Chapter 214: The Sins of Ryūchi Cave
As the colossal Wood Human, wreathed in magma, delivered the terrifying punch that annihilated Manda.
A shockwave far exceeding a hurricane, mixed with heat that seemed capable of melting steel, slammed into Orochimaru nearby like an invisible giant hammer!
Orochimaru only had time to cross his arms over his chest, chakra instinctively condensing.
But in the face of that world-ending power.
The human body felt like paper.
Orochimaru felt as though he'd been hit head-on by a high-speed, molten mountain. The bones in his arms made a teeth-grinding "CRACK" sound, and searing pain instantly shot through his entire body.
He was flung out like a ruined kite with its string cut, violently blasted away by the overwhelming force!
CRASH!!!
His body slammed into a slick, cold rock wall behind him like a cannonball. The tremendous impact left a spiderweb-cracked crater in the tough rock, sending showers of debris raining down.
Orochimaru felt a rush of sweetness in his throat. He could no longer suppress it, and thick blood spilled from his lips, dripping down his ashen chin.
He endured the agonizing pain of his body feeling utterly broken, struggling to lift his head.
His golden vertical pupils were fixed firmly on the churning magma ahead.
And...
Locked onto the motionless body of the Summoning Beast, Manda.
Manda... that arrogant, foul-mouthed giant serpent... was now just a charred, half-section of a carcass submerged in a dark red lake of molten rock, still emitting a sickening smell of burnt flesh.
The serpent's head was nowhere to be seen in Orochimaru's field of vision.
"Manda..."
"Dead?!"
Orochimaru's voice was dry and raspy, carrying a tremor he himself didn't detect.
The composure and sinister coldness of the Konoha Sannin were utterly crushed in that moment, leaving only wide-eyed horror and an absurd sense of disbelief.
My strongest Summoning Beast couldn't even last ten moves against Ikeizumi Uchiha?
Cold analysis, like a reflex, flashed through his chaotic mind.
—Though Manda was massive, it was as fragile as paper before the annihilation-level heat of Lava Release! And the larger the target, the more conspicuous a bullseye it became.
—And Manda's rock-corroding venom was completely countered by Wood Release.
—Furthermore, Manda's movements, under the Sharingan's super-dynamic vision, were as clumsy as slow motion. No matter the attack, it couldn't even touch a corner of Ikeizumi Uchiha's clothes.
—In short, Manda was utterly countered and killed by Ikeizumi Uchiha!
Of course, there was a more important factor Orochimaru failed to mention.
That was...
In his desperation, he had failed to timely share crucial intelligence about Ikeizumi Uchiha with Manda, essentially setting the serpent up for disaster. Otherwise, Manda might have lasted a bit longer.
WHOOSH—!!!
Suddenly, an ear-piercing sound ripped through the swirling smoke and sulfur. A torrent of magma, even more condensed and faster than before, rapidly expanded in Orochimaru's view without warning.
The scorching heat rushing towards him made his skin prickle with a needle-like burning sensation.
"Damn it!"
Alarms blared in Orochimaru's mind. The shadow of death was, once again, inches away.
He gritted his teeth, enduring the bone-breaking pain, and violently launched himself sideways in an utterly undignified, almost scrambling motion.
Sizzle—
The lava torrent grazed his torn robes. The rock wall behind him, where he had just been slammed, instantly melted and collapsed like a wax figure upon contact with the magma, leaving a shocking, cavernous molten hole.
But the lava torrent didn't dissipate after missing; instead, it bent sharply, as if alive.
It whipped back at him even faster, like a giant python's tail.
The coverage was so vast it blocked all possible angles of evasion!
"Can't dodge it!"
Orochimaru's golden snake eyes narrowed to pinpricks from the extreme crisis.
He fiercely bit down on his tongue, his hands slamming onto the ground in a desperate frenzy!
"Kuchiyose: Rashōmon (Summoning: Rashomon)!!!"
RUMBLE!
A massive, oni-faced gate, more broken and covered in charred, molten scars than before, rose from the ground with a heavy roar.
This was the last remaining Rashomon from his previous defense against the Lava Release. It had lost its former majesty, now scarred and tottering.
CRASH—!!!
The crimson lava torrent slammed violently into the gate. The fragile structure shook violently, emitting a screech of twisting metal. The stubborn black scorch marks instantly turned into flowing red-hot iron water.
Orochimaru knew the gate couldn't fully withstand the magma.
All he needed was that instant of obstruction!
In the fraction of a second when the magma collided with the Rashomon, before the shockwave fully expanded, Orochimaru's body shot high into the air like an arrow.
He fought through the dizziness caused by his serious injuries, his left hand darting to his waist to tear off a scroll.
Poof!
A cloud of dense white smoke exploded. A bizarre-looking jet-powered flying machine abruptly materialized mid-air—clearly another piece of research material Orochimaru had casually put together in his spare time between human experiments.
Orochimaru didn't hesitate, slamming his foot onto the machine's cold pedal and hitting the control panel with his right hand.
Whirrrrr—
WHOOSH!!!
An azure afterburner instantly spewed out, emitting an ear-piercing scream. The powerful thrust carried Orochimaru away like a bird escaping its cage, frantically fleeing toward the dark, deep recesses of Ryūchi Cave!
Manda's death had completely extinguished his last shred of fighting spirit.
As for whether he felt pity for Manda's death? Heh. His relationship with Manda was purely one of mutual exploitation.
In his eyes, Manda was nothing more than a powerful, if somewhat clumsy, tool.
However, just as he had flown several hundred meters and a hint of relief washed over him...
Stomp!
Stomp!
A sound like a giant's footsteps, accompanied by the trembling of the earth, clearly resonated from the ground behind him. The sound was like a fast-paced, rhythmic drumbeat of death, pounding against his heart.
A cold chill instantly spread from his spine throughout his body.
Orochimaru stiffly, inch by inch, twisted his neck, looking down with a sense of ill omen.
He saw the colossal Wood Human, stepping over Manda's still-warm, charred remains, advancing with heavy strides in the direction of his escape.
And standing proudly atop the giant head made of thick wood was the figure of Ikeizumi Uchiha.
He slightly raised both arms diagonally toward the airborne Orochimaru.
What truly terrified Orochimaru was that Ikeizumi Uchiha's fully magma-formed arms were now violently swelling and bulging like two active volcanoes.
Crimson magma frantically circulated and compressed within his arms, emitting an aura of pure destruction.
Orochimaru's pupils contracted sharply!
The next second.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!—
Ikeizumi Uchiha's arms violently shook. Countless magma fists, larger than a human and composed of pure molten rock, tore through the air like dense anti-aircraft fire, carrying world-ending heat as they spewed diagonally upward from the Wood Human's head!
In the blink of an eye, they formed a giant, molten net covering half the sky, leaving Orochimaru no path to escape!
Orochimaru's flying machine looked clumsy and ridiculous against such a dense, rapidly moving barrage of magma fists.
He gritted his teeth and executed a series of extreme evasive maneuvers mid-air, narrowly brushing past several whistling magma fists.
The searing heat frizzled his hair, and the terror of death gripped his throat!
However, the instant he dodged three magma fists, one even larger and more condensed than the others violently collided with his inevitable path of evasion.
Quantitative change always leads to qualitative change.
BAM!!!
The magma fist didn't hit him directly but grazed the side of the flying machine. The extreme heat instantly melted through the machine's alloy casing, and the part of Orochimaru's body below his left ankle was similarly dissolved like ice and snow upon contact with the heat.
The exposed surface was instantly carbonized, with no time for a single drop of blood to escape!
"Ergh, ah—"
The searing pain nearly made Orochimaru black out.
The Wood Human had already caught up!
Its left arm, made of gnarled giant wood, carried the power to crush mountains. It swung down like swatting a fly, its five fingers splayed, the arm wrapped in the palpable wind pressure caused by the displacement of air, slamming toward the out-of-control Orochimaru plummeting in mid-air.
The shadow instantly enveloped Orochimaru's tiny body.
No escape!
No defense!
"Ninpō: Ja'ei Kōka no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Serpent Body Hardening)!!!"
Orochimaru's eyes were bloodshot. He unleashed nearly all his remaining chakra in a final surge, clasping a hand sign across his chest.
The Wood Human's giant palm struck Orochimaru's body squarely.
CRACK!
SQUELCH!
SNAP!
The gruesome sound of shattering bones, the compression of flesh, and the rupture of internal organs mingled together like a symphony from hell.
The skin and muscle on Orochimaru's face disintegrated like rotten mud. His tough skull immediately buckled and shattered. Over a dozen ribs snapped and pulverized instantly, the sharp bone fragments deeply piercing his vulnerable internal organs. The bones in his limbs twisted and broke at grotesque angles, the pale broken bone jutting out through his skin and exposed to the air.
Blood, mixed with fine tissue fragments, sprayed frantically from Orochimaru's eyes, nose, mouth, and ears—all seven orifices burst like broken waterskins.
"PUH!!!"
A huge mouthful of filth—mixed with internal organ fragments, broken teeth, and thick blood—sprayed out like a fountain from Orochimaru's ruined mouth.
His body was violently slammed away by the irresistible force.
The speed was so great it trailed a series of ear-splitting sonic booms in the air.
He was like a flesh-and-blood cannonball fired at full power.
CRASH—!!!
Orochimaru's broken body slammed into the earth like a meteor. The terrifying impact blasted open a massive crater over ten meters in diameter, sending dust and blood mist soaring skyward.
In the center of the deep pit, Orochimaru's barely recognizable form lay still in a pool of blood and rubble.
Only unnatural, faint twitching indicated that a sliver of life still clung to the pile of ruined flesh.
Blood flowed like a stream from various parts of his shattered body.
Quickly staining the ground beneath him red.
"Ergh... Hrrggh..."
A weak gasp, like a broken bellows, escaped his shattered chest cavity.
A blood-covered hand, its knuckles twisted and broken, twitched weakly, sporadically, in the pool of blood.
Each twitch pulled at the broken bones, driving them into his internal organs and bringing fresh, agonizing pain.
But in his one remaining golden vertical pupil, a near-fanatical flame of survival burned.
He drove his last shred of will, forcing his ruined fingers to attempt a simple, yet impossibly difficult hand sign...
Once... Failed...
Twice...
The third time...
Through extreme pain and the burning of his will, the twisted fingers finally managed to complete the sign.
SCHLURP!
Following a stomach-churning tearing sound, a brand new arm, covered in mucus and blood, its skin deathly pale, abruptly emerged from the split in the ruined body's face.
Then came the similarly pale, newborn shoulder, neck...
A brand new Orochimaru, like a viper shedding its skin, was slowly crawling out of the "old husk."
"Hah... Hah... Hrrggh..."
Having only crawled out a third of his body, Orochimaru was already panting like a dying animal. Each breath carried the heavy taste of blood and the pain of ruptured organs.
The excessive depletion of chakra and the enormous burden of using this forbidden jutsu repeatedly left him feeling utterly hollowed out.
A sensation of unprecedented weakness washed over him like a tide.
Just as he struggled, trying to use his newborn arm to prop up his upper body and pull his waist free from the old husk...
WHOOSH!
WHOOSH!
Two cold flashes of light descended from the sky without warning.
THWACK!
The first pitch-black kunai, with a mournful shriek of air, pierced his propped-up hand with pinpoint accuracy. The sheer force pinned his hand and the rock beneath it firmly to the ground.
"Hiss—!"
The agonizing pain forced a gasp from Orochimaru!
Just as Orochimaru gritted his teeth, attempting to pull the kunai out, another cold flash streaked down. A descending ninja sword heavily pinned his other freshly emerged hand to the ground.
"Ergh, ah!"
Orochimaru let out an uncontrollable moan of pain. His golden vertical pupils trembled violently with agony and despair.
And he recognized that sword—it was his Kusanagi Sword!
It had likely been knocked loose when he was blasted away and subsequently caught by Ikeizumi Uchiha.
Using his own Kusanagi Sword to pin his own arms...
Was this that righteous lunatic's sick joke?
Stomp!
Stomp!
Stomp!
Stomp!
Heavy footsteps approached, pounding against Orochimaru's heart.
The towering figure of the giant Wood Human blocked the faint light of Ryūchi Cave, stopping at the edge of the crater. Its shadow, like a curtain of death, completely enveloped Orochimaru at the bottom of the pit.
Orochimaru gritted his teeth, slowly, inch by inch, lifting his head, which was covered in blood and mucus.
His gaze tracked up the Wood Human's thick, mountain-like legs.
Finally, it settled upon the figure standing coldly atop the massive wooden head, looking down at him like a judge from hell.
Their eyes finally met mid-air.
It was only then that Orochimaru realized how scarlet and demonic the Uchiha Clan's Mangekyō Sharingan truly was...
And the moment Orochimaru saw those eyes, he suddenly felt the entire world lose its color. Those Mangekyō Sharingan were exceptionally clear in his blurring vision.
It was as if only those two points of demonic scarlet remained before his eyes.
Making Orochimaru feel his entire soul was being sucked into that bloody abyss!
"Damn it..."
In the depths of Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils, the Mangekyō pattern was instantly magnified infinitely. An indescribable, irresistible force, like a billion red-hot needles, viciously pierced every corner of his soul, mind, will, and consciousness!
"ERRRGH AAAAAAAAH!!!!"
Orochimaru's thoughts were completely torn and shattered. His brain felt as if it had been forcibly shoved into a boiling furnace. The faces of the "materials" he had personally sent to the operating table, who had died screaming in despair and agony, flashed frantically through his mind like a kaleidoscope.
The distorted limbs, the hollow eyes, the chilling screams of countless test subjects... all the pain, fear, despair, and resentment suffered by those "sacrifices" he had deliberately forgotten and taken for granted... were now infinitely magnified and stacked by those eyes.
And they surged back like a tsunami, amplified a thousandfold, slamming into his supposedly cold and emotionless inner world.
That wasn't Genjutsu; it was the Judgment of Absolute Justice!
"HISS AAAAAAAH!!!!"
A shriek, utterly inhuman, like a soul being ripped alive, burst from the depths of Orochimaru's throat.
The sound was filled with unprecedented pain and despair.
His newborn body convulsed violently as if electrocuted. Tears, snot, and saliva poured out uncontrollably. A foul stench spread—he had completely lost control of his lower body!
Orochimaru, the "Konoha Sannin" who once played with life at his fingertips, was now like a skinned worm tossed onto a hot iron plate.
In the deep pit, Orochimaru's heart-wrenching, inhuman screams echoed across the Ryūchi Cave, filled with sulfur, burnt flesh, and blood.
His reborn body thrashed and convulsed wildly in the blood and filth.
Each spasm tugged at his arms, which were pinned to the ground, bringing greater agony.
Ikeizumi Uchiha stood atop the giant Wood Human's head, looking down at Orochimaru like a cold judge from hell.
His icy voice pierced through the screaming, ringing out clearly. Every word was like an ice pick chipping away at the depths of Orochimaru's soul.
"For a figure of such wickedness in the ninja world, to allow you a quick death... would be a stain upon the word 'Justice,' a concession and inaction toward the heinous crimes you have committed."
"The pain you are now experiencing... shall be an unending affliction, following you for eternity. Whether you prolong your miserable life or return to the Pure Land; no matter how many skins you possess, or how twisted your soul may become..."
"You, like Danzō Shimura... shall sink and wail in the abyss of extreme suffering, every minute, every second, until the end of time. This is the final judgment of Absolute Justice upon you."
The instant his words finished, Ikeizumi Uchiha's other Mangekyō Sharingan activated violently!
A blinding, bloody streak, like a tear of blood, slipped from the corner of that eye.
His ocular power instantly peaked. The complex, icy pattern in his pupil spun frantically, as if opening a gateway to purgatory.
BOOM!
Without any warning, a bizarre, condensed flame was born directly from thin air, instantly igniting on Orochimaru's chest.
The flame was without heat, yet it brought pain to both flesh and soul—a torment a billion times worse than the searing of magma.
It didn't just burn the body; it was like a billion red-hot brands searing directly onto the core of his soul.
Orochimaru's scream abruptly escalated to an inhuman frequency.
His body arched violently, as if pinned to the ground by an invisible, giant spike.
The flame, seemingly alive, greedily devoured his life force and spirit, seeking to utterly burn his existence at its root.
"—STOP!!!"
Just as this heavenly flame burned and was about to completely swallow Orochimaru's remaining consciousness, a furious, sharp cry exploded.
Three graceful figures, exuding a powerful, cold aura, instantly appeared on the giant rock at the edge of the battlefield like phantoms.
It was the three Snake Hime of Ryūchi Cave—Tagitsuhime, Ichikishimahime, and Hayaakitsuhime!
When their eyes met the scene before them.
Even the three Snake Hime, who had lived for countless years and witnessed endless slaughter, couldn't help but gasp, their pupils contracting sharply.
Was this still the corner of Ryūchi Cave they knew?
It was clearly a Hellish Purgatory!
As far as the eye could see, the earth was cracked, with rivers of magma flowing through the fissures like the molten veins of the earth, emanating destructive high temperatures that warped the air.
Charred craters, collapsed rock walls, rocks riddled with corrosive holes...
Formed a desolate, lifeless wasteland.
Further away, Manda's massive, mountain-like torso was tragically submerged in the magma, its once-arrogant head and a large section of its neck completely vaporized and annihilated.
And in the center of this hellish scene, a giant Wood Human stood tall and imposing.
In the deep pit beneath the Wood Human's feet, Orochimaru was pinned to the ground by a kunai and the Kusanagi Sword.
The terrifying, soul-shaking bizarre flame burned on Orochimaru's chest. The man was thrashing and convulsing like a worm on a hot plate.
He was still emitting those inhuman screams that made even them uneasy!
He had lost every shred of the Konoha Sannin's demeanor.
And the perpetrator of all this, Ikeizumi Uchiha, stood atop the Wood Human. He seemed to have just heard their furious cry, and turned his head, his gaze utterly devoid of emotion.
The moment Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold gaze swept over the three Snake Hime.
A low murmur escaped his lips: "Three Red-Name Evildoers."
"Brat!"
Tagitsuhime suppressed the flicker of dread, completely unaware that she had already been targeted.
The devastation around them and Manda's horrific state fueled Tagitsuhime's rage.
Her body burst forth with powerful Senjutsu chakra. An unseen force levitated her mid-air. Her beautiful kimono billowed without wind, and she radiated a suffocating, cold pressure.
Tagitsuhime's voice was sharp and shrill, like the hiss of a venomous snake: "You who trespassed on the sacred Ryūchi Cave have not only destroyed it to this extent, but you've killed Manda, and now you dare disturb the White Snake Sage's meditation..."
Her vertical pupils locked onto Ikeizumi atop the Wood Human: "Since the ninja world's structure settled a thousand years ago... no one has ever dared to show such utter disregard for Ryūchi Cave!"
"Brat, you..."
However, her threatening, furious words were left unfinished.
WHOOSH!!!
Without warning, the giant Wood Human standing in the center of the battlefield swung its left arm, made of intertwined giant trees, with a terrifying pressure of displaced air, and slammed it down toward the levitating Tagitsuhime.
The massive shadow instantly engulfed Tagitsuhime's small figure!
"What?!"
For the first time, genuine horror crossed Tagitsuhime's beautiful face.
She had never imagined that this human brat would be so utterly unreasonable, launching an attack without even allowing her to finish her threat.
That blow, carrying the force to crush mountains...
Made her feel an unprecedented sense of mortal danger!
.............
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