Chapter 169: Facing Undead Soil – The First and Second Hokage! Orochimaru: "What a Monster!"

Orochimaru never expected to be running for his life—again.

Huff… huff…

The air was scorching, like a blade of molten steel dragged across his lungs with every breath. Thick, suffocating clouds of sulfur choked the sky, so dense they seemed to have congealed into a viscous gel. It clawed at his senses, threatening to make him vomit, and blurred his vision into a trembling, double-image nightmare. A splitting headache tore through his skull, and his mind swam with dizziness.

Sulfur poisoning.

Orochimaru diagnosed his condition instantly.

He had to get out of here—now.

With a desperate, lurching gait, he zigzagged across the cracked, blistering earth, where rivers of lava snaked through the ground like veins of a dying god. Behind him, the earth shook violently—boom, boom, boom—as explosions erupted in endless succession, each one a hammer strike against the world itself.

The heatwave roared at his back, detonating in searing shockwaves that burned his skin raw. He didn’t need to look back to know: his priceless Human Experimentation base—his life’s work, his sanctuary of forbidden science—was now nothing more than a molten grave, a furnace of flowing metal and volcanic fire.

All his research. All his data. All his equipment—gone.

But he had a backup.

Before the invasion, he’d already evacuated his precious vessels—his living test subjects—via a summoning of earthworm-like serpents, a hidden network beneath the surface. The snakes were fast. They’d taken the vessels far away.

They shouldn’t have been caught in the lava storm.

After what felt like an eternity of sprinting through the inferno, the heat finally lessened slightly. Orochimaru stopped, gasping, and took deep breaths of the relatively fresh air. Then, with a grimace, he turned to look behind him.

His golden, slit-pupiled eyes reflected a hellish landscape.

Before him, the land was a wasteland of lava scars—blackened ash stretching into a sky choked with crimson clouds. A hurricane of ash and cinders swirled in the wind, while rivers of molten rock devoured everything in their path. The ground was pockmarked with craters, each one a gaping wound in the earth, burning with fire and fury.

Flames towered thirty meters high, painting Orochimaru’s face in flickering orange light. Below them, lava crept forward, swallowing every remnant of the world that once stood. The heat warped the air like a mirage.

That technique…

Orochimaru’s voice cracked, dry and hoarse.

“Hoo… hoo… This one shot alone could reduce the entire Leaf Village to ash. No wonder Hiruzen treated me and Uchiha Iizumi so differently…”

At last, it clicked.

He understood why Hiruzen Sarutobi had drawn such a stark line between the “extreme Orochimaru” and the “extreme Uchiha Iizumi.”

If he were the Third Hokage, he’d have done the same.

Uchiha Iizumi wasn’t just a powerful shinobi.

He was a living Tailed Beast.

And everyone—even Akatsuki—had vastly underestimated him.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A sudden sound snapped Orochimaru from his thoughts.

Trees erupted from the ground like spears, their trunks thick as ancient oaks. Countless branches surged forward, lashing out at him, each tipped with venomous thorns.

Right— Iizumi also had the Wood Release Bloodline Limit.

“Ninjutsu: Summoning Technique…”

“Great Serpent!!”

A massive explosion of smoke burst forth.

From it emerged a serpent the size of a small mountain, its skin armored with thick, chitinous scales. It coiled into a living shield, blocking the onslaught of thorned limbs.

Hiss—crack!

The poison-tipped vines wrapped around the snake’s body, scraping against its tough hide. Sparks flew as venom and scale clashed. The beast roared in agony as its scales shattered under the relentless pressure.

Orochimaru didn’t spare a glance. His golden eyes locked onto a single point.

There, beyond the storm of fire and smoke, a figure emerged.

A man stepped forward across the molten river, as if the lava itself bowed before him. He walked slowly, deliberately, through the flames, each step a ripple in the inferno.

Where he stepped, the lava surged higher, forming a blazing path of fire—like a bridge of living flame.

…He knows where I’m running?

Orochimaru’s eyelids twitched.

Or is it just my imagination…? Does he really see me from so far away?

Then—

The figure drew near.

And Orochimaru froze.

His eyes widened.

Uchiha Iizumi’s eyes were no longer the crimson, swirling Mangekyō Sharingan.

They were the pure, white, all-seeing Byakugan of the Hyūga Clan.

Impossible.

This man—this Uchiha—had the Byakugan?

Was one of his parents from the Hyūga?

Did the Leaf Village really open itself so much that Uchiha and Hyūga could intermarry?

Orochimaru couldn’t comprehend it.

His fourth Bloodline Limit…

Orochimaru’s voice trembled.

“I… I’ve created monsters. But none of them… are this monstrous.”

One Bloodline Limit was enough to make a shinobi elite.

Uchiha Iizumi had four.

He wasn’t just a Dual Bloodline Limit genius.

He was a Four-Pronged Monster.

Then—

Without warning—

The figure flickered.

The world shuddered.

A wave of heat so violent it seemed to warp space itself slammed into Orochimaru’s face.

In the next instant—

A fist of compressed, boiling lava, forged from molten rock and fury, materialized before him.

It had teleported—instantly.

Faster than thought.

Orochimaru barely had time to raise the Kusanagi Sword, slashing it across his body. He poured chakra into the blade, wind release roaring along its edge like a storm.

BOOM!!!

The impact was like a Tailed Beast’s claw.

The force shattered his ribs.

He spat blood—hot, thick, scalding—as his body flew backward, like a puppet struck by a war hammer. He crashed into the great serpent behind him, sending it tumbling.

The mountain-sized beast skidded across the ground, tearing up trees and collapsing a forest.

Orochimaru landed in a heap.

He twitched.

Like a broken doll.

He pushed himself up, bones grinding like broken twigs. But—miraculously—no bones were broken.

His body had softened on impact, absorbing the force like liquid.

He was no longer human.

He was something else.

A man-shaped serpent.

“Hoo… hoo… Uchiha Iizumi… Your ‘surprise’… is truly overwhelming.”

Orochimaru wiped blood from his lips.

“I was going to save this for Hiruzen… But since your power exceeds my expectations… I’ll test it on you early.”

He stood.

Worst mess of a man—hair wild, clothes torn, face smeared with ash and blood.

A beggar.

A madman.

“Summoning Jutsu…”

Orochimaru raised his hands.

Four seals.

A final, decisive clap.

“Undead Resurrection!!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A wave of soul-chilling chakra erupted from the ground beneath him.

The cursed mark spread like ink in water, crawling across the earth like a living web.

The ground cracked.

Three coffins—ancient, black, radiating the stench of Undead Soil—rose from the earth as if pulled by invisible hands.

The lids slammed shut.

Dust rose.

Orochimaru’s mouth stretched unnaturally wide.

Three small, snow-white snakes slithered from his throat.

Each one carried a paper wing, etched with runes of the Undead Resurrection.

The snakes shot forward—like arrows—darting into the open mouths of the three corpses.

And then—

The coffins opened.

The dead stirred.

The man with long black hair blinked. He looked around, confused.

He turned to the silver-haired man beside him.

“Told you… not to mess with this kind of jutsu,” he muttered.

The silver-haired man glanced at Orochimaru.

“Undead Resurrection… You’re a Leaf ninja?” He gave a faint, approving smirk. “Impressive, young man.”

Orochimaru’s lips curled.

“Regrettable,” he said, “I was a Leaf ninja. But one day… the village cast me out.”

“Ah…”

The Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, narrowed his eyes.

He saw the Uchiha crest on Iizumi’s vest.

“A rogue Leaf shinobi… using Undead Resurrection against a Uchiha radiating evil chakra? You youngsters confuse me.”

Orochimaru laughed—cold, cruel.

“Then let me remind you, Danzō-sama,” he said, turning to the third coffin.

“The First and Second Hokage have spoken. And you—the man who died by my hand—what do you say to seeing your murderer before you?”

The third coffin opened.

And the figure stepped out.

Shimura Danzō.

But something was wrong.

Danzō trembled violently—like a man possessed.

His eyes snapped open.

Empty. Hollow.

But then—

Pain.

Unbearable, soul-rending agony.

His face twisted. His body convulsed.

“Gah—AHHHHHH!!!”

A scream—not human, not even of this world—ripped from his throat.

He clutched his head, screaming, his Undead Soil body shuddering, as if on the verge of collapse.

“No—no—no—!!”

Then—

A flame ignited on his body.

No source. No trigger.

Just fire—ghostly, blue-white—wrapping around him like a shroud.

It consumed him.

Danzō became a human torch.

Zzzzzzzt—

His Undead Soil form sizzled, crumbling into ash.

But the resurrection continued.

The ash reformed.

Danzō stood again—eyes wide with endless torment.

“No—NO—!!”

The fire returned.

A cycle.

Endless.

Unending.

Orochimaru stood frozen.

Even he—a man who’d seen horrors beyond imagination—was stunned.

“…?!”

Then—

“Hiruzen,” Senju Hashirama said, voice sharp. “What is this?”

Tobirama frowned.

“He was my subordinate. My student. But this… this isn’t a failure of the technique. The backlash should only affect the user, not the resurrected.”

“Then… what is this?”

Before Tobirama could finish—

A calm, emotionless voice cut through the air.

“Mangekyō Sharingan: Judgment and Retribution.”

Uchiha Iizumi spoke.

“It will pursue every evil offender… for eternity. No matter where they go. Not even in the afterlife. Pain… will follow them… forever.”

Orochimaru’s breath caught.

So that’s it…

Shimura Danzō died by the Mangekyō Sharingan…

And now he’s trapped in endless torment.

He remembered the masked man’s words in Akatsuki.

Now I know… they weren’t lying.

Just hearing Danzō’s screams… seeing him burn again and again…

It sent a chill down Orochimaru’s spine.

Pain that follows the soul…

Damn it…

He was sweating.

“Mangekyō Sharingan?!”

Tobirama’s eyes narrowed—sharp as blades.

He stared at Iizumi.

“You’ve awakened the most cursed eye of the Uchiha… A child of darkness… How many friends… how many family… did you kill to awaken it?”

Then—

His gaze flickered.

“Wait… That’s not Mangekyō… That’s Byakugan.”

Orochimaru smirked, backing away.

“Don’t underestimate him, Second Hokage. He has four Bloodline Limits: Molten Release, Wood Release, Sharingan, and Byakugan.”

He chuckled.

“I hear you hated the Uchiha… So this is your chance—your perfect chance—to eliminate the greatest Uchiha genius of this era.”

“You should thank me.”

As he spoke—

The three snakes inside the two Hokage activated.

The runes on their wings flared.

And—

Their eyes went blank.

Their souls… gone.

They were no longer alive.

They were puppets.

“Go, Hokage-sama!”

Orochimaru’s command rang out.

The First Hokage—Senju Hashirama—slammed his hands together.

“Wood Release: Tree Storm!!”

—

Meanwhile, in a coastal town of the Land of Fire—

A Leaf Village Investigation Corps Jōnin stood over a pile of corpses.

The air reeked of blood.

Dozens of bodyguards lay dead—cut, pierced, torn.

In his hand—

A severed head.

Merchant Kado.

The three Uchiha had split from Iizumi.

They found Kado’s loyalists.

Tortured the truth from them.

Then—

They marched straight to Kado’s fortress.

Killed over a hundred guards.

And then—

A single slash.

Kado’s face—frozen in terror—was severed.

“This weakling survived so long?”

One Jōnin scoffed.

“He must have a protector. Maybe a noble. Or even a Daimyō of Fire Country.”

The one holding the head nodded.

“Exactly. That’s why I’m bringing his head back to the Leaf. His protector will know what he did.”

“If they protected him—knowing he was evil—they’re also evil.”

“We must root out the rot… all of it.”

“That’s justice.”

The third Jōnin sheathed his sword.

“Before we return… should we meet up with Uchiha Iizumi-sama?”

The other two paused.

“…Sama?”

They exchanged glances.

“Since we follow Justice… and his Absolute Justice… shouldn’t we call him Iizumi-sama? After all, we called Uchiha Fugaku ‘Fugaku-sama’ before.”

—

The ground cracked beneath Iizumi.

Like an eggshell.

Cracks split outward—lightning-fast.

Then—

Wood Release.

Hundreds of colossal trees—larger than ancient oaks—ripped from the earth.

They surged forward, tearing the air with a sound like ripping silk.

Each one carried the force to crush mountains.

Iizumi didn’t even blink.

No seal.

No motion.

Just—

Arm up.

Power up.

Punch.

His right arm burned.

Lava burst from his skin.

Flooded through his muscles.

The arm swelled, melted, reformed—

Until it was a ten-meter-wide fist of molten rock, glowing with infernal heat.

“Great Eruption!”

BOOM!!!

The fist slammed into the torrent of Wood Release.

The world exploded.

A shockwave of fire and heat swept across the land—lifting the ground, shattering rock.

Even the writhing, screaming Danzō was sent flying.

Red light.

Blinding heat.

Zzzzzzzzz—

Like butter under a hot knife—

The wood burned, carbonized, vaporized.

The lava fist carved a river of fire through the forest of trees.

Flames lapped at the air.

The earth cracked.

The sky screamed.

Then—

After several seconds of impact—

The fist detonated.

A storm of molten shrapnel—like a meteor shower—rained down on Senju Hashirama and Tobirama.

Tobirama didn’t flinch.

His hands moved like lightning.

“Water Release: Water Surge Wave!!”

No water source.

But water appeared.

A torrent of liquid spun into a spiral—a colossal, roaring water vortex, dozens of meters high.

It flew at the incoming lava.

Boom!

Hiss!

The heat met the cold—explosive reaction.

A wall of steam erupted—thick, blinding, scalding.

And in the chaos—

A silver blur shot through the mist.

Tobirama slammed in.

A whip-like kick—to Iizumi’s jaw.

Iizumi dodged.

But—

He grabbed Tobirama’s leg.

Lava heat—instantly—vaporized the limb.

But Tobirama didn’t feel pain.

He kept fighting.

Hands flashed—seals.

“Water Release: Water Chain Blast!!”

Spit!

Spit!

Spit!

Water bullets—like bullets—rained down.

They doused Iizumi’s lava body.

The molten flesh cooled.

Hardened.

Volcanic rock.

Then—

A hand chop—to the head.

Iizumi’s skull shattered.

But—

Next second—

Iizumi reappeared behind Tobirama.

The body that was hit—a clone.

The real one—a lava dog—lunged.

But—

Hashirama punched him in the back.

The force shattered Iizumi’s upper body—into molten fragments.

But—

The fragments reformed.

Faster.

Iizumi turned—punched.

Tobirama crossed his arms—

Crack!

The Mangekyō’s power burned through.

The Undead Soil body tore apart.

The First Hokage—gone.

“Ninjutsu…

Diamond Sealing!!”

It wasn’t Tobirama’s technique.

It was Iizumi’s.

Golden chains—from the lava body—snaked out.

They locked onto Hashirama’s reassembling form.

The Hyūga seal—

It disrupted the Undead Resurrection.

It disrupted Orochimaru’s cursed mark.

Hashirama’s eyes—empty—flickered.

For a second—

He saw.

“I’m… sorry… young Uchiha,” he muttered, trying to scratch his head.

But his hands were far from his face.

“Why apologize to a demon?”

Tobirama snarled.

“You—four Bloodline Limits. Even Wood Release—our clan’s power. Who are you?”

But—

Iizumi didn’t answer.

He made a seal.

Tobirama felt it.

The pull of the afterlife.

He knew.

This boy—this monster—could return the Undead back to the afterlife.

As long as he controlled them.

As Tobirama was yanked into the void—

One thought remained:

“Rude Uchiha…”

Iizumi didn’t look.

His eyes—back to Byakugan.

He scanned the battlefield.

Dozens of fleeing figures.

He saw the real Orochimaru.

“Still running…? Impressive.”

—

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end