Orochimaru’s gaze did not linger on Kagami for long. In the blink of an eye, his attention returned to Danzo’s corpse, which had been severed into two halves.
After witnessing the fierce battle just now, Orochimaru’s desire to possess Danzo’s body had already reached an unimaginable level!
In Orochimaru’s eyes, Danzo had fought against the combined assault of four powerful opponents—the First Hokage, the Second Hokage, Kamigami’s Homura, and Orochimaru himself. Even in defeat, his performance had been nothing short of remarkable.
Moreover, Danzo’s condition at the time had been extremely abnormal. He had practically lost all reason, and he had not had any time to familiarize himself with or adjust to the body he had newly acquired through the ritual.
Therefore, in the battle just now, Danzo had never truly demonstrated the full combat potential of the body that had survived the ritual. There was still considerable room to unlock its power.
Orochimaru believed that if he could obtain this body and was given some time to familiarize himself with it, even if he faced the same situation as before, fighting four opponents alone, victory would not be entirely beyond his reach.
It was precisely with such expectations that he lunged toward Danzo.
At this moment, following the release of the Impure World Reincarnation, the spirit bodies of the First and Second Hokage had already separated from the reanimated bodies they had inhabited. Surrounded by a faint fluorescent glow, they floated into the air.
Orochimaru, who was lunging toward Danzo, failed to notice the trace of concern on the faces of the two former Hokage.
To Orochimaru, even powerful former Hokage like the First and Second, or Kamigami’s Homura, were nothing more than tools he could exploit whenever he pleased.
At this moment, there was only one thing occupying his heart and mind.
Danzo’s body!
"It’s mine!"
As Danzo’s body drew closer and closer, Orochimaru could even see a clear reflection of himself lunging forward in Danzo’s lifeless Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
The greed on Orochimaru’s face immediately overflowed, while an eerie, unnatural light flickered within his snake-like vertical pupils!
Whoosh...
Amid a shrill, piercing rush of wind, Orochimaru’s lunging figure passed right through the two halves of Danzo’s corpse lying on the ground.
Staring at his empty hands, the triumphant joy of seeing his scheme succeed, the satisfaction of finally fulfilling his long-cherished wish, and all his expectations for the future froze on Orochimaru’s face at that very moment.
Then, he mechanically turned his head toward the spot where Danzo’s corpse had been lying, only to discover, to his horror, that the two halves of Danzo’s corpse had vanished into thin air like an illusion!
"Genjutsu!?"
This bizarre sight left Orochimaru rooted to the spot.
At the very instant Danzo’s corpse disappeared, Kagami, who was standing not far away, abruptly spun around and, without a word, drove his golden Susanoo to unleash several ferocious sword strikes behind him!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM...
The enormous golden swords came crashing down, instantly carving several deep trenches into the floor of the volcanic cavern.
The cracks extending from these trenches connected with a nearby pool of magma, causing the molten lava to surge through the fissures and pour into the trenches.
"AAAH!"
As the magma flooded in, a scream that sounded all too familiar to both Kagami and Orochimaru erupted from within one of the trenches.
Without a doubt, that scream belonged to Danzo!
Previously, Danzo had indeed been severed at the waist by the Second Hokage’s Water Release ninjutsu. However, even before undergoing the Bloodline Fusion Ritual, Danzo had already mastered the Uchiha clan’s forbidden technique capable of rewriting fate—Izanagi.
He had even used this forbidden technique to launch a sneak attack on Shisui before.
Therefore, at the very moment the Second Hokage struck him down, Danzo had instinctively activated this forbidden technique.
Madara had once used Izanagi to deceive both the First and Second Hokage, so neither of them was certain that Danzo was truly dead.
Kagami was also well aware of this, which was why he had immediately tried to stop Orochimaru.
However, because Orochimaru knew nothing about Izanagi, the Uchiha clan’s forbidden technique capable of altering fate, and because his greed had clouded his judgment, he had given neither the First and Second Hokage nor Kagami any opportunity to explain.
Instead, he had instantly released the Impure World Reincarnation, sending away two crucial combatants from the battlefield!
Orochimaru stared blankly at Kagami and asked, "What’s going on?"
Danzo, who had clearly been dead, had suddenly appeared behind Kagami, only to be struck down preemptively by Kagami, who seemed to have anticipated his appearance, and killed once again in the magma.
The entire scene was so bizarre that even someone like Orochimaru was having trouble processing it.
Kagami was speechless. "Idiot! Haven’t you ever heard of Izanagi?"
Orochimaru frowned. "Izanagi!?"
Evidently, Danzo had kept this particular secret from Orochimaru and had never shared any information about Izanagi with him.
Furthermore, after defecting from the village, Orochimaru had had few opportunities to come into contact with the Uchiha clan’s forbidden techniques. Thus, he genuinely had no idea that a forbidden technique like Izanagi even existed.
In the original timeline, Kabuto, who inherited everything Orochimaru had left behind, had likewise known nothing about the Uchiha clan’s fate-altering forbidden techniques, Izanagi and Izanami.
Full of confidence, he had entered Sage Mode and attempted to challenge the Uchiha brothers, Itachi and Sasuke, only to have Itachi teach him a harsh lesson with a single use of Izanami.
At this moment, Kagami had no time to explain Izanagi to Orochimaru in detail. He merely asked, "How many Sharingan does Danzo have on his body?"
Orochimaru answered without hesitation, "Nine!"
Before the Bloodline Fusion Ritual, Danzo had possessed a total of eight Sharingan: one in his right eye socket and seven embedded in his right arm.
During the ritual, however, Danzo’s own left eye had transformed into an Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan under the stimulation of the Power of All Creation, brought about by the fusion of the different chakra natures within his body.
Therefore, Danzo currently possessed a total of nine Sharingan.
"Then that means he has nine lives!" After a brief pause, Kagami continued irritably, "We’ve only taken one of his lives, so what were you in such a hurry to send the First and Second Hokage away for? Without their fuinjutsu, we’ll have to kill him another seven times!"
Orochimaru instinctively narrowed his eyes, carefully digesting Kagami’s words.
At this moment, Kagami had no time to worry about whether Orochimaru could immediately understand Izanagi, because just now, he had experienced a mysterious, inexplicable sensation.
The reason he had been able to accurately predict where Danzo would reappear and strike first to kill him was that the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in his eye sockets had warned him.
Previously, when the ritual was interrupted, both pairs of Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had simultaneously lost their opportunity to evolve into the Rinnegan.
Now, Kagami’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Danzo’s Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan had become mortal enemies!
This was because, at present, the only way for either pair to evolve into the Rinnegan was to absorb the ocular power of the other.
Only by doing so would they have another opportunity to advance into the Rinnegan.
That was why, upon reviving, Danzo had chosen to launch a sneak attack on Kagami rather than Orochimaru, who had been right beside him...