Chapter 380: Kazuyama-Style Orochimaru Online

Three days later, on the battlefield of the Land of Hot Water...

Orochimaru casually flicked the blood off his hands. Five corpses lay motionless at his feet.

"That should do it..."

"Kazuyama-kun has already settled things with the Daimyō of the Land of Waterfalls. It's time I made my retreat."

"Sensei... I wonder if we'll ever meet again…"

Just as Orochimaru turned to leave, a rustle in the leaves made him pause.

He stopped, eyes narrowing coldly.

Why was Orochimaru called the Cold Prince? It was because his gaze exuded a chill that seemed to pierce through the soul. Unless you were someone truly close to him, you wouldn't be able to endure that kind of coldness.

Two figures emerged slowly from the woods—one broad and muscular, the other slim and tall.

"Well, if it isn't Orochimaru, Konoha's Cold Prince."

"Just a washed-up creep who only bullies weaklings."

The voice was icy, dripping with disdain.

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and gave a cold sneer.

"Hmph, and I was wondering who it was."

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist... Jinpachi Munashi and Kuriarare Kushimaru."

Tension sparked instantly between them.

Without warning, Orochimaru attacked. Both hands thrust forward, unleashing a torrent of snakes that lunged toward the two.

Jinpachi and Kushimaru reacted immediately, drawing their blades to defend.

Kushimaru's long blade—Nuibari—flashed in a seamless blur, piercing through the snake shadows like a needle through silk. What should've been a swarm of deadly serpents proved useless before his precise technique.

Jinpachi's approach was the opposite—brutal and wild.

With a flick of his wrist, he unfurled the scroll of his explosive blade, Shibuki. Explosive tags ignited in a chain reaction, blasting the incoming snakes into chunks with sheer concussive force.

A contemptuous smile curled at Orochimaru's lips. He quickly formed a hand seal.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

A massive anaconda erupted from the ground, its maw wide as a house. In one swift lunge, it swallowed Jinpachi whole.

Kushimaru, nimble and unflinching, evaded the beast entirely. He didn't even glance at his swallowed comrade. Instead, he dashed straight at Orochimaru.

Meanwhile, inside the anaconda's belly, Jinpachi began to struggle violently. The snake's abdomen swelled grotesquely as he fought from within.

Dodging Kushimaru's attack, a glint flashed through Orochimaru's eyes.

Boom!

"Bastard! That was disgusting!"

"I'm gonna kill you!"

The explosion and the scream came at once. The giant snake vanished, and Jinpachi, drenched in slime, charged at Orochimaru in a fury.

Clearly, being devoured had pushed him to his limits.

"Longsword Ninja Art: Earth Spider Sewing!"

Just then, Kushimaru struck.

From the ground, countless steel wires shot up, wrapping tightly around Orochimaru's legs, slicing into his flesh as they bound him in place.

"Explosive Blade Technique: Blasting Bridle Repeating Death"

Jinpachi followed up, slamming a scroll packed with explosive tags directly onto Orochimaru.

The explosion detonated instantly.

Boom!

And it didn't stop. For several minutes, the battlefield shook with the roar of explosions—Jinpachi's weapon, Shibuki, was a blade literally covered in explosive tags, used as liberally as he pleased.

When the dust finally settled, Jinpachi glared into the heart of the blast.

Orochimaru lay on the scorched earth, bloodied and barely moving, still tangled in steel wires.

"You bastard! Were you trying to blow me up too?!"

"Wanna see how many holes I can stab into you?!"

Before Jinpachi Munashi could step forward to check, Kuriarare Kushimaru stormed over and started cursing him out.

"Hmph! Honestly, it would've been better if you had been blown to pieces. Guys like you dying wouldn't matter anyway."

"Move! I want to see if that bastard's dead or not!"

Jinpachi shoved Kushimaru aside and walked over to where Orochimaru lay, sword slung over his shoulder.

He gave the scorched body a hard kick—Orochimaru, blackened and battered, was completely unconscious.

"Hmph. So this is one of Konoha's Legendary Sannin?"

"What a joke. Pure trash."

"Hey, tie him up with your wires. We'll bring him back and take the credit."

Kushimaru ground his teeth in irritation, but even so, he couldn't hide his satisfaction over having taken down Orochimaru.

Too lazy to argue with Jinpachi, he stepped forward, flicked out his wires with a few swift movements, and bound up the charred figure, dragging him behind without another word.

Then, ignoring Jinpachi completely, he hauled the supposed Orochimaru back to camp.

Once they returned, they proudly dumped the body in the center of camp.

"Konoha's Sannin? What a joke."

"They're nothing in front of us!"

Jinpachi bragged loudly, strutting in front of his fellow Mist shinobi. But Kushimaru kicked him aside in irritation and snapped,

"If I hadn't pinned him down, you wouldn't have had a shot."

"Don't you dare try to take all the credit, you bastard!"

They immediately started bickering again, completely unaware of the stunned stares coming from the Kirigakure shinobi around them.

What were they seeing?

These two were dragging... what even was that? And they were claiming it was Orochimaru?

Orochimaru—as in one of the Legendary Sannin? Were they serious?

Finally, one honest-looking shinobi couldn't take it anymore.

"Lords… are you sure?"

"That's not Orochimaru... that's just a roe deer!"

Kushimaru: ???

Jinpachi: ???

They froze mid-argument, confusion written all over their faces as they turned to look at the "Orochimaru" they'd captured.

And in that moment, their brains practically short-circuited.

Where was Orochimaru?

How did Orochimaru turn into... a roasted deer?

And not even a good roast—it was burnt to a crisp. The scent of meat was gone, replaced with the unmistakable stench of scorched fur and flesh.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Where's Orochimaru?! Where did he go?!"

"You bastard! Did you hide my target?!"

Jinpachi, already frustrated, immediately turned on Kushimaru again.

Still dazed, Kushimaru snapped at the accusation—and this time, they didn't stop at shouting. They both drew their blades.

Explosions rocked the Mist camp as the two Swordsmen clashed violently.

...

As for Orochimaru—he was already well on his way to the Land of Waterfalls.

"Hehehe… I have to admit, Kazuyama-kun's tricks do come in handy."

"A bit of basic genjutsu mixed with a body replacement? Incredibly convenient."

"I can't imagine the looks on those two idiots' faces when they realize they just blew up a deer, thinking it was me. Hehehehe..."

At that exact moment, Kazuyama Gekkō—busy training Yahiko and Konan—suddenly heard a system notification.

As it registered in his mind, only one thought popped up:

Wait... what did I do???

[Ding! The host has successfully corrupted their sensei Orochimaru, leading him to use an underhanded scapegoat tactic for the first time. Successfully triggered infighting between Kuriarare Kushimaru and Jinpachi Munashi, resulting in Jinpachi losing a leg and Kushimaru losing an arm. Special reward—]

...

(100 Chapters Ahead)

p@treon com / PinkSnake