BOOM!
A deafening explosion rang out.
The massive fireball unleashed by Seimei detonated violently, incinerating a horde of venomous snakes into ash.
But before he could follow up with another attack, a human head suddenly pierced through the cloud of smoke left behind by the blast and appeared right in front of him.
That's right—it was just a head.
And it wasn't anyone else's but Orochimaru's.
At that moment, Orochimaru's neck had extended unnaturally long, his feet unmoved, yet his head was right in front of Seimei.
And what's more—he had a sword protruding from his mouth, aimed straight at Seimei's throat.
Though it sounds long-winded, all of this happened in an instant.
Had it been an ordinary shinobi, they'd either be dead or too flustered to counter, losing the initiative right there.
But Seimei wasn't ordinary.
Even though he hadn't activated the Mangekyō Sharingan, his reaction speed, enhanced by the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, was more than enough to catch Orochimaru's sneak attack.
Immediately, he drew the longsword from his waist and held it vertically in front of him.
Clang!
A crisp metallic sound echoed out.
Orochimaru's blade collided with Seimei's, forcing him back half a step, but it didn't so much as scratch him.
Orochimaru wasn't finished. His snake-like neck recoiled slightly, and he thrust the sword from his mouth once more—this time aiming at Seimei's heart.
This bizarre swordplay—if you could even call it that—threw Seimei off. He had no choice but to defend passively at first.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A flurry of clashes echoed as Seimei, relying on his solid swordsmanship, managed to withstand Orochimaru's relentless assault and gave no ground.
Once he got used to Orochimaru's strange style, Seimei launched a counterattack.
First, he used Shunkenjutsu (Instant Blade Technique) to widen the distance.
As Orochimaru lunged back in, Seimei unleashed Genkenjutsu (Illusion Blade ).
At this point, Orochimaru hadn't yet performed "Fushi Tensei" ( Living Corpse Reincarnation), so mental manipulation wasn't yet his weakness. Still, the moment Seimei's genjutsu took effect, Orochimaru instinctively reacted, thrusting his sword to block the follow-up Kagekenjutsu ( Shadow Blade ).
But that was his limit.
Seimei wasn't done.
Now holding the upper hand, he hurled a kunai mid-combat—one marked with his Flying Thunder God seal.
As Orochimaru moved to dodge it, Seimei used Shunkenjutsu again to close the gap instantly.
Then, combining Genkenjutsu and Kagekenjutsu, he launched a coordinated assault, putting intense pressure on Orochimaru.
While Orochimaru struggled to block, Seimei's left hand suddenly shot forward, forming a swirling sphere of chakra—the Rasengan, an A-rank jutsu Jiraiya had recently used several times!
BOOM!
Caught off guard, Orochimaru took a direct hit to the face from the Rasengan.
Crack!
Seimei faintly heard the sound of bones breaking.
Splat!
Orochimaru's face twisted in agony as he spat out a large mouthful of blood.
Then his head and neck recoiled back like a snapping spring.
Seimei's eyes lit up. He immediately stepped forward and slashed at lightning speed.
Shlick!
The sound of flesh being cut rang out.
Seimei's blade sliced clean across Orochimaru's neck—severing his throat entirely.
"…Huh?"
Seimei was momentarily stunned, not expecting to take Orochimaru down that easily.
In fact, he really didn't think that final strike would land.
By his calculation, even a weakened Orochimaru should've been able to dodge that. He'd prepared a whole chain of follow-up attacks too!
But… that was it?
They say when something feels off, it usually is.
Seimei scanned Orochimaru's body with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan—and instantly spotted it.
In Orochimaru's palm… was a fully activated explosive tag.
Without hesitation, Seimei vanished in a flash, teleporting away from the spot and distancing himself from Orochimaru's body.
BOOM!!
A huge explosion erupted. Orochimaru's nearest body was blown to bits and sent flying.
But just as his "corpse" was still airborne, a new figure slithered out of its mouth.
Seimei focused—sure enough, it was Orochimaru himself.
That jutsu… Seimei immediately recognized it—Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique!
This technique, inspired by snakes' ability to shed their skin, allows Orochimaru to regenerate a completely new body in seconds by consuming a massive amount of chakra.
No matter the damage—dismemberment, destroyed organs—if it's physical, he can recover.
Even some non-physical damage can be reversed with this.
Clearly, Orochimaru had let Seimei land that blow just to activate the explosive tag and buy himself time to perform this technique.
To come up with that plan and execute it all in such a short span—Seimei had to admit, Orochimaru's combat experience was truly terrifying.
Now, aside from expending a lot of chakra, Orochimaru looked perfectly fine. All the serious injuries Seimei inflicted—gone. Even the wounds he got fighting Jiraiya earlier—healed.
Seimei couldn't help but marvel at the power of this replacement technique.
Too bad it wasn't a conventional ninjutsu—his Sharingan couldn't copy it.
Shaking his head slightly, Seimei refocused on Orochimaru.
But Orochimaru, despite recovering fully, showed no intention of continuing the fight.
He glanced toward the tri-pronged kunai Seimei had thrown earlier. Then, his legs suddenly morphed into a snake tail.
With one swift swing, he darted off into the depths of the forest at a speed few humans could match.
Seimei also glanced at the kunai and muttered to himself, "Figures… Minato-sensei always shows up late when it really counts."
With a sigh, he stopped lingering and marked a nearby tree with his seal. Then he launched himself with full power, chasing after Orochimaru.
Even if he didn't know why Namikaze Minato hadn't appeared on time, Seimei still hadn't achieved his objective—confirming whether Orochimaru had mastered Edo Tensei. He couldn't let him escape so easily.
BOOM!
Dust and dirt exploded under his feet as Seimei launched himself like a cannonball straight toward Orochimaru.
But even at top speed, he still couldn't catch up.
Frustrated, he channeled Lightning Release Chakra throughout his body, enhancing his nerve responses and muscle strength, transforming into a blur of lightning as he pursued.
Up ahead, Orochimaru heard the thunderous roar and glanced back.
Upon seeing Seimei's new form, he couldn't help but speak:
"Lightning Release Chakra Mode?"
That's right—Seimei was now using Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Don't be fooled by how he normally used it to reinforce his body—it was a full-fledged combat technique.
While he hadn't acquired the matching secret techniques from the Yōrōi-wearing Kumogakure shinobi, using it solely to enhance speed was no problem.
And it worked—Seimei's speed continued to surge, rapidly closing the distance with Orochimaru.