However, he immediately realized something was wrong. Inside the ice, Orochimaru's body had fine cracks. The inside was empty, there was nothing.
This was shed snake skin!
Substitution Technique!
When he realized it, a sharp gust of wind attacked from behind. Aokiji suddenly turned around and saw Orochimaru, who had just disappeared, now writhing and climbing with a very strange posture. His mouth opened to an extremely excessive limit, gaping all the way to behind his ears. From his mouth protruded a slender sword, stabbing straight toward Aokiji's back.
Kusanagi no Tsurugi!
Cold sweat soaked Aokiji.
This attack from Orochimaru was too strange. This was the first time he faced such a difficult opponent.
However, he didn't panic too much in this situation. Half his body instantly transformed into its natural form. The Kusanagi sword penetrated his chest but didn't cause any damage whatsoever.
Orochimaru's eyebrows furrowed. After his attack failed, he immediately fled.
His figure flashed and directly disappeared from his spot.
"Come out—"
Akainu roared. Both his palms suddenly struck the ground. Both his arms transformed into magma. Centered on him, the surrounding ground instantly became red-hot. Rocks melted into steaming magma, spreading rapidly to the surroundings, emitting thick smoke. The temperature in the area increased drastically.
"What a terrifying ability..."
Orochimaru's eerie voice sounded. His original body, which had just dived into the ground, was forced out. He emerged standing on a snake's head, his expression strange. In his vertical pupils there was no fear. Instead, he became more interested in the three Admirals.
Kizaru didn't want to make the situation too difficult. After all, their mission this time wasn't a forced arrest, but only to bring that person back. He hurriedly raised both hands and said: "Orochimaru, we don't mean to offend, we just want to ask for help—"
However, before he finished speaking.
From the ground, countless sharp bones suddenly emerged, directly stabbing upward, forming a dense forest of sharp bones. They varied in size, were thick, and very sharp. If the three Admirals hadn't been very vigilant, they would have been directly impaled by this forest of sharp bones and become the most miserably dead Admirals in history.
"Bones... no, metal? Not that either..."
Kizaru tiptoed on one of the sharp bones. He wiped the cold sweat on his forehead. Cold light flashed behind his sunglasses as he looked in one direction.
"Orochimaru-sama... do you need help?"
A faint voice came from the corner. At some point, a white-haired man in a long white robe appeared. His expression was indifferent. He slowly extended his hand behind his neck and slowly pulled out his own spine.
This spine was silver-white, emitting a cold gleam like metal.
This scene made the three Admirals' hair stand on end.
Pulling out his own spine, yet this man looked like nothing had happened?
What kind of monster was this!
"Kimimaro, you came at the right time. These three people are troublemakers from the Pirate World. Help me capture them. I happen to be very interested in them!"
Orochimaru's snake eyes stared at the three Admirals. He licked his lips and laughed hehe.
"Yes, Orochimaru-sama!"
Kimimaro had extraordinary worship and fanaticism toward Orochimaru. He was almost unconditionally obedient. His entire body began to change. Strange runes like countless black tadpoles covered his entire body.
Curse Mark!
This was power originating from Jūgo, which could unlock powerful new strength. The body underwent abnormal changes, and physical appearance would also mutate.
Although people given the Curse Mark could exert great power, it also forcibly drew out boundless strength, and there was a possibility of getting lost in slaughter without being able to break free. Therefore, it would cause strong erosion to the user. It was a double-edged sword.
"You're also an existence on the Supreme Power List!"
Akainu looked at Kimimaro with slight shock. He felt slightly familiar.
Kimimaro didn't like small talk with outsiders. He directly extended both his hands. The skin at his fingertips tore, revealing silver-white bone joints. Those ten bone joints shot out like bullets in an instant.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
However, this attack only caused slight ripples on the three Admirals' bodies. The attacks directly penetrated their bodies, causing no damage whatsoever.
"What happened?"
Kimimaro frowned, slightly confused.
Orochimaru explained beside him: "These three people are Devil Fruit users from the Pirate World, and the most special are Logia types, which can transform the body into elements. Ordinary attacks cannot cause effective damage. As far as I know, only Busoshoku Haki and seawater from the Pirate World can effectively suppress them. Oh yes, and also Senjutsu!"
Since the Gold List appeared, Orochimaru had conducted a series of research on this mysterious existence. Although the things he could research were limited, he still obtained a lot of information by acquiring a large amount of data.
He even knew a lot about these three people's previous invasion of Konoha Village.
Orochimaru was very clear that although he could use water attribute Ninjutsu, he wasn't very proficient in it. Trying to face experts at the level of three Admirals was just a dream.
At present, there were only two ways to deal with these three people.
Seawater and sealing.
If he could bring these three people to his laboratory...
Orochimaru felt his blood boiling just thinking about it.
"If that's the case..."
Orochimaru suddenly pressed both his palms together and quickly formed seals.
The strange hand seals made the three Admirals slightly uneasy. Terrifying energy fluctuations were forming.
"Stop him!"
Aokiji didn't want to give his opponent a chance. He condensed a blue ice spear in his right hand and threw it hard toward Orochimaru.
The ice spear split the sky. With terrifying speed, a semi-transparent arc even formed at the spear's tip, emitting a sharp hissing sound.
Akainu and Kizaru also moved at the same time. Magma fists and Yasakani no Magatama were unleashed, striking Orochimaru like rain.
Suddenly, a figure blocked in front of Orochimaru. His eyes were cold. The skin of his entire body had changed from pale white to brown, without any emotion like a corpse.
It was Kimimaro.
The skin on his chest split open. Two of his ribs detached, transforming into silver-white shields, completely covering himself and Orochimaru inside. All attacks were successfully blocked.
*KACHA!*
Aokiji's hard ice spear directly broke from the tip when it made contact with the rib. It only left a small white dot on that rib.
Meanwhile, Kizaru's solid light shots that struck it didn't even leave white marks.
"What kind of bones are these? Made of iron?"
Kizaru was stunned, slightly disbelieving.
The statement was correct.
Kimimaro indeed possessed the rare Kekkei Genkai Shikotsumyaku. After receiving the Gold List reward, all his bones were replaced with extremely hard Adamantium metal. Not only did his defense increase rapidly, but he also became stronger in physical recovery. As long as he wasn't killed instantly or his head wasn't severed, he could fully recover.
He was also another kind of immortality.