Naruto: The Shadow Lord of the Nara Clan

At the border between the Land of Fields and the Land of Fire lies an endless green forest.

Orochimaru stood on the shallow riverbank, looking at the Root ninja on the other side; his narrow eyes were chilling.

"What about what Danzo confessed to?"

The Root ninja, expressionless and like a puppet, produced a palm-sized glass gourd:

"Lord Orochimaru, please."

Orochimaru's vertical eyes flashed, and his hand, hidden in his long sleeves, transformed into a long snake, shooting out like a catapult. As he twisted his body, he opened his mouth, bit the gourd bottle, and quickly retrieved it.

He examined the vessel in his hand and smiled faintly:

"The Root ninjas were actually being followed."

"It seems Danzo's ability to discipline his subordinates has declined."

Upon hearing this, the Root ninja, who had remained expressionless, suddenly changed his expression. However, before he could make a move, a cold kunai was pressed against his neck.

"Don't move."

Kakashi, who appeared out of nowhere, stood beside the Root ninja and said coldly:

"They are all Konoha ninjas, I don't want to kill people indiscriminately."

Staring at the cat-face mask and the strikingly white hair, Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile, and he praised in a hoarse voice:

"As expected of the son of Konoha's White Fang."

"Just as outstanding as her father."

Kakashi narrowed his eyes, a hint of killing intent flashing in his usually calm gaze.

"Tianzang, capture him!"

As soon as he finished speaking, several thick tree trunks broke through the soil from the shallow riverbank, intertwining and overlapping to form a cage.

Orochimaru's snake-like eyes quickly scanned the surrounding protruding trees. His brow furrowed slightly, a question flashing through his mind, but his hands continued moving.

"Wind Release: Wind Slicing Technique!"

The wind-driven sickles flew in all directions like knives, cutting the trees in the cage into pieces.

"Wood Release?"

He first muttered to himself in confusion, then his eyes widened, and his tone became filled with joy:

"Who is it?!"

He once collaborated with Danzo to transplant the First Hokage's cells into newborn children.

He attempted to replicate the First Hokage's Wood Release technique.

Unfortunately, all of them ended in failure.

I never expected to encounter a ninja who has mastered Wood Release ninjutsu here!

He had originally intended to tease Kakashi, but now he was so excited that he just wanted to capture the ninja who was using Wood Release in the dark and take him back for research!

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, Kakashi knocked the Root ninja unconscious with a karate chop, then charged forward, forming hand seals:

"Tianzang, attack together!"

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Chakra drew in the river's water, and two water dragons coalesced, one on the left and one on the right, lunging at Orochimaru.

At the same time, Tenzo, who had been hiding in the shadows, descended from the sky, pointing his hands at Orochimaru and shouting:

"Wood Release: Great Forest Technique!"

Both hands' ten fingers transformed into intertwined vines, like pythons determined to strangle Orochimaru.

Water and wood came from all directions, but Orochimaru stood with his hands behind his back, showing no fear and even a hint of casualness in his expression.

"Spiritual Spell: Triple Rashomon!"

With his hands pressed to the ground, three evil demons emerged one after another from Rashomon, their gaping mouths seemingly ready to devour all ninjutsu.

The intense collision of forces produced a series of loud bangs.

Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue, not stopping his hand seals, and then unleashed another summoning jutsu:

"Summoning - Ten Thousand Snakes!"

With a bang, smoke billowed out.

The giant python's body slid along the ground, its scales rustling as they brushed against the gravel and withered branches.

As the dust settled, Orochimaru stood atop the snake's head, high in the sky, looking down at Kakashi and Tenzo, who were waiting solemnly below.

His gaze swept past Kakashi and focused on Tenzo.

The familiar face made him pause for a moment. Although he had shed his childhood naiveté, Orochimaru still recognized Tenzo's identity.

"So it was you."

He chuckled:

"Danzo lied to me."

"In that case, we can't let you go even more."

"You were just my experiment!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the myriad snakes coiled their bodies and swooped down towards the two of them.

Its enormous body tore through the air, bringing immense pressure to Kakashi.

"Tianzang, disperse!"

Without Kakashi's reminder, Tenzo had already set off.

"Water Release: Waterfall Technique!"

The surging river water gushed from underground, instantly scattering the people on the battlefield.

Kakashi, with his keen sense of combat, seized the opportunity presented by the surging river and slammed his palm into the water.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!"

The crackling sound of electricity stimulated the eardrums and flowed along the water towards the colossal python that blotted out the sky.

Amidst the chirping of birds, the snakeskin was scorched and turned black by the electric current.

The snakes writhed in pain, their eyes flashing a savage, scarlet red:

"Orochimaru, I want him as the sacrifice this time!"

"no problem."

Kakashi's body is worthless to Orochimaru; he only wants Tenzo!

Wanshe shook its head, flicked out its dark purple-black forked tongue, and its charred skin quickly shed as its muscles writhed.

The undamaged snake scales, gleaming with a cold light, were then revealed.

Seeing this, Kakashi pursed his lips and thought to himself:

—Not easy to deal with!

He jumped out of the water, stepped onto the floating wooden stakes, and closed his eyes.

When it opened its eyes again, a scarlet Sharingan was slowly rotating.

"The Technique of Seeing Naraku!"

With the Sharingan's power, he doesn't need to form hand seals for any genjutsu; he can release them without hand seals simply by using his eye power as the energy source.

The release of ninjutsu is both fast and concealed, making it extremely difficult to dodge.

As expected, Orochimaru faced off against the Sharingan hidden beneath the mask.

In an instant, countless corpses floated around Orochimaru; as far as the eye could see, they were all his own corpses.

Orochimaru, who had been smiling, now lost his smile, his vertical eyes cold and ruthless.

The brutal scenes of the Third Shinobi World War flashed before his eyes.

The scene of crying, wailing, and severed limbs mixed together filled Orochimaru with a sense of disgust.

"Get out of here!"

He coldly rebuked, severing the chakra of the illusion, and all the illusions around him vanished instantly.

Kakashi's Naraku Sight Technique reminded Orochimaru of an unpleasant scene, so he decided not to continue entangled with the two.

He decided to solve the problem once and for all.

"The Eight-Headed Serpent Technique!"

The human body continued to expand, tearing apart blood, bones, and muscles.

A white snake, even more terrifying than the Ten Thousand Snakes, with eight grotesque heads, coiled in the sky.

Its body was covered with thorns and barbs, its pale white body tinged with a hint of purple.

Its eight tails were intertwined, its muscles bulging and bound together, containing immense power.

Looking up at those sixteen pairs of cold, enormous snake eyes, Kakashi nervously swallowed.

Orochimaru gave them no time to react, immediately whipping his snake tail, snapping all the trees within hundreds of meters in half, sending dust flying and the sound of rocks colliding echoing incessantly.

After smashing Kakashi into a pulp and binding Tenzo to the snake's tail, Orochimaru finally noticed a figure standing in front of him.

The man slowly raised his head, revealing a pair of eyes even more sinister than Kakashi's Sharingan, with the black tomoe within them subtly rotating.

……

A messy riverbank.

Kakashi's gaze swept back and forth between Orochimaru and Itachi, who were trapped in the illusion.

For the first time, he realized how terrifying the true power of the Sharingan was.