While inside Sukuna's mind scape, the battle of souls was commencing; outside, the situation was getting heated up.
Orochimaru's gaze lingered on the unconscious body for only a moment before sliding back to the five genin standing between him and his prey.
Two preys, since he still had to mark Sasuke and at the same time kill that insolent pink-haired brat.
'No, killing him will kill the soul fragment too.' Orochimaru grunted to himself. He had to take the boy with him, to extract his soul fragment out of him before killing him.
The air shifted. This time, the pressure was real.
Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, Karin, and Kiyomi gulped at the extremely dangerous pressure the Snake Sannin was emitting.
"Any changes he will wake up now ?" Sasuke asked ?
"I… I don't know. His pulse is normal, he is just not responding." Sakura stated, using years of knowledge she accumulated in the hospital. She was really worried for the idiot when he fell unconscious.
Because her brother doesn't fall unconscious. That's the last thing he does during a fight. That freaked the crap out of Sakura, until she, with all her speed, did a quick check on him.
Besides him not responding, he was completely fine. Some might even mistake him for being in deep sleep.
"Then what now ?" Kiyomi pursed her lips together. She had gotten a lot stronger during her training with Sukuna, but not strong enough to take a Sannin on.
'There is only one way then…' she murmured as her Sharingan started spinning.
The Mangekyo was their only way out of this dangerous situation if Sukuna doesn't get up.
Karin was equally worried about Sukuna. However, even she knew that the real danger right now was Orochimaru.
Sukuna did say something about handling the Sannin for 5 or so minutes, didn't he. Karin had no other option but to believe that he'll be fine. Just hold the Sannin back for 5 minutes.
They can do that. Right ?
"How are you three doing. Can you help ?" Kiyomi asked, eyes still locked onto Orochimaru, but they knew the question was directed at Team 7.
"We are fine, we can still fight. However, we already have spent much of our chakra. So, you guys have to take the front lines for a while." Sakura replied while taking out a chakra-replenishing pill from her side carry pocket. She chewed one down immediately while tossing another one to Sasuke, who did the same.
As for Naruto…
Well, he is Naruto.
"Naruto, you think you can make distraction ?" Karin asked.
"Ah… can I make distraction, it's an insult to my skills."
"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu."
Puff…
A huge smoke cloud rose and covered the entire forest area. When it dissipated, hundreds of Narutos were lining up the area.
"Good." Karin nodded.
And that was when the man coming toward them finally spoke.
"This again," he said softly, killing intent finally leaking through his smile. "Fine by me, who wishes to go first?"
All the Narutos seemed to swallow, wiping sweat from their brows. "We don't need turns," he shot back, forcing bravado into his voice. "We're all hitting you at once."
"Good," Orochimaru replied. "That will make this faster."
Kiyomi moved first.
Her Sharingan spun to life, three tomoe locking onto Orochimaru as she stepped forward. She knew holding back wasn't an option, not against an opponent like this.
However, even for a powerful weapon like Mangekyo to work, she had to find an opening. Using it before that would just give away her hidden card.
In an instant, the Kiba blades came out, flashing into her hands. Karin followed instantly. This was the first time she saw the girl using swords, which caught her a bit off guard, but right now wasn't the time. She had to hold back Orochimaru as long as possible.
Beside them were tons of Naruto's clones, already ordered to create distractions and use hit-and-run tactics.
Shadow clones burst into existence around Orochimaru first, in a wide arc, obscuring his vision. However, the next second, they were all gone as the Snake Sannin took a Kusunagi sword out of his mouth and sliced all of them in a single strike.
But again, they were distractions. The real attack came when the clones popped into smoke—red chakra chains snapping out from Karin's back, tearing through the forest like living serpents, clamping around Orochimaru.
"Bind him!" Karin shouted.
The chains wrapped around Orochimaru's limbs, anchoring him to shattered trees. For a brief instant, it worked.
Orochimaru laughed.
The Snake Sannin seemed to expect this; perhaps he knew it from Kushina. He twisted his body like a snake, with agility and flexibility that was almost eerie, slipping out of all the incoming chains.
His neck stretched unnaturally, jaws snapping toward Karin. However, a blur of motion intercepted him as Sasuke hurled a barrage of kunai, each one redirected midair by Sakura's precise throws, forcing Orochimaru to recoil.
That opening was enough.
Kiyomi was already there. She poured her CE into the swords, and they lit up with lightning chakra.
"Huh…?" Karin blinked, baffled to only now learn that the girl could use lightning release.
Sasuke was equally surprised. It took him months to completely master lightning release under Kakashi, and here she was using it like it was nothing.
'Wait ! She can use ninjutsu ?' Sasuke's eyes widened.
Kiyomi all but vanished from sight and reappeared beneath Orochimaru, blades crossing in a scissoring strike infused with cursed energy. Lightning crackled along the steel as she carved upward, tearing through his torso.
The body split open.
And then melted.
"Substitution," Sakura hissed. She wasn't out there; she was taking care of her brother.
The next instant, an attack came like a storm. Snakes erupted from the ground, forcing Naruto and Sasuke back while many of his clones were destroyed. Sakura smashed one aside with a chakra-enhanced punch, splintering it into paste as it drew too near to Sukuna.
Karin grimaced, chains retracting and striking again, adapting on the fly. "He's slippery," she muttered. "Too slippery."
"Then stop looking at his body," Kiyomi said sharply. "Watch his chakra."
The girl didn't understand why the redhead even bothered using her eyes—it was her job. She could sense the enemy with her innate sensing ability. She grumbled internally, and then her Sharingan flared brighter.
As soon as the Snake Sannin showed himself, he paused as their eyes met. She masterfully captured the Sannin in genjutsu for a split second.
The recent subtraction from his soul had left Orochimaru even more prone to genjutsu-based attacks.
However, still, he was Orochimaru. And Kiyomi didn't use her Mangekyo for that genjutsu, so Orochimaru snapped out of it pretty quickly.
But that much was enough for Kiyomi. She had already taken out a bunch of shuriken from her pouch and hurled them toward Orochimaru.
It was child's play for Orochimaru to dodge the attacks. He simply swung his body left and right, and all the shuriken missed him. However, not for a second did he think that attack had any intention of hurting him.
Shinobi don't use shuriken for actually hurting enemies. Kunai are better for that job. Shuriken are more for distractions.
And indeed, he was right. The next second, he found his body completely tied up with ninja wire.
Orochimaru's eyes widened. He expected a follow-up attack, but not this. 'I didn't see any wires, how ?' His eyes glanced at Kiyomi, who had a smirk on her face.
It was her technique. She overlapped the shuriken with her cursed energy and later connected her technique with the lingering CE she had on hand, constructing ninja wire by following the CE thread.
"My technique is inefficient, so I have to learn fighting either without it or by making smaller, less dense objects. Ninja wires practically took nothing out of her CE reserves.
The entire wire she created wasn't even one-tenth of the total mass of a bullet she used to make.
She recalled what Sukuna once told her, "Remember, if your technique is inefficient, then just use it efficiently. If making bullets wears you down, don't make them—make needles, and learn how to use them correctly. Construct a handful of petroleum near the enemy and then light it up.
Think, and there will be many ways you can use your technique."
She didn't get it back then. However, the more she applied her brain to the matter, the more she realized that there were indeed ways to get strong even with this terribly inefficient technique.
"NOW…" Kiyomi shouted, and the next second Karin was already—
For the first time, Orochimaru's smile widened with genuine interest. He had already made up his mind about taking Sasuke Uchiha as his vessel. However, this Uchiha girl, with the same three tomoe eyes as him, was not that bad.
'Shame, I don't wish to become a woman again, the menstrual cycles are a pain…'
"But still, three tomoe already," he murmured. "How delightful."
To think Konoha's next generation was showing such promise—he was glad.
Orochimaru had to use his version of the body substitution technique to get out of Kiyomi's hold with ninja wires on him before Karin's chakra chains zapped out his chakra.
However, just as he did that, the world once again wrapped around him.
For Orochimaru, the forest twisted into a maze of mirrors. Dozens of Kiyomis stood around him, all watching, all waiting. The genjutsu pressed down, subtle but precise, and this time much stronger since Kiyomi learned from her earlier mistake and used a bit of her Mangekyo power in this genjutsu.
That delay was everything.
Karin's chains once again surged, this time latching onto Orochimaru's chakra directly. She gritted her teeth, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth as she forced control. "Now!"
Naruto roared, forming a Rasengan despite trembling arms. Sasuke moved with him, Chidori screaming in his palm. They struck together.
The impact shattered trees for meters.
Smoke billowed.
For a heartbeat, no one moved.
"Please don't get up again. Please don't get up again. Please don't get up again." Naruto seemed to cross his fingers and pray to the Sage for a better future.
The Sage didn't seem to hear idiots, it seemed, because the next moment a pale hand emerged from the crater, followed by Orochimaru's unharmed face, skin cracked but eyes gleaming.
"That genjutsu," he said calmly, eyes darting back to Kiyomi. "Perhaps that boy's earlier intrusion wasn't that bad after all." This time, he saw Kiyomi like a predator eyes prey, long tongue licking his lips.
His killing intent surged outward like a tidal wave, slamming into Naruto and Sakura, forcing them to their knees. Sasuke staggered, teeth clenched.
Kiyomi stood her ground.
So did Karin.
"Uz—u—maki," Orochimaru said slowly, eyes shifting to Karin. "Never knew Konoha had more Uzumaki girls. Where that old man was hiding you."
He lunged, deciding to take care of Karin first.
Karin didn't retreat. Instead, she split into clones mid-charge, chains crisscrossing in a web meant to restrict movement rather than capture. Kiyomi slipped through the gaps, blades flashing, cursed energy reinforcing every step, every strike.
Steel rang against flesh and scales.
Orochimaru countered brutally, tail lashing out, forcing Kiyomi back. Then snakes emerged, snapping to bite her. She slid across the dirt to dodge, boots digging trenches, then twisted her wrist.
That was when Construction flared once again in Kiyomi's hands. She brought both ends of her sword hilts together, and then, as she separated them slowly, a long chain connecting both hilts manifested.
"Sigh… come here you bastard." She roared and dashed in.
She twisted her body and used the momentum to spin her co-joined blades, taking full advantage of it as she hurled her lightning-clad blades at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru barely deflected the spinning blades joined by a chain with his own sword, almost getting electrocuted. The momentary shift in balance allowed Karin's chains to wrap around his torso again, burning where they touched.
"Tch," he clicked his tongue. "Annoying girls."
As the others watched the fight, they were baffled at how strong both girls were.
'This guy definitely trained them.' Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at Sukuna and thought the same.
"Hey Sakura, any changes your brother waking up today." Naruto asked from further away.
Sakura internally cursed, ' how I'm supposed to know that !'
xXx
A/N : My way to show that the girls are also strong, they also have improved quite a bit. Honestly, they can easily handle most Chunins. Kiyomi even handle some Jonin with her Mangekyo and Genjutsu.
Next, our king wakes up of course. Let see how that fight worked out for him ?
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