In the valley, Orochimaru was directing his subordinates to seal away various precious equipment in preparation for relocation.
"They've arrived. Juugo, go prepare the cannon fodder for their final performance."Orochimaru gave his subordinates a sinister order while preparing to relocate. However, at that moment, his movements suddenly paused.
"An unfamiliar chakra has triggered the barrier in the southwest direction. Kimimaro, go check it out."
"Yes." A pale, handsome youth stood up and vanished from the room using the Body Flicker Technique.
Kimimaro moved extremely fast, and the valley itself wasn't very large. Within a few breaths, he arrived at the barrier in the southwest.
But to his surprise, he saw no intruders. The barrier was completely intact, and the entire scene appeared utterly normal.
No—there was one anomaly. The only irregularity was a single leaf.
When Kimimaro arrived, the leaf was just falling from the air. At first, he paid it no mind. But upon closer inspection, the leaf's descent was unnatural.
It was descending slowly, swaying symmetrically at a constant speed.
In nature, leaves falling from the air would drift unpredictably. So this leaf was clearly out of place.
Kimimaro grew a layer of bony armor on his hand for protection, then reached out and caught the leaf.
Sure enough, there was writing on it.
His interest piqued, Kimimaro immediately returned and handed the leaf to Orochimaru.
Meanwhile, outside the valley, the squad was making final preparations. At this point, each member needed to state their specialties so the team leader could assign combat roles.
It was Aoba's turn.
"I specialize in swordsmanship, combining it with Wind Release in my combat style. I excel in mid-to-short-range engagements."
At midnight, the assault began.
A Root ninja disabled the surrounding barrier, and the nine infiltrators filed in.
But the next moment, a barrage of shuriken and kunai came flying toward them.
"Enemy attack!" someone in the base shouted.
Just like that, the ambush turned into a direct confrontation.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball…"
The Anbu's jutsu specialist led with a Great Fireball. Though famously dubbed the "technique that never hits," it worked well for clearing paths and restricting movement.
Meanwhile, Hayate Gekko and Aoba, as the primary attackers, charged straight in along the path opened by the fireball.
A Root ninja followed closely behind them.
From the outset, Aoba could clearly sense that everyone on their side was holding back.
None of them were fools. Orochimaru had evaded capture for years—how could they possibly succeed so easily?
Moreover, Orochimaru's status was complicated. Though a rogue ninja, he was also the Third Hokage's former student and had murky ties to Root.
Given such a tangled background, even if they could capture him, most would think twice.
In reality, when the battle began, Aoba was the only one who recklessly charged straight into the base like a hothead.
What greeted him was a horde of monsters—literal monsters, with grotesquely twisted limbs and faces.
Yet these creatures moved swiftly, many of their limbs morphing into weapon-like forms. Each possessed the combat ability of a genin.
It seemed Orochimaru had already begun researching the Cursed Seal. However, at this stage, the seal was likely still in its early phases. These monsters were probably failed experiments from the Cursed Seal research.Orochimaru was a truly ruthless man, because the curse mark experiments required subjects who possessed Chakra. The group of monsters before them were actually dozens of potential ninja.
In Konoha, this would have been an entire class of new recruits. But under Orochimaru, they had all been reduced to mere test subjects.
Aoba didn't hesitate for even a moment. His right hand lifted, and a long sword appeared in his grip.
The monster in front of him had just begun to swing its blade-like arm in attack when—in the blink of an eye—Aoba had already vanished from sight.
When it turned its head, it saw that its opponent had appeared behind it. Except… only its upper body had turned. Its lower half remained in place. The motion cleanly severed its torso from its legs.
So fast… That was the last thought left in its fading consciousness.
Still sprinting at blinding speed, Aoba swung his long sword forward in a draw-cut motion.
Under the moonlight, the blade traced a dazzling arc. Then, at the apex of that arc, a swirling blade of wind—composed of Wind Release Chakra and compressed air—manifested.
It expanded into a massive crescent-shaped wind blade, slashing straight ahead.
This was Aoba's signature ninja combat technique—a fusion of Wind Release and swordsmanship, allowing him to unleash mid-range attacks akin to sword energy.
These strikes were swift, simple, and brutally efficient, packing devastating lethality. At least in this era, against ordinary ninja, they were more than enough. Later, when everyone was piloting mechs, such techniques would be considered obsolete.
The dozen or so monsters on the other side didn't even have time to react before they felt an icy force slice through their bodies.
Then, Aoba's figure shot straight through their defensive line, leaving behind a trail of severed limbs and agonized screams.
"Incredible…" murmured Hayate Gekko from a short distance away.
He wasn't familiar with Aoba, but he knew the man was renowned for his swordsmanship. During this mission, Hayate had secretly harbored thoughts of testing his own skills against him.
But after witnessing that display, he abandoned the idea entirely.
It wasn't that he believed Aoba was necessarily stronger than him. Rather, he recognized that Aoba's path was fundamentally different from his own.
Konoha's Crescent Moon Dance was a sword technique that incorporated genjutsu—flashy yet deadly.
Aoba, however, was different. In Hayate's eyes, Aoba's swordsmanship was extremely simple, almost to the point of being formless.
His fighting style likely originated from the samurai's iaijutsu. But after Aoba integrated Chakra into it, he developed those wind blade attacks, vastly extending the range of his draw cuts.
Combined with his own high-speed movement, this simple technique became extraordinarily lethal.
It was a sword style that discarded all superfluous flourishes, focusing solely on killing. Completely different from the Crescent Moon Dance.
Aoba tore through the enemy line like a storm, breaking past the monsters in mere moments. His teammates behind him exchanged bewildered glances.
They had all been planning to take it easy—was he really going all out like this, making the rest of them look like fools?
But regardless, Aoba had already charged in. If they didn't follow, it would be inexcusable. So, gritting their teeth, they rushed forward as well.
Then, in the next instant—something massive erupted from the darkness, soaring into the sky. A tremendous force swept through the building ahead, shattering it apart.
Amid the rain of debris, the moonlight faintly revealed the silhouette of an enormous serpent's tail.Along with the flying snake tail, Aoba's figure was also sent flying. He was directly struck dozens of meters away by the serpent's tail, landing on the opposite side far from the group.
At that moment, Orochimaru stood atop the giant snake's head, appearing before everyone.
"!!!"