Ch-165 Lightning wheel.

Inoiki narrowed his eyes, watching Manda's agile movements with growing respect.

"It seems I underestimated your summon," he admitted. "I owe you that much. But now—I'm done holding back."

With a subtle motion, he directed the giant sword floating before him to shatter apart like a puzzle breaking into pieces. In an instant, the massive blade split into hundreds of smaller swords. Each of them lit up with crackling arcs of lightning, the air buzzing with energy. Their speed surged dramatically.

Before Manda could react, the swarm of electrified blades closed in, moving too fast to escape. They encircled the serpent, forming a blinding cyclone of steel and lightning. Manda twisted and lunged, but the smaller swords moved faster than the giant one before. There was no room to slip through.

The blades struck again and again, colliding with Manda's thick, scaled hide. Sparks flew, and streaks of scorched metal flashed in the air—but the swords barely left more than shallow scars. Despite their sharpness and the lightning coursing through them, Manda's scales remained largely intact. The attacks weren't doing any meaningful damage.

Inoiki clenched his fists, frustration flickering across his face. His scales are like armor, he realized. Even with this technique, I can't break through. Not like this.

He needed a new strategy—something faster, stronger, more destructive.

His mind raced.

What if I use the Lightning Cloud…? The idea hit him, recalling the advanced jutsu he'd recently developed. It was powerful—capable of unleashing multiple lightning strikes from above, concentrated and relentless. It could work. It would work.

But he hesitated. That move drains too much chakra… Using it this early could leave him vulnerable.

Then another thought sparked in his mind.

What if I use the principles of the Lightning Cloud—but shape them into something new? Something more efficient.

His expression shifted from frustration to focus. A new plan was forming. And if it worked, it wouldn't just injure Manda—it could bring him down.

After just a few moments of rapid thinking, an idea sparked in Inoiki's mind. His eyes lit up.

"Let's try this," he muttered.

The smaller swords, which had been swirling chaotically around Manda like a cyclone, suddenly shifted. Their random pattern tightened into precision. Each blade adjusted its position, evenly spaced, aligning into a perfect circular formation that wrapped around the cross-section of Manda's massive body—like the rim of a spinning wheel.

The lightning that had once covered each sword individually began to arc between them. One by one, the connections formed until a complete ring of crackling energy surrounded Manda's belly. The wheel of lightning pulsed with power, glowing brighter by the second.

But Manda remained unmoved. His confidence in his own durability was absolute. His thick scales had already withstood the brunt of Inoiki's attacks, and he was certain they'd hold again. Not a single sword had pierced his hide—only shallow cuts and scratches marked his body, nothing that couldn't be shed.

Heh, Manda thought. Even if this brat manages to injure me, I can just slough off this skin. Just like Orochimaru's substitution technique... nothing he does will last.

But Inoiki wasn't aiming for shallow wounds anymore.

Orochimaru, a veteran of countless battles, watched the shifting formation with narrowed eyes. He could already sense what was coming.

"Manda," he called out sharply, "don't just sit there like a fool. That technique—whatever it is—it's dangerous. I don't think even you can withstand it."

But Manda scoffed, brushing off the warning. "Relax. I know what I'm doing."

His tone was dismissive, arrogant. He didn't respect Orochimaru the way he once had. (P.S.: I don't mean authoritarian respect.) Ever since Orochimaru's powers had been sealed by the Third Hokage, his authority had waned. If he were still at his peak, Manda might've taken the warning seriously. But now? Now, he ignored it.

That arrogance would cost him.

The lightning wheel—formed from the hundreds of floating swords—began to spin in earnest. The air crackled violently as its rotation accelerated, faster and faster. The once-static ring around Manda's body now moved like a buzzsaw, and with every passing second, the wheel's diameter shrank.

That's when Manda finally sensed it—the danger.

He realized, too late, that he'd underestimated Inoiki. The wheel wasn't just spinning—it was tightening, its edges drawing closer to his body with each rotation. The blades, infused with lightning and spinning at breakneck speed, began to slice deeper into his thick scales.

At first, just as he'd predicted, the cuts were shallow—mere scratches on his armor-like hide. But the wheel didn't relent. With each revolution, the blades passed over the same lines again and again, grinding through scale and flesh like relentless sawteeth. The shrinking circle left him no room to slither out. He twisted and writhed, trying to break free—but it was too late.

Panic surged through him.

If this continues, Manda realized, I'll be cut in half.

Manda realized with brutal clarity: if he stayed even a second longer, the spinning lightning wheel would slice through his midsection—and kill him.

"I'm done," he hissed. "I can't deal with him. You're on your own."

Before Orochimaru could respond, Manda vanished beneath him in a flash of smoke, leaving his summoner in midair.

Orochimaru plummeted toward the ground. "Damn fool," he muttered through gritted teeth. "This is the price of underestimating your enemy."

Frustration burned in his eyes. Had Manda just listened, he might've been able to stall Inoiki a few minutes longer—long enough for Orochimaru to plan a proper counter.

He landed hard and immediately locked eyes with Inoiki, who stood calmly, watching him with cold focus.

Then—suddenly—a serpent burst from the ground beneath Orochimaru. In a blink, it coiled around him and swallowed him whole, then dove back underground, disappearing into the earth.

"Bastard!" Inoiki snapped.

Without hesitation, he commanded all of his lightning-infused swords to descend like meteors, crashing down along the path the snake had taken. He could still sense its movement. The serpent hadn't gone deep yet—Inoiki's Observation Haki was still able to track it.

The swords slammed into the earth, one after another, sending up explosions of dirt and sparks. Massive craters formed across the terrain, and the ground trembled under the barrage. But then—nothing.

Inoiki paused, his eyes narrowing. The snake's presence was gone. It had moved deeper—beyond the reach of his Haki.

He clenched his fists.

"Damn it. I let him escape," he said, his voice low and tight with frustration.

----

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