"Raaaah!"
Jirōbō roared.
The Curse Mark had fully erupted—his body was twisted and swollen, his form completely mutated, power flooding his limbs, but…
The Parasitic Rot Bugs didn't retreat in fear.
They got excited.
They swarmed him like a tidal wave.
In the blink of an eye, the chakra he'd just forcefully drawn out with his Curse Mark was shredded and devoured clean by the mass of bugs.
Jirōbō's mind went blank.
This was Curse Mark power.
And these bugs… could eat even this?
And not just eat it—
They were clearly enjoying themselves.
How was that possible?
In all his experience, the Aburame clan's bugs were troublesome, sure, but they weren't supposed to be this terrifying. The things crawling over him right now could barely be called "Parasitic Insects" anymore.
To be reasonable…
They were basically some kind of "eats-anything" summoned beasts.
Jirōbō struggled anyway.
He knew it was pointless.
He still ripped himself free, lunging toward Yagyū Souma with a final roar.
But he didn't make it far.
A single beetle clamped onto him and yanked.
Yes. Yanked.
That beetle's strength was absurd, dragging his hulking Curse Mark from off-balance like it was nothing. Among all the bugs, it had been the happiest one chewing on his chakra.
That one was the leader?
Jirōbō could tell there was something different about it.
"You—"
Thud.
Souma didn't bother with banter.
One clean punch, straight to the jaw, and Jirōbō crumpled.
Souma waved lazily. "Haul him to Lord Third."
The bugs obediently wrapped Jirōbō up and began dragging him away like a sack of potatoes.
Souma turned and kept moving.
Up ahead, he arrived to a somewhat unpleasant sight.
ANBU and the Guard Squad—
It looked a bit pathetic.
They hadn't lost, exactly, but they'd been pushed around by the remaining three Sound ninja hard enough that it showed.
Souma sighed.
He'd always known the average ANBU wasn't very reliable.
He just hadn't expected them to be this underwhelming.
It looked like…
Another major rework was in order.
He couldn't touch ANBU.
But the Guard Squad?
That he could fix.
Of course, now was not the time to give a lecture.
"Souma, they slipped away. How did things go on your end?" a squad leader asked.
"Captured him," Souma said. "Physically he's still in one piece. As for his memory… that's up to Yamanaka."
Jirōbō's Curse Mark was far from perfected, and he'd already used it once earlier. Using it again just now, he'd basically been prepared to die.
Souma had knocked him out in time, but the Parasitic Rot Bugs hadn't exactly gone easy on him. They'd nearly drained him dry.
He was alive.
Just barely.
And that alone would be more than enough for Intelligence to dig out something useful.
This time, Orochimaru had taken a real hit.
Back at one of Orochimaru's safehouses in the Land of Fire, Manda was rolling around in a rage, smashing the place up, its massive tail stump still dripping and sizzling with burned flesh.
The tail that had been sheared off by the Third's Five Elemental Great Bullet…
Might never fully regenerate.
The pain was very real.
"Orochimaru, remember my tribute—or I'll eat you alive!" Manda roared. "And another thing—"
"I know, I know," Orochimaru said coldly, standing up. "You'll get what I promised you. I'll personally see to your injuries as well."
It wasn't just Manda.
He was in bad shape too.
If he hadn't been tucked into Manda's mouth when the giant blast landed, far from "needing a new host soon," he might've had to perform an emergency body transfer on the spot.
Even so—
He knew he wouldn't be able to hold out until the Konoha Crush Plan.
He would have to change bodies soon.
"Damn that Yagyū Souma. I've given him chance after chance—and he keeps turning down my generosity."
Orochimaru was furious.
Most of the damage he'd taken today had been Souma's doing.
"Orochimaru-sama, this really wasn't a safe time to go out just to 'watch the show,'" Kabuto said, stepping out from the shadows.
This safehouse was a small, hidden base they kept in the Land of Fire. Not large, but well-hidden. Kabuto had been stationed here as a waiting point.
Of course—
This was just a shadow clone.
The original was still inside Konoha.
"Hehehe… true enough," Orochimaru admitted, his tone slowly calming. "That boy really is… something. How did he see through me? He seemed so certain."
"Did you notice, Kabuto?"
Just moments ago, he'd been ready to tear Souma apart.
Now that the anger had cooled, he couldn't help but admire the boy's ability.
He was less focused on the danger he'd just experienced, and more fixated on—
The fact that someone had clearly found a flaw in his disguise.
He suspected the Yamanaka clan.
But at Sunagakure, Yamanaka Inoichi hadn't been anywhere near Souma's team.
He wanted to hear Kabuto's thoughts.
Kabuto treated his injuries as he thought it through.
Almost immediately, his mind drifted—
It wasn't as bad as when Might Guy had opened the Seventh Gate and kicked Orochimaru half to death, but this body had already been patched together too many times.
At this rate, it really would fall apart.
Kabuto dragged himself back to the question.
"I don't have a concrete answer yet," he said. "But I'm even more curious… Is Souma really that strong?"
"Mm. That kid has some kind of special technique," Orochimaru said. "In an instant, his power shot up. He hit me from a distance."
Suspicion still flickered in his eyes.
What was that state?
It was far too strange.
Ordinary techniques could not generate that kind of instantaneous, overwhelming force. Was it some kind of modified Eight Gates?
If it were anyone else, Orochimaru wouldn't have bothered considering that.
The Eight Gates were not the kind of thing you casually "modified."
But Souma…
Souma was different.
That kid was wrong in all sorts of ways.
Orochimaru thought for a long time, then asked:
"What's his relationship with Might Guy?"
"Guy-sensei was the one who recommended him," Kabuto replied. "That's how we ended up with the modern graduation combat evaluation."
As a spy, Kabuto had Souma's life story down to the year.
He didn't know exactly what Souma had researched.
But the broad strokes?
All in his hand.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
Might Guy.
"You suspect the Eight Gates, then?" Kabuto mused. "If so, that could explain the massive burst of power. But even then, ordinary people can't control that berserk chakra…"
"Souma-kun is no 'ordinary person,'" Orochimaru smiled thinly. "Everyone who treated him as such is probably dead by now."
He paused.
"Of course… it might be something we don't know at all."
"Sage Mode, perhaps?" Kabuto suggested.
"He got the Parasitic Rot Bug contract from the Aburame. If he'd contracted one of the Three Great Sage Regions, would he have needed the bugs?" Orochimaru shook his head.
He didn't believe Souma had Sage Mode.
That kind of power—
Even a genius like Souma shouldn't be able to control it so smoothly.
He let the idea drop.
Today's disaster was largely due to his own carelessness.
If he'd known ahead of time that Souma had a burst-mode technique like that, he would never have treated the boy so lightly.
In shinobi battles, intel was everything.
But this also meant…
At only thirteen years old, Souma's post-burst combat power had already reached a terrifying level.
He was absolutely at Elite Jōnin level.
Possibly higher.
Another Uchiha Itachi?
No.
In some ways, he was even more gifted than Itachi.
Because he did it without Sharingan.
What a pity.
Orochimaru sighed.
Without Sharingan, even the greatest genius had a ceiling.
"Such a waste," he muttered.
Kabuto continued to work, his thoughts racing.
A glaring weakness in Orochimaru…
Impossible.
Even he couldn't pick out flaws in Orochimaru's disguises. How was Souma just… spotting him at a glance?
Unless—
"Orochimaru-sama, I've been thinking," Kabuto said. "If you do have some kind of 'signature', it would have to be spiritual. Soul or mind. Your physical disguises are perfect."
Orochimaru fell silent for several seconds.
That hypothesis matched his own.
Still…
If the issue really was spiritual, that meant Souma could detect abnormalities on the soul level?
That was a bit much.
Unless—
"Unless he's gotten secret techniques from the Yamanaka as well?" Orochimaru murmured. "Have those clan heads all gone soft?"
These days, Konoha is getting a bit…
Ridiculous.
"In any case, keep digging into that angle," Orochimaru said. "No need to rush your 'resignation.' Stay in Konoha. Try to slip into the institute, see what Souma is really up to."
The boy's research clearly couldn't be underestimated.
He said he wanted to help commoners gain access to ninjutsu.
But in reality?
Orochimaru was sure he was secretly pursuing higher, more dangerous techniques and forbidden jutsu.
He was simply projecting himself onto Souma.
"Yes, sir," Kabuto nodded. Then he hesitated. "And what about Akadō Yoroi and Misumi Tsurugi?"
"I'll handle them."
"Yes."
Souma, meanwhile, led the Parasitic Rot Bugs back to where the Third was waiting.
"This is?" Hiruzen asked.
"Subordinate of Orochimaru," Souma replied. "The only capture we got."
He gestured, and the bugs released Jirōbō.
The Sound ninja was alive, but his chakra flow was tattered and wild.
Souma probed him with his spiritual sense and discovered his mind was a chaotic mess, like someone hovering at death's door.
Self-destruct via Curse Mark?
They'd have to hurry.
"Better get him to Intelligence fast," Souma said.
"Agreed. Contact Inoichi. They should still be near the training grounds," the Third said.
"Let them handle the transport. I've still got something to do."
"Oh? What's that?" Hiruzen asked.
He was still stuck in the gloom of failing to kill Orochimaru, and hadn't paid much attention to the details of the battlefield.
When he finally focused—
He realized Souma was squatting down, directing his shadow clones.
They were collecting all the scattered bits of charred, mangled snake flesh.
Specifically—
Manda's severed tail.
"You're… taking that?" the Third asked, baffled.
Did that tail have value?
He'd blown it to pieces with the Great Elemental Bullet. There wasn't a single intact patch of skin visible.
"It was enormous," Souma said. "Its chakra and cellular makeup are probably very different from the average summoning beast. I want to study it."
The Third blinked.
Then he understood.
Souma's love of research was every bit as intense as Orochimaru's.
The difference was—
Souma had a scale in his heart.
He knew what he should and shouldn't do. And his wishes weren't the same as Orochimaru's.
Let everyone have a chance to learn ninjutsu…
Yes.
It truly was difficult for commoners to access ninjutsu.
And that was in Konoha.
In other villages, it was even worse.
Hiruzen sighed inwardly.
Souma ignored the Hokage's introspection, overseeing the cleanup as if nothing had happened. Only when his shadow clones had gathered every scrap of serpent flesh did he pull out a sealing scroll and store it all away.
The Third snapped out of it.
"Ah—right. I've found the Reverse Summoning Technique. Once I tidy it up, I'll have it sent to you. As for Flying Thunder God… I don't know much about that one."
"Reverse Summoning alone is great," Souma nodded.
With that, he was more than satisfied.
There was still one problem, though.
Ao might have a budding intelligence, but not enough to handle something as complex as Reverse Summoning.
"Forget it. That can wait," Souma thought. "For all I know, once he grows up, he might figure it out on his own."
He shelved the concern for now.
Something else had caught his attention.
From what he'd seen earlier, power triggered by the Curse Mark could also serve as food for the Parasitic Rot Bugs.
That would bear watching.
If bugs fed on Curse Mark chakra and bugs fed on Sage chakra ended up evolving in similar ways, Konoha already had a very suitable future… "feeder."
It would just be a bit of a headache.
Anko's personality was…
Unique.
Souma finished packing up Manda's tail, already mulling over future experiments in his head.
Then he, the Third, ANBU, and the Guard Squad headed back toward Konoha.
They'd left in a hurry earlier.
No telling how things were holding up back at the ceremony.
Still—
If they'd managed to seriously wound Orochimaru by "accident"…
Souma felt this trip had gone pretty well.
"Souma, I'd like to speak with Chiriku," the Third said as they walked. "See if we can deepen Konoha's ties with the Fire Temple and expand our ninjutsu exchange. Could you sound him out for me?"
Not just Chiriku.
Elder Shiraishi had come as well, one of the most respected elders at the Fire Temple.
The timing was perfect.
Souma had no objection.
But he did clarify: "I can pass on what you want, but I won't negotiate terms. My relationship with the Fire Temple is… complicated."
"Of course," Hiruzen said. "This will be between Konoha and the Fire Temple. I only need you to deliver the message."
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