As the white smoke slowly dissipated, it revealed a young man with closed eyes, Ye Zi.
He wore a slim-fitting black trench coat, its hem reaching down to his calves. Beneath, he had black pants, and his waist was cinched with a black belt etched with storage seals, giving his upper body's coat a "V" shape that exposed his pale chest.
It was the only set of clothes that fit him from the limited selection he had found.
His short black hair, barely covering his ears, swayed in the wind. Slowly, he opened his eyes, revealing a pair of cold, slit-pupiled serpent eyes. Around his eyes, a circle of eerie purple markings stretched to his nose wings, the features of his perfect Sage Mode.
Unlike Jiraiya's markings, which covered most of his face, Ye Zi's markings were more restrained, limited to these distinctive features.
Ye Zi's cold, serpentine eyes locked onto the hundred enemies before him. The rocky, sandy terrain was entirely at his disposal, every inch of it ripe for manipulation with Inorganic Reincarnation.
"They're here. I'll leave this group to you," Orochimaru said, standing beside Ye Zi. The purple markings on Ye Zi's face were somewhat similar to Orochimaru's, though closer inspection revealed subtle differences in their hues.
"Understood," Ye Zi replied with a nod, stepping forward toward the hundred enemies.
"That's Ye Zi, isn't it?" A Konoha ninja stared at the approaching figure in surprise.
"What's with his eyes?"
"Does he really think he can take on all of us alone?"
"That must be Ye Zi! We must eliminate him today!" The Sunagakure shinobi drew their weapons and kunai.
The sensory team reported, "There's no ambush, only Orochimaru and Ye Zi."
With confirmation that there was no ambush, the team leader gave a stern command, "Stay alert for traps. Move in and take them down!"
The order was given, and the scattered team sprang into action.
At that moment, the ground beneath each person's feet suddenly rose, forming sharp stone spikes. The spikes, undetectable even by sensory ninjas, erupted without warning, impaling every single enemy.
Screams of agony mixed with the sickening sound of flesh being pierced filled the air. Blood splattered across the dry, barren landscape, creating a grisly scene of carnage.
In mere moments, every shinobi present had been skewered by the stone spikes that had erupted from the ground without any visible signs of activation.
Most were unlucky enough to be fatally struck, their cries of pain cut short as they died almost instantly. Those who weren't struck in a vital area barely clung to life, writhing in agony.
Without making a single visible move, Ye Zi had executed what seemed like an Earth Release technique to instantly annihilate over a hundred enemies.
Orochimaru watched in shock, unable to conceal his astonishment. He didn't recognize the Inorganic Reincarnation technique and assumed it was Earth Release. Yet he knew Ye Zi didn't possess Earth Release abilities.
Was this the power of Sage Mode? Even sensory ninjas had failed to detect the attack, and it had struck over a hundred people scattered across a wide area. What kind of Earth Release could achieve such precise and widespread devastation?
Dozens of precisely placed stone spikes.
What kind of technique was this?
Orochimaru remained silent, stunned.
Ye Zi, his expression cold and indifferent, began walking toward the Konoha and Sunagakure shinobi impaled on the spikes.
Blood trickled down the stone spikes, pooling on the ground like rainfall.
Those who had not yet succumbed to their injuries looked at Ye Zi with terror in their eyes. Unable to speak, they could only watch helplessly as he approached.
Stopping before a Konoha ninja who was barely alive, Ye Zi coldly gazed at the man's fear-stricken face. In a calm, detached voice, he said, "Don't be afraid. There will be plenty more joining you soon."
"Ugh…"
This Konoha ninja, the leader of the task force, stared in horror at Ye Zi's serpentine eyes, his lips trembling. He seemed to grasp the meaning behind Ye Zi's words but, as his strength ebbed away, he could only manage a single word: "You…"
Ye Zi shifted his gaze, looking at the gruesome scene around him. One by one, the enemies were falling silent, their lifeless bodies impaled on the spikes.
After a moment of observation, Ye Zi turned away. The Konoha leader's life slipped away quietly at that instant.
The wind howled through the desolate landscape, carrying with it the eerie silence of death. Over a hundred Konoha and Sunagakure shinobi lay dead, forming a hellish tableau of cruelty and despair on the rocky ground.
As Ye Zi walked back toward Orochimaru, he formed a series of hand signs. The stone spikes, as if imbued with life, twisted and reshaped themselves, wrapping around the corpses and dragging them into the ground.
The nightmarish scene vanished, leaving only patches of blood to mark where the battle had taken place.
As Ye Zi approached, Orochimaru suppressed his shock and asked, "What kind of jutsu was that?"
Ye Zi's serpentine eyes reverted to normal, and the markings on his face faded away. He looked at Orochimaru and replied, "Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation. It grants life to non-living, inorganic matter and allows it to be controlled."
Orochimaru fell silent. Taken at face value, this technique could arguably be even more terrifying than Wood Release.
"It's time to prepare, our attack on Konoha," Ye Zi said, turning his head to gaze coldly in the direction of the Land of Fire, his eyes glinting with icy resolve.
Mastering Sage Mode so smoothly and learning a technique that surpassed Wood Release had exceeded Ye Zi's expectations. With this new power, even if he needed to employ Edo Tensei, there was no need to expose his main forces.
Using a few mid-level Edo Tensei corpses alongside some more powerful ones would suffice to create a distraction.
However, since Edo Tensei originated from Konoha, they would likely have countermeasures prepared. Deploying Edo Tensei corpses during the attack would carry considerable risks.
With Sage Mode now in his arsenal, Ye Zi was reluctant to rely too heavily on Edo Tensei. Additionally, controlling these Edo Tensei bodies would fall to Orochimaru, and it wasn't clear how many he could manage at once.
"I've planted a spy in Konoha. They should be able to provide us with a general defense map," Orochimaru remarked, beginning to feel that attacking Konoha might not be the suicidal move it initially seemed.
"We'll discuss it back at the base. Before we attack Konoha, there's someone I need to wait for," Ye Zi said, walking toward the base.
Orochimaru followed and asked, "Who?"
"White Zetsu," Ye Zi replied.
"We don't know where he is right now. If we wait for him, it might cost us the advantage," Orochimaru said calmly.
The Konoha and Sunagakure teams had arrived that day, only to be annihilated by Ye Zi. If Konoha didn't receive any updates within roughly a week, they would likely realize their task force had been wiped out and increase their vigilance.
To attack Konoha effectively, the best window would be within the next five days.
"I need his abilities. A slight delay won't matter," Ye Zi said evenly.
Hearing this, Orochimaru fell silent. He had given his suggestion, but if Ye Zi was set on this decision, there was nothing he could do to change it.
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Currently on Chapter 463 - The Mystery that is Ye Zi