Chapter 62: Yamata no Orochi

"Aargh-!"

Manda roared in pain, white smoke spewing from his mouth as his flesh turned ragged and torn. Pus dripped from his jaws, oozing thick and foul onto the earth.

"You brat! I'll kill you!"

Neji took a moment to decipher the snake's garbled speech, then smirked. So even the great Manda couldn't handle Slug acid. Just as expected, Katsuyu's corrosive secretion was his natural nemesis. A direct hit could easily cost Manda half his life.

"She has the same abilities as Katsuyu…" Orochimaru narrowed his eyes. He and Tsunade exchanged uncertain glances, minds racing to make sense of the scene before them. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't unravel the truth behind what was unfolding.

"Manda, don't be reckless. First, we should-"

Before Orochimaru could finish, Manda let out another furious roar and lunged straight toward Neji, cutting him off.

"Brain-dead moron," Orochimaru cursed under his breath. He was so furious, he could strangle the snake himself.

"Kabuto, be ready. We might have to retreat."

Perched on Manda's head, Kabuto nodded grimly as he watched what looked more like a battle of gods than shinobi.

Seeing the snake charge, Neji directed Katsuyu to split and scatter. He himself leapt down from a high ledge, his chakra laced beneath his feet as he ran directly up Manda's enormous, thrashing body.

"What is Neji doing? Does he intend to take on Orochimaru by himself?" Tsunade clenched her fists, filled with helpless frustration. Her fear of blood made her chakra spiral out of control. No matter how much she summoned, it slipped through her grasp like water. She couldn't even perform basic medical ninjutsu, let alone summon Katsuyu again.

She sank to her knees, heart gripped by despair.

Again? Is this happening again?

That cursed necklace. Everyone who had worn it… had died. Tsunade's eyes shimmered with tears as she watched the scene unfold, powerless to intervene.

"Lady Tsunade," Neji's voice cut through the storm. "To watch your loved ones die while you stand helpless… it's a pain I know. But I won't die."

"Bastard!" Manda roared, thrashing violently. "Orochimaru, get him off me!"

He didn't need to say it. Orochimaru had already moved, his tongue lashing out unnaturally toward Neji.

But Neji sidestepped and grabbed the grotesque red tongue midair. In one swift motion, he heaved and flung Orochimaru toward him.

Eyes wide in shock, Orochimaru flew straight at Neji.

"Monster strength!"

Boom!

Neji's fist crashed into Orochimaru's face, sending him hurtling through the air like a missile, slamming into the ground and gouging out a deep crater.

Just then, Kabuto rushed forward.

"Chakra scalpel!"

His glowing hands struck Neji in the chest. Neji gasped, suddenly unable to breathe as if a steel band had wrapped around his lungs.

"I've severed your pectoral muscles. You're done." Kabuto adjusted his glasses with a smirk. "Orochimaru-sama values me for more than just my power."

"Oh? So that's what you think?"

Suddenly, a pale blue figure shot from Neji's mouth with lightning speed. Kabuto barely registered it before his right arm was severed, blood splattering the ground.

"You're still far too green," Neji said coolly as he passed him like the wind.

"What?!"

Kabuto stumbled back, cradling his stump. His eyes narrowed, fury flashing. "The Orochi-style Body Substitution Technique?!"

But when had Neji even learned it? It was only a brief exchange with Orochimaru!

Still, he quickly calmed down. He pressed his palm against the bleeding wound, channeling medical chakra.

So this is the man who will one day trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War… He didn't even flinch from severing my arm. That kind of resolve…

If the roles were reversed, Kabuto wasn't sure he'd have remained so composed.

Drip… drip…

Blood fell steadily to the ground, and the sound sent Manda further into madness.

"You pathetic fools! You can't even handle one brat!"

"Oh? You think they were meant to take me down?" Neji sneered.

Their eyes widened in shock.

Neji's body was changing.

His skin paled to porcelain white. His body grew taller, larger. Then, thick tendrils of white flesh began to unfurl from his back, etched with strange markings.

"What is that?!" Orochimaru was frozen, as if lightning had struck him.

"This is absurd!"

The tendrils continued to transform. Eight of them grew into massive snake heads. Others became serpentine tails. All were coated in a glimmering layer of pale scales.

In moments, Neji's form towered over the battlefield a twenty-meter-tall, eight-headed, eight-tailed serpent.

Boom!

The white serpent landed with a thunderous crash, crushing Manda beneath its weight.

"No! This can't be!" Manda shrieked.

Cold, merciless eyes gleamed from eight monstrous heads as they turned simultaneously toward Manda, Orochimaru, and Kabuto.

This was the White Phosphorus Serpent the embodiment of Orochimaru's ultimate jutsu, the Yamata no Jutsu. Yet now, it was Neji who had summoned this forbidden power.

From the maw of one serpent head, Neji stepped out, his expression calm and satisfied.

"Well, Manda? What do you think?"

This was the strongest white serpent. The Yamata no Orochi. Its power could rival a Tailed Beast. Next to it, Manda looked like a helpless worm.

From a distance, it didn't even look like a snake.

It looked like a dragon descending upon the mortal world.

"Yamata no Jutsu…" Orochimaru murmured in a daze. That was supposed to be his trump card. No one had ever seen it before.

How does Neji know it?

"What is happening?!"

Tsunade and Katsuyu watched in stunned silence. This wasn't just ninjutsu. It felt like a force of nature a living disaster.

Even so, Manda didn't give up. He struggled out from under the crushing weight, bared his fangs, and lunged once more.

"You really won't quit?" Neji narrowed his eyes. "Fine. I'll show you what true despair looks like."