Chapter 84: The Infinite Serpent

"What is this?!"

Hanzo's expression changed drastically as he stared at the massive creature before him. The white serpent charging towards them had grown even larger than his salamander in just this short period of time.

The gigantic white serpent roared, biting down on the salamander. In pain, the salamander thrashed violently, attempting to free itself. Hanzo's hands moved quickly, forming seals.

"Water Release! Water Dragon Jutsu!"

Three water dragons rose from the poisonous water, surging towards the white serpent. The powerful impact forced the serpent's head back, compelling it to release its grip. Yet, in the next moment, the water dragons vanished, leaving not even a trace of residual water.

On the contrary, the serpent's body grew even larger, coiling around the salamander tightly, almost causing it to stumble and throw Hanzo off.

"What kind of monstrous thing is this?"

Hanzo forced himself to remain calm, glancing around the area. The poisonous water had receded, revealing the ground beneath. The surrounding rock and soil had long since disappeared.

These were all chakra-based constructs, and they shouldn't have disappeared so quickly. The answer was already clear.

"It's absorbing chakra."

Hanzo swiftly came to a conclusion. He watched as the white serpent continued to grow, gradually engulfing the entire salamander.

A shadow loomed over Hanzo's head as the salamander protected him with its massive forearms. Hanzo knew that if things continued like this, he would be strangled to death by the serpent.

As the enormous serpent tightened its coils, compressing the space around Hanzo, a puff of smoke erupted. The salamander vanished, as letting it be crushed by the serpent would have been the end of it.

With the salamander gone, the serpent momentarily lost control of its coiled body, creating an opening. Hanzo leaped out of the gap, making his way to open ground.

With a fierce movement, he plunged his scythe into the serpent's head, but no blood flowed. The serpent didn't even react to the pain, its jaws snapping towards Hanzo.

In that instant, Hanzo used the force to leap higher, avoiding the attack and landing on the serpent's head, running down its length. The serpent twisted its head, unable to reach him, and its body began to glow with a faint white light.

Hanzo's pupils contracted, realizing something was wrong.

The white light transformed into flames, and in that instant, the serpent itself turned into a serpent of fire, its entire body becoming composed of flame.

Hanzo struggled, gradually evaporating into mist within the flames.

Water Clone Jutsu.

Hanzo's real body had already disappeared.

Unable to find its enemy, the white serpent coiled itself, transforming into a blazing mountain of flames, which rapidly shrank over time until no trace of fire remained, leaving only charred marks on the ground.

"Is that... Lord Orochimaru's power?"

The observing Konoha ninja felt a chill run down their spines, looking at Orochimaru standing before them with newfound respect.

Konoha having a shinobi of such power filled them with a sense of pride.

"Orochimaru's power is truly formidable."

Might Duy was also in awe. It was his first time seeing such a massive creature. He wondered if he could kick it to death with one strike.

Looking at Orochimaru's expressionless face, Might Duy sighed once more. Orochimaru's strength was something he could not compare to unless he opened the Gate of Death. The serpent, which grew endlessly, seemed invincible.

"Did it work?"

Orochimaru looked at the spot where the flames had died down, the white serpent nowhere to be seen. He had already prepared for Hanzo's escape.

That technique.

The Immortal Sealing Jutsu! The final form—the Infinite Serpent!

It was developed with the Immortal Sealing Jutsu as its core.

Its main ability was absorbing chakra to increase its size, allowing the white serpent's body to grow infinitely as long as chakra was present around it. Essentially, it had an earth-element body, but it lacked hardness, allowing swords to easily leave marks on it.

However, the serpent could repair its body using chakra, compensating for this flaw.

As for elemental transformation, that was a secondary jutsu, converting the earth element to the fire element. Such a transformation depended on talent.

Although Orochimaru had anticipated the outcome, witnessing the power of this jutsu for the first time left him contemplative.

"The Infinite Serpent is indeed powerful, but it has too many limitations."

Orochimaru pondered. This was also the first time he had used it in battle. He had developed it amidst combat during the war, and it was only recently completed.

However...

Despite the Infinite Serpent's seemingly formidable power, it had a fatal flaw—the speed of chakra consumption.

If not for the abundance of water created by Hanzo, which contained a significant amount of his chakra, the serpent's growth would not have been so rapid.

The Infinite Serpent consumed its own chakra to maintain its existence, only outpacing its own consumption rate by absorbing chakra.

In normal circumstances, if it went without absorbing chakra for over a minute, the serpent's body would start to shrink.

Against taijutsu specialists, the Infinite Serpent's abilities would be greatly limited.

Moreover, the serpent's absorption rate of chakra had its limits.

As its body grew, so did the rate of chakra consumption.

In reality, it was not truly infinite.

Still...

This was only Orochimaru's initial version, and it could be continually refined and improved.

When the Infinite Serpent was truly perfected...

"Perhaps I could reach the level of the First Hokage."

But relying on his own development speed might not be enough.

What if he enlisted Uchiha Jin's help?

A gentle smile appeared on Orochimaru's face.

After all, as a student, Jin should be of service to his teacher. He probably wouldn't refuse, would he?

Though there was no formal relationship, in essence...

Uchiha Jin had inherited much of his power.

And if Jin refused?

Orochimaru hadn't considered that possibility.

"After all, Jin-kun, you still can't defeat me."

Returning to the camp, Orochimaru received unexpected news.

"Kirigakure has joined the battle?"

This caused Orochimaru to frown.

If it was Kirigakure, then the Uchiha clan had fully committed their strength to that front.

The Uchiha clan's power was formidable, and they could probably withstand the assault from Kirigakure.

But now, with battles on all fronts, the village had few resources left.

If Kumogakure were to join in as well...

Konoha would have no additional forces to spare.

Orochimaru turned to the messenger ninja.

"What did the old man say?" Orochimaru asked the shinobi who brought the news.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had always hoped Kirigakure wouldn't join the Second Shinobi War, as such a move would make it impossible to suppress the Uchiha clan's achievements.

However, Konoha had no extra manpower to replace the Uchiha.

"Lord Hokage said, be wary of the Kirigakure shinobi appearing."

Kirigakure specialized in assassination. They might send teams to assassinate the leaders of various battlefields, enabling other villages to claim victory.

After all, the target of these villages had always been Konoha.

"Tell the old man that Iwagakure seems to be preparing to attack the Iwa front."

"Understood."

The ninja disappeared.

Orochimaru's intent was merely to notify. The real responsibility lay with Jiraiya.