"Trying to pierce my skin with the Kusanagi Blade? You're dreaming," Lucas Moore chuckled inwardly.
In the original timeline, Orochimaru used that so-called divine weapon against the Tailed Beast–transformed Naruto, and even then, he couldn't pierce his outer layer.
And that Naruto had only tapped into Four-Tails at the time.
If it couldn't even puncture that, breaking through Hierro his steel skin was nothing but wishful thinking.
"Orochimaru, this little play has gone on long enough."
Lucas's tone remained calm and level. "This next move will end it. Try not to die, alright? I still need someone to run errands for me."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he raised his index finger.
A dense swirl of spiritual pressure gathered and condensed into a dark green orb.
It hadn't even fully formed yet, and the ground beneath them had already started to collapse!
Shiiiii!!
The air shuddered from the raw force radiating off the sphere.
"A Tailed Beast Bomb?! No, this isn't it, but by the look of it, its power might very well rival one!" Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply. "At this distance, I'll be vaporized! I have to get away!"
With a thought, he triggered the extension of the Kusanagi Blade.
Whoosh!!
Lucas didn't move a muscle. He remained unmoved like a mountain.
But due to the counterforce, Orochimaru was flung back over a thousand meters in an instant.
"Trying to put some distance between us? Heh... You really underestimate the range of this attack."
Lucas sneered and let out a low incantation. "Cero!"
FWOOOSH!
A massive blast of green light surged forward, an overwhelming tide of condensed spirit energy sweeping across the landscape like a destructive wave.
The air sizzled and burned in its path an ominous silence followed by utter annihilation.
In the blink of an eye, the thousand-meter gap was nothing.
"Hayai!! (So fast!)"
Orochimaru's heart raced. "And the size of this thing it's even more ridiculous than a Tailed Beast Bomb!"
Clenching his teeth, he bit into his thumb and slammed a palm against the ground. "Summoning Jutsu"
"Triple Rashomon!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three colossal demonic gates erupted from the ground, each adorned with grotesque oni faces gates to the underworld itself.
BOOM!!
The green blast slammed into the first Rashomon gate, shattering it into pieces.
The second gate was hurled backward, and the third crashed down to the earth in ruin.
The explosion that followed flattened the entire forest, leaving behind a massive crater in the earth.
Lucas narrowed his eyes. "Did that really kill him? Orochimaru may not be the strongest, but when it comes to survivability, he's top-tier. He shouldn't go down that easily."
After all…
In the original timeline, even after the Fourth Great Ninja War ended, Orochimaru was one of the few surviving villains who eventually got "redeemed."
Just as he suspected
The thick smoke gradually cleared, revealing a massive purple-scaled serpent sprawled across the wreckage.
It was Manda, Orochimaru's strongest summoning beast.
But now, Manda's body was in shreds, covered in blood, and its eyes had long since gone dim.
Dead.
Orochimaru had summoned it to tank the damage for him.
Lucas clicked his tongue in pity. "Tsk. Poor Manda. Didn't even get a single line before keeling over."
In the original series, Manda was also summoned by Sasuke to shield him from Deidara's self-destruction… and died.
Tsk. That snake really couldn't catch a break always fated to be someone's meat shield.
Orochimaru emerged from behind what remained of Manda, watching Lucas warily from a distance.
"No worries. I'm done," Lucas waved him off with a grin. "That was a fun fight. As expected of one of the Legendary Sannin being able to take a Cero head-on is no small feat."
"…Thanks, I suppose," Orochimaru exhaled in relief.
But he didn't believe a word of that praise.
He could tell Lucas had been toying with him the entire time.
That demand for a battle? That wasn't the point at all.
Lucas clearly had some hidden agenda.
What he didn't realize was
Lucas's compliments were genuine.
But only for this level.
Because what Orochimaru had seen was merely a standard Cero just a basic move among the Arrancar.
Its damage and range couldn't even compare to what came after Resurrección the true release form.
The Black Cero from Resurrección, known as the "Cero Oscuras," was so powerful it could twist space itself.
It was a signature technique of the Espada the highest-ranked Arrancar.
In the current ninja world…
Unless Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha were resurrected, no one could possibly be Lucas's match.
Just then
A notification echoed in Lucas's mind.
Ding! Sub-quest complete!
[Sub-Quest]: Defeat one of the Legendary Sannin: Orochimaru
[Reward - Unclaimed]: Hadō No. 32, Hadō No. 21, Hadō No. 25, Hadō No. 54, +1300 Spiritual Pressure EXP, Regeneration Serum
"Oh? 1300 EXP?" Lucas raised a brow in surprise. "That's 100 more than Minato's reward. Could it be that Orochimaru's stronger than Minato?"
Minato should be around twenty years old right now.
Orochimaru, on the other hand, was already in his thirties his prime.
So it made sense that the system gave him a higher rating.
His gaze drifted to the second reward, and his expression shifted. "Holy crap! A Regeneration Serum?! That stuff is basically priceless!"
The Regeneration Serum was a rare item from the Bleach universe.
Crafted by Mayuri Kurotsuchi, the captain of Squad 12 in the Soul Society, it could instantly restore a destroyed body without side effects.
Of course, it didn't work on fatal injuries to the heart or brain.
Think of it as a budget version of Lucas's own High-Speed Regeneration.
With that serum, he could completely heal Nagato's body!
Mayuri wasn't just a squad captain. His entire body had been transformed into a living lab an arsenal of hidden weapons and devices.
He'd created countless miraculous tools and earned the nickname "Mad Scientist."
"If Mayuri came to this world…" Lucas mused, rubbing his chin, "he and Orochimaru would probably get along like soulmates. Together, they could create world-shaking technology."
"Too bad. Mayuri can't come to this world."
Shaking his head, Lucas was about to take Orochimaru back with him.
Suddenly
A voice thundered from above.
"Don't even think about taking Orochimaru with you! He's a rogue ninja from Konoha. He must be brought back to face justice!"
A loud, gravelly shout echoed as a white-haired man descended from the sky.
"Take this! Ninja Art-"
"Ultra Big Ball Rasengan!"