"What gave you the illusion that 'Lava Release is my only means'?"
Facing the tens of thousands of curse-marked black snakes surging forward, Uchiha Keizumi brought his hands together with no expression.
"Wind Release…"
This was an A-rank ninjutsu he had "burst" from Shimura Danzō.
"Vacuum Serial Great Sphere."
In an instant, it was as though dozens of invisible great cannons had opened fire at once within the narrow corridor.
One after another, semi-transparent "wind spheres," each more than a meter in diameter and condensed to near-solid, formed out of nothing.
The spheres howled with ear-splitting shrieks as they tore through the air, mercilessly crashing into the black tide of serpents ahead!
Every impact of a "Vacuum Great Sphere" triggered a miniature storm!
The terrifying part was not the direct force, but the ultra-high-speed currents of vacuum wind blades formed when Wind Release was compressed to its utmost!
[Shhhrkkk!!!]
The first wind sphere struck the core of the serpent horde. In an instant, within a radius of several meters from the impact point, the very air was sucked away!
Dozens of savage black snakes could not even cry out before their iron-hard scales twisted and shredded like paper, their fanged maws and the ninja tools they carried alike ripped and crushed apart by the invisible, violent wind blades.
They were ground into a crimson mist—a mixture of blood foam and metallic dust!
To say flesh and gore flew would not even capture the horror of such instant disintegration!
The following massive wind spheres fell one after another, bursting into clouds of crimson blood mist through the pitch-black tide of serpents like fields being plowed through.
Those mutated scales that had withstood the heat of magma for a time were as fragile as thin ice before the ultimate slicing and pressure of Wind Release.
The entire corridor was filled with the stench of blood and the haze of pulverized metal dust.
Like an infernal slaughterhouse!
Orochimaru's golden slit pupils suddenly contracted—not out of anguish for the serpents' loss, but because one particularly cunning "Vacuum Great Sphere," after shredding everything in its path—
Still had not lost momentum, whistling straight for his face.
From his mouth, the Kusanagi Sword's blade slid forth like a living serpent, trailing slick saliva, its length rapidly retracting to just over a meter for tighter control.
Orochimaru swung his sword and slashed at the massive wind sphere.
There was no earth-shaking collision—the condensed sphere was cleanly split in two by Orochimaru's Kusanagi Sword! The chaotic vacuum wind blades and turbulent air currents within the divided sphere howled past his body, carving two deep trenches into the wall behind him.
"Hm?!"
The next second, Orochimaru's feet suddenly sank into the ground. Looking down, he saw that the floor beneath him had at some point turned into a muddy swamp. Lifting his gaze, he saw that thousands of black serpents had also fallen into the mire, thrashing and writhing within it.
"Wind Release and Earth Release ninjutsu… you're this proficient in them as well?"
Just as Orochimaru's focus was slightly caught by the swamp beneath him—
An unprecedented surge of heat and chakra erupted from Uchiha Keizumi's direction, so intense it felt as though it would boil the very space itself!
Even more terrifying than anything before.
[Rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble, rumble——]
This time, the torrent of Lava Release was like the first apocalyptic breath of a reawakened volcano! No longer a horizontal strike, but a vertical eruption charged with the will to incinerate all, raging violently upward to the heavens!
The crimson magma column pierced countless layers of reinforced concrete without resistance, the human experimentation base's solid structure like a paper toy before this force of pure natural catastrophe.
The entire underground complex trembled, groaned, and collapsed violently.
Massive steel beams twisted and snapped like noodles, the blaring alarms drowned beneath the deafening roar of destruction!
"What is he doing… does he intend to destroy all my work?!"
Orochimaru watched as that world-ending column of magma shot into the clouds, the heavy clouds thousands of meters above dyed in a dark crimson hue.
Billowing black smoke rose like a doomsday pillar connecting heaven and earth.
The stench of sulfur spread for kilometers in every direction.
The tremors continued without pause, debris raining down like a storm into the swamp, splashing up waves of muddy filth. A faint, ominous unease stirred in Orochimaru's chest, compelling him to keep looking upward.
"Meteor…"
"Volcano."
Whether it was an illusion or not, Orochimaru thought he heard Uchiha Keizumi utter those few brief words amidst the roar of the collapsing world.
Shock froze upon Orochimaru's golden, slit-pupiled eyes. Gripping the Kusanagi Sword tightly, he stared fixedly at the heavens.
A thousand meters above, through clouds made translucent by the blazing magma, countless scarlet lights suddenly flared to life deep within the heavy, blood-hued mass—so dense they seemed endless.
Like a field of crimson stars in the night sky.
No—
Those were not stars, but something far more terrifying than stars!
The next instant—
[Shhraaak!]
[Shhraaak!]
[Shhraaak——!]
Piercing, ear-splitting noises—like enormous sheets of brocade being torn apart—ripped savagely through the turbulent night sky. One after another, immense crimson "wounds" were violently rent open across the surface of the clouds.
They're here!
Orochimaru's pupils constricted to needlepoints. What poured down through those rifts in the clouds—like waterfalls, like torrential rain, like a deluge—was a disaster from the heavens themselves: volcanic magma shells!
Each molten sphere, seven or eight meters in diameter, carried the searing heat of an erupting volcano and an unbearable kinetic weight.
They tore through the sky, trailing long, dazzling crimson tails of fire as they crashed down in an overwhelming storm.
Countless magma shells blanketed the land for over ten kilometers around, drowning everything in a twisting, rolling inferno of red light that devoured all hope.
Even the air was compressed to the point of exploding with a tangible roar!
"This scale of ninjutsu…"
Even Orochimaru—one of the three Sannin of Konohagakure, who had witnessed the brutal shinobi wars and the rampage of the Nine-Tails—could only force out a hoarse murmur of disbelief from deep in his throat.
His rasping voice even carried a trace of dryness.
This went beyond the realm of battle—this was like facing a natural catastrophe itself!
"How can that brat have so much chakra…"
"Could he be a Tailed Beast in disguise?!"
[Whizz——!]
At that moment, a shrill whistle so sharp it seemed to pierce the eardrums screamed from afar. Orochimaru's ears buzzed violently.
A single magma meteor, dragging a blazing crimson tail like a spear hurled by an enraged god, came crashing down upon a base building barely two hundred meters away!
[Rumble—rumble—RUMBLE——!!!!]
The impact point erupted like dozens of exploding tags detonating at once. The deafening blast made the ground beneath Orochimaru quake fiercely, and his already ringing ears nearly went deaf altogether.
An instant later, a wave of destruction—so hot it could carbonize hair in a blink—swept in from the right, mixed with shockwaves and molten debris, raging like an apocalyptic tempest!
Orochimaru's long hair whipped backward wildly under the force, his garments flapping violently, on the verge of being torn apart.
He could even feel the burning sting of his skin seared by the scorching air.
He snapped his head toward the blast—
At the heart of the impact, a roaring, expanding fire-red mushroom cloud rose, filled with fragments of stone, steel, and still-burning lava. The shockwave spread outward in visible concentric rings.
Wherever it passed, whether the fortress walls of the base or the intricate, fragile instruments within, everything was flung away like brittle toys.
An A-rank jutsu?
An S-rank jutsu?
Orochimaru's heart felt struck by a hammer—for this was only the power of a single magma shell!
[Rumble—RUMBLE!!!]
Another magma shell crashed down, and the shockwave from the impact instantly shattered the swamp that Uchiha Keizumi had created with Earth Release, evaporating it into white vapor.
The terrifying heat that followed directly melted hundreds of Cursed Seal black snakes still struggling at the swamp's edge—along with the blades clamped in their jaws—silently and without trace.
The fortress-like main structure of the base groaned under that overwhelming force, a sound that made one's teeth ache.
Massive alloy beams were twisted and torn apart by the magma's shockwave as easily as wringing a wet cloth.
The flowing red magma spread like a bloodthirsty beast, greedily devouring everything around it!
Orochimaru finally understood why this brat, Uchiha Keizumi, had earned the nickname "Lava Beast" from enemy shinobi during the Third Great Ninja War.
If this wasn't a beast, what else could it be?
But—
This was only the prelude!
[Whizz—BOOM!!!]
[Whizz—BOOM!!!]
[Whizz—BOOM!!!]
As though every gate of Hell had been thrown open, shrieks and explosions resounded one after another, endlessly overlapping.
Like the constant pounding of thunder drums.
Beating furiously against the trembling earth!
The entire human experimentation and research base was now shaking, groaning, collapsing. Looking up, one could see the sky raining down a meteor shower made purely of destruction—countless crimson trails screaming toward every direction.
Everywhere within sight was blazing fire, rolling smoke, and rivers of flowing magma!
It was unmistakably an apocalyptic scene!
Whizz—Suddenly, one magma shell, dragging a keening tail of fire, locked directly onto Orochimaru overhead! The terrifying heat and premonition of death made his scalp go numb in an instant!
"Damn it…!"
Orochimaru cursed under his breath. With a sharp kick, his body shot sideways like an arrow from the string. The Kusanagi Sword in his hand drew a silver arc, barely cutting through the searing wave rushing at him.
[Rumble——!!!]
A massive fireball exploded exactly where he had just stood.
The horrific shockwave caught up with his leaping figure and flung him violently several meters away! The remaining alloy floor was instantly melted through, leaving a massive crater bubbling with molten heat.
"Kh…!"
Orochimaru's breath caught as blood surged in his chest, a metallic taste rising to his throat.
He forced himself to steady his body, even catching the smell of his own scorched hair tips.
Just as he was about to move again—
"Ssst—"
A faint sound froze his motion instantly.
Looking down, he saw he was standing on a slab of metal half-melted by magma, barely supporting his weight. It meant his entire foot was pressed against molten iron.
That scalding liquid metal worked like the most efficient eraser—almost the moment it touched him, it dissolved the flesh of both his feet.
No blood.
No scream.
Only a sudden wisp of blue smoke, and veins bulging on Orochimaru's forehead as he endured the pain.
The bone-deep agony and killing instinct surged straight to his head.
"What a reckless little brat of justice…"
The twisted expression on Orochimaru's face lost all elegance and composure—only fury remained. The killing intent in his eyes, at that instant, nearly took solid form.
Orochimaru suddenly opened his mouth wide—far beyond any previous limit.
From deep in his throat came a series of retching, skin-tearing sounds that made one's scalp crawl.
"Gugh-splurt!!!"
A brand-new "Orochimaru," his entire body coated in slick mucus, his four limbs intact like a newborn infant's, grotesquely forced its way out from the throat and chest of his original body.
With the stench of blood and slime, that newly emerged body flipped deftly in mid-air and landed.
The ruined old shell—its legs gone, much of its torso charred black by the blast's aftermath—collapsed limply onto the scorching ground like a discarded snake's skin.
Moments later, the flowing magma reached it and mercilessly swallowed it whole.
It melted away—then vaporized.
[BOOM!!!]
Another magma shell crashed nearby, blasting Orochimaru's entire body through the air. His expression darkened as he realized… this human-experimentation base could no longer be stayed in. With this scale of ninjutsu, even a single misstep would spell his end.
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