Watching Orochimaru weave effortlessly through the sea of trees, lunging toward her once again, Yakumo was genuinely starting to panic.
After all, she was just a student at the Shinobi Academy, only eight or nine years old. Aside from sparring within the academy, she had no real combat experience whatsoever.
Her opponent, however, was Orochimaru—one of the legendary Three Shinobi, a battle-hardened veteran with a fearsome reputation.
For her to even dare to face such a formidable enemy was already an impressive feat.
In the original timeline, during the Chunin Exams, even Kakashi, when unexpectedly confronted by Orochimaru, didn't dare make a move.
If even Kakashi was like that, what chance did an ordinary shinobi have?
The Three Shinobi of Hidden Leaf weren't just some casual title!
As Orochimaru closed in on Yakumo, on the other side, Ido, utilizing the ability of her spiritual form to phase through structures and fly freely, had located Kurama Murakumo and three others, bound in an abandoned building.
Clearly, Orochimaru, who had captured Kurama Murakumo and the others, chose not to kill them outright.
As long as he held Kurama Murakumo and Kurama Ryo in his grasp, he had leverage to threaten Yakumo. So, until he secured Yakumo, these hostages still held some value.
Moreover, because Orochimaru was supremely confident in capturing Yakumo, he hadn't bothered hiding the hostages too far away, allowing Ido to find them easily.
However, looking at the unconscious Kurama Murakumo and the others, Ido was in a bit of a bind.
For one, in her spiritual form, she couldn't directly rescue them. For another, she didn't know any medical ninjutsu to treat their injuries.
After some thought, she used their shared connection to send Yakumo the idea of swapping positions using the "Koryugan."
Indeed.
Through practice, within a short distance, Yakumo and Ido could now communicate through their senses without needing Shinji's "Jikibi" to assist.
However, their mastery of the Koryugan's sensory abilities was still rudimentary, unable to convey complex information.
Like now, Ido could only use the Koryugan's connection to send Yakumo a request to activate the "Koryugan" simultaneously, but she couldn't explain why they needed to activate it.
On the battlefield.
As Orochimaru lunged toward her, Yakumo, flustered and unsure of what to do, suddenly sensed Ido's request to activate the "Koryugan." Realizing she could use it to escape the immediate danger, she instinctively triggered the "Koryugan."
Whoosh.
In an instant, Yakumo vanished from her spot!
In her place stood a figure clad in the Akatsuki's red-cloud robe, wearing a mask—a chakra phantom!
Orochimaru, mid-lunge toward Yakumo, had a smirk of amusement frozen on his face. He couldn't fathom how his surefire target had suddenly transformed into an Akatsuki member.
At the same moment.
Kakashi, who had removed his headband and activated "Chidori," charging toward the scene, went from a grim expression to one of utter astonishment. "Where's Yakumo?"
Facing a formidable enemy like Orochimaru, he had been fully focused, pushing his left eye's Sharingan to its limits, not missing a single detail.
So he was absolutely certain that Yakumo had vanished in an instant—not through any illusion technique or body flicker!
Still gripping his "Chidori," he halted his charge. "Did that Akatsuki member abduct Yakumo? What kind of state is that? A spiritual form?"
In the distance.
Shizune and Sasuke, witnessing the same scene, were dumbfounded.
Yakumo's disappearance and the sudden appearance of a mysterious Akatsuki member left them struggling to comprehend what had happened.
In contrast, Ido, who was prepared and had a reckless personality, adapted to the situation much faster.
Seeing Orochimaru lunging toward her, she instantly understood Yakumo's earlier predicament. Her ferocity surged, and she charged at Orochimaru in her spiritual form.
Orochimaru, battle-hardened as he was, immediately recognized that the Akatsuki member before him was in a spiritual state, likely using a secret technique akin to the "Spirit Transformation Technique." In an instant, he formed hand seals, preemptively casting a technique to dispel illusions on himself just as she lunged!
Swish.
In a flash, Ido's form merged into Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru sneered coldly. "Got you!"
Others might be helpless against spiritual forms, but he was different.
But just as he raised his hands to form more seals and cast another ninjutsu, his expression suddenly turned blank.
In Orochimaru's mental world.
"How… how is this possible?"
Orochimaru stared at Ido in shock, realizing why his preemptive illusion-dispelling technique had failed.
"Tch!"
Ido, coldly sizing up Orochimaru, let out a dismissive scoff.
Orochimaru had indeed cast an illusion-dispelling technique on himself in advance, but he had clearly underestimated Ido's illusion abilities.
As Yakumo's "inner demon," Ido embodied Yakumo's illusion talent, possessing the exact same illusion prowess as her.
Yakumo herself was a once-in-a-century genius of the Kurama clan, renowned for their illusion techniques. Now, with the amplified dojutsu power of the Koryugan, her success was only natural.
After all, Shinji had already tested it: even before its transplant, the Koryugan's dojutsu power surpassed that of an ordinary Mangekyo Sharingan.
During Yakumo's surgery to implant First Hokage cells, the Koryugan had absorbed a surge of "All Creation Power," further enhancing its dojutsu strength. With the Koryugan's boost, Ido's illusion abilities, while not quite on par with Itachi Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan, weren't far off.
And since Itachi could subdue Orochimaru with illusions without even activating his Mangekyo, it was no surprise that Ido, going all out, could overpower Orochimaru with ease.
"The Three Shinobi are nothing special, huh!"
Muttering this to herself, Ido suddenly felt a mischievous urge.
And so, Orochimaru, now under Ido's control in his mental world, wore a blank expression as he drew a kunai and aimed it at his own throat.
In the distance.
Watching Orochimaru draw a kunai and point it at his own throat, Kakashi's face was filled with astonishment. "He's been controlled by an illusion?"
Even farther away, Shizune and Sasuke exchanged bewildered glances.
They couldn't believe that the legendary Orochimaru had been taken down in a single move by the mysterious Akatsuki member who had just appeared.
Not only that, but the opponent had even used an illusion to manipulate Orochimaru, forcing him to raise a kunai to end his own life.
"This…"
For a fleeting moment or two, Shizune even wondered if it was Orochimaru who was under an illusion—or if she herself was caught in one, seeing a false reality.
Because she simply couldn't imagine Orochimaru being defeated so easily.