At the critical moment, Uchiha Shisui sensed the danger behind him.
Without hesitation, he shoved Uchiha Tekka (the "fire gate") aside and instantly drew his katana. The blade clashed with the incoming mechanical tail blade, sparks flying. At the same time, more than a dozen afterimages appeared around Shisui's body as he activated the Body Flicker Technique.
The incoming Hidden Shadow Snake Hands exploded mid-air into a cloud of blood mist. Poor snakes—summoned just to get turned into ninja barbecue.
Tekka finally realized what was happening. After quickly thanking Shisui, he pulled out a kunai and stared at the two figures slowly approaching from the distance.
His face gradually turned serious.
After all, the reputation of the Legendary Sannin echoed like thunder across the ninja world. Even a ninja like him—who had been stuck on an island most of the time—knew exactly how terrifying Orochimaru was.
After thinking for a moment, Tekka turned toward Shisui.
"Shisui… are you sure you can handle them?"
Shisui's eyes shifted into the three-tomoe Sharingan.
His expression became solemn.
"If it's only Orochimaru, I can at least guarantee I won't lose. But if you add that puppet freak beside him…"
He glanced at Sasori.
"…then I'm afraid things will get troublesome."
Hearing that, Tekka's face changed slightly.
He sighed.
"Why the hell did the enemy choose to attack right now? If they start wrecking the place, the last few months of construction will be completely ruined."
Shisui glanced at him calmly.
"I'll hold them off for a while. Go warn the villagers to evacuate, and call every Uchiha ninja in the village for backup."
Tekka nodded immediately.
The next moment, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and dashed toward the center of the village.
Seeing this, Sasori instantly dispatched several puppets to chase him. The puppets rushed forward underground like hunting snakes.
But just as they were about to catch Tekka—
The chakra strings controlling them were suddenly cut off.
Several Uchiha ninjas had already arrived. After noticing the disturbance, they rushed over and severed the puppet threads.
Relying on the reinforcements from his clan, Shisui finally relaxed a little.
He stared at Orochimaru with cold eyes and said:
"It's been a long time, Orochimaru. If you don't give me a proper explanation, don't even think about leaving Uzushiogakure alive."
Orochimaru ignored the threat completely and spoke in a low, snake-like tone.
"Uzushiogakure? Strange… I remember the Uchiha Clan being loyal to Konohagakure."
He tilted his head slightly.
"Could it be that you've betrayed Konoha and become rogue ninjas? Without Konoha's protection… how do the Uchihas plan to survive in the ninja world?"
Shisui snorted coldly.
"That's none of your business. The Uchiha have their own way of surviving."
Orochimaru stared at Shisui thoughtfully. Then he waved his hands, and countless poisonous snakes crawled out from the ground.
Shisui casually cut them apart.
Looking curious, Orochimaru asked:
"Why are you still using the three-tomoe form? Haven't you awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan yet?"
Shisui didn't answer.
Instead, he responded with ninjutsu.
Several Uchiha formed hand seals at once. Four massive Fire Release attacks burst out from different directions, forming a fan-shaped inferno that completely engulfed Orochimaru and Sasori. The surrounding air twisted from the heat.
But a moment later—
A puppet slowly walked out of the flames.
Sasori's puppet opened its mouth and spat out countless senbon needles.
The senbon had terrifying penetrating power. They pierced through the Uchiha ninja robes and struck the chain armor beneath.
The exposed skin quickly turned dark purple.
Poison.
Shisui's eyes sharpened instantly. Without hesitation, he swung his blade and cut away the poisoned flesh from a clan member's arm.
"Go deal with Orochimaru," Shisui ordered. "Leave the puppet bastard to me."
Then he added seriously:
"Focus on survival. Don't even think about defeating Orochimaru. That guy is slippery as hell."
After speaking, Shisui rushed toward Sasori.
While fighting Hiruko, Sasori's puppet shell, Shisui tried to locate the real puppet master.
The key to defeating puppet users was simple:
Kill the puppet master.
Otherwise, the fight would drag on forever until you slipped up and got stabbed somewhere unpleasant.
But no matter how carefully Shisui observed with his Sharingan, he couldn't find where Sasori was hiding.
Could the puppet master actually be inside that crimson puppet?
But the fire technique earlier had reached hundreds of degrees. Any normal ninja would've been roasted alive.
Did that mean this puppet master was as strong as Orochimaru?
A bold guess formed in Shisui's mind—but he quickly forced himself to focus back on the battle.
Meanwhile…
Compared to the intense fight between Sasori and Shisui, the battle between Orochimaru and the Uchiha squad was far more relaxed.
Even though the squad contained several jonin, ordinary jonin simply weren't a real threat to Orochimaru.
What truly interested him was the strange alliance between the Uzumaki Clan and the Uchiha.
Why had the Uchiha chosen to build a village here?
Stealing Sharingan was actually a secondary goal.
Orochimaru's laboratory already had plenty of Sharingan samples. He wasn't obsessed with eyes the way Danzo Shimura was.
After all, even someone like Shin Uchiha, who naturally resisted rejection, could only use about half the Sharingan's true power.
Even worse, transplanted Sharingan couldn't evolve further.
Which meant no Mangekyō Sharingan.
Compared to that, Orochimaru was far more interested in the Uzumaki bloodline.
He hadn't collected that material yet.
While Orochimaru was busy daydreaming about unethical science experiments, the Uchiha squad—led by Uchiha Izumi—didn't waste the opportunity.
They cast Sharingan Genjutsu on Orochimaru and immediately retreated, launching combined Fire Release techniques.
Flames attacked from all directions, leaving Orochimaru seemingly with nowhere to escape.
He sighed dramatically.
"Kids these days… so violent."
Then he slammed his palm onto the ground.
White smoke exploded.
When it cleared, a gigantic snake from Ryuchi Cave had appeared.
The massive serpent blocked the incoming flames for Orochimaru and lunged toward the Uchiha like a living battering ram.
Watching the Uchiha and the giant snake start fighting each other, Orochimaru became even more relaxed.
In his eyes, Shisui was far more valuable than these ordinary Uchiha.
But since he had never fought someone with the Mangekyō Sharingan, he decided to wait for the right moment.
Better to be cautious if he wanted to obtain those eyes.
At the same time, Naruto's group—and Jiraiya—had arrived near Uzushiogakure.
They hadn't even seen the village yet, but they could already hear explosions and combat noises coming from the forest.
Everyone frowned.
Their expressions turned ugly.
Had the village been attacked?
Zabuza Momochi glanced at Naruto.
He planned to stay in the Uzumaki Country for at least six months—maybe even several years—so obviously he didn't want Uzushiogakure to fall into chaos.
Otherwise his job would become a massive pain in the ass.
But after thinking about Naruto's strength…
He suddenly felt bad for the enemy instead.
Naruto didn't give any orders immediately.
Instead, he looked at Jiraiya with a faint smile.
"Well, Uncle Ninja… you're really lucky. You just arrived in the Uzumaki Country and already got yourself a mission."
Jiraiya grinned.
"Seems I'm pretty lucky today."
But his eyes remained fixed on Uzushiogakure with a serious expression.
He could almost confirm that the battle ahead involved Orochimaru.
Which meant something important.
There was no alliance between Orochimaru and the Uchiha.
For Konoha, that wasn't bad news.
But for Jiraiya personally…
It wasn't exactly good news either.
Because if Orochimaru had really come for the Uchiha—
Then this time…
Orochimaru definitely wasn't here just to take a casual walk.
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