Chapter 604: Kabuto Yakushi's Surprise.
Rumble—!
Two indomitable giants exchanged punches and kicks, generating fierce winds and battling until the heavens collapsed and the earth shattered.
With crimson eyes, Sasuke Uchiha unleashed his full combat power. His killing intent boiled as he manipulated Susanoo like a fierce tiger, carrying a chilling momentum that would not rest until one side was dead.
Orochimaru, equally glaring with a pair of bewitching Mangekyo, was gloomy and ice-cold. His killing intent was like frost as he fearlessly met the attack head-on, like a vicious and venomous giant snake.
As if by prior agreement, both of them abandoned any flashy or nimble combat styles, choosing the most direct and brutal method. Manipulating their Susanoo, they launched into a bloody hand-to-hand melee like two samurai.
How ferocious was the combat power of a Susanoo as tall as a mountain? Every punch and every kick blasted the atmosphere apart, howling like thunder, accompanied by the shattering of mountain rocks and the cracking of the earth!
It was as if the earth dragon had turned over and a great catastrophe had descended. How terrifying it was!
Sakura Uchiha also had to retreat a little, yielding the battlefield as she narrowed her eyes to observe the battle situation.
From the memories inherited from the original, Sakura Uchiha had heard of a term: Gundam.
Unlike the original, the clone girl was born and raised here. As a clone, she had never quite understood why people from that other world would be so obsessed with such giant, unscientific robots.
But the battle before her eyes gave her a vague, new understanding.
Comparing Susanoo to a Gundam in a magical worldview was not entirely inappropriate. There were many parallels between the two: they could fly, run, and attack from long range, but relied mainly on close-quarters melee combat. And more importantly—
Watching these majestic, massive behemoths violently collide, exchanging punches and kicks with massive momentum, truly made one's heart tremble and their blood boil.
But ultimately, the young girl did not choose to join the battlefield.
The Susanoo of Sasuke and Orochimaru were extremely formidable. Fighting against each other, they were like evenly matched chess opponents or perfectly paired generals; a victor would not be decided anytime soon. However, Sakura's mastery over the Sharingan and Yin Release was still above that of Sasuke, who possessed the orthodox Uchiha bloodline, and Orochimaru, the mad scientist.
Admittedly, if she joined the battle and teamed up to deal with Orochimaru, it was likely that no matter what trump cards Orochimaru had left, he would not be able to withstand the combined siege of two super powerhouses.
But as mentioned earlier, Sakura Uchiha chose to let Sasuke fight Orochimaru alone because this was a rare opportunity for Kage-level combat experience.
However, another reason was something that left her slightly surprised.
"To think you actually dared to attack me. It seems I underestimated your courage." The young girl tilted her head slightly, dodging a completely unthreatening yet highly provocative kunai. Her gaze was neither surprised nor angry as she said flatly, "However, are you really in such a rush to seek death..."
"Kabuto Yakushi?"
A substantial, seemingly tangible killing intent instantly enveloped the bespectacled youth on the other side of the battlefield!
Kabuto Yakushi stood on a small mound, his hand still maintaining the posture of throwing the kunai. His face turned pale the instant the young girl's gaze fell upon him, and the fake smile froze on his face. He then pushed up his glasses, took a deep breath, and said, "What a strong aura, Haruno Sakura..."
"However, the destiny of a ninja is to die in battle anyway. I've long since had that resolve... No matter what, I can't let a junior look down on me like this!"
"Moreover, if I don't keep you occupied and let you intervene in Lord Orochimaru's battle, once Lord Orochimaru is defeated, I'll die here sooner or later anyway!"
The young girl scoffed.
"You make it sound nice." She cast a disdainful glance at Kabuto. "But does an ant really dare to clamor about blocking a giant?"
Kabuto gave a mysterious smile and pulled out several scrolls from behind his back, lining them up on the ground: "Hehe, I will give you a little surprise...!"
The young girl's elegant brows raised slightly.
The massive gap in combat power meant she didn't care at all about what tricks Kabuto could play.
However, the excellent combat literacy inherited from the original meant she had no habit of letting enemies freely exert their power, even if the opponent was nothing more than an ant in her eyes.
The young girl's expression was indifferent. She stood with her hands behind her back, looking down at the minuscule enemy beneath her feet.
She didn't move an inch; with merely a shift in her thoughts, the chakra giant beneath her turned its head, its brilliant dual pupils piercing straight toward the other side of the battlefield.
Just this single glance made Kabuto Yakushi's heart pound in fear!
His scalp went numb, and every hair on his body stood on end instantly. Looking up, he saw that at the same time the giant turned its head, a violent green light erupted from its waist, and a colossal greatsword that reached the heavens viciously slashed over!
Swoosh—!
A heavy, thunderous roar mixed with the sound of tearing silk as the air was ripped apart. In a trance-like instant, the greatsword chopped down, and the heavens and the earth seemed to dim.
I can't block this... I will die!
"Bastard...!" Kabuto, who was usually calm and composed, couldn't help but roar in anger, the expression on his face becoming particularly ferocious. "I told you, don't underestimate me!"
As he spoke, the bespectacled youth clapped his hands together. The chakra on his body violently erupted, and his momentum unexpectedly surged high for a moment!
Boom—!
The earth crumbled and cracked open. Several giant pythons astonishingly burst out from underground! Each one was one to two hundred meters long, possessing terrifyingly massive bodies. With the speed of a sudden thunderbolt, they coiled around the body of Susanoo!
"Summoning Jutsu: Slithering Evil Snake!"
Infused with a mighty and massive amount of chakra, the jutsu's power was pushed to its absolute limit. The summoned giant snakes were even thicker than Manda in size, and their strength was beyond imagination.
However, they still could not stop Susanoo's sword.
Sakura Uchiha stood high atop the giant. Her eyes swept faintly over the giant pythons violently rising from beneath her feet, and she let out a cold snort. Their berserk strength failed to halt the giant's offensive; the sword's light only paused for a fraction of a second. In the next moment, it transformed into an astonishingly long crescent moon mid-air, enveloping the giant snakes and the small mound where Kabuto stood.
Swish!
Mountain rocks shattered, and thick smoke billowed.
The giant pythons were sliced in half at the waist, dismembered into several segments. Stinking, foul blood gushed out madly, pooling into several small ponds on the ground.
Sakura manipulated Susanoo to retract the spiral greatsword. Without waiting for the thick dust to settle, she calmly turned her head to look in another direction: "You move quite fast, Kabuto Yakushi!"
At the spot where her gaze fell, stood the completely unharmed bespectacled youth, Kabuto.
Using the giant pythons to block Susanoo for a brief instant, he had actually managed to escape that certain-death slash!
As expected of Orochimaru's prized subordinate.
But Kabuto did not feel the slightest bit happy about the young girl's praise. Having faced this slash head-on, he now understood the gap between the two of them even more clearly: a casual sword strike from the other party was a terrifying power that he couldn't block even with all his might!
He was, at the very least, an elite ninja who had experienced hundreds of battles. The more nervous he was, the calmer Kabuto became internally. His face quickly put back on its habitual sneer.
"Don't be so hasty. Aren't you curious about what surprise I will give you?" Kabuto said with a fake smile.
The scrolls in front of him had been conveniently opened while he was dodging just now. The several corpses stored inside were neatly lined up on the ground.
"Surprise?"
The young girl raised her brow, but instead of choosing to give him another sword strike, she looked over coldly.
Sakura Uchiha knew that Kabuto was an expert at manipulating corpses, and she also knew that her opponent had a habit of collecting them. But when she saw the true faces of the corpses clearly, her elegant brows couldn't help but furrow slightly.
Those corpses were shockingly the Sound Four and Kimimaro, who had fought against the original a few years ago.
"Your so-called surprise is collecting these defeated losers?" The young girl said disdainfully. "I overestimated you, Kabuto!"
The bespectacled youth shook his head: "No, those are just a decoy used to attract your attention... The real surprise is this."
He reached out his hand; a thick injection syringe was shockingly pierced into his arm.
The syringe was empty; the liquid inside had clearly already been fully injected.
Ugly scales spread out from the needle hole.
The corners of Kabuto Yakushi's mouth curled up, revealing a wickedly charming smile.