In terms of time, process, and efficiency, this was probably Uncle Snake's cleanest, smoothest, and fastest reincarnation yet.
The reason was obvious.
First, if he was not quick enough, he might very well be killed by the forbidden technique he himself had cast—One's Own Life Reincarnation. After all, it was a life-for-a-life technique. If he could not leave his original body in time, even Orochimaru would not be spared.
Second, if he was not quick enough, he might be killed by the newly released Nine-Tails. In that regard, his situation was similar to Kabuto Yakushi, who had already fled.
With Orochimaru's strength, it was unlikely that he would die to a tailed beast. But this was, after all, a newly reincarnated body. In a rushed situation, anything could happen.
Besides, even if the Nine-Tails could not do much to Orochimaru, Orochimaru likewise had no way to deal with the Nine-Tails. Against it, he lacked a decisive finishing move.
After the white-scaled serpent entered the prepared female body through a certain part of her body, her eyes reopened almost without hesitation.
Her shattered mind had clearly provided Orochimaru with considerable convenience in devouring her. In that brief instant, his Living Corpse Reincarnation was already complete.
Although no one knew what her original eyes had looked like, one could imagine they had absolutely not been the cold, snake-like vertical pupils she now possessed.
Orochimaru had already taken over this body.
In a certain sense, this was yet another "rebirth" for him.
What was rather amusing was that after switching bodies, Uncle Snake was now tied up—and tied quite securely.
But that did not matter.
After all, he had long since achieved level 250 in yoga.
Orochimaru's limbs became like instant noodles soaked in boiling water for five minutes, soft and elastic. In just a few movements, he slipped free from his restraints.
Fortunately, Hagoromo's attention was completely focused on the Nine-Tails at the moment. Otherwise, if he had seen this scene, who knew what strange associations he would have made?
After taking over the new body and regaining the ability to move, Orochimaru could finally calmly admire the Nine-Tails.
In every sense, the Nine-Tails was a tailed beast worthy of being called a "spectacle."
Unfortunately, this might very well be the final heroic appearance of this tailed beast.
Orochimaru watched with great interest.
Or rather, he looked entirely like someone enjoying a show.
The underground space where everyone stood was relatively vast, but once the Nine-Tails appeared within it, aside from the new version of Uncle Snake—light, flexible, curvaceous, and capable of slipping through all sorts of gaps—everyone else found it difficult to move.
This was especially true for the Nine-Tails.
"The Nine-Tails' other half… We finally meet."
Hagoromo raised his head to look at the Nine-Tails and murmured to himself.
Under normal circumstances, shinobi regarded the chakra of tailed beasts as infinite. Once something reached a certain scale, it was not much different from "infinite." And among these "infinite" beings, the Nine-Tails stood at the very top.
The Fourth Hokage had used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to divide the Nine-Tails into yin and yang. Only its "yang" half remained in the living world.
Even so, compared to the other tailed beasts, the scale of its chakra was already overwhelming.
"Kushina's adopted brat…"
The Nine-Tails' jaw did not seem to move, yet its voice naturally sounded out.
That deep, short, powerful voice echoed through the relatively enclosed space, creating resonance and a double tone that made its anger even more pronounced.
How could it not be angry?
The Nine-Tails sealed inside Naruto had suffered far more than when it was inside other jinchūriki.
Inside that tightly sealed prison, where not even a trace of chakra could leak out, the Nine-Tails had been like something shoved into a completely sealed black box. Over time, that kind of "solitary confinement" would even gradually cause it to lose its sense of "time."
After all these years, it was already impressive that it had not gone insane.
The Fourth Hokage had imprisoned the Nine-Tails.
Hagoromo was the one who had nearly driven it mad.
So after seeing this "culprit," the Nine-Tails naturally bristled. Anger was merely the most basic of its reactions.
Fundamentally speaking, during the incident years ago, the Nine-Tails had merely been a manipulated pawn. Although its escape from the seal had led to the worst possible consequences for Hagoromo, in that matter, its role had not been central. In essence, like Kushina, it had been a passive party.
However, its absurdly immense power was indeed one of the root causes of disaster.
Although a series of small motives had led to Hagoromo's current actions, there was no need to explain the matter too deeply.
Tailed beasts killed shinobi.
Shinobi killed tailed beasts.
It had been that way since ancient times.
The only difference was that Hagoromo's "kill" was a true kill.
Because of the impact caused by undoing the Eight Trigrams Seal, the three people present were now positioned at different distances from the Nine-Tails.
Orochimaru was naturally the farthest from it.
Hagoromo was somewhat closer.
Naruto was right beneath the Nine-Tails' feet.
At this moment, Naruto had only just awakened. He rubbed his eyes and sat up.
Then he froze.
Could someone tell him what was going on?
Why was this thing in front of him the moment he woke up?
But immediately afterward, he seemed to understand something.
At this moment, the Nine-Tails' eyes were fixed firmly on Hagoromo, as if Hagoromo had attracted all its attention. It showed no concern at all for the "cage" that had imprisoned it.
Then, suddenly, it understood.
One of its tails moved as fast as lightning and wind, smashing downward from above, from behind its rump toward the front of its head.
Fox spirits were cunning creatures.
Its first target was clearly Naruto.
On one hand, it restrained Hagoromo with its gaze.
On the other, it launched a thunderous strike at the weakest person present.
Unfortunately, this attack was obviously doomed to fail.
Would Hagoromo leave Naruto there unprotected?
The Nine-Tails moved quickly.
But Hagoromo's hand seals were even faster.
Before Naruto understood anything, he was first ambushed, then protected by a pitch-black curtain-like barrier.
The Mutually Multiplying Four Symbols Seal on his body had activated.
The Nine-Tails' movement came to an abrupt halt.
If it did not want to directly become the "Eight-Tails," it had no choice but to stop.
"Naruto, come over here. Right now, you're still not strong enough to face the Nine-Tails. Get behind me. See that young lady over there? Your current mission is to protect her."
"But…"
"Compared to fighting an enemy far too powerful for you, protecting what is right in front of you is more important!"
"I understand!"
When put that way, Naruto understood.
Although the Nine-Tails' attack had left him shocked and uncertain, after receiving Hagoromo's instructions, he instantly calmed down a lot.
He did want to participate in fighting the Nine-Tails, but clearly, his current strength was insufficient.
He ran from the Nine-Tails' side toward Orochimaru.
The Nine-Tails also seemed to understand that the barrier could activate at any time, so it did not interfere.
Sure enough, the Uzumaki brat was not the main point.
The main point was that Hagoromo had to be dealt with first.
The Nine-Tails' line of thinking seemed to be quite correct.
"Big Sister, stay behind me and absolutely don't move around!"
After Naruto ran to Orochimaru's side, the first thing he did was give this instruction with complete seriousness.
Orochimaru: "…"
Damn it.
If you want me to help watch the kid, just say so.
What do you mean, having him protect me?
If Naruto knew that the "big sister" in front of him was actually the Orochimaru he had been thinking about all this time on this trip, who knew which one of them would strangle the other first?
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789