Before even stepping into the laboratory, Rokuro had already activated his sensory tool. Any being that possessed chakra would immediately be locked onto—and someone like Yamato, whose Yang-natured chakra was overflowing, stood out like a blazing torch in the dark.
The tough wooden tendrils were sliced apart by his Lightning Blade, but the true strength of Wood Release wasn't its hardness—it was its relentless, regenerative assault.
When the first wave was shattered, more wooden branches surged forward, no longer hiding their presence. Yamato launched his strongest offensive without hesitation.
Lightning armor crackled around Rokuro's body, and the moment the Wood Release cocooned around him, the currents tore it apart. The wood not only failed to harm him—it ignited under the surging voltage, bursting into furious flames.
Seeing this, Yamato pressed his palms together. More wooden tendrils erupted, closing rapidly around Rokuro, forming a massive, half-spherical dome meant to trap him completely.
But Rokuro didn't immediately break free. Instead, he turned his gaze toward the albino-scaled serpent behind him.
"What a pity. Looks like I can only take your corpse with me."
His hand cut through the water tank like a blade, piercing straight through the serpent's skull. Violent electricity coursed through its brain, killing it in an instant.
The white-scaled serpent didn't even have time to let out a scream. Its body convulsed violently before going limp within seconds.
Rokuro pulled out a sealing scroll and sealed the serpent's corpse inside.
There was no other choice—sealing scrolls could only contain non-living matter. Nothing alive could be stored within. Rokuro didn't intend to hand the creature over to Konoha, so he had to kill it himself.
"In the original timeline, Sasuke once said the White Serpent was Orochimaru's true form. That wasn't entirely accurate. It's more correct to say Orochimaru used the White Serpent as the blueprint for his own bodily modifications."
Orochimaru didn't have many full-fledged battles in the original story. Apart from the Konoha Crush, most of his fights were while he was weakened, never truly showing his full strength.
Even so, those few battles revealed just how grotesquely adaptable Orochimaru's body had become—his neck stretching freely, his lower body occasionally transforming into a serpent's tail, his monstrous resistance to damage… all of it pointed to one scientific project: the Soft-Body Experiment.
And it was clear this laboratory was precisely where Orochimaru conducted that research.
That White Serpent was the fruit of his soft-body experiments.
"I might not know the techniques of soft-body modification," Rokuro murmured, sealing the scroll shut, "but I can still learn plenty from this—knowledge and experience about biological transformation. Even in death, this serpent is valuable."
By the time Rokuro had finished killing the serpent and sealing its corpse, Yamato had completed his Wood Release technique, enclosing Rokuro in a thick wooden dome.
Just as Yamato prepared to call for reinforcements, Rokuro suddenly appeared behind him. A single knife-hand strike—swift and precise—hit his neck.
A slicing sound followed.
Yamato's head flew into the air—decapitated in one clean motion.
Before the severed head even hit the ground, Rokuro's left hand plunged into the floor and yanked upward.
The tiles split apart, and another Yamato was dragged out from beneath. The "Yamato" he'd just beheaded had already turned into a wooden dummy.
"Wood Clones might be convincing to others," Rokuro said coldly, "but to me, they're meaningless."
He struck Yamato squarely in the temple. This time, the man didn't escape—he went limp instantly, unconscious.
Rokuro drew a syringe from his pouch and plunged it into Yamato's neck, drawing at least four hundred milliliters of blood.
"What the—who's there?!"
At last, an ANBU operative spotted the disturbance and rushed in. Rokuro kicked Yamato's body aside and activated the Flying Thunder God Technique.
He vanished in a flash.
The ANBU caught the falling Yamato, and moments later, Hiruzen Sarutobi himself appeared on the scene. Clearly, the old man hadn't gone after Orochimaru at all. If those ANBU who'd sacrificed themselves to stop Orochimaru knew this, they'd probably curse his name from beyond the grave.
"What happened here? Yamato was attacked?"
"Lord Hokage," the ANBU reported swiftly, "someone was fighting Yamato here. When I arrived, he was already unconscious. His injuries aren't critical—but there's a puncture wound on his neck. The attacker extracted his blood."
"What?! Extracted his blood?"
The moment he heard that, Hiruzen's expression darkened. He immediately understood—the intruder was after Wood Release. His first thought turned to Danzō.
"Did you see the attacker clearly?"
"No, sir. He was wearing a mask—it was…"
"Speak plainly. Don't hold back."
"It was… a Root mask!"
"So it really was Danzō!"
Hiruzen slammed his staff against the ground, fury burning in his eyes. Of course he knew Yamato had originally been one of Danzō's secret projects. If given a few more years, the boy could have become Root's top operative.
But Hiruzen had seen through Danzō's ambition long ago. The moment he learned of Yamato's existence, he had snatched him away without hesitation.
To Hiruzen, Danzō was just a dog—a vicious one, yes—but a dog nonetheless. A dog that followed orders. And dogs should never think themselves wolves.
"I'll look into this myself," he said coldly. "Get Yamato to the hospital."
The ANBU hoisted Yamato onto his shoulder and dashed off. Hiruzen was the last to leave the lab, stopping a remaining ANBU at the door for questioning.
When he learned Kakashi and his squad had gone to chase Orochimaru, he nodded faintly. He didn't comment further.
In truth, he didn't believe Kakashi could capture Orochimaru. That man's will to escape was absolute.
"Are you really letting him go, Hiruzen?"
The voice came from his staff—the transformed Monkey King, Enma, glaring through the staff's eyes.
Hiruzen didn't answer. The ANBU, realizing the conversation wasn't for his ears, quickly disappeared.
As soon as they were alone, Hiruzen began to speak—but suddenly, his face twisted. His eyes darted around.
At some point, four figures had appeared around him—each one wearing identical Root masks.
They didn't speak. Their hands flashed into seals.
"Sealing Technique — Four Violet Flames Formation!"
Four violet walls of fire shot up from the ground, enclosing a wide area hundreds of square meters across.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi," a cold voice echoed through the flames, "long time no see. Never thought the great Hokage would wander around alone… That head of yours is worth more than a fortune."
Rokuro appeared within the Four Violet Flames Formation, his four shadow clones maintaining the barrier around them—each clone reinforcing the seal, leaving Hiruzen with no chance to escape.
"Lord Hokage!"
The ANBU from before returned, along with more than ten reinforcements—but even so, none of them could break through the violet barrier.
That was the terror of a sealing formation. Given equal chakra expenditure, a sealing technique would always overpower a standard ninjutsu attack.
Of course, sealing arts were more defensive and reactive by nature—strong in endurance, weak in offense.
Still, the clones Rokuro had created with Nine-Tails chakra were monstrously powerful—each at least on par with a Jōnin.
And four Jōnin-level clones forming the Four Violet Flames Formation? No ANBU in the vicinity could possibly break through.
"Hiruzen Sarutobi," Rokuro said coldly, lightning beginning to dance in his hand, "tonight… is the night you die."
END OF CHAPTER
35 CHAPTERS AHEAD!!
Forbidden Java Jutsu - MrBehringer's Secret
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