The moment Kyōka Suigetsu pierced through Orochimaru's collarbone and throat,
Yakushi Kabuto and the Otonin behind him widened their eyes in shock.
But the body that had been skewered collapsed into sludge, melting into the ground like mud.
In the next instant, a new Orochimaru slithered out from the husk, his form twisting with a foul stench. He turned his golden eyes toward Aizen and chuckled softly.
"What an impressive Body Flicker Technique… it reminds me of someone I fought long ago."
"Earth Style · Mainland Return!"
Jirōbō roared, slamming his hands together.
Massive stone slabs erupted from both sides of Aizen, crashing together like two colossal palms meant to crush him.
Aizen cast him only a cold glance. That single look sent Jirōbō stumbling back in fright.
The next moment, Aizen drove Kyōka Suigetsu's blade into the ground at his feet.
Boom!!
Silver light flared outward, erupting into a spiraling storm of cutting air, as if countless blades whirled in every direction. The enormous rock slabs shattered into fragments before they could close in.
"What… what is this power!?"
Kidōmaru and the others shielded themselves as their curse marks flared to life, protecting their bodies.
At this age, they were no stronger than the freshly graduated genin like Naruto and his peers in the original timeline. Even with their curse seals, aside from Kimimaro, the best of them barely reached elite Chūnin level.
Against this kind of battle, they had no place.
"That's sword pressure…"
Kabuto crossed his arms to defend, but even so, the pressure tore his clothes and left blood dripping down his body.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
"So… the first person since White Fang who could unleash sword pressure of this magnitude."
He bit his thumbs, then slammed his hands against the ground.
"Triple Rashōmon!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Three colossal demonic gates rose at once, forming a triangular fortress around Aizen.
Orochimaru's voice dropped to a chilling murmur:
"I won't keep this body intact, but as long as the skin survives… it's enough. Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
His arms erupted into a writhing mass of serpents, which dove into the earth and surged upward beneath Aizen's feet.
Now, surrounded by the Triple Rashōmon and assaulted from below, an ordinary shinobi would have been swallowed whole—bitten apart in endless terror.
But Aizen only sneered.
"Such petty tricks… too small to use against me."
Rumble!!
Reiatsu exploded outward, pressing down like a crushing storm. The sheer weight of it left Kimimaro and the rest gasping for breath.
The snakes writhing at his feet were annihilated, reduced to blood by the sheer force alone.
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply.
"Kage-level…!"
Among the Five Great Nations, the Land of Wind was the harshest, and even its Kazekage's children were considered prodigies during the Chūnin Exams. Yet their true military strength was thin.
That Aizen was Kage-level did not shock Orochimaru. What shook him was this:
The second-in-command of Sunagakure already surpassed Rasa, the Fourth Kazekage.
Orochimaru had crossed blades with Rasa during the Third Shinobi War. To him, the man was unimpressive. Magnet Release, with its control of gold dust and sand, was destructive in large-scale battles against weaker shinobi, but against true Kage-level opponents, it lacked flexibility. Rasa was nowhere near the level his son Gaara would one day reach.
But now, here stood Aizen—more powerful than the Kazekage himself.
"Disappear."
Aizen twisted his wrist.
A crescent of sword energy ripped outward, cleaving through the Triple Rashōmon as though it were paper.
The Otonin gasped.
"He cut through the defense known as Orochimaru-sama's strongest…!"
Orochimaru's golden eyes glinted.
"In my plan, he's an indispensable piece. I can't expose my true identity here… not yet."
Even so, Aizen was already upon him.
Orochimaru's arms morphed into two massive serpents, lunging to bite down on Kyōka Suigetsu.
But before their fangs could touch the blade, invisible sword pressure split their jaws apart, severing them cleanly.
"Striking Shadow Snake Explosion!"
Orochimaru roared.
The severed serpents swelled grotesquely, ready to detonate in a suicidal blast.
Boom!!!
The twin pythons exploded, shockwaves tearing through the clearing and forcing the Otonin to retreat even further.