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SCRAPE!
The zanpakutō cut. The hands of Inari Okami's soul were severed. The rosary's hands retracted, pulling them deep into the serpent's belly!
"AAAAAARGH! My thousand-year art!!!"
The cry that tore from Inari Kakashi was one of utter, bereft despair. Whoosh! The white fur sleeves of his robe dissolved into scattered snowflakes!
Kakashi's body had reached its limit, too. It could bear the god's power no longer.
Inari Okami's spirit… was being forced out.
BOOM…!!
Behind 'K', the Fushimi Inari Shrine groaned and began to sink into the earth.
It was not the god's true domain. It had been manifested through the Barrier Jutsu — "Ameno Tajikarao no Mikoto".
A barrier-type spatial technique. As the name implied, it overwrote the existing landscape with a preset scene. Because it was a barrier, the space was enclosed. Those trapped within were confined to its bounds.
"Ameno Tajikarao no Mikoto" allowed Inari Okami to invoke their geographical advantage anywhere, at any time. But the technique's other, more terrifying aspect was its restriction on space-time ninjutsu.
The barrier set by Katsuyu-sama around Shikkotsu Forest rendered space-time abilities null.
"Ameno Tajikarao no Mikoto" did not nullify them. It delimited them. Space-time abilities could be used, but their range of transfer was restricted solely to the confines of the barrier scene!
With this alone, Inari Okami was nearly invincible.
Yet 'K' had lost. Why? Because the god, wise for an age, had chosen the wrong opponent!!!
"Curse you… Orochimaru… REMEMBER THIS! REMEMBER ME! This debt will not be forgotten! Prepare yourself! Lose sleep! For my vengeance will find you!!!"
The fox-shaped specter rising from Kakashi's form blotted the sky, its proclamation chilling to the bone. The furious god cursed until the very last second before departure.
Thud.
The curses ceased. Kakashi collapsed.
Finally.
Orochimaru's Shinigami Mode reached its end.
Orochimaru… slumped into the soft earth. He didn't even have the strength to use a replacement technique to swap out this battered, broken vessel.
"Other… me!!" he forced out with his last conscious thought, directed across the miles. "The three days I will be unconscious… look after Sasuke. No matter what…!!!"
Crack!
Far away, in a cave, Orochimaru's cursed seal clone jolted, head snapping up.
"My main body. It's out."
Kabuto's spirits soared. "Where?!"
The clone's brow furrowed. "Perception is muddled. No precise location. But it's within Shikkotsu Forest's barrier zone."
THUD!
Kabuto's fist slammed into the ground. "Damn it! So we can't use my right eye to go directly…?!"
Sasuke clenched his fist. "We move to the nearest marked location outside. Then we run into the barrier zone and search. Now. Move!"
"R-right! I understand!"
Kabuto forced himself calm. They left Jūgo to watch over the unconscious Anko. Kabuto, with Sasuke and Orochimaru's clone in tow, teleported to the marked spot closest to Shikkotsu Forest and sprinted at full speed toward the valley enveloped by the barrier!
"The barrier around Shikkotsu Forest spans dozens of kilometers. Perception is scrambled inside… Finding Lord Orochimaru won't be easy…" Kabuto muttered, breath coming hard.
Sasuke's sprinting form ahead was silent for a moment before his low voice reached Kabuto's ears. "If we must… I'll use that— Hm?!"
Shh!
Sasuke skidded to a halt.
Because… hovering in the sky ahead was a white, spectral figure.
Sasuke's eyes widened in shock as he recognized the face.
"…Hashirama?"
Hashirama's soul was also scrutinizing the boy before him—a boy who carried his own chakra and possessed extraordinary ocular power. The boy's face… was strikingly similar to that other man's little brother, the one he'd been so entangled with.
"How surprising… the resemblance is uncanny," Hashirama's soul remarked.
But Sasuke's mind was filled only with concern for Orochimaru.
"Move aside," he said, voice hard. "I'm in a hurry."
"Ah, well, I could," Hashirama said. "But—"
"Then I'm passing through!"
Swish!
Sasuke shot past as a white blur, not even waiting to hear the rest.
"Hey! Kid, wait!!" the ever-helpful Hashirama called after him. "If you're looking for the guy who used the Shinigami's power… I might know where he is!!"
"What?!"
Sasuke whirled, eyes locking onto Hashirama's pursuing spirit. "Are you serious?!"
Hashirama couldn't help but chuckle. "You seem properly worried. Doesn't look like you're a bad kid. That's a relief. Fine, I'll take you there. But afterwards, you'll have to clear up some confusion for me. Deal?"
Not wanting to scare the boy, Hashirama's soul even put his hands together in a pleading gesture. "Don't get me wrong, kid. This isn't a threat. I'll take you there whether you agree or not. A life's at stake…"
"Deal," Sasuke said without hesitation. "Just lead the way."
Orochimaru's clone thought, Hah. What a strange twist of fate, main body. Pity you'll miss this encounter.
Kabuto thought, Thank goodness… The First Hokage truly is as benevolent as the stories say.
Thus, guided by Hashirama's soul, they found the unconscious forms of Orochimaru and Kakashi in a valley with little further trouble.
The terrible, piercing wound on Orochimaru's chest remained, but his tenacious life force clung on. He still breathed!
"Lord Orochimaru!!"
Kabuto rushed forward, his medical ninjutsu flaring to life to treat the critical injuries.
"This is bad… The wound requires Lord Hashirama's cells for proper regeneration. But I didn't bring any with me this time!"
Sasuke pulled up his sleeve. "Use mine!"
Kabuto hesitated. "The amount needed… it would significantly weaken you."
"I don't care!"
Under the urgent circumstances, Kabuto had no choice but to proceed.
"Alright then!"
"Hold on a moment."
Hashirama, who had been observing, stroked his chin.
"For an injury of this level… my cells might be overkill, don't you think?"
"Oh? You have another method?"
Hashirama nodded. "Inside the Shinigami… there seems to be some of the Nine-Tails' chakra. Drawing that out for repair should suffice."
Kabuto adjusted his glasses. "Lord Hashirama, you are correct. But that requires Lord Orochimaru himself to perform. We cannot do it for him."
Hashirama smiled. "I… I might be able to help."
"???"
Both Sasuke and Kabuto stared, astonished.
Hashirama's soul squatted beside Orochimaru. "Hmm… Mito mentioned this seal once. I think it's…"
He began forming hand seals with deliberate, careful motions.
Kabuto blinked. "If I'm not mistaken… those aren't the seals for the Reaper Death Seal."
"They're not," Hashirama confirmed. "They're for… interfacing with the Shinigami."
"Somehow, even though I've lost my own chakra, I can exercise a portion of the Shinigami's authority!"
Zing…!!
The Nine-Tails' chakra, lying dormant in the Shinigami's belly since Orochimaru fell unconscious, stirred at Hashirama's call. It flowed, targeting the terrible violet lightning wound on Orochimaru's chest.
Hiss… Hiss… Steam rose as the injury, impervious to normal medical ninjutsu, began to knit itself back together rapidly.
The tension visibly drained from Sasuke and Kabuto's faces.
But Orochimaru's cursed seal clone remained grim.
The main body won't die. But after overexerting himself in Shinigami Mode, he'll need at least three days and nights to wake. And Sasuke's Ayakashikoshi… it will flare around dawn tomorrow. That 'fuse'… the power of this clone alone isn't enough to handle it…
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