Although Arashi’s interruption had prevented the battle from beginning, Shisui never lowered his guard.
He continued watching Orochimaru closely, but as time passed, he gradually sensed that something was wrong.
‘Why is my body becoming numb?’
‘Why am I feeling an irresistible drowsiness?’
‘Why is my chakra…
weakening?’
“Orochimaru has already made his move!”
Shisui’s eyes widened sharply as he reached for the sword on his back.
However, the paralysis slowed him, allowing Orochimaru to act first.
“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!”
Several vicious snakes shot from Orochimaru’s sleeve, attempting to coil around Shisui and sink their fangs into him.
Shisui immediately dodged, but his delayed movements allowed one snake to bite his arm.
Swish!
Swish!
He swiftly drew his sword and cut the snakes apart.
However, the venom had already entered his body.
Shisui dropped into a crouch, his expression twisted in pain.
“You still have much to learn, Uchiha brat.”
Orochimaru released a triumphant sneer.
“The Sharingan can see through visible movements, but it cannot detect an invisible poison spreading through the air.”
“This is a precious substance I prepared to inject into myself in pursuit of immortality.”
“You should feel honored that I used it on you.”
That precious substance was actually the bodily fluid of Orochimaru’s future White Snake form.
Upon contact with air, it transformed into an odorless and colorless paralytic toxin.
Knowledge of science could indeed prove useful anywhere.
Shisui had trusted the Sharingan too much.
For once, his eyes failed him completely, and he suffered because of something he could neither see nor taste.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
A cold light flashed through Shisui’s eyes.
Before the paralysis could fully spread, he decided to defeat Orochimaru immediately.
His hands formed seals, and a blazing orange fireball erupted from his mouth, roaring toward the enemy.
“A childish trick!”
Orochimaru did not attempt to meet the attack directly.
His lower body transformed into a serpent’s tail, allowing him to slither rapidly toward the cultivation tank.
He certainly coveted Shisui’s Sharingan.
However, time was limited.
Even poisoned, Shisui would require considerable effort to defeat.
More importantly, he was a master of genjutsu.
If Orochimaru looked into his eyes and fell under an illusion, Shisui could instantly reverse the situation.
There was no reason to indulge in a pointless clash of pride and risk becoming trapped here.
Stealing Obito and fleeing was the correct decision.
Shisui was also a celebrated war hero.
If Orochimaru seriously injured or killed him, Hiruzen would genuinely become furious.
Orochimaru had not yet completed his path to immortality, while his teacher was not yet weakened by age.
He still possessed some fear of Hiruzen.
“You won’t take him!”
Shisui moved his wrist again.
“Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!”
Numerous small fireballs scattered toward Orochimaru, sealing every path to the cultivation tank.
Hidden within the flames were shuriken prepared to strike anyone who attempted to disperse the fire.
Orochimaru ignored everything and charged directly through the attack.
The greatest advantage of this disgusting snake was his absurd durability.
His regenerative ability was astonishing, while replacing his body was almost as effortless as eating or drinking.
His plan had been carefully prepared.
First, he used poison gas to paralyze Shisui and limit his speed.
Then he avoided looking into Shisui’s eyes, preventing him from using his strongest genjutsu.
Finally, he would rely on his regeneration to seize Obito and escape.
Orochimaru rushed straight into the Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson.
Shisui’s ninjutsu tore his flesh apart in an instant, while several shuriken pierced completely through his body.
For an ordinary shinobi, such wounds would have been fatal.
“Haaah!”
Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth impossibly wide.
His jaws stretched into an inhuman angle as another Orochimaru, drenched in fluid, crawled from inside his body.
The newly emerged Orochimaru continued slithering toward the cultivation tank without slowing down.
This was Orochimaru’s signature substitution technique.
It looked entirely out of place in the shinobi world and seemed better suited to a horror film.
Even the Slit-Mouthed Woman would have admitted defeat after seeing it.
Disgusting as it was, the technique was undeniably effective.
Orochimaru abandoned his ruined body and emerged through a form of molting, immediately continuing his original objective.
Its only weakness was its enormous chakra consumption.
However, a Kage-level shinobi like Orochimaru could still use it many times.
“What?!”
Shisui was stunned upon witnessing the technique for the first time.
He had fought countless battles, yet what Orochimaru had just done clearly exceeded the boundaries of humanity.
Shisui’s strategy had not been wrong.
Unfortunately, his opponent simply refused to behave like a human being.
Within the time it took Shisui to cast two techniques, Orochimaru had already reached the cultivation tank.
Greed and ambition covered his face as he stretched out his hand.
“Ah, my future…
lies within this child!”
“Chidori!”
Kakashi and Rin were farther from Shisui and had not yet been affected by the poison gas.
They naturally could not watch helplessly as Orochimaru took Obito.
Kakashi immediately charged with his strongest technique.
Rin threw several kunai carrying explosive tags, attempting to force Orochimaru away.
“Annoying insects!”
How could two children contend with Orochimaru?
Before Kakashi’s Chidori could reach him, Orochimaru struck him aside with his tail.
A casual Wind Release swept Rin’s kunai away, preventing them from posing any threat.
“Obito!”
Orochimaru placed his hands upon the cultivation tank.
Although Rin’s body trembled with fear, she clenched her teeth and rushed forward with unwavering determination.
She grabbed the opposite side of the tank and refused to release it.
Her strength could not compare with Orochimaru’s.
Even when the snakes from Hidden Shadow Snake Hands bit into her body, she refused to retreat a single step.
“You’re courting death!”
Orochimaru was becoming increasingly desperate.
One of the kunai he had blown aside had embedded itself in the ceiling.
Its explosive tag detonated and destroyed half the roof.
Such a tremendous explosion would undoubtedly attract the ANBU.
If Orochimaru did not escape quickly, Namikaze Minato would arrive and make escape impossible.
Killing intent surged through his eyes.
Both his hands were holding the cultivation tank, but his mouth remained free.
Therefore, he used the technique that countless viewers would later mock him for.
A snake emerged from his mouth—and then spat out a sword.
Orochimaru opened his jaws.
A dark-brown serpent slithered from his throat and opened its own mouth, releasing an incredibly sharp blade.
The sword pierced directly through Rin’s body.
“Rin!”
Kakashi and Shisui roared simultaneously.
However, a third voice completely overwhelmed them.
“RIN!”
A heart-rending scream erupted from inside the cultivation tank.
An ominous cracking sound followed.
The mass wrapped in cultivation fluid and wood began thrashing violently.
“This brat…
He woke up now?!”
Orochimaru’s eyes widened in shock.
During that brief moment of surprise, the branches inside the tank expanded violently.
They shattered the reinforced shell covered in multiple sealing formulas.
A figure lunged from the ruins with the expression and roar of a wild beast.
It was Obito.
Countless fine wooden fibers pushed through his skin before twisting together, intertwining, and rapidly growing.
His fist slammed into Orochimaru’s face.
The blow carried astonishing power.
Orochimaru was sent flying with a ridiculous expression twisted across his face.
A wooden spike was embedded in his cheek.
Before Orochimaru could land, Obito formed a hand seal.
The wooden spike suddenly blossomed like a flower.
It grew outward from inside Orochimaru’s head, producing countless sharp branches that spread through his skull, neck, chest, and thighs.
In an instant, his entire body resembled a hedgehog.
“Obito…”
The sudden scene left both Shisui and Kakashi stunned.
Anyone else pierced in such a manner would unquestionably have died.
However, Orochimaru was the most difficult man in the shinobi world to kill.
Another drenched Orochimaru soon crawled from the remains of his damaged mouth.
He excitedly licked his lips.
“To use Wood Release: Cutting Sprigs Technique without instruction…”
“Hehehe.
I’m becoming even more eager to—”
Orochimaru could not finish his sentence.
Everyone clearly saw the brilliant moonlight shining through the shattered ceiling.
Yet when it fell upon Obito, it appeared covered in blood.
Under that crimson moonlight, the two black tomoe within his scarlet irises began spinning rapidly.
They gathered, formed, and transformed.
The tomoe no longer remained separate.
They drew toward one another, connected, and fused into a complete pattern.
Three curved blades interlocked from end to end around a hollow circle, resembling a spinning shuriken when viewed from a distance.
The Mangekyo Sharingan…
Had been born.