Hii Kōri's hand, fingers held together like a knife, stabbed down with the decisive momentum to pierce through rock and earth. However, the target was not the girl's head, but another existence lurking deep beneath the ground.
Orochimaru, who should have been burned to ashes by Amaterasu's flames.
But by the time Orochimaru noticed Hii Kōri's piercing hand breaking through the earth, the swift, unparalleled attack was already imminent. Even though he moved to dodge at the last moment, his left shoulder was still unavoidably pierced.
"Tch!"
However, the sensation Hii Kōri felt from his fingertips was not the feedback of actually piercing flesh and blood, only a subtle touch that barely grazed the surface. Realizing what had happened, he decisively withdrew his arm, picked up the now-unconscious Uchiha girl, and pulled back.
Almost at the same moment he withdrew his hand—the ground where he had been standing exploded violently, and a pale white figure shot into the sky like a reverse meteor.
Even though the figure was quite blurred due to flying dirt, rocks, and the speed of the movement, Hii Kōri could still make out that it was Orochimaru, having revealed his true form, with the Grass Sword held in his mouth.
The disguise Hii Kōri had made for him earlier had long been burned away by Amaterasu's black flames. The clothes on his upper body were gone, and a not-shallow wound on his left shoulder was slowly seeping blood.
If Hii Kōri hadn't retreated to dodge, he would have inevitably been disemboweled. Yet, Hii Kōri's demeanor showed little tension. Holding the unconscious Uchiha girl in his arms, he landed lightly on the branch of a large tree that had luckily survived the previous battle and still stood tall.
The shadow beneath his feet surged like a living thing, and Rashōmon rose accordingly, wrapping around his extended right hand to collect and preserve the flesh and blood of Orochimaru that had gotten on his fingertips.
"Whew~ Shedding skin? That's a technique quite befitting a snake. Relying on this method to avoid attacks is much more convenient than the ordinary Substitution Technique~"
"Just some insignificant little tricks."
Orochimaru casually wiped away the blood seeping from the wound on his left shoulder and opened his mouth, letting the Grass Sword fall back into his hand. His golden snake eyes were locked tightly on Hii Kōri on the tree branch, and his tone was equally relaxed, but there was little amusement in his eyes.
"I already died right in front of you, yet I still couldn't fool you."
"Because I didn't think Senior Orochimaru would die so carelessly~ As a researcher, and the most favored disciple of the current Hokage, there's no way you haven't seen the information on the Uchiha clan. Although, even I didn't expect you to use shedding skin as a method."
Hii Kōri replied with his usual smile, simultaneously manipulating Rashōmon to sever several venomous snakes that had been attacking from behind.
"Ah, ah... So that was the opening. That's how you noticed me at that critical moment."
"Ah~ Well, it's only natural that inheriting the Uzumaki clan's bloodline would make one's perception of chakra and life force a bit more sensitive than others. Rather, at times like this, I wish I weren't so sensitive."
Dispelling the wind blades Orochimaru had sent out once more, Hii Kōri shook his head in feigned annoyance, then put on a distressed expression. "Didn't you say we were friends? I thought Senior Orochimaru wouldn't try to play 'the oriole follows behind' after I was already exhausted, so why are you still stealthily preparing a sneak attack?"
"Heh heh, didn't you also say that if our positions were reversed..."
At these words, Orochimaru tugged at the corner of his mouth, giving a hollow laugh and a cold snort. "...you would do the same thing!"
That pale white figure suddenly lunged forward. The Kusanagi sword in his hand, the moment he threw it, lost its length restriction. Driven by chakra, it wildly extended and grew, transforming into a pewter cold light that tore through space, stabbing straight at Hii Kōri's chest.
Besides being "indestructible" and infinitely extendable, the third ability of this Blade of Emptiness that Orochimaru had obtained was the ability to move freely through the air even when released, following its wielder's will, its sensitivity no less than when held in the hand.
At the same time, Orochimaru's fingertip traced across the blade of the Kusanagi, creating a small cut, and then he pressed down on empty space. The markings of the Summoning Technique appeared in mid-air, and countless venomous snakes of varying thicknesses and colors surged out like a fountain.
Hissing, writhing masses of snakes formed a sea of snakes that made one's scalp crawl. With the infinitely extending, eerily unpredictable Grass Sword, they swept toward Hii Kōri on the tree branch from all directions—above, below, left, and right.
Orochimaru knew very well that Hii Kōri's shadow secret technique required some time to absorb something. He was now
Hii Kōri, leaving him no time to put away this dead weight forcing.
Of course, consuming more of his chakra would also be acceptable.
Just like now.
Several bizarre barriers instantly materialized, firmly restraining the thrusting Kusanagi. With a clang!, the tip of the Blade of Emptiness struck viciously against the barrier, sending out ripples, but failed to penetrate.
Meanwhile, Hii Kōri's left hand still held the girl, while his right hand formed one-handed seals. He casually pointed at the onrushing sea of snakes below. Several fist-sized orange-red fireballs, emitting a terrifyingly high temperature and dazzling light, ignited among the snake swarm.
Just like the most standard manifestation of Scorch Release—without violent explosions or prairie flames, accompanied by the sound of moisture being instantly evaporated, countless venomous snakes, unable even to struggle, rapidly dried out and carbonized the moment they contact the horror heat, eventually turning into puffs of gray-white ash that fluttered down.
"Since you're from the Uzumaki clan, when are you going back to visit your family?"
Orochimaru, who had already used the snake swarm as cover to Body Flicker behind Hii Kōri, spoke in a sinister tone.
"Lady Mito would also be very happy to see such a promising young clansman. Besides, you're already entangled with Tsunade now, so you should meet the family, right? Why don't you honestly give up struggling and come back to Konoha with me and this child?"
Arriving faster than this surrender offer was Orochimaru's arm, wrapped in sharp wind blades, stabbing toward Hii Kōri's back.
"I'll pass on that. The Uchiha clan isn't exactly peaceful right now, is it? Hiruzen Sarutobi can't keep all the Uchiha in check."
Even facing Orochimaru's assault, Hii Kōri's tone of reply was no different from casual chat. "Under these circumstances, bringing suddenly back a Mangekyō Sharingan wielder who has a grudge against both the Sarutobi and Uchiha clans wouldn't really help your situation either~"
He leaped forward again, and Rashōmon from his shadow instantly transformed into a blade form, sweeping out to cut Orochimaru in half at the waist.
But that was just an Earth Clone.
Obviously, how confident would Orochimaru have to be to fight Hii Kōri in close combat?
"Heh heh heh... What do the squabbles between the ninja clans and the old man have to do with me?"
As the Earth Clone collapsed, Orochimaru's figure rose once more from the earth. He brought his hands together, and the ground beside him uplifted, then fired dozens of rock spears at Hii Kōri in mid-air.
"As long as you come over, I won't have to worry about funding anymore, Hii-kun!"
In political matters, Orochimaru could hardly be called completely insensitive, but he had absolutely no interest in this area.
Seize power? Crazy. I'd rather spend that time processing more samples. In the end, whoever comes to power still has to sign off on my research requests.
Conversely, he would also do whatever it takes to push his research forward.
By now, Orochimaru could clearly see that if the Red Hot Sand merchant guild was allowed to develop further, with its productivity and technical level, it would be enough to create a cliff-level gap with the current ninja world. But so what?
Was this so-called ninja world something unshakable? Whether ninja villages, countries, or daimyō existed or not didn't make much difference to Orochimaru.
As he always said—whoever comes to power still has to approve his research requests, don't they?
But before that, if he had the chance to grab Hii Kōri, the real boss of the guild, and instantly refine him, he wouldn't hesitate either.
After all, no matter how indifferent he might seem, his friends were still in Konoha. If he had a choice, he would also prefer that the one who steamrolls the world be the village where he had lived for over twenty years.
"If it's really impossible, you can just keep the child yourself. I don't care if you don't reveal her!"
"You bastard, Orochimaru! Not only do you covet my brain, but you also covet my wealth?!"
Hii Kōri was almost laughed out loud in anger. He leaped to the side of the barrier restraining the Kusanagi, pulled the sword from the barrier-sheath, and spun around, creating a massive vortex that sliced all incoming rock spears into fine gravel.
"Didn't you say you didn't like weapons like swords?"
"Not liking them doesn't mean I don't know how to use them."
He hurled the restless Kusanagi, which clearly wanted to return to Orochimaru, downward with great force. It pierced through the wound on Orochimaru's left shoulder, and then Orochimaru's figure again turned into stiff clumps of earth.
As the Earth Clone collapsed, another large swarm of venomous snakes gushed from the collapsed hole, as if the snakes of Ryūchi Cave cost nothing.
"Tch!"
In terms of Earth Release substitutions and concealing his whereabouts, Hii Kōri admitted he was indeed inferior to Orochimaru.
At best, he could pack substitution logs with explosive tags or use Iron Sand clones as decoys. Without the Kagura Mind's Eye, he probably wouldn't be able to suppress his chakra to this extent either.
Added to that, the chakra interference from hundreds of summoned snakes from Ryūchi Cave made it even more difficult to track Orochimaru burrowing underground.
Just as Hii Kōri was about to put the girl in his arms into Rashōmon's shadow space and simultaneously clear out the surging snake tide around him, Orochimaru's figure suddenly shot out from the cave spewing snakes. From his mouth emerged an incredibly thick, towering giant snake covered in grim scales. With lightning speed, it viciously bit down on Hii Kōri's left ankle, which he couldn't completely avoid.
Sharp fangs pierced the skin, injecting cold venom.
"Tch!"
Hii Kōri frowned slightly. Almost at the same moment the snake bit him, Rashōmon reacted. Several shadow blades flashed, and the fierce purple giant snake was instantly sliced into several segments, spraying foul snake blood.
Yet even so, a small amount of venom still flowed into Hii Kōri's body.
Having worked together for so long, Orochimaru obviously knew that this level of venom couldn't do much to Hii Kōri—let alone threaten his life, it couldn't even cause significant weakening. But all he needed was the brief respite while Hii Kōri neutralized the poison.
Judging by Hii Kōri's reactions to his attacks, even if he had consumed considerable energy fighting the Uchiha girl earlier, if Hii Kōri gained the advantage and released a sufficiently strong barrier, the battle would become endless.
Orochimaru knew very well the stamina and recovery of the Uzumaki clan.
Just as Hii Kōri formed seals to neutralize the poison, Orochimaru again smeared blood on his palm, formed seals rapidly, and then slammed his hand hard on the ground. The black summoning markings spread out like spreading spiderwebs.
Poof!
A massive cloud of white smoke shot into the sky.
Before the smoke had completely cleared, accompanied by a suffocatingly ferocious aura, a purple figure so large it inspired despair had already coiled itself in the center of the battlefield.
It was a purple giant snake far larger than ordinary summoned creatures. Two ferocious bone spikes like dragon horns extended from its head. Its cold golden snake eyes were erect, its wide-open mouth seemed capable of swallowing hills, and its forked tongue flickered, emitting a thick stench.
This was Manda, the top-tier summoned creature from Ryūchi Cave.
"Hiss---!!! Orochimaru, you bastard! Why did you call me out again?! If there aren't a hundred live human sacrifices this time, I'll swallow you too!"
The moment it appeared, this purple serpent let out an extremely violent roar, its voice like sand and stone grinding together, shaking one's eardrums painfully.
Unlike the trusting relationship between Gamabunta and Jiraiya, Manda's relationship with Orochimaru was clearly more of a pure transactional one.
"Wait! Isn't this the brat who piloted that giant puppet back then?"
Orochimaru was accustomed to Manda's threats. He simply looked down at Manda and continued, "Yes, that's right, Hii-kun. Help me take him down."
"Summoning Technique!"
Before Orochimaru could give further orders, Hii Kōri also performed the Summoning Technique.
At these words, Manda's body subconsciously trembled. Clearly, he had developed some psychological shadow from being beaten by Hii Kōri's giant puppet on the Rain Country battlefield.
And wasn't that shadow understandable? Trading injuries between giant summoned creatures was normal, but if the opponent was a hunk of metal, then only you would end up getting hurt.
However, what Hii Kōri summoned was not a puppet capable of grappling with giant summoned creatures, but a slug the size of a person.
"A slug?!"
Orochimaru never expected that Hii Kōri had also signed a summoning contract with Shikkotsu Forest.
"Hiss!!! That stinky slug from Shikkotsu Forest!"
Manda's reaction was even more intense. He swung his tail with considerable displeasure. He had never had any favor for the slimy creatures from Shikkotsu Forest, and he mentally noted both Hii Kōri, who had summoned a slug, and Orochimaru, who had called him out to deal with a slug.
"Hii-sama."
The slug that appeared from the smoke paid no attention to the roaring purple serpent. It waved its eye stalks and greeted Hii Kōri, whom it hadn't seen for several months.
"Please help treat this child."
He placed the girl in his arms onto the slug's back, and the latter gladly agreed, then added, "Should I summon a larger individual? Although we slugs are comparatively not good at fighting, we are quite experienced in dealing with the gloomy creatures from Ryūchi Cave."
"That won't be necessary. It's just a mere summoned snake that hasn't mastered senjutsu and isn't even a servant of a sage."
"What did you say?!"
Manda was furious.
The deep purple serpent ignored Orochimaru's attempts to stop him and charged violently at Hii Kōri, intending to swallow him whole.
In Manda's eyes, he was just a mere puppeteer with unstable chakra. What was there to worry about? He didn't notice at all that Orochimaru above his head had leaped down, putting distance between them.
The next moment, Hii Kōri instantly flashed to the top of Manda's head and punched him right on the nose.
Manda, who had been charging forward like a natural disaster, suddenly froze in place as if a pause button had been pressed.
"Scorch Release Secret Technique: Scorched Bone Peony."
Hii Kōri slowly turned around and announced the name of this technique.
The next moment, large billows of black smoke gush from Manda's wide-open mouth and nostrils. Then his eyes also melted, evaporating into the black smoke rising from his eye sockets.
Finally, only a collapsed snake skin remained.
"This is a technique I developed after fighting Jiraiya last time, for use against large enemies. Simply put, it's a technique that injects Scorch Release chakra into the target's body, burning them to ash from the inside out."
"I actually really, really like snakes. It's just that this bastard was far too rude. Otherwise, I wouldn't have killed him outright."
Watching Orochimaru's expression change drastically, Hii Kōri explained with a smile: "Of course, the piercing hand that hit you also carried this technique."
"Ah... Doesn't that just leave me no choice but to surrender? You're not angry, are you, President?"
Orochimaru shamelessly revealed a smile as if nothing had happened, raising his hands in a gesture of surrender. "To be honest, I've wanted to change summoned creatures for a while now. Manda was far too disobedient."
"Of course not, Orochimaru-kun~ We're friends, after all."
"...Then, President, could you perhaps sponsor some of my research funding?"
"Oh, that's easy to say. But what I want..."
"Oh, leave it to me."
"??? What's going on... with these two?"
The slug waved its eye stalks, completely unable to understand how these two could go from a tense standoff just moments ago to arm in arm, discussing things that sounded quite ominous.
"This must be 'birds of a feather flock together,' right?"
Muttering quietly, the slug turned its head, stopped thinking about it, and focused entirely on treating the girl on its back.
It was just a small slug. If it couldn't understand, it couldn't understand.
***
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