"Lord Orochimaru… I'm sorry..."
After countless failed attempts to stand, Kimimaro coughed up a mouthful of blood and forced out the words with difficulty.
His entire reason for living was Orochimaru.
And now, he'd been taken down in a single strike by Naruto—instant defeat.
That fact planted a deep seed of dread in his heart.
What made it worse was that this opponent… looked even younger than him.
That sense of failure cut deeper than the agony of his Kekkai illness.
"If I can't be of use to Lord Orochimaru, then what's the point of my existence…?"
With that thought, Kimimaro completely ignored the backlash from his bloodline sickness and pushed his Shikotsumyaku to the absolute limit.
The shattered bones in his body began rapidly regenerating.
At the same time, the power of the three tomoe-shaped cursed marks activated.
He skipped the first stage entirely and leapt straight into the second form of the Earth Cursed Seal.
Kimimaro's pale skin turned jet black, his body and face covered with black markings.
From his back sprouted six sharp white bones, and a thick, raptor-like tail extended behind him.
What had once been a cold and handsome young man had turned grotesque in an instant.
Naruto clicked his tongue as he observed Kimimaro's transformation.
With the cursed mark's second form, Kimimaro's chakra surged wildly, becoming feral and unstable.
The Heaven and Earth cursed seals were secret techniques Orochimaru developed through research on Jūgo's body.
Cursed Seal Mode could be considered a poor man's version of Sage Mode.
Its appearance was intimidating, but its actual boost was far inferior to the real thing.
What truly caught Naruto's attention, however, wasn't the cursed mark—but Kimimaro's white hair.
The Kaguya clan's hair was supposed to be either black or gray.
Kimimaro's was naturally white—a clear sign of atavism.
Perhaps it was exactly this purity of blood that made his bloodline disease so deadly.
"Kill… I'll kill you!"
He slowly crawled out from the hole in the wall.
With the cursed seal activated, Kimimaro's voice grew deeper, and his eyes locked on Naruto, seething with murderous intent.
Orochimaru watched the two with great interest.
In this cursed seal state, Kimimaro's power was nearing Kage-level.
And with the troublesome nature of the Shikotsumyaku, even actual Kage-level shinobi would hesitate to face him in close quarters.
"Dance of the Clematis: Vine."
A whip-like bone lashed out toward Naruto.
Naruto didn't dodge. He reached out and caught it easily.
At the same time, a blue diamond-shaped mark shimmered at the corner of his eye—
Sage Mode, activated instantly!
The surge of chakra that erupted from Naruto flooded the entire chamber.
Orochimaru's robes and hair whipped in the wind.
Kabuto, whose strength was lower, crossed his arms in front of himself but was still forced back several steps, eyes wide in fear.
Having followed Orochimaru for so long, he had seen much.
But never before had someone's mere chakra pressure—without even striking—instill this much terror.
Orochimaru's long hair fluttered, his body still as a statue.
His eyes locked onto Naruto, unblinking. The greed in them was almost tangible.
"Heh… hehehe… He instantly activated perfect Sage Mode… such pure and vast chakra—perfect. Absolutely perfect!!"
Naruto yanked backward.
With all his buffs active and his physical strength, what Sakura called her trump card—the Monster Strength Technique—was basically just his normal punch.
Even though Kimimaro wasn't weak, he was pulled in effortlessly.
With one clean First Form: Claw Blade, Naruto landed a direct hit on Kimimaro's chest.
Kimimaro, now going all out, was smashed back into the same wall hole, even faster than before.
The entire underground corridor rumbled violently.
This time, Kimimaro completely lost consciousness—he didn't even get a chance to use a Shikotsumyaku finisher.
But just then—a wide-open mouth came lunging at Naruto's neck.
Orochimaru hadn't moved from his spot, but his neck had extended unnaturally, like a white snake, his head streaking toward Naruto in a bizarre sneak attack while Naruto was still focused on Kimimaro.
Just as it was about to bite down, Orochimaru whispered inwardly:
"Got you!"
As long as he planted the Heaven Cursed Seal, Naruto's body would be his!
But in the next instant, without even looking, Naruto's right hand snapped out like lightning—
SLAP!
Orochimaru's head, attached to his long neck, was smacked brutally, slamming into the floor.
Foiled, Orochimaru quickly retracted his neck. His cheek was already swelling up.
"Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Not giving up, Orochimaru raised both hands.
Dozens of brown snakes shot from his sleeves, mouths wide open, fangs bared as they lunged at Naruto.
Not only that—inside every snake's mouth… was a gleaming sword!
Naruto summoned a glowing sword of light into his hand and swung it forward.
All the snakes were sliced clean in half mid-air.
Second Form: Claw Blades—cut Orochimaru into four pieces on the spot.
But before the pieces even hit the ground, countless tiny snakes wriggled out from the cuts.
The little snakes intertwined, forcefully stitching the pieces of Orochimaru's body back together.
Naruto winced at the disgusting sight.
Is this guy even human?
Orochimaru truly lived up to his name as the ninja world's king of survival.
Immediately afterward, four Adamantine Sealing Chains wrapped around Orochimaru, binding him tight.
Especially around his mouth, which Naruto sealed up completely.
He wasn't about to waste time letting Orochimaru spit out a snake… then himself… then another snake… then himself again…
Orochimaru writhed like a caterpillar, but couldn't break free from Naruto's chains.
His hands were bound—no seals.
His mouth was sealed—no snake tricks.
Orochimaru couldn't use any of his techniques.
Naruto had no intention of killing him.
After all, without Snake Auntie, the ninja world would be a lot less entertaining.
He split off six shadow clones, surrounding Orochimaru.
All six Naruto clones began performing different sealing techniques at once.
Sealing jutsu typically had long wind-ups, and most shinobi were too mobile to be caught by them in real combat.
But things were different with the Uzumaki clan's Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Once you're chained up, they could throw all the sealing jutsu they wanted at you.
Orochimaru could only watch helplessly as seal after seal clung to him.
His strength… his chakra… was sealed away piece by piece, until he could do nothing.
This feeling of helplessness reminded him of facing Itachi's Sharingan.
He could accept being countered by genjutsu…
But why was every single one of these damn kids able to counter him?!
Layer upon layer of sealing techniques wrapped around him until Orochimaru had no more strength to resist.
Only then did Naruto loosen the chain around his mouth.
But at that exact moment—
A blade glowing red, like burning fire, was pressed against Orochimaru's throat.
He glanced down.
And froze.
Even one of the Legendary Sannin broke out in cold sweat.
"T-This is… the Totsuka Blade!"
Orochimaru himself wielded one of the Kusanagi swords.
He had been searching for the Totsuka Blade for years—yet never found it.
And now… it was in Naruto's hands.
Knowing full well what the Totsuka Blade could do… for the first time in a while, Orochimaru was truly panicking.
Beside him, Kabuto stood dumbfounded.
One of the Three Legendary Sannin. Master of all things sinister. Lord Orochimaru…
Had just been completely, utterly—defeated?