Sasuke and Itachi's battle had entered a white-hot stage, and a pig-cage plant quietly appeared underground.
For the second pair of Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Obito was determined to get them.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique."
Sasuke unleashed a high-level Fire Release; the fire dragon roared and charged into the sky.
One! Two! Three…
High-concentration Fire Release formed dark clouds in the sky, and faint thunder rumbled.
Deidara looked up at the sky in confusion. "It's going to rain!"
Kairen wiped on a mischievous smile and lightly waved his hand. A gale appeared in the sky and immediately blew the dark clouds apart.
Below, Sasuke confidently raised his right hand; Chidori chirped.
"Itachi, along with the thunder—"
He froze. Why did it clear up? Where did my thunderclouds go?
"Cough, cough…"
Itachi coughed twice and followed Sasuke's gaze toward the sky, discovering Kairen and Deidara standing atop the giant bird.
He frowned. About Kairen, even with his insight into the world, he couldn't quite figure him out.
Acting without a pattern, doing as he pleased—like he was just here to have fun.
Sasuke grew anxious. His chakra was almost gone; his trump card was the Kirin finisher.
Now that the thunderclouds had been blown away, where was he supposed to borrow lightning from?
Suddenly, thunder boomed in the sky.
Joy spread across Sasuke's face.
The Chidori in his right hand continued to sing, resonating with the thunder in the sky.
"Lightning Release: Kirin!"
Sasuke shouted. The divine thunder of the nine heavens was drawn down by wings like those of a duck.
In an instant, a golden lightning beast appeared in the sky, howling wildly, "Pika pika!"
Pikachu roared and charged downward, but before it got far it turned into lightning and dissipated.
Sasuke was completely stunned. How did my Kirin turn into a yellow mouse?
Heaven is messing with me!
"Cough…"
Itachi coughed up a mouthful of blood. Looking at the crimson in his palm, he realized he was at the end of the road.
Sasuke, I'll eliminate your last hidden danger.
"Susanoo!"
Itachi exhausted his life to manifest Susanoo. A layer of red skeleton appeared around him, radiating red chakra.
The skeleton then donned the black Tengu armor—the third form of Susanoo.
With Itachi's Mangekyō that was about to give out, this was already the limit.
Deidara shouted, "Damn! Kairen, look—this is the move you just used!"
Kairen smiled. "Mine is much bigger than his."
Deidara nodded repeatedly. "Yours is big, yours is big!"
Sasuke was completely scared stiff. He stood there in a daze, almost forgetting who he was.
He had never seen this kind of ninjutsu. Itachi was clearly at the end of his rope—how could he still use something like this?
With Susanoo active, Itachi walked toward Sasuke step by step.
His steps were weak, but his resolve was plain to see.
Sasuke trembled as he retreated, chanting, "Don't come over! Don't come over!"
Suddenly, the curse mark on his neck changed.
It grew hot and turned fiery red, and a giant snake's head burst out from the curse mark.
As big as a bull's body, with sharp fangs—extremely ferocious.
And that wasn't all.
Then a second giant snake, a third… until eight giant snakes appeared at once.
Deidara cried out again, "The Eight-Headed Serpent! It's the Eight-Headed Serpent!"
Kairen quietly watched while rubbing Akamaru's head.
The Eight-Headed Serpent is a forbidden technique Orochimaru stole; its origins are unknown, and its power is immense.
Susanoo battling the Eight-Headed Serpent was like a reenactment of Japanese mythology.
Myths all follow one rule: the uglier one has worse odds of winning.
And indeed, Itachi's Susanoo drew the Totsuka Blade and, with a few slashes, cut off seven of the Eight-Headed Serpent's heads.
Only the last white-scaled head remained.
The white-scaled giant snake opened its huge mouth, and a pale, greasy figure crawled out from inside.
It was Orochimaru, who had been offline for a long time.
"Heh heh…"
The moment Orochimaru came out, he let out a sinister laugh, gagged, and pulled the Kusanagi sword from his mouth.
Holding the sword, he smiled at Itachi. "The chakra Sasuke used to suppress me is already exhausted, so this body is mine now."
"Itachi, I really should thank you!"
Orochimaru was brimming with confidence now, because he could see Itachi's lack of stamina.
Damn it, after watching you perform for so long, it's finally my turn, Orochimaru, to dance.
A flaming-red great sword stabbed in like lightning, piercing straight through Orochimaru's gut.
Orochimaru didn't care at first, but then his eyes widened. "Th-this is the Totsuka Blade!"
The Totsuka Blade is a sealing sword. It's said that whoever is pierced by it will be drawn into a drunken-dream illusion world and sealed there forever.
Just as Orochimaru was about to be completely finished, Kairen spread his palm. A powerful suction erupted from it, pulling Orochimaru out of the Totsuka Blade's bindings.
Itachi watched weakly. With his body already at sunset, he had no strength left and didn't care anymore.
He dispersed Susanoo and staggered toward Sasuke.
"Sasuke…"
...
Orochimaru's spirit escaped the Totsuka Blade's bindings; his mood swung from the depths to the peak in a sharp turn.
I, Orochimaru, really am the chosen one of fate.
Kairen looked at the little snake in his palm—this was the form of Orochimaru's spirit.
This guy's soul had even mutated. In other words, he had already become a human-demon.
Orochimaru's red snake eyes stared at Kairen. "Who are you? Why did you save me?"
Orochimaru was full of doubts.
He didn't have many allies in the ninja world; he dug up people's ancestral graves everywhere and had plenty of enemies.
Being saved today was quite unexpected.
Deidara laughed from the side. "Orochimaru, you've got your day too!"
Then he introduced Kairen. "This is Moku Kairen, the host of the Tenseigan, and also the organization's newest member."
"As for why we saved you—of course it's becauseyou have some value to be used."
Hearing this, Orochimaru let out a breath.
He didn't mind Deidara's mockery.
The reason Orochimaru felt at ease was that Kairen would make use of him, which dispelled the unease in his heart.
Orochimaru's attitude improved a bit.
"Thank you for your help. From now on I'll definitely listen to you—please use me however you like!"
So what if I'm being used? Many people don't even have the qualification to be used. As long as I lie low for a while, I'll turn on Kairen and take charge myself.
Kairen smiled. He had Orochimaru's mindset figured out perfectly and naturally knew not to trust a single punctuation mark of this shameless snake's words.
But Kairen wasn't afraid of Orochimaru's betrayal; he would keep this snake firmly in his grip.
After thinking it over, Kairen said to Orochimaru,
"From now on, you're the second chief steward of my Eastern Bureau."
Orochimaru nodded. "Don't worry! I'll work hard."
"Um, could you find me a body? I'm a bit uncomfortable like this."
"A body?!" Kairen looked around, and finally his gaze settled on Akamaru.
Akamaru: "Woof! (꒪⌓꒪)"
Orochimaru grew anxious too.
"No! No! I don't want to be a dog."
Kairen was truly helpless. "No choice then—I'll use Yin-Yang Release to make you a body!"
Kairen gathered chakra and invoked the Yin-Yang Release within his body.
The Sage of Six Paths could use Yin-Yang Release to separate the Ten-Tails and create life.
Kairen was of course no worse than him.
A black-and-white Yin-Yang diagram appeared in Kairen's palm, revealing the true meaning of the world.
Orochimaru watched greedily, increasingly feeling that Kairen was not simple—he could actually use such a miraculous ninjutsu.
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