He thought about his disregard for this young man, the difference in their strength, the greed that was provoked when he saw Yamato as bait, and Aizen Sōsuke's ruthless methods of ambushing for years and striking for a fatal blow...
It was the first time in his life he had lost so completely and miserably, to the point where his foundation for survival in Konoha was thoroughly erased.
No matter what, he had to get his revenge.
He could choose to leave Konoha himself, but he absolutely could not be ignominiously driven out by some Unknown Nobody.
Precisely because of this, he had been lurking in the shadows and constantly observing for the past year.
Every move against Aizen was made with extreme caution.
He was not originally such a cautious person.
During the Third Great Ninja War, his rationality and madness were both well-known.
Until this very moment.
He finally obtained the intelligence he desired.
"The ability to be completely hypnotized and have one's five senses controlled the moment one sees that blade, huh?"
"In that case..."
"As long as I never 'see' it, I can avoid it, right?"
Just as Aizen Sōsuke reached out towards the source of the Dragon Veins ahead, a hoarse voice, tinged with a hint of amusement, suddenly came from behind him—Orochimaru's voice.
Aizen's movements paused slightly, and he turned his head to look at the figure behind him, lying on the ground like a corpse.
Orochimaru slowly extended his hand to prop himself up, his entire body like a puppet suspended by invisible strings, every movement appearing stiff.
His head hung low, his dark long hair fluttering in the air, obscuring his face.
"Lord Orochimaru."
"Are you still unwilling to give up?"
Aizen's calm tone inadvertently carried a hint of boredom, as if he had seen a toy he had grown tired of playing with.
"Aizen."
"You are too arrogant."
"How could a true Ninja be defeated twice by the same jutsu?"
With this soft remark, Orochimaru's head, hidden beneath his long hair, slowly lifted.
The moment he saw that sight, Aizen's pupils, behind his dark-rimmed glasses, suddenly contracted.
His facial features, clinging to his face like moist, wrinkled paper, were grasped by his five fingers as if connected by glue, and peeled off his head bit by bit, revealing a blank face.
Concealed by Orochimaru's already pale complexion, was the unique color of Hashirama cells.
Even the voice didn't come from this mouth, but from a deeper level, a sound effect simulated through some Chakra jutsu.
As if seeing Aizen's expression at this moment, the faceless head slightly raised its chin, as if smiling mockingly.
Senju Tobirama, lying on the ground, also widened his eyes in disbelief, staring at this man who claimed to be Hiruzen Sarutobi's disciple.
What kind of monster did that Hiruzen fellow teach?!
This thought flashed through his mind instinctively, then he suddenly seemed to realize something.
"No, that's not right."
If he truly had no senses, then how was his judgment of the surrounding scene at this very moment based on anything?
Almost the instant Senju Tobirama realized this, Aizen also seemed to suddenly think of something, abruptly raising his head and looking in Yakushi Kabuto's direction.
"Ugh—!"
His gaze had just fallen upon the white-haired young man when Yakushi Kabuto, who had been standing at the edge of the battlefield, suddenly let out a piercing shriek and abruptly clutched his neck.
"Mr. Yakushi!"
Uchiha Itachi pressed his hand to the hilt of his sword, his expression tense as he looked at this peer, the tomoe in his eyes reconnecting to form a pinwheel shape, his expression extremely grim.
Yakushi Kabuto, under this sudden and intense pain, involuntarily knelt on the ground.
On the blank skin of his neck, dark red cursed seal patterns, like burns, began to appear.
The subcutaneous muscles and fat at this moment seemed to suddenly gain self-awareness, the patch of muscle he clutched tightly began to pulsate like a living thing, causing his neck and back to bulge with one pus-filled lump after another.
The intense tearing sensation even made Yakushi Kabuto cry out loudly, unable to stop, as he lay prone on the ground, clutching the shattered flagstones with difficulty, his eyes unconsciously rolling back.
The skin and muscles, rising like bamboo segments, caused a distinct human face shape to emerge on the bulging skin surface, then continuously enlarged.
Until half a torso's shape directly climbed out from Yakushi Kabuto's back.
"Pfft—!"
With a sickening tearing sound, a large amount of transparent, gelatinous bodily fluid gushed out.
Another Orochimaru thus forcibly crawled out of Yakushi Kabuto's body.
As for Yakushi Kabuto himself, he simply collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.
Everyone who witnessed this scene felt a chill run down their spines.
What appeared before them was a short-haired young man, about thirteen or fourteen years old, with pale skin, but whose facial features still retained some of Yakushi Kabuto's shape, and with purple eyeshadow at the corners of his eyes.
He was completely naked, his eyes tightly closed, and he chuckled softly: "Heh, heh heh..."
"Mr. Aizen."
"How long do you think I've been preparing to put you to death?"
Among everyone present, only Aizen Sōsuke watched this scene with a calm expression.
Even though Yakushi Kabuto's body had largely ruptured and he had collapsed in agony, Aizen didn't even frown once, instead looking on with a rather intrigued expression.
"Just by changing to a new body, you actually harbor such unrealistic notions as being able to 'confront me head-on'?"
"Lord Orochimaru."
"You shouldn't be that naive."
"Naturally."
"For a cautious fellow like you, ordinary jutsu would have no effect whatsoever."
"Precisely because of this, my killing move..."
At this point, the smile on Orochimaru's face abruptly vanished, and he looked at Aizen with a solemn expression, forming a hand seal, his voice suddenly rising: "Is beneath your feet!"
The moment he heard this, Aizen frowned, as if suddenly realizing something, recalling Orochimaru standing in the center of the Dragon Veins' Source, holding up the Sealing Scroll, claiming he would tear apart this space.
Given Orochimaru's personality...
Would he really care about being misunderstood as an enemy by Senju Tobirama and the others, such a small matter?
Unless, his initial goal was to lure Aizen into this area closest to the source of the Dragon Veins.
The source of the Dragon Veins...
Space-Time Turbulence?!
As if suddenly understanding something, Aizen Sōsuke's gaze towards the area beneath his feet changed, and he suddenly stepped sideways, his figure moving from still to active, so fast it was almost a blur.
"Don't think of escaping!"
The young Orochimaru's expression suddenly turned ferocious, and he let out a sudden roar.
The next moment, his original faceless body suddenly accelerated, shooting forward like a baseball hit hard, without any warning.
At the same time, large quantities of dense, intertwined tree branches continuously surged out from this discarded body.
The vitality unique to Hashirama cells, at this moment, displayed an incredible power of proliferation.
In just an instant, with that body as the center, an area with a radius of over a hundred meters was completely engulfed by countless long branches connected to his body, shooting out like arrows.
The rumbling explosions tore apart the stone floor beneath their feet, and the branches, constantly thickening and growing as they extended, rolled like colossal dragons, crushing everything in their path.
In an instant, the space in front of Aizen was as if covered by countless incoming Siege Arrows, transforming into an overwhelming tide.
Not only that, but the moment this self-destructing Wood Release was activated, the ground beneath his feet suddenly began to glow brightly.
From deep within the ground, centered on the Dragon Veins' Source, bright energy beams erupted like a geyser, spraying outwards in an irregular pattern—that was the power unique to the Dragon Veins.
Aizen's figure spun and weaved through countless branches erupting around him, narrowly avoiding a continuous barrage of attacks, every inch of the surrounding air filled with finely splintered branch fragments.
But it wasn't over yet.
He keenly noticed that the Dragon Vein power erupting from underground didn't dissipate into thin air as it usually did.
Instead, guided by some force, it transformed into distorted spatial ripples.
This is... He subconsciously turned his head and noticed the outer seal he had initially broken.
After being easily torn apart, a small, inconspicuous portion of the tadpole-like markings within the sealing pattern engraved on the outer ground was still functioning.
He immediately realized that this was Orochimaru's deepest killing move, hidden beneath a series of gambits.
"Lord Aizen!"
All these sudden changes happened in slow motion, yet quickly, within one or two seconds after Orochimaru's rebirth.
Only then did Uchiha Itachi recover from the chilling scene he had just witnessed, instinctively shouting out.
But then, he immediately realized that the answer to all problems was right before his eyes.
Without the slightest hesitation, he once again summoned Susanoo, and the long sword, suddenly extending to tens of meters, abruptly swung towards the young Orochimaru.
The turbulent storm instantly tore the earth, and the gradually collapsing water curtain around them was also split by this heavy blow.
However, the young Orochimaru stood there quietly as if oblivious, seemingly not even taking Itachi's attack seriously.
"Flying Thunder God: Guiding Lightning!"
The moment before that sword was about to strike his head, two instantly shot out three-pronged Kunai arrived first.
Uchiha Itachi's pupils involuntarily contracted.
The moment the blade touched the three-pronged Kunai, both he and the Susanoo forming around him suddenly felt a spatial sense of detachment.
After a momentary blur before his eyes, his figure had already appeared hundreds of meters away.
"Hoo... hoo..."
Minato Namikaze, who had struggled to get up from the ground, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes holding a faint glimmer of hope.
Aizen, however, had never placed his hope in outsiders from the very beginning.
The moment he sensed the crux of the problem, he had already twisted his body, stepping firmly onto a rapidly shooting branch, and with a sudden burst of power, he shot like a meteor towards the still glowing spatial sealing pattern.
A sense of urgency suddenly appeared on the young Orochimaru's tightly closed face.
The already wildly surging tree branches, with even greater ferocity, swarmed and lashed out towards his figure in an attempt to block him.
But that figure, at this moment, displayed incredible speed, each step three times faster than before.
A distance of tens of meters, in just the blink of an eye, was almost entirely covered by him, so fast that even sound couldn't catch up to his footsteps.
He watched as his palm was about to touch that seal.
"Water Release: Hard Vortex Water Blade!"
Suddenly, Senju Tobirama, whose heart had been pierced and who should normally have been completely unable to move, suddenly propped himself up with one hand, rising from the ground.
In his other hand was his final attack, which he had been brewing for a long time during this period.
Water condensed under ultra-high pressure, solid-like, rotated into the shape of a spear in his palm.
The moment before Aizen's figure was about to step out of the Wood Release branches' range, Tobirama hurled it with the greatest strength of his life.
"Boom—!!"
The moment this solid stream of water broke free from his ultimate control, it transformed into a swirling torrent like a tornado, roaring and piercing through the short distance before it.
Like a wave descending from the sky, it swept forward, forming a counter-swirling water dragon that spanned tens of meters.
This attack was not to kill, but only to obstruct.
A water dragon in front, and a wood current behind.
Aizen, moving at extreme speed, seemed to be trapped in place by this pincer attack from front and back.
This relay-like time, bought with lives... even if only for a moment, it was enough.
"Die—!!"
The young Orochimaru's Chakra suddenly surged to its peak.
Similarly, the spatial turbulence, entirely distorted by the immense power of the Dragon Veins, finally formed a swirling, warped shape.
The moment it appeared, it affected an area of a hundred meters around.
All images within this range seemed to be infinitely stretched, unable to maintain their original basic forms, all rotating and being drawn into the area centered on the Dragon Veins' Source.
Whether it was Aizen, Senju Tobirama, the faceless body, or the overwhelming water currents and branches.
This is your end!
Aizen Sōsuke!
At that moment, Orochimaru's expression was at its most triumphant.
"Pffft."
Until a faint piercing sound abruptly rang in his ears.
The young Orochimaru's triumphant expression froze, and he slowly opened his eyes slightly, looking forward.
A slender blade had gently pierced his chest.
All the way to the hilt.
As if suddenly realizing something.
He slowly raised his head, looking at the man in front of him.
Yakushi Kabuto was still lying on the ground.
Uchiha Itachi was still staring at him blankly from the side.
Minato Namikaze had just propped himself up, his hand on a Kunai.
Senju Tobirama lay on the ground as if completely dead.
At the source of the Dragon Veins...
It was still empty.
Orochimaru's mind, like the scene before him at this moment, was empty.
Almost instinctively, he asked that question.
"When?"
From the moment this reborn body appeared, he had kept his eyes closed, never having a chance to see Kyōka Suigetsu, so it was impossible for him to fall under its genjutsu.
But why...?
What exactly had he just experienced?
"When?"
Aizen Sōsuke in front of him calmly repeated his question, as if somewhat puzzled, slowly pulling the blade out of his chest, bringing with it a gush of blood.
Orochimaru's reborn body knelt weakly on the ground.
But he still stubbornly craned his neck, looking up at Aizen.
Aizen Sōsuke stood there, looking down, his expression gentle, with a slight smile: "I should be the one who is puzzled."
"Lord Orochimaru."
"When exactly did you start having the illusion that you weren't under Kyōka Suigetsu?"