Sword slashes and Serpentine Swag.

Segment 10

The announcing of the name of the technique must have been enough of a sign of the upcoming sequence of attacks, but Zoro was too immersed in staring at the huge eight headed serpentine figure that swayed in the wind like a monster straight out of a gleeman's fictional tales. It was immensely gigantic, about a whopping four thousand metres high, each of its bigger scales the height of an average man. And standing on top of the second head from the right, was none other than Kabuto, a small silhouette in the top glory of the giant snake. Orochimaru was nowhere to be seen, and Zoro had to input his focus on the reptile. The whole warehouse had been utterly demolished, the aftermath of the smoke now slowly dissipating. The swordsman knew that this snake was another technique of the Sannin's, and had to somehow slash apart it into pieces to continue the fight to the next stage. Moreover, the snake-man had disappeared altogether, and Zoro felt a little uneasy about his whereabouts. The Santoryu user decided to first take out Kabuto, then moving on to the snake and Orochimaru. After all, even the main enemy's apprentice was pretty powerful. He could be quite a big trouble and could get in his way during his moments of weakness. So Zoro decided to first eliminate him. The snake's height would be a problem for him though. And there were strange obsidian-grey shards, all accounted for eight of them, each jutting out from behind each of the snake's heads. He weighed his scales, and decided that he could use the grey obelisk-likes as a foothold and handhold as such, for they were all but unable to climb and smooth. He ran as swiftly as he could, and as the serpent's body was immense, it took time to even notice Zoro, and even more to move. When it did, the earth rumbled beneath it's body, its colossal scaled rubbing and destroying everything in it's path. It lifted it's tail, also huge, a part just beyond where all the heads met together. The air gave way to smoke, now surrounding the tail, as it came greatly on the swordsman. Zoro never even flinched, as he sprinted almost nonchalantly towards the nearest point from which he could jump aboard the towers of scales. As the end of the tail came down on him, he agilely dived to the left, and did a number of somersaults and got back on his feet, still running. The impression of the tail was a small crater, with rocks being flown at from all directions the center being the tail. He now proceeded to the point of joining, the part where all the heads and the scale-towers joined together. This certain place of the humongous body was unnaturally thick, the area so big one would've mistaken it for a mound of a hill if walked into unknowingly in a fog denser than any. He ran straight, right next to the joining point, and gave off a big leap, jumping at it. He landed in the middle, the rough scales giving him incredible friction. He could still see Kabuto, standing still as a rock. Somehow, a miracle that he had not already tried to attack Zoro or try any other move. Perhaps he had overestimated the snake. Or not. Zoro now grabbed on to the dark obsidian scaled towers and began climbing the second from the right tower, the one Kabuto was standing on.

His plan was to get to the top of the tower, then launch himself towards the snake head on which the Sannin's disciple was standing on, then slash him apart. Unless he did not have any magic tricks up his sleeve like his own master. He treaded dangerously, still. Sheathing all three of his swords, he climbed the scales, which were all to suitable for ascending. Kabuto still did not move from his original residence, though he seemed to be looking down on the ground Intently , searching for Zoro, perhaps. The sun had just set now, the orange tint still present gloriously in the sky. The view was simply magnificent, all too grand from this height of a view. Just when Zoro thought that this situation was too good to be true, with the enemy not noticing him and the scenery and breeze making him feel great, Kabuto saw him. He turned aside, an almost full one eighty degrees, and set his eyes on him, glaring sharply. Kabuto took out shuriken, a half dozen fixed expertly between his fingers. Invariably he was going to throw them at the climbing swordsman, and bent his elbow, taking stance. Out went flying the shuriken, shining like a star, and fast as a hawk. It's precision was undoubtedly the best, and the speed increased tenfold by advanced Fūton.

The first of the steel projectiles came towards striking Zoro's hand, his left arm which was outstretched and grabbing the upper scales. Zoro immediately released his grip from there, and due to imbalance and failure of support, his foothold also was sabotaged and he lost his footing. Currently his only grip onto the scales and maybe his dear life, was his right hand, and nothing else. And still, there were five more shuriken zooming at him, and if he did not react in ample time, he could as well say goodbye to his goals. The second and the third shuriken hit at the same time, one headed for his abdominal region, the other for his throat. Zoro could turn his head aside sharply enough for the shuriken to not hit his throat, but the one impacting against his stomach would be trouble for sure. The first shuriken was dodged and it slashed against the scales, but did not have any effect. The rough scales remained as they were without a scratch. The swordsman quickly drew his katana, undoubtedly the Sandai Kitetsu, and prepared to parry against the incoming projectile. But he missed, and the shuriken grazed off his frontal skin sharply, letting drops of blood flow from inwards. But Zoro maintained to maintain his alertness, and somehow managed to ward off the other two shuriken. The gash left by the shuriken still hurt him, but he had no choice but to withstand the pain and move on. This time, he did not give Kabuto any time to prepare his next move, for he sheathed his sword and started climbing never before faster. He was almost at his destination.

Zoro then stood tall, his legs stepped deep in the scales, his grip fastened around a small crater which was surrounded by the ivory scales jutting out from all sides. His eyes darted around, his rinnegan surveying the area carefully. Naturally it provided a superior vision, and granted speed of reaction and great agility and mobility. Orochimaru was still not present, and as Zoro had decided earlier, he would now proceed on to take on Kabuto and disable him from further movement. Not necessarily killing, Zoro never killed unnecessarily, but was wholly prepared if the moment arrived when the sharp decision had to be made. Zoro looked upon Kabuto, and he looking at him, both staring at each other's eyes, but seeing much deeper. Seeking to dig out each other's weaknesses and strengths, both stood their ground, ready to strike.

Roronoa Zoro struck first. A preliminary stance and then an immense leap with a full throttle, he jumped towards the humongous snake head, the footing of his opponent. Mid-air, he changed his body position to his suitable form and contracted his muscles, making them bulge. Undoubtedly his infamous Ni Gorilla style. Still hurling towards his opponent, he hit precisely with colossal power. "Santoryu: Senhachijū poundo hō !!!" One second, a man flying through the air, the next, two giant serpent heads diced up and falling down. As Zoro's ultimate technique caused monstrous shock waves rippling through the air, it cut two of the snake's heads like it was butter. The two humongous serpent heads fell down, each as big as the Tanzaku Castle itself, if not bigger. With their fall, followed consequent outbursts of massive rumbling and crashing and demolition sounds, their echoes ringing in the ears of the swordsman and his opponent for a reasonably big period of time.

The attack worked all right… It caused Kabuto to go hurling through the sky, and he crashed down miles away from the snakes. He was undoubtedly out of the game, and the fall indicated it clearly. Dust erupted from everywhere, various places. The area where the snake's heads had fallen, the area where the serpent writhed in agony, and the place where kabuto just crash landed. The smoke, dust and hubris gave enough cover for Kabuto, and anyone could've run away at that time, but the ninja simply couldn't. The sheer altitude of the fall and the slashes and gashes provided by Zoro had extremely injured him. His ribcage seemed ruptured, his temples ached heavily, and blood gushed out from many places of his body. Meanwhile, Zoro himself, the one who had dealt the attack, felt exceedingly exhausted. He was falling from the height, and when he crashes into the ground, it may be all over for him. He had to get himself up and had to fend against Orochimaru. Orochimaru… He had completely forgotten about Orochimaru during using his sword technique. He straightened his body mid-air, which seemed nigh-impossible at the moment. But somehow, he leaned himself onto one side, using the air resistance to his own advantage. He saw the gigantic snake. The reptile had not fallen still. Instead, the cut off heads began to sprout those heads again, and the heads were restored, the same heads that Zoro had input almost all his remaining strength to cut. Zoro, exhausted and almost at his limits, for he only had few stamina and his energy reserves were almost drained.

And then Zoro saw Orochimaru.