Chapter Thirty-Four: Battle Against the Ten-Tails’ Shell

... In the distant Land of Iron, Black and White Zetsu’s true body was eavesdropping on the Four Kage Summit. This was by Black Zetsu’s guidance; compared to observing Pain retrieve the One-Tail and Nine-Tails in the Hidden Sound Village, listening in on the Kage Summit was clearly more important. After all, one part of the plan to resurrect his mother involved triggering a great ninja war, gathering as many chakra-wielders as possible for Mother to absorb.

Besides, Pain was personally handling matters over there; nothing should go wrong.

Yet, things went wrong.

A White Zetsu came to report: Pain was not faring well, and even the incomplete Ten-Tails’ shell had been summoned to battle. White Zetsu, for his part, thought it was just a flaw in the plan that could be patched up—if the sky fell, there were always tall people to hold it up.

But Black Zetsu was grinding his teeth in rage, feeling an ache in his core. He thought further, schemed deeper than anyone else.

“Damn that Orochimaru—he’s become such a nuisance!” he cursed inwardly.

Forcing Pain to use the incomplete Ten-Tails’ shell meant the situation was dire. The Ten-Tails’ shell was the linchpin of all his plans; nothing could be allowed to happen to it. With Nagato summoning it, he now had to find a way to ensure its safety.

He sighed. Orochimaru was endlessly troublesome.

Back when Orochimaru was still in Akatsuki, Black Zetsu had observed him carefully. Although Orochimaru was a genius seen once in a century, he was also hampered by pride and a limited worldview. Black Zetsu had manipulated things from the shadows, misleading Orochimaru into believing the Sharingan was the ultimate power, and arranged as many chances as possible for him and Itachi to cross paths.

It worked—Orochimaru became obsessed with the Sharingan and lost himself in its pursuit. By Black Zetsu’s reckoning, Orochimaru’s potential had peaked, and unless his perspective broadened, he would only become more lost in the Sharingan.

By rights, Orochimaru at this stage shouldn’t have been able to defeat Pain, yet now he’d forced Pain to use the Ten-Tails’ shell. Clearly, Orochimaru had found some opportunity that broadened his horizons.

Black Zetsu’s head throbbed—an Orochimaru unbound by his former limitations was not someone easy to manipulate!

He didn’t possess exceptional wisdom or overwhelming power; his only advantage was asymmetric information.

That was all he had.

If it were Obito or Madara in his place, Kaguya would have been freed long ago.

Orochimaru’s unexpected growth was a monumental headache.

But wallowing in frustration solved nothing. Over the long years, Black Zetsu had come to understand himself—he had patience and endurance in abundance.

Diligence made up for what he lacked.

His earlier self-pity had been a mere venting of emotion—now it was time to think of remedies.

“It’s not the worst-case scenario yet. Only Pain is in trouble. If I can find someone to replace him, the plan can still proceed.”

He set his sights on Obito.

Obito was a ruthless man—far more so than himself—but he had glaring weaknesses. Besides, he and Madara had already deceived Obito once; Obito believed them wholeheartedly.

This time, as long as nothing truly unexpected happened, Obito would surely fall for it again.

“And sending Obito to deal with Orochimaru—there’s no way anything could go wrong with that, right?” Black Zetsu thought of Obito’s abilities, and as he did, his doubt slowly gave way to confidence.

...

In the Sound Village, the battle between Orochimaru and Pain had devastated most of the settlement. Fortunately, Kabuto had arranged for an early evacuation; otherwise, the casualties would have been catastrophic.

Even so, some onlookers had died.

Sasuke, who had been secretly observing from the sidelines, was now gravely wounded and near death.

The fight grew fiercer by the moment. By the time Sasuke realized the tide had turned and tried to flee, it was already too late. Debris and shockwaves rained down from the sky, each blow potentially fatal.

Sasuke’s only advantage was the Sharingan, which allowed him to predict attacks and dodge. But he was too weak; his body could not keep up with what his eyes could see. He failed to avoid a large boulder, which struck him and left him dying.

“Is this the end?” Scenes from his life flashed before his eyes—mostly of his brother, Itachi, and his friend, Naruto. These two were the most deeply etched in his heart.

“Brother... Naruto...” Sasuke murmured.

He could still see Orochimaru and Pain battling, but suddenly realized that he had always been on the wrong path!

He was an Uchiha, a genius of the clan—why had he been so desperate for others’ guidance?

He could have plotted his own course, planned his own training; he didn’t need a fixed teacher’s hand.

If he must rely on others, it should be through equal exchange, on his terms—not by begging.

A bitter smile crept across Sasuke’s lips. Looking back on his life, he saw that his obsession with gaining strength had blinded him. He had always sought shortcuts, always chased after a powerful teacher, never realizing that he was his own best instructor.

Ultimately, only he could be his own greatest support.

Sasuke had found his path.

But, tragically, he was about to die.

...

The colossal, purple, eight-headed Orochimaru charged at the Ten-Tails’ shell. Under Pain’s control, the shell sprouted nine or ten massive arms, lashing out like a monstrous beast.

Orochimaru dodged nimbly; though the arms failed to hit him, they smashed the ground beneath him to rubble.

The Ten-Tails’ shell was overwhelmingly powerful—its vast size matched by its brute force.

The rampaging, purple, eight-headed Orochimaru finally drew near, whipping his eight dragon-scale-covered tails hard against the Ten-Tails’ shell.

With a thunderous crash, the shell staggered back several steps, almost toppling.

Almost simultaneously, two hands burst from the shell, seizing two of Orochimaru’s serpent heads.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

With the heads in its grip, the Ten-Tails’ shell began to slam Orochimaru into the ground mercilessly.

The earth was pitted with craters, and the final blow hurled the purple, eight-headed Orochimaru into a mountain outside the Sound Village.

The mountain collapsed with a roar.

At the same time, the Ten-Tails’ shell opened its mouth, drawing in vast amounts of natural energy. A black energy sphere formed before its jaws—the Tailed Beast Bomb.

Within the shell were the Two-Tails through the Seven-Tails, making this attack incredibly potent.

If it struck Orochimaru, his current body would be obliterated.

Boom!

The Tailed Beast Bomb was fired—a relentless assault. Orochimaru, still struggling to rise from the mountain’s ruins, now faced the attack point-blank.

There was a brilliant flash, and the purple, eight-headed Orochimaru was caught at the epicenter, torn to shreds.

Even the already-collapsing mountain was obliterated, reduced to dust.

Coughing, Nagato—the true power behind the Deva Path of Pain—spat blood from the strain.

The Deva Path itself staggered, nearly collapsing.

Nagato had burned through too much. In truth, ever since he began forcing control over the Ten-Tails’ shell, he had been fighting at the cost of his own life.

Thankfully, it was over—any longer and he might have died.

But just as Nagato breathed a sigh of relief, the scattered flesh on the ground began to writhe and gather, reforming into Orochimaru!

Orochimaru had returned from the dead.