Tsunade and Kitazawa were the last to arrive.
"Hokage-sama."
Fugaku, Hiashi, Kakashi, and several others bowed in greeting.
Tsunade gave a curt nod, her eyes sweeping over the assembled shinobi. The corner of her mouth twitched.
Even she had to admit—the lineup Kitazawa had pulled together was overkill.
It looked less like an operation against Otogakure and more like an invasion on the Hidden Cloud Village.
"Never mind," she muttered. "Better to be cautious than sorry."
Straightening her back, Tsunade's voice rang out, commanding silence.
"I've gathered you all here for one reason." Her gaze hardened. "We're taking down Otogakure—and Orochimaru."
A ripple of shock spread through the ranks.
Orochimaru—the former Konoha Sannin, the student of the Third Hokage. Many here had once fought beside him.
Now, hearing his name as the enemy, their faces grew taut, the air heavy with disbelief.
"Orochimaru is a rogue shinobi of the Leaf," Tsunade declared, her tone sharp as steel. "And no matter the cost—we will bring him back."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!" came the unified reply.
"This mission is top-secret," she continued. "Speed is not our priority—stealth is. No one outside this unit must discover our presence."
Her eyes fell on two figures. "The Hyuga and Aburame clans will handle reconnaissance. If anyone detects us, we change course immediately."
A mission like this—moving so many elite ninja unseen—would test even Konoha's best. But these were no ordinary shinobi; each one here was a seasoned Jonin.
"Understood, Hokage-sama!" Hiashi and Shibi responded crisply.
"Move out!"
Tsunade's command sliced through the air as she leapt forward, taking the lead. Kitazawa and the other Jonin followed close behind, shadows slipping soundlessly through the forest.
With Byakugan and kikaichu scouts clearing the path, they advanced deep into the Land of Rice Fields. Soon, the valley of Otogakure loomed ahead.
"There are Fūma clan shinobi stationed in that valley," Tsunade ordered quietly. "Fugaku—take your men. Silence them. No traces."
Fugaku gave a sharp nod and motioned to his squad—including Itachi—before melting into the shadows.
"Hiashi, position your four Hyuga teams around the perimeter. No one leaves Otogakure," Tsunade continued, her tone grave. "Especially Orochimaru."
"Yes, Hokage-sama!"
"Sealing Squad," she added, "once Orochimaru is occupied, deploy the Four Violet Flames Formation. He must not escape."
Orders flowed from her like a symphony, every move calculated.
Within minutes, Konoha's forces had surrounded Otogakure in an unbreakable ring.
"Hokage-sama, the valley is secured," Fugaku reported upon returning.
"Good. Uchiha forces, advance with me into Otogakure," Tsunade said, then raised her hand. "Move!"
The Jonin dispersed in formation, slipping into their assigned positions.
Moments later, Tsunade sprang forward, chakra flaring beneath her feet as she charged into the village.
"Who's there?!"
A startled Otogakure ninja barely finished shouting before a red flash cut through his vision.
Itachi appeared in front of him. A flicker of crimson light—and the man froze, eyes glassy. He slit his own throat with his kunai and fell wordlessly.
Tsunade didn't so much as glance his way. Her focus was fixed ahead—the leader's hall of Otogakure.
When it came into view, she gathered chakra into her legs and launched herself forward.
Her heel struck the ground like a hammer of wrath. The earth split, walls crumbled, and the entire building groaned under the shockwave before collapsing in a roar of stone and dust.
"What's happening?!"
"Enemy attack!"
"Run!"
Panic rippled through Otogakure as its shinobi poured out of the ruins.
"Orochimaru!" Tsunade's voice thundered through the smoke. "Get out here!"
The remnants of the structure collapsed completely with a deafening crash.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow. Truly… a woman of unmatched force.
Then the ground itself split open with a hiss.
From the depths emerged a massive purple serpent—its full body hidden by dust and shadow. It opened its jaws wide, fangs glinting like swords.
On its head stood a pale man with long black hair, golden eyes slit like a snake's, and magatama-shaped earrings gleaming in the light.
"Orochimaru!"
Tsunade's eyes blazed. She lunged forward, her fist connecting with one of Manda's fangs—it shattered instantly.
Manda shrieked in pain.
Tsunade didn't hesitate. She vaulted upward and kicked at Orochimaru.
He smirked, voice smooth and mocking. "Tsunade… still as hot-tempered as ever."
A glint flashed in his mouth as he spat out the Kusanagi blade, striking at her in midair.
Reacting instantly, Tsunade twisted, catching the sword with her foot and springing back.
Manda roared again, swinging its massive tail at her.
Kitazawa's hands flew into seals. He bit his thumb and slammed it onto the ground.
A great plume of smoke erupted—then the giant Slug appeared, towering beside Manda.
Without needing words, Katsuyu moved to intercept, absorbing Manda's strike and splitting into countless smaller slugs before reforming unharmed.
Tsunade landed atop her summon's head. "Sorry to trouble you, Katsuyu."
Kitazawa leapt up beside her, landing lightly.
Orochimaru's smile turned wistful. "You didn't bring Jiraiya? How nostalgic this feels…"
As they clashed, Otogakure's remaining ninja rushed to defend their master—but Konoha's elite were already upon them. Battle erupted across the ruins.
Orochimaru scanned the chaos below. Otogakure was being overrun—predictably. His village was still young, its elite few and untested.
But what truly frustrated him was not the loss—it was the timing. Konoha's strike had come too soon. He hadn't even managed to evacuate his research.
Those experiments… years of work gone in a day.
Still, this wasn't the moment to grieve. Survival came first.
"To deal with you," Tsunade said coldly, cracking her knuckles, "Jiraiya isn't needed. Kitazawa and I are enough."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed. "Your student… I've heard of him, even in Otogakure."
He licked his lips, gaze slithering toward Kitazawa. "A remarkable specimen—such potential. Shame he lacks a bloodline limit."
Kitazawa's mouth twitched. He didn't need to read Orochimaru's mind to know what he was thinking.
After all, the snake's favorite hobby was collecting prodigies… and wearing them like new skin.
"Orochimaru! Surrender now, and for old times' sake, I'll let you live!"
Tsunade's voice rang with iron resolve.
Orochimaru's lips curved into a faint, serpentine smile.
"Apologies, Tsunade… I'm afraid I can't grant that wish."
Her eyes narrowed. "Then there's only one path left."
Her fists clenched unconsciously as Manda, losing patience, let out a deafening roar and lunged at them.
Tsunade and Kitazawa leapt aside, ignoring the clash between Manda and Katsuyu. Without hesitation, they closed in on Orochimaru from both flanks.
The snake Sannin drew the Kusanagi blade, its metallic ring cutting through the air.
Clang!
Kitazawa's lightning-infused blade met it head-on, sparks scattering like fireflies in the dark.
Tsunade twisted her torso and swung a devastating punch—
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Orochimaru's sleeve exploded outward as dozens of venomous snakes shot forth.
Kitazawa reacted instantly, drawing Zangetsu with his free hand and slashing diagonally. The air hissed as he sliced through the serpents, severing them cleanly.
But even as the last snake fell, the Kusanagi sword suddenly elongated, its point darting straight for Kitazawa's head.
Tsunade's eyes flashed. She redirected her punch mid-swing, her fist colliding squarely with the blade.
A thunderous crack echoed. Orochimaru felt the force travel through his arm as his right hand went numb—the Kusanagi sword was flung from his grasp.
He didn't even flinch. His voice slithered out instead:
"Myriad Snake Net!"
He retreated a step, spewing a writhing torrent of snakes from his mouth that blanketed the ground in front of him. The hissing swarm surged toward Tsunade and Kitazawa like a black tide.
"Tch… disgusting snakes," Tsunade muttered, frowning.
"Chidori Nagashi!"
Kitazawa's hands blurred through seals, and a sharp chirping filled the air. Bolts of lightning crackled outward, illuminating the field.
The storm of serpents convulsed and burned, the stench of ozone and charred scales filling the air.
Orochimaru's golden eyes narrowed.
"Kakashi's Chidori? No… this variation is your own."
Tsunade was already gone in a flicker of speed. In the next instant, she appeared before him, fist cocked back.
The air screamed as her punch cut through it.
But at the last moment, Orochimaru's body twisted unnaturally, his torso bending like liquid. Tsunade's fist sliced through empty air.
Orochimaru's body moved like a serpent's—flexible, boneless, and grotesquely fluid.
He opened his mouth to mock her—only to sense danger behind him.
A roaring chakra signature flared. He turned, eyes widening.
A swirling sphere of chakra screamed toward him—violent, unstable, laced with slicing wind.
Minato's Rasengan? No… enhanced with Wind Release.
Kitazawa's Wind Release: Rasengan struck him square in the back. The impact tore through flesh, shredding his cloak as blood sprayed in crimson arcs.
Orochimaru's body hit the ground hard.
Tsunade stepped back, wary. "Is he… dead?"
Kitazawa shook his head. "He doesn't die that easily."
Sure enough, Orochimaru's corpse twitched—and then another Orochimaru emerged from its mouth, smirking.
"Your student is impressive, Tsunade."
It was his Body Shedding Technique, the eerie molting that left death itself fooled.
Tsunade scowled. "He's naturally exceptional," she said coldly, throwing another punch.
The ground trembled under her strike. Orochimaru barely had time to raise a hand.
The Kusanagi sword, lying forgotten in the dirt, shot upward at his command—launching toward her like a gleaming arrow.
"Uchiha Style: Gale Sword!"
Kitazawa swung Zangetsu, his blade erupting in heat. A crescent of flame roared through the air, intercepting the Kusanagi mid-flight and deflecting it.
Tsunade's punch connected a heartbeat later.
"Snake Bone Hardening!"
Orochimaru's arms instantly turned to an ivory-like armor. The impact sent shockwaves through both of them, forcing each back several paces.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Orochimaru formed a quick seal and exhaled—a violent gust blasted outward, strong enough to uproot trees.
Kitazawa slammed his palms together.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
Water surged from nowhere, forming a towering barrier before them.
"Tsunade-sensei!" he called, forming another sequence of seals.
"Water Release: Great Waterfall!"
A torrent burst from his mouth, crashing down like a falling river, amplifying the defense into a tidal assault.
Even Orochimaru couldn't help a faint, amused chuckle.
"Remarkable… Water Release on par with the Mizukage himself."
Tsunade's brow twitched. His tone carried the same subtle admiration he once used before stealing away another talented subordinate.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Orochimaru raised an earthen bulwark before him—but it shattered almost instantly under the raging torrent.
Still, it gave him the instant he needed.
"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
He exhaled a massive, spinning gust. The air sphere exploded forward, slicing through the oncoming wave and carving a wide gap through the water's heart.
Orochimaru leapt through, landing lightly on the rippling surface.
Before he could regain balance—
Whoosh!
Tsunade's heel slammed into him, sending debris flying.
But the Orochimaru she struck dissolved into mud—an Earth Clone.
His true form emerged several meters away, watching them with cold calculation.
He had seen enough. Defeating them was impossible. It was time to abandon Otogakure… and everything within it.
Then—
Kitazawa's hands blurred again. Four Shadow Clones appeared beside him, each radiating fierce chakra.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed. He didn't realize what was happening until all five Kitazawas synchronized their hand signs.
"Impossible…" Orochimaru muttered, his smirk faltering. "The Old Man actually taught you that technique?"
The Five Elements Great Combination.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's secret—his ultimate ninjutsu. There was never meant to be a second user.
Before Orochimaru could move, the battlefield erupted.
Five elemental chakras—Fire, Lightning, Water, Earth, and Wind—merged into a swirling ocean of destructive power.
The sky itself seemed to split apart.
Lightning cracked, flames surged, water roared, and the earth trembled as the combined storm tore toward him.
"Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!"
Orochimaru slammed his palm to the ground.
Three monstrous gates burst from the void, their demonic visages leering as they interlocked before him.
The first gate met the impact and shattered instantly.
The second strained under the force, vibrating violently before crumbling.
The third—its sole purpose to disperse—redirected the remaining energy, scattering it into wild streams of elemental light before fading into silence.
Dust and chakra smoke filled the air.
Tsunade bit her lip, astonished. She hadn't known Kitazawa had mastered it already.
Orochimaru's expression, too, had shifted—from arrogance to deep interest.
The sheer power Kitazawa unleashed was only slightly weaker than Hiruzen's own. In his mind, Kitazawa's value soared.
A perfect vessel, Orochimaru thought, eyes gleaming. Even without a bloodline limit… this boy surpasses them all.
Then, his pupils constricted.
Four figures materialized around him—Konoha's Sealing Squad, hands already in motion.
He recognized the pattern instantly.
Four Violet Flames Formation.
A blazing barrier technique. Once activated, anything trapped within would be engulfed by violet fire on contact.
Ironically, the same technique Orochimaru had once used to imprison his old master—now being used to trap him.
Without hesitation, Orochimaru lunged toward one of the Sealing Squad jonin at blinding speed.
But Tsunade was faster.
Boom!
The ground split apart beneath her strike. Shards of stone erupted upward, pelting Orochimaru like bullets.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone!"
Kitazawa's voice rang out. His shuriken struck almost simultaneously, multiplying into a storm of steel that sealed off Orochimaru's escape routes.
That single heartbeat of delay was enough. The Four Violet Flames Formation ignited fully, encasing the battlefield in a blazing, violet inferno.
Orochimaru's expression darkened. His hands came together in a blur of seals.
Yamato no Orochi!
He was done holding back.
His body bulged grotesquely, clothes tearing as white scales emerged beneath his skin. The shattered debris from Tsunade's strike and Kitazawa's shuriken bounced harmlessly off him.
Then—his shoulders split. Two new serpent heads burst forth. Then four. Then eight.
Tsunade's pupils shrank. "Orochimaru… you actually mastered the Yamato no Orochi?"
The forbidden jutsu of forbidden jutsu. Even she had only read about it in the Scroll of Seals—an abomination few even dared attempt.
Orochimaru's necks lengthened unnaturally as his monstrous body grew.
Rumble!
The ground sank beneath his colossal form.
Every shinobi nearby—Konoha and Otogakure alike—froze mid-battle, their eyes wide with disbelief.
The Eight-Headed Serpent loomed before them, vast as a mountain, blotting out the sun. Its eight tails writhed like thunderclouds come to life.
"This is bad…" Tsunade muttered, her voice low and grim. "That serpent's vitality borders on immortality."
She'd read about this in the forbidden archives. Even if its heads were severed, the creature wouldn't die.
Kitazawa, too, remembered the tale—how even Itachi's Susanoo had needed the Totsuka Blade to finally seal it.
Immortal. Regenerative. Overwhelmingly strong.
Still, Kitazawa remained calm.
Itachi's here… and I've faced worse.
Orochimaru's eight mouths roared as one. "You can't trap me!"
He hurled his massive body forward, crashing into the violet barrier.
Flames exploded around him, searing his flesh—but the wounds regenerated almost instantly.
Boom!
The ground quaked violently. Dirt and trees tore free from the earth as the Four Violet Flames Formation trembled under the impact.
The four jonin maintaining it turned pale, chakra draining rapidly from their bodies.
"Stop him!" Tsunade shouted.
One of the serpent heads lunged toward her.
Tsunade vaulted upward and slammed her fist straight into its forehead.
Crack!
Bone shattered. Blood exploded outward as the head went limp, its body twitching uncontrollably.
Orochimaru screamed in pain, his voice echoing through all eight throats.
Then he crashed into the barrier again—this time shattering it completely.
The flaming walls disintegrated in a thunderous wave.
All seven remaining heads turned toward Tsunade.
"Tsunade-sensei!" Kitazawa shouted, activating Senju Chakra Mode.
Golden light erupted around him, chakra flaring like a storm.
Orochimaru, now completely feral, lashed out with all eight heads at once. The air itself shrieked under their force.
Compound Ninjutsu: Hurricane Water Vortex!
Kitazawa combined Wind Release: Rasengan and Water Release: Raging Torrent, creating a spinning tornado of water and steam that howled across the battlefield.
The monstrous tails plunged into it—only to be flayed by the razor-sharp wind on the outside and scalded by the searing steam within.
Orochimaru's agonized roar split the air as he withdrew, his tails burnt and bleeding, smoking like charred meat.
He hissed through gritted fangs. What is this power? How can a two-element technique rival my Yamato no Orochi form?
He quickly realized—Senju Chakra Mode.
Kitazawa's chakra circulation had become flawless, multiplying both efficiency and raw output.
But Orochimaru had no time to reflect.
Kitazawa raised his arm skyward.
Rumble
The clouds churned. Lightning coiled above him, gathering into a single massive point of blinding power.
Orochimaru's eyes widened.
Lightning Release: Kirin!
The heavens split open as a colossal thunder beast took form, roaring down from the sky.
It struck with divine fury, engulfing the Eight-Headed Serpent in a blinding flash.
BOOOOM!
The earth caved in. The blast echoed for miles as lightning consumed everything in its path.
Orochimaru's screams were swallowed by the storm.
All around, shinobi stopped mid-battle—staring in awe and disbelief.
"What… what kind of Lightning Release is that?" Hiashi muttered.
"An S-rank," Kakashi breathed.
But Kitazawa wasn't done.
Five Elements Great Combination Bullet!
His hands blurred again, forming the seals with terrifying speed.
Normally, three such chakra-intensive jutsu would be impossible in succession—but Kitazawa's Senju Chakra Mode made the impossible trivial.
Wind howled. Flames erupted. Lightning sparked, water surged, and earth heaved beneath his feet.
The five elements converged, fusing into a swirling ocean of destructive chakra.
Tsunade stared, wide-eyed. The sheer pressure of the jutsu shook the air itself.
'This power… it's even stronger than Lord Third's.'
Hiashi, Fugaku, Kakashi, and Shibi all shared the same stunned thought.
Kitazawa wasn't just a prodigy—he was the future Hokage, and everyone present knew it.
Even Fugaku exhaled quietly, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Itachi can't compete with that… and Tsunade will never choose anyone else.
Meanwhile, Orochimaru's massive form convulsed under the lightning. His body was paralyzed, the smell of scorched flesh filling the air.
Even so, the serpent wouldn't die. The Yamato no Orochi refused death itself.
He turned his heads weakly toward Kitazawa, eyes trembling as he saw the five-elemental storm forming once again.
No… this isn't the same as before.
Then the world went white.
Wind, fire, lightning, water, and earth crashed down in unison—combining with the residual lightning of Kirin.
Orochimaru's colossal body was ripped apart, charred black, his blood evaporating before it even touched the ground.
The Eight-Headed Serpent writhed violently, each of its heads howling before falling silent one by one.
"Sealing Squad!" Kitazawa shouted, charging forward through the haze.
Even in that monstrous form, Orochimaru wouldn't die. Destruction alone wasn't enough—he had to be sealed.
Now, while the serpent was weakened, was their only chance.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Heavenly Prison!"
Flames burst around Orochimaru, coiling upward into fiery chains that wrapped around his massive body.
Kitazawa didn't stop there. He slammed his palms together again and again, layering seal after seal with precision and fury.
"Four Limbs Heavy Seal!"
"Evil Sealing Method!"
"Self-Affliction Curse Seal!"
"Four Symbols Seal!"
Each jutsu struck like a hammer, inscribing glowing runes across Orochimaru's scorched scales.
Tsunade could only stare, speechless, her mouth twitching.
"…Orochimaru doesn't deserve to be bullied like this," she muttered under her breath watching the one-sided beatdown.
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