Chapter 27: The Serpent's Last Stand
"Could it be… that I am destined to die here today?" The thought was a bitter pill to swallow. He had believed that with the Impure World Reincarnation on his side, he could never fall into such a desperate situation. The reincarnated body was a bug-like existence; as long as the caster lived, it was nearly invincible. And the one he had summoned was Senju Tobirama himself. Under these circumstances, how could he possibly fail?
But reality was often cruel. Uchiha Naoki, a completely unforeseen variable, had shattered all his calculations.
"Orochimaru, it seems your time has finally come!" the Scarlet Sand Scorpion crowed, a vicious grin in his voice. "It appears the day you become part of my collection is not far off."
This made Orochimaru's eyes sharpen further, yet a sense of helplessness began to creep in.
"Hound Dog, Chase the Red Lotus!"
No sooner had Orochimaru evaded an attack from the Third Kazekage puppet than Uchiha Naoki's assault was upon him, relentless and swift. He could, of course, use Water Release to counter the giant flaming hound. But the Scarlet Sand Scorpion would never give him the breathing room. The Third Kazekage's iron sand was already coalescing, a new, devastating attack poised to be unleashed. If Orochimaru defended against Uchiha Naoki's blow, he would have no chance to dodge the Kazekage's iron sand. And the potent toxin lacing that sand was something even he dared not risk.
But if he tried to dodge… Facing Uchiha Naoki's terrifying predictive abilities, he didn't fancy his chances. The boy would likely be waiting for him at his landing point, a fatal blow already in motion.
Yet, in his current predicament, he had to make a choice.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!" Orochimaru's hands flew through seals, spewing a massive wave to block the onrushing Flame Hound. Then, without pause, he bit his thumb and formed another sequence. "Summoning Jutsu!" He slammed his palm to the ground. "Triple Rashomon!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three immense, wrought-iron gates, each adorned with a hideous, demonic face, erupted from the earth.
The next moment, the Scarlet Sand Scorpion commanded the Third Kazekage to unleash a storm of offense. "Iron Sand: Drizzle!"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Countless dense iron sand bullets hammered into the Rashomon gates, the sound echoing like thunder. The first gate, then the second, were swiftly breached. Only the third and final gate remained standing.
The colossal wave collided with the magma, generating a thick, impenetrable fog that enveloped Uchiha Naoki, Sasori, and Orochimaru, reducing visibility to zero.
And this was the opportunity Orochimaru needed. In a direct contest of strength, he was no match for the combined might of Uchiha Naoki and the Scarlet Sand Scorpion. To stay was to die. It was only logical to use this cover to retreat with all speed. His lower body softened into a serpent's tail, and he shot away into the mist.
But!
"Orochimaru! Did you think I would give you that chance?" Uchiha Naoki's voice sounded from directly behind him, sending a jolt of pure horror through Orochimaru. He had anticipated pursuit, given Uchiha Naoki's perception, but not this quickly. It was as if the fog offered no hindrance at all.
He saw Uchiha Naoki's right arm transform into a colossal fist of magma, instantly clearing the mist with a wave of terrifying, oppressive heat. "Great Eruption!"
The power contained in this single punch was absolutely devastating. The air itself seemed to explode around it, twisting and blurring under the intense temperature.
Whoosh!
But Orochimaru was, after all, Orochimaru. Facing this cataclysmic strike, his body contorted with impossible flexibility, twisting into a bizarre arc to narrowly avoid the main force of the blow.
"As expected of a man bearing the title of Sannin!" Uchiha Naoki couldn't help but voice his admiration, though his eyes immediately narrowed again. "But I am not the same as I was before." The battle with Senju Tobirama had sharpened his Sharingan's insight significantly. In the perception of his two tomoe, Orochimaru's movements now seemed almost sluggish. And his current contorted posture left multiple glaring openings. The most critical one meant that a follow-up attack would be nearly impossible for Orochimaru to evade. No matter how fast his reflexes, there was a limit.
"Meteor Shower!"
Under Uchiha Naoki's will, the dispersed magma fist suddenly fractured into a sky-filling hail of fiery projectiles, each one seemingly homing in on Orochimaru's grotesquely twisted form.
Hiss!!!!
At this moment, even Orochimaru felt his scalp go numb. Uchiha Naoki gave him not a single moment's respite. There was no avenue for escape!
Guh!
He stretched his neck and violently expelled a fresh version of himself from his mouth, not stopping for even a microsecond as he continued his desperate flight.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The searing lava obliterated his shed skin. The new Orochimaru fled onward.
"Hmph! Trying to run?" The Scarlet Sand Scorpion's voice cut through the chaos, laced with sarcasm. "Did you ask for my permission, Orochimaru?"
"Iron Sand: Imperial Funeral!"
In an instant, with the fleeing Orochimaru at its center, the entire area within a hundred-meter radius was blanketed in a sea of black iron sand. Then, countless iron sand spikes, linked together, erupted from the mass, piercing down into the earth in an inescapable, all-encompassing forest of death.
"NOT GOOD!!!" Orochimaru's pupils contracted to slits. Facing this indiscriminate, densely packed assault, he could almost see the Shinigami itself beckoning. Even twisting and flashing through the narrow gaps with serpentine agility, his body was lacerated in multiple places. Instantly, his body grew heavy, his head dizzy, his vision blurred. The toxin was taking effect!
"Damn it!!" Orochimaru roared. He activated the Oral Rebirth technique yet again, shedding another skin to emerge anew.
"Eight Branches Technique!"
Not daring to hesitate for even half a second, Orochimaru's form underwent a grotesque transformation. He swelled into a monstrous, human-faced serpent, its body composed of countless writhing, smaller white snakes.
Then…
As if exploding, the giant form disintegrated into a massive swarm of these smaller snakes, scattering and fleeing in every conceivable direction.
This was his ultimate escape technique! As long as a single one of these snakes survived, so would he.
Only…
"Do you truly believe… that is possible?"
Uchiha Naoki's voice rang out, devoid of any emotion, calm and detached as a god pronouncing judgment.
His body suddenly blazed with the intensity of a miniature sun. A roiling wave of heat, capable of annihilating all things, erupted from him. "Scorching World: Eruption!"
HUM!
A cataclysmic heatwave, capable of scouring the world clean, raged outward.
Seeing this, the experienced Scarlet Sand Scorpion was already being carried high into the air by the Third Kazekage, well clear of the world-ending blast.
SSSSZZZZZZ—!
It was like a solar storm passing over the land. Not a single blade of grass survived. The very earth was scoured away, scorched and melted directly into glass. Within a five-hundred-meter radius, it was as if the area had been placed inside a celestial crucible. The countless fleeing snakes didn't even have time to scream before they were utterly annihilated within the space-distorting heatwave.
Half a Minute Later…
The earth still glowed with residual heat. The cataclysm finally subsided. No life remained within a five-hundred-meter radius. Centered on Uchiha Naoki, the landscape transformed in stages: from bubbling lava, to crystallized, glassy slag, to scorched, barren earth, and finally to the outer ring of utter ruin.