"Orochimaru-kun, why don't you turn back?"Ebizo stood there in his loose robes, a bandage wrapped around his head, both hands hidden inside his wide sleeves.
Orochimaru didn't answer right away. His eyes narrowed, scanning the treeline. He could feel them—more than ten shapes lurking just out of sight.
Their side had hundreds of shinobi. On paper, a crushing advantage.But the ones who dared face Konoha's elites here… were hardly pushovers.If Ebizo's squad struck at the weaker chunin and genin, Konoha could lose thirty percent of their force in a heartbeat.
That could swing the whole war in the Land of Rain.
"Then I'll just have to go through you."Orochimaru's hand flicked, shuriken glinting between his fingers, poised to fly.
"Then I'll just have to take some of you with me."Ebizo pulled two scrolls from his sleeve, snapping them open. With a hiss of smoke, ten black puppets appeared, lined up like silent executioners.
The Black Ten. A parody of Bunzaemon's legendary puppets—grim proof of Suna's intent.They weren't here to win. They were here to bleed Konoha dry.
Steel clashed. Orochimaru hurled his shuriken and flashed through hand seals."Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"A storm of spinning steel filled the sky, blotting out the treeline.
The Sand shinobi scrambled, summoning puppets to shield themselves, weaving earth walls, twisting through branches.
And then a voice tore across the battlefield:"KILL!"
The forest erupted into war.
Ebizo didn't dive in with the rest. His sunken eyes were fixed on the soil beneath him.His instincts screamed a second too late—
The ground split. Orochimaru rose like a serpent, jaws unhinged. The Kusanagi Sword shot from his mouth like lightning.
The bull-headed puppet lurched in, its heavy arms crossing to deflect the blade.
But Orochimaru's hands were already writhing, scales forming."Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"Snakes burst forth, lashing past the puppet's guard toward Ebizo.
The old master flicked his chakra threads and sprang into the treetops, nimble despite his age, the ten puppets whirling around him in a cyclone of blades.
Orochimaru moved like water, like smoke, like a snake slipping between cracks. Every time he closed in, Ebizo widened the gap.
And then Ebizo noticed it—The battlefield beyond.
A green blur tore through his forces. Puppets splintered the instant they were touched. Shinobi flew like ragdolls, unable to even form seals before being kicked skyward.
Might Duy. The beast in the green jumpsuit.
And—Orochimaru? Another stood there, summoning a massive purple serpent that thrashed through the Sand's ranks.
His stomach sank."Clones…? No—" he glanced back at the one before him, whose body split into writhing snakes when pierced by shuriken—yet still moved like the real thing.
The trick was too perfect. Which was the original?
Ebizo's puppet let out a sudden, high-pitched shriek."Genjutsu—Phantom Sound!"
A wave of distorted noise rolled over the clearing. Instantly, dozens of Konoha shinobi screamed and lashed out blindly, mistaking trees and allies for enemies. Only the strongest resisted—the elites, Orochimaru, and Duy among them.
The Sand force took the opening, vanishing into the jungle like smoke on the wind.
But Ebizo had no such escape. He found himself flanked—Orochimaru and Duy closing in from both sides.
The "other" Orochimaru and the serpent dissolved into smoke. A trick. All along, this had been the real one.
"New… clone technique," Ebizo muttered, eyes heavy. He hadn't been outplayed like this in years.
And Orochimaru only smiled, sharp and cruel, offering no explanation. Inside, though, he marveled at the ninjutsu Jinzō had given him.
Converting chakra into Yin and Yang attributes. Moving between anchors with a sealing formula. Feeding off the chakra wasted by enemy ninjutsu.
A technique that, as a clone, could maintain endless stamina.As a body, could become bottomless.And with enough enemies, could even confuse and trap them with sensory interference and illusion.
One jutsu. Three deadly effects.
Orochimaru licked his lips.Jinzō-kun… what is going on in that head of yours?
Ebizo exhaled slowly. He glanced at Konoha's forces, their numbers nearly untouched despite his efforts.
The mission was a failure.
But at least… he had seen Orochimaru's trump card.And that green beast.
"Then we'll meet again."Poof. Ebizo was gone, replaced with drifting white smoke.
"Lord Orochimaru!"The Konoha shinobi looked to him for orders, blood still hot from the clash. The Sand had only just fled—should they pursue?
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. "No. We move to the Rain front."
The Land of Rain. The true battlefield.Konoha's lines there were stretched thin, relying on Root to erase leaks, defended mostly by genin.
And far to the west—Hatake Sakumo's front. Jiraiya's sector. The Country of Rivers.No intel. No clarity. And Orochimaru, for the first time in years, felt unease.
Sakumo was strong. But not a leader.Something was wrong.
Very wrong.