Chapter 215: Orochimaru's Descent into the Pure Land!
Consciousness, which had sunk into a deep, dark, cold ocean, was forcibly dragged out at some point of profound disorientation.
Orochimaru opened his eyes in a daze.
His vision was filled with an endless, deep, viscous gray landscape. There was no sky, no earth, no sense of direction, only a suffocating void slowly drifting by, utterly devoid of life.
A light source, from nowhere, flickered as weakly as a candle in the wind, barely outlining some blurry contours.
It carried an aura of silence, as though everything had come to an end.
"Where—where is this? Does Ryūchi Cave have a place this bizarre? I don't recall this at all—"
Orochimaru instinctively tried to step forward, but his foot found no solid support. The sensation left him deeply uncomfortable.
Just then, a figure gradually became clear in the deep gray mist ahead.
It was a boy.
Not tall, wearing the green vest of a Konoha Genin, his face bearing the spirited and hopeful smile from Orochimaru's distant, blurry memory.
The boy stood there, waving enthusiastically at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's pupils contracted the moment he clearly saw the face.
A complex mix of shock, realization, and a certain emotion long since buried, instantly washed over him like a cold tide.
"...Nawaki?"
He uttered the name dryly. His voice was unusually faint in the silent space, carrying a subtle tremble.
Nawaki! Tsunade's younger brother, one of the disciples he had once held great hopes for, the boy forever lying in a pool of blood on the battlefield!
And at the sight of Nawaki, all of Orochimaru's confusion scattered like a mist blown by the wind.
The extreme despair of his soul and flesh being incinerated by the Heavenly Flame surged back.
All the fragmented memories violently clicked into place.
"...So this is it." For the first time, a look of near-blank bewilderment appeared on Orochimaru's pale face, always cold with calculation, instantly replaced by a deep sense of resignation.
He lowered his gaze, looking at his hands, which were perfectly intact and free of any blood, and let out a light sigh.
His tone was heavy with weariness and a kind of fatalistic mockery: "Is this the price for seeking eternal life? There will always be some self-righteous fool who tries to stop me... I escaped every time before. But this time, I failed."
"Sensei Orochimaru!" Nawaki's voice arrived, carrying the boy's characteristic clarity and a hint of urgency.
He seemed to want to run over, but was blocked by some invisible boundary. He could only stand at the edge of the gray void, waving forcefully: "Sensei! Over here! This is—"
However, just as Nawaki called out to Orochimaru, attempting to say something more.
"EUGH—!!!"
Orochimaru's just-lifted step abruptly froze. His translucent body trembled violently.
A pain, familiar down to the bone and originating from the deepest part of his soul, as if tearing his very existence apart, suddenly slammed into his every inch of skin like a billion red-hot needles without warning!
"HISS AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
A chilling shriek, loud enough to tear apart this silent space, burst from the depths of Orochimaru's throat.
He violently arched his back, his face completely twisted by unimaginable agony. He clutched desperately at his chest, as if trying to claw something out of his soul.
The despair and agony contained in that scream were ten, even a hundred times worse than when he was in the pit of Ryūchi Cave!
This Pure Land could not block the curse!
Nawaki's face turned white from the sudden change. He staggered back a few steps, his young face filled with terror: "Sensei Orochimaru?! What—what's wrong?!"
He dared not step closer, because as Orochimaru writhed in pain, a bizarre flame was spontaneously igniting upon his translucent body.
The flame had no heat, yet it exuded an aura that made Nawaki's soul tremble.
It adhered to Orochimaru's phantom body, silently scorching him, making his screams even more piercing!
"No, impossible—————This is the Pure Land, why———HISS AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
In the agonizing interval of his soul being endlessly ripped apart, Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold words clearly echoed in the depths of his consciousness.
"The pain you are experiencing shall be an unending affliction, following you for eternity. Whether you prolong your miserable life or return to the Pure Land, you will not escape. Every minute, every second, you will sink into the abyss of endless suffering."
Orochimaru understood. Those words weren't a threat, weren't intimidation—they were reality!
He would meet the exact same fate as Danzō!
"Ikeizumi UCHIHA!!!"
Orochimaru let out a soul-splitting roar, fueled by the most extreme despair and a heaven-shattering hatred that could incinerate everything, using the last of his soul's strength.
"HISS AAAAAAHHHH!!!"
Nawaki could only watch, terrified and helpless, as the sensei he once revered writhed and wailed in an eternal torment surpassing death, forever descending into the endless Eight Great Hells (Mugen Gokoku).
"Little Jiraiya, what is it?" When Jiraiya walked out of the Uchiha Police Force headquarters, he suddenly paused, causing Fukasaku Sage on his shoulder to look at him worriedly.
Jiraiya took a deep breath, then shook his head in confusion.
"I'm not exactly sure," Jiraiya's voice carried a rare hint of bewilderment and gravity. "I just suddenly had a very strange feeling. It's not the usual danger premonition before a battle, and 'ill-omen' doesn't quite fit either."
"It's more like..."
He lifted his hand, unconsciously pressing it against his chest, his brow furrowing tighter: "Like a very important part of me was forcibly dug out. My whole self feels empty, and my heart is uneasy."
Jiraiya paused, his expression growing even more serious as if digging through his deep memory: "Come to think of it, this feeling... doesn't seem to be the first time."
Fukasaku Sage and Shima Sage, on his other shoulder, exchanged a look, both seeing gravity in the other's toad eyes.
"The last time..."
Jiraiya's voice dropped, carrying a subtle sigh: "The last time I felt this emptiness and unease... it wasn't long after that I received the news of Minato and Kushina's sacrifice."
Fukasaku Sage's small body instantly tensed, his toad face unprecedentedly solemn: "Little Jiraiya! This feeling is definitely not ordinary! Your intuition has always been sharp, especially when it concerns important people! This is very likely—related to the Child of Prophecy, or someone linked to your destiny! You must take this seriously!"
Just as the atmosphere grew heavy.
"Gwah! Gugu gwah gwah!"
A small, jade-green contact toad suddenly leaped nimbly out of the shadow of a nearby flowerbed, landing on the stone path in front of Jiraiya.
It hopped urgently, emitting a rapid, unique series of toad calls.
"That's our Mount Myōboku contact toad," Shima Sage immediately recognized the small toad.
Fukasaku Sage instantly leaped down, listening intently to the rapid calls.
Shima Sage also focused, and the faces of both Sages grew increasingly grim as the calls continued, their brows tightly knit.
Jiraiya watched the two Sages' reactions. The strange feeling in his heart intensified. He couldn't help but urgently ask:
"What—what is it saying?"
Fukasaku Sage looked up, his toad eyes filled with complexity and worry. He spoke slowly, his voice carrying unprecedented gravity: "Little Jiraiya, this is a messenger specially sent by the Great Elder from Mount Myōboku. It brings the vision the Great Elder saw in his 'Dream of Prophecy'—"
Fukasaku Sage took a deep breath, continuing: "The Great Elder said—he had a dream. In the dream, he saw a giant, purple serpent thrashing and struggling. Then it was entirely melted by burning, crimson lava!"
"In the end of the dream, the Great Elder suddenly felt that the melted serpent—didn't seem entirely like a snake. Its aura carried a strong scent of humanity."
"After waking up from the dream, the Great Elder had a strong, intuition—that this dream has some kind of deep connection with you, Little Jiraiya!"
Hearing this, Jiraiya's expression was extremely solemn: "Lava, a purple snake, a snake with a living human's aura, and it's related to me..."
These three pieces of information were enough for Jiraiya to guess what had happened.
"Ikeizumi Uchiha!"
"Orochimaru!"
PUFF!!!
Tagitsuhime, one of the three Snake Hime, was no stronger than Orochimaru. If Orochimaru couldn't withstand the Wood Human's strike, neither could she.
The chilling sound of bones snapping occurred in a dense, rapid sequence, like popping beans.
Her slender waist, fragile ribs, and delicate arm bones—they couldn't resist the Wood Human's absolute force for even a second. They shattered inch by inch, even pulverizing!
Her entire body, trailed by a horrific chorus of bone fragments and splashing blood mist.
Was blasted backward at astonishing speed.
The other two Snake Hime—Ichikishimahime and Hayaakitsuhime—instantly transformed into two streaks of light the moment Tagitsuhime was hit, shooting out to try and catch their severely wounded comrade!
"Tagitsu!"
The two Hime shrieked, extending their hands.
However, they severely underestimated the horrific force contained in the Wood Human's single palm strike.
Just as their fingertips were about to touch Tagitsuhime's shattered body, an overwhelming, irresistible force slammed into the two Snake Hime.
They felt like they'd been hit head-on by a rampaging Tailed Beast. Both groaned simultaneously, the blood draining from their lovely faces.
Their bodies were uncontrollably flung backward by the "human-cannonball" that was Tagitsuhime's remains!
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The three figures violently slammed into a massive, hard cliff wall several hundred meters away. A heavy impact echoed, and debris rained down.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Ichikishimahime coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood mixed with organ fragments, feeling as though all the bones in her body had come undone.
She endured the severe pain, struggling to turn her head to find the most heavily injured Tagitsuhime. However, the sight that met her eyes sent a chill straight to her core, terrifying even a millennia-old Snake Hime!
In a deep depression in the cliff wall, Tagitsuhime's body was deeply embedded in the rock in a posture that completely defied human anatomy, chilling the blood.
Her limbs were twisted at bizarre angles, her spine seemed to be broken in several places, and her gorgeous ancient kimono was stained and fouled with blood and rock fragments.
Her once cool and beautiful face was now a bloody mess, one cheekbone sunken, her life force as weak as a candle in the wind.
Only involuntary, faint twitching showed she was still alive.
Senjutsu energy, like faint fireflies, was laboriously seeping out of her shattered body, attempting to mend the horrifying injuries.
"Hiss———"
Ichikishimahime sucked in a sharp breath, her scalp prickling.
She had never imagined that Tagitsuhime, a high-ranking member of Ryūchi Cave with powerful Senjutsu, could be injured to such an extent by a mere human.
Stomp!
Stomp!
Stomp!
The fatal footsteps were like a death knell, drawing nearer, carrying an aura that made the earth tremble.
The massive Wood Human was seen approaching at a furious pace toward the cliff face where they had fallen.
Every step left a charred footprint burning with magma.
A top the giant's head, the figure of Ikeizumi Uchiha was like a cold statue.
His scarlet Sharingan pierced through the smoke, locking firmly onto them!
Though still hundreds of meters away, Ikeizumi Uchiha had already made his move!
He bent his right arm. The crimson magma flowing along it instantly surged and swelled like a boiling volcano. The viscous molten rock rolled and roared, condensing in the blink of an eye into a Magma Giant Fist nearly ten meters in diameter, radiating destructive heat!
The entire arm completely elementalized, transforming into a crimson bridge connecting to the Giant Fist.
BOOM—!!!
As he violently punched forward, the Magma Giant Fist, like a molten dragon unleashed, screamed as it tore through the air, carrying world-incinerating heat. It slammed toward the three Snake Hime embedded in the cliff like a falling molten meteor.
The massive shadow of the fist virtually covered all three of them!
Ichikishimahime and Hayaakitsuhime's pupils contracted sharply!
The intense threat of death forced an instant decision.
Two sharp, piercing snake hisses echoed through the cavern. The two Snake Hime could no longer maintain their human forms. The colossal Senjutsu chakra stored within their bodies exploded, their figures rapidly swelling, twisting, and deforming as if inflated!
POP!
POP!
Two enormous giant serpents, in no way inferior to Manda in size, instantly replaced the graceful human figures, coiling before the cliff face.
Their scales, reflecting the red glow of the magma fist, shone with a cold, hard, metallic luster. Their huge bodies stood like two mountains, desperately shielding the severely injured Tagitsuhime behind them.
But clearly, in their long and relatively "comfortable" years in Ryūchi Cave, they had forgotten how to fight a true, powerful enemy.
And they had failed to learn any lesson from Manda's shattered remains.
"Foolish."
From atop the Wood Human, Ikeizumi Uchiha offered a cold, one-word assessment.
Orochimaru had repeatedly refused to clash head-on with his magma, yet these two Snake Hime of Ryūchi Cave were attempting to block it with their flesh and blood.
CRASH—!!!
The Magma Giant Fist, with a force that demolished all in its path, slammed into Ichikishimahime's colossal serpent body, which was covered in metallic-lustered scales, taking the brunt of the attack.
Sizzle!
SPLAT!
A scalp-splitting sound suddenly erupted. The serpent scales, which seemed tough enough to withstand a direct jutsu blast, made a grating sound as they melted, like a hot knife cutting through solidified lard, the moment they contacted the Magma Giant Fist.
There was no resistance whatsoever.
The Magma Giant Fist, carrying horrific heat and concussive force, effortlessly punched straight through Ichikishimahime's serpent body!
A terrifying, charred hole, its edges flowing with dark red magma, burst open in Ichikishimahime's body.
The internal organs, bones, and flesh that were directly hit were instantly carbonized by the extreme heat of the magma in a fraction of a second.
The intense stench of burnt flesh and scorched protein instantly filled the air.
It was only because the magma fist's diameter was less than the thickness of her body.
That she wasn't completely blasted in half right there!
"HISS ANG AH AH AH AH—!!!"
The indescribable pain forced a piercing shriek from Ichikishimahime. The agony was like her soul was being ripped wide open while still alive.
Her huge serpent body twisted and thrashed frantically. Blood mixed with charred fragments of flesh poured from the horrifying wound like a waterfall.
Her vertical pupils were bloodshot from the extreme pain, nearly bursting.
The momentum of the Magma Giant Fist was reduced by less than 30% by this massive flesh-and-blood body. It carried Ichikishimahime's screams and the blood rain, relentlessly slamming into Hayaakitsuhime behind her.
BAM—Sizzle!!!
This time, though it didn't completely punch through, the terrifying force and the still-searing heat still created a deep, multi-meter-long indentation on Hayaakitsuhime's body.
Her hard scales cracked and shattered like fragile glass.
The intense burning pain and the agony of damaged internal organs made Hayaakitsuhime also let out a painful hiss.
"HISS AAAAAH—!!!"
The two massive serpents writhed and convulsed agonizingly before the cliff. Blood and magma stained the charred ground.
Their piercing shrieks echoed in the cavern for a long time, refusing to fade.
A moment later, Hayaakitsuhime fought through the burning pain and the internal devastation. Her huge snake head lifted sharply, her bloodshot vertical pupils locking onto Ikeizumi Uchiha atop the Wood Human.
Hayaakitsuhime's voice was hoarse and twisted with pain and extreme anger: "Human! I recall that Ryūchi Cave and you, and the Uchiha Clan behind you, have never had any feud or entanglement!"
"On the contrary, it is you! You trespassed into this sacred land uninvited! You slaughtered Manda and killed Orochimaru! You gravely injured Tagitsu!"
"Now you're savagely attacking us too. Why is this?!"
"What exactly are you trying to do?!"
Ikeizumi Uchiha stood silently atop the Wood Human. The towering Wood Human allowed him to look straight at the two painfully thrashing giant serpents.
In the face of Hayaakitsuhime's question, filled with anger and incomprehension, he remained silent.
He only slowly turned the gaze of his scarlet, demonic Mangekyō Sharingan toward Hayaakitsuhime's massive serpent eye.
The instant their gazes met!
Hayaakitsuhime's massive serpent body suddenly froze! She felt the space around her instantly warp and shift.
"This is—?!"
A flicker of shock passed through Hayaakitsuhime's huge vertical pupils.
Before her was no longer the scarred, magma-flowing battlefield, but a night under a desolate moon.
She suddenly saw a familiar figure ahead. That figure was sneaking into a human village under the cover of darkness.
She looked closely.
Wasn't that herself?
Wait!
A long-dormant memory suddenly flooded her mind. Hayaakitsuhime immediately realized: "This is a Sharingan Genjutsu!"
Within the illusion.
She watched helplessly as the "herself" in front of her snuck into one farmhouse after another. Immediately after, bloodcurdling screams of terror that ripped through the night, the helpless cries of children, the desperate roars of men, the dying moans of women—erupted like a tide from all corners of the village.
A nauseatingly thick smell of blood instantly permeated the entire illusion.
Cold sweat beaded on Hayaakitsuhime's skin. Why am I seeing my own memory? Is this Genjutsu meant to dredge up old memories? Or can he see my memories?
The next second, the scene abruptly shifted.
This time, the setting changed to a dark, hidden cavern deep within Ryūchi Cave, filled with giant snake skins.
She saw "herself" intentionally torture and kill a candidate who was about to pass the Ryūchi Cave trial just for fun.
The purpose was merely to see just how desperate a human could become? And what actions they would take in their most desperate moment?
Then, the scene shifted again.
Countless memories flashed through the illusion like a rapidly spinning kaleidoscope.
The only pattern Hayaakitsuhime could discern was that every scene in the illusion was of herself killing someone!
But what confused her was—
This Sharingan Genjutsu only made her recall numerous forgotten memories. These memories couldn't inflict any mental torture or instantly render her unable to fight.
So what was the point of his Genjutsu?
Suddenly.
The illusion receded like a tide. The pungent smell of sulfur, the searing pain of her wound, and her comrade's screams instantly returned.
Hayaakitsuhime's massive serpent eyes were still clouded with confusion and bewilderment.
She saw the towering Wood Human again.
She saw the figure atop the Wood Human.
And just then, Ikeizumi Uchiha's cold voice resonated faintly: "These are the evils you have committed in the ninja world. There is no personal grudge between us. I attack you simply because you are an evildoer. Your continued existence prevents countless innocent victims from resting in peace. I am merely claiming the justice that is a thousand years late for them."
Hayaakitsuhime's face was utterly dumbfounded.
Is this lunatic serious?!
Such a pathetic excuse—
Could he possibly be serious?
.............
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