Fearing what 'Upper Rank One' might have done to him before dying, Orochimaru immediately checked himself after releasing the 'Impure World Reincarnation' on the Second, Third, and Fourth Hokages.
For a ninja of his level, if there was really anything unusual about his body, it would be easily detected.
However, after checking repeatedly several times, he found no abnormalities in his body.
Yakushi Kabuto entered 'Sage Mode', and Jugo activated 'Cursed Seal'. Then the two checked around Orochimaru, also finding no abnormalities.
Yakushi Kabuto was somewhat puzzled: "Orochimaru-sama, could it be that he was exhausted at the end, so the last strike didn't hurt you?"
He saw with his own eyes just now a puff of black smoke passing through Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru shook his head slowly: "Can't say for sure now, but if he really had means to attack me, he wouldn't have waited until dying to use it."
Yakushi Kabuto said: "Mhm!"
Orochimaru scanned around and said: "The commotion just now was not small. The Ninja Village Alliance people should be arriving soon, let's go!"
After speaking, Orochimaru flashed and disappeared from the spot.
Jugo, Guren, and Tayuya hurriedly followed.
Yakushi Kabuto, who fell behind, glanced at a big tree not far away, then leaped up and followed Orochimaru.
And on that big tree Yakushi Kabuto just glanced at, Ido crossed her arms: "Tch, didn't expect they really solved him! This 'Upper Rank One' is too lame, didn't even give me a chance for revenge! Meeting 'B' and 'C' later, I'll definitely be laughed at!"
Undoubtedly.
Ido in spirit body state had been trailing Tanjiro fleeing from the Land of Grass battlefield from afar.
If not for her real-time positioning, Orochimaru couldn't have intercepted Tanjiro so accurately in this forest.
Of course.
Although the task Shinji gave her was only to track Tanjiro, she kept thinking about how to get back at him for Yakumo.
One must know that in the 'Infinity Castle' battle, although Yakumo was one of the main forces against Tanjiro, limited by various factors, Yakumo failed to display her full strength, so she was suppressed miserably by Tanjiro and suffered considerable injuries.
Regarding this, Ido had always held a grudge.
She even calculated that if Orochimaru's group failed to successfully intercept and kill Tanjiro, she would volunteer to Shinji to get back at Tanjiro for Yakumo!
However, she obviously underestimated Orochimaru's means, or rather, she underestimated the four Hokages' means.
Although Tanjiro fleeing the Land of Grass battlefield was at the end of his rope, what he consumed was mainly his own chakra and flesh and blood power. The Hegemon's power truly residing in his body wasn't consumed much.
So Tanjiro fully bursting with the Hegemon's power just now was actually not weaker than him during the 'Infinity Castle' battle before.
Although seeing Tanjiro turn into ashes with her own eyes, Ido still floated to the battlefield just now uneasily.
"Not even a residual spirit body left? Clean beyond belief!"
Ido circling the battlefield several times found nothing.
Let alone residual wreckage, even broken spirit bodies were not seen, showing how thoroughly Tanjiro sacrificed himself.
After checking the battlefield repeatedly several times, Ido stopped lingering and disappeared in a blink of an eye.
Swish swish swish...
After a long time, accompanied by sounds of breaking wind, a tracking squad of the Ninja Village Alliance arrived in this forest.
The captain reminded: "The chakra reaction sensed just now is in this forest, everyone be careful!"
A member asked: "Captain, could it be that monster?"
Another teammate said: "If it's that monster, who is fighting it? I remember there are no camps nearby here, right?"
The captain said: "Don't ask so many questions. Our mission is reconnaissance, not wild guessing!"
Everyone looked solemn and stopped speaking lightly.
Not long after, the reconnaissance squad followed the traces and found the battlefield where the four Hokages fought Tanjiro just now.
"There are traces of fighting here..." Squatting down to touch the ground, the captain said in a deep voice: "The soil has been completely carbonized. This is not something ordinary ninjutsu or explosions can do. A big battle must have broken out here!"
Saying that, the captain got up and ordered the members: "Everyone spread out and search, see if you can find any corpse wreckage!"
"Yes!"
The members of the reconnaissance squad immediately spread out, conducting a carpet search on the battlefield.
But even Ido couldn't find any wreckage on the battlefield, let alone these ordinary reconnaissance squad ninjas. So before long, the squad regrouped.
The captain frowned: "Too weird! How could such a big battle leave not even a bit of wreckage!"
Suddenly, a member of the squad pointed not far away: "Ca... Captain, look quickly!"
The captain looked towards the direction and found a puff of black smoke suddenly rising not far away. Then the black smoke gradually condensed in front of them, forming a very blurry human shape.
The captain looked vigilant: "What the hell is this? Ninjutsu?"
The condensation of black smoke continued. The human shape gradually became solid, and the outline became clear. After a while, the black smoke completely dispersed, leaving only a figure in place!
The captain's eyes widened: "Itachi Uchiha!?"
The figure finally condensed from the black smoke was actually Itachi Uchiha wearing the Akatsuki organization's red cloud cloak with crimson eyes.
After reacting, the captain hurriedly shouted: "Scatter and flee!"
The Itachi Uchiha condensed from black smoke formed hand seals quickly at this time, shouting at the reconnaissance squad: "Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Instantly, a huge flame swallowed the entire reconnaissance squad, giving them no chance to escape.
When the flames dissipated, only a few charred skeletons emitting green smoke remained on the ground.
Undoubtedly.
The Itachi Uchiha condensed from black smoke was not the real Itachi Uchiha, but similar to the 'Tsugikuni Yoriichi' Shinji saw in the 'Demon Slayer World' who kept chasing Ubuyashiki Ryuhei.
Simply put, this 'Itachi Uchiha' was the manifestation of the fear deep in Orochimaru's heart. He possessed exactly the same strength as Itachi Uchiha, the most perfect replica.
At the same time, he also possessed some characteristics that Orochimaru believed deep in his heart should belong to Itachi Uchiha.
People often unconsciously overestimated people or things they feared. Someone like Orochimaru was no exception. So the 'Itachi Uchiha' projected by his fear would also be the overestimated version in his eyes.
In other words, how strong this 'Itachi Uchiha' exactly was, probably only Orochimaru himself knew.
After stopping briefly for a while, 'Itachi Uchiha' closed his eyes to sense, then set off chasing in the direction Orochimaru left.
He had only one goal, which was to kill Orochimaru!