Who knows how much time had passed.
"Thump!"
"Cough."
His body collided with a thick tree trunk, making a dull thud. The tough bark on his back was gouged out, forming large, spiderweb-like depressions.
The young man, covered in wounds, coughed up a mouthful of blood. He barely managed to lift his weak, numb wrist, attempting to raise the pitted, black kunai in his hand and point it at his opponent.
However, before he could recover, a sword blade, as dim as a phantom moon, had already pierced directly into his shoulder, pinning him firmly to the tree trunk.
"Very good, Mr. Aizen."
"To actually force me to such a state."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice sounded. His right hand gripped the hilt of the kusanagi sword with all his might, his body leaning forward, maintaining the posture of pinning his opponent's torso.
His pale face was already stained with blood, and his left hand and left leg were severed at the wrist and knee respectively. From the gruesome severed ends, several suspicious granulation tissues, extending from the tendons, were wriggling, like small hands exploring, constantly trying to grasp.
His loose, dark hair was slightly disheveled, and his expression showed some fatigue, but the corners of his lips were unconsciously upturned.
His snake-like vertical pupils scanned the exposed skin on the opponent's neck and arm veins.
There, black veins were continuously spreading upwards, as if trying to trace all the way to the young man's heart.
Even the blood the young man coughed up carried traces of black.
"It must be very painful, Mr. Aizen?"
"I am very clear about the potency of my snake venom."
"Tell me."
"Whose person are you, after all?"
Orochimaru said, his sticky tongue licking the blood from the corners of his lips, as if savoring a rare delicacy.
Despite having lost an arm and a leg, he looked even more at ease than the young man in front of him.
From the previous battle, he had already discerned many clues.
The young man's movements contained both Kumogakure's combat techniques and Root's unique escape skills. Even the way he wielded the kunai had a hint of Anbu's sword techniques... At the same time, though only in his early twenties, he had already mastered some of these techniques, which even caused Orochimaru some pressure when facing him directly.
Was he a spy from Kumogakure, planted in Konoha since childhood?
Or was he a spy from Root or Anbu, left in Kumogakure, who had now returned to assume this identity?
Was he cooperating with Sarutobi-sensei's actions?
Or had Danzo Shimura, that old man, decided to use such a foolish method to deal with him?
In just a moment, many thoughts flashed through Orochimaru's mind.
"Cough... cough cough..."
The young man, pinned to the tree trunk, coughed several times, black-tinged blood overflowing from the corners of his lips. The broken, thick spectacle frames reflected a dim light under the Gekko, causing Orochimaru to involuntarily narrow his eyes.
The opponent's face still held the same smile as when they first met.
"Truly remarkable, Lord Orochimaru."
"To actually be able to achieve this..."
Aizen's voice was so weary that even breathing was difficult, yet his words made Orochimaru feel inexplicably puzzled, and he instinctively frowned.
As the young man spoke, he laboriously raised his hand and gripped the blade of the kusanagi sword.
The moment his fingertips clutched the edge, fresh red blood oozed from the cracked skin, flowing down the silver-white blade.
Orochimaru instinctively became more vigilant.
However, the opponent seemed to have no intention of counterattacking, merely enduring the pierced shoulder wound and slowly taking a step.
The blade completely penetrated his body, connecting with the tree trunk.
One step, two steps... The distance between the two grew shorter and shorter, and the alarm bells in Orochimaru's heart grew heavier.
Until finally, their eyes met.
He slowly raised his still bleeding hand, reaching out to him, as if trying to touch something with all his might.
His fingertips stopped an inch before Orochimaru's pale face.
Aizen's voice suddenly became calm.
"It's just... haven't you noticed yet?"
"Lord Orochimaru."
Hearing this, Orochimaru was startled at first.
But then, he suddenly realized something and abruptly threw down the sword hilt, retreating several steps.
The sound came from behind him.
Crack!
A crisp sound, like a mirror shattering, came from his ear.
Orochimaru turned his head.
At the junction of the Gekko and the forest shadows.
The young man in a Konoha uniform was still standing there, spotless, holding a freshly closed notebook.
Just as they had first met.
He hadn't moved an inch.
Aizen Sōsuke cast a gentle gaze towards Orochimaru, their eyes meeting.
That smile, which felt like a spring breeze, made Orochimaru's heart feel as if a chilling wind had suddenly swept through it, and he even faintly broke out in a cold sweat on his back.
'The one I was fighting just now, could it be...'
Orochimaru's snake-like eyes suddenly scanned the surroundings.
The shattered forest was covered with torn sword marks, towering trees had collapsed everywhere, the ground was cracked like a spiderweb, and the charred soil was mixed with blood and the embers of Chakra. A few withered grasses trembled in the heat, and in the distance, under the night sky, came the hoarse caw of crows.
Dismembered limbs of different identities were scattered in the distance, tracing their 'battle' marks all the way from the initial position to the present.
The mask of the Root Ninja, pinned to the tree trunk in front of him, was largely shattered. On his face, which should have been expressionless, until the very end, there was a mix of incomprehension and astonishment. His dilated pupils stared straight into the distance, with a hint of unwillingness.
At the same time, the surface of all the corpses on the ground showed large areas of overflowing white substance. Dense tree branches continuously drilled out and emerged from within their bodies.
These were the most common signs of Wood Release cell human experimentation.
In the pitch-black night sky, the crescent moon, which had been hanging high in the western sky, had already sunk towards the eastern foothills.
Orochimaru's figure seemed to be frozen in place.
'Genjutsu?!'
'Since when?'
'Now, how much time has actually passed?'
'Why didn't the monitoring team react?'
The suddenly discovered truth, along with one question after another, continuously exploded in his mind, causing Orochimaru to instinctively clench his fists.
No, it wasn't just that.
As if he had thought of something, Orochimaru turned his head and looked at his limbs, which should have been 'severed.'
Indeed.
Just like the corpses on the ground that were growing branches.
At this moment, the surface of his left half of his body also showed large areas of white traces.
Without his knowledge, all his bodily senses had been obscured by this white substance, and the branches growing from his left foot had deeply rooted into the ground, firmly locking him in place.
Such a violent physiological reaction, yet he hadn't detected the slightest bit of it before the man opposite him spoke.
This outcome caused a moment of trance in Orochimaru's mind, and his gaze instinctively fell upon the other person.
From the very beginning, had this guy used everyone, including himself?
This was truly... incredible.
"Mr. Aizen."
Orochimaru's hoarse voice sounded again, his gaze fixed on the gradually fading figure opposite him, and he slowly spoke:
"What exactly do you want to do?"
Hearing this, Aizen looked up at him.
His gaze from behind the thick glasses seemed to take in the person in front of him for the first time, quietly staring directly.
On his gently contoured face, a self-evident smile suddenly appeared, and his tone was as gentle and composed as ever:
"Of course, to change this world."
"Heh."
Orochimaru looked at him, and the gradually stiffening corners of his mouth stretched into a faint line.
Slowly, it turned from a faint smile into a hearty laugh.
There was obvious mockery in that smile.
So that's how it is.
If it's someone like you, then the current Konoha... Soon, that composed expression was obscured by the continuously spreading white substance.
After quietly watching everything conclude, Aizen Sōsuke finally turned around, his tone gentle:
"Farewell, Lord Orochimaru."
"You are indeed excellent experimental material."
Almost at the same moment his voice fell.
The surging, churning white substance completely obscured all of Orochimaru's senses, engulfing him entirely within this myriad of rapidly proliferating pure white... "Lord Orochimaru!!!"
Yakushi Kabuto, still sitting in the underground monitoring secret room, remained in his raised-head posture, watching all of this unfold before his eyes. He clenched his fists, almost unable to contain himself, his expression filled with disbelief.
Lord Orochimaru, who was invincible and never lost, had died silently at the hands of an unknown nobody?
This was absolutely impossible!
However, the alarm button in his hand was pressed until it shattered without having any effect. All the barriers, which should have been fully deployed, showed no reaction, indicating that all these methods had probably been completely broken by the opponent long ago.
At this point, for a mere Chunin-level youth like him, even anger seemed so futile.
Yakushi Kabuto gritted his teeth, his mind churning with thoughts.
Now, the only role he could play was to convey the information Lord Orochimaru had obtained at the very end.
The true identity of that man.
"Aizen—"
Deep within Yakushi Kabuto's suppressed voice, the name seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
The young man suddenly stood up from his seat.
The only course of action now was to reveal this man's identity to Lord Danzo and the Hokage in advance... However, after standing up.
Yakushi Kabuto seemed to suddenly notice something and looked at the entire monitoring hall with confusion.
The entire secret room remained completely silent.
He froze for a moment, then instinctively patted the shoulder of a researcher beside him.
And then, he saw the other person collapse limply.
This sound was like the first domino tile being pushed over.
Thump!
All the personnel in the entire monitoring room collapsed in rows and sections, like building blocks kicked apart by a mischievous child, making a series of dull thuds.
Yakushi Kabuto was completely stunned.
Finally, he seemed to have thought of something.
The young man trembled faintly, slowly turning around, tentatively looking behind him.
The figure that had appeared on the screen earlier was now sitting calmly behind him, propping his chin with one hand, also maintaining the posture of watching the screen, seemingly lost in thought.
As if noticing Yakushi Kabuto's gradually solidifying gaze, Aizen turned his head towards him, smiling gently.
He softly responded to his call:
"I am here."