"Which village's ninja might you be? I've never heard of such a young and powerful existence."
Orochimaru's tongue slid across his lips, curiosity and greed gleaming in his sinister eyes as he tried to extract more information from Roy.
"Ahh, I'm just a traveler drifting across the seas."
Roy glanced briefly at Orochimaru.
"Then, would you consider handing over Uchiha Sasuke to me? In exchange, whether it be land, ninjutsu, or even a hidden village, just name it, and I can provide it."
Orochimaru licked his lips again.
"Ahaha, I'm afraid that's quite impossible."
Roy smiled and shook his head, refusing without hesitation.
Seeing that negotiation was hopeless, Orochimaru's expression gradually darkened.
In the next moment, he opened his mouth, and accompanied by a bone-chilling hiss, countless snakes surged forth from his throat like a black torrent, instantly flooding the entire space.
As one of the "Three Ninja," if Orochimaru hadn't been wary of the power Roy had just displayed, he would never have stooped to negotiating so humbly.
But with negotiations now broken, he would test the depths of this young traveler himself.
As a long-established kage-level powerhouse, while Orochimaru's strength wasn't at the very pinnacle of the ninja world, he was absolutely unmatched when it came to survival and escape.
At this moment, he had countless contingencies already in place, spread across secret bases throughout the world.
Even if this body was destroyed in this battle, he was confident he could return.
Uchiha Sasuke watched the terrifying, sky-blanketing swarm of snakes, barely hiding his disgust and fear.
"Seems like quite the trouble."
Roy sighed softly, and then his entire body began to glow with a faint light.
Under Orochimaru's astonished gaze, countless microscopic laser beams erupted from Roy's body. Like precise kisses of death, they instantly annihilated the rampaging snake horde.
Yet Orochimaru did not retreat; instead, a fierce light flashed in his eyes.
He swiftly drew a long sword from the mouth of an unremarkable small snake within his own throat—the famed Kusanagi, forged from the world's hardest substance and his signature weapon.
Under his control, it rapidly extended into a blade several hundred meters long, aimed directly at Roy.
"Ame-no-Murakumo no Tsurugi."
Roy's right hand gently grasped the air. Light gathered, and in an instant, a sword formed entirely of pure light materialized in his palm, radiating brilliance.
Seeing the Kusanagi, now several hundred meters long, mere moments away, a playful smile tugged at Roy's lips. He gripped the sword of light firmly and swung his arm in a fluid, powerful motion.
"Shwoom!"
Accompanied by a clear, resonant hum, an enormous sword aura exploded from the blade's tip, soaring skyward with unstoppable force, directly meeting the Kusanagi.
Upon impact, the Kusanagi was blasted away. The residual aura, undiminished, transformed into a brilliant crescent blade of light that shot towards Orochimaru to the side.
"This is… sword aura? Such mastery of swordsmanship alone can reach this level?"
Orochimaru's brow furrowed deeply, a look of disbelief flashing in his eyes. Without hesitation, he launched a counterattack.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hand."
Countless shadowy serpents surged outward, but the moment they touched the sword aura, they were instantly obliterated without a trace.
In an instant, Orochimaru's body was severed in two by the invisible sword aura.
"Incredible…"
Sasuke, witnessing all this, fixed his gaze on Roy's figure gripping the sword, his face full of shock.
Roy's form seemed to merge with space for a fleeting moment. When he reappeared, he held a long sword in his hand—the very Kusanagi that had belonged to Orochimaru.
He lightly stroked the blade, curiosity and appreciation in his eyes.
"This sword's material is exceptionally hard. I wonder how it would compare to the legendary Black Blades and the Twelve Supreme Grade Blades?"
Roy murmured to himself, clearly intrigued by the sword.
In the distance, Orochimaru, whose body had been cleaved in two and lay on the ground, began to writhe in a grotesque manner. His Great Snake Substitution activated, and his form reappeared completely unharmed elsewhere.
Watching his treasured sword being taken, his face showed no anger. Instead, he wore a thoughtful expression, carefully analyzing Roy's swordsmanship.
"Swordsmanship? Could he be from the Land of Iron? No, the Land of Iron couldn't produce a swordsman this powerful."
Orochimaru speculated inwardly, his gaze growing increasingly complex.
Roy continued to toy with the Kusanagi, finding its ability to change size at will—making it easy to carry and conceal—increasingly fascinating.
Finally, he carefully put the sword away. Turning his gaze to the grim-faced Orochimaru, he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, considering his next move.
"Konoha's reinforcements should arrive soon, right? At this stage, it's best not to expose myself too much."
Roy calculated inwardly, then suddenly spoke, his voice echoing in the silent air.
"Orochimaru-kun, I will strike only once. If you survive this attack, I will let you live."
At these words, Orochimaru's face clouded over instantly, clearly provoked by Roy's statement.
He was about to retort when he abruptly stopped.
He keenly sensed a drastic shift in Roy's aura, as if some ancient, immense power was awakening within him.
Countless fragments of light began to seep from every inch of Roy's skin, from every pore. These lights rapidly converged, growing blindingly bright until they illuminated the entire space, making it impossible to look directly at him.
"Light Spear."
As Roy spoke, the gathered light seemed to gain sentience. It danced and swirled, finally fusing in an incredible way into a single, dazzling spear.
This spear radiated not only brilliant light but also a chilling pressure, as if it could pierce through any obstacle in the world.
With a mere thought from Roy, the Light Spear shot forward like an arrow from a bow, carrying overwhelming force straight towards Orochimaru.
"Not good!"
Alarm bells rang in Orochimaru's mind, a sense of unprecedented crisis enveloping him.
Facing such an attack, he could not afford the slightest carelessness.
Almost simultaneously with Roy's attack, Orochimaru's hands moved through seals at lightning speed, summoning his signature technique—the Triple Rashōmon.
These three massive gates, each engraved with ancient runes, were said to be able to withstand most attacks in the world, a point of pride for Orochimaru as an absolute defense.
Yet against this terrifying Light Spear, even the Triple Rashōmon proved insufficient.
The spear's speed and power were beyond Orochimaru's expectations.
In a flash of light, the Triple Rashōmon was pierced layer by layer by the spear's immense force, shattering like fragile paper.
Then, with its momentum barely diminished, the Light Spear struck Orochimaru's body directly, causing a deafening explosion.
The force of this strike was so great that even the Forest of Death trembled. One corner was completely destroyed, trees felled, dust billowing—the scene like an apocalypse.
Witnessing this, Roy seemed to sense something and shook his head slightly.
Then, his form left a brilliant trail of light in its wake, vanishing without a trace as if he had never been there.
Meanwhile, Sasuke, startled awake by the sudden hurricane-force winds, quickly grasped the dire situation. Without a moment's hesitation, he hoisted the unconscious Naruto onto his back, grabbed the unconscious Haruno Sakura by one hand, and fled desperately away from the battlefield.
Behind them lay the ruins ravaged by the storm and the Forest of Death, forever altered by the Light Spear.
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