A dead-gray sun hung across the void.
Twelve thin lines lined up around it, radiating terrifying chakra fluctuations.
Buzz!
The turbines at the tips of the water shuttles spun wildly, releasing an ear-piercing shriek. Vacuum bullets poured down like rain, madly suppressing the earth below.
The ground erupted with smoke and thunderous explosions.
A massive white snake darted wildly across the earth. Its speed did not look like a snake crawling at all. It looked more like it was flying close to the ground.
"So fast!"
Behind her, the Wind-Water Floating Cannons continued bombarding without pause. Konome's eyes shone brilliantly as the Takamagahara covering Konoha focused entirely on this Death Paradise.
Air, earth, smoke, and dust all turned into phantom images.
Only the white snake fleeing madly across the ground remained.
Snakes had no limbs. Their movement seemed simple, but in truth, it was an extremely precise and complex action completed through the coordination of bones, muscles, and scales.
The core principle was the wave-like contraction of muscles, transmitting force to the scales in contact with the ground, thereby generating a reaction force that pushed the body forward.
But Orochimaru's movement was not traditional serpentine crawling.
It was more like a high-speed train running on a maglev rail.
That speed was so fast that even the swift Wind-Water Floating Cannons could not lock onto it. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru had already escaped over a hundred meters away.
Her negotiation with Orochimaru had broken down.
The other party had first pretended to agree to the trade, but while forming hand seals, used Orochimaru-Style Substitution to escape the lock of her fear aura, then fled immediately.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The white snake was like lightning skimming the ground. In an instant, it slid over the edge of the giant bowl and entered the swamp.
The swamp it passed through showed not the slightest dent, as if Orochimaru had never touched it at all.
Seeing Orochimaru about to escape into the Swamp Hell, Konome's eyes flashed again and again. Her five fingers clenched in the air, and the swamp beneath Orochimaru suddenly collapsed. A massive yellow-green hand stretching for a thousand meters directly grabbed toward it.
Whoosh!
Outside the giant hand, an illusory snake shadow suddenly appeared in the sky, then instantly flashed a hundred meters away, completely escaping the swamp hand's restraint.
"So that's it. No wonder you dared refuse the trade!"
Konome, who had been observing through Takamagahara the entire time, curled her lips into a cold smile. She had finally seen the method Orochimaru used.
At this moment, Takamagahara's godlike perspective magnified every detail infinitely. In the air above the swamp and at the place where Orochimaru had fled, two transparent ice mirrors had appeared.
Boom!
The endless vacuum bullets behind her overturned the land. Countless reddish-brown stone pillars were directly pierced through and collapsed with a crash, causing the yellow-green mud to explode upward.
Orochimaru was so frightened that all the scales on her body stood on end. She swung her body madly, releasing cold air from her snake belly and freezing the sticky swamp into a smooth passage.
Crack!
Layers of nearly invisible ice crystals appeared atop the swamp. Orochimaru's specially modified muscles and fascia exerted force wildly. Combined with the reduced friction of the ice surface, her sliding speed reached its limit.
Ice Release: Ice-Covered Serpent Glide!
Haku, who possessed Ice Release, had been eaten by her three years ago. His soul had already merged with hers, and the body that possessed the Ice Release kekkei genkai now belonged entirely to her.
Hand Haku over to Konome?
Was she supposed to trade herself away?
Unless Konome was willing to hand Sasuke's body over to her, this transaction was doomed to fail.
Boom!
The swamp ground caved in again, and countless vacuum bullets swept across the swamp ahead of her in a predictive barrage.
Orochimaru's golden snake pupils suddenly contracted. An ice mirror appeared before her. She instantly drilled into it, and as the mirror turned, she appeared in the mirror she had left in the sky earlier, almost like teleportation.
Konome's gaze shifted, and the water shuttles behind her moved sideways with it. Countless vacuum bullets immediately swept toward the ice mirror in the air.
The firing rate of the twelve water shuttles was terrifying. Their muzzles rotated wildly, producing a piercing scream.
As a ninjutsu developed by pursuing the ultimate in shape transformation, the Wind-Water Floating Cannons were absurdly excellent in every aspect, especially firing speed. Each second, they fired more than three thousand Wind Release bullets, a true storm of ultimate bullets.
The originally invisible bombardment of Wind Release bullets struck so densely that the space in front of the shuttle muzzles turned into a terrifying white glow. The air could not refill the space fast enough before being pushed aside by the frantic Wind Release, causing the area near the water shuttle muzzles to turn into a vacuum.
Ping, ping, ping!
The rain-like bullets bombarded the ice mirror wildly, yet they made a crisp sound like striking steel.
Konome raised her eyes in surprise.
She had thought that fragile-looking ice mirror would shatter instantly, but she had not expected its hardness to withstand her Wind-Water Floating Cannons.
Although the floating cannons were not in Laser mode, which had the strongest piercing power, but in Heavy Machine Gun mode, which emphasized firing speed, every bullet was still extremely powerful.
But Ice Release seemed stronger than she had imagined.
That made sense.
Although the Wind-Water Floating Cannons were a noble dual-attribute combined ninjutsu, when facing Ice Release, a kekkei genkai that completely fused Wind and Water and then surpassed them, it was like ordinary Water and Earth Release meeting Wood Release. Being suppressed was only natural.
If not for her raw strength far surpassing Orochimaru's, the one fleeing in such a sorry state might not have been Orochimaru.
In the original story, Haku had grown entirely through wild, brutal survival. Zabuza Momochi was not exactly an extraordinary teacher either. Yet even in such a harsh survival environment, Haku still developed powerful jutsu like Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals, which showed just how outstanding his talent was.
If not for Haku's gentle personality and reluctance to kill, Naruto, who had the Nine-Tails, could be set aside for the moment, but Sasuke would absolutely have died.
And now…
Orochimaru, who had more than forty years of experience developing ninjutsu, who was proficient in all seven chakra natures and skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, had inherited this body filled with talent. Only now was the true power of Ice Release being displayed.
Bang, bang, bang!
The bullet storm continued. The sturdy Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals were constantly cracked open, scattering glittering frost powder.
Orochimaru revealed a cold smile. With a one-handed seal, the ice mirror quickly shifted direction. Her body also turned into an afterimage and reflected into a new mirror.
Ice Release Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
All ninjutsu in the ninja world had their own naming conventions. Secret Technique referred to ninjutsu that contained Yin or Yang Release properties.
Earth Release, as a solid physical substance, had extremely strong carrying capacity. It could incorporate large amounts of Yin or Yang Release chakra to produce all kinds of inconceivable effects.
For example, the Light-Weight and Heavy-Weight Rock Techniques that could modify gravity, and the Earth Release Barrier: Earth Prison Dome of Magnificent Nothingness that could absorb chakra, both infused secret technique power into stable Earth Release, breaking through the limits of Earth Release to a certain extent.
Water Release, like Earth Release, was also a stable physical substance and possessed a certain degree of carrying capacity.
As Ice Release was a fusion of Wind and Water, it possessed both physical form and solid state. As a new nature born from the fusion of two attributes, its stability was even stronger than single Earth Release. It was a super kekkei genkai release most suitable for developing secret techniques.
The principle of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was to condense multiple ice mirrors using Ice Release and Yin Release chakra, then allow the caster to transform into an illusion-like reflection and enter the mirrors.
Once reflections were produced between the mirrors, the caster's image could enter other mirrors at pseudo-light speed, producing a teleportation-like effect similar to space-time ninjutsu.
Of course, unlike true space-time ninjutsu's point-to-point movement, the movement of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals still had a trajectory. It was just that the speed was so fast that the movement process was extremely difficult to observe and almost impossible to intercept.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Smooth ice mirrors formed in the air one after another. Orochimaru reflected and shifted between the mirrors. Even Konome's dynamic vision could only see thin, rapidly flashing afterimages.
"What a fine secret technique."
She praised it sincerely.
Orochimaru's mastery of Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals was extremely high. The speed and angle at which she controlled the mirror reflections could be called ingenious. Even from Konome's perspective, she had to admit that Orochimaru, now possessing the body of a genius, could finally fully display her intellectual talent.
The fusion of Haku and Orochimaru had produced an effect greater than the sum of its parts, raising both of their ceilings to an entirely new level.
The current Orochimaru had already stepped into the threshold of a powerful Kage. If her chakra level advanced further and she learned Ryuchi Cave's Sage Mode, then with Sage Art-level Ice Release ninjutsu, she might even step into the Super Kage level.
Old Hiruzen Sarutobi definitely could not defeat the current Orochimaru.
No wonder that even after seeing her split forests and crack the earth outside Konoha, Orochimaru still chose to participate in the Chunin Exam and attack Sasuke. She truly had something to rely on.
The snake shadow shuttled back and forth between the mirrors. Before long, Orochimaru had already fled to the central area of the swamp.
Konome licked the corner of her lips and untied the bright red sash around her kimono.
The ability Orochimaru was now displaying was enough for her to use a little real strength.
Ice Release was hers now!
…
"The miasma seems to be getting thicker."
The central region of the Bone Hell had already been mostly swallowed by tidal waves of miasma. The scarlet fungal threads looked even more vivid within the poisonous fog.
Jugo, who was more than two meters tall, carried Kimimaro on his back and sprinted all the way, avoiding the rapidly spreading tide of miasma behind them.
"Cough, cough…"
The air was filled with a fishy-sweet scent. Kimimaro covered the corner of his mouth, coughing so badly that he could barely speak. In Death Paradise, filled with poisonous gas, his already dying body appeared even weaker.
If one could look inside his body, one would see his bones constantly devouring chakra and vitality. Dead-gray spots brewed deep within his marrow and were gradually spreading toward the middle layers of his bones.
He could no longer wait for that layer of dead gray to spread to the surface of his bones.
The life within him, like this Death Paradise, was nearly dried up.
"There's no trace of Sasuke Uchiha here… cough, cough… go…"
Kimimaro's green eyes swept across the surroundings. He was still determined to carry out the mission Orochimaru had given him.
He had only a little vitality left. He could not waste it running from the poison.
Capture Sasuke and hand him over to Lord Orochimaru to plant the Cursed Seal. Then his mission in Konoha would be complete.
"I know. Stop talking for now."
Tears appeared at the corners of Jugo's eyes. He bent down, supported Kimimaro, and sprinted with all his strength. Chakra continuously stimulated his body, yet there was still no response.
His Sage Transformation had failed!
Sage Transformation was also called Cursed Seal Transformation. Usually, once he entered an area rich in natural energy, his mind and body would undergo violent, uncontrolled changes.
But ever since entering the forest outside Konoha, he had discovered that although this world contained natural energy, he could not absorb even the tiniest bit of it. It was as if the natural environment itself had rejected him.
From a child of nature favored by heaven and earth, he had become someone rejected by the environment.
He did not feel grief or frustration. Instead, he was ecstatic!
Sage Transformation caused him to fall into a berserk state and attack all living beings around him indiscriminately.
The village where he had lived as a child had been destroyed because of it. That filled him with deep regret and even made him loathe his own power.
That was why, after meeting Kimimaro, he had joined Orochimaru's Otogakure Village at his friend's urging, offering himself for research in order to find a way to control himself.
Yet what Orochimaru had failed to accomplish after many years had unexpectedly happened here in Konoha. His joy was almost impossible to describe.
But now…
Looking back at Kimimaro, whose breath was faint as a thread, and then at the miasma spreading behind them, Jugo felt powerless.
All his abilities required Sage Transformation as their foundation. Unable to enter Sage Transformation meant he was only a taijutsu ninja with decent physical ability. His combat strength could at most remain at the chunin level.
Normally, chunin-level strength would be enough for the Chunin Exam, and he had not paid much attention to it before. But then he discovered that this exam's difficulty was far beyond the standard. Without the help of his animal friends, he had fallen to the bottom of the food chain in Death Paradise.
When they fell from the sky, it was thanks to Kimimaro that they had avoided disaster. Earlier, they had been attacked by a Kumogakure squad, and again it was Kimimaro who squeezed out chakra and killed the enemy.
It was as if Jugo was the one with the terminal illness who needed protection.
Every time Kimimaro acted, he was burning away his life.
If they encountered another crisis…
"Damn it, still nothing!"
Jugo hammered his own chest madly, trying to provoke anger and killing intent, but the natural energy around him still ignored him.
He had never longed for the power of Sage Transformation as much as he did now.
"Cough, cough… It's all right, Jugo. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"
Kimimaro's weak voice came from behind him, carrying a faint sense of relief.
Jugo's eyes turned red. He understood that his friend was happy for him because Sage Transformation had been suppressed.
The berserk Sage Transformation had caused him to destroy his own home, yet when he needed power the most, it had left him.
Was this fate?
Jugo did not know, nor could he speak to his friend. He could only crush the bones scattered across the ground beneath his feet and carry Kimimaro forward at full speed.
As long as they could find Orochimaru, perhaps Kimimaro could still be saved.
"Wait… wait… what is that?"
"What?"
Jugo, who had been focused only on outrunning the poison, froze slightly and turned back to look at Kimimaro. He found that Kimimaro had lifted his neck high, his green eyes seemingly covered with a unique glow.
Jugo followed his friend's gaze.
A dead-gray sun hung across the void. Its light was even brighter than the sunlight, almost piercing straight through the clouds. Around the Bone Hell filled with red fungal threads, the outer region had already turned golden.
It was actually a desert stretching hundreds of meters.
Why was there such a large desert here?
Jugo was still stunned, but Kimimaro had already supported himself against his back and stood up.
He had already seen the glaring bloodstains in the desert, as well as the red-haired figure looking up at the gray light.
"Gaara, someone else is coming!"
Temari's voice came from nearby.
Gaara withdrew his gaze and turned his head, immediately seeing the two tall figures.
"Kill them!"