Bab 149: Chapter 149: The Power of the White Elephant Phantom
After Orochimaru mastered the Living Corpse Reincarnation Technique, he developed an obsession with collecting prodigious talents.
Whenever he encountered an extraordinary talent, he felt compelled to investigate deeply—such individuals made ideal candidates as potential vessels if their souls were compatible with his.
Initially, Orochimaru's primary interest was Uchiha Sasuke, and possibly even Yamato, but now he found himself intrigued by Shinho Aburame as well.
As for Naruto Uzumaki, with the Nine-Tails sealed within him, he was an unsuitable vessel.
Throughout the fight, Shinho's unperturbed composure and ability to resist Orochimaru's oppressive killing intent had piqued his curiosity.
Shinho's confidence was clearly no ordinary façade; as Tsunade's apprentice, he was certainly far from being helpless.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
Orochimaru formed seals and spewed a mass of venomous snakes from his mouth, surging toward Shinho and his team like a flood of scaled bodies.
"Hah! So what if you're one of the Sannin? Take this—Rasengan!" Naruto roared, charging forward as he summoned an immense amount of chakra, which swirled around him like a furious cyclone, shredding every serpent in its path.
Blood sprayed as the acrid scent of venomous blood saturated the air.
"Is that supposed to be a Rasengan?" Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. That technique…so that's Minato's creation. So why does yours look so different?
At that moment, Orochimaru's gaze sharpened—Shinho had vanished.
When did he disappear?
Orochimaru raised his arm, and a snake slithered out from his sleeve, swiftly searching for Shinho's location.
"Found you!" Orochimaru spun around.
Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!
A flurry of snakes shot forth, only for Shinho to reveal himself as he deactivated the Stealth Scale Gu.
He casually swung his arm, releasing a golden Crescent Moon Slash that severed the approaching serpents before rocketing forward, his fist aimed straight at Orochimaru.
"Enhanced strength?" Orochimaru noted, a hint of nostalgia flashing through his eyes as he softened his body like rubber.
His waist twisted, creating an empty space where his abdomen should have been.
Jade Wind Wheel Gu!
Just as Shinho's punch seemed poised to miss, a green vortex formed around his fist. He adjusted his angle upward, directing his punch toward Orochimaru's head.
Boom!
A devastating burst of energy exploded, obliterating Orochimaru's head and sending his flesh flying in a gruesome spray. Shinho leapt back, neatly avoiding the blood splatter.
"Is he…dead?" Naruto asked, staring in shock at the remains of Orochimaru's body.
Sasuke's expression was equally disbelieving.
Could it be that the legendary Sannin couldn't withstand a single blow from Shinho?
"Impressive," came Orochimaru's voice as his headless body staggered forward. The remains split open like a shell, revealing another unharmed Orochimaru beneath.
"Your punch…had that fully connected, I would have died for sure." Orochimaru smiled, eyeing Shinho with renewed interest. "Shinho, aside from the Aburame bloodline, do you possess another?"
He couldn't fathom how an Aburame could possess such monstrous strength; coupled with the fact that tsunade was willing to accept him as an apprentice, he began to suspect Shinho might have Senju lineage.
"No." Shinho narrowed his eyes, cutting short the idle chatter.
He was now resolved to stop Orochimaru.
To Shinho, Orochimaru's cursed seals were a double-edged sword. For those without bloodline limits, they were potentially useful shortcuts to power.
But for someone like Sasuke, they were far more harmful than beneficial. In th end itachi had to step in to eliminate the cursed seal and Orochimaru's fragmented soul from within Sasuke.
Shinho raised his hand, slashing through the air. A golden crescent of chakra sliced forward, cutting through the dense forest.
What kind technique is this? Orochimaru wondered, taking out his Kusanagi Sword.
The blade glinted as he struck at the crescent, only to feel a powerful shock run through him as he was pushed back several paces.
Recovering his stance, he deftly slashed at the golden arc, shattering it after several strikes.
A sharp sound pierced the air as Shinho's fist shot forward, so fast that it seemed to tear through the air itself.
"This same trick won't work twice." Orochimaru sneered, stabbing his Kusanagi straight at Shinho's fist. Let's see if his fist is truly harder than my blade.
Orochimaru was slightly taken aback when Shinho didn't dodge. Is he really that foolish?
In a blink, Shinho's fist collided with the blade.
Clang!
The Kusanagi Sword buckled, sending a violent shockwave up Orochimaru's arm, leaving it bloody and mangled.
The Kusanagi sword flew from his hand as Shinho's fist continued forward.
Orochimaru's body erupted in a spray—not of blood, but of packed earth. He had used an Earth-Style Replacement Technique to evade the blow.
Reforming some distance away, Orochimaru stared at Shinho in shock.
This indestructible physical body was something he had only ever seen before in the Summoning Beast Enma, the Monkey King.
Could Shinho somehow possess a bloodline like that of the Sarutobi Clan?
As Orochimaru pondered, a chill crept over him. A frosty blue arc of chakra shot toward him.
Another technique with no seals?
His curiosity only grew, and he quickly summoned another wave of snakes to intercept it. Midair, the serpents froze, shattering into a pile of icy fragments.
Suddenly, Orochimaru felt an overwhelming sense of heaviness as though he were trapped in quicksand. What is this technique?
Slow Down Gu.
In an instant, Shinho appeared in front of him.
Orochimaru's eyes widened as he saw a massive phantom of a white elephant looming behind Shinho.
With a mighty impact, Orochimaru was slammed into the ground, creating a large crater that fractured outwards like shattered glass, felling trees and sending debris into the sky.
In mere seconds, the Death Forest was reduced to a vast, desolate clearing.
"What…what is that?" Sasuke's face was a mask of horror.
The thunderous explosion still echoed in his ears, reverberating like endless thunder.
No matter how strong he felt he was, every time he thought he was catching up to Shinho, his teammate would display an even greater power.
"That strength…" Naruto's eyes were wide with awe as he took in the smashed earth around them. "Was that an elephant?! A while elephant?."
Shinho lightly touched down on the ground, surprised that the White Elephant Phantom had activated—it had a variable activation rate.
Yet the devastation it brought was beyond his expectations.
"We actually defeated Orochimaru!" Naruto exclaimed, his voice filled with excitement.
In Naruto's view, no one, not even one of the legendary Sannin, could survive an attack like that.
"No," Shinho replied, saking his head, his voice steady.
Naruto had just opened his mouth to speak when a cold, eerie laugh echoed through the forest.
"He's… really not dead?" Sasuke's heart skipped a beat, mirroring Naruto's disbelief—both had thought that attack would be the end for Orochimaru.
Is this the true power of one of the Legendary Sannin? Sasuke thought, his fingers tightening around his sword's hilt.
"I see now why Tsunade would take you as her disciple," Orochimaru murmured, slowly emerging from the rubble.
As the dust and smoke cleared, a grotesque sight came into view—Orochimaru's outer skin had peeled away, leaving him in the appearance of an otherworldly female ninja.
"Orochimaru's… a woman?" Naruto gaped in astonishment.
"Not a scratch?" Sasuke gripped his blade tightly, his awareness of Orochimaru's strength deepening.
"Shinho-kun," Orochimaru said with a wicked smile, his eyes gleaming with dark curiosity, "your body must be hiding quite a few secrets."
A shiver ran down Shinho's spine.
He'd anticipated this exact response, as such he was unfazed.
Orochimaru is strong, no doubt, but taking me down won't be so easy, Shinho thought, mentally preparing for whatever Orochimaru would throw next.
Besides this was konoha.
Just then, an angry shout echoed through the trees.
"Orochimaru!"
"Oh, my dear apprentice," Orochimaru mused, arching a brow as Anko Mitarashi appeared in a blur, eyes wary and stance combative as she stood.
As she took in the scene of the devastated clearing, her expression faltered.
How did this even happen? She thought, wondering if another Jonin had arrived first.
"Orochimaru!" Anko's face hardened as she demanded, "What are you doing here in Konoha?"
"It seems we'll have to end things here for today," Orochimaru said, ignoring her as he turned to address Shinho and Sasuke with a chilling smile. "We'll meet again, Shinho-kun… Sasuke-kun."
Their battle had drawn too much attention; the closer patrolling shinobi were rushing over, with Anko as being proctor, having reached them first.
Naruto, however, was fuming. "Hey! Remember my name! It's Naruto Uzumaki!"
Orochimaru's focus on Shinho and Sasuke had left him feeling slighted, his face red with frustration.
"Stop!" Anko attempted to chase Orochimaru, but she collapsed to her knees, clutching her shoulder where her own cursed mark pulsed with excruciating pain.
Orochimaru cast her a fleeting glance before vanishing entirely from sight.
"D-Don't… don't follow him," Anko gasped, turning to Naruto with a stern warning.
"Tch, fine! I'll let him off this time!" Naruto grumbled, noting Shinho's subtle gesture to hold back.
"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, shooting Naruto an irritated glance.
"Why're you insulting me all of a sudden?" Naruto looked confused, but Shinho ignored their bickering and moved to Anko's side, activating his Healing Palm Technique.
"Is that Healing Palm?" Anko gasped, surprised, remembering how orochimaru had addressed him "Ah, are you Lady Hokage's apprentice?"
"That's me," Shinho replied, his focus remaining on her treatment.
Anko felt a jolt of fear settle in her stomach. She suddenly understood Orochimaru's purpose here—he was after Shinho and Sasuke, two young prodigies with extraordinary talents.
"What happened?" A familiar voice called from nearby.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted.
"That man is back," Anko said grimly, meeting Kakashi's gaze. "Orochimaru."
Kakashi's eyes widened. "Are any of you hurt?"
"Hah! It's just Orochimaru!" Naruto declared, hands on his hips in triumph. "If he hadn't run away so fast, Shinho would've beaten him!"
"Are you just making things up?" Anko asked skeptically.
"It's true!" Naruto insisted, pointing at the massive crater, and the clearing in the forest "That was created by Shinho!"
"Impossible!" Anko instinctively denied.
"No, that's Shinho's Super strength," Kakashi confirmed, but a sense of doubt gnawed at him as he stared at the crater.
His strength was never this extreme before… Had Shinho been holding back his true power all along?
Anko looked at Shinho, dumbfounded.
She tried to reconcile this outrageously powerful figure before her with the polite, almost delicate-looking young man.
If true, it was no wonder that Orochimaru had taken an interest in him. She couldn't help the pang of jealousy that arose in her heart.
She used to be orochimaru's apprentice and he had abandoned her when he defected.
Is this what true talent looks like? she wondered if orochimaru had abandoned her because her talent.
"Done," Shinho said, withdrawing his hand as the healing chakra dissipated.
In the original story, Orochimaru had always held a fondness for Anko, even inviting her to follow him when he left the village.
But Anko had refused, so Orochimaru erased her memory of the encounter. As far as she knew, he'd abandoned her entirely.
"This has to be reported to the Hokage," Kakashi said, a grim expression darkening his face. "We should consider pausing the Chunin Exams. Orochimaru is too dangerous to ignore."
"There's no need," Anko interjected, getting to her feet. "Orochimaru's targets are Shinho and Sasuke."
"What?" Kakashi's voice came out in a shocked whisper.
"That's what he told me," Anko replied, her expression conflicted. "And he's not one to lie about something like this."
"Then Team Seven is pulling out of the Chunin Exams," Kakashi said without hesitation.
"No way!" Naruto and Sasuke both protested in unison.
"You don't understand how dangerous he really is!" Kakashi argued, his voice firm. "As your leader, you need to listen to me on this."
"Kakashi-sensei," Shinho stepped in, gently holding back Naruto and Sasuke. "If we withdraw, it may make things worse."
"Why's that?" Kakashi asked, frowning.
"If we're Orochimaru's targets, staying in the exams will keep him in the open," Shinho reasoned. "If we pull out, he'll just go into hiding, which makes it harder to track his moments."
Kakashi seemed to hesitate at that.
"Let's leave it up to the Hokage," Shinho said with a reassuring smile. "For now, we should head for the tower. We can't lose the top spot, right?"
"Shinho's right!" Naruto agreed, flashing a grin. "Kakashi-sensei, you wouldn't want Konoha to miss out on first place, right?"
"Go report to Lady Hokage, Kakashi," Anko said after a deep breath. "I'll keep them safe until you return."
Kakashi opened his mouth as if to argue, then relented with a nod.
"Let's go," Shinho said, leading the way toward the tower.
Other teams were lying in ambush around the tower grounds, hoping to eliminate their competition. This time, however, they found themselves outmatched by their prey.
Team Seven deftly avoided any delays, with Shinho clearing their path with remarkable ease. Before long, they passed through the tower gates, their place secured.
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