"What's going on? Is this a Genjutsu?"
Yakushi Kabuto's heart was greatly alarmed.
Not only his body, but even his fingers couldn't bend!
It was as if he was completely bound from the inside out by invisible, icy chains.
Yakushi Kabuto managed to turn his eyes, and from the corner of his eye, he saw that under the dim oil lamp, his own shadow projected on the stone wall was firmly pinned down and devoured by another deeper, more solid dark shadow!
"Shadow Imitation Jutsu?!"
"No! That's not right—this feeling—it's far colder, far more absolute than the Shadow Imitation Jutsu! It's like my soul has been frozen!"
"Who?!"
Orochimaru also instantly noticed the abnormality!
Besides Yakushi Kabuto, he was, of course, also bound by the shadow.
Orochimaru rolled his eyes, his golden snake pupils warily scanning his surroundings, wanting to forcibly disperse the small white snakes that made up his body, but unfortunately, every single shadow of the small white snakes was tightly bound.
The Nara clan's Shadow Imitation Jutsu could never achieve this.
The next moment.
Yakushi Kabuto's shadow, reflected on the stone wall, rippled like water, and a figure silently and slowly rose from Yakushi Kabuto's shadow.
A standard Konoha Village green vest, short golden hair, and serene blue eyes that were terrifyingly calm under the dim light—it was Uzumaki Naruto!
"You?! Impossible!!"
"Nine-Tailed Fox brat—"
Orochimaru's pupils constricted, and he cried out in alarm.
He had clearly fled dozens of kilometers and entered such a secret stronghold.
How could the opponent track him down so precisely, so eerily?!
And this method of appearing from a shadow—
It made Orochimaru involuntarily think of a certain guy.
But why would Naruto, who had lived in Konoha Village since he was young, know such a secret jutsu?
Seeing Naruto appear out of thin air, Yakushi Kabuto was even more shocked and perplexed.
He didn't understand why Naruto would emerge from his shadow.
Naruto ignored Orochimaru's shock and Yakushi Kabuto's fear.
His gaze calmly fell upon Orochimaru, his eyes like a god looking down on struggling ants, without anger, without killing intent, only an absolute, suffocating sense of control.
"I thought about it, an unstable element like you is better kept firmly in hand."
Naruto's voice was crystal clear in the silent cave, carrying a strange echo.
"In hand?!"
A strange, eerie feeling arose in Orochimaru's heart.
He was curious how Naruto would "keep him in hand," but he also strangely felt that Naruto seemed capable of doing it.
Naruto walked in front of Orochimaru, his back to Yakushi Kabuto, and slowly raised his right hand.
His right index and middle fingers were joined, and he lightly touched the air in front of his right eye.
"Hmph—!"
An indescribable, terrifying surge of ocular power, as if from the deepest source of the soul, instantly permeated the entire cave!
The air seemed to become thick and heavy!
The oil lamp's flame flickered wildly, on the verge of extinguishing!
In Naruto's eye socket, the azure mist gradually receded, replaced by a Mangekyo Sharingan emitting an eerie crimson light, slowly emerging!
The pattern in that eye was complex, twisted, ancient, and filled with a supreme will, like controlling destiny—
It was Uchiha Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan!
"This is a Sharingan?! No—. Impossible! This power—"
Orochimaru's heart was shaken, his golden vertical pupils contracting violently.
As an expert in researching forbidden jutsus and Bloodline Limits, he instantly recognized the origin of that eye and the meaning represented by its pattern.
Because of this, Orochimaru's brain was even more shocked and confused.
He couldn't connect the Mangekyo Sharingan with the Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki.
Why would the Sharingan he coveted appear on Uzumaki Naruto?
A Nine-Tailed Jinchuriki possessing the Mangekyo Sharingan.
Such a monster—
Who on earth cultivated him!!!
"Has Konoha Village gone mad?"
"Wait… besides Uchiha Itachi, who else possesses the Mangekyo Sharingan?!"
Thousands of thoughts flashed through Orochimaru's mind, and he realized something, but it was already too late.
He wanted to close his eyes, to turn his head, but that illusory eye seemed to possess infinite suction, firmly locking all his will!
"Look into my eyes, Orochimaru."
Naruto's voice was like a final judgment, calm but unquestionable.
The strongest Genjutsu—Kotoamatsukami, activated!
"Buzz—!!"
A golden light suddenly flared in the crimson eye!
An invisible, yet terrifying mental power capable of rewriting the essence of the soul, like a bursting flood, disregarded the spatial distance and struck Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's will shattered instantly like a fragile glass mirror under the gaze of that eerie Mangekyo, countless fragments swirling back!
The next moment, Orochimaru's consciousness was in a silent, movie-like Genjutsu space, with boundless land and hundreds of crucifixes standing upright.
Looking up at the sky, a giant blood-red moon hung high, the sole existence.
That was—the Mangekyo Sharingan!
The giant blood-red moon emitted circles of golden light, like a spiritual brainwashing, repeatedly scouring Orochimaru's mind, implanting the consciousness set by Naruto into Orochimaru's soul core, subtly changing him.
This transformation process actually only took a brief moment, and it could directly invade the opponent's brain and modify their will without being detected.
So, from Yakushi Kabuto's perspective, Naruto merely stood in front of Orochimaru for a moment and did nothing.
Orochimaru himself didn't realize that he had fallen into a Genjutsu and had his will modified.
After activating Kotoamatsukami, the ocular power receded like a tide, Naruto's right Mangekyo Sharingan gradually dissipated, the crimson color replaced by azure, returning to normal.
Naruto turned and looked at Yakushi Kabuto again.
"Should I use Kotoamatsukami on him?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.
"Normally, Kotoamatsukami requires a cooldown of over a decade for each use, but my Naruto cells, like Senju cells, can greatly reduce Kotoamatsukami's cooldown, essentially allowing it to be used once every half a day."
"However, without activating the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, the lifespan of the eyes is always limited. Is it necessary to waste a use of Kotoamatsukami for Yakushi Kabuto?"
After Orochimaru was sealed by Uchiha Itachi's Totsuka Blade, Yakushi Kabuto began to act freely.
But now Orochimaru was not only alive but also controlled by Naruto, and Yakushi Kabuto was still under Orochimaru's spell, so he naturally wouldn't break free from control.
Inside the cave, there was a deathly silence.
Only the crackling of the oil lamp and the breathing of Orochimaru and Yakushi Kabuto could be heard.
Yakushi Kabuto was still pinned in place, unable to move, and when he saw Naruto's gaze on him, it was exactly like a terrifying male lion or tiger observing today's dinner.
"What—what do you want?!"