Chapter 449: Forest of Bones

Chapter 449: Chapter 449: Forest of Bones

Atop the domed roof of the Uchiha ruins, Orochimaru stood with his arms folded across his chest, his expression grave as he gazed toward the fierce battle raging within the distant forest.

There was no shinobi who could withstand the First Hokage’s Wood Style secret technique, Deep Forest Emergence.

That fact had already been proven countless times during the era when Konoha was first established.

Therefore, Orochimaru firmly believed that victory would inevitably be his!

And yet, for some inexplicable reason, an uneasy feeling continued to gnaw at the bottom of his heart, as though there was something he had overlooked.

Just then, the fierce battle within the forest abruptly came to a halt.

The trees that had been growing and twisting wildly also fell still, and everything seemed to return to the tranquility that had existed before the battle began.

The corners of Orochimaru’s mouth curled upward.

"Is it over?"

Unlike the Impure World Reincarnation Kabuto used in the original timeline, Orochimaru’s current version was far more conservative.

On one hand, his research into the Impure World Reincarnation had yet to reach sufficient depth. On the other, he needed to ensure that he maintained absolute control over the reincarnations of the First and Second Hokage.

As a result, Orochimaru lacked several privileges that the caster should ordinarily possess.

For example, Orochimaru could not freely transfer his consciousness into a reanimated body as Kabuto could, nor could he directly perceive the situation on the battlefield through his reanimated subjects and remotely control them from an extreme distance.

But by the same token, he also could not be sensed in reverse through those reanimated bodies as Kabuto had been.

In the original timeline, it was precisely because Kabuto had established a long-range chakra connection with his reanimated bodies that Itachi was able to trace that connection back to him.

Itachi directly located Kabuto’s hiding place, confronted him, and hit him with Izanami, becoming one of the key factors that turned the tide of the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Since Orochimaru could not directly perceive the battlefield through his reanimated bodies, he was currently unable to confirm exactly what had happened.

However, judging from his distant observations, his extensive combat experience told him that the battle within the forest had already ended.

"Hmph. So much for Kamigami!"

With a cold snort, Orochimaru slowly raised his hands, preparing to form the seals and cancel the summoning.

Suddenly, the earth trembled once more!

Orochimaru’s gaze sharpened. His hands, which he had only just raised, froze in midair.

"Hm? That guy is still resisting?"

Boom...

Boom...

Boom...

The moment those words left his mouth, a scene that left even Orochimaru stunned unfolded before him.

Amid a deafening series of explosions, sharp white bone spears erupted from the ground one after another!

These bone spears bursting through the earth were extraordinarily sharp. Every tree that stood in their path was effortlessly pierced through and shredded apart!

In the blink of an eye, the seemingly endless green forest had transformed into a pale forest of bones!

"Shikotsumyaku..." Orochimaru froze for a moment before murmuring, "There’s someone else here?"

The pale forest of bones continued spreading outward.

Before long, the ever-rising bone spears had invaded the Uchiha ruins themselves. Their incomparably sharp edges sliced through the stone walls as though they were tofu, piercing straight through the ruins and bursting from the domed roof.

Orochimaru’s figure flickered as he narrowly avoided a bone spear that suddenly erupted from directly beneath his feet.

Watching the bone spear graze past his cheek before shooting high into the air, Orochimaru’s expression became incomparably grave.

At that moment, a figure abruptly appeared atop one of the bone spears behind him.

Gripping a bone blade in hand, the figure slashed at Orochimaru without the slightest hesitation.

Whoosh—!

The bone blade swept past—

and a spray of blood scattered through the air!

Although Orochimaru sensed the danger, he was still half a step too late. While he managed to avoid being bisected at the waist, a deep wound was carved across his back, exposing the bone beneath!

As he spun around and rapidly retreated, he looked toward the figure that had ambushed him.

His brows immediately furrowed.

"Furin!?"

Although the figure had merged back into the bone spear and disappeared immediately after completing the attack, that fleeting glimpse had been enough for Orochimaru to recognize the attacker from his build.

His heart jolted.

"This Furin possesses both Magnet Release and Shikotsumyaku... Could he have used the Chimera Technique as well!?"

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Orochimaru cautiously surveyed his surroundings.

He knew exactly what technique his opponent had just used.

It was the strongest secret technique of the Shikotsumyaku—

Dance of the Seedling Fern!

Once this technique was activated, the entire forest of bones became the caster’s domain. The caster could silently move anywhere within the bone forest, and whether through sensory ninjutsu or dojutsu, detecting them was extremely difficult.

It was one of the Kaguya Clan’s ultimate trump cards!

The technique had only one weakness: the burden it placed upon the caster’s body was extraordinarily severe.

Even the head of the Kaguya Clan would never use this technique lightly unless absolutely necessary.

Hiss... hiss...

At that moment, a sound resembling rising steam came from the wound on Orochimaru’s back.

Amid wisps of white smoke, the bone-deep gash was rapidly healing at a speed visible to the naked eye!

For an ordinary shinobi, the previous strike would undoubtedly have been fatal.

But to Orochimaru, it amounted to little.

Having mastered the Body Regeneration secret technique and the forbidden Living Corpse Reincarnation, he could recklessly squeeze every last bit of potential from his body.

Even if he completely exhausted the number of times its cells could divide...

At worst, he could simply replace it with another body.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

In the distant forest, the battle was just as fierce.

Trees and bone spears intertwined and clashed against one another. One moment, countless trees would coil around the bone spears and snap them apart; the next, bone spears would slice through tree after tree.

Orochimaru glanced toward the distant forest.

At this point, there was no longer any meaning in leaving the reanimated bodies of the First and Second Hokage there to continue struggling against the bone spears.

Thus, he prepared to form a hand seal and summon them back to his side.

As long as he had the reanimated First and Second Hokage protecting him, Orochimaru was confident that he could drag the battle out until his opponent exhausted his chakra.

But the instant he revealed his intention to form a seal—

several figures suddenly leapt out from the bone spears surrounding him on all sides and charged at him simultaneously!

"Bone Clones!?"

Orochimaru’s expression darkened. He immediately thrust both arms outward and shouted,

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Countless venomous snakes as thick as a man’s arm shot from Orochimaru’s sleeves, twisting through the air toward the incoming bone clones.

Yet before the snakes could even get close, Kagami’s bone clones swung their bone blades and sliced them apart!

Amid a foul-smelling mist of blood, the severed snakes were reduced to indistinguishable masses of mangled flesh!

Orochimaru’s brows furrowed slightly. He swiftly drew two kunai and raised them defensively in front of himself.

Clang—!

With a sharp metallic crack, one of the bone clones swung its bone blade—

and sliced straight through Orochimaru’s finely forged steel kunai...

along with his arm!

"Hiss..."

Orochimaru sucked in a sharp breath.

His snake-like pupils abruptly contracted, his face filled with astonishment.

He knew his opponent’s bone spears were extraordinarily sharp, but he had never imagined they would be sharp to this extent.

Their strength far surpassed that of Kimimaro’s bone blades and was almost comparable to his own Kusanagi Sword!

In an instant, Orochimaru slammed his remaining hand against his abdomen and spat the Kusanagi Sword out from his mouth.

Clenching the sword between his teeth, he blocked several strikes from the bone blades before his figure suddenly flickered—

and he fled toward the distant forest...