on such external toys... Kumogakure is truly at its wit's end."
Just as he prepared to command the great serpent to sweep the cannon away, something went wrong. The "Regeneration Power"—the core of this unfinished S-rank Forbidden Jutsu—glitched, causing the Eight-Headed Serpent's movements to falter.
Simultaneously, he sensed the cursed seal he had placed thousands of miles away being triggered. It was the backup he had sewn into Ren Uchiha's Zero-Tails.
Orochimaru frowned. "The forbidden jutsu Body Rebirth is still incomplete. My current materials aren't enough for further development... I still need to find Shinno and get the original scroll."
He shook his head, bit his finger, and slammed his hand into the air.
"Summoning: Triple Rashomon!"
Three massive, demonic gates erupted from the ground! Inherited from the First Hokage's Quintuple Rashomon, these were ultimate defensive walls designed to absorb all attacks.
The first gate absorbed the frontal impact; the second reduced the power; and the third dispersed the pressure. By the time an attack reached the summoner, its power was decimated.
Using Triple Rashomon against a "cannon" that shouldn't even breach the first gate was overkill, but Orochimaru was mainly reacting to the unexpected situation with his disciple. He was giving Kumo a lot of "face" by being this cautious.
Standing behind the gates, Orochimaru closed his eyes to perceive the situation thousands of miles away.
The cursed seal contained a fragment of his soul. It functioned similarly to a Shadow Clone's memory feedback, but at a much higher level.
Soon, Orochimaru's brow quirked.
"The seal on the First Hokage's necklace inside the Zero-Tails has been undone... It looks like the White Snake Sage is making its move."
"Sensing danger, it thinks Ren will die and wants to flee with the prize? Heh heh heh..."
Orochimaru's lips curled into a freezing smirk.
"An 'Immortal,' yet as impatient as a fool."
Earlier, when the White Snake Sage had taught Ren the Sage Art: Transmitting the Strange Shadow, Ren had passed that information to Orochimaru through Uchiha channels. Orochimaru hadn't replied or given instructions because he had already placed his pieces on the board.
Every gift from destiny comes with a price.
When Ren accepted the Sage's power back at the Sunagakure battlefield, he had been marked. Orochimaru, a master of such arts, had known this. Being a part of the Cursed Seal of Heaven, he was sensitive to any foreign power within it.
The White Snake Sage had hidden its consciousness within the Sage chakra of the cat's eye gemstone, thinking it was undetected. But after Ren was hospitalized in Konoha following the Nine-Tails incident, Orochimaru's examination had laid the Sage's scheme bare.
Though he didn't know the Sage's exact plan then, he had planted a countermeasure: The Hashirama cells implanted in the Zero-Tails and the First Hokage's necklace he had 'borrowed' from Tsunade!
With a "Tsunade-trap" like Ren Uchiha, Orochimaru only had to ask, and Tsunade—worried about the necklace's "curse"—hadn't refused. Then, he had blackmailed Danzo for Yamato, the only one capable of triggering the necklace's hidden power.
Orochimaru had deduced exactly what the Sage wanted: To use the "Dragon-half" persona to seize Ren's body, become the new Jinchuriki, use the Body Rebirth jutsu to create a new heart, and then use the Amber Purifying Pot to break free of the Eight Trigrams Seal and flee to the Dragon Vein in the Land of Wind to complete its ascension.
"Heh heh heh... you want to run? Did you ask me first?"
Orochimaru snapped his golden eyes open! He raised his left hand, forming a seal—a "Zero" character appeared in his palm!
"Hokage-style Sixty-Year-Era Technique: Kakuan-Entering-Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands!"
However...
In the next instant, a massive, golden beam of light erupted from the Kumogakure lines!
As countless Kumo ninja fell, their chakra drained dry by the "Chakra Cannon" until they were shriveled corpses, the blast roared forth!
—BOOM!!
This shot, carrying the fury, will, and desperation of Kumogakure, tore through the air. It pulverized Orochimaru's Triple Rashomon one by one, shattering them like glass!
Orochimaru's smirk froze. His pupils shrank in terror as he watched his ultimate defense be annihilated.
The golden beam punched through the gates and, without losing momentum, vaporized two of the Eight-Headed Serpent's heads right beside him.
"What... what the hell is that!?"
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