After simulating Rock Lee's chakra pathway, Sasuke forcefully opened the first gate of the Eight Gates.
'I've caught up. I can keep up with him now!', Also leaving an afterimage in place, Sasuke, who had opened the first layer of the Eight Gates, chased after the still-high-speed Orochimaru like a leopard.
And even managed to strike the opponent's body with his leg, though it was blocked by the other's elbow…
"Oh? That technique? As expected of a genius!", Originally thinking Sasuke wasn't that perfect, Orochimaru now was completely convinced.
'This Uchiha boy is perfect!'
'He can even use the Eight Gates, and seems to have succeeded on his first try.'
'Truly a genius among geniuses.'
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The two, moving at high speeds, continued exchanging taijutsu strikes mid-air.
Though his strength was a bit lacking, after all, he was still just a brat. With some nurturing in the future, he'd definitely become even more perfect.
While fighting Sasuke, Orochimaru admired the opponent's body and movements like viewing a piece of art.
Thud!
Then, slightly distracted, he was instantly caught by Sasuke, who seized the opportunity to knock him to the ground.
He was even directly bound up by the opponent with a shuriken attached to wire.
'To even seize the brief instant I got distracted… Absolutely perfect, Sasuke!', Though tied to a tree with metal wire, Orochimaru still sang Sasuke's praises in his heart.
Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!
BOOM!
Without mercy, Sasuke pierced through Orochimaru's body with a more powerful Fire Style.
"Is it over already?", Naruto, who burst out from a giant snake's belly by using Shadow Clone Jutsu, had just emerged when he saw the Sound Ninja being tied up and burned by Sasuke.
"Of course, who do you think I am."
Still, being able to climb out from a snake's belly himself, this dead last had also gotten much stronger.
With the powerful enemy defeated and seeing Naruto safe and sound, Sasuke finally relaxed and smiled.
But before he could get too smug, from the 'Sound Ninja' he tied and burned to just a piece of skin on the tree, a brand-new body suddenly emerged from beneath the human skin.
"You…"
'How is this possible. He even survived that attack just now? Is this guy immortal?'
Sasuke broke into a cold sweat.
His chakra was nearly depleted, and the side effects of opening the gate were about to hit.
And yet the enemy was still unharmed…
'What now?'
"To make it this far is already impressive. Now you should get some sleep."
Stretching his neck grotesquely, Orochimaru suddenly launched a surprise attack, opening his snake-fanged mouth toward the back of Sasuke's neck.
"Sasuke!"
"C-Can't make it in time…"
Sasuke wanted to move his body to dodge this strange strike, but his body obviously couldn't react anymore.
'Damn it…'
Whoosh!
Just as Naruto was shocked and Sasuke in despair, two kunai flew in from who knows where and precisely struck Orochimaru's long neck, nailing the head trying to bite into Sasuke's neck firmly to the ground.
"Who?"
This sudden kunai attack instantly ruined Orochimaru's fun.
And at the same time, left him extremely surprised.
'Someone managed to ambush without me noticing?'
Orochimaru casually tossed the severed head and neck to the ground, then grew a new one from his body.
"Sorry, your neck was just too perfect to chop off. I couldn't resist," Like slowly materializing from the air, a mysterious figure wearing a spiral mask and somehow holding the unconscious Sakura under his arm appeared on the trunk of a nearby large tree.
This, of course, was Uchiha Kage who had been watching from the sidelines, hidden using Permeation Jutsu.
After gently placing Sakura to the side, Uchiha Kage leapt down from the tree and walked up to the group.
"Mangekyō Sharingan? Who are you really?"
Seeing the Sharingan revealed behind the mask, Orochimaru instantly lost his composure.
That pattern, though different from Itachi Uchiha's, was unmistakable.
'This is the Mangekyō Sharingan!'
Otherwise, he wouldn't feel this intense pressure from the opponent.
Orochimaru's snake-like sensory perception was extraordinary.
Only once before, when he clashed with Uchiha Itachi, had he suffered a setback.
"Not Itachi? So there's another Uchiha who has Mangekyō… You…", Orochimaru crazily speculated about the intruder's identity.
Hearing names like "Itachi" and "Mangekyō Sharingan," Sasuke, standing nearby, was equally shaken.
'Mangekyō…'
'So that's it. Above the Three Tomoe Sharingan, there's an even stronger version!'
'No wonder I couldn't beat this strange Sound Ninja today.'
'But… who is this guy?'
Sasuke also knew that this mysterious man with the Mangekyō Sharingan probably wasn't his "dear" older brother Itachi Uchiha.
But weren't he and Kage the only two Uchiha left?
Could there be another survivor?
"I have no identity, nor do I wish to live under someone else's name. If you must call me something, call me Uchiha… Madara."
"You're joking, right? There's no way Uchiha Madara is still alive," Though Orochimaru said he didn't believe it, he still kind of did.
After all, this Mangekyō Sharingan was the real deal.
"Believe it or not, I don't care."
'Luckily, Mikoto isn't here, otherwise, as his father, letting Orochimaru beat up Sasuke… she'd definitely scold me.'
Uchiha Kage looked at the disheveled Sasuke with just a tinge of guilt.
Of course, with him as the father, he'd never allow Orochimaru to place a cursed seal, something entirely harmful, on Sasuke.
"Then why are you here?", Facing this Mangekyō Sharingan, Orochimaru found it truly tricky.
He had no way of dealing with it right now.
And if this person really was Uchiha Madara…
Then his only goal now was to survive.
"I was just acting on a whim, planning to revisit an old place. But unexpectedly, someone got ahead of me and took what I wanted."
Uchiha Kage, mimicking Madara's gloomy voice, continued applying pressure on Orochimaru using the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Orochimaru, hand over the corpses of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama. Then I won't kill you."
"Orochimaru?", Hearing his real name from Uchiha Kage, Sasuke finally understood why this "Sound Ninja" was so strong.
Turns out it was one of the Legendary Three Sannin, Orochimaru, disguised. No wonder he couldn't win.
"Orochimaru? What a weird name. And… who's Uchiha Madara?", Naruto was totally confused.
"You dead last, you must've slept through every class…"
He didn't even know these two names.
Sasuke had no choice but to patiently explain the background of these two people to Naruto.
"Orochimaru is one of the Three Legendary Sannin of Konoha, but that was a long time ago. Now he's an S-rank rogue ninja. As for Uchiha Madara…"
That legendary ninja who co-founded the Hidden Leaf Village with the First Hokage, but later betrayed the village and caused the First Hokage's death. He was rarely mentioned in Konoha anymore.
Sasuke felt very conflicted seeing someone claiming to be Uchiha Madara right in front of him.
Whether real or fake, this guy must be a remarkable lunatic.
"What? A villain from the First Hokage's era… No way!"
Naruto didn't believe it at all.
"But he just saved you earlier, and he helped us rescue Sakura too. How's he look like a bad guy?"
Though he wore a strange single-eye mask, his figure looked kind of like…
Naruto couldn't help but recall a certain masked Uchiha classmate from the Land of Waves bridge incident.
"This…", Even Sasuke hesitated.
"Have you ever seen an adult fighting that ends up involving children?"
Naruto was usually careless, but why was he so sharp at this moment?
Noticing Naruto's suspicious gaze, Uchiha Kage quickly used Madara's tone to explain.
"Him!", Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously looked toward Orochimaru's face.
This shameless old man, picking on kids after all these years.
"Hmph!"
'What rule says adults can't bully kids?'
Though mocked by "Uchiha Madara," Orochimaru, a bit annoyed and embarrassed, quickly thickened his skin.
"As expected of a legendary ninja, able to easily see through my disguise."
*Rip*
Expressionless, Orochimaru tore off the human-skin mask on his face.
"But, to boldly claim you won't kill me. Whether you're Uchiha Madara or not, we won't know who's stronger until we fight!"
Not only did he expose his disguise, he also knew the corpses of the First and Second Hokage were stolen by him.
This "Uchiha Madara" was definitely something else.
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