Orochimaru's regenerative ability ranked among the very top in the ninja world.
Even if all his bones were shattered, his organs turned to meat paste, and his brain stirred like tofu pudding… as long as he had three to four seconds, through countless human experiments and prior injections and modifications, his body would begin repairing itself on its own.
If he encountered a powerful enemy and went all out, the repair process could even be shortened by a second.
But...
Ryosuke raised a single finger and pointed at Orochimaru.
"To blow you up, it won't even take one second."
Endless fear enveloped Orochimaru, "Don't—"
The voice was cut off abruptly.
Because a roar exploded through the sky before his begging could even finish.
"ORA!"
Star Platinum gripped Orochimaru's neck with one hand, and raised its right fist high.
With its newly advanced third-stage strength and speed unleashed in full, "ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
"ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA! ORA!"
In less than half a second, Orochimaru's body was completely destroyed. No, not just his body, Star Platinum's fists were wrapped in threads of wind and thunder power, exactly the Ripple and natural energy that came from Ryosuke.
These two forces, carried by Star Platinum's punches, pierced Orochimaru's skin and muscles, directly affecting him at the cellular level.
Orochimaru was horrified to find that the cellular regeneration ability he had always prided himself on was becoming... utterly chaotic!
Some of his cells were regenerating at extreme speed by burning through his lifespan.
Some cells suddenly died in clumps.
Others mutated during regeneration, transforming into a type of cell capable of infinite proliferation.
If Orochimaru had knowledge of modern medicine, he would know, those things are called cancer cells.
Even if Ryosuke didn't kill him, with the medical knowledge in the world of Naruto, curing cancer was near impossible. One of Orochimaru's feet was already in the grave. The other one, would follow after enduring the torment of cancer.
But that day would never come.
Ryosuke would personally grant him death.
According to Orochimaru's own philosophy of life, "Rather than suffering, I grant them death myself." He should be thanking Ryosuke.
In despair, Orochimaru raised his head and looked toward Kunitsukami.
"You dare!"
Kunitsukami roared, her mouth splitting open to the back of her head. Her once-beautiful face took on the features of a venomous snake.
Her physical form became long and slender, coiling above the sky, a pearl in her mouth. If not for her lack of feet, she truly resembled a real dragon.
Kunitsukami hovered in the sky, if she lunged forward with her body, there wouldn't be time to save Orochimaru, and close combat wasn't her specialty.
What she was most skilled in was genjutsu.
"Sage Art, Illusory Snake Shadows!"
Vast amounts of sage chakra, amplified by the green Dragon-Snake Pearl, activated nearly instantly. Countless phantom green snakes ignored distance and defenses, drilling into everyone's eyes on the battlefield.
Star Platinum's fists struck empty air.
Orochimaru vanished.
The village, Jiraiya, and Sasuke vanished as well.
Ryosuke stood inside a resplendent palace.
He had forgotten many things. His awareness was hazy, like in a dream.
He only felt an overwhelming hunger.
'If only there were food…'
As that thought emerged, Ryosuke saw the magnificent palace suddenly fill with a feast of delicacies from the mountains and seas.
He walked forward and was about to reach out.
Watching from above, Kunitsukami curled her lips into a smile.
Kunitsukami's sage art genjutsu was incredibly strange and powerful. Its strength lay in confusing the target's awareness. In modern psychological terms, it suppressed the superego and ego, amplifying the id.
Once the "id" accepted the illusion's temptation, it would break the "rules," and both body and soul would become bound to Kunitsukami, like a delicious little matcha cake, ready to be swallowed whole.
"Eat it, eat it!"
But just as Ryosuke's hand was about to touch the food, it stopped.
"This isn't what I want," Ryosuke said.
Kunitsukami's smile froze on her face, but she quickly released more power. The banquet vanished.
A throne appeared behind Ryosuke. Before him, hundreds of officials prostrated themselves, chanting praises to the great king.
Ryosuke silently watched them. "This isn't what I want either."
Kunitsukami's lips twitched. Her snake fangs ground with a grating noise. The illusion changed again, now revealing three beautiful women with not a stitch of clothing. They leaned in, wrapping themselves around Ryosuke's arms, their full chests rubbing against him.
Kunitsukami swallowed hard and stared nervously at Ryosuke, terrified of hearing the same answer again.
But… no reaction.
"Ha, men, always men!"
She waited for Ryosuke to make a move.
But Ryosuke simply glanced at the three women and sighed helplessly.
He raised his head. His gaze pierced through the illusion, landing directly on the hidden and cloaked Kunitsukami. He softly said, "Your taste… is this all it amounts to?"
"W-What?"
"And this still isn't what I want."
Ryosuke stretched out his hand. The Hidden Purple vines pierced through layer after layer of illusion and firmly bound the floating Kunitsukami.
Thunder cracked. Ripple energy surged forward.
"Ahhh!"
The scorching Ripple made Kunitsukami scream repeatedly. An irresistible power from the other end of the vine dragged her toward Ryosuke, roughly, without her consent.
"What the hell do you actually want?!"
After repeated failures and physical agony, the serpent sage who had cultivated for hundreds of years finally cursed aloud.
At the end of the vine, Ryosuke grabbed Kunitsukami's head and pulled her face close to his.
"What I want, you can't give."
At this distance, under the influence of the sage art illusion, their souls clashed slightly.
Kunitsukami saw fragments of Ryosuke's thoughts, glimpsed his desires, "Wipe out kingdoms, unify the land… Visit the humble thatched cottage three times, and…"
"A single spark can set the plains ablaze!"
Kunitsukami's eyes no longer held the disdain of a superior being toward humanity. Instead, they were filled with fear, panic, and confusion. She looked into Ryosuke's calm gaze and seemed to hear him say,
'That kind of ambition, that kind of ideal, is that something a mere snake demon like you can touch? Can even dare to touch?'
"AAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
Blood poured from Kunitsukami's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears. The illusion shattered completely.
Ryosuke returned to the village.
Though the illusion seemed complex, it had all occurred in an instant. At that moment, Orochimaru was crawling like a dying snake, dragging himself over ten meters away from Ryosuke.
Seeing Ryosuke regain clarity, Orochimaru was so terrified his soul almost left his body. He opened his mouth and dug a hole in the ground to dive into.
This distance exceeded Star Platinum's attack range. With Orochimaru's expertise in escape, by the time Ryosuke caught up, he'd be gone for sure.
"Jiraiya!" Ryosuke shouted.
Jiraiya was just two steps away from Orochimaru. He could absolutely kill him before he entered the hole, or at the very least, stall him for half a second, long enough for Ryosuke to catch up.
But Jiraiya stood frozen, the kunai in his hand, no matter what, he couldn't throw it.
Orochimaru tunneled into the ground. A second later, Ryosuke arrived in a gust of wind and thunder, smashing a deep crater into the earth.
But Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen.
Then came a groan of pain from behind. Orochimaru had emerged like a venomous snake from the other side, bit Sasuke on the neck, and quickly escaped back underground before Ryosuke could catch him.
He vanished without a trace.
Everything had happened too fast.
It wasn't until Ryosuke picked up Sasuke and a gust of wind blew across Jiraiya's face that the legendary Sannin finally snapped out of it.
He turned to Ryosuke and was just about to speak.
Star Platinum appeared and gripped Jiraiya's face. Its fingers began to slowly tighten.
Ryosuke, with his back turned to Jiraiya, spoke with a voice colder than ice, "Give me one reason not to kill you."
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