Shamrock and Uta looked inside the cuboid barrier formed by them using the Boundless Fire Bolt Prison Technique. Inside, Shiore was being relentlessly bombarded by beams of fire and lightning formed from the combination of Uta's lightning chakra and Shamrock's fire chakra. The entire barrier flickered violently with red and blue light, thunder cracking inside the prison while the smell of burnt flesh and scorched air spread around them.
Finally, when the effect of the Boundless Fire Bolt Prison was gone, the cuboid barrier trapping Shiore slowly started receding before disappearing completely. At the same time, both Shamrock's and Uta's shadow clones vanished in clouds of white smoke.
Both Shamrock and Uta looked intently toward the center.
Shiore's body was now completely blackened, charred beyond recognition, with black smoke continuously rising from his body. The ground beneath him had cracked from the heat, and faint sparks still danced around his burnt figure.
Seeing Shiore's charred body, both Shamrock and Uta felt relieved and happy. It was not just because of his appearance, but also because when they sensed Shiore's life force using their Observation Haki, they found that this person was dying.
Clearly, they had managed to defeat a very difficult opponent—someone far more powerful than either of them in a one-versus-one battle.
We actually did it...
Just as both of them were rejoicing, suddenly they saw something that froze them in place.
Their smiles vanished.
The charred body of Shiore suddenly moved.
Then, his mouth opened.
It opened wider.
And wider.
Soon, it looked unnatural, as two hands were pushing his jaw apart from inside. The sound of cracking bones echoed in the air as his mouth stretched impossibly wide.
As soon as the mouth was wide enough, something inside moved.
A person slowly crawled out from inside Shiore's body.
Both Shamrock and Uta's eyes widened.
The figure emerging from within had pure white skin. Thick mucus covered his body, slowly sliding off him as he straightened himself up. He stood there silently while strands of slime dripped onto the scorched ground below.
Then, slowly, he opened his eyes.
Snake-like eyes.
Those cold, inhuman eyes were now staring directly at both Shamrock and Uta.
Uta looked towards this person, amazement clear in her voice as she said, "This technique of substitution... this face... this is definitely Orochimaru. You are one of the legendary Sannin, Orochimaru, right?"
As soon as Orochimaru heard Uta's words, a smug smile slowly spread across his pale face. His snake-like eyes narrowed slightly, and there was clear pride in his voice as he replied, "So, the daughter of the Uzukage knows about me and can recognize me immediately. Very few in the current generation can recognize me."
The mucus covering his body continued to drip to the ground while he stood there calmly, almost proudly, as if he was enjoying the shock on their faces.
Seeing the confident smile on Orochimaru's face and hearing the smugness in his voice, Shamrock's expression immediately turned cold.
Being the proud one, Shamrock looked at him with clear disdain in his eyes before speaking in a sharp voice, "Don't be so proud of yourself."
He took a small step forward, his eyes locked directly onto Orochimaru.
"We know you because we were curious. When we used to hear about our father's feats, we also heard about the people who had used vicious tactics against him in his early days just so they could eliminate him."
Shamrock's voice became colder as he continued, "You used those Root ninjas as sacrificial pawns. You tied them up with multiple explosive tags—numerous explosive tags—and tried to use them as suicidal attacks against my father."
A faint sneer appeared on Shamrock's face.
"But even then, you failed."
"Our father still walked out of that battlefield with only a few scratches on him."
For a brief moment, Shamrock's eyes showed clear pride when speaking about his father.
"We were curious to know the face of the person who was still alive even after colliding with our father... even after daring to try and kill him and still being left alive."
His voice turned even more disdainful near the end.
"So don't get ahead of yourself and think of yourself as someone important."
A small gust of wind passed through the scorched battlefield between them.
"In our clan, we don't see you as that."
As soon as Orochimaru heard Shamrock's reasoning, his face visibly distorted with anger.
The smug smile on his face disappeared completely.
For a moment, his pale face twitched, and his snake-like eyes became colder and darker. There was clear fury hidden within them.
And clearly, this was a fact acknowledged by many people.
If Orochimaru had attacked Shanks, who was now the Uzukage of Uzushiogakure and at the peak of his power, Orochimaru would not have survived for long, let alone escaped from the hands of Shanks Uzumaki, the Red-Haired Emperor.
The air around Orochimaru became heavier for a brief moment.
However, despite his anger, Orochimaru soon calmed himself down. He slowly let out a breath, suppressing the rage building inside him.
He knew that he could not allow himself to be angered by the words of a boy.
He could not react so emotionally.
He had not forgotten his goal for coming here to Konoha, and the more time passed, the more complications could occur. He could not afford to waste time now that he had revealed himself completely.
His purpose here was very simple.
He was here specifically because of the talents of Shamrock and Uta.
He wanted them.
He wanted to make them his future vessels and eventually take over their bodies.
Even for Orochimaru, this was definitely a risky move.
But if such a thing could ever be accomplished, then it could only be accomplished here in Konoha.
Because Konoha had a sealing barrier around it which prevented direct space-time teleportation into the village.
That meant even if Shamrock and Uta somehow managed to send a signal for help to their father or to someone from the Uzumaki Clan, it would still take time for them to enter Konoha because of that sealing barrier.
And Orochimaru also knew that Renji was in Konoha.
But even if Renji learned about his presence and came here, Renji did not possess some kind of space-time jutsu to teleport directly to this location. He would still need time to physically reach here.
Because of that, Orochimaru was not that worried.
At least, not yet.
Orochimaru licked his lips as he looked at Shamrock and Uta.
The greed in his eyes had become even more obvious now, like a predator staring at prey he desperately wanted to claim.
And just as Orochimaru was about to elongate his neck and bite Shamrock's neck to place his sealing mark on him for his future possession, his eyes suddenly fell on Uta.
She was holding an ordinary rope in her hand.
It looked simple.
Just an ordinary rope with a knot tied into it.
But the moment Orochimaru saw that rope in Uta's hand, an ominous feeling immediately rose inside him.
His instincts screamed at him.
His snake-like eyes narrowed instantly.
Without hesitation, Orochimaru immediately moved, trying to snatch the rope away from Uta before she could do anything.
But he was too late.
Uta directly stretched the rope and opened the knot.
The knot opened.
And the moment it did, Orochimaru froze.
For a few moments, the entire world seemed to go silent.
Then suddenly—
A humongous amount of pressure exploded out of nowhere.
It came right out of nowhere, simply from the effect of opening that rope.
(A/N: Image in the Para comment.)
The sky above darkened completely as dark clouds gathered at terrifying speed. Huge gusts of wind centered around where Uta and Shamrock were standing. Without affecting either of them, those winds moved violently in a circular pattern around them.
The entire forest began to shake.
Trees bent violently.
Branches snapped apart.
Some trees were directly uprooted while others cracked in half as the raging winds ravaged everything around them.
Then black lightning began to appear.
It tore across the ground and the sky as if reality itself was splitting apart.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
The black lightning came out of nowhere and started tearing through everything in its path.
And wherever that black lightning spread, people immediately started collapsing to the ground.
Some were Chunin Exam candidates.
Some were proctors.
It did not matter who they were.
Wherever the black lightning spread, people directly fainted.
Some collapsed while screaming.
Some fell without even understanding what had happened.
The sheer pressure in the air had become unbearable.
But the biggest effect was on Orochimaru.
Multiple strands of black lightning struck him directly.
The moment they touched him, his entire body froze in place.
Orochimaru could not move.
Not even a finger.
His muscles had gone stiff, his breathing had become erratic, and his snake-like eyes widened in disbelief.
Pain spread through him instantly.
But this was not physical pain.
No.
This pain was something much worse.
It was purely spiritual.
It felt as if invisible hands were tearing directly into his soul.
----
Want to get daily updates and read 20+ chapters? Then join my Patreon!
Patreon Link: https://[email protected]/Hkj822
Join Discord Link: https://discord.gg/c4m4BxQq