Ninja World: I, Kisame Hoshigaki, am no longer human!

After all, those who survive a great calamity are bound to have good fortune in the future.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru gradually relaxed. As a deep weariness washed over him, he leaned against the boulder and rested for a while.

In the distance, behind a tree, Kisame silently watched Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was undoubtedly a genius scientist, and the development of Hashirama cells was just one of his many research achievements throughout his life.

Sage Mode, Edo Tensei, Orochimaru's mastery and experience in many ninjutsu are extremely valuable, making Kisame very envious.

Putting everything else aside, if Kisame could gain the insights and experience Orochimaru had gained during his training of the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique, it would be of great help to him.

That's why he followed Orochimaru and planned to subdue him, kidnap him, and take him back to Kirigakure for torture and interrogation.

However, just as Kisame was about to make his move...

"what?"

He suddenly realized that he wasn't the only one following Orochimaru, and that Orochimaru had appeared even earlier than him.

call out!

A kunai flew from afar like lightning, heading straight for Orochimaru, who was hanging his head, seemingly fast asleep from exhaustion.

Just as the kunai was about to pierce Orochimaru's face, he suddenly opened his eyes, tilted his head to the side, and narrowly escaped.

Immediately afterwards, Orochimaru rolled to the side and hid.

Almost simultaneously, the kunai was stuck into a crack in the large rock, and the explosive tag attached to it exploded with a deafening roar, blasting the boulder into countless fragments.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes, staring at a clump of bushes not far away. Suddenly, a figure darted out and landed opposite him.

It was a tall man wearing a headscarf and a mask, so his face was obscured, but he had the headband of Takigakure on his forehead.

However, there was a horizontal cut on the headband, indicating that the person was a rogue ninja.

It was Kakuzu.

Some time ago, Kakuzu, a bounty hunter who was obsessed with money, was attracted by Kisame's bounty of 300 million ryo and secretly infiltrated the Land of Water to assassinate Kisame.

As a result, as soon as he entered the exchange shop to gather intelligence, he stumbled upon Kisame raiding the exchange shop. In one encounter, Kisame destroyed one of his hearts, and he managed to escape by sheer luck.

Startled, Kakuzu abandoned his plan to assassinate Kisame and instead set his sights on Danzo and Orochimaru, two rogue ninjas from Konoha, and thus came to the Land of Rain.

A day earlier, he infiltrated Amegakure and hid in the shadows like Kisame until Orochimaru appeared, after which he followed him all the way here.

"You must be Orochimaru."

Kakuzu stared at Orochimaru for a few moments, then took out the bounty list and compared it with his own. He nodded in satisfaction, "As expected of the former leader of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha, his bounty is as high as 60 million ryo. We're going to make a profit this time."

Upon hearing Kakuzu's words, Orochimaru was taken aback at first, then realized that he had been targeted by bounty hunters.

"A fool who doesn't know what's good for him."

Orochimaru smiled coldly, his golden snake eyes gleaming with a chilling light and radiating intense killing intent.

He was already being hunted down by Nagato, Obito, Jiraiya, and Minato Namikaze, but now even a lowly bounty hunter dares to come to his door alone, shamelessly demanding a reward for his corpse.

Orochimaru, already seething with anger from being relentlessly pursued, was now venting his frustration on some clueless fool who had stumbled upon him.

Thinking of this, he suddenly attacked, summoning a large number of venomous snakes with a move called Hidden Shadow Serpent Hand, which lunged at Kakuzu.

Faced with this move, even a typical Jonin would be unable to resist and would only be instantly killed.

However, to Orochimaru's surprise, Kakuzu on the other side also let out a cold laugh, and a large number of strange black lines shot out from his arms.

Shhhhhh.

These black lines flew forward with incredible agility and were as sharp as steel wires, forming a large net that cut down the venomous snakes that pounced at them.

rustling.

None of the snakes summoned by Orochimaru survived; they were all sliced ​​into pieces and fell to the ground. The severed limbs struggled for a while before becoming still.

Orochimaru looked surprised and suspicious upon seeing this.

What kind of ninjutsu is this?

He was always very knowledgeable and could recognize thousands of ninjutsu techniques, but the strange black lines used by this person were something he had never seen before.

At this moment, Kakuzu spoke again, asking Orochimaru in a deep voice:

"What about Danzo, who defected with you? That guy's corpse is worth 60 million ryo. However, dealing with both of you at the same time might be a bit troublesome for me. Oh well, this is fine. I'll kill you here first and replenish my supply with a fresh heart. This trip was worthwhile."

As soon as he finished speaking, he ripped off his clothes, revealing his body that was stitched together with black thread, and then walked step by step toward Orochimaru.

"You are……"

Orochimaru's pupils suddenly contracted, and he retreated abruptly, blurting out the other party's name, "The rogue ninja of Takigakure—Kakuzu!"

"Oh? I didn't expect anyone to recognize me. That's quite a surprise."

Kakuzu stopped in his tracks, looking astonished. He was very curious as to how Orochimaru had managed to recognize him, even though he had never seen him before.

"You were a notorious criminal in Takigakure, imprisoned in Hozuki Castle Prison, but you later escaped successfully from there, returned to Takigakure, killed all the high-ranking officials, and stole the secret technique, Earth Grudge Fear."

Orochimaru stared at Kakuzu, his eyes flashing as he analyzed, "Logically speaking, you are already over seventy years old, yet you still look middle-aged. This must be due to the Earth Grudge Fear, right? I've heard that it's a secret technique that can make people immortal. I didn't believe it before, but after hearing you say you wanted to take my heart, I'm starting to believe it a bit more."

The reason he was able to identify Kakuzu so quickly was because he was very interested in the secret technique of Earth Grudge Fear and had collected a lot of related information.

clap clap.

After hearing Orochimaru's words, Kakuzu couldn't help but clap his hands and exclaimed:

"Brilliant analysis! That's right, I am Kakuzu, a man who once assassinated the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, and escaped unscathed. By the way, not long ago I also went to the Land of Water to assassinate the demigod Kisame Hoshigaki. Although I failed, I also managed to retreat calmly. You have no reason to die at the hands of someone like me."

Orochimaru was shocked by Kakuzu's boasting, never expecting his opponent's record to be so impressive. If what Kakuzu said was true, then he was a powerful figure no less than Nagato or Jiraiya.

Not only was Orochimaru surprised, but Kisame, who was hiding in the shadows, was also surprised.

He recognized Kakuzu the moment he saw him, even though he didn't remember ever fighting him.

Are all the horns just bragging?

While Kisame was still wondering, Orochimaru and Kakuzu had already started fighting.

call out!

Orochimaru quickly formed hand seals and threw a shuriken forward. As the shuriken flew toward Kakuzu, it split into hundreds of clones, which covered the latter from all sides.

Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique.

This is an A-rank ninjutsu created by Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru's teacher. It is extremely powerful and is specifically designed to deal with strong enemies.

Orochimaru had just experienced a fierce battle in Amegakure, repeatedly using the Orochimaru Substitution Technique, which consumed a large amount of chakra, leaving him in a state of extreme weakness.

Therefore, when facing a formidable opponent like Kakuzu, he had no choice but to strike first and end the battle as quickly as possible; otherwise, if the fight dragged on, he was destined to lose.

Unfortunately, neither of them are pushovers.

Earth escape·Earth spear!

Faced with the onslaught of shuriken, he unleashed his signature Earth Release ninjutsu, hardening his entire skin into a jet-black color, generating powerful defensive capabilities.

Ding ding ding.

The shuriken struck Kakuzu, producing a series of metallic clangs and sparks before falling to the ground.

After neutralizing Orochimaru's ninjutsu attack, Kakuzu's gaze turned cold, and he slammed his palm into the ground.

next second.

Beneath Orochimaru's feet, a hand with black lines at its end emerged from the ground and punched Orochimaru in the chin, sending him flying high into the air.

Kakuzu's body is made up of countless black lines. His wrists, arms, and even torso can be separated at any time, allowing him to launch attacks from close or long range when fighting enemies, achieving a surprise effect.

That tentacle fist attack was a move Kakuzu had used many times before; it could pierce an enemy's heart with a single blow. However, he didn't kill Orochimaru because he still had Orochimaru's heart to use.

But this time, it was Kakuzu's turn to be surprised.

boom.

Orochimaru soared high into the air and then crashed to the ground. However, the instant he hit the ground, his body shattered into countless lumps of earth, just like a clay statue.

"Earth Release: Shadow Clone Technique, when did that happen..."

Kakuzu was startled. Before he could think any further, he felt a strong, fishy gust of wind coming from behind him.

He turned around abruptly and saw a huge python rushing towards him, its blood-red mouth wide open, ready to swallow him whole.

"Humph."

Kakuzu snorted coldly and once again used the Earth Spear Technique to harden his entire body, using his arms to forcefully hold the python's upper and lower jaws, preventing it from biting him.

However, this giant snake was just a feint by Orochimaru, designed to trick Kakuzu into falling into his trap.

Just as Kakuzu and Orochi were locked in a stalemate, Orochi's true form burst out from Orochi's belly, wielding a sharp sword, and instantly pierced Kakuzu's heart.

"Oh!"

The python vanished in a puff of white smoke. Kakuzu, meanwhile, collapsed to his knees, clutching the gaping hole in his heart, his face contorted in agony.

"How is this possible? Even my Earth Spear Technique can't withstand it..."

Kakuzu struggled to lift his head, staring incredulously at the sword in Orochimaru's hand.

"Because this sword is one of the legendary Kusanagi swords, its name is Tenfu-ryu sword, and it is sharp enough to pierce through all matter in the world."

Orochimaru said smugly.

There are only three Kusanagi swords in the world.

As a seasoned collector of Kusanagi swords, Orochimaru has acquired two other swords in recent years, besides the most mysterious Totsuka sword: the Ame-no-Murakumo sword and the Ame-no-Fu-ryu sword.

Not long ago, his most frequently used sword, the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi, was taken away by Kisame. Fortunately, he still had this Tenfu-ryu sword left, which helped him win this life-or-death battle at the crucial moment.

However, this duel between the two was destined to be full of twists and turns.

Kakuzu, who had been stabbed through the heart by Orochimaru, should have died, but suddenly let out a low roar, and his back bulged high, as if something was about to run out of the ground.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh.

To Orochimaru's horrified gaze, four shadowy figures of varying heights and builds shot out from Kakuzu's body, transforming into four masked monsters.

One of the masked monsters had its mask shatter with a crack and fell to the ground.

The remaining three masked monsters represent Fire Release, Wind Release, and Lightning Release, respectively, and also represent Kakuzu's three remaining hearts.