She thought to herself, 'That was close.'
If she hadn't been using the Snake Cornea to guard against visual Genjutsu at all times, she would have definitely fallen for it just now.
[This crow isn't a Summoned Beast, but a Chakra construct similar to the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.]
The difference is that Hidden Shadow Snake Hands leans toward Yang Release and has a physical form, while this crow leans toward Yin Release and is incorporeal. Therefore, even with thermal sensing and water mist, its presence could not be detected.
She glanced at Orochimaru's position; he had also been a target of the attack just now.
Sure enough, after suffering once before, he seemed to have completely closed off his vision and committed to the battle, just like Amane.
So he had also successfully dodged the attack just now.
It seemed the current battle situation was still favorable for Amane and Orochimaru.
The Sage Art: Kirigakure Technique blocked the Sharingan's wide-range field of vision, and the combatants blocked their own vision just in case.
This almost completely neutralized Itachi's Mangekyo Sharingan, except for Amaterasu and Susanoo.
The remaining combat options were Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, as well as the ultimate trump card, Kotoamatsukami.
In terms of Ninjutsu, as long as it belonged to the Five Elemental Releases, Amane could absorb and counter it.
In terms of Taijutsu, the thick mist severely interfered with the high-level dynamic vision provided by the Sharingan, and besides, Amane and Orochimaru would never rashly engage in close quarters in this situation.
As for Kotoamatsukami, Amane believed that unless Itachi was pushed into a life-or-death corner, he would definitely keep that card hidden away.
[So if I really push Itachi to a certain point, I must use a finishing move to take him down in one go. If I fail to subdue him, or if he's left with even a single breath, I must run immediately!]
Amane made up her mind.
As for whether killing Itachi would cause serious damage to the original plot, that was not within Amane's considerations.
In any case, his greatest roles in the original work were giving Sasuke the Eternal Mangekyo and finding Yakushi Kabuto to break the Edo Tensei.
Everything else, he had completely messed up.
Amane was only speaking from the perspective of an undercover agent, not from other aspects like moral behavior.
As a fellow professional, Amane could completely mock Itachi's professional competence.
Being an undercover agent was like just a setting for him; not only did he fail to send back a single piece of intel, but he also blew up Sasuke's mental state as soon as he appeared. It was no wonder people questioned if his 'character design' had been retconned.
At this moment, facing the constant barrage of snakes from Orochimaru and the 'rogue' tactics of Amane's continuously thrown chains, Itachi, relying on his robust Taijutsu before falling ill, could barely hold on, but it was clearly unsustainable.
What was he waiting for?
As perhaps the person who understood Itachi's methods best in the world, Amane knew he had a way to break the deadlock right now.
Setting aside the bug that was Susanoo, why wasn't he using Amaterasu?
Since he saw through the fact that the Sage Art: Kirigakure Technique could be freely manipulated by Amane, the best countermeasure should be to use Amaterasu.
To maintain her combat advantage, Amane's best choice would be to give up the offensive, go all out to isolate the ignited area, and deal with it using the Fire Sealing Seal, or wait for it to burn out.
Because Amaterasu's characteristic is that it never extinguishes until the target is burned to ashes. Therefore, Amane's Adamantine Sealing Chains could not handle it like ordinary Fire Release by using the black flames for herself; that would only invite disaster.
She could only sacrifice one chain to seal it, and later transfer the sealed black flames off the chain.
This would create an opening, and then he could immediately use Susanoo. Ideally, he'd use the Sword of Totsuka directly to insta-kill Amane or Orochimaru!
If it were Amane, she would definitely choose to do this; it was the chance for victory with the highest success rate.
But why wasn't Itachi doing it? He was about to lose his life, yet he was still worried about overtaxing his body and not being able to wait for Sasuke?
Looking at the humanoid thermal image not far away still nimbly dodging chains and snakes, Amane felt a trace of unease in her heart.
Another chain shot out, pinning down beside Itachi.
This was originally Amane's initial deployment, but this last one was slightly hurried, perhaps revealing a flaw.
In an instant, a Barrier trapped Itachi within!
There was definitely a problem!
If it were Itachi, he wouldn't have missed that opening.
But through sensing, the one in front of her was undoubtedly the real Itachi. Could it be another Shadow Clone?
She couldn't distinguish which was the Main Body, but that didn't mean she couldn't tell how many were on the field. Now, within a radius of dozens of kilometers, Amane was certain there was only one Itachi ahead.
What on earth was he planning?
Amane immediately went on full alert, but Orochimaru, apparently banking on the fact that while his other skills weren't outstanding, his survival ability was top-notch, charged in.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands: Myriad Snake Formation!"
In the thick mist, Orochimaru performed a real-time show for Amane in her sensing field: him spitting out snakes, and the snakes spitting out swords.
Hmph.
A cold snort came from ahead.
In an instant, an overbearingly peerless power forcibly tore apart the Sage Art: Kirigakure Technique covering the battlefield!
Immediately after, a giant figure clad in red armor, holding a sake gourd and a shield, suddenly appeared before Amane!
"Did I fail..."
Itachi's gaze had already locked back onto Orochimaru, who was beside Amane.
Just now, he had deliberately shown weakness to create a certain-kill opportunity, so he could instantly activate Susanoo and launch the Sword of Totsuka to take down at least one of the two.
But Amane's alertness was far beyond expectations. However, the gap when Orochimaru launched his big move was caught, so the target naturally shifted to him.
Yet, what Itachi never expected was that at the very moment the Sword of Totsuka was about to pierce Orochimaru's body and complete the seal, Amane's movements were actually so fast!
With just an instantaneous pull of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, she dragged Orochimaru back from the fatal blow!
Itachi's Susanoo suddenly vanished like a phantom.
But this was a deception; Amane could clearly sense that Itachi hadn't deactivated Susanoo at all.
"To think you actually have a subordinate of such strength, Orochimaru."
Itachi endured the massive side effects of Susanoo, his crimson Sharingan never leaving that petite figure for a moment.
While Orochimaru certainly had endless sinister tricks, Amane was currently the most threatening existence to him!
Itachi hadn't forgotten who it was that had sealed his Sharingan and his Ninjutsu.
It was truly hard to imagine why such a strong person would follow Orochimaru. Was it the result of being adopted and brainwashed since childhood?
Itachi thought to himself.
"Meeting this child was my luck."
The pride in Orochimaru's tone was exceptionally obvious, making Amane almost get goosebumps.
As soon as he finished speaking, Itachi caught a glimpse of Orochimaru turning his face toward him and subconsciously tried to activate a visual jutsu, but what met his eyes was only a pair of pitch-black sunglasses... no, they were definitely not ordinary sunglasses; the Sharingan could capture the Chakra flowing within them. Itachi speculated that this pair of glasses had the ability to block vision while sensing the outside world through some other means.
"I see, so this is Susanoo? It's my first time seeing it; as expected, the Sharingan is truly wonderful."
Orochimaru's long tongue licked his lips. Even though the sunglasses blocked his gaze, Itachi could still feel that undisguised look of greed.
"Snake Aunt, that sword just now has Sealing properties, so watch yourself. And he hasn't deactivated that technique yet."
Amane warned, while remaining highly alert to the Susanoo that could insta-kill anyone at any time, and secretly instructed White Snake to absorb as much Natural Energy as possible in the surroundings.
Once both sides started a 'Gundam battle,' Amane would not hesitate to use her bottom-drawer trump card.
"I know. That was the Sword of Totsuka just now; where did you get it from?"
Itachi did not answer Orochimaru's question; his gaze lingered briefly on both of them.
[I've been completely countered, and through the battle just now, this girl's mastery of Sealing Jutsu is unfathomable. If the battle drags on, it's not impossible for the Sword of Totsuka to be broken...]
Itachi no longer hesitated for a moment; his figure instantly vanished from before the two.
"He fled. Should we pursue?"
Amane sensed that Itachi was already over ten kilometers away. If they wanted to chase, the two still had the ability to catch up.
However, Orochimaru shook his head and gestured for Kabuto to come out.
"No, if it really comes to a fight to the death, Itachi could take at least one of us to the afterlife with him, and that's the best-case scenario. I underestimated his strength too much."
If he had understood the power of Susanoo and the existence of the Sword of Totsuka beforehand, Orochimaru might have dared to let Amane and himself give chase.
But now, Orochimaru didn't have the corresponding cards ready.
[Susanoo can be countered head-on with the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique, but as for the Sword of Totsuka...]
Orochimaru felt it was troublesome.
He couldn't think of a way to counter this sword head-on, other than relying on speed to dodge or using deceptive tactics like Shadow Clones to trick it.
This was precisely the main reason he judged the success rate to be low.
Besides, too much time had been dragged out, which was probably also Itachi's plan. It wouldn't be long before the Akatsuki's pursuers arrived; the risk was too high.
"Haven't you placed many Cursed Seals?"
The implication was that Orochimaru wasn't that easy to kill and could return to this world with his consciousness intact at any time.
However, Orochimaru just smiled at this question and said:
"Amane, a girl should pay more attention to herself."
Amane looked at Orochimaru in a daze.
She admitted her survival skills weren't as good as Orochimaru's, but it was only because she didn't have Cursed Seal respawn points like he did.
And as could be seen from the battle just now, under normal circumstances, Amane could completely react to the Sword of Totsuka. Why did Uncle Snake give up just because of her safety?
Orochimaru sighed with some regret.
Seeing that Orochimaru really seemed to intend to give up, Amane still didn't deactivate Sage Mode. While keeping up with his pace naturally, she asked, "So, what's next?"
"Accompany me in hiding for a while, and by the way... accompany me to go grave robbing, how about it?"
"Fufu, the Second Hokage's forbidden technique? It actually involves dead people? Tell me more."
Amane knew this referred to avoiding the Akatsuki's pursuit and that Orochimaru was finally going to start working on Edo Tensei.
Thinking of that, Amane was also somewhat enthusiastic.
Although Edo Tensei indeed had moral issues, a technique is ultimately just a technique; it's the person using it that matters.
The Ninja World didn't lack people who deserved to be killed, nor did it lack enemies. And most importantly, Amane felt there might be a chance to study the Rinnegan in the future.
[I've already reached the Sannin level. The next step of reaching Super Kage level and completing the Sage Body might be feasible, but to go further, the Six Paths is a problem that must be overcome.]
Amane was calculating in her heart, completely unaware that Orochimaru was secretly watching her out of the corner of his eye.
At this time, Orochimaru's depression from Itachi running away gradually dissipated.
[Amane, this is exactly what I like most about you.]
A forbidden technique that was considered heinous in the eyes of the world, yet Amane could set aside prejudice and study it with full enthusiasm.
And her heart still leaned toward the light; how could this not make Orochimaru feel heartfelt interest?
Orochimaru thought back to when he first saw these techniques, the excitement that rose in his heart and his struggle with past morals. And when his mentor Hiruzen Sarutobi discovered him, the disappointment and anger he saw in his eyes.
It wasn't that he hadn't been lost or felt pain.
But what about Amane?
A technique is just a technique; the one who uses it is ultimately a person.
This was the answer he got years ago when Amane was helping Orochimaru complete the Living Corpse Reincarnation and he had questioned her out of a wicked sense of curiosity.
If Orochimaru had forcibly severed the 'knot' in his heart in the past, then Amane had helped him untie it naturally.
"Hehehe, I'll give the scroll to you when we get back. You and I will use it to entertain the guests who come looking for us and practice a bit."
[Amane, when this wind of yours that blows from the darkness reaches the sunlight, what kind of waves will it ultimately stir up?]
Orochimaru imagined with great anticipation.
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