The pitch-black dense forest loomed like a demon, ready to devour any living thing that dared enter its depths...
The giant grey snake steadily closed the distance between itself and Aoi Ren, finally cutting off his path right before a vast swamp.
"You little brat, you can't run anymore!" Orochimaru sneered as he transformed back into human form, long grey serpents coiling around his arms.
"I bet you never even imagined how you gave yourself away, did you?"
"Was it perhaps... because of those snakes?" Aoi Ren replied with a knowing smile, stretching out his hand.
Immediately, those same grey snakes detached themselves from Orochimaru's arms and slithered willingly to coil around Aoi Ren's feet instead.
"This... how is this possible?!" Orochimaru's eyes widened in shock.
"Those are serpents from the Ryūchi Cave! Why would they obey you? Wait a minute..."
"So this means... you deliberately lured me here?"
Orochimaru was sharp; in the next instant, he summoned his great summon, Manda.
Only when Manda appeared did Orochimaru feel a measure of security restored. He shook his head with a cold smirk.
"Kid, I have no idea why you led me here, but you clearly have no clue just exactly what kind of power I truly possess!"
Hearing this, Aoi Ren scoffed and shook his head in return. "You mean... you mean Manda? That's what you call power?"
"Come forth, Shin'ya! Teach your little junior a lesson he won't forget!"
Aoi Ren clapped his hands gently. From the forest emerged a fiery-red serpent, larger and thicker than Manda by a full circle.
"Big Brother Shin'ya!!"
At the sight of Shin'ya, Manda instantly curled up in terror, completely abandoning all the arrogance and dignity of the King of Serpents of the Ryūchi Cave.
"Damn it... how could this happen?!"
Orochimaru had never felt so humiliated or cornered. He was being outmaneuvered at every turn. It was as if this child knew absolutely everything about him.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Abandoning all other thoughts, Orochimaru struck first, aiming to kill Aoi Ren instantly. If the master dies, no matter how strong the summon is, it becomes useless!
However... "Dragon Lightning Blade!"
Pale white lightning sheared through the snake attack, splitting it right down the middle, then tore straight through Orochimaru himself, cutting him cleanly in half.
Blood and internal organs splattered across the ground. Just like that, Orochimaru — who would one day be so formidable in the ninja world — was dead.
At this time, during the era of the Sannin, Orochimaru was still far too immature. He had yet to master his unpredictable forbidden techniques, and hadn't even fully mastered standard ninjutsu.
At this stage, Orochimaru was only at Jōnin-level strength. Caught off guard, being instantly killed by Aoi Ren in a single strike was hardly surprising...
With Orochimaru eliminated, the true plan could now officially begin!
The Project to Create a God in Amegakure.
Hanzō was already the leader of Amegakure. With his subtle guidance and promotion, a new ideology began to spread throughout the land:
"Lord Hanzō is a God! He can grant even ordinary people the power of a shinobi!"
"If every citizen of the Land of Rain becomes a ninja, we will never be bullied by other nations again!"
The common people of the Land of Rain had long endured this miserable existence.
In the world of ninjas, shinobi and civilians lived almost in different dimensions — one side wielding god-like powers, the other stuck in an age where they could only fight with swords and spears.
Worse still, these "gods" loved to wage war against each other. As the saying goes: When gods fight, it is the common folk who suffer.
Even when the battles were not aimed at them, countless innocent people of the Land of Rain were killed or injured in the crossfire.
Hatred.
They hated Konoha, hated Sunagakure, hated Iwagakure — hated all shinobi. But most of all, they hated their own helpless weakness.
They hated that they were not ninja, that they could not protect the people they loved.
They were desperate... for power.
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