"That guy... is Orochimaru?"
The thought flashed through the Fourth Raikage's mind, but his momentum-laden punch showed no sign of stopping.
The heavy fist, wrapped in savage lightning, smashed squarely into Orochimaru's raised, seemingly pale and weak blocking hand!
Boom!!
A dull collision echoed.
The immense force sent Orochimaru's body flying backward. His feet ploughed two deep trenches in the ground, kicking up stones, before he barely managed to stop.
At the same time, behind Yugito Nii, space twisted silently!
Uchiha Obito, wearing a white bone mask and revealing a pair of crimson Sharingan eyes, emerged from the spiraling distortion of space!
His timing was precise, catching the exact moment Yugito was distracted by Orochimaru's appearance.
The hand hidden beneath his sleeve shot out, fingers grasping for the back of Yugito's head!
Kamui!
An irresistible spatial suction, as if to tear the soul itself out, erupted instantly from Obito's right eye.
Yugito Nii felt the world before her suddenly twist and spin. A fierce wave of vertigo instantly flooded her consciousness, as if her entire body was about to be sucked into the vortex!
Just as Obito was about to seize Yugito Nii.
"Rooooar!!"
A savage, enraged beastial roar suddenly exploded in Yugito Nii's mind!
Furious, icy pale-blue flames erupted from her body, frantically climbing up Obito's hand as it reached for the back of her head.
A pungent smell of char spread immediately. The power within the flames scorched Obito's soul, instantly interrupting the process of his Kamui activation.
The spatial suction of Kamui abruptly ceased. Yugito Nii snapped back to her senses, her cat-like eyes blazing with surprise and killing intent.
"Damn it!!"
Like a startled cat, she lunged forward, instantly creating distance from Uchiha Obito. At the same time, she flicked her wrist and lashed out behind her.
A long whip, wrapped in Lightning Release chakra and carrying a piercing shriek through the air with crackling electricity, mercilessly struck at Obito behind her!
Snap!
The 'God-Striking Whip' passed straight through Obito's illusory figure, futilely sweeping through empty air as if striking nothing!
Uchiha Obito, looking at the blue flames burning on his arm, raised his hand and simply cut it off. The white limb dripped not blood, but a white fluid.
Though the Two-Tails' flames were not incredibly powerful, they could burn the flesh and the soul.
In any case, half of his body was composed of White Zetsu material; he could simply replace the arm upon returning.
"What?!"
Yugito Nii's pupils shrank abruptly. She subconsciously looked toward Obito's eyes.
"Don't look him in the eye!"
Kakashi Hatake's explosive shout slammed into her ears. Yugito Nii instinctively lowered her gaze.
Seeing this, the genjutsu that had been brewing in Obito's crimson Sharingan receded.
He had originally planned to use either "Kamui" or a genjutsu to take the Two-Tails Jinchūriki immediately...
Obito slowly turned to look at Kakashi Hatake in the distance, his cold, biting killing intent completely undisguised.
"Kakashi."
Obito's voice was hoarse and low, carrying a cold sneer. "You truly are, as always, in the way!"
Seeing the familiar and fully intact Mangekyō Sharingan eyes, Kakashi Hatake's pupils contracted instantly. Driven by pure instinct, he used the Body Flicker Technique.
The second after he left, Obito's left eye leaked blood-tears, streaming down the corner of his eye.
Sizzle! Bang!!
A section of a tree trunk behind Kakashi's former position was excavated into thin air. Losing its support, it crashed down with a dull thud.
"Kamui?!"
Seeing this, Kakashi, who had narrowly escaped, felt cold sweat breaking out on his body.
Obito was showing no mercy this time; his first move was meant to kill him!
But wasn't Obito's left eye blinded from using Izanagi?
"..."
Feeling the loss of his left eye's dōjutsu power, Uchiha Obito frowned.
Sure enough, the eye power obtained from the Mōryō could not be restored.
"Uchiha Obito!!"
A hoarse roar filled with hatred and malice came from the distance. Obito subconsciously looked up, but the figure of Yagura Karatachi instantly appeared behind him.
The former Fourth Mizukage, who had been controlled by Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan for many years, had bloodshot eyes locked onto Obito's back.
A palm struck toward the vital point of Obito's back.
Coral Palm!
However, facing this sudden fatal sneak attack, Obito didn't even turn his head.
In his crimson Mangekyō Sharingan, a chilling ocular power subtly flowed.
Buzz!
The instant Yagura's palm made contact with Obito's body, it passed straight through him without any resistance.
As Yagura moved from behind to in front of Obito, Obito's illusory body instantly became solid. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and grabbed Yagura's ankle.
Boom!
The cold look in Yagura's eyes did not change. Tailed Beast Chakra surged from his body!
Instantly, his body was wrapped in a boiling crimson chakra cloak, and three giant tails composed of Tailed Beast Chakra condensed and whipped behind him like massive pythons!
With an air-tearing shriek and terrifying force, they brutally smashed toward the now-solidified Obito.
Uchiha Obito frowned, the Mangekyō pattern in his crimson eyes swirling wildly.
A powerful, chilling aura suddenly erupted from Obito.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Pale-blue chakra condensed into a skeletal structure, emerging out of thin air around his body, instantly forming the shape of a rib cage and an arm!
Susano'o - Initial Form.
The pale-blue skeletal arm sharply raised, meeting the incoming crimson Tailed Beast Chakra giant tail!
Clang!!
A deafening, terrifying crash suddenly exploded.
The crimson Tailed Beast Chakra fiercely collided with the pale-blue Susano'o bones.
A visible shockwave spread, sending shattered stone and dust flying in all directions!
At the center of the impact, Obito stood motionless. The pale-blue Susano'o skeletal arm steadily withstood the blow, showing only slight cracks.
Yagura grunted, uncontrollably flying backward.
He traced a pathetic arc through the air, crashing heavily onto the ground dozens of meters away.
Seeing the Susano'o utilized by Uchiha Obito, the expressions of the people present immediately changed. They instantly recalled the name mentioned in earlier intelligence reports.
"Uchiha Madara?"
Ōnoki, in mid-air, squinted and sneered, "No. I should call you Uchiha Obito."
He is just an Uchiha brat impersonating Uchiha Madara.
This level of power is too far beneath that monster, Uchiha Madara.
"Orochimaru!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi stared fixedly at the two figures, then looked at Orochimaru in the distance, demanding, "Why are you here, and why are you with Uchiha Obito?!"
Since Orochimaru's defection from Konoha years ago, he hadn't seen his former disciple again. He never expected Orochimaru to appear so suddenly.
And to appear alongside Uchiha Obito, attacking the Fourth Raikage without hesitation.
"Heh heh, old man, it's been a long time. Your chakra is even more decayed."
Orochimaru slowly straightened up. A hoarse, chilling laugh emerged from beneath his mask. He then spoke, "Let me offer you a little welcome gift first."
The moment his voice fell, before anyone could react, a muffled groan of pain reached their ears.
Snap! Crack!!
The Fourth Raikage's muscular left arm, the one that had just sent Orochimaru flying, suddenly began to twist and deform without warning!
The muscles beneath the skin writhed and collapsed. The bones let out a grating, crisp sound, and the shape of his entire arm instantly became bizarre and distorted!
As if an invisible hand had violently wrung it like a towel!
More terrifyingly, this hideous mutation was visibly and frantically spreading from his arm toward his shoulder and even his torso!
The agonizing pain of flesh and soul swept through the Fourth Raikage's entire body, making the veins on his forehead pop and his face turn instantly pale!
But under this pain, the ruthlessness in his eyes intensified.
"Urggh!"
A roar of suppressed agony was squeezed from the depths of his throat. Without the slightest hesitation, he abruptly raised his other, still-intact right arm.
Fingers together, Lightning Chakra condensing along the palm's edge, turning his hand into a blade!
Zzzzzzzt!
Blinding lightning instantly surged. His right palm, carrying an air-tearing shriek, sliced viciously toward his own rapidly deforming left shoulder joint!
Chop!
A dull, clean slicing sound was heard, and blood erupted like a fountain from the neat cut!
The Fourth Raikage's left arm, along with the endlessly spreading deformity, was violently severed by his own hand. The severed limb fell onto the scorched earth, still twitching and twisting bizarrely!
"Raikage-sama!"
"Boss!"
Seeing this, Yugito Nii and Darui's pupils shrank as they rushed forward.
The intense pain made the Fourth Raikage's body tremble, but he gritted his teeth and didn't utter a single whimper, quickly channeling the wild Lightning Release Chakra within him.
Zzzzzzt! Zzzzzzt!
Blue electrical arcs wrapped around the bloody stump. Blinding light and scorching heat erupted, and the smell of burnt flesh permeated the air instantly.
The wound was seared and carbonized by the lightning, and the incessant bleeding was forcefully stopped within seconds.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
A crisp, sudden sound of applause reached their ears. Orochimaru was clapping, laughing as he spoke, "As expected of the Fourth Raikage. Very decisive and ruthless."
His ability was a complete counter to most Taijutsu users, but the Fourth Raikage's physical strength gave him high resistance to it.
If he were facing just a regular Taijutsu user, Orochimaru could have enveloped their body like a snake, and it wouldn't have been as simple as just losing an arm.
But facing a brute-force monster like the Fourth Raikage, Orochimaru might have been torn apart before the Raikage's body could even twist and deform.
"..."
The Fourth Raikage's face was ashen from the intense pain and blood loss. Large beads of cold sweat poured down his forehead.
But his large, bloodshot, bell-like eyes, blazing with fury and shock, were fixed on Orochimaru in the distance!
"Orochimaru!" His voice was filled with suppressed, extreme rage and coldness. "You are seeking death!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's face, at this moment, was dark enough to drip water.
He looked at the still-twitching severed arm on the ground, then at the scorched, hideous wound on the Fourth Raikage's shoulder.
A power never seen before.
Merely a touch, and the flesh underwent such horrifying deformation. Is it some unknown virulent poison? Or some forbidden Ninjutsu?
"Orochimaru..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi turned his gaze to Orochimaru, questioning him with pained disappointment, "What exactly have you been doing these years since you left Konoha?"
"Heh heh heh..."
Orochimaru let out a hoarse and cold low laugh, a laugh full of mockery.
"Thanks to you, old man, my years away from Konoha have been quite spectacular!"
As he spoke, his gaze, like that of a poisonous snake, slowly swept over everyone present. Finally, a flicker of undetectable disappointment and sinister malice crossed his golden, vertical pupils.
"Hyuga Kawa... he's not here, is he?" Orochimaru's voice grew colder and more piercing, his malice deepening. "What a pity..."
"I actually wanted to deliver this 'welcome gift' to him!"
At his words, Hiruzen Sarutobi's face twitched. A look of anger rose on his face, and he chastised, "Weren't the things you did to Kawa enough?! Do you still want to pursue him to the death?!"
"Heh heh heh... HA HA HA HA HA!"
Hearing Hiruzen Sarutobi's rebuke, Orochimaru was not angered. Instead, he burst into an unrestrained fit of maniacal laughter, full of satire and sorrow.
"Old man!"
His laughter stopped abruptly, his voice spiking suddenly with an almost hysterical mockery. "You truly are blind!!"
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