Natsuro sighed once again at how hard it was to kill Orochimaru. Fortunately, he hadn't expected it to be so easy to take Orochimaru down.
The charred snake corpse suddenly began to twitch, and a pair of slimy hands pushed open the snake's mouth.
Then, the owner of those hands attempted to "emerge" from the belly of the snake.
Natsuro wasn't idle either. He threw a Flying Thunder God kunai and quickly formed hand signs.
"Ninjutsu - Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique!"
In an instant, the single Flying Thunder God kunai multiplied into hundreds, raining down on Orochimaru's location.
Natsuro had always remembered that Orochimaru's Great Serpent Substitution Technique took a considerable amount of time. Now, he finally understood: Orochimaru was deliberately disgusted by the process.
As if sensing danger, Orochimaru immediately pulled himself out of the snake's mouth and quickly completed a set of hand signs.
"Wind Release - Great Breakthrough!"
A powerful gust blew from Orochimaru's mouth, scattering all the Flying Thunder God kunai in the sky, leaving only the original kunai whose location was now unknown.
Orochimaru stood beside the snake corpse, locking eyes with Natsuro. At that moment, it felt as if they had returned to their initial standoff.
But both of them were now in different states.
Natsuro was slightly out of breath, checking his chakra levels and noting he hadn't used much. After all, he didn't use any chakra-draining jutsu, so his stamina was holding up fine.
Orochimaru, however, was breathing heavier. He hadn't expected Natsuro to be so ruthless, cutting him into pieces.
Though Orochimaru could fully recover, it would still take a significant amount of chakra to do so.
Moreover, he had summoned a large substitute snake, further draining his chakra and leaving him somewhat fatigued.
"Natsuro Shindōkawa! So you do possess a bloodline limit, even if it's just Magnet Release. You're becoming more interesting," Orochimaru remarked, licking his lips as he stared at Natsuro.
Throughout their swordfight, Orochimaru had been using the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands technique, but the iron fragments surrounding Natsuro had sliced through countless snakes, preventing them from reaching him.
Natsuro felt similarly; his iron fragments were meant to target Orochimaru directly, but they ended up cutting down snakes instead.
"Does it matter if I have one or not?" Natsuro responded vaguely, naturally not wanting to reveal his techniques.
"Heh." Orochimaru chuckled, then dropped to the ground, mouth wide open.
"Ninjutsu - Ten Thousand Snakes Formation!"
Suddenly, thousands of small snakes slithered from Orochimaru's mouth, pressing toward Natsuro.
Seeing this, Natsuro felt a bit creeped out. Although he didn't have trypophobia, the sight was truly revolting.
Without hesitation, Natsuro formed the same seal Orochimaru had used moments before.
"Wind Release - Great Breakthrough!"
In an instant, violent winds rose, slicing through the swarm of snakes like knives, some of the weaker ones being torn in half and flung back toward Orochimaru.
This Wind Release was even stronger than Orochimaru's previous one!
Feeling the sting of the wind on his face, Orochimaru was visibly shocked; Natsuro's Great Breakthrough was stronger than his. He knew the implications: Natsuro's mastery over wind release was higher than his own.
And Natsuro was only thirteen, whereas Orochimaru was much older. He had been considered a prodigy once, too.
At that moment, Orochimaru finally realized now just how terrifyingly talented Natsuro was. Hiss abilities seemed to defy age, reaching a level that surpassed ordinary limits.
Even without a bloodline limit, he had achieved such strength!
However, Orochimaru suddenly laughed. That was exactly it, the higher one's talent, the more painful it was when reaching the peak, with nowhere left to progress! He believed that when Natsuro reached his peak and searched for other methods, he would follow a path similar to his own.
Belief aside, Orochimaru considered his options; the Ten Thousand Snakes Formation was supposed to buy him time.
But Natsuro had nullified it with a single Wind Release, leaving Orochimaru no time to spare.
Orochimaru decided to act anyway. He had already completed the hand signs, so he pressed his hands to the ground. Slowly, three coffins began to emerge from the earth.
Another lightning bolt flashed, forcing Orochimaru to stop and dodge aside.
The electromagnetic blast struck the Crystal Release wall, creating a large hole that soon repaired itself.
As the Railgun shot struck, Natsuro appeared in the middle of the three coffins, pressing them back underground. He looked at Orochimaru with a mocking expressioon.
"Orochimaru, did you think I'd give you time to use the Impure World Reincarnation?"
Orochimaru stared at Natsuro, feeling the situation become more challenging. He hadn't prepared the Impure World Reincarnation in advance, fearing that bringing too many people would alert Natsuro to flee using the Flying Thunder God technique.
He regretted not using it earlier.
Now he realized he had underestimated Natsuro's strength, he was likely stronger than even Jiraiya, excluding Jiraiya's imperfect Sage Mode.
Yet, Orochimaru remained confident. Although he appeared to be at a disadvantage, Natsuro still didn't give him the same fear he had felt once before.
Because, as Orochimaru believed, Natsuro couldn't kill him. That person had once truly made him feel the terror of death!
But he also knew that his plan to use Natsuro's body as a spare was now impossible. With Natsuro's strength and Flying Thunder God technique, he wouldn't be able to keep him.
The fight had proven that even without using the Flying Thunder God to escape, Natsuro was difficult to defeat.
Luckily, taking Natsuro's body was just a minor part of Orochimaru's larger plan.
Orochimaru knew that even if he took Natsuro's body, he would be a struggle to inherit his unique talent.
What Orochimaru desired was a talent easily transferred through the body, like the Sharingan or Shikotsumyaku!
At this point, Natsuro was troubled about how to kill Orochimaru. His Rasenshuriken, a jutsu that attacks on a cellular level, was a trump card. He had to ensure a direct hit to make it effective.
Otherwise, if Orochimaru became wary, the Rasenshuriken's chances of taking him out in one blow would be significantly reduced.
However, the massive chakra output and uncontrollable noise from the Rasenshuriken made it impossible to launch a surprise attack. For the moment, he couldn't find a particularly effective way to deal with Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was resistant to sword cuts, fire, and even wind… it was absurd.
The best approach was to seal him, but would Orochimaru just stand still for it?
Without the Totsuka Blade's forced sealing power, Natsuro begrudgingly acknowledged that Itachi was Kishimoto's favorite, always having the right tools to "counter" his opponents.
Natsuro and Orochimaru were both frustrated with each other, when Natsuro's brow furrowed, he noticed that Naruto had started using the power of the Nine-Tails and quite a lot of it, too.
"It seems that things are turning in my favor over there," Orochimaru said with a grin, trying to see some sign of worry or a slip in his expression.
But to Orochimaru's disappointment, Natsuro's furrowed brow quickly relaxed, showing no sign of concern.
"I think you should worry about your subordinates' safety first," Natsuro retorted, confident that Naruto wouldn't be seriously injured like in the original story.
"Heh, don't underestimate Kabuto. His strength is even hard for me to gauge," Orochimaru replied.
"Likewise, Naruto's strength after tapping into the Nine-Tails is hard to estimate," Natsuro taunted.
At that, Orochimaru stopped speaking, realizing this wouldn't shake Natsuro, who didn't seem concerned about the Nine-Tails going berserk.
But why was Natsuro so confident?
If the Nine-Tails kid could truly control the fox's power, their operation might fail…
While Orochimaru had thought stalling time would be to his advantage, Natsuro didn't seem to care!
Natsuro wasn't entirely unworried, but his senses were on alert, tracking Naruto's energy.
Naruto's chakra signature had become clearer with the Nine-Tails' power, and Natsuro estimated Naruto was drawing on the power of about one tail.
Knowing Naruto's body, Natsuro estimated he could handle up to two tails. If the second tail emerged, he would be ready to seal the Nine-Tails again.
But with Tsunade there to handle Kabuto, two tails shouldn't be necessary, right?
Orochimaru sighed, realizing his chances of beating Natsuro here were slim, and Kabuto likely couldn't handle Naruto and Tsunade so maintaining the Crystal Release was pointless.
Biting his thumb, Orochimaru performed a hand sign.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
In an instant, a massive serpent appeared on the plains, it was Manda.
Orochimaru deliberately dispelled Guren's Crystal Release, and Guren, understanding his intention, breathed a sigh of relief, letting the enormous crystal walls fade.
After all, maintaining such a barrier meant constantly channeling chakra to repair the shattered crystals. Without chakra-boosting pills, she would have collapsed long ago.
Now, the entire battlefield was exposed for all to see.
On Jiraiya's side, countless giant bone swords were emerging from the ground. Kimimaro had already entered his second Curse Mark form, his body transformed into a monstrous black creature. Jiraiya had a few injuries, though none were serious.
On Tsunade and Naruto's side, Shizune was treating a trembling Tsunade while Naruto, wrapped in the red chakra of the Nine-Tails, protected them from Kabuto.
Compared to those two battlefields, Natsuro's side still seemed relatively "normal."
But everyone knew, the final battle had now entered its second phase...
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Currently on Chapter 211 - Everyone's Sentiments