Facing Orochimaru's confusion, Uchiha Sora appeared before him, staring at him as he spoke slowly: "My Sharingan can see that you are currently nothing more than a hollow shell. The relationship between your powerful Chakra and this body doesn't seem to be very harmonious."
"What?! You actually...?" Orochimaru's expression was shaken.
"You must have practiced some kind of Forbidden Technique to transfer your original Chakra and soul into another person's body, right? And there's a rejection reaction between your own Chakra and soul and the original Chakra and soul of this body, isn't there?" Uchiha Sora continued.
These words of his were, on one hand, because he was familiar with the original plot and knew Orochimaru's background, and on the other hand, he had indeed observed some clues through his Sharingan.
Orochimaru's Living Corpse Reincarnation was a method of reincarnating his own soul and Chakra into another person's body, gradually cannibalizing the opponent's soul and Chakra.
In fact, through constant reincarnation, theoretically, Orochimaru's Chakra and soul would not decrease, but would instead become more and more powerful. However, as the number of reincarnations increased, and before his method of devouring Chakra and souls was improved, his soul and Chakra would become jumbled and impure.
It could even be said that his Chakra carried more than one will. This might not be apparent normally, but at a critical moment, it might bring about a backlash.
In reality, Orochimaru didn't just have this one problem. He also wanted to achieve immortality through the Curse Mark. In the process of constantly creating Curse Marks, he was also continuously splitting his own soul's will and Chakra.
Even for Orochimaru, who had maxed-out Genjutsu stats, having problems in these two areas naturally meant the strength he could exert was greatly reduced.
Perhaps an ordinary Ninja's Genjutsu wouldn't cause Orochimaru any trouble.
But Uchiha Sora's Genjutsu was released through the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and it was under the condition that his Dōjutsu power had greatly increased; its power could well be imagined!
Even for Orochimaru, who was highly experienced and possessed a massive amount of Chakra, he couldn't break through this Genjutsu.
At this moment, hearing Uchiha Sora's words, Orochimaru's face became extremely unsightly.
He didn't expect that the secret of his reincarnation would be seen through at a glance by the ten-year-old child in front of him! Furthermore, his weakness had also been discovered.
This dealt a blow to his confidence, which originally stemmed from being one of the Sannin.
But Orochimaru was a battle-hardened powerhouse after all. Even though he was currently trapped in a Genjutsu, he still calmed down and smiled: "Uchiha Sora, your Genjutsu is indeed very strong, but so what? Do you really think your Genjutsu can trap me?"
"You didn't make a move against me immediately, and now you've lost your chance!"
Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth, and a palm stretched out from within. Immediately after, another Orochimaru crawled out from his mouth.
Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu!
This was a type of Substitution Jutsu capable of dodging almost all damage from Ninjutsu, Genjutsu, and Taijutsu!
Within the Genjutsu, Orochimaru decisively used the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu, and Uchiha Sora's Binding Technique immediately lost its effect.
In reality, a new Orochimaru crawled out from the original body and quickly pulled back.
Uchiha Sora frowned inwardly. Orochimaru's methods were indeed very bizarre. The fact that the Orochimaru-Style Substitution Jutsu could even be used to break Genjutsu was somewhat unexpected.
However, this was also related to his own Genjutsu not being strong enough. Although his Binding Technique had rendered Orochimaru's body immobile, he could still circulate Chakra and speak.
This gave Orochimaru the opportunity to perform the Substitution Jutsu.
Fortunately, Uchiha Sora hadn't intended to fight Orochimaru to the death in the first place, so he didn't feel disappointed that he had escaped from the Genjutsu.
By this time, Kakashi had already dealt with one of the giant snakes, and his figure quickly leaped to Uchiha Sora's side.
Uchiha Sora looked at Orochimaru in the distance and said calmly: "Orochimaru, do you still want to fight?"
Seeing Kakashi appear, Orochimaru knew he wouldn't gain any advantage this time. He felt like retreating and shook his head with some regret: "Uchiha Sora, it seems I miscalculated this time. I didn't expect your strength to have grown to this level. I'm afraid the next time we meet, your strength will surpass mine, won't it?"
"Hehe, Senior Orochimaru is far too kind," Uchiha Sora said with a faint smile.
A meaningful smile appeared at the corner of Orochimaru's mouth. His figure slowly sank into the ground. Before leaving, he stared at Uchiha Sora and lamented: "Konoha is already decayed. A genius like you should have a broader sky. As a member of the Uchiha Clan, being in Konoha is like being a bird locked in a cage—you will never have the chance to spread your wings and soar."
Uchiha Sora gave a noncommittal smile and watched Orochimaru leave without stopping him.
In fact, if he really wanted to decide the outcome against Orochimaru, he could have long ago brought out powerful trump cards like his S-rank Wind Release and the Flying Thunder God.
The reason he talked with Orochimaru for so long and even let him break free from the Genjutsu was simply that he didn't want to expose his trump cards and true strength because of Orochimaru.
He believed that after this fruitless encounter, Orochimaru would probably keep a respectful distance from him in the future.
As for the words Orochimaru said before leaving, Uchiha Sora naturally wouldn't take them to heart.
But after Kakashi heard them, he became highly alert and couldn't help saying to him: "Sora, do not listen to the enchantments of a Rogue Ninja like Orochimaru!"
Uchiha Sora smiled slightly: "Don't worry, Captain Kakashi."
"Good. That's a relief. You aren't injured, are you?" Kakashi finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked with concern.
He had been held back by the giant snake earlier, and his line of sight was blocked by the snake's body, so he didn't know the specific details of the contest between Uchiha Sora and Orochimaru.
"I'm not injured. Orochimaru appeared this time probably wanting to plant a Curse Mark on me, but I dodged it, so he didn't succeed," Uchiha Sora replied.
"A Curse Mark? It's said that his disciple, Anko Mitarashi, also has that kind of power on her!" Hearing this, Kakashi couldn't help but feel a bit worried: "It seems this Curse Mark is not simple. This matter must be reported to Hokage-sama as soon as possible."
At this time, Yūgao Uzuki and Eagle also broke free from the snakes' entanglement and gathered together.
The two of them only had some scratches on them and were otherwise fine.
"Sora, I was worried to death. You were targeted by a terrifying figure like Orochimaru—are you okay?" Yūgao came to Sora's side and looked at him with a nervous expression.
Uchiha Sora naturally shook his head to indicate he wasn't injured.
Only then did Yūgao breathe a sigh of relief.
Eagle, who was to the side, suddenly spoke up and asked: "Sora, how did you block Orochimaru, one of the Sannin? With his strength, it should be impossible for you to be completely unscathed, right?"
"Eagle! What do you mean by that? Do you wish to see Sora injured?" Yūgao immediately frowned upon hearing this.
"I didn't mean it that way; I'm just a bit curious." Eagle only then realized he had acted too impatiently and hurriedly waved his hands.
Uchiha Sora smiled faintly: "It's simple. Although Orochimaru is very strong, I'm not weak either."
"Uh, is that so?" Eagle gave a sheepish smile and returned to silence, speaking no more.
"Alright, alright, let's wait until we get back to talk about all this. Our priority right now is to get back to Konoha quickly!" Kakashi stepped in.
The group set off, racing toward Konoha Village.
However, because of Eagle's performance just now, there seemed to be a strange atmosphere in the team.
Yūgao and Uchiha Sora walked together, while Eagle was isolated.
Kakashi, trailing behind, looked at these three subordinates and couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
Yūgao Uzuki met Anbu standards in every respect, except that when she encountered matters related to Uchiha Sora, she would carry strong personal emotions.
Her performance of standing out recklessly when they encountered Orochimaru earlier, as well as her later performance of coming into conflict with her teammate Eagle to defend him, were all enough to show that her feelings for Uchiha Sora seemed not to be limited to just a surface-level teammate relationship.
And that Eagle—his performance of breaking his usual sullen personality to ask Uchiha Sora questions also seemed to make one suspicious of his motives.
As for Uchiha Sora, Kakashi placed even higher importance on him in his heart.
Just as the question Eagle raised, Kakashi was actually also very confused in his heart. To what level had Uchiha Sora's strength actually reached? Why was he able to remain unscathed at the hands of Orochimaru and hold out until his own support arrived? Even Orochimaru had given such an evaluation before retreating.
These detailed questions were all things that could not be ignored.
That evening, the group returned to Konoha Village.
The three of them each disbanded and left.
Uchiha Sora and Yūgao went to a BBQ restaurant to have a big meal to celebrate the successful completion of this mission.
Meanwhile, Kakashi went to the Hokage Office to report the detailed course of this mission to the Third Hokage.
After listening to Kakashi's report, the Third Hokage's brow furrowed deeply as he said: "That fellow Orochimaru is still so restless even after leaving Konoha. It seems my decision to let him escape back then was truly a mistake!"
After a pause, his tone shifted: "However, for Uchiha Sora to actually receive such an evaluation from Orochimaru, it seems he is truly not simple. Kakashi, the Uchiha Clan is a family that is extremely prone to going to extremes. Uchiha Sora is only ten years old. As your subordinate, you must never let him go down the same old path as Orochimaru!"
"I understand!" Kakashi nodded heavily.
Just as the Third Hokage was instructing Kakashi, on the other side, in a dimly lit underground base, the leader of Root, Danzo, was also instructing the subordinate before him.
"Eagle, increase surveillance. If Uchiha Sora shows even the slightest hint of dangerous thoughts, execute him on the spot!" Danzo said coldly to the man before him.
"Yes! Danzo-sama!" Eagle said respectfully.
If Kakashi were here, he would surely recognize that this subordinate of Danzo's known as Eagle was exactly his own subordinate, Eagle!
From the very beginning, he had been loyal to Danzo, placed as a pawn by Uchiha Sora's side to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence.
And all of this was something even the Third Hokage was kept in the dark about.