Chapter 128: A Single Strike

Orochimaru ignored the woman, his gaze fixed instead upon the star core.

The core was massive, a deep, eerie green, shaped like a walnut and etched with intricate wrinkles and veins. At this moment, it pulsed with a rhythmic light, dimming and brightening as if it were breathing.

"ROAR!"

Only then did the Undead creatures, bustling about in their frantic labor, let out wary snarls at the outsider, Orochimaru. Yet, they did not attack. Yakushi Kabuto and the others, having transformed into Undead, continued to move among them, mimicking their frantic work.

The armored woman bound to the black wood, known as Star Spirit Mizuki, saw that Orochimaru would not even spare her a glance. Anxious, she cried out, "These Undead are not ordinary! They possess a singular, unified will. They intend to sacrifice me and utilize this star core to forge a Soul-Locked Undead—a being more powerful than even the elite Otsutsuki!"

Orochimaru turned a deaf ear, busy calculating the energy density of the star core. This Undead Planet was a curious specimen; it had been created when someone slaughtered the entire population in a single instant, the resulting deluge of death and resentment polluting the core. It could be said that the inhabitants had collectively birthed the core at the moment of their demise, and in turn, the core had used its power to transform them all into Undead—a cyclical, causal loop.

It was, after all, the raw power of a planetary core, immense and volatile. If handled improperly, the energy would detonate. While Orochimaru himself might survive such an explosion, the same could not be said for Earth. He had no desire to see his home destroyed.

Thus, he produced the sealing scroll he had previously used for the Undead corpses, sat cross-legged, and began to modify the ritual arrays inscribed upon it. Sealing a star core required the integration of spatial compression principles, along with complex calculations to account for the impact of the Star Spirit's power on the fabric of space. It was a delicate, arduous task.

Seeing that Orochimaru remained unmoved, a flicker of indignation crossed Mizuki’s eyes, though she masked it quickly. "Do you not recognize my lineage?" she pressed. "I am of the Star Spirit clan! Though our numbers are few, each of us is formidable, and we are fiercely protective of our own. Save me, and you shall have a great debt owed to you—a debt from the entire Star Spirit clan. You will be our friend!"

The Star Spirits were indeed powerful. Born within the hearts of diverse stars, they grew by absorbing celestial energy. Mizuki herself had been born within a sun, having already incorporated its entire essence into her being. The growth of a Star Spirit was tied to the consumption of stars; one consumed star marked a First-Star entity, two a Second-Star, and so on. It was whispered that a Star Spirit once reached the nineteenth rank, wielding the power of nineteen stars—a feat so great that even the ancient Otsutsuki clan had been forced to show them respect.

Though Mizuki was only a First-Star, her potential was limitless, provided she survived. She continued to plead, but Orochimaru remained as unresponsive as if she were a mere shadow on the wall.

He saw through her, but chose not to expose her. She was a spy. Had it not been for his long-term plans, he would have killed her on the spot. Yet, one had to admit that a living pawn often held more value than a dead one.

After a while, the preparations were complete. Orochimaru rose, dusting off his hands. The scroll before him floated into the air, unfurling of its own accord to reveal a dense, intricate network of ritual seals. The sealing technique had been successfully modified.

Orochimaru pointed one hand at the star core and the other at the hovering scroll, then pressed his palms together. A blinding light erupted from the scroll, generating an extreme gravitational suction that began to draw in the power of the core. It would be entirely contained within the seal momentarily.

"What are you doing? You will enrage the Undead!" Mizuki cried out in fury. Her plan had been for Orochimaru to rescue her so they could fight their way out together; she had not expected him to covet the core and actually dare to seize it. "You lunatic!" She began to writhe against the black wood, her armor igniting with a brilliant golden light that shattered the black thorns binding her.

At that moment, the Undead realized their core was being tampered with. They let out a chorus of ferocious roars. There were countless Undead here—tens of thousands in the cavern, with millions more gathered outside. The entire population of the planet was present, and Orochimaru and his party were boxed in; even a powerhouse could be worn down by such numbers. This was exactly why Mizuki had been so terrified.

As the horde surged toward Orochimaru, ignoring her entirely, Mizuki seized the chance to tunnel her way out. With Orochimaru drawing the primary fire, her escape had a high chance of success. She gathered her solar energy and punched the ground, a thunderous boom echoing as a three-meter-wide hole blasted through the planet’s crust.

It was then that Orochimaru acted.

He raised his hand, fingers splayed, and clenched them into a fist. "Shinra Tensei," he murmured.

An invisible repulsive force radiated from his body, expanding in a perfect sphere. The tens of thousands of Undead charging toward him—running, leaping, the hulking and the small, the hideous and the grotesque—were pierced through in an instant by the force.

This was no ordinary Shinra Tensei. It was imbued with a fusion of Otsutsuki chakra, Tailed Beast power, and Pseudo-Source energy. At Orochimaru’s level, even the most mundane ninjutsu was elevated to an invincible, devastating scale.

The Undead pierced by the force were not merely blown away; they were crushed between the repulsion and the air resistance, pulverized into molecules and erased from existence. The force was so immense that even the negligible air resistance was amplified to a lethal degree, creating a crushing effect that obliterated everything in its path.

The shockwave surged out of the cavern, instantly expanding across the entire world. In a heartbeat, millions of Undead across the planet were reduced to dust.

A single strike had extinguished the Undead of an entire world. The underground realm, once teeming, felt suddenly vast and empty.

Mizuki, one foot already in the hole she had created, froze. She forgot her escape entirely, staring at Orochimaru in stunned silence.

*How could he be this strong?*

To use a repulsive force to eradicate the Undead without damaging a single pebble of the surrounding environment—what kind of godlike control was that? The handsome man named Sasuke had warned her not to be impudent toward Orochimaru during her mission. Was this what he meant? *Do not provoke him?*

*Terrifying!*

Mizuki hastily pulled her foot back, standing by the edge of the pit and adopting an innocent, harmless expression.

In the cavern, a few Undead remained—those possessed by Kabuto and his subordinates. Orochimaru had intentionally spared them. As the star core was fully drawn into the sealing scroll, the curse was lifted, and the undying energy within them shifted, allowing them to return to their original forms.

"Lord Orochimaru," Kabuto and the others bowed respectfully.

"Hmm," Orochimaru nodded. "The matter of the Undead Planet is resolved."

Kabuto and his team looked sheepish; they had provided no help and had only been a burden. Kabuto, in particular, could guess why Orochimaru had brought them—it was to hide his true strength by minimizing his own actions—yet in the end, he had been forced to act himself. He felt a deep sense of shame.

Suddenly, Kabuto caught sight of Star Spirit Mizuki.