The experimental material Uchiha Nagi had given to Orochimaru had been purified and improved using his own cloning technology, and he had named it [The Serpent's Blood].
Once injected, the blood would take effect immediately. Of course, those who weren't strong enough would likely die from the injection. But Orochimaru had no such concerns for the Sound Four. All four of them had withstood the Curse Mark Level 2 and were among the top combatants in the Sound Village.
It was unknown if there was a mole in Konoha's upper echelons, but when Orochimaru and the Sand Village attacked, only the Third Hokage's direct Anbu subordinates were initially mobilized. It was only after the Third's death that Konoha suddenly began to deploy its full military strength. The entire village, not counting the shinobi on border patrol or on missions, had over twenty thousand ninja.
When tens of thousands of shinobi mobilize, it is a terrifying sight. The Sand and Sound forces were immediately pushed back, and their trump card, the war machine Gaara of the One-Tailed Shukaku, had a critical failure at a key moment.
Now, the mobilized forces of Konoha had dispatched hundreds of shinobi to pursue the retreating Orochimaru. It was impossible to tell if they were from Konoha proper or from Root. Under normal circumstances, sending these people after Orochimaru would be suicide, but now his hands were sealed, and more importantly, the spiritual damage from having his soul's arms severed had left him severely weakened.
"The pursuers are almost here! Sakon, you hold them off! Use Lord Orochimaru's [Serpent's Blood]!"
"Understood." Sakon of the Sound Four nodded. He knew full well what the side effects of the Serpent's Blood were. It meant he would never be able to walk in the sun again. But all of them were willing to die for Orochimaru. What was a little side effect?
When the hundred or so Anbu caught up, all they saw was a single test tube on the ground, and then Sakon, who was in the process of splitting into two people, Sakon and Ukon.
"Heh heh. The immortal power of the Serpent's Blood... prepare yourselves, you Konoha trash!" Sakon was somewhat excited. After injecting this blood, they would be immortal and unaging.
"Sakon, stop wasting time! Kill them and let's catch up! After injecting the [Serpent's Blood], my body feels so hungry... I don't know why, but I have a sudden craving for human blood," Ukon said, his eyes turning red as he swallowed and looked at the Anbu.
"I'm different from you, Ukon. I'm craving their flesh," Sakon said, licking his lips as his stomach rumbled.
A chill ran down the spines of the Anbu. What the hell are these things?
At the same time, Kabuto Yakushi, who was secretly directing the battle in Konoha, saw Orochimaru retreat and saw Konoha send a large force to pursue the heavily injured Sannin. He frowned and muttered to himself, "Danzo, are you burning the bridge now that you've crossed it? It doesn't matter. Everything is within Lord Orochimaru's calculations."
"In Lord Orochimaru's plan, that petty man Danzo was always expected to turn on him after Hiruzen Sarutobi's death. Lord Orochimaru just didn't expect to be so severely injured that even moving would be difficult. But—"
Kabuto pushed up his glasses, a glint of light reflecting off the lenses. "Danzo, all of your thoughts are also within Lord Orochimaru's calculations."
With that, Kabuto took out a specially made firework and launched it into the sky.
A gleam flashed across his glasses. At the same time, a portion of the Sound Village ninja, upon seeing the signal flare, took out vials from their pockets and injected the contents into their veins.
Their veins began to bulge, sharp fangs grew from their mouths, and their eyes turned bloodshot. Some retained the last shred of their sanity and attacked the Konoha shinobi, while others couldn't handle the power and attacked their own comrades.
"What the hell are these things?" Kakashi asked in shock, pulling back his Chidori-wreathed arm.
Just a moment ago, the Ino-Shika-Cho trio had managed to subdue the fat member of the Sound Four, and the Sealing Squad had finally arrived to seal away the unkillable giant. But with the appearance of the firework in the sky, more and more enemies began to inject themselves with strange concoctions, and the battle took a bizarre turn.
After Kakashi had plunged his Chidori into an enemy's heart, the man had grinned ferociously and swung his blade at Kakashi's neck. If not for his vast combat experience and quick reflexes, Kakashi would have been done for.
"The heart wound is healing rapidly, but it's not the Edo Tensei. Just how many forbidden things has Orochimaru created?" Guy was also stunned. He had kicked an enemy's neck clean off, but the man had continued to attack as if nothing had happened, fighting with a mutual-destruction mindset.
Even those who had half their bodies blown off by an exploding tag were unfazed, their lower halves regenerating at a rapid pace.
"Kakashi, have you noticed? Their hearts and heads are not their weak points," Guy said, blowing an enemy's head off with a heavy punch. But after the man fell, the flesh on his neck began to squirm rapidly, and a new head grew back.
Unfortunately for him, it was too late. The Sealing Squad had taken advantage of the moment he was immobile, before his head had fully regenerated, and swarmed him, sealing him away.
"Yes, I've noticed. Although they can't be killed, if their brains are destroyed, their bodies are temporarily incapacitated. And each time they regenerate, they consume a portion of their strength. But... if they consume human flesh and blood, their strength increases dramatically." Kakashi's keen analytical mind had quickly figured out their weakness.
"All units, coordinate with the Sealing Squad! Prioritize attacking the enemy's head! Be careful not to let them get near the bodies of fallen shinobi! They will eat them to increase their strength!" Shikaku Nara began to issue commands.
With someone directing the battle, order was quickly restored in Konoha. Although the Sound Village had injected themselves with a weakened version of the Serpent's Blood, their numbers were still too few. Against the ten to twenty thousand shinobi of Konoha, they were simply overwhelmed by a human wave tactic.
"Hand over the Scroll of Seals."
The burly man with long white hair was, of course, Jiraiya. Upon arriving in Konoha, he had first helped clear out the giant summoned beasts, and then he had seen the distress signal from the Hokage Building and rushed over.
He found Kakashi and Guy, and from them, he learned that the Scroll of Seals had been stolen by a troublesome enemy, a former Uchiha of Konoha.
To be honest, Jiraiya was on the Uchiha's side. He had heard a little about his sensei's dirty laundry, which was why he had been unwilling to return to Konoha for so many years, not wanting to deal with the mess.
Uchiha Nagi looked at Jiraiya. "Lord Jiraiya of the Sannin. Long time no see. What if I told you I'm determined to take this Scroll of Seals?"
"Then I will defeat you and take it back," Jiraiya said seriously.
The Scroll of Seals didn't just contain numerous powerful jutsu; it also held the First Hokage's powerful Wood Style, a Wood Style combined with sealing jutsu that not even Yamato could replicate. Those Wood Style sealing jutsu had the power to seal the Nine-Tails in a single move.
"Hmph. The Scroll of Seals is just gathering dust in Konoha. Look at you all. With so many powerful jutsu, have you ever shared them with the shinobi of Konoha? You've only ever passed them down to your own Hokage lineage, never to outsiders. It's a pity to just let it sit here."
"Hmph. Twisting words."
Jiraiya didn't waste any more time talking to Nagi. He used a Body Flicker and charged forward with a giant Rasengan.
"Giant Ball Rasengan!" A Rasengan several times larger than Jiraiya himself formed in his hand.
"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form!" A sword technique wreathed in flames danced and spun through the air.
Uchiha Nagi drew his Nichirin Blade, Raikiri, and met the attack with a layered Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form, slicing Jiraiya's massive Rasengan in two.
Jiraiya's pupils contracted. Before the Rasengan could explode, his long white hair, without any hand seals, instantly wrapped around him, forming a spiky ball of absolute defense that blocked the blast.
BOOM!
After a loud explosion, Jiraiya emerged from his absolute defense. Uchiha Nagi was also unharmed. He had activated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode of the Raikage's lineage.
His body was covered in a layer of lightning armor, which not only stimulated his muscle cells but also greatly increased his speed and strength. More importantly, this Lightning Release Armor from the Raikage's lineage had a defensive power comparable to the Susanoo.
As long as the user's chakra wasn't depleted, it was difficult for others to break through this armor. Not even Amaterasu could burn through it. And even if it was broken by a physical attack, it could be quickly repaired by injecting more chakra.
This defensive ninjutsu, which shared many similarities with the Susanoo, was something Nagi had coveted for a long time. But even after copying it, he couldn't use it, because the Lightning Release Chakra Mode required an incredibly powerful physical body as a foundation. Not even Killer Bee could use it, which showed that the difficulty of the jutsu was hell-level.
Uchiha Nagi had only succeeded after more than four years of relentless training, constantly strengthening his body and cells.
"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld!" Jiraiya, having just emerged, immediately used a jutsu to trap his opponent. It was a super-large-scale earth-style technique. As everyone knew, most shinobi couldn't fly. Once trapped, it was difficult to escape. And in the Swamp of the Underworld, a ninja's ability to walk on water was useless.
Seeing that his jutsu had trapped his opponent, Jiraiya immediately used another one.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"
Hmph!
Although he was very confident in his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, Uchiha Nagi wasn't foolish enough to just stand there and take a beating.
SWISH—
With a Flying Thunder God, Uchiha Nagi vanished and reappeared in another location, looking down on Jiraiya.
"The Flying Thunder God technique? Minato's signature jutsu. This is troublesome," Jiraiya muttered to himself. Now, his chances of retrieving the Scroll of Seals had dropped from eighty percent to ten percent.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A familiar recipe, a familiar taste. Uchiha Nagi used the Multi-Shuriken technique, and hundreds of shuriken flew toward Jiraiya. Mixed in with them were several kunai marked with the Flying Thunder God formula.
Jiraiya quickly formed a hand seal, and a high wall of earth immediately appeared, blocking the shuriken. But it was too late. A few kunai had already flown over the wall and were headed for the area behind him.
Before the kunai could even hit the ground, a figure flickered into existence.
"Sun Breathing, Thirteenth Form, Ten-Layer Stack!"
In an instant, over a hundred sword strikes rained down on Jiraiya. Jiraiya reacted extremely quickly, his signature white hair rapidly wrapping around him to block the attack. But he didn't know the powerful property of the Nichirin Blade.
The power of Raikiri, the mysterious energy of the meteorite from the Village Hidden Among the Stars, had been fully activated by Nagi. Combined with the sunlight it had absorbed, it had a cutting property like a laser sword. The hundred-plus strikes instantly shattered Jiraiya's defense, leaving him severely wounded.
Cough!
Jiraiya spat out a mouthful of blood. He had managed to avoid a fatal blow at the last moment, barely staying alive. His eyes widened in shock. He had never expected his opponent's swordsmanship to be so powerful. Close combat with him was a complete nightmare.
If he had known about this beforehand, he would have summoned the two great sage toads first and entered Sage Mode before fighting. Even if he couldn't win, he wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
"Such powerful life force. Anyone else would be dead by now, but you're still alive." Nagi looked at Jiraiya. One of his arms had been severed, and his body was covered in countless cuts. His intestines were even exposed, but he still wasn't dead.
"The shinobi of this world are all eggs holding hammers. Even someone at your level is no exception." Nagi shook his head. Jiraiya's strength was undeniable. If he entered Sage Mode, Nagi wasn't absolutely confident he could win, especially with the genjutsu song of the two sage toads, which not even the Rinnegan-wielding Nagato could resist.
But, shinobi were eggs holding hammers. Their strength was immense, but their bodies were as fragile as an eggshell. Jiraiya had made the same mistake, and his human body had been brought to the brink of death by Nagi's single layered Sun Breathing attack.
It could be said that in the entire shinobi world, aside from the Raikage's lineage and the Shikotsumyaku, everyone else was an egg. A single kunai could kill them.
Just as Nagi was about to finish Jiraiya off, the Transparent World suddenly sensed several objects flying at him from behind.
Clink, clink, clink!
It was a few kunai. Nagi casually batted them away. When he turned back, Jiraiya was gone. Even the severed arm had disappeared.
"You again, blondie?"
Nagi felt a headache coming on. To be able to rescue someone from right under his nose so silently and instantly, it could only be a space-time ninjutsu. Either Obito or the blondie.
The question was, wasn't this guy supposed to be rejected by the forces of space-time? He had been here for so long and still hadn't returned to his own world?
"Forget it. I have more important things to do. If Jiraiya ran, he ran. It doesn't matter." Nagi looked toward another location. It was the Root base. Kagami Uchiha had already gone there. And Nagi had another goal for this trip to Konoha.
Because there, he would find one of the most powerful Mangekyo genjutsu: Kotoamatsukami.
Kotoamatsukami, aside from possibly not working on the Rinnegan, might not even be blockable by the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. Otherwise, Itachi Uchiha wouldn't have hidden it in Naruto's body with the Transcription Seal as a countermeasure against Sasuke. He should have known that after his death, Sasuke might transplant his eyes and awaken the Eternal Mangekyo.
But Itachi still did it, which meant that Kotoamatsukami had a good chance of controlling even an Eternal Mangekyo.
But, to fight a broken magic, you needed a magic of the same level. So, the eye of Shisui on Danzo's body was the weapon Nagi would use to counter Itachi.