As Uchiha Hikari and her group arrived, the people in the Sound Village gradually noticed the commotion. Those with nothing better to do started gathering in groups.
The Sound Village was small—about the size of a modern high school campus, with a population of just over a hundred. A "spar" on the training grounds was impossible to miss.
Among the onlookers, Karin's excitement stood out.
The red-haired girl dragged Kimimaro and Jugo through the crowd, rushing to Hikari's side. She looked up with a bright grin and shouted, "Big Sis Hikari, you're back!" Then her curious gaze shifted to the training grounds, where Esdeath and Orochimaru faced off. "Ooh, is that blue-haired lady going to fight Teacher Orochimaru?"
"Yup," Hikari replied, glancing subtly at Kabuto Yakushi, Kidomaru, and the others nearby. "Watch closely and learn. You don't see a clash of powerhouses like this every day."
"Got it!" Karin nodded eagerly, taking Hikari's words to heart. Her eyes locked onto the battlefield with a serious, studious expression. Kimimaro, standing beside her, was equally focused.
To be fair, Orochimaru wasn't weak. Apart from being vulnerable to Sharingan genjutsu, his skills in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu were top-tier in the ninja world. His versatility and survival abilities were unmatched—even Naruto in his Four-Tails form couldn't take him down quickly.
But his opponent was Esdeath.
And not just any Esdeath—this was the Esdeath who'd been to the Dragon Ball world with Hikari and learned to harness "ki."
At first, Esdeath held back, testing Orochimaru's abilities. She observed his Hidden Shadow Snake Hands, Kusanagi Sword: Sky Blade, and Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes, getting a sense of his skill level. Once she had his measure, she unleashed her full ferocity. With a burst of "Ice Purgatory," she froze the entire training ground, shattering the Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes in an instant. Then, activating her "Snow Demon," she summoned two 40-meter-long ice blades and launched a relentless onslaught!
The air roared with deafening booms.
Orochimaru tried to counter with ninjutsu, but his techniques—and his body—were sliced in half. He escaped using a substitution technique, but Esdeath's attacks came like a storm, relentless and overwhelming. In moments, the training ground was a haze of dust and debris, as if bombarded by artillery.
Finally, Esdeath snapped her fingers, conjuring a massive ice meteor over 100 meters wide that nearly engulfed the entire field. It plummeted from the sky!
"…Triple Rashomon!"
As the meteor fell, three massive gates adorned with demonic faces rose from the ground. The collision was cataclysmic, like Mars crashing into Earth, accompanied by a violent earthquake!
---
Outside the training ground, Karin and the others were stunned.
The little girl's jaw dropped as she stared at the chaos. It took her a moment to snap out of it, tugging at Hikari's sleeve. "Big Sis Hikari, this…"
"Don't worry, Orochimaru's not dead yet," Hikari said calmly.
As if to prove her point, the dust cleared, revealing a pale, slime-covered Orochimaru crawling out of a pile of crushed flesh and rubble. He slithered to a safe distance from Esdeath, his wounds healing in under half a minute. But his chakra was noticeably depleted, and his gaze toward Esdeath now carried a hint of wariness.
And, of course, greed.
Esdeath's strength far exceeded Orochimaru's expectations for a "vessel." If possible, he wouldn't mind claiming her body for himself. But given her overwhelming power and killing intent, he didn't dare voice the thought.
On the other side, Esdeath dispelled her Snow Demon and floated down on a thin sheet of ice, a faint look of disgust on her face. She turned to Hikari. "What was that technique? It's gross."
"Substitution technique," Hikari replied.
"Huh? But when you use it, it doesn't look like that."
"Personal flair, I guess."
Hikari shrugged. Truth be told, Orochimaru's "Orochimaru-Style Substitution" was incredibly practical. It required hand signs and offered near-perfect damage negation, rivaling even Obito's Kamui intangibility.
But it was also undeniably gross.
Most people probably couldn't stomach emerging from their own body covered in slimy goo. Hikari pictured it and felt a shiver of goosebumps.
By now, the fight's outcome was clear.
Orochimaru's eyes flickered before he spoke in his raspy voice, conceding defeat. "As expected of the one who defeated Moryo in the Land of Demons. Your strength, Lady Esdeath, is beyond my own."
"…You know about Moryo?" Esdeath's brows furrowed, her expression turning dangerous.
Orochimaru nodded. "Of course. The Land of Demons incident involved several ninja villages to some extent. I have my connections, so I've heard a thing or two."
"Oh…" Esdeath nodded, then let out a heavy, cold snort. "So you knew who I was but pretended otherwise, huh? And don't think I missed that greedy look you gave her earlier. A subordinate coveting their superior? Do you not know how to spell 'death'?"
Despite playing second fiddle to Hikari lately, Esdeath was still the commanding general of an empire. As her face darkened, a murderous aura surged like a tidal wave, sweeping across the training ground. Everyone, including Orochimaru, felt it like a blade against their skin.
"And one more thing," Esdeath continued, her voice as cold as ancient ice. "'Little Es' is a name only she gets to use. If you overstep again, subordinate or not, I'll personally gouge out your eyes."
"…"
Hikari, watching from the sidelines, blinked.
Was Esdeath… defending her?
Hikari had long known about Orochimaru's obsession with her body—it was rooted in his very nature, unchangeable even with something like the "Yasakani no Magatama." The only way to stop it would be to erase his consciousness entirely.
But this was Esdeath's first time in the Sound Village, meeting Orochimaru and seeing his covetous gaze toward Hikari. Such blatant disrespect from a subordinate clearly irked Esdeath, who'd once been a high-ranking imperial officer. It even made her question Hikari's ability to control her followers.
Her ruthless display earlier was, in part, meant to address that.
Sensing the tension, Hikari coughed and stepped in to smooth things over. Then she stretched her neck and glanced at the Fallen Princess siblings nearby. "Next round's mine. I want to test the 'Dragon Curse Mark' myself."
Fallen Princess and Gyutaro: "?"
Hikari took the field to evaluate the siblings' abilities.
To put it bluntly, without the curse mark, they were barely special jonin-level. Gyutaro had decent combat sense, but Fallen Princess was mostly just there to fill space. Even the current Tanjiro could take her out without breaking a sweat.
But with the "Dragon Curse Mark" activated, they transformed into small dragon-like figures, covered in scales and purple-black runic patterns, their faces masked by bony protrusions. Their strength skyrocketed, nearing the level of Upper Moon One, Kokushibo. Hikari doubted any single Hashira could defeat them now.
The boost was impressive—stronger than the original "Earth Curse Mark" by a significant margin, almost a qualitative leap.
And this was just "Dragon Curse Mark I."
According to Orochimaru, with enough dragon king blood samples, he could develop "Mark II" and beyond. Mass-producing kage-level fighters might be a stretch, but elite chunin or jonin? Entirely doable with the curse mark.
"Not bad," Hikari mused. She planned to check in with Eriyi and visit the Dragon Clan world to get blood and tissue samples from the Xia Mi siblings for Orochimaru to continue his research. Once the curse mark's stability was solid, she might even consider distributing it beyond the Sound Village.
Like, say, giving a few to the Uchiha clan?
Speaking of the Uchihas, Hikari remembered the other reason for her visit.
"Here's Dr. Brief's research data," she said, dismissing Karin and the others with an excuse and clearing the area before handing a stack of files to Orochimaru. "Dr. Brief analyzed the Uchiha clan's gene sequences, comparing them with Uzumaki samples and running experiments. He developed a 'gene-targeted drug' that, in theory, can repair genetic defects in the Uchiha's eye cells, eliminating the latent bloodline disease."
"But it's still in the lab phase—no human trials yet. We need a clinical trial to verify its effectiveness and iron out any issues. What are your thoughts on this?"
Orochimaru's expression shifted to surprise before he responded. "Dr. Brief managed to create something like that? In that case, I'm willing to assist, Lady Hikari.
"Though I'm a Konoha traitor now, I still have some contacts from my time there, plus two hidden labs in the village. If you need them, I can reactivate them."
"Oh?" Hikari's eyes narrowed. "You mean Anko Mitarashi?"
"No, Anko was just my student. She was too young back then to be involved in my contingencies, so she doesn't know about them," Orochimaru explained.
Despite his current state, Orochimaru had once been a contender for Fourth Hokage and led several key battles during the Third Great Ninja War as one of the Sannin. His network was extensive. Even after his defection, when Konoha investigated and purged his connections, he could still call on loyal followers if needed.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have pulled off the "Konoha Crush" years later in the original story.
Kin Tsuchi and Misumi Tsurugi, two genin who joined Kabuto in Naruto's chunin exam in the original plot, were among his hidden assets.
"They're both my privately trained operatives—clean records, reliable. I'll send word to have them prepare the labs for the clinical trials," Orochimaru said.
The Sound Village, thanks to Hikari's efforts through the Sheqi Eight Families and spoils from the Red Ribbon Army, had cutting-edge scientific and medical equipment, outpacing the rest of the ninja world by a decade. But clinical trials were time-intensive, and bringing batches of Uchihas to the Sound Village for dosing, observation, and feedback wasn't practical.
The next best option was to use Konoha's secret labs.
As for who'd oversee the "clinical trial plan"…
"For now, I can send a shadow clone to infiltrate Konoha and conduct the experiments," Orochimaru suggested. "But as a non-Uchiha, I might not earn Fugaku's trust. You'd need to bridge that gap, Lady Hikari. Later, Kabuto can take over. She's skilled in medicine, has been my assistant for months, and is a Konoha ninja, so her presence there wouldn't raise suspicions."
"Hm…" Hikari considered.
Kabuto was a solid choice, but her loyalties were tangled. On the surface, she worked for Danzo, spied for Orochimaru, and was ultimately manipulated by Hikari behind the scenes. Sending her to Konoha to interact with the Uchihas would make her a quadruple agent. Who knew what complications that might stir up?
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