Chapter 20: The Serpent's Dance
"Heh, I never said that!" Orochimaru chuckled, a low, sinister sound. "It's just that they are all eager to witness the legendary 'Genius Puppet Master's' prowess for themselves."
No sooner had he finished speaking than the horde behind him surged forward with bestial roars, charging like wild horses.
"I'll handle this!" Sasori's voice from within Hiruko held a thread of excitement. He stopped Uchiha Naoki, who was about to intervene. "There are some promising materials among this rabble. They will do nicely for my puppet collection. You keep your eyes on Orochimaru. I sense something is off about him."
Hearing this, Uchiha Naoki had no objections. He focused his attention on the snake Sannin.
"Naoki-kun, I didn't expect you and Sasori to get along so well. It's quite a feat, given his… potent personality," Orochimaru remarked, though his expression was significantly more guarded than his words. Uchiha Naoki's aura was far more oppressive than during their last encounter. And how long had it been? Less than half a month. The terrifying talent of the Uchiha, he thought grimly. It was no wonder this boy had survived the massacre.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Orochimaru, as a former student of the "Professor," the Third Hokage, was a master of all five basic nature transformations, even if he favored others. His proficiency was absolute.
In an instant, a hurricane-force gale howled into existence, shattering the tense atmosphere and roaring toward Uchiha Naoki with enough force to suffocate a man and pin him to the ground, immobile. This was the true power of a Kage-level shinobi—terrifying, transcendent, and far beyond the ken of ordinary ninja.
"Great Eruption!"
Facing Orochimaru, Uchiha Naoki gave it his full focus. His two-tomoe Sharingan spun, working in tandem with his Observation Haki to capture every minute detail. Orochimaru's combat experience was even more vast and terrifying than Sasori's, making him a far greater threat. A single misstep could mean death.
BOOM!
Fire clashed with Wind!
A cataclysmic explosion of red-hot energy and concussive force engulfed the jungle. The very earth erupted and sank. The resulting shockwave of scorching wind was so intense that even Sasori was forced to Hiruko back several paces. The puppet's outer defenses couldn't withstand the residual heat, which exceeded 500 degrees Celsius.
"GYAAAH—!!"
Several of the hospital-gowned figures failed to evade in time. Their bodies were instantly desiccated and charred black. The horrific sight sent the remaining test subjects scrambling away from Uchiha Naoki, looking at him with a mixture of shock and pure terror. If the aftershock was this devastating, how destructive was the epicenter of the clash?
"Break!"
After his intense training in the Sea Lake, his Magma Fruit development had reached a new peak. While rapid progress would be harder from here, the results were undeniable. Even a Wind Release technique of Kage-level potency could not stop the advance of his molten fist.
Marvelous! Orochimaru thought, a flicker of genuine admiration crossing his features as he watched the colossal lava fist tear through his gale. To have grown to this level in such a short time? He's even more frightening than Itachi.
"But…" Orochimaru's lips twisted into a grin. "Don't make the mistake of underestimating me!"
"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Marsh!"
The ground beneath Uchiha Naoki's feet instantly turned into a deep, sucking quagmire. Before he could react, he was sunk up to his calves in the mire, completely unable to generate force or move forward.
Is this… the tactical judgment of a Kage-level fighter? Naoki marveled internally, a sense of déjà vu from his first fight with Sasori washing over him. So simple, so direct, and so utterly effective.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
Orochimaru gave him no time to elementalize and escape the earth's grasp. Completing another sequence of seals, he spewed a powerful torrent of water, drenching the area and making Naoki curse inwardly. The purpose was obvious: to saturate the environment and inhibit his elemental intangibility. But the Water Release served a second, more sinister purpose.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Beast!"
Just as Naoki feared, a terrifying arc of lightning erupted from Orochimaru's body, racing along the path of the water with blinding speed directly toward him. Trapped and soaked, unable to safely elementalize, Uchiha Naoki had no choice but to brace and take the hit.
ZAP-CRACKLE!
The power of a Kage-level Lightning Release was horrifying. Even with his enhanced physical resilience, Naoki felt a significant portion of his cells short-circuit and burn in that single, brutal moment. A searing, tearing pain shot through his body with every micro-movement, drastically impairing his combat condition.
As expected of a Legendary Sannin. His power is immense! Naoki conceded internally. With a furious burst of chakra, he blasted himself free from the mud and water, scrambling away from the immediate danger zone.
"Trying to escape? How naive, Naoki-kun!"
But Orochimaru was already upon him. His deep voice sounded right in Naoki's ear. A blade of unimaginable coldness and sharpness—the Sword of Kusanagi—filled Naoki's vision, magnifying rapidly.
Shunk!
There was no time to defend. The legendary blade pierced clean through Uchiha Naoki's chest, sending a spray of blood into the air. The sheer force of the thrust hurled him backward like a ragdoll, crashing deep into the distant tree line and sending a plume of dust and splinters skyward.
"No way… He's at a disadvantage from the very start?" The Scarlet Sand Scorpion, having nearly finished dispatching the horde of test subjects, couldn't hide his surprise at the scene. He looked at Orochimaru, who was retracting his elongated sword, with a newfound sense of shock. "Is this man truly this powerful? Is this… the level of a Sannin?" He had to admit he had underestimated Orochimaru before, thinking their strength was comparable. It seemed that without his ultimate trump card completed, matching Orochimaru would be truly difficult.
"However… that boy Naoki won't be defeated so easily!" Sasori thought, a thread of conviction returning. "His resilience is monstrous." He still had faith in Uchiha Naoki.
His faith was rewarded. Before Orochimaru could press his advantage, the jungle ahead began to glow with an intense heat.
"Hound Dog, Chase the Red Lotus!"
A gigantic, burning crimson hound roared out of the foliage, the air around it crackling and burning. And from within the heart of the flaming beast, Uchiha Naoki himself emerged, riding its momentum, his fist pulled back as if drawing power from the very inferno, and launched a devastating punch at Orochimaru.
Whoosh!
Orochimaru's lower body instantly transformed into a massive serpent's tail. Using the Snake Mimicry technique, he slithered through the jungle with impossible flexibility, narrowly evading the cataclysmic punch.
BOOM!
The section of jungle he vacated instantly transformed into a sea of fire, charred wood fragments flying everywhere.
"Scorching World: Eruption!"
Seeing Orochimaru evade, Uchiha Naoki immediately unleashed his ultimate area-denial technique.
BOOM!
A wave of solid, materializing heat erupted from him in a wide, fan-shaped arc. It scorched the very space it passed through, spreading outward at an inescapable speed, incinerating everything in its path.
Hiss!
The moment Uchiha Naoki threw that punch, Orochimaru felt a stinging, preemptive heat. But in the blink of an eye, that heat intensified exponentially, scorching his skin red, causing it to crack and bleed. Then, before he could even process the pain, the full, solar-storm-like fury of the technique was upon him. It gave him no chance to dodge, no time to counter. It was an all-consuming inferno designed to annihilate all life in its radius, leaving behind only scorched and brittle remains scattered upon the earth.