Chapter 193: Iron Man: Orochimaru! Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!
Rooftop of the Finals Venue.
The wind howled. Orochimaru held Hiruzen Sarutobi hostage, his golden snake eyes swirling with an unreadable light. The atmosphere was stiflingly oppressive.
"Orochimaru!" Hiruzen's voice was calm. "Is your goal Konoha Village, or the Sharingan?!"
Orochimaru let out a low chuckle, as if he had heard something incredibly amusing.
"Konoha Village?" He tilted his head slightly, his tone dripping with unconcealed disdain. "Is something like that… really so important?"
His snake eyes narrowed, flashing with greed. "However, the Sharingan is indeed something I need. That little brat Sasuke Uchiha's wish has given me so many precious materials. And the Hyuga's Byakugan… I've discovered some interesting things there too."
His tone shifted, his cold gaze refocusing on Hiruzen. "In the end, Sensei, it was your pathetic dullness that led to this situation."
Hiruzen's eyes dimmed. "This old man knew this day would come sooner or later. But taking my head won't be so easy!"
Orochimaru's voice was soft, yet carried an undeniable cruelty. "You will die here, Sensei."
Strangely, as he said this, tears silently welled up in the corners of Orochimaru's eyes. Hiruzen keenly caught this fleeting anomaly.
He snorted. "What is it? Are you so happy you're crying? Or, is it because you have to kill me, your teacher, that you feel a little sadness after all?"
Orochimaru slowly raised his other hand, holding a sharp shuriken between his fingertips, and stabbed it into his own palm. Blood oozed out.
He seemed not to feel the pain, then exaggeratedly yawned. "Ah—I've been excited for a while now. Now, I can finally go wild and wake up completely."
Hiruzen looked at his once most promising student with complex eyes. "I knew you would say that. I know you were never a man driven by hatred. For you, there is neither a clear purpose nor a compelling motive."
Hearing this, Orochimaru let out a hissing laugh, like the low growl of a snake before striking.
"Well… if you insist I say something—" He drew out his words, a sickly light flickering in his snake eyes. "It's just… seeing things move is fun. If nothing moves, isn't that too boring?"
His gaze turned to the chaotic village below and the roar of battle rising from the distant forest.
"A windmill that doesn't turn… although sometimes nice to look at when you're in a good mood… actually has no value existing forever. Now, I want to use the 'wind' of destroying Konoha to make the 'windmill' spin rapidly!"
He, Orochimaru, would become the gale that pushed the stagnant gears forward!
Hiruzen looked at his former student and sighed. "You haven't changed a bit…"
Before his words faded, Tayuya of the Sound Four appeared at the other end of the roof.
"Lord Orochimaru, your armor."
She placed a box gleaming with metallic luster and dark patterns on the ground. The lid opened silently.
Click-clack—
Modular armor plates shot out as if alive, guided by complex mechanical arms and energy threads, rapidly and precisely attaching to Orochimaru's body!
In the blink of an eye, a grotesque and magnificent battle armor covered Orochimaru entirely!
The helmet was shaped like a fierce snake head, with multi-prism eye lenses glowing an eerie red. The torso and shoulder armor were layered, and several flexible mechanical snake tentacles with small muzzles at the ends extended from the shoulders. The joints mimicked the flexibility and power of a snake, yet were filled with mechanical precision and explosive force. Clear energy conduits ran like purple-black blood vessels across the armor's surface, and an ominous energy core on the chest emitted a sickly green glow. Some parts of the armor even had the texture of hardened biological tissue, as if the battle suit itself were a living thing!
Orochimaru gently stroked the cold plating on his arm, letting out a satisfied sigh, almost intoxicated.
"Sensei, look at these little toys I invented in the Hidden Sound. Aren't they much more interesting than your old dogmas?"
As he finished speaking, several muzzles on the armor's shoulders suddenly lit up!
Pew! Pew! Pew!
Several small energy beams shot out, precisely bombarding the ground and walls around Hiruzen! Debris flew, and dust rose! The powerful force shook the roof beneath Hiruzen's feet!
"Not finished yet, Sensei." Orochimaru chuckled darkly.
The armor on his wrists and back suddenly popped open, and six black metal rods glowing with ominous runes shot out!
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The six rods embedded themselves precisely into the ground around the roof at speeds invisible to the naked eye!
VMMMM—!
Red energy barriers instantly rose, forming an airtight hexagonal prism barrier, completely trapping Orochimaru and Hiruzen inside!
"Four Red Yang Formation? No… this is—Six Red Yang Formation!"
Hiruzen's expression changed drastically. "To erect such a powerful barrier alone—"
Before he could finish his shocked sentence, Orochimaru had completed the hand seals. Or rather, the "battle armor" had automatically completed the jutsu for him.
"Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Rumble—!
The entire roof, and even the building below, began to shake violently! Countless thick, gnarled trees burst from the ground, growing madly, intertwining to form an oppressive forest of death!
Hiruzen stared at this familiar yet strange scene, feeling the pure and majestic Wood Style chakra, his eyes filled with disbelief. "This power… the First Hokage's Wood Style secret technique?! Orochimaru, what have you—"
"Heh heh heh…" Orochimaru pressed a finger against the lips of his grotesque faceplate, hissing with laughter. "Sensei, it's too early to be surprised… The show has just begun!"
Outside the Barrier.
Konoha's ninja had already noticed the drastic change atop the Hokage building and the surging chakra. Shisui Uchiha's veins bulged, the Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes spinning rapidly!
"Lord Hokage!"
Green chakra energy surged into the sky, condensing into a giant energy warrior wielding a spiral sword!
Susanoo!
"Break open for me!!!"
Shisui roared, the giant energy sword carrying unmatched might, preparing to slash at the red Six Red Yang Formation!
However, just moments before the Susanoo's blade touched the barrier! A piercing shriek tore through the air from the sky!
A massive shadow fell like a mountain!
"What is that?!"
The ninja fighting on the ground looked up in horror.
A colossal humanoid weapon, tens of meters tall, descended from the sky with the force of a thunderbolt! It was a mecha covered entirely in pale white bone armor, with bones piercing through or extending into heavy plating!
Bloodline Mecha Unit 01: Shikotsumyaku!
Inside the cockpit, Kimimaro's pale face was expressionless. Facing the devastating Susanoo slash, the bloodline mecha did not dodge.
Its right arm raised abruptly, the massive bone arm guard transforming into an even larger bone blade, wrapped in immense chakra, meeting the attack head-on!
CLANG—!!!!!
A deafening clash of metal and energy resounded through the clouds! Terrifying shockwaves blasted outwards wildly, shaking the buildings below to their foundations! The full-power strike of the Susanoo was forcibly blocked by this steel god descending from the heavens!
Inside the Barrier.
Hiruzen watched everything happening outside through the red energy wall. When he saw the giant humanoid weapon contending with the Susanoo, the battle-hardened Third Hokage revealed a look of incomprehensible horror.
"Th-that… what kind of monster is that?!"
His voice trembled with extreme shock.
Seeing the continuous shock, confusion, incomprehension, and now deep fear on the face of his once beloved teacher, Orochimaru's snake eyes flickered with unprecedented satisfaction and twisted pleasure.
"Heh heh heh… Hahahahahaha!"
He laughed aloud, the sound even more eerie and insane under the grotesque faceplate.
"Sensei! The times have changed!"