Chapter 139: Monster

Chapter 139: Chapter 139: Monster

Gazing up at Manda, whose enormous body was practically the size of a mountain, Hyuga Kagami slowly returned Kusanagimaru to the sheath at his waist.

Against a gigantic summoned beast, weapons like swords, kunai, and senbon had extremely limited effectiveness. Kagami would have to switch tactics.

Standing atop Manda’s head with his arms still folded across his chest, Orochimaru gave a sinister chuckle.

"Kagami, let me see that artificial tailed beast of yours."

Kagami ignored Orochimaru. Instead, he assumed a Gentle Fist stance as blue chakra surged into both of his palms.

Looking down at Kagami from high above, Manda asked Orochimaru in displeasure,

"Hey, Orochimaru. This little brat is the one you summoned me to deal with?"

Orochimaru replied, "Don’t underestimate him. There’s a monster hiding inside that brat’s body!"

"A monster?"

Manda let out an arrogant snort.

Then his body suddenly twisted into motion.

Despite his colossal size, Manda moved with astonishing agility, launching his massive body forward like a cannonball as he slammed straight toward Kagami!

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A deafening series of explosions reverberated throughout the dense forest. Shattered rocks flew everywhere, trees snapped apart, and clouds of dust rose high enough to blot out the sky!

Every twist and lunge of Manda’s enormous body carried destructive force comparable to an A-rank Earth Release ninjutsu.

The earth itself seemed to dance along with him, trembling without pause. The forest was utterly devastated beneath his rampage, and the continuous RUMBLE—RUMBLE—RUMBLE! sounded almost like the anguished wails of the forest itself.

Only after wreaking havoc for quite some time did Manda finally stop.

He snorted.

"Orochimaru, where’s that monster you were talking about?"

Orochimaru swept his gaze across the ruined forest, trying to locate Hyuga Kagami. However, the thick clouds of dust hanging in the air obstructed his vision.

The grave expression on Orochimaru’s face revealed exactly what was going through his mind.

There was no doubt that he was puzzled.

He couldn’t understand why Kagami had chosen to use the Gentle Fist against Manda. It was, without question, an extremely foolish choice.

Everyone knew that the most effective way to deal with a gigantic summoned beast was to summon another gigantic beast of your own.

The next best option was a large-scale ninjutsu.

As for ordinary taijutsu, it was practically useless against a massive summoned beast—

Unless...

Manda had never been Kagami’s target in the first place!

At that exact moment, a figure suddenly shot out from beneath Manda’s belly and lunged straight toward Orochimaru!

Orochimaru’s eyes narrowed into thin slits.

"So he really was coming for me!"

As Kagami hurtled forward, his hands rapidly formed a series of hand seals.

He shouted,

"Eight Trigrams Palm Secret Art: Vacuum Suction Palm!"

Orochimaru was slightly taken aback.

He had heard of most of the Hyuga clan’s various Gentle Fist techniques, but this "Vacuum Suction Palm" Kagami had just called out was something he had never heard of before.

Now almost within striking distance, Kagami stretched both hands toward Orochimaru from afar.

"Hm!?"

In an instant, Orochimaru felt an irresistible pulling force seize his body and drag him straight toward Kagami!

The distance between them had already been short. In less than a breath, the two collided.

Kagami, who had been prepared from the very beginning, immediately planted a palm against Orochimaru’s chest and shouted,

"Contract Seal—Repel!"

Orochimaru looked down in astonishment.

Lines of sealing formulas were spreading outward from Kagami’s palm, crawling across his chest like a spiderweb!

POOF!

Before Orochimaru could react, the Contract Seal Kagami had placed on him severed the contractual connection between him and Manda.

Immediately afterward, the enormous Manda vanished in a burst of white smoke, forcibly returning to Ryuchi Cave.

With Manda gone, the two of them, who had been standing atop his massive body, dropped from midair and landed steadily on the ground.

By now, Orochimaru had recovered from his surprise.

He glanced indifferently at the Contract Seal on his chest and said coldly,

"A Contract Seal, huh? Hmph. It seems you’ve been hiding quite a few trump cards."

For Orochimaru, removing the Contract Seal itself wasn’t particularly difficult.

However, if he wanted to summon Manda again, he would first have to make a trip to Ryuchi Cave.

But none of that was what Orochimaru truly cared about at the moment.

What he really cared about was that inexplicable, overwhelming attractive force from just now.

The sensation had been exactly the same as what he had experienced when he encountered Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki!

Meanwhile, Hyuga Kagami was breathing lightly.

He had suffered quite a bit while evading Manda’s attacks earlier. If he hadn’t had Wheel of Will at his disposal, he probably would have already been crushed into a lump of meat beneath Manda’s enormous body.

As for the so-called "Eight Trigrams Palm Secret Art: Vacuum Suction Palm"...

Naturally, Kagami had made the name up on the spot.

Its sole purpose was to conceal Wheel of Will.

That was why he had deliberately assumed a Gentle Fist stance beforehand and had even gone through the motions of forming hand seals before using the technique.

The main reason Kagami went to such lengths was because Orochimaru possessed an almost obsessive desire to acquire ocular kekkei genkai.

Therefore, Kagami absolutely could not reveal the Tenseigan in front of him.

Otherwise, Orochimaru would become completely fixated on him.

At that point, forget continuing their cooperation—Orochimaru might even use the Akatsuki to deal with him.

Orochimaru asked,

"That technique just now... is it a secret art of your Hyuga clan?"

Kagami nodded.

"That’s right."

"I’m not sure why, but that technique of yours just reminded me of someone."

After a brief pause, Orochimaru continued,

"Someone who possesses the Rinnegan!"

Kagami deliberately feigned surprise.

"The Rinnegan? The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths? You didn’t try to take them from him? Something like that should be exactly what you’ve always dreamed of obtaining!"

Orochimaru’s expression darkened, but he said nothing.

Kagami smiled.

"Let’s stop here. If we keep this up much longer, I’m afraid even I won’t be able to handle it."

Orochimaru replied coldly,

"I’ll be quite dissatisfied if I don’t get to see that artificial tailed beast of yours!"

As he spoke, Orochimaru began forming hand seals.

"Come to think of it, I haven’t had many chances to use this technique since learning it. You’ll make the perfect test subject!"

...

On a large tree some distance away from the battlefield.

Yamato crouched on a branch, his expression incomparably grave.

Standing beside him were several small figures.

Among the children were the orange-haired Jugo, the white-haired Kimimaro, and the frail-looking Haku.

Gazing toward the distant battlefield, Kimimaro said,

"We should go help Lord Orochimaru!"

Yamato shook his head.

"Lord Orochimaru specifically ordered us not to interfere!"

Jugo sighed in amazement.

"To think his opponent is actually this powerful... He’s been able to fight Lord Orochimaru evenly for this long. It’s unbelievable!"

Haku nodded, still somewhat shaken.

Just moments ago, if Yamato hadn’t used Wood Release to protect them, the few youngsters probably would have already been smashed into meat paste by Manda, who hadn’t cared in the slightest whether those in his path were friend or foe.

Kimimaro asked in confusion,

"Why did Lord Orochimaru’s summoned beast suddenly disappear?"

Obviously, no one present could answer Kimimaro’s question.

Just then, Yamato suddenly pointed toward the distant battlefield.

"Quick, look!"

Everyone immediately turned to look.

On the battlefield in the distance, an enormous creature had suddenly appeared—

A colossal monster even larger than Manda!

Its entire body was snow-white, and it possessed eight enormous heads. From afar, it looked as though eight gigantic serpents had fused together into a single monstrous being...