Seeing this, Kabuto slowly put his arm into the snake’s mouth and fumbled through the sticky saliva, finding a kunai.
Attached to the other end of the kunai was a talisman that controlled the Edo Tensei jutsu.
Facing the approaching man in black, Kabuto thought for a moment, but ultimately didn’t pull out the kunai.
Instead, he had the snake’s head hold it in its mouth, swallowing it whole, and then slowly pulled his arm out.
*Ppu…* Kabuto controlled the snake’s head to stealthily circle behind him.
It broke through the earth and slowly burrowed underground.
Kabuto himself continuously released natural energy outwards, trying to confuse the enemy’s senses.
The man in black lowered his head, his face hidden in shadow.
He made no move to stop Kabuto, only continuing to advance, seemingly not wanting to attack Kabuto.
“Bang!!” Near Itachi, who was immobilized by stone spikes from inorganic reincarnation, some dirt blocks crumbled.
Suddenly, a fierce white snake head burst from the ground behind Uchiha Itachi, a kunai in its mouth, ready to stab Itachi!!
“Itachi!!!” The weakening vibrations and light allowed Sasuke to move with difficulty.
He held one hand over his ear and the other, he forcefully pulled out his Kusanagi sword.
Then, with a powerful swing, the Kusanagi sword passed through a red Susanoo fist and was thrown towards Itachi.
Without turning his head, Itachi caught the Kusanagi sword with his backhand and blocked the kunai stab with a horizontal slash.
“Clang!!” Sparks flew as the kunai and the blade collided.
At this moment, one of Itachi’s Mangekyo Sharingan suddenly turned a grayish-white.
But the next moment, his eyes returned to their usual eerie pattern of interwoven black and red, as if the gray-white pupils had never appeared.
Suddenly!
Roar!
The snake head in front of him opened its gaping maw, releasing an unbearable, foul stench.
A white figure, wrapped in translucent saliva, quickly pushed its way out from the snake’s mouth.
“Itachi!!” Kabuto shouted excitedly as he rose from the snake’s mouth and leaped into the air.
His glasses reflected the light, and he still held the kunai with the talisman.
This time, Kabuto chose a blind spot that Itachi currently couldn’t defend against.
He twisted his body in mid-air, holding the kunai and aiming for the back of Itachi’s head once more!
During the attack, Kabuto felt a sense of unreality.
He had only intended to use this method of transferring his body as a trick to confuse the man in black.
But strangely, the man in black seemed not to have noticed his obvious maneuver and continued to focus on Kabuto’s original body.
In a way, Kabuto had “successfully” confused the enemy, as the man in black was only paying attention to his main body.
At this moment, Itachi caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye.
Kabuto in front of the man in black had already transformed into a snake’s skin, collapsing powerlessly on the ground, while the man in black had just turned to face Itachi’s direction.
Then, just as Kabuto, holding the kunai, was about to touch him, Itachi nodded towards the man in black.
The next moment.
“Bansho Tenin!” A powerful gravitational pull came from the front-side, and Kabuto, who was halfway in the air with nowhere to brace himself, instantly changed his expression.
His heart was filled with shock, confusion, and bewilderment.
Why?!
Why does this person have the Rinnegan?!
The immense pulling force directly yanked Kabuto from the snake’s mouth as he tried to reposition himself.
The man in black felt his remaining chakra and mentally calculated the number of times he could use his eye techniques.
*Crack!* A white horn broke off from the top of Kabuto’s head due to the excessive force and fell to the ground.
*Splat!* The man in black grabbed Kabuto, who had been pulled towards him, and slammed him onto the ground.
He pinned Kabuto’s neck with his knee, the immense force rendering Kabuto unable to move, struggling like a fish.
“Ugh, so slimy.” “What the heck… are you a mudskipper?” The man in black grumbled, looking with some disgust at his left hand gripping Kabuto’s neck.
Kabuto’s scales were all coated in slippery mucus.
How… could this be… “Hck… cough cough…” At this moment, the man in black looked down at Kabuto.
Kabuto finally saw the man in black’s face clearly from under his dark hood, as well as the purple Rinnegan opened in his eyes.
Kabuto’s pupils contracted slightly.
Sensing the man in black’s true form, Kabuto suddenly felt a sense of daze.
The moment he touched the man in black, the natural energy emanating from him made him understand everything: “So that’s it… you… no wonder I missed you…” In Kabuto’s perception, the person before him seemed to have merged with nature itself, making it impossible to sense their presence.
It was only when he touched him that he understood: This was just a wood clone!
What a shame… Kabuto looked at the man in black’s somewhat familiar face, but his eyes held the Rinnegan, which was both strange and familiar to Kabuto.
Kabuto felt a sense of regret for him, then suppressed the discomfort of his throat being constricted by immense strength and spoke: “As long as I’m the caster of the Edo Tensei… no one can kill me!” His voice, hoarse from being suppressed, echoed in the empty cave.
The man in black watched Kabuto expressionlessly.
After coughing a few times, Kabuto stubbornly continued: “Even if I’m injured, with this body’s regenerative power, the damage becomes meaningless…” Kabuto and the man in black seemed to be staring at each other, but a deep green membrane covered Kabuto’s eyes.
The snake head extending from his stomach swayed its head behind the man in black, seemingly looking for an opening to attack: “Furthermore, I’ve cut off my sight, so your prized eye techniques are completely useless!” Even though Kabuto was controlled and held down by the enemy, he remained fearless, relying on his trump cards, even smiling as he spoke word for word.
Only this third person with the Rinnegan was unexpected, but… So what?!
*Crunch!!* A giant white-scaled snake suddenly slammed into the man in black from behind.
The immense force directly pierced him through.
Black fabric fluttered amidst flying wood splinters, highlighting Kabuto’s arrogant smile beneath him.
Then, Kabuto nonchalantly flicked the snake’s head, and the man in black was thrown off like discarded trash, rolling to the side.
Kabuto slowly stood up and glanced at the Dragon Balls nearby, which were gradually dimming.
He started to consider retreating.
Even though he wouldn’t be killed by these people, he was currently the center of the battlefield.
If he were delayed, it might lead to some of the Edo Tensei army rebelling.
Hanzō was one such example.
So, Kabuto, taking advantage of the last bit of light from the Dragon Balls, ran a few steps back and flipped himself up, intending to stand on the cave ceiling.
But the next moment, he regretted attempting to jump up.
This was because Kabuto had subconsciously ignored that the man in black was not truly human, wouldn’t feel pain, and wouldn’t die just because his body was pierced.
Therefore, he felt another pull: “Bansho Tenin!” —