That knife!
It must be the knife!
Orochimaru stared blankly at the ashes on the ground. The Third Kazekage's Edo Tensei body had been chopped to pieces and could never be restored!
Could the Impure World Reincarnation really be defeated this way?
Orochimaru could accept his reanimated puppets being sealed by sealing techniques. He could even accept that souls of particularly powerful shinobi might break free from his control on their own.
But to be chopped to pieces so easily? Absolutely unacceptable.
Without hesitation, Orochimaru activated the Fourth Kazekage Rasa and sent him rushing toward Shihouin Naraku.
"Let me take a good look at that blade of yours!" Orochimaru hissed.
Rasa stepped onto his sand platform, soaring through the air as he summoned the gold dust he had just extracted and refined from the ground!
As the golden particles rushed toward him, Shihouin Naraku's eyes widened in surprise. "There's this much gold underground in Konoha Village?"
"Is that true?"
Even amid battle, Shihouin Naraku found time to confirm what he was seeing. After this fight, this would become new territory for the Shihouin clan!
"I'll deal with you first!"
Kurikara flashed through the air, its blade instantly cutting through the approaching gold dust.
At the same time, Shihouin Naraku clenched his fist, releasing a powerful surge of magnetic chakra that enveloped the severed cloud of gold dust!
"Behold my gold dust!" Rasa shouted.
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"
Like two massive waves colliding in the ocean, enormous amounts of gold dust divided into two forces, battling furiously against each other.
Orochimaru watched from the sidelines, stunned into silence.
He barely noticed several Konoha shinobi who had stayed behind forming a formation to attack him. Yakushi Kabuto and the lone surviving Sound ninja immediately moved to defend him, and another battle began.
Orochimaru stared dumbfounded as Shihouin Naraku controlled the gold dust, directing it to collide with Rasa's sand. For a moment, he couldn't react.
"The previous issue was about the knife. But what about the Magnet Style?"
Magnet Style was Sunagakure's kekkei genkai!
While other ninja throughout the world might possess some knowledge of Magnet Style, the systematic mastery of this technique belonged exclusively to Sunagakure!
Konoha Village had no such bloodline limit at all.
So where did this Magnet Style come from?
Where did Shihouin Naraku learn it?
Orochimaru's scientific curiosity took over, momentarily making him forget the pain radiating from his damaged soul.
"BOOM!"
Brilliant gold dust scattered in all directions.
Shihouin Naraku thought to himself, that's enough.
If he hadn't been using Magnet Style for the first time with the intention of learning from Rasa, Shihouin Naraku would have defeated the Fourth Kazekage long ago.
But now, he had seen almost everything he needed to see.
Relying on his exceptional spiritual power—perhaps the strongest in the ninja world—he had gained a deeper understanding of Magnet Style in just this short encounter.
"BOOM!"
Two waves of gold dust collided again, creating countless shimmering sparks.
Shihouin Naraku suddenly clenched his left hand, and the gold dust moved exactly as he willed it.
"Magnet Style: Gold Dust World Law!"
In an instant, countless particles of gold dust extended into slender, sharp branches—like bamboo shoots—and pierced directly through Rasa's chest.
Whether because the Impure World Reincarnation was still imperfect, or because Shihouin Naraku had somehow surpassed Rasa in Magnet Style proficiency in such a short time, Rasa was defeated almost instantly!
The pitch-black blade chopped off Rasa's head, completely shattering his soul.
"It's true! There's something special about that blade!" Orochimaru concluded, finally understanding why his Impure World Reincarnation had failed.
"AAARGH!"
A sharp pain shot through his mind, and Orochimaru clutched his head, feeling as though it might split open.
"BANG!"
"Magnet Style: Gold Dust Cube!"
A massive cube formed of gold dust slammed into Orochimaru, sending him flying.
"Puff!"
Blood spurted from his mouth!
Orochimaru tumbled through several houses before finally stopping when he crashed into a sturdy tree.
Looking at the trail of destruction left on the ground, Shihouin Naraku was somewhat surprised by the power of Magnet Style.
"That's to be expected. If Magnet Style weren't powerful, there would be no need to study Sunagakure!"
"BOOM..."
A sudden roar sounded as a massive wave of gold dust rolled forward, rushing toward Orochimaru's location.
Shihouin Naraku glanced behind him and saw that Yakushi Kabuto and the Sound ninja were still entangled with the Konoha jonin, unable to escape.
Although none of the Konoha jonin were individually as strong as Kabuto, their combined strength made it difficult for him and the Sound ninja to break free quickly.
In the short term, they would definitely keep fighting.
Reassured, Shihouin Naraku focused his full attention on attacking Orochimaru.
Orochimaru wouldn't be leaving Konoha Village today!
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Enduring the severe pain throughout his body, Orochimaru stood up and revealed a ferocious smile. "You're truly surprising, Naraku! Your growth rate defies common sense. What has made your strength break all limits?"
"An amazing blade, Magnet Style..."
"The surprises keep coming!"
As Shihouin Naraku approached, Orochimaru smeared his fingers with his own blood and began forming a one-handed seal.
Before he could complete it, Shihouin Naraku rushed forward and slashed a bloody wound across Orochimaru's body with his blade.
Without pausing, Shihouin Naraku gripped the sword hilt firmly with his right hand and delivered a powerful upward slash.
"Flame God's Kagura: Round Dance!"
A bright, beautiful ring of fire illuminated the area as the powerful flame-infused slash split Orochimaru's body in two, smashing him to the ground.
But Shihouin Naraku didn't relax. He stepped forward again and chopped downward with his blade.
A large white snake quickly slithered out from Orochimaru's body. Its flexible form dodged the sharp blade and leaped away.
"CRASH!"
A massive amount of gold dust swept down from above, instantly engulfing the white snake. Shihouin Naraku clenched his left hand, and his chakra surged.
"BANG!"
The pressure created by the condensing gold dust instantly crushed the white snake Orochimaru into pieces. Blood splattered everywhere.
"What should I call this technique?" Shihouin Naraku wondered, having instinctively used Magnet Style to control the gold dust, restraining the white snake before applying pressure to crush it.
"Sand Burial."
"Splat, splat..."
Pieces of flesh fell to the ground bit by bit. It seemed as though Orochimaru was completely dead, but Shihouin Naraku remained vigilant.
It was easy to defeat Orochimaru, but killing him was another matter entirely.
Hiss... hiss...
Snakes of various colors emerged in dense numbers, slithering in all directions. Clearly, Orochimaru was attempting to escape!
"CLANG!"
Shihouin Naraku thrust Kurikara into the ground with a backhand motion. Boiling flames instantly rose up, spreading rapidly like a sea of fire, igniting all the surrounding snakes.
Snakes of all sizes writhed and screamed in pain within the flames, burning to ashes in seconds.
These snakes clearly feared Shihouin Naraku, preferring to rush into the unquenchable flames rather than get near him.
In a flash, the river-like tide of serpents was reduced to ashes within the towering flames. Not a single snake survived.
No matter where they tried to hide, the hungry flames found and consumed every last snake.
Shihouin Naraku's Observation Haki swept through the area, confirming no survivors remained!
----------------
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion