Revolution in the Ninja World

As a potent offensive space-time ninjutsu, the power of Kamui was self-evident. Thanks to it, Kakashi had dealt with Orochimaru quite "cleanly"...

Yes, twisting off a shinobi's head in such a beautifully violent, aesthetically pleasing manner wasn't something just anyone could pull off. Theoretically, a technique like Kamui, with its frankly excessive offensive power, could take down anyone.

However, compared to its strengths, its drawback was equally glaring: Hatake Kakashi was merely a "Hatake," not an Uchiha. Because it wasn't an "original part," the Sharingan in Kakashi's socket was difficult for him to control completely. At the very least, Kamui's activation speed was a significant issue.

His success in landing the sneak attack this time was only possible due to a forced, rapid activation supported by Wood Release chakra. Using Kamui in such an unconventional way had clearly placed an immense burden on his body.

Right now, Kakashi had one hand clamped over his left eye socket. Excruciating pain shot through his optic nerve, forcing him to double over, gasping for breath. It felt like countless fine needles were stabbing into his eye, making him wonder, deliriously, if just gouging it out would be better. His Sharingan had already deactivated, and he made a habitual, though now unnecessary, motion—pulling his forehead protector down to cover the eye.

Even though covering it couldn't lessen the agony one bit, it was an unconscious act of self-preservation.

Having deployed his ultimate technique, Kakashi was in terrible shape. But if he could eliminate one of the Sannin at such a minor cost, it would be an absolute steal.

Clutching his eye, Kakashi forced himself to look up at Orochimaru's "corpse." The shoulders were eerily bare, missing a head. Orochimaru lay utterly still, just like a dead body. Kakashi let out a sigh of relief.

Did I succeed?

However, Kakashi immediately sensed something was wrong. Looking closer at the "corpse," he understood the problem—when someone was "decapitated," their remaining body should theoretically turn into a macabre sprinkler, spraying blood everywhere like grisly fireworks.

After all, decapitation usually happened faster than the heart could notice. With the heart still pumping diligently, blood should be gushing out.

But Orochimaru was different. His headless body lay there quietly, without a single drop of blood spilled.

This abnormality made Kakashi's briefly relaxed heart clench again. He struggled to suppress his ragged breathing, gripping the chakra-infused kunai in his hand tighter.

"Space-time ninjutsu… Kakashi, I never expected you to hide such a trump card. Truly worthy of the Fourth Hokage's student." Even more horrifyingly, Orochimaru's voice echoed again, seemingly originating from within the body. It sounded slightly muffled, as if filtered through a chest cavity.

He's not dead even after that? Honestly, Kakashi was terrified.

Then, the corpse's chest cavity abruptly split open, and another pale Orochimaru "broke ground," crawling out from within… If Orochimaru wanted to, he absolutely didn't have to make his "resurrection" so nauseatingly grotesque. Yet, he insisted on this bizarre style.

This wasn't something as simple as a Substitution Jutsu. Orochimaru had genuinely lost his head moments ago, yet now he acted as if nothing had happened. He even began explaining to Kakashi, quite casually, after standing up again: "If limbs like hands or feet are severed, there are many ways to regenerate them quickly. But the head is different. Losing such a special organ necessitates replacing the entire body."

Head? Replacement? Kakashi stared at the shriveled husk at Orochimaru's feet, his mind struggling to process.

The topic felt almost mystical, certainly beyond Kakashi's current scope of understanding. However, one thing was certain: Orochimaru had begun delving deep into the use of the First Hokage's cells.

According to Orochimaru's description, he wasn't completely immortal, nor could he regenerate from a single cell like Cell. He had limitations. The problem was, Kakashi wasn't Kakarot either. If even his most powerful attack couldn't finish Orochimaru, how was he supposed to continue this fight?

"Kakashi, that Sharingan of yours is quite unusual. I imagine it would make for excellent research material," Orochimaru said, his eyes narrowing slightly.

Compared to the ninja games just moments ago, he was now preparing to get serious.

Sensing the extraordinary danger, Kakashi took a deep breath and replied in an incredibly calm tone, "I agree with your assessment. But taking this 'research material' from me won't be simple."

Orochimaru chuckled silently. "Kakashi, as a shinobi, aren't you perhaps a bit too confident in your own abilities?"

Kakashi immediately retorted, "No. What prevents you from taking the Sharingan isn't my strength. It's precisely because it's such good research material, isn't it?"

His words made Orochimaru understand instantly. "Is that so? I suppose I was being shortsighted."

If the eye in Kakashi's socket was indeed an exceedingly rare Mangekyō Sharingan, then the ones protecting it wouldn't just be Kakashi himself, but the entire Konoha system. The most effective protection wouldn't be Kakashi's personal strength, but various Sealing Jutsu.

However, this wasn't an insurmountable problem. It wasn't that Orochimaru underestimated Konoha's Fuinjutsu; even if he held their sealing arts in high regard, he didn't find the situation difficult to resolve… If he couldn't take the eye alone, he'd simply take the person along with the eye. Was there any difficulty in that?

Orochimaru's body swayed slightly left and right, like a viper rearing up, before rapidly closing the distance to Kakashi. A clash of metal rang out as Kakashi swiftly retreated. To put it nicely, he was avoiding the brunt of the attack. To put it bluntly, he was weak.

And Kakashi was weak. After all, he had just fired off his ultimate move. Given the strain of overusing the Sharingan, the fact he hadn't collapsed on the spot was a testament to his professionalism.

In the past, Kakashi would have truly been cornered. Now, however, he could still put up a fight. He had another option—popping some pills.

After creating enough distance, Kakashi immediately reached into his ninja pouch. He pulled out two blue crystalline chunks and stuffed them into his mouth.

Replenishing deeply stored chakra externally? Orochimaru hadn't witnessed that before. But he quickly realized Kakashi's chakra was starting to recover. He decided to end things quickly; dragging this out was pointless.

"Kakashi, do you know what it means to 'swallow a whale'?"

As Orochimaru's words fell, a much larger "serpent" appeared before Kakashi's eyes. This one deserved the name "Yamata no Orochi"—the Eight-Headed Serpent.

Orochimaru had used the Eight Branches Technique.

If it was just this jutsu, well, Kakashi actually did know what "swallowing a whale" felt like... Habara's Eight-Headed Serpent was far larger, more spectacular in appearance, and possessed a much greater sense of pressure than Orochimaru's.

Facing the immense pressure of the giant, Tailed Beast-like monster bearing down on him, Kakashi could only resort to another ace up his sleeve. He opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally committed:

"Secret Ninja Art: Divine Maiden's Sacred Path - Kingdom-Toppling Twilight Mist!"

At that moment, one of Orochimaru's massive serpent heads, in its Yamata no Orochi form, was already lunging to swallow Kakashi whole. Yet, upon hearing exactly what Kakashi had just said, Orochimaru froze completely.

He faltered. The entire moment just… collapsed.

What kind of bullshit jutsu name is that? The style is all wrong! It's painfully awkward, cringeworthy to the extreme! Did a human brain actually come up with that?

The sheer cringe-inducing sound assaulted Orochimaru's auditory system, leaving him incredulous, to the point where he began to deeply doubt himself…

Could it be… the head I lost earlier… I haven't actually gotten it back yet?