Sasuke had followed Ryosuke all the way until now, encountering many powerful enemies. If he were to choose one he wanted to personally crush, it would be Orochimaru.
At that time, Orochimaru was, to Sasuke, an incomparably powerful and unreachable opponent.
Standing in front of him, Sasuke couldn't even struggle the slightest, he could only be branded with the curse mark.
If not for Ryosuke, Sasuke would have already died.
It was just a pity that Orochimaru was already dead, so even if Sasuke wanted revenge, he couldn't find his target.
But now...
Clack!
Sasuke's thumb pushed the guard of his katana.
The blade slid out of its sheath.
He lowered his body, his entire body surging with Ripple. Strands of yamabuki-colored Ripple circled him like thunderbolts. His right hand gripped the hilt in an empty hold, eyes locked on the "Orochimaru" in front of him, stepping forward.
"Niten Ichi-ryū: Godspeed."
Thunderclaps exploded.
Unlike Ryosuke's vast and ferocious style, Sasuke's was sharper, like a true lightning bolt striking directly at the soul, crossing dozens of meters in an instant.
By the time Kabuto reacted, the blade had already reached the front.
Orochimaru clapped both hands.
"Sage Art: Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!"
The Sage chakra stored in No.2 was rapidly consumed. Orochimaru opened his mouth, countless venomous snakes surged like waves, halting Sasuke's charge.
Kabuto seized the chance to pull Orochimaru back, preparing to unleash Sage Art again.
Zzzt!
Sasuke hurled his lightning-wreathed katana, then his hands blurred through seals at extreme speed.
"Fire Style: Majestic Flame Annihilation!"
Flames no weaker than Sage Arts roared forth, devouring the attacking serpents.
The fire blocked Kabuto's view. He stared hard ahead, waiting for the katana he'd thrown.
Hidan's lone eye, embedded in Orochimaru's face, spun rapidly, the first to detect danger.
"Watch out!"
The katana didn't emerge from the front but from the right, the blind spot of Kabuto's vision, piercing out of the flames straight at Orochimaru's heart.
Hidan noticed the thin cord tied to the katana's hilt and spat, "Despicable little Uchiha brat!"
Kabuto again burned Sage chakra, under the instruction of White Snake Sage No.1, clapped both hands and, stumbling, cast, "Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation!"
The ground surged, raising countless spikes.
Clang!
The katana was knocked high into the air.
A figure burst from the flames and caught it.
It was Sasuke, who had broken through the sea of snakes.
Amidst the heat, the fire-suppression system activated, spraying water downward.
Sasuke gripped his blade in one hand, finished another seal with the other, and pointed at Orochimaru.
"Lightning Style: Black Spot Difference."
Black lightning condensed in his hand, forming a leopard that pounced at Orochimaru.
This was a jutsu of the Hidden Cloud, developed by the Third Raikage.
Now that Cloud and Mist collaborated on weapon research, ninjutsu knowledge also spread between them.
Kabuto wanted to dodge with Orochimaru, but suddenly realized, looking up at the rain pouring down, "So this too… was part of your plan, Sasuke?!"
The black lightning climbed Orochimaru's body along the water streams.
The back-and-forth was frying Hidan numb.
His mouth was buzzing numb.
He stammered, "K-Kabuto, c-couldn't you just… just summon me some mosquitoes, some bats first? You wasteful… stinking… Sage chakra waster…"
Hidan dragged out "stinking" forever, but couldn't get another word out.
His whole mouth, even tongue, was stiff with electricity.
In the hidden base behind them, Hidan was slamming his butt against Kabuto's face to show his displeasure.
Kabuto kicked his butt away.
If not for summoning snakes and casting Inorganic Reincarnation just now, Orochimaru would've been finished on the spot.
But Kabuto also had to admit, this Sasuke kid, even if still young, after mixing with Ryosuke so long, had learned plenty of insidious tricks. With Kabuto only remotely controlling one body…
He was no match for Sasuke.
"Not to mention, he's holding the 'Ninjutsu Nullification Disc'!"
In just ten seconds, blade strikes and ninjutsu fell in succession. Kabuto had no power to resist, suppressed completely. Worse, Sage chakra was draining fast.
White Snake Sage No.1 said, "It won't work. Switch."
'Switch?'
Kabuto suddenly understood.
He pulled from his waist pouch Orochimaru's memory disc, opened his mouth, and shoved it in.
Zzzt~ Click!
The disc sank in.
The next second, Orochimaru's empty eyes suddenly glimmered, his entire aura overturning.
Cunning, calm, sinister.
The White Snake could extract memory and ninjutsu discs.
If only ninjutsu without memory, then it was just a ninjutsu-casting amnesiac ninja, like a weather forecaster.
If only memory without ninjutsu, then lacking mental power, he'd collapse into a coma.
In the world of Stand users, this coma was absolute.
But here, in the ninja world, things differed.
After all, ninjutsu could be trained by anyone. And White Snake Sage and Orochimaru shared the same lineage.
Before the remnant Sage chakra of White Snake ran out, Orochimaru with the memory disc could temporarily regain consciousness.
Of course, only temporarily.
Without the ninjutsu disc, Orochimaru couldn't form chakra himself. Once the Sage chakra depleted or time ran out, he'd sink into coma again.
But even a few minutes, even with only five-tenths of his power, Orochimaru was Orochimaru.
His danger level was absolutely beyond Kabuto's reach.
"Heh, seems I've come alive again."
Orochimaru glanced at the charging Sasuke, then at the surroundings, and the memory disc fusing inside him, instantly he understood everything.
The key was the memory disc.
With it, he was himself.
Without it, he didn't exist.
Orochimaru raised his hand and stabbed at his own chest.
He wanted to kill himself.
'Why?!'
Not only Sasuke, Kabuto and No.1 behind were stunned.
But they quickly realized.
'Yes! This was the real answer!'
Orochimaru had regained his memories. From now on, when he revived again from a curse mark, he wouldn't be a hollow shell, but a vegetative body with memory.
As long as someone injected Sage chakra into him again, Orochimaru could awaken.
Instead of gambling on an impossible escape from the enemy's base, better to cut losses immediately, choose suicide.
To prevent his corpse from falling into the institute's hands, before leaving White Snake Sage had sealed "Reverse Four Symbols Seal" in his heart. Once activated, everything within 100 meters would be sealed and destroyed.
"Hey! Hold on!" Hidan shouted with his mouth, "I'm still here, you know."
Kabuto clenched his fists in excitement.
"As expected of Lord Orochimaru!"
"Only by dying can one live."
"This is the true essence of Orochimaru's style!"
Hidan panicked, "No, seriously, I'm still here?! Can't you fight a little more first?!"
Hidan wasn't afraid of death, but he didn't want his mouth left behind.
Hands, feet, already gone, if even his mouth was lost, what was the point of living?
But just like minutes ago, when nobody cared for No.2's wish to change their group's name, now too nobody cared for Hidan's cries.
Kabuto and No.1 shouted in excitement,
"Die! Orochimaru, die quickly!"
Orochimaru's lips curled in a wicked smile. Touching his chest, he activated the sealing jutsu.
Nothing happened.
Not only the seal, but even the Sage chakra in his body froze in that instant, as if it didn't exist at all.
Orochimaru stood rooted, unable to move a single finger.
At that moment, he sensed behind him, an aura sharp as a blade.
Shhk~
A sword pierced from the back of his neck, skewered through his spine and throat, and thrust out from his mouth.
On its tip hung the memory disc, not yet fully fused.
Orochimaru's consciousness rapidly faded.
"I've waited too long for this moment. Orochimaru, you're much slower than I thought."
Sasuke's voice came from behind.
Orochimaru struggled to glance back, catching Sasuke with the corner of his eye.
Water still dripped from his head. As if annoyed by his obstructed sight, Sasuke brushed back his bangs with his left hand, revealing a cold, handsome face.
"Your ability… is immobilization jutsu?" Orochimaru asked.
He truly was smart, able to deduce, from the disc and circumstances, that "dying with the memory disc in" was the best escape route.
But he never could've imagined, there existed an ability that nullified ninjutsu.
"If you want to know, "
The sword shook, flicking the memory disc high into the air. Reflected on its surface was Orochimaru's terrified face, along with lightning-like arcs of the swinging blade.
"Once you're in hell, I'll burn paper offerings to tell you."
Clack!
The memory disc clattered to the ground, spun once, then settled.
Falling with it, Orochimaru's riddled corpse.
Revived for not even five seconds, Orochimaru… was dead again.
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