Having gained control of the battlefield with the Ten Thousand Snakes Formation, Orochimaru, with a sinister grin, slithered through the cover of the overwhelming snake horde like a serpent, rapidly closing in on Karin, who was dragging Sasuke and Sakura away.
With her Kagura Mind's Eye, Karin naturally wouldn't be caught off guard by Orochimaru's sneak attack. Sensing him closing in from behind, she swiftly threw Sasuke and Sakura far out of reach, then turned to engage Orochimaru in taijutsu combat.
Bang bang bang.
After a whirlwind of rapid taijutsu exchanges, Karin barely managed to hold Orochimaru off.
But as her focus was entirely on the Orochimaru before her, she suddenly felt a sharp pain at her ankle. Looking down, she saw a small green snake, unnoticed until now, had bitten her ankle.
Instantly, a numbing sensation spread from the wound.
"Poison!" she realized with a start.
Orochimaru smirked. "This is a venomous snake I carefully cultivated. Once bitten, even the strongest shinobi will be completely paralyzed within five seconds!"
"What!?"
The entire group was shocked.
Sasuke, thrown to the ground by Karin, looked ashen.
In just a brief exchange, Naruto had been gravely injured, Haku and Chino were wounded, Ryuzetsu was trapped in the snake horde, struggling to fend for herself, and now Karin was poisoned.
The situation had become completely one-sided!
Seeming to believe victory was assured, Orochimaru sauntered toward the fallen Sasuke, saying, "This is the end!"
Staring at the approaching Orochimaru, Sasuke felt despair.
"You bastard, stay away from Sasuke!"
Naruto's layered shout exploded across the battlefield!
Orochimaru turned to see Naruto, whom he had knocked down first, not only standing but also unleashing the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique, creating hundreds upon thousands of shadow clones that nearly filled the entire battlefield.
Then, in groups of two or three, the clones began forming Rasengan, and soon, one after another, glowing Rasengan orbs lit up!
This scene sparked a glimmer of hope in Sasuke's despairing heart.
Sakura, overcome with emotion, cried out, "Naruto!"
Even Orochimaru couldn't help but marvel. "To create so many shadow clones—worthy of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki!"
Countless Narutos shouted in unison, "A guy like you doesn't deserve to be mentioned alongside Jiraiya-sensei! Today, I'll defeat you!"
With that, all the Narutos charged at Orochimaru from every direction.
The sight moved everyone present, including Haku and Karin. Even Sasuke, who usually looked down on Naruto, was stunned, his mouth slightly agape.
Orochimaru's smile faded as he placed the Kusanagi Sword in his mouth, freeing his hands to form seals. "Kusanagi Sword, Blade of the Sky!"
In an instant, Orochimaru's neck extended dramatically, darting forward like a snake. At the same time, the Kusanagi Sword in his mouth stretched out, extending dozens of meters.
With a sharp twist of his head, the extended Kusanagi Sword swept horizontally.
Bang bang bang.
Wherever the Kusanagi Sword passed, Naruto's shadow clones, trees, and structures were all sliced cleanly through, bursting into clouds of white smoke.
Though Naruto's shadow clones were numerous, they couldn't withstand the dozens-of-meters-long Kusanagi Sword's sweeping strikes. After just two sweeps, most of Naruto's clones were wiped out.
As for the countless Rasengan Naruto had formed, some dissipated from lack of chakra, while others accidentally struck the ground or trees, blasting craters but not a single one hitting Orochimaru.
As Naruto's shadow clones collapsed en masse, his real body was exposed. Orochimaru immediately thrust his sword, piercing Naruto's body and pinning him to a tree.
Without retrieving the sword, Orochimaru retracted his elongated neck.
Sakura despaired. "How… how could this happen?!"
She couldn't believe that Naruto, who had produced so many shadow clones, would lose so quickly and so miserably!
Sasuke's face was deathly pale. "The gap is this vast?"
"You kids have already exceeded expectations!" Orochimaru said with a smile, resuming his approach toward Sasuke.
Naruto was pinned to a tree by the Kusanagi Sword, his fate uncertain. Sakura trembled, her eyes vacant. Haku and Chino were injured, Karin was poisoned, and Ryuzetsu was entangled by the Ten Thousand Snakes Formation.
The situation seemed set in stone.
Even Orochimaru himself began to let his guard down, as the kids' performance had far surpassed his expectations.
At that moment, Karin, who should have been paralyzed by the snake venom, suddenly took a step forward.
"Hm?!"
Orochimaru halted abruptly, his expression tinged with surprise.
Karin, having stepped forward, slowly raised her arms.
Swish swish.
Haku and Chino, using the Body Flicker Technique, appeared at her sides and bit into her raised arms.
Hiss hiss.
Amid a burst of steam, the wounds inflicted on Haku and Chino by the Kusanagi Sword began healing at a visible rate.
Orochimaru was taken aback. "What's this?"
Restored by Karin's chakra, Chino immediately activated her Ketsuryugan dojutsu, drawing out the poisoned blood from Karin's ankle wound bit by bit, then swiftly purifying it with her dojutsu power.
As the venom-tainted blood was extracted, Karin felt the paralysis rapidly fading.
Soon, she was completely free of the numbing sensation and began moving again.
Haku exhaled, activating his Mark.
Chino, coldly staring at Orochimaru, returned the purified blood to Karin's body with her dojutsu power.
In the distance, Ryuzetsu had dispatched the snakes trapping her, drawing her kunai and readying to attack.
In terms of combat experience, they were indeed far inferior to Orochimaru. Caught off guard by his vast experience, they nearly collapsed at the start.
But Orochimaru had clearly underestimated them.
Ryuzetsu and Chino lacked experience against top-tier opponents, so facing someone of Orochimaru's caliber threw them off. Haku and Karin, meanwhile, were holding back to avoid exposing their full strength, which left them constrained.
Seeing the kids rally in the blink of an eye, Orochimaru finally wiped the smile from his face, his brow furrowing!
Swish.
At that moment, a figure descended from the sky, landing in the center of the battlefield!
" 'A'!?"
Orochimaru was startled.
The newcomer was none other than Shinji, arriving from the other battlefield!