When a creature's size reaches a certain scale, its every movement becomes an unavoidable attack.
Just like now, Manda's tail whipped down like a divine lash from the heavens! The resulting gale was as sharp as a blade, pulling at the roots of Ren Uchiha's hair and making the hem of his high-collared cloak snap violently. The sheer wind pressure forced Ren's mouth open, baring his teeth as his skin was pulled back. He could barely stand, let alone weave hand signs.
If this strike landed, it wouldn't matter if he had an undying body or the Body Revival jutsu; he would be flattened into a meat paste.
Ren's scalp tingled. He concentrated chakra into the soles of his feet, turning it into a spray of water.
"Water Style: Water Surface Slice!"
Using this technique to eliminate friction, he slid backward along the direction of the wind. He narrowly avoided a direct hit, though his skin was inevitably sliced by the flying debris kicked up by the storm.
Manda straightened its massive body, its house-sized pupils scanning the battlefield. It quickly spotted Ren in the middle of a set of hand signs.
"Hmph!" It sneered, lunging forward with its venomous fangs bared for a massive bite! It intended to swallow Ren along with a massive chunk of the earth beneath him.
By then, Ren had finished his signs. He thrust his palms toward the ground in a classic energy-blast stance.
"Wind Style: Air Drilling Pole!"
A massive amount of chakra condensed between his palms, erupting into a colossal pillar of air pressure and ultrasonic waves directed at the ground!
Whoosh!
The violent wind propelled Ren high into the air, allowing him to narrowly escape the titan's maw. Manda bit down hard, its momentum carrying it deep into the soil, creating a massive tunnel.
For a moment, the gale ceased. Then, the ground burst open again as the terrifying snake head lunged toward the sky! It was as if a skyscraper had suddenly sprouted from the earth to snatch the defenseless Ren out of the air.
Ren took a deep breath. This couldn't go on. On the ground, Manda's storms suppressed his movements, making it impossible to mount a proper offensive. He needed leverage!
His Sharingan ignited, scarlet lines trailing in the air as his eyes darted around. He began calculating a counter-attack path with frantic speed. He might fall asleep reading Orochimaru's textbooks, but in this adrenaline-fueled moment, his mind had never been sharper.
In an instant, he mapped the entire valley into a 3D model in his brain. The paths for his wires, the trajectories for his shuriken, Manda's reaction time—even bits of Orochimaru's science notes flickered through his mind.
Ren flicked his wrist, throwing eight shuriken in all directions!
"Uchiha Style: Wire-Manipulation Shuriken—Eight-Spider Collapse!"
The eight shuriken embedded themselves deep into the valley walls. The wires attached to their tails interlaced, forming a makeshift trampoline in mid-air. Ren grabbed the main wires and leaped onto the center of the web. His weight pulled the wires down, creating a massive tension.
Like an arrow shot from a bow, Ren was catapulted even higher into the sky.
Manda's second bite missed. The snake's face twisted with a very human-like look of frustration and malice.
"You're like a goddamn flea!" Manda roared. "Brat, let's see you dodge this time!!!"
Manda's eyes locked onto Ren at the peak of his arc. It swept its tail to snap the mid-air wires and waited at the projected landing point with its mouth wide open. It was waiting for Ren to deliver himself like a "sliding tackle" right into its stomach.
Ren let out a savage grin. "Dodge?"
"Dodge my ass! You're the first one who's ever dared to spit on me!"
Ren stared down at Manda and slammed a palm against his own heart.
"Watch closely! Today, I'm making—ROASTED. GIANT. SNAKE!"
"Fire Style: Chakra Mode—ACTIVATE!"
Blinding fire-natured chakra erupted from Ren's body, forming a literal aura of flame. He summoned the Kusanagi sword, held it pointed downward, and twisted the hilt. The violent fire chakra poured into the blade.
The flames surged, instantly forming a forty-meter-long blade of flowing fire!
Leveraging the massive momentum of a hundred-meter drop, Ren plunged the sword straight toward Manda's open maw!
BOOM!
From Manda's perspective, the sword lit up the entire world, turning night into day! It was as if a sun were falling from the heavens! And it was expected to swallow this sun?!
Manda was floored. Who the hell uses a forty-meter blade for a sliding tackle?!
But its massive body was now a burden, making it impossible to dodge. In desperation, Manda clamped its jaws shut, hoping its durable scales would hold. It glared at Orochimaru, wanting to scream: You want me to kill THIS thing for only a hundred sacrifices? Do you think I'm stupid?!
The fire blade struck. It didn't pierce the scales, but it acted like a colossal hammer, smashing Manda's head deep into the earth and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
Then, the sword exploded!
The valley was instantly transformed into a sea of flames.
"OROCHIMARU! DAMN YOU!!!" Manda let out a blood-curdling shriek from within the fire.
Ren landed on top of Manda's head. He flicked the Kusanagi, shaking off the last spark of flame before sheathing the blade. A line of text appeared before him:
[CLANG!]
[You courageously fought back against Manda. You have obtained a random skill from the target: Shedding Jutsu (Mastery, B-Rank).]
[Your Heartsteel stacks have increased.]
Ren blinked. Heartsteel works on summons too? And 'Shedding Jutsu'? A realization hit him, and his face paled. If Manda knew a shedding jutsu, what did he just hit? A snake skin?
Ren looked up. A massive shadow blotted out the sky. Manda had tunneled through the earth and emerged behind him, its mouth open to crush him into pieces!
Ren's eyes widened. He grabbed the hilt of the Kusanagi. In his desperation, he could only hope the sword was sharp enough to cut his way out of the snake's belly before the stomach acid dissolved him.
However, at that moment—
POOF!
The massive shadow vanished into a thick cloud of white smoke.
Orochimaru, dressed in his kimono and wooden sandals, walked through the mist with a smile on his face. He was holding the seal for the Unsummoning Technique. He had sent Manda back to Ryuchi Cave.
Ren frowned, annoyed at the interrupted fight, but before he could speak, a bone-chilling shiver ran down his spine.
Behind him, a double-edged ancient sword flew through the white mist at high speed! The blade was coated in a shimmering emerald venom!
SHINK!
In the blink of an eye, the blade pierced Ren's back and emerged through his chest! The toxin acted instantly, making his chakra spiral out of control. Even his Body Revival jutsu failed to activate.
"Cough... blegh!" He spat out a mouthful of black blood and looked at Orochimaru in shock.
This was the Kusanagi Sword: Longsword of the Sky—a divine weapon that could fly freely according to Orochimaru's will.
Ren collapsed face-first into the dirt. He lay there, lifeless.
The sound of wooden sandals approached. Orochimaru leaned over, staring at Ren's corpse. It looked exactly like a real body. However, Orochimaru knew his disciple too well. Someone with the immortality of the Jashin Cult shouldn't even have the concept of a "corpse."
"It seems the experiment was a success," Orochimaru said raspily. "You truly have the talent to replicate any technique."
He sneered. "Idiot disciple. Stop faking it. Manda only knows that one jutsu; you couldn't have learned anything else from him."
Under Orochimaru's calm, piercing gaze, a pair of hands tore open the mouth of Ren's "corpse" from the inside. A new, naked, and perfectly intact Ren—covered in slime—crawled out from the old "skin."
Ren looked back at his own corpse and let out a heavy breath. "You win, Master Orochimaru." He looked up with his Sharingan, expressionless.
"Heh heh... Exactly!" Orochimaru's gaze was a mix of pride and obsession. "With the Shedding Jutsu as a foundation, once you go back and memorize that scroll, even a fool like you should be able to master my signature technique."
"My Orochimaru-style Substitution Jutsu."
With that, Orochimaru reached into his own throat and began to gag. "Cough... cough... BLEGH!"
To Ren's horror, Orochimaru vomited a new, person-sized scroll. He patted the scroll and unfurled it before Ren. His golden snake eyes gleamed with a predatory light.
"Come... next is my true inheritance! Inherit everything of mine. Sign your name on this scroll!"
"And then... become a Summoner of Ryuchi Cave!"