Ninja Art: Many Snakes Formation!
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Countless venomous snakes of various colors and sizes erupted from Orochimaru's mouth, forming a terrifying, writhing sea of serpents. The snakes tangled with each other, scales rubbing together, tongues flickering as they surged toward Team 7 like a tidal wave.
"Holy—!!" Naruto felt his scalp tingle, goosebumps erupting all over his body as his trypophobia was triggered instantly. Sasuke's face turned pale, his stomach doing somersaults. Karin was so scared she simply closed her eyes and curled into a ball.
"Hmph!" Facing this suffocating wave of snakes, to be honest, even Yao's hair stood on end; he hated snakes the most.
"Go to hell!" Yao quickly formed hand seals, his chest swelling deeply as he aimed at the overwhelming swarm: "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
Chakra poured out at maximum output.
BOOM!!!!
Crimson, nearly white flames, carrying heat that could incinerate anything, swept forward like a collapsing mountain. The scale of the fire was so immense it nearly swallowed the entire sea of snakes.
Sizzle! Hiss!
The high-pitched sound of burning and the agonizing hisses of snakes sounded like a string of firecrackers, continuous and unending. The air was filled with a thick, acrid stench of burnt protein. The seemingly endless sea of snakes melted, carbonized, and turned to ash like snow under a scorching sun.
"So... so strong!" Watching this, Karin's eyes were filled with shock and adoration.
A few heartbeats later, the flames dissipated. The ground was charred black, with wisps of smoke rising, but not a single trace of a snake remained.
"Phew..." Yao let out a breath. A Fire Style of this scale consumed an incredible amount of chakra. However, the "Chakra-ton" (massive amount) within him was still plenty.
"A Fire Style of this magnitude..." A cold voice came from high up on the side. Everyone looked up. Orochimaru was standing on a horizontal branch of a massive tree, looking down at Yao with a sneer. "Brat, squandering chakra like that... how long can you keep it up?"
Flash! Yao vanished from his spot without any warning.
"Hmm?" Orochimaru's pupils constricted.
Almost at the same instant, Yao materialized out of thin air behind Orochimaru, his voice ringing out: "Senior Orochimaru, I'd like to have a 'heart-to-heart' talk with you!" (A pun on piercing the heart).
"When?!" Alarm bells rang in Orochimaru's mind. His vast combat experience made him instinctively want to twist and dodge.
But... it was too late!
Yao's right hand was already raised, and the ear-piercing screech of Chidori exploded within his palm once more. Without hesitation, Yao's arm, wreathed in dazzling blue lightning, plunged straight through Orochimaru's back.
Pfft!
The dull sound of a blade piercing flesh and bone was clearly audible. The lightning-flickering palm emerged from Orochimaru's abdomen, blood dripping down Yao's arm. Orochimaru's movements ground to a halt. He looked down in disbelief at the hand piercing his stomach, then slowly turned his head to look at Uchiha Yao, who was inches away.
For the first time, shock and confusion appeared in Orochimaru's eyes. "Brat... what... is this... jutsu? Flying Raijin? No... how could you possibly have learned the Flying Raijin?"
Keeping his arm through the other man's body, Yao leaned in close to Orochimaru's ear and whispered two words with a smile: "Take a guess."
In the next moment, the Chidori in Yao's palm surged violently. Wild lightning chakra ravaged Orochimaru's internal organs.
CRACKLE!!!!
Blue arcs of electricity traced through his veins, meridians, and bones, instantly spreading to every corner of Orochimaru's body!
"ARRGGHHHH!!!" Orochimaru let out a raspy, agonizing scream that didn't sound human. His body twitched and convulsed violently. His skin charred and carbonized at a visible rate, his hair turned to ash, and his clothes were incinerated.
In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru had once again become a scorched, smoking, human-shaped husk frozen in a pained posture. Yao jerked his arm back, tossing the completely charred corpse to the ground. The body hit the earth with a crisp sound, shattering into several pieces.
"Is... is it over?" Naruto stared at the blackened remains, his voice dry.
"Is he... dead?" Sasuke's Sharingan was fixed on the charred corpse, trying to find even a hint of chakra fluctuation. Karin also looked up timidly, watching nervously.
Yao returned to stand in front of the three, glancing at the charred chunks. "Not yet."
"What? Still not dead!?" Naruto almost jumped up. "He's literally turned into charcoal!"
Sasuke didn't look much better. "This guy... is he a cat in human form? Does he have nine lives!?"
As if to prove Yao's words, a small hole suddenly burst open on the charred corpse without warning. A pale, slimy hand reached out from within. Next came the arm, the shoulder, the head, the torso...
Orochimaru "crawled" out of the corpse once again. He was covered in mucus, but his skin was flawless, and even his clothes had eerily restored to their original state.
Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Jutsu!
Orochimaru stood tall, his golden vertical pupils fixed on Yao. A grotesque smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. Although he was smiling, his eyes were as cold as ancient ice, filled with undisguised murderous intent and humiliation.
"Hehe... brat..." Orochimaru's voice remained raspy, but it had grown more sinister. "You truly... gave me quite a surprise! However..." His tone suddenly turned sharp and fierce. "This ends now!"
Before his voice faded, Orochimaru's head lunged forward. His mouth stretched to a horrifying, inhuman degree.
Shuu! A cold, slender blade gleaming with a metallic chill shot out from his gaping maw. It was the Kusanagi Sword! The blade extended infinitely, reaching an extreme speed as it lunged straight for Yao. This strike was sudden and without warning—Orochimaru's signature: The Sword from the Mouth!
"Boring."
Just as the tip of the Kusanagi was about to touch Yao's skin, Yao vanished into thin air again. Orochimaru's pupils constricted! Another instantaneous Body Flicker without any warning? Could it really be the Flying Raijin?
Yao appeared behind Orochimaru, almost pressing against his spine. He spread his fingers and pressed them gently against the center of Orochimaru's back. No hand seals were formed, and there was no obvious precursor of a chakra burst.
"Wood Style: Cutting Technique."
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
Orochimaru's body stiffened instantly. His eyes bulged, and his mouth fell open, letting out a wheezing sound. Countless sharp wooden spikes erupted simultaneously from his chest, abdomen, limbs, and neck. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru was transformed into a wretched hedgehog, riddled with spikes that had skewered his entire body. Blood gushed out along the wood, dyeing him crimson.
Orochimaru remained standing, his face showing no pain—only shock and utter disbelief.
"Wood... Wood Style?!" His voice was hoarse, yet filled with a manic desire for knowledge. "How... how can you... use Wood Style?!"
The shock in Orochimaru's heart was far more intense than that of the Third Hokage! He was the person who understood the difficulty and absurdity of this best. As a top-tier researcher, Orochimaru had spent countless years and sacrificed countless test subjects to study Hashirama's cells. He had tirelessly tried to recreate the power of the First Hokage, yet he only ever obtained unstable, defective products.
And now, this brat with Uchiha blood—someone who should have Yin-natured chakra flowing through him—had awakened Wood Style? This completely overturned Orochimaru's understanding of Kekkei Genkai, chakra, and even life sciences!
"You've got to be joking... an Uchiha... how..."
Yao looked at Orochimaru and allowed a smile to cross his face. "Senior Orochimaru, the ninja world is vast. There are many things we don't understand, wouldn't you agree?"
Orochimaru pulled at the corner of his mouth, which had been sliced by a wooden spike. Blood poured out, yet he actually... started to laugh. It was a twisted laugh, filled with the fanaticism of discovering a new continent.
"Hehe... Hahaha... Right... You're right... I was... a frog in a well... But... I'm even more curious now... why you? Why would an Uchiha... awaken... Wood Style?"