In less than fifteen minutes, Gojo Yoru and Uzumaki Kushina arrived at the abandoned training ground.
Seeing the chakra blade on Yoru's back, Orochimaru was a little surprised. "You're skilled with a sword too?"
"No." Yoru shook his head. "I use a blade because that's the only way to bring out that technique's maximum power."
"Oh?" Orochimaru's admiration for Yoru deepened. "So besides the Rasengan, you've developed another technique as well. Then let me see it for myself." With talent like this, Yoru was practically the ideal heir to his legacy.
Yoru signaled Kushina to move farther away to watch, then looked at Orochimaru. "Orochimaru-sensei—are we just going to fight like this?"
"I was going to play a little game with you, but it doesn't seem necessary anymore." Orochimaru beckoned to him. "Use everything you've got. Come at me with the intent to kill."
"Then I won't hold back."
Yoru grinned and quickly formed hand seals, creating two phantom clones.
Then, together with the two phantoms, he drew the chakra blade from his back and charged at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed in confusion.
If he hadn't misread it, the seals Yoru used just now were for the most basic Clone Technique, weren't they?
Why would he create two intangible illusion clones and send them to attack?
To confuse him? But the "real body" was so obvious!
Orochimaru didn't believe a ninjutsu genius like Yoru would make such a low-level move, so he watched with even greater interest.
Yoru and his two phantoms moved into a Crescent Moon Dance formation.
The phantoms and "real body" attacked from the left, above, and right simultaneously, striking for Orochimaru's vital points—while Yoru's "real body" leapt into the air.
Orochimaru, who had never seen Phantom Body Flicker before, grew even more puzzled.
Instinctively, he drew a kunai from his tool pouch and threw it at the airborne "real body."
In midair, with no way to dodge, Orochimaru assumed Yoru could only swing his blade and knock the kunai away.
In the next second, Orochimaru's pupils shrank.
Yoru didn't slash the kunai away at all—he let it hit him.
Yet there was no spray of blood.
The kunai… passed straight through Yoru's body.
So he wasn't the real one?
With no time to dwell on it, Orochimaru saw the two "Yorus" on either side slashing in. He formed a one-handed seal, condensed a wind spiral in his palm, and turned it into two invisible wind blades, which he fired at the two attackers.
The result…
They passed through as well!
This time, shock finally appeared on Orochimaru's face.
Watching the airborne "Yoru" chop down with his blade, Orochimaru formed seals again with his other hand.
Slice—
A flash of blade light, and Orochimaru's body split in half at the waist.
But there was still no blood—only two puddles of muddy liquid splashing to the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Substitute!
"Incredible… how did you do that?"
Orochimaru surfaced from the ground some distance away, staring at Yoru with disbelief.
He hadn't looked this stunned even when he first saw Yoru training the Rasengan.
Because what Yoru had just shown shattered the shinobi world's common sense.
As one of the most widespread Three Basic Techniques, the Clone Technique creates intangible illusions that disperse on contact—everyone knows that.
Yet Gojo Yoru had broken that rule.
Even more unbelievable: Orochimaru had just used a sensing technique, and he couldn't detect any chakra from any of the three "Yorus."
Yes—he couldn't sense the original body, but more than that, he couldn't sense chakra at all.
As if the three Yorus were nothing but shadows—less than even illusion clones.
But illusion clones are still made of chakra; the chakra inside them can be detected by sensing.
Yoru's phantoms had none.
Without question, this was a clone-based extension technique unique to Yoru—much like how the Second Hokage developed the Shadow Clone Technique.
"This is my Phantom Body Flicker Technique. I didn't disappoint you, did I, Orochimaru-sensei?" Yoru said, wearing a smug smile.
"Remarkable." Orochimaru gave him extremely high praise. "If an enemy hadn't gathered intelligence ahead of time, they'd likely be killed by you in one strike."
"Then I'm coming again, Orochimaru-sensei."
Yoru and his two phantoms attacked once more.
"Then I'll get a little serious too."
Yoru's Phantom Body Flicker had successfully sparked a trace of battle intent in Orochimaru.
To understand the technique's principle, Orochimaru decided to experience it up close again.
He formed seals, created two shadow clones, then drew kunai with them and charged at Yoru and his phantoms.
Like everyone else, Orochimaru's real body instinctively chose the "Yoru" who had just spoken as his opponent.
When his kunai collided with Yoru's chakra blade, it simply passed through it.
This time, Orochimaru wasn't surprised—he'd expected it. He only raised his guard.
After passing through Yoru's body, he immediately twisted and brought his kunai up to side-block Yoru's sweeping slash.
This time sparks erupted—meaning Yoru had shifted from intangible to solid.
Seizing the opening, Orochimaru raised his other hand. A long snake shot out of his sleeve and bit toward Yoru.
But it passed through.
"Phantom Body Flicker… what a terrifying Body Flicker technique," Orochimaru murmured, watching the other two "Yorus" while staying wary of the one in front of him.
Over the next few exchanges, every attack from Orochimaru and his clones passed through Yoru's body.
If Orochimaru's shadow clones weren't strong enough, they might have been popped like Kushina's—destroyed the moment Yoru suddenly turned solid.
After only a few rounds, Orochimaru had figured out Yoru's Phantom Body Flicker.
Yoru's real body was on the field. He was simply using ghostlike, silent Body Flicker to instantly swap positions with the two special phantoms, creating the illusion of shifting between intangible and solid.
And Yoru's chakra wasn't truly "gone" all the time.
When Orochimaru discreetly used sensing, he could sometimes detect Yoru's chakra.
Yoru was using some method to hide his chakra; the phantoms likely worked the same way.
Then, under certain conditions—like the moment of attack—that concealment disappeared.
A secret technique? Or a bloodline limit?
Orochimaru couldn't help wondering.
Once he understood how it worked, Orochimaru stopped engaging Yoru in blade combat.
Coordinating smoothly with his shadow clones, he lured Yoru and his phantoms into a line—then shamelessly used a wide-area jutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!"
The ground turned to mud, binding Yoru in place, then surged upward into a massive wave that roared toward him.
Because the rising mud blocked his view, Orochimaru didn't see a flicker of hesitation cross Yoru's eyes.
After choosing, Yoru ultimately abandoned that thought. He easily broke free of the mud, tapped off the ground like it was solid beneath his feet, and leapt into the air.
Blade in one hand, a blue sphere of energy forming in the other, he dropped toward Orochimaru's real body.
Mid-flight, the sphere in Yoru's hand gradually shifted—from blue-white to an orange-red glow.
"Fire Release: Rasengan!"
Yoru called out the name of this Rasengan.
~~~
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