"Well done for finding me and making it past all those hurdles. But I wonder how did you locate my position?" Kabuto licks his lips.
"Controlling an Edo Tensei requires a constant stream of chakra supply. Nagato pinpointed your location using this stream of chakra with his Rinnegan. This is the risk of using this jutsu. Though you won't need to remember that for the next time." Itachi answers him while scanning the environment with his Sharingan.
He notices an unconscious Anko lying in a corner.
'As I expected, my Sharingan can't see through the nature of this cavern. Looks like he has put some measures in place to block sensory abilities.'
"Thanks for the tip. Though I don't expect any shinobi to counter this jutsu, so I didn't need to worry about it." Kabuto chuckles.
Sasuke clenches his kunai, ready to attack Kabuto at any moment.
"Ahh… By the way, there is something that I would like you to know as well before we start…"
Hmm…
Itachi and Sasuke glance at each other.
"This Edo Tensei will not dispel even if you kill me. But I am the only one who can stop it. And I am not bluffing."
Itachi and Sasuke's eyes narrow at his remark.
"So, in other words, you can't kill me. If I die, then this jutsu will never stop. Your only choice is to seal all those Edo Tensei, but how many of them can you seal for long?" Kabuto grins.
Kuku… Haha…
He burst out in a peal of laughter after noticing the ugly expression on Itachi and Sasuke's faces.
"I guess my luck hasn't run out yet! This jutsu has no weakness, no risk. It's the most perfect jutsu in the world. Haha…" Kabuto stares at the Uchiha brother and licks his lips.
"There is no jutsu such as a perfect jutsu. If a jutsu doesn't have a weakness, then it means it is yet to be discovered. Also, don't get your hopes on the fact that we can't dispel the Edo-Tensei without your help. Eventually, we will figure out a solution."
Itachi lifts his hands to make hand signs.
"Oyaa… you are quite feisty one, aren't you? Then tell me how long will be that sooner or later. Can the weak shinobis of the Allied Shinobi Force, who are fighting with their life on the line, survive that long?" Kabuto licks his lips.
"Edo Tensei, of all the forbidden jutsu, you got hold of such a dreadful forbidden jutsu to master. For shinobi, death means the end of all their pain, suffering, sadness, sorrow, and suffering. Yet with Edo-Tensei, you pull them back from their eternal rest, only to throw it all in their face and continue to spread unnecessary sadness and hatred. Can you understand the pain felt by the dead who are forced to fight their comrades, families, and friends by you? And the pain of living is even greater, after finally getting over the grief and sadness… your jutsu has stirred those feelings again!
Kabuto, your actions are a disgrace to the morale and code of a shinobi." Itachi condemns Kabuto.
Hehe…
Kabuto licks his lips and slowly stands up.
"Enough battle of words. Why don't we fight for real? This will be fun since I have yet to test the extent of my abilities in this new form of mine."
Kabuto's long tongue slithers out of his mouth and several white snake flares out from his back and hisses towards the Uchiha brother.
Shiing…
Both Sasuke and Itachi activate their Mangekyo Sharingan and stare at Kabuto's every movement.
"Hehe… Bookworms like me aren't used to being stared like that." Kabuto pulls his hood down and covers his face.
"Countermeasures for genjutsu, huh?" Sasuke holds his katana in front of his chest.
Hiss… Hiss…
The several snakes around Kabuto continuously flicker their tongues in and out and hisses at the duo.
"Judging from their movements, those snakes can sense exactly what we're doing." Itachi notices the oddity of the snakes.
"Snakes perceive their surroundings through body heat and smell through their tongues. Ryuchi Cave uses a similar sensory technique that teaches how to analyze one's surroundings without the need for eyes. However, humans cannot master this technique to a full extent due to the limitation of their physique." Sasuke answers him.
"I also trained in this technique under the teaching of the Snake Sage to overcome my over-reliance on Sharingan. Though I only learned the technique to a certain extent and then left it since, just like snakes, I too have my advantages as a human and the Sharingan is one such advantage." Sasuke adds as he stares at the snakes around Kabuto.
"However, to think that someone else is willing to go so far to even abandon their humanity."
"Hehe… abandon my humanity?! The likes of you can never understand my resolve."
Swish…
Kabuto makes a Ram hand seal. The surrounding snakes rapidly increase in size by twice.
"This area is my field. The nature is on my side."
Huh!
Sasuke and Itachi are surprised by Kabuto's sudden change.
"T-that's nature energy. He is in Sage Mode." Both of them notice the thick nature energy around Kabuto's body.
"This terrain gives him an advantage." Itachi notices the continuous stream of nature energy pumping directly inside Kabuto's body.
"Yeah, this seems to be some sort of Fuinjutsu formation that continuously supplies him with an endless supply of nature energy. It's similar to Izuna Nii-san's 'Senjutsu Seal'. Though on a much larger scale." Sasuke also notices the anomaly.
Hiss…
The snake hisses and attacks the Uchiha brother.
Swoosh…
Both Itachi and Sasuke dodge the initial attack.
"Be careful of traps, Sasuke!" Itachi warns him.
The snakes focus their attention on Itachi and attack him with all their fight.
Bang…
Itachi activates his Susanoo and captures the head of four snakes with the four arms of his Susanoo.
Slash…
Sasuke swings his lightning cutter and chops off the head of the four snakes. Their blood spills on the floor and releases toxic fumes in their surroundings.
Itachi's Susanoo grabs the remaining body portion of the snakes and pulls them while Sasuke also activates his Susanoo and attacks Kabuto's body, ripping his hood in half.
"Nani?!"
The hood shreds apart to reveal several snakes instead of Kabuto's head.
Hiss…
The snakes hiss at them and disperse.
"Careful, that's Orochimaru's technique!" Itachi warns him.
Swoosh…
Sasuke summons a crossbow and fires several chakra arrows towards the snakes.
Bang… bang… bang…
The snakes move erratically and dodge most of the arrows. A few snakes get pinned by the arrows and their bodily parts and blood splatters on the walls and the floor. However, the sheer numbers of snakes make it difficult for them to finish them all off.
Chirp… Chii…
Sasuke infuses Chidori with his katana and throws it toward a snake. The lightning blade penetrates the snake and pins it down on the wall. However, the snake sheds its skin and splits into several snakes, and escapes.
Sasuke activates his eye of insight to scan Kabuto's chakra. However, the entire cavern appears in the same color of chakra as Kabuto's chakra.
"I can't detect his presence. His chakra is spread across this entire cavern." Sasuke informs Itachi.
He glances around with his Sharingan to search for traces of Kabuto.
"You are taking this entire shyness thing too far. First, you hide your face, and now your entire body?" Sasuke scoffs.
"Did you just molt to make a getaway? All you have is what you took from Orochimaru. You are nothing. All of your power and achievements are just stolen from others." Sasuke attempts to agitate Kabuto into revealing himself.
"Sasuke Uchiha, you underestimate me. Certainly, I, a nobody, am nothing in the eyes of an Uchiha prodigy like you, who stands above the prodigies of even other clans. Also, before this war, the world wasn't even aware of my existence since I didn't even make it in the Bingo book.
And of course, I am nothing compared to the Orochimaru-sama, who was hailed the supreme genius of his generation, the strongest Sannin. However…"
Kabuto's voice echoes through the entire cavern. Sasuke and Itachi search their surrounding to find the source of the voice.
Hiss…
Suddenly, a giant snake leaps from the ground and attempts to bite Itachi beneath his Susanoo.
Fwoosh…
Itachi's Susanoo grabs the giant Snake and stabs it with a blade. The eyes of the snake dim down, and it slowly turns into slag and disperses.
"This ability… it's the same as the guy from earlier." Sasuke recognizes the snake's liquid to turn into liquid as the technique of his opponent from earlier.
"It's the ability to transform one's flesh into liquid. To detach and separate using one's life substance. It's similar to the shedding of a snake. I extensively researched and applied the Hozuki's clans' rare 'Flesh Transforming Physique' to this technique and made it my own." Kabuto's voice echoes again as he explains the fruit of his research to the two Uchiha brothers.
'Sasuke, your sensory skill is better than mine. Try to search his locations while I distract him.' Itachi's voice echoes in Sasuke's mind.
Mm…
Sasuke nods and uses the search technique of Ryuchi cave.
'Since he is using a hiding technique from the Ryuchi cave, then I will find him using the techniques of the same place.'