Chapter 152: Hunting Begins, Situation Reversal
After checking all the human containers, Orochimaru was a little less confident. The things in the laboratory were in plain sight. There were no hiding places. Was a special transformation technique used to turn the intruder into some kind of an item?
If it was an ordinary transformation technique, it would constantly emit unusual chakra fluctuation and would not escape him. Orochimaru walked away from the human container and looked around the laboratory with a solemn expression. He trusted his instincts more than his eyes and perception.
“Something is wrong here! And since the intruder is hiding, it means he’s afraid of me.” Thinking this, a small smile appeared on Orochimaru’s face as he walked to the bookshelf.
He said in a hoarse voice while casually sorting out the books, “Rats like to hide in dark corners, hoping that the poisonous snake will leave quickly.”
After speaking, he stuck out his snake tongue and took out a scroll from the bookshelf. While opening the scroll and looking through it, he smiled and kept using words to stimulate the hidden enemy.
At the same time, he secretly used Blade of Killing Intent. This was a special kind of genjutsu that could continuously accumulate killing intent by slaying people, thereby enhancing its effect. The intent couldn’t be enhanced endlessly and was subject to one’s spiritual energy limitation. Otherwise, it would backfire and the user could fall into a frenzy.
“I know you are hiding here. Wait for me. I’ll find you soon.”
“Did you see the corpses in the containers?”
“They were all those who had broken into this place before.”
“Little rat, your heart sure is beating so fast~”
……
Time passed little by little. In the entire lab, other than Orochimaru talking to himself, there were no movements. Even after a long time, he didn’t notice anything unusual.
“Did I truly make a mistake?” At this moment, Orochimaru was doubting his instincts and stopped talking. He closed the scroll and put it back on the bookshelf. Looking around, he stuck his tongue out and licked his lips.
He then reached for another scroll, ready to rest after reading it. Experimenting too required proper work and rest balance. However, when Orochimaru’s hand held that scroll, his snake pupils shrank suddenly.
Something is wrong!
At that moment, an eerie voice came from behind him. “When a prey faces a powerful hunter, it usually keeps hissing. On one hand, it’s to suppress its fear, and on the other hand, it’s an attempt to scare off the hunter.”
“Who’s it?” Orochimaru shouted and turned around, following the direction of the voice. There was an operating table in the front along with rows of human containers.
Orochimaru’s gaze frantically swept across the rows and then rested on the operating table. His expression then became playful, “It’s a good disguise, why don’t you show yourself now? Interesting little rat.”
As his words fell, the dissected corpse on the table turned over its head stiffly like a zombie and showed a hideous smile. The internal organs of the opened-up chest cavity merged into meat pulp and slowly began to beat rhythmically like a heart.
In the next moment, it seemed to shed the skin, and a black-haired youth came out from it. The youth’s hands were hanging down loosely, and his head was also lowered. The image made Orochimaru feel like he was seeing his reflection, and he couldn’t help licking his lips.
Gradually, the black-haired youth raised his head, revealing a scarlet Sharingan. Orochimaru raised his eyebrows and said in surprise, “It’s you, Tonan-kun. I wonder why you came here.”
A strange smile appeared on Uchiha Tonan’s face, and with his Sharingan looking straight at Orochimaru, he said in a hoarse voice, “Why do you think I came here? Of course, it’s to take care of you.”
Immediately after he spoke, Orochimaru’s right hand wriggled quickly, turning into poisonous snakes, and swarmed towards Tonan.
“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.”
“Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.”
To his surprise, Tonan used the same technique, and countless poisonous snakes entangled and bit each other. Both sides had no advantage.
“Sharingan’s copy ability? It can copy my secret technique,” Orochimaru was surprised. He quietly ended the ninjutsu, and his right hand turn back to its original shape.
Similarly, Tonan ended the technique, and with an arrogant smile, he pointed at his Sharingan, “In front of these eyes, you’ve no chance. Orochimaru, you dared to betray Sarutobi-sensei. As his student, I’ll clean up the blemishes in his faction.”
When Orochimaru heard this, he laughed out loud as if he was hearing a very funny joke. Looking at Tonan, his snake eyes were filled with sarcasm. “Hahaha… It was about this. I thought it was something else, but you turned out to be a fool that was completely brainwashed by Sarutobi Hiruzen. It’s a shame that I overestimated your calibre.”
Tonan’s face darkened instantly. Orochimaru slandered his ‘beloved adopted father’ Sarutobi. Tonan gradually emerged from the meat pulp, and coldly said, “One of the three legendary sannin. It now seems that it’s just an undeserved reputation.”
A hint of mischief flashed through Orochimaru’s eyes, and he leisurely said, “Tonan-kun, do you truly think I can’t see through this genjutsu?”
Orochimaru emitted powerful chakra fluctuations as he said this and the scene in the laboratory shattered. It returned to the original. At this moment, Orochimaru was still standing at the lab’s door and it was open. And Tonan was sitting on the chair located in the innermost part of the laboratory.
It was just that Tonan’s current state appeared truly pathetic. His body was slightly hunched, his hands were resting on the armrests, and his forehead was soaked with sweat. His eyes, which were glaring at Orochimaru, were also bleeding.
He said with a look of resentment, “How did this happen?”
Orochimaru leisurely took out a kunai from his ninja bag and spun it in his hand a few times, “Genjutsu backlash? You are truly miserable.” Saying this, he quickly threw the kunai. Tonan forcibly raised his spirit and moved to one side, narrowly dodging the kunai.
Clang… The kunai deeply lodged into the stone wall behind Tonan. However, when he moved his gaze towards the door again, he was stunned. Orochimaru had disappeared from there at some point.
Suddenly, a big snake sprang out from below the chair and bound Tonan. Orochimaru too suddenly appeared behind the chair and stabbed his neck. “I admit you are talented, and perhaps, you might have surpassed me in the future. But now, you are just a pup, and you cannot escape the fate of being devoured.”
Puchi… The kunai ruthlessly pierced through Tonan’s neck.
But there was no sign of pain on his face. Instead, he ignored the fatal injury and turned his head 180 degrees to look at Orochimaru. There was a strange and sinister smile on his face.
