Chapter 446: Let Her Go

Chapter 446: Chapter 446: Let Her Go

Beneath the mask patterned with raging winds, the Byakugan in Kagami’s eyes slowly activated. He gazed toward the cloud of dust rising in the distance, his brows gradually knitting together.

"Orochimaru?"

What was rushing toward the ruins in the distance was an enormous green serpent.

Two figures stood atop its back—Orochimaru and the missing Kurenai.

"Hmph. So it was Orochimaru who attacked Kurenai. No wonder it was done so cleanly, without leaving behind a single clue!"

Kagami snorted softly, but even more questions immediately surfaced in his mind.

"Why did he abduct Kurenai?"

Judging from Orochimaru’s route, he was clearly heading toward these Uchiha ruins as well.

At that thought, realization suddenly dawned on Hyuga Kagami.

"No wonder he left so readily outside the Root base earlier. So he found clues about the Totsuka Blade too.

"But why did he abduct Kurenai? Could there be somewhere he needs to make use of her abilities? Genjutsu, perhaps?"

Hyuga Kagami wasn’t surprised in the slightest that Orochimaru was searching for the Totsuka Blade.

In the original timeline, when Orochimaru was sealed by Itachi with the Totsuka Blade, he had said something along the lines of, "So you had the Totsuka Blade hidden all along."

That alone showed just how much effort Orochimaru had poured into searching for the Totsuka Blade.

But that was only natural.

For someone who had personally witnessed the terrifying power of the Rinnegan, if Orochimaru wanted to defeat Nagato, then the divine artifact known as the Totsuka Blade was undoubtedly his only hope.

After all, he was a traitor to the Akatsuki and someone Nagato wanted eliminated as soon as possible. Whether Orochimaru liked it or not, he had no choice but to consider the possibility that he might one day have to fight Nagato.

In only a few moments, the giant green serpent arrived at the edge of the Uchiha ruins.

At that moment, Orochimaru, standing atop the serpent’s back, also noticed Hyuga Kagami silently standing on the circular dome of the Uchiha ruins.

His expression immediately turned extremely ugly.

Glancing at Kurenai behind Orochimaru, Kagami saw that although she looked somewhat listless, she didn’t appear to have suffered any injuries. He secretly breathed a sigh of relief before saying coldly to Orochimaru,

"Let her go!"

A trace of surprise flashed through the gloomy-faced Orochimaru’s eyes.

And it wasn’t just Orochimaru.

Even Kurenai, who was being held hostage by Orochimaru, looked astonished. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected that the person coming to rescue her wouldn’t be a Konoha shinobi, but rather a mysterious figure dressed as a member of Kamigami.

Naturally, Kagami had said this deliberately.

Although the Totsuka Blade was a divine artifact, its greatest power could only be brought out when used to catch an opponent completely off guard. If everyone knew that the Totsuka Blade was in his hands and became wary of it, then its effectiveness would be greatly diminished.

Therefore, Hyuga Kagami didn’t want Orochimaru to know that Kamigami was also searching for the Totsuka Blade, much less that they had already followed the clues all the way here.

So he conveniently used Kurenai as an excuse, deliberately making it seem as though his appearance here was solely to rescue the abducted Kurenai and had absolutely nothing to do with the divine artifact, the Totsuka Blade.

Still suspicious, Orochimaru’s expression darkened as he questioned,

"Does Kamigami insist on opposing me at every turn?"

Kagami replied indifferently,

"As long as you let her go, I’ll leave immediately!"

Seeing Kagami take such an attitude only made Orochimaru more interested. Smiling, he asked,

"Why do you care so much about a Konoha shinobi?"

Kagami replied,

"None of your business!"

Orochimaru chuckled and began scrutinizing Kurenai beside him from head to toe.

"Don’t look at me. I don’t know him at all!"

After snapping back at Orochimaru, Kurenai secretly glanced toward Kagami standing atop the dome and pondered to herself,

"The mask on his face has a raging-wind pattern, so he should be that member of Kamigami who possesses the Magnet Release Kekkei Genkai and is often seen alongside Homura.

"But... I really don’t know him.

"Why would he risk himself to save me?"

At this point, Orochimaru wiped the smile from his face and said solemnly,

"Three days from now, I’ll return her to you completely unharmed. Surely that should be acceptable?"

Kurenai also stared blankly at Kagami, feeling somewhat uneasy.

She wasn’t sure whether this mysterious man would truly be willing to fight Orochimaru—one of the Legendary Sannin, a shinobi who stood almost at the very pinnacle of the shinobi world—just for her sake!

Kagami, however, didn’t hesitate or weigh his options in the slightest.

"Let her go. Now!"

Orochimaru let out a sinister chuckle, a mocking expression spreading across his face.

"In that case, I suppose I’ll just have to get rid of you!"

Kagami’s expression didn’t fluctuate in the slightest.

As Orochimaru’s former disciple, he understood Orochimaru’s nature better than almost anyone.

He knew perfectly well that the mere name Kamigami wasn’t enough to intimidate the utterly lawless Orochimaru. In the end, a fight between them was inevitable.

But as far as Kagami was concerned, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

After all, he had been hoping for a good, exhilarating battle to test the Type-A Wind Release clone’s actual combat capabilities.

And Orochimaru, a man who practically couldn’t be killed no matter how badly you beat him, was obviously an excellent sparring partner.

At that moment, Orochimaru lightly bit his finger and brought his hands together, speaking in his characteristic hoarse voice,

"Summoning Technique: Impure World Reincarnation!"

Boom...

Amid a burst of white smoke, two upright coffins appeared on the giant green serpent’s back.

Looking at the two coffins, marked respectively with the characters ’First’ and ’Second,’ Kagami—who had been practically itching for a fight just moments ago—immediately changed expression.

"Uh... seriously? You’re going this far?"

Although he knew that Orochimaru had been researching the forbidden Impure World Reincarnation technique for quite some time, Kagami genuinely never imagined that, at this very moment and under these circumstances, he would end up facing the First and Second Hokage—

Two Hokage who hailed from the Senju Clan.

Clatter...

Clatter...

As the coffin lids slowly opened and fell to the ground, two figures staggered out from within.

The moment Kurenai saw the figures emerging from the coffins, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"The First... the Second...!?"

Although the First and Second Hokage had been dead for several decades, as a Konoha ninja, Kurenai recognized them without much difficulty.

The man clad in red armor was the First Hokage, who had brought an end to the chaotic era and founded Konoha.

And beside him, dressed in blue armor, was the First Hokage’s younger brother—the Second Hokage.

"Orochimaru can actually summon these two Lords!?"

"How dare he toy with the dead!?"

Countless thoughts flooded Kurenai’s mind all at once.

Amid her shock, her gaze subconsciously shifted toward Kagami in the distance.

"Faced with something like this, he’ll probably run away immediately, right?"

With his arms folded across his chest, Orochimaru smiled wickedly.

"This is a technique I only mastered recently. As it happens, I’ve been needing a powerful opponent to help me test it. Since you’ve delivered yourself right to my doorstep, I won’t hold back."

With that, Orochimaru ordered the reincarnations of the First and Second Hokage,

"Kill him!"

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Amid the sharp sounds of air being torn apart, the reanimated First and Second Hokage leapt from the giant green serpent’s back and charged toward Kagami atop the dome of the ruins.

Cursing furiously in his heart, Kagami had no choice but to bite the bullet and meet them head-on...