"Wrong?" Orochimaru's lips twisted into a perverse smile. "You are far too arrogant, Itachi."
He then tapped his head, feigning a look of curiosity. "Oh, that's right. Knowing Sasuke's personality, I'm sure he's said something similar to you, hasn't he?"
As Itachi's gaze turned increasingly dangerous, Orochimaru continued as if talking to himself. "You see the Sharingan as everything. You plotted and schemed, all so your little brother could obtain your eyes. But the funny thing is, Sasuke has abandoned the Uchiha name. He cast your eyes aside like worthless trash. Doesn't that just break your heart?"
"Orochimaru!" The scar had been torn open. Killing intent boiled in Itachi's eyes, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan spinning wildly.
"Fixated on the Sharingan… your vision is too narrow, Itachi."
"From Konoha to the Akatsuki, and then from the Akatsuki back to Konoha again. You've experienced betrayal and been a betrayer, only for the one person you care about—your brother—to forsake the Uchiha name. Your life is truly pathetic, isn't it?" Orochimaru's long tongue darted out to lick his lips as he let out a soft chuckle.
"Orochimaru!" Enraged, Itachi crossed the distance between them in an instant, a kunai in his right hand plunging toward Orochimaru's chest.
"My, how crude." The kunai sank into flesh, but then a white mist billowed out, and Orochimaru's entire body dissolved into white clay.
His form reappeared ten meters away, his voice smooth and magnetic.
"Did my words strike a nerve? Is that why you've flown into such a rage?" Orochimaru flicked several kunai toward Itachi.
"Or is it that you simply can't face reality?"
After Itachi deflected the kunai, Orochimaru appeared behind him. His right hand, now coated in a viscous white liquid and sharpened to a point, pierced through Itachi's back. But in that same moment, Itachi's form dissolved into a flock of black crows that scattered in every direction.
"Face it, Itachi. Sasuke is not your puppet. He's not the little tag-along you always thought he was! His talent surpasses yours, and he has a mind of his own! You think far too highly of yourself."
Orochimaru spoke without a hint of urgency, extending his fingers.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" In the next instant, the ground in a ten-meter radius around him erupted into a tide of serpents. Countless white snakes shot up from the earth, their crimson tongues flicking the air.
Having just escaped with his Crow Clone Jutsu, Itachi tapped his toes and leaped into the air, the ground below now a writhing carpet of white snakes.
"You have no right to speak about Sasuke and me," he said, his tone rigid. His hands flew through seals, and a massive dragon of fire engulfed the snakes below.
"Sasuke is one of my research subjects. Of course, I have to show some concern." With a cold laugh, Orochimaru was suddenly upon him, his right hand grabbing the collar of Itachi's cloak. He grinned ferociously. "Got you."
"Tsukuyomi!" Itachi's Mangekyo spun, but he saw Orochimaru's body only shudder for a moment before he recovered almost instantly. With a grunt, Orochimaru slammed Itachi's face down into the pile of scorched snake corpses below.
The acrid stench of burnt flesh filled his nostrils. The soft bodies of the snakes cushioned the impact, so Itachi wasn't seriously injured.
But the humiliation was absolute.
"Are these the eyes you're so proud of?" Orochimaru released his grip, only to press his foot onto the back of Itachi's head, forcing his face closer to the dead snakes.
Rage and indignation surged through Itachi. He had never expected Tsukuyomi to be ineffective against Orochimaru.
Before, it had been enough to defeat him in an instant.
A surge of power that Orochimaru couldn't contain erupted from his body. Itachi threw off the foot, twisted, and launched himself from the ground, engaging Orochimaru in a taijutsu exchange.
Even if his genjutsu was useless, with the enhancement of the Sharingan, his taijutsu was easily Kage-level.
Orochimaru, for all his strength, was still a step below Itachi and was immediately put on the defensive.
However, with his bizarre snake substitution techniques, he managed to hold Itachi off for the time being.
"Orochimaru, you were once a respected ninja of Konoha. You defected over your human experiments, so why did you join the Seireitei? Did Uzumaki Naruto promise you something? Or are you two simply cut from the same cloth?" The figures of Itachi and Orochimaru flickered across the battlefield, the clash of kunai and Zanpakuto ringing out. This initial exchange was merely a warm-up for them both.
From what Itachi knew of Orochimaru, the man was terrified of death and had countless contingencies in place.
The most difficult part of fighting Orochimaru was actually killing him.
Itachi was baffled. Why would Orochimaru so decisively join the Seireitei, even to the point of opposing the entire shinobi world?
He didn't even seem interested in the Sharingan anymore.
This didn't match the Orochimaru he knew at all. Did he think he was immortal? Even if the Seireitei was powerful, they were facing the combined might of every ninja village.
Faced with Itachi's questioning, Orochimaru simply smiled. After forcing Itachi back with a snake-like Kido, he stood elegantly amidst the swirling sand, his voice gentle. "Because I was lonely."
"Lonely? Ridiculous. I hardly think you're the type to despise solitude," Itachi scoffed.
Orochimaru was like a venomous snake—not only treacherous but cold-blooded.
Why would a cold-blooded creature ever need companions?
It was a wonder he hadn't bitten his own comrades yet.
"Uchiha Itachi, do you have any companions in the truest sense of the word right now?" Orochimaru asked coldly.
"Companions?" Itachi fell silent.
Did the ANBU count? Probably.
He looked at Orochimaru, puzzled.
From the way Orochimaru had abandoned Konoha without a second thought, severing his bonds with Jiraiya and Tsunade, it was clear he wasn't someone who sought companionship.
Meeting Itachi's confused gaze, Orochimaru spread his arms wide, a sick smile gracing his features.
"This shinobi world is so dreadfully boring. Any research that pursues the truth is branded as heresy, as a forbidden art. All humans seem to do is follow the rules of birth, aging, sickness, and death."
"No one has ever thought to fight against these rules. We possess intellect, we possess capable hands, so why must we allow our lives to end, our bodies to wither, our minds to decay?"
"Aren't rules made to be broken? If life has an end, can we not forge a new path to extend it?"
"No one ever considered it, and no one ever dared. On that path, I was very lonely."
"But in the Seireitei, I saw vision. I saw ambition. And I firmly believe that the Seireitei will shatter the existing rules and usher in a new era."
"The times are changing. Life itself should be elevated. That is why I joined the Seireitei."
"Not just for eternal life, but to break the limits of thought and existence, to discover the true essence of research."
"And to prove it."
"To prove that research is the purest, most correct path of all!"
As he finished, a thick, white, viscous liquid began to seep from the ground, slowly clinging to Orochimaru's body. His voice became distorted, twisted.
"Naruto is like this, and in his own way, so is Sasuke. It was precisely because he realized the limitations of the Uchiha and of his own thinking that he cast everything aside to find his own path. You always saw Sasuke as that little brat trailing behind you, worshipping you. But you never realized that he has long since left you far behind."
"You must remember, this war is not about conquering the shinobi world."
"It is about igniting a revolution to shatter the rules!"
"We will build a new era, an era of peace and unprecedented prosperity!"
The white liquid gradually receded into Orochimaru's body, and a scalpel appeared in his hand.
"Now, then… let's see if your flesh is worthy of being researched."
Looking at the eerie figure across from him, Itachi finally shed his contempt.
"Revolution? Anyone who seeks to destroy peace will use grand words to decorate their sins." As he spoke, Itachi appeared behind Orochimaru, his face impassive as he formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique." A dragon of flame shot forth, enveloping Orochimaru. Under the intense heat, Orochimaru's body began to melt, a bizarre expression on his face.
Finally, he dissolved into a pool of viscous white liquid that seeped into the sand.
Suddenly, a pair of pristine white hands shot out of the ground, grabbing Itachi's ankles and dragging him down into the sand.
It was a Kido similar to the Headhunter Jutsu.
Very basic, and very easy to see through.
A glint of steel flashed. The churning sand erupted, and both Orochimaru and Itachi leaped out.
A bloody gash appeared on Itachi's right hand, slowly welling with blood. Orochimaru's neck had been sliced open, but white liquid surged to the wound, and it healed in an instant.
"What a bizarre ability," Itachi murmured, his eyes narrowing.
He had intentionally left an opening to let Orochimaru get close, planning to wound him with taijutsu within the confines of the sand.
He also wanted to test the limits of Orochimaru's new powers.
He hadn't expected that even with his neck half-severed, Orochimaru could still attack.
He could now confirm that conventional taijutsu would have little effect.
Orochimaru's body was no longer human.
The ability was strange, but it was full of openings! "Is this the Reiatsu that Sasuke desires?" Looking at the unconcerned Orochimaru, Itachi's eyes were filled with resentment.
"It's nothing special." As he spoke, his Mangekyo Sharingan spun once more.
"Amaterasu." Inescapable black flames erupted on Orochimaru's body, burning fiercely.
"It's useless, Itachi. My Zanpakuto's ability grants me immunity to most forms of damage. Unless you can destroy my entire body at once, you can't truly harm me," Orochimaru's sinister voice echoed.
Under the Amaterasu, his body continuously melted, and the decomposed white liquid began to coalesce nearby, forming a new body.
"But a body that is regenerating cannot attack, can it?"
"I've won."
In an instant, Itachi appeared before the still-forming Orochimaru, a cold smirk on his lips.
"Your Zanpakuto is pathetic."
"Amaterasu."
"Great Dragon Fire." The flames completely consumed Orochimaru. Itachi was confident that this time, there was no way he could survive.
"So this is the Zanpakuto Sasuke yearned for. What a disappointment. His vision truly is too narrow…"
Before he could finish, Itachi's eyes widened in disbelief.
From behind him, the white liquid hidden in the sand coalesced into an arm, effortlessly plunging a scalpel into Itachi's chest.
The white liquid on the arm churned, reforming into Orochimaru's entire body.
He pulled the scalpel out, sending a spray of blood into the air.
"You are too arrogant, Itachi," Orochimaru said, shaking his head, his eyes filled with disdain.
"I can liquefy any part of my body and merge with any object or environment. In other words, I am practically immortal."
"Furthermore, my liquid is highly invasive. Soon, you too will take my shape and become my puppet."
As he spoke, a thick white mist billowed from Itachi's wound. Amidst his pained roars, the mist condensed, climbing up his body.
"This Reiatsu is corrosive! He's converting my chakra?!" Itachi's face was a mask of horror. He could hold back no longer.
"Susanoo!" A colossal amount of chakra erupted from within him, expelling the white liquid that had invaded his body and blasting Orochimaru away. A giant, red, armored warrior materialized around him and, with a backhanded swing of its sword, cleaved Orochimaru in two.
"I admit, I underestimated you. But before these eyes, you are still nothing." Itachi's expression was grim. He clutched his bleeding chest and turned to face the regenerating Orochimaru. The Susanoo held the Yata Mirror in its left hand and the Sword of Totsuka in its right, its killing intent boiling over.
The Uchiha were prideful, and Itachi, who considered himself a genius, was the most conceited of all.
His self-centered nature was evident from the condescending plan he had laid out for his brother.
He was arrogant enough to believe that the Uchiha's eyes were the most powerful Kekkei Genkai, arrogant enough to dismiss the wound he'd received from Orochimaru as a mere mistake on his part.
And he certainly had the power to back up that arrogance.
After activating his Susanoo, his chakra and presence reached their peak, affecting every ninja and Shinigami on the battlefield.
Just sensing Itachi's terrifying aura was enough to strike fear into the hearts of countless Shinigami.
"How terrifying," Orochimaru remarked, a flicker of caution in his eyes as he looked at the Susanoo.
Itachi was indeed a genius.
But his perspective was far too narrow.
And that alone was a fatal flaw.
"Your power is impressive now that your Sharingan has evolved, but you must remember, I am a researcher."
"And your opponent is not me." Orochimaru took a step back, his hands forming a seal.
"Impure World Reincarnation—Modified."
Two coffins slowly rose from the ground.
When the lids opened, Itachi's composure shattered completely.
"Father… Mother?! How dare you desecrate the bodies of the Uchiha's honored dead!" First came disbelief, then a furious, maddened rage as he glared at Orochimaru. "You will die! I will kill you!"
"Honored dead? They were planning to betray the village, your parents. And your brother is a rogue ninja. Is this the grand plan you enacted? How tragic." Orochimaru wagged his finger slowly.
"These are the opponents I've prepared for you. A family reunion. The brother who promised to look after his sibling kills his own parents, only to meet them again on the battlefield. How will he explain what happened to his little brother? Will he repent? Or will he remain arrogant, believing that it was Sasuke who was too weak, that it was Sasuke who failed to live up to his expectations?" Orochimaru smiled and stepped aside.
As everyone knows, researchers aren't typically strong in combat.
Although Orochimaru was a Kage-level shinobi, he was still a far cry from a combat specialist like Minato.
But researchers are adept at using various tools and jutsu to protect themselves.
A researcher who fights on the front lines is not a proper researcher.
As was the case now. He had proxies to fight for him.
And he was merely a spectator, enjoying the show.
War was so boring.
You had to add a little entertainment.
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