"Hiss hiss hiss!"
When the thick wall of smoke faded, a massive serpent emerged, towering several tens of meters high.
Under the sunlight, its scales, arranged in sharp cyan diamond patterns, glimmered with a cold metallic sheen.
The beast opened its enormous jaws, saliva dripping in thick strings from its fangs.
Every drop that hit the ground sizzled, leaving small pits behind as smoke rose from the corrosive fluid.
The Sand Village Jonin raised a hand to shield his eyes from the harsh light.
His expression tightened when he finally saw the creature clearly.
"A summoning from the Snake Clan… so you also signed a contract. As expected of Orochimaru's disciple."
Standing atop the serpent's head, Uchiha Hayashi looked down at him, the difference in height making the Jonin appear no larger than an insect.
A cold, merciless glint flickered in Hayashi's eyes.
"Are you ready to accept death?"
The words echoed unnaturally.
"Accept death?"
"Death?"
The Sand Jonin's vision warped.
The battlefield grew blurred, sounds fading into a distant hum.
Suddenly, a reaper's scythe sliced toward his neck, gleaming with a deadly cold light.
Blood sprayed in every direction as his head rolled across the ground like a stone—
His eyes snapped open.
"Genjutsu… when?!"
He immediately disrupted his chakra flow, shattering the illusion.
But the moment the world stabilized, he found a colossal tail barreling toward him.
The serpent's scales flashed like forged steel, the force behind the strike dragging a violent gale along with it.
"Bang!"
Stone and dirt exploded upward as the Sand Ninja leapt high, narrowly avoiding the attack.
Even so, flying debris grazed his arm, cutting into the skin.
The serpent attacked again.
The massive tail sliced through the air, aiming straight for his head.
"Wind Style, Great Vacuum Sphere!"
Still mid-air, he formed hand seals with practiced speed.
Several high-pressure wind bullets shot out, colliding head-on with the incoming tail.
The force of the attack pushed him backward, helping him create distance.
But the sight he expected did not occur.
Instead of ripping through the scales, the wind jutsu shattered instantly.
"What? Its strength and speed are below Manda, but its defense is higher?!"
Dodging another sweeping attack, he quickly analyzed the creature.
He had witnessed Orochimaru summon Manda multiple times.
This serpent was weaker overall, but its defense… it was insane.
A B-rank Wind Style technique couldn't even leave a dent.
A fully armored tank.
"But then why is something this docile obeying its summoner? Shouldn't it be like Manda, trying to attack its own summoner for entertainment?"
The truth lay in the personalities of their summoners.
Orochimaru valued raw power above everything else.
He didn't care if a creature was obedient, only that it was strong.
If it was dangerous, even better.
That was why he repeatedly risked using Manda, a serpent infamous for its arrogance and violence.
But Hayashi was different.
He refused to place his life in unnecessary danger.
A beast like Manda was powerful, but completely unreliable.
Hayashi preferred something slightly weaker if it meant it obeyed without hesitation.
Power meant nothing if it wasn't under his control.
The Sand Jonin finally broke away from the serpent's range with a Body Flicker, landing on a raised patch of earth.
"What's wrong? Can the great Sand Village Jonin only dodge?" Hayashi folded his arms, his expression relaxed and mocking.
"You look like a frightened rat."
The Jonin chuckled while tugging at his damaged sleeve.
"You don't need to provoke me. I underestimated you, I admit it.
If the mission fails, so be it.
But what about you?
You really want me dead, don't you?"
Hayashi's expression darkened.
The Jonin's lips curved upward.
"Ah. That face.
Yes… one of your subordinates died in my hands.
Just like that.
Like garbage thrown aside."
His smile widened, sharp and cruel.
"You Leaf shinobi like to talk about bonds, don't you?
So how does it feel, watching a comrade die so miserably?
Painful?
Hopeless?
Does it sting to know how weak you are?
Maybe it's because your hatred for me isn't deep enough."
The words sliced through the air like kunai, cold and deliberate.
He wasn't taunting for amusement.
He was calculating.
Experienced.
A Jonin who had survived countless missions knew that pushing an opponent into blind rage often led to victory.
Hayashi was young.
If he broke his composure, he would die.
Still… something didn't add up.
How could a ten-year-old have such massive chakra reserves?
Summoning a serpent of this class wasn't simple.
Even most adults couldn't do it.
Was this boy really an Uchiha?
Not an Uzumaki or a Senju?
"Are you done? You talk too much." Hayashi cut him off.
His voice carried none of the anger the Jonin had hoped for.
He crouched, placing a hand gently on the serpent's head.
The serpent reacted immediately, raising its body high as its neck expanded outward, forming a wide cobra-like hood.
"Fire Style, Snake Liquid Boiling Technique!"
Hayashi finished forming his hand seals.
A massive torrent of fire roared outward as boiling corrosive fluid sprayed from the serpent's mouth.
The mixture merged mid-air, erupting into a violent cloud of superheated steam that surged toward the Sand Jonin like a living inferno.