Orochimaru's large-scale Kuchiyose (Summoning) array had originally been prepared to intercept the lucky survivors from Kumo, Iwa, and Suna who managed to escape.
But now, Orochimaru had even included Kiri in the slaughter.
That was as clear a declaration as any that his cooperation with Yuto was over.
"Did Hashiboy's jutsu give you this confidence? Or have you also figured out what kind of back-up he left behind?"
Yuto's expression was calm as he murmured to himself.
The emergence of Shin Susenju (True Several Thousand Hands) had no doubt made Orochimaru realize that Hashiboy really might have left behind a contingency specifically meant to deal with Yuto.
Thinking back now, Orochimaru's constant show of obedience was probably not only because he feared Yuto's terrifying power, but also because he wanted to confirm this suspicion for himself.
Yuto's gaze grew cold as he looked toward Orochimaru.
Nobody liked betrayal.
Especially when the traitor was, aside from the Mist, the only person in the world who knew who he really was.
"Yuto-sama, let me handle him."
Kisame bared his teeth in a grin, hefting Samehada up as he prepared to rush forward.
"No. Take off that black cloak with the red clouds."
Yuto called out to stop him, his tone light.
Kisame froze for a moment, then stripped off his Akatsuki cloak without the slightest hesitation.
Yuto gave the cloak a glance and casually pulled it on, his eyes turning icy as he looked toward Orochimaru.
"Yuto-sama, are you going to move yourself?"
Standing to the side, Ameyuri spoke softly, a hint of worry flickering in her eyes.
Yuto knew perfectly well that what troubled her wasn't his strength, but the possibility that his identity might be exposed.
"Since Orochimaru chose to betray us, I'll deal with him personally. Besides, unlike Hashiboy and Madara, I don't have such obvious attack methods. And on top of that…"
He trailed off, lowering his gaze briefly to the Akatsuki cloak he was wearing.
He could always pin this on Akatsuki later.
Yuto stamped lightly off the ground. His figure blurred into an afterimage and vanished from Kisame and the others' sight.
Still controlling Shin Susenju, Hiruzen stared blankly as he watched Orochimaru suddenly start attacking.
It was obvious he couldn't understand, at least for the moment, why an enemy like Orochimaru was suddenly helping Konoha.
"Looks like this isn't as simple as it appears on the surface…"
Hiruzen frowned slightly, muttering under his breath.
Just then—
A black afterimage streaked across the battlefield like a shooting star, hurtling straight toward Orochimaru and instantly drawing Hiruzen's attention.
At that exact moment, Orochimaru—standing quietly in place—felt an overwhelming sense of danger rise from deep within his soul.
Yet his face showed no panic at all. On the contrary, it was as if he were finally relieved. A slow smile spread across his lips.
Boom!
A single, straightforward punch smashed into Orochimaru's head. The speed was so great that he didn't even have time to turn around; his entire body was blasted to pieces, reduced to a spray of mud and fragments.
Yuto casually flicked the dirt from his hand and watched Orochimaru's body slump into a puddle of sludge, his expression completely unsurprised.
"There you are."
His eyes flicked to one side in an instant. With a small stomp of his foot, he pressed down.
The ground beneath him cracked like brittle glass. As if squeezed from below, the earth erupted like a volcanic blast, and a surge of soil spewed upward.
In the geyser of earth, Orochimaru's figure appeared once more, streaks of blood still clinging to his body.
"As expected of you, Yuto-sama. Even a trick like this can't—"
He didn't get to finish the sentence.
Everything from his waist down had already vanished.
Strictly speaking, it hadn't vanished—Yuto's punch had simply pulverized his lower half into paste, scattering it so thoroughly it might as well have.
Yuto had no need for anything like "superhuman strength." The Black King's ability was fundamentally to absorb, convert, and then release energy.
When that energy was released all at once through his fist, the destructive power it produced was far beyond any so-called "monster strength."
Looking down at the half of Orochimaru's body that remained on the ground, Yuto lifted a brow slightly. At the last moment, Orochimaru had still managed to react, just barely softening his body and forcing Yuto's blow to land on his lower half instead.
Boom!
All of a sudden, a loud blast came from underground. A moment later, Manda's massive body burst from the earth, jaws yawning wide as he swallowed Yuto whole in one gulp.
The remaining half of Orochimaru's body not only hadn't lost its life, it actually seized the instant Manda gulped Yuto down to rapidly form hand seals.
Splash—
The next moment, Orochimaru's half-body snapped its jaws open, his mouth stretching wider and wider at an unnatural angle.
A pale-faced Orochimaru, drenched in some unknown fluid, slowly crawled out from the gaping maw of that half-body.
"Truly terrifying…"
He spoke in a low murmur, his eyes filled with raw fear.
"Orochimaru, so that's the guy you were so worried abou—agh!!!"
Manda's gaze was full of disdain as he looked at him, the mockery in his tone cut off halfway.
His whole body suddenly went rigid.
SPLASH!
A column of blood erupted from his belly, spraying skyward and raining in all directions.
Manda's massive frame split cleanly in two as if chopped straight across the middle.
Aside from one shrill, agonized scream, he didn't even manage to spit out a single curse before his huge body dissolved into white smoke and vanished.
He had clearly been forced back to the summoning realm.
The fountain of blood from Manda's bisected body drenched Orochimaru, painting him red from head to toe.
He licked his lips, slowly cleaning the blood from the corner of his mouth, his pupils shrinking as he stared at Yuto walking toward him with a totally calm expression.
Even though Yuto had just been swallowed whole, there wasn't a single drop of blood staining him anywhere.
Orochimaru didn't dare hesitate for even an instant. His hands once again blurred through a rapid string of seals.
He didn't waste time with pointless words. After that last display, he understood very clearly that ninja like Yuto couldn't care less about anything he had to say.
He slammed a hand toward the ground with a hoarse shout.
"Kuchiyose (Summoning) — Sanjuu Rashou—guah!"
Before he could finish forming the name of the jutsu, Yuto was already standing in front of him.
With a casual sweep of both arms, he severed Orochimaru's forearms at the elbow.
Yuto then grabbed Orochimaru by the head and lifted him lightly into the air.
"Weren't you so eager to see my true strength? This is it. 'Cold Lord of the Sannin'—Orochimaru. Not a bad title. Unfortunately, in my eyes, you're no different from an ant."
Yuto held him effortlessly with one hand, his voice as calm as ever.
Blood spilled from the corner of Orochimaru's mouth in a steady trickle. Hearing Yuto's words, madness filled his eyes—but before he could so much as twitch—
Yuto's fingers tightened and gave a small shake.
Orochimaru's entire body shattered like cracked porcelain, fragmenting into countless tiny particles and scattering through the air.
On a broken stretch of ground, well-hidden among the rubble, a small white snake no thicker than a finger darted away at high speed, fleeing into the distance.
It hadn't gotten far before Yuto's foot came down out of nowhere, stomping it into a smear of white pulp.
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