Eventually, Kimimaro burst through the Rashōmon gate, drilling a hole straight through the demonic structure and collapsing it.
The five of them regrouped in front of Orochimaru once more, the battlefield settling into a tense, exhausted stillness.
But this time, neither side looked victorious.
Orochimaru was visibly drained, his chakra thinned to scraps, the remaining snakes still converging sluggishly around him and nowhere near the overwhelming force he had commanded minutes ago.
And the five of them…
They were scarcely better.
Their chakra reserves were almost gone, bodies battered, bruised, and trembling from the accumulated strain.
Both sides stood there, panting, bloodied, and on the edge of collapse, one last exchange away from the end, and the outcome could still tilt in either direction.
Orochimaru stared at them and groaned inwardly.
That Uchiha girl had single-handedly ruined every plan and every ounce of momentum he'd built up until that point.
Without her interference, he was certain that he would have eventually overwhelmed the Kaguya boy, either catching him off guard, slowly poisoning him, or out-draining him dry in chakra competition, or some combination, in the long run.
But then she appeared.
Individually, she might still be weaker than him…
But she was no longer weaker than the Kaguya boy, for example.
And together, she shattered his advantage.
Her Susanoo was already large enough to counter Eight Branches' movements, in some ways, despite being so immature.
Her Mangekyō abilities were conceptual enough to disrupt the very structure of his techniques.
And she hadn't even used Mangekyō-level genjutsu yet, something he knew he was now dangerously vulnerable to, especially since he no longer had the protective distance the Eight Branches form provided.
After all, earlier her three-tomoe genjutsu hadn't affected his shadow clone, battling her, for very clear reasons.
Shadow clones were essentially pure chakra constructs, despite having real physical agency, unlike ordinary clones that were more optical illusions, as the other beginner jutsu as well.
Every experienced shinobi from the Leaf, where it originated, knew that already.
They didn't have real brains, real neural pathways, or authentic chakra networks to hijack.
Genjutsu worked on the mind, not on a shaped mass of chakra pretending to be a body.
At best, her illusions would only distort the clone's chakra circulation and structure.
And with Orochimaru's lifetime of experience, his immense spiritual presence, and hence his instinctive resistance, even the clone could withstand all micro-invasions of her Sharingan during close exchanges where it had no choice but to meet her gaze.
But Orochimaru was not foolish.
He knew exactly where his greatest vulnerability, perhaps, lay.
It was still the highest level of genjutsu.
A type his physical body couldn't simply outperform or regenerate through.
The kind of Mangekyō Sharingan users specialize in.
Itachi had proven it not too long ago, humiliating him with a single glance and a brief lock of eye contact.
He hadn't even needed much else; Orochimaru had been forced to flee in desperation just to survive it.
Itachi's Mangekyō was probably more specialized for genjutsu overall, yes, but even that had not necessarily been his strongest illusion.
And the result was unmistakable.
Orochimaru could be overwhelmed by Mangekyō-level genjutsu.
He always had been.
And right now—with no Eight Branches barrier to keep distance, no serpent mass to block line of sight, no chakra advantage to resist—he was terrifyingly exposed to it again, too.
He knew that if he didn't want to look, he might be forced to if this battle were restarted and prolonged enough.
Therefore, for the first time in this fight, Orochimaru truly felt concerned and even cornered in some way.
On the other hand, Kimimaro used his sensory mode to assess their situation with brutal clarity as well, at the same while both sides caught some breath.
Then the truth hit him immediately even more.
At this point, it was almost entirely their willpower holding them upright.
Their chakra levels were dangerously low… in fact, each of them had even way less chakra remaining than Orochimaru did.
This clash had spiraled far beyond anything he had initially calculated.
Orochimaru was far more terrifying than he had expected.
The entire Shumoku Island's main hideout was destroyed.
Hundreds of his best Jashinist 'elites', the strongest outer circle members he had painstakingly refined, over time, since he took over, were already dead or disabled.
Slaughtered by Orochimaru's casual traps, on the side, gradually devoured by his snakes, or obliterated by the aftershocks of their battles.
They hadn't even managed to contribute much.
Kimimaro had always thought they might play some role, even if Orochimaru himself ever invaded this place.
He had been very wrong.
In the end, it was their individual adaptation during their earlier battles with him or his clones, their pressure-forged growth, and their sheer refusal to collapse that kept them alive so far.
Alongside two very fortunate preparations on his part:
Akane's Sharingan, which he had thankfully primed months ago to respond sharply to emotional stimulus.
And the Temporal Inhibition Palm—perfected just in time before this battle today.
Kimimaro had always known that, despite its "small" effect, the technique was absolutely S-rank. Potentially battle-deciding. After all:
Imagine using it against an enemy who is certain they killed you, only for you to stand and pierce them from behind, your wound frozen in time.
Or forcing a seemingly equal life-for-life exchange… only for your own wound to be negated while theirs is fatal.
This was precisely why Kimimaro had been confident enough to procure advanced scientific instruments over time, especially after Akane's soul surgery, a few months ago, as his and Emi's research demands increasingly progressed over time.
This was what might have even been what allowed Orochimaru to track and locate them in the first place, at present.
But despite all those contingencies, today had been far more dangerous and far closer to disaster than he ever expected or would ever be comfortable with.
In fact… what if he hadn't reached Akane in time just then?
That possibility had been very real. Uncomfortably real.
So even now, Kimimaro's expression remained somber.
Not to mention, even now, his technique, which allowed him to avoid death for now, was nowhere near a full, pre-programmed Yang-type regeneration like Tsunade's, even sometimes fully automatic, godlike healing. It was still weaker.
Because this one required a constant feed of chakra just to maintain the stasis, even after the initial activation, and it had a natural time limit as well, one that wasn't very long.
So, if he wanted to live, Kimimaro had to end this fight immediately.
He also couldn't afford to spend another drop of chakra on anything except maintaining that flame-like Temporal Inhibition loop beneath his injury.
Only once he was safe and alone with Emi, with enough space for her to work, could she fully repair the damage and extract every trace of poison using her healing chakra mastery and microscopic precision. Only then would he be able to disperse the technique. Until that moment, the stasis, or something similar, had to hold.
That's why he then briefly considered the standard sacrificial energy stored in that sealed black Jashinist chalice. In theory, that essence could serve as a temporary substitute if his chakra ran dangerously low before Emi finished the healing. But not here. Not in this battle.
It wasn't nearly as efficient as the technique he had just used.
After all, when had any Jashinist member, even Saya, who had come closest to a quasi-immortal state thanks to her mutated Chinoike blood, ever recovered from a deep torso impalement like this?
None of them had reached Hidan's level of immortality. Not even close. So that sacrificial essence needed to be preserved for keeping him "frozen" if things deteriorated further, not wasted during the fight.
Which left only one conclusion.
Kimimaro was now prepared to extend an olive branch to Orochimaru, despite everything.
Despite his base being completely destroyed and likely exposed from this point.
Despite his own near-death experience.
Despite the girls closest to him almost dying.
Despite the most valuable hundreds of Jashinists being wiped out as collateral.
Yet he still wasn't even sure Orochimaru would take it.
If he were in Orochimaru's position, seeing how little chakra he himself had left, he would take the offer without hesitation.
But that depended entirely on whether Orochimaru could be even half as rational as Kimimaro was choosing to be now.
After all, they were not the same person at the end of the day.
It was now a question of how similar they were.
Kimimaro was ready to set aside the rage and devastation of the day for survival and future opportunity.
And, honestly, Orochimaru should have found it even easier. He was the aggressor. He had started this.
If anyone had the right to be furious, emotional, and uncompromising right now, it was Kimimaro.
But pride was Orochimaru's greatest flaw.
And everything depended on whether he could swallow it for a moment.
Kimimaro exhaled once, steady and cold.
If there was even a sliver of rationality left in Orochimaru, now was the time to uncover it.
So he decided to test it verbally first.
He stepped forward, voice calm despite the blood drying across his torso and the faint, flame-like ring of stasis glowing beneath it.
"Orochimaru," he called out, his voice slicing cleanly across the ruined field, "look at your state. Look at ours. One more exchange, and this most likely ends in mutual destruction, your best-case scenario as well. Neither of us gains anything. Not 'specimens'. Not knowledge. Not victory."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, faint calculation returning despite his exhaustion.
Kimimaro didn't stop.
"You came here seeking opportunity. Then consider this, there is far more value now in not killing each other today than in the alternative."
A pause.
The girls tensed behind him, realizing his intent, bracing together as one for whatever came next, peace or annihilation.
Kimimaro's tone shifted, still calm, but edged with something deliberate.
"But if you still want to gain something from us, understanding, progress—there are ways to arrange an exchange. On equal ground. Without either of us bleeding out on a dead island."
Orochimaru blinked once.
Kimimaro continued, unflinching.
"I am offering a temporary ceasefire. And even the possibility of cooperation that benefits us both, right away, if it is feasible… Only if you have the sense to take it."
The battlefield went silent but for the crackle of settling debris.
"And if you refuse," Kimimaro added quietly, "then we finish this now."
Behind him, Reika's cold breath fogged the air.
Saya's fingers twitched for blood.
Emi steadied her stance.
Akane's Mangekyō flared, her black Susanoo looming.
Across from them, the last fragments of the Eight Branches carcass finally collapsed with a wet crash.
Orochimaru lifted his head.