Chapter 333: Mysterious Ninja Kabuto

Rumble~

The Forest of Death in Konoha is in complete disarray. Under the onslaught of Orochimaru, the Manda II, and the Eight-Headed Serpent, their destructive power is in no way inferior to that of the Tailed Beasts.

Obito's puppet with the Rinnegan, imbued with the chakra of the Tailed Beasts, is not a true Jinchūriki. Thus, its Tailed Beast Transformation can only achieve a semi-transformed state, which is its limit.

There are five stages of Tailed Beast Transformation. The first stage is the release of the Tailed Beast's chakra, like when Naruto released the Tailed Beast chakra during the Chunin Exams. The second stage, 'Borrowing Chakra', is the so-called Tailed Beast Cloak, where the Jinchūriki is fully covered in the Tailed Beast's cloak, like Naruto during his battle with Sasuke in the Final Valley.

The third stage is 'Semi-Tailed Beast Transformation', where the Jinchūriki's appearance is completely obscured by chakra, and if the intensity is high enough, bones start to grow, like Naruto transforming into the Four-Tails on the Tenchi Bridge.

The fourth stage is complete Tailed Beast Transformation, turning into the gigantic physical form of the Tailed Beast. The fifth stage is the one-sided complete emergence of the Tailed Beast, which is quite similar to the fourth stage.

The Eight-Headed Serpent is terrifying, rivaling the Tailed Beasts in destructive power. Along with Orochimaru, they temporarily suppress the five Jinchūriki in battle.

The Seven-Tails Jinchūriki was just ambushed by Orochimaru, who sealed their chakra with the Five Elements Seal. Now, a snake is slowly swallowing them, heading towards the underground base, as this is valuable research material.

"Damn Orochimaru!"

In the dark corners of the Forest of Death, Obito, watching the two terrifying beasts, suddenly shows a look of anger. Just a little more! Just a little more!

"Hehe, but this also proves one thing, Uchiha Yoru is now in a weakened state!"

With a sinister smile, Obito's figure slowly disappears in the Forest of Death.

Suiton: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave

At this moment, a terrifying Suiton jutsu appears in the Forest of Death, turning into a huge water orb in an instant.

"Hehe, the Tailed Beast's chakra will be liked by the Samehada."

Hiding in the shadows, Kisame slowly steps out, his body beginning to merge with the Samehada, transforming into a fused state.

Orochimaru, seeing this, shows a hoarse smile, then controls the Eight-Headed Serpent to intercept the Jinchūriki, preventing them from escaping.

"Kisame, this is precious research material. Don't destroy it."

Orochimaru's hoarse voice echoes from atop the Eight-Headed Serpent. Kisame, entering the giant water prison, grins bloodthirsty upon hearing this.

"Well, it depends on how fiercely these foods resist."

Despite saying this, Kisame quickly consumes the Jinchūriki's chakra, showing mercy with his actions.

Outside, the battle intensifies, and in the depths of the underground cave, a pair of eyes slowly opens, revealing distinct black and white pupils, but they soon change.

The scarlet Sharingan appears, starting with one tomoe, then two, and three, before the three tomoe merge and evolve into the Mangekyō Sharingan. The Mangekyō doesn't stop there but continues to spin, eventually transforming into the mysterious purple Rinnegan.

However, the evolving Rinnegan seems to be struggling, with its evolution proceeding very slowly.

"It seems it's still lacking something. After all, a replica is still a fake."

Uchiha Yoru, opening his eyes, feels the changes in his body and mutters to himself, then frowns, "But there are still some changes. It seems the Ten-Tails still needs some time to be digested."

Just then, sensing something, Uchiha Yoru raises an eyebrow, revealing a cold smile.

"It seems the little mouse is about to reach here. But unfortunately, there's still a gap between you and me, and this gap is a chasm."

Uchiha Yoru once again closed his eyes, beginning to digest the Ten-Tails within his body. At this moment, he was indeed at his weakest, just as Obito had thought.

A large amount of chakra and mental energy were being used to suppress the Ten-Tails within him. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to using the power of the Rinnegan to create puppets for battle. Moreover, the combat strength of the puppets reflected his current weakness.

In the dark corridor.

"Hehe, perhaps you should tell me about the barrier here."

A Konoha ninja dressed in medical attire was walking through the corridor when suddenly, a figure emerged from the solid wall, holding him hostage with a kunai and revealing a cruel smile.

The captured Konoha elite ninja gently pushed up his glasses, his calm eyes showing no sign of being held hostage. Instead, there was a strange smile on his face, invisible to Obito standing behind him due to the darkness.

"Hehe, I didn't expect Obito's intangibility to be so strong, able to penetrate even here. Your intangibility technique must be a space-time ninjutsu."

Watching the ease of the captured medical ninja, Obito frowned and coldly said, "If you don't want to talk, I can extract it from your brain."

Just as Obito's kunai was about to slit the medical ninja's throat, a hissing sound rang in his ears. His pupils shrank at this familiar sound.

The sound of an exploding tag!

In an instant, the kunai passed through the medical ninja's neck, entering the intangible space. The medical ninja took this opportunity to escape using a body flicker technique, leaving behind a large medical robe.

"So many exploding tags hidden inside the clothes!"

Due to his intangibility, Obito saw the falling medical robe revealing several burning exploding tags inside. As the familiar sound echoed, the next moment, a loud explosion occurred.

"Little mouse, you can't escape."

Annoyed, Obito coldly laughed. He couldn't miss the opportunity of capturing Uchiha Yoru at his weakest. This medical ninja was key to finding his target.

Boom! Boom!

Under the light of the exploding tags, Obito, with a grim face, chased in the direction of the medical ninja. The two pursued each other in the dark corridor, unknowingly entering a huge cave.

"Hehe, you're really loyal, leading me to this abandoned, remote pit for Uchiha Yoru."

Clearly, this was a natural stalactite cave, also far from Uchiha Yoru's location.

Seeing this, Obito didn't get angry but instead showed a sinister smile. However, the next moment, a red light appeared in the dark cave.

Sage Art: White Excitement Technique

A red, glowing dragon holding a black sphere in its claws. The dragon revolved around the black sphere and then dived into it. The next moment, the black sphere exploded.

However, the bright light and piercing noise from the explosion caused immense pain in Obito's ears and body.

This was a technique that used air vibrations to paralyze the opponent's senses, causing a numbing sensation in the bones and restricting their movement.

"This is Sage Art!"

Obito's entire body ached bitterly, but he was more shocked by this sight.

"Hehe, Uchiha Obito, perhaps you could become a precious material in Lord Orochimaru's laboratory."

A figure slowly emerged in the cave, the same medical ninja from before.

After using Sage Mode, the mysterious medical ninja grew two horns on his head, his eyes showed makeup, and even his eyes developed a snake-like cornea to obstruct vision.

"Konoha actually has such a powerful ninja!"

At this moment, Obito was shocked. The ordinary white-haired medical ninja in front of him seemed too ordinary. Underneath his gentle smile was an existence so common it could disappear in a crowd.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Yakushi Kabuto, a Jonin of Konoha, currently the deputy head of the orphanage, and also the deputy chief of the Root Division."

Under his gentle smile, Kabuto slowly took off his glasses, which seemed like a precious item, and placed them in a beautiful glasses case. He then handed them over to a small snake, which swallowed them, turning into a puff of white smoke and returning to the Dragon's Cave.

"Yakushi Kabuto!" Obito frowned, having never heard this name before, and said with an ugly expression: "Uchiha Yoru's secret is deep, hiding such a powerful ninja like you."

Kabuto, in Sage Mode inside the Cave, didn't look like he did in the original timeline. Since he relied on his talent for cultivation, there was no giant snake in his stomach.

However, Kabuto's Sage Mode was still quite powerful, but this was inconsequential to him, as he was not pursuing absolute power.

"Heh, of course you haven't heard my name. After all, a mouse like you, hiding in the shadows just like me, how could you see your own kind? No! Or rather, you and I are not the same kind."

Kabuto, now like a philosopher, said with a gentle smile, mocking Obito: "You, the mouse, are just mentally disturbed from the stimulation, in simpler terms, a mentally ill ninja, no longer a normal ninja."

"What do you know!"

Obito, feeling educated and mocked, showed a cold glare. It seemed that any small mouse could laugh at him now, which was absurd.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands

The next moment, countless large snakes emerged from the darkness of the melting cave, constantly attacking, but all passing through, clearly indicating that Obito had entered an intangible state.

At the same time, Kabuto had disappeared from sight and hidden, because even Obito's space time manipulation couldn't detect him in Sage Mode.

"Damn it, you really are a venomous snake hiding in the dark."

Obito sneered in annoyance. He didn't have time to waste here. The next moment, he formed hand seals and instantly released a terrifying Fire Release ninjutsu.

Fire Release: Blasting Wind Wild Dance

The Mangekyō Sharingan twisted the surrounding space, creating a vortex-like storm, and then a spinning serpent of fire was expelled from the mouth.

The next moment, the vortex-like storm combined with the spinning fire serpent formed a huge rotating flame, instantly illuminating the entire melting cave. Under the terrifying range of the Fire Release, the entire cave was enveloped.

At the same time, the countless large snakes, upon contact with the Fire Release, were instantly burned to ashes with agonizing screams.

Boom~

After the Fire Release, all the moisture in the melting cave was completely dried up, and the cave was glowing red from the scorching heat.

Just then, the sound of a coffin lid opening suddenly came from afar, and Obito's expression changed drastically.

Summoning Jutsu: Edo Tensei

Behind the broken cover, dozens of coffins appeared, causing Obito's pupils to shrink.

Konoha, besides Orochimaru, actually had someone else who could use this forbidden jutsu! Damn it!

"Hehe, I've been discovered!"

Seeing that he was discovered, Kabuto did not show any nervousness of being found. Instead, he smiled gently and unhurriedly. More than a dozen coffins were opened, and one by one, figures slowly emerged.

"These are all powerful rogue ninjas or jonin ninjas from Rock-Cloud Village. Perhaps they are not strong enough, but combined, they should be able to hold you off for a while."

With a wise gleam in his eyes, Kabuto smiled, "I really envy you, Obito. You have already tainted some strong individuals early on, and usually, you host these strong souls in the bodies of the tainted earth, preventing me and Orochimaru from summoning them."

"Damn it, your chakra!"

Obito stared intently at Kabuto. Through his Sharingan and Rinnegan, he could clearly see that the chakra consumption for Kabuto to perform this forbidden jutsu was much less than his own, which would use at least three times more chakra.

The wise Kabuto could easily see through Obito's gaze. He smiled lightly, "No way around it. After all, I don't have the first Hokage's Wood Release cells like you, so my chakra is naturally not an advantage. Therefore, I chose to improve and optimize my ninjutsu."

"Modifying these ninjutsus and even the forbidden techniques that consume a lot of chakra to suit me best, this is my improved version of the Edo Tensei. I hope you like it, Obito."

Boom~

The next moment, more than a dozen jonin ninjas resurrected by the Edo Tensei launched their attack. Various types of ninjutsu bombarded, along with the physical ninjas' coordinated restraint, momentarily giving Obito a feeling of frustration.

"Kabuto! I will remember you!"

Obito, after dematerializing, coldly said a sentence, keeping the image of Kabuto, who seemed like an ordinary jonin ninja, firmly in his mind.

Konoha truly is a place with hidden dragons and crouching tigers, rightfully called the cradle of geniuses in the ninja world. Apart from the visible Kage-level powerhouses, there are such terrifying existences in secret.

With Kabuto's Sage Mode and the forbidden technique Edo Tensei, he is powerful enough to rank forward among Kage-level combatants.

Especially since Kabuto is almost proficient in Orochimaru-style ninjutsu, notoriously hard to kill.

"Found it!"

In the dark, Obito finally found the hidden location of Uchiha Yoru. At this moment, he showed a proud smile for setting up the barrier.

However, in the darkness, a figure slowly opened their eyes, with a cold light shining through the mysterious purple patterned Rinnegan.

Summoning: Gedo Statue

As the earth shook and cracked, dispersing the dust, Uchiha Obito summoned the Gedo Statue with a smile.

A giant humanoid with shackles, nine eyes, and a body and color resembling dead wood, with ten pillar-like structures rising from its back.

The moment it appeared, it directly destroyed the surrounding barriers. However, the next moment, Obito suddenly felt a sense of danger. In the darkness, his eyes met those mysterious purple Rinnegan eyes.

"Not good!"