Almost the instant his words fell, Orochimaru's snake-like eyes suddenly narrowed into two blade-like slits.
At the same time, all information related to the man in front of him flashed through his mind.
'Aizen Sōsuke...'
Although he was in the same class as Kakashi, besides his decent learning ability, his talent, physique, and background were unremarkable. After graduating from the Ninja Academy at the age of nine, he entered Konoha Hospital and became a Medical Genin.
He had no outstanding achievements during the Third Great Ninja War, merely avoiding the front-line slaughterhouse due to his status as a Medical Ninja, and was promoted to Chunin at the age of twelve.
After the war, he began to participate in scientific research and, several years ago, was promoted to Jonin through his developmental research in Yin Release bloodline limits.
His resume, among the young Konoha Ninja, might be considered excellent, but for a 'big shot' like him, it was too ordinary, especially with a blank slate in bloodline limits, making him unworthy of his attention.
Is that why he was able to escape his notice?
Orochimaru thought this, a hint of curiosity inadvertently showing in his expression:
"Who exactly are you?"
"A spy, a mole, a defector from a bloodline family, or... a silent ambitious person?"
Such an ordinary life history, yet capable of doing what he is doing now, could only mean that this man, like Yakushi Kabuto, discovered his extraordinary talent and observational skills from a young age, or perhaps received secret training and managed to escape everyone's notice.
—What an impressive young man.
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly, inadvertently revealing a hint of admiration, and... the deepest killing intent.
"Just an unknown nobody."
Aizen, standing before him, seemed completely oblivious to the hidden meaning in Orochimaru's gaze, his tone calm, "To have my name remembered by a great personage like yourself."
"This is my honor."
"Discovering the Wood Release experimental subject, guiding my actions, obscuring the Anbu and Root's vision, and finally leading me here..." Orochimaru's voice was flat as he walked towards him as if strolling in a park, closing the distance between them.
"An unknown nobody couldn't do these things."
"You flatter me."
Listening to Orochimaru's words, Aizen showed a slightly shy smile, like a truly young man.
Orochimaru ignored his words, his voice continuing:
"When did all this begin?"
The Wood Release experimental subject that even he, a participant in Wood Release research, failed to discover;
The information blockade against Root and Anbu;
His secret guidance;
The coveting of his experimental data or more resources... Just imagining the workload and hidden methods required to accomplish these things, Orochimaru's strongest curiosity grew uncontrollably, ultimately transforming into boundless excitement.
"From the very beginning."
The man standing before him still maintained that polite yet somewhat deferential demeanor, smiling as he replied: "Whether it's talent, planning, covetousness, or even your failure, it was all predetermined from the start."
"Lord Orochimaru."
Aizen Sōsuke said, also stepping towards him, his tone as calm as if he were recounting an insignificant matter, yet his voice, like a sharp knife, cut open the emotions Orochimaru concealed beneath his silence:
"And you are just as I judged you to be: narrow-minded and arrogant, rich in emotion yet self-contained, and simultaneously possessing the determination and ambition to pursue your path by any means necessary."
"That's why you followed your suspicions and impulses."
"And ultimately came here."
Orochimaru's pupils constricted slightly, provoked by this unprecedented assessment. The smile on his pale face grew even wider, clearly enraged, yet his voice became even calmer:
"Then, Mr. Aizen."
"You, who are so skilled at planning, why then—"
As his final step landed, his hoarse voice climbed word by word, transforming into a suddenly surging tsunami beneath the calm.
"Dare to stand before me?"
Exploding with that voice was also the terrifying killing intent unique to the Sannin, standing at the pinnacle of the entire contemporary Ninja World.
Just the killing intent mixed with his gaze stirred up a fierce gust of wind around the two. The surging killing intent, ignited by ever-growing rage, suddenly swept through like a storm, and the swirling currents in the dense forest created a bone-chilling cold that caused the tough bark of the surrounding century-old trees to crack and peel.
In the center of Orochimaru's highly constricted vision, Aizen Sōsuke's face became increasingly clear.
Stepping, moving forward.
An unimaginable force slammed heavily onto the soft ground, kicking up large clumps of scattered earth. The reactive force that erupted with it propelled his slender figure, tracing a blurred afterimage along the ground, too fast for the naked eye to catch.
His wrist, always resting at his waist, drew his sword with a clang. The incredibly sharp kusanagi sword reflected a broken arc in the moonlight, wrapped in a violent gust of wind, and with a faint sonic boom, it unceremoniously slashed towards the neck of the man opposite him.
Clang—!
That was the tearing sound of metal colliding.
The sparks that erupted caused the kusanagi sword to suddenly stop just an inch from Aizen's neck, firmly embedded against a jet-black kunai, unable to advance another step.
In Orochimaru's vertical pupils, a momentary look of astonishment seemed to flash.
Aizen's voice sounded in his ear.
"As I said."
"Lord Orochimaru, you are too arrogant."
Almost the instant his voice fell, a black lightning-like whip kick sharply swept into Orochimaru's waist and abdomen, folding his body in half and sending him flying into the distance amidst the dense sound of bones breaking.
Before Orochimaru could get up, the chipped kunai, wrapped in a whistling gust of wind, shot straight towards his face.
In the nick of time, Orochimaru's neck snapped sharply to the side, bending at an almost ninety-degree angle.
With a dull thud.
The kunai plunged directly into the tree trunk behind him, leaving only its ring handle.
Following closely behind the kunai was the opponent's powerful, heavy straight punch.
Orochimaru barely managed to cross his arms to block, the punch striking his arm with a dull thud like cracking stone, a rare sensation of pain even for his body, which had undergone countless modifications.
However, the expression on his pale face grew even more excited.
'Not bad.'
In a flash, he reversed his grip on the kusanagi sword, slashing forward at a distance almost grazing their bodies, tearing the air with a sound like ripping silk, causing the young man opposite him to instinctively step back half a pace.
Before he could react, another suddenly extended arm reached out, grabbing directly for his shoulder.
The young man was momentarily caught off guard. Five claw-like fingers had already fiercely gripped his shoulder blade, and the arm, extended several meters, suddenly swung like a whip, actually seizing his entire body and sweeping it through a deadly arc in mid-air.
It wasn't until the moment he was about to hit the ground that a kunai plunged directly into the center of the arm, severing muscle and bone. The sudden loss of grip was immediately broken, and his body twisted as he landed on a tree trunk.
Then, using the momentary leverage of his feet landing on the tree trunk, his figure shot out again like an arrow from a bowstring.
Clang!
The kunai and the kusanagi sword collided again.
Beneath the dim moonlight, their gazes inadvertently met, and both faces simultaneously revealed a smile.
Immediately following, a continuous barrage of collision sounds, like a sudden storm, rose from the depths of the dense forest. Their alternating figures also constantly shifted, moving too fast to follow.
This long-awaited evenly matched battle gradually ignited the dormant passion in Orochimaru's heart, as if he had returned to the battlefield of old, fighting countless Ninja who scorned death.
His speed, his strength, his reactions, his skill... everything about him excited Orochimaru beyond measure.
To possess strength only a step below his own at such a young age, what secrets truly lay hidden within this young body?
Just thinking of this point, the greed in those snake-like eyes involuntarily flared brightly.
Making him even more eager.
Consequently, even the arm wielding the blade seemed to grow stronger, the piercing wind constantly tearing past their sides.
The surfaces of the surrounding towering trees burst open with grotesque cracks, as if two giant beasts were battling in the forest, tearing soil, snapping trees, and sending branches and leaves flying in their inadvertent collisions, terrifyingly unlike a battle between Ninja.
Equally stunned by this battle were the others in the monitoring room at this moment... Yakushi Kabuto maintained a dazed, upward gaze. Not only him, but the surrounding researchers also stared in astonishment, their eyes fixed on the screen covering the entire wall before them.
The young man's hand pressed tightly on the alarm button on the workstation, directly connected to Lord Orochimaru's earpiece, continuously pressing it for an unknown duration, yet receiving no feedback whatsoever.
The man in the footage was still fighting in a frenzy.
Almost instinctively, a low, seemingly incredulous murmur escaped Yakushi Kabuto's lips:
"Lord Orochimaru..."
"What in the world are you doing?!"