Chapter 125: Slaying Ten Thousand Snakes
Whoosh!
A violent gust swept sand and gravel in every direction, making Asuka's clothes rustle loudly in the wind.
Looking at Manda rampaging across the terrain like a monster and the Five Elements ninjutsu erupting in the distance, Asuka glanced down at Konan beneath the tip of his sword and clicked his tongue.
"My usually gentle captain seems really angry."
"It's useless!"
Konan deliberately thrust her neck toward the sword's tip.
Thud!
The blade pierced straight through her neck without resistance, yet not a single drop of blood flowed.
Not only did she have waterproof and fireproof oil paper, but she also possessed a ninjutsu similar to the Hydrification Technique, allowing her to negate physical attacks.
"What a terrifying ninjutsu."
As Konan slowly rose to her feet, Asuka pulled the sword from her neck.
Whoosh!
The instant the blade left her body, Konan abruptly swung her right arm.
Several paper shuriken embedded with explosive tags shot toward Asuka.
He casually turned aside and dodged them.
Without hesitation, Konan immediately increased the distance between them. She lightly beat her wings, preparing to ascend into the sky once again.
"I'm an Uchiha."
Uchiha?
Hearing Asuka's puzzled voice, Konan's expression darkened slightly.
After sensing that she still had plenty of chakra left, her expression returned to its usual cold calm.
What can the Uchiha possibly do?
At that moment, Asuka suddenly appeared directly in front of her and reached out to seize her by the throat.
Konan's pupils contracted sharply.
Her wings beat downward, whipping up a violent gale.
When her Paper Person of God Technique was active, she was immune to physical attacks and possessed extremely high resistance to fire. Combined with the protection Nagato had placed on her, she had little reason to fear ordinary genjutsu.
That was why she wasn't afraid of ordinary members of the Uchiha clan.
The truly troublesome part was their strange instantaneous movement ability.
"Look at me, Konan."
Konan?
Hearing that peculiar way of addressing her, Konan instinctively looked toward the Uchiha before her.
The moment she saw his black eyes turn crimson and three black tomoe slowly begin to rotate, her vision suddenly blurred.
Genjutsu?
Damn it. Why did I fall for genjutsu again?
This Uchiha... No.
Yahiko.
Asuka looked at Konan's vacant eyes and slowly released his right hand, allowing her to slide into the crater below.
"Genjutsu: Eunuch Tsukuyomi!"
Boom!
A cloud of dust rose into the air.
Looking at the woman lying motionless in the crater, Asuka stood at its edge and muttered,
"Actually, setting aside the enhancement from the Mangekyō Sharingan, there really aren't many people in the Uchiha clan whose genjutsu is better than mine."
"Most of them learn genjutsu to deal with their enemies. I'm different."
"I taught myself genjutsu back then."
Hmm?
At that moment, Asuka suddenly noticed the corners of Konan's lips curling upward.
A blissful smile appeared on her face.
Unable to resist, he jumped into the crater and walked toward her.
Looks like the old man's improved genjutsu really does have something going for it.
The effect is immediate.
When he approached her, he noticed a photograph protruding from her chest.
The familiar figure in the picture tugged at something in his heart.
Looks like Pakura.
Huh?
It really was her.
Asuka bent down and picked up the photograph.
Looking at the picture of Pakura and Konan together, he glanced at Konan in surprise.
Do these two know each other?
They're friends.
Smack!
A moment later, Asuka suddenly slammed his right fist into his left palm, an expression of realization spreading across his face.
"So the woman Pakura mentioned in her letter—the female shinobi friend she'd recently met outside who was always talking about 'peace'—was Konan herself."
"Tsk."
He placed the photograph back in Konan's hand before taking the Newbie Pack camera from his ninja tool pouch.
"A miniature camera with no battery or storage limitations."
He aimed the lens at her.
On the screen, Konan had her lips slightly pursed, wearing a shy yet incredulous expression.
The corner of Asuka's mouth twitched.
He shook his head and said,
"That old man's genjutsu has improved at an astonishing rate. Impressive."
What kind of beautiful memories did it awaken in her mind?
That's seriously perverted.
If I get the chance, I'll show this to Pakura.
After putting away the camera, Asuka glanced at Konan lying in the crater before turning around and running toward the other battlefield.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
As his footsteps gradually faded into the distance, Konan, lying on the ground, looked as though she had only just fallen asleep. There was no sign that she would awaken or realize what had happened.
She looked at the house shaped like a loaf of bread that had appeared before her, and her heart trembled.
This was the house where the three of them had trained under Jiraiya when they were young.
It carried so many beautiful memories.
They hadn't been here for many years.
But why could she hear the sound of someone cooking inside?
Had someone else taken over the place?
Creak.
She pushed open the door and peeked inside.
The furniture was arranged exactly as she remembered it.
Four red symbols hung on the wall.
The red symbols facing outward indicated that Yahiko and the others were home.
"Konan, welcome back!"
At that moment, a man wearing an apron poked his head out from the kitchen, a brilliant smile on his face.
Konan stared at Yahiko standing before her.
After hesitating for a moment, she raised her head toward the sky and softly whispered,
"Yahiko."
When Asuka arrived at the other battlefield, he found the situation considerably more complicated than he had expected.
At the center of the battlefield, Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head, using his height advantage to continuously restrict Nanaka's movements.
Nearby, a figure wearing a robe decorated with cloud patterns stood at the edge of the field, ready to act at any moment.
An unidentified but powerful member of the Akatsuki.
An injured yet still immensely powerful Orochimaru.
Hmm.
Asuka hesitated for a moment before cupping his hands around his mouth and shouting toward the three people below,
"Captain! Draw the guy in black away. I'll kill Orochimaru!"
Hearing the familiar voice, Sarutobi Nanaka stopped in her tracks.
The pressure in her heart suddenly eased.
She nimbly dodged Manda's tail attack, turned around, and charged toward the figure wearing the cloud-patterned robe.
What a dependable subordinate.
He's actually taking on the most troublesome opponent himself.
At that moment, the figure in the cloud-patterned robe passed Asuka.
She glanced anxiously at the street behind him before her gaze settled on Asuka.
In a low voice, she issued a stern warning.
"Asuka, you're finished."
She then raised a fireball in her palm and hurled it toward the approaching Nanaka.
Boom!
A small mushroom cloud rose into the air.
The heat wave evaporated the raindrops around it, instantly turning the area into a massive sauna.
Seeing that familiar technique, Asuka was completely stunned.
After a long silence, he turned toward Orochimaru and shouted,
"Orochimaru, why the hell didn't you tell me you'd joined someone else's faction?"
???
Orochimaru stared at Asuka in confusion.
Before defecting, reporting his whereabouts to his comrades was naturally expected.
But after defecting, did he still need to report his movements to them?
Wouldn't that make defecting completely pointless?
Orochimaru then looked at Asuka with amusement and smiled.
"Asuka, your way of thinking is quite interesting."
Hearing that, Asuka took a deep breath and suppressed his irritation.
He drew the Kusanagi Sword from his waist and pointed its tip at Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru."
"Even if the Uchiha aren't particularly intelligent, we've never thought of experimenting on living people, let alone on our fellow shinobi within the village."
"There is an elder of the Uchiha clan who has spent decades researching ways to resurrect the dead. Even now, he hasn't made any progress, largely because of his arrogance."
"He's extremely arrogant. Aside from the Uchiha, he looks down on everyone else."
"Yet he still considers those outsiders his comrades. He simply believes that, deep down, they're foolish comrades."
"In that elder's eyes, they're still people. They're still comrades."
"But you... you've stopped treating people as people."
Orochimaru shrugged indifferently.
"There's no need for us to argue about this."
"Science inevitably requires sacrifices."
"Isn't it perfectly normal for people of lesser value to be casually sacrificed for the sake of people of greater value?"
"When those hypocritical higher-ups proposed the Wood Release experiments back then, how many 'volunteers' participating in the Wood Release Project died in the laboratory?"
"And in the end, their deaths produced nothing but a series of cold, meaningless data."
After saying this, Orochimaru lowered his head and looked at Asuka standing on the rooftop.
He suddenly laughed.
"Asuka, are you deliberately bypassing the Third Hokage and the others so you can stand on the moral high ground and condemn me?"
Whoosh!
Asuka exhaled toward the air before him.
His voice suddenly became low.
"This isn't an accusation."
"Years from now, even one of the great sages of the shinobi world will be able to forgive you. Many people in Konoha will forgive you as well."
"The opinions of ordinary civilians, who are naturally swayed by public sentiment, are irrelevant."
The chakra within his body began to circulate slowly.
At the same time, Shukaku appeared on Asuka's shoulder, staring excitedly at Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru, in your next life, don't turn your eyes toward your own people again."
"That would be too depressing."
Whoosh!
The instant Asuka disappeared from his original position, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
He lightly stepped on Manda's head with his right foot and ordered,
"Be careful of his genjutsu!"
"Hey, Orochimaru."
Manda warily scanned his surroundings and grumbled,
"Can you stop summoning me every time you get into this kind of trouble?"
"Isn't there an easier way?"
"Like eating an entire small village."
...
Orochimaru's expression darkened.
He didn't answer Manda.
This snake's personality is still as irritating as ever.
The next moment, Orochimaru suddenly felt a chill run down his spine.
He cautiously scanned his surroundings, his brows knitting together.
The drizzle continued to fall.
Birds foraging in the rain flew overhead, while crickets hopped among the blades of grass along the street.
Everything around him appeared exactly as it had before.
Nothing was out of place.
Orochimaru had never doubted his instincts.
If a sense of danger had suddenly arisen within him, then he was undoubtedly in danger.
But where was that danger coming from?
"Manda!"
Orochimaru looked down at the giant snake beneath his feet.
Seeing its vertical pupils, he knew Manda had sensed it too.
Suddenly, Orochimaru saw Asuka, who had disappeared moments earlier, appear directly before him.
The Kusanagi Sword raised above his head gleamed with a cold light beneath the pouring rain.
An inexplicable pressure slowly rose from Asuka's body.
As his other hand wrapped around the sword's hilt, the muscles in his arm suddenly bulged.
Orochimaru's hair stood on end.
He slammed his right foot against Manda's neck and roared,
"Move!"
"Shut up."
Manda's voice had also become anxious.
A powerful sense of unease suddenly surged through it.
That unease continuously urged it to cancel the summoning and return to Ryūchi Cave.
"Orochimaru, you've probably never seen a flying slash before, have you?"
The next second, Asuka grinned.
He swung the sword in his hand like a baseball bat, violently cutting forward.
"Room: Sacred Avoidance!"
A crescent-shaped blue light instantly shot from the sword.
It cleaved through the air and tore directly toward the enormous creature before him.
Watching the air itself being forcibly split apart, and seeing the blue light move even faster than Wind Release, Orochimaru could feel the stinging, burning sensation on his skin despite the distance.
Without hesitation, he leaped from Manda's head.
Whoosh!
The blue light swept across Manda's body.
The enormous snake froze.
It instinctively glanced at its abdomen.
After confirming that there was no wound, it looked toward the residential buildings ahead, confusion slowly appearing in its eyes.
"When did houses start growing on their own?"
"They grow so fast. Are they actually taller than me now?"
At that moment, Orochimaru stared at Manda, whose body had been cleanly severed at the waist.
His heart trembled.
His expression darkened until it looked as though water could be squeezed from it.
Boom!
Manda's enormous body crashed onto the nearby buildings in pieces, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that enveloped both Asuka and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's expression was completely hidden behind the dust.
What a joke.
That level of destructive power was comparable to Ōnoki's Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique.
But what Asuka had released clearly wasn't ninjutsu.
It was more like swordsmanship—or some unknown dōjutsu.
Orochimaru had never seen any sword technique capable of cutting one of the Three Great Sage Regions' summons in half at the waist with a single ranged attack.
Tsunade's punches could only leave shallow marks on Manda's body.
Severing?
Did the samurai of the Land of Iron possess such a technique?
If they had this kind of ability, they would have conquered the shinobi world long ago.
There would be no room left for shinobi to survive.