Naruto: Drop System

"Hm?"

Yagyu furrowed his brow slightly as he placed the unconscious Hinata onto the bed after carrying her out of the bathroom and tucking her in.

The reason for his concern was the information being transmitted to him in real-time by his Wood Clone, which had been tasked with monitoring Orochimaru and Uchiha Sasuke.

After processing the influx of information, Yagyu muttered to himself, "It's happening earlier than I expected?"

However, Yagyu had already prepared for this possibility.

His arrival in this world, coupled with his rapid rise to power, had naturally caused numerous butterfly effects.

At first, staying in the Hidden Leaf Village may not have had a significant impact on the world of shinobi.

But as Yagyu became the Leaf's ace in combat over the past few years, the changes he had made to history were undeniable.

The more he intervened, the greater the butterfly effects, which was to be expected.

It was perfectly normal for Uchiha Sasuke, who had received a year of training from Haku and nearly three years of instruction from Orochimaru, to rebel against Orochimaru ahead of schedule.

There was no need to witness the battle; Yagyu already knew Sasuke would win.

Even if Orochimaru had regained his arms' souls in advance, he still wouldn't be able to take Sasuke's body.

As always, there was a dimensional gap between Kage-level shinobi and those at Super Kage-level, just as there was an insurmountable chasm between Super Kage-level and Sage of Six Paths-level.

Orochimaru had never even reached the pinnacle of the Five Kage, so how could he possibly contend with the safeguards left behind by the Sage of Six Paths?

Losing to Sasuke was inevitable, but if Orochimaru came close to successfully possessing him, the next moment he'd likely encounter a floating old man with white hair, who would destroy his soul with the Truth-Seeking Orbs that could be wielded even in the mental and spiritual realms.

Despite knowing Orochimaru's fate, Yagyu didn't watch the fight unfold through his Wood Clone. Instead, he made a single hand sign, and a branch extended from his body, quickly transforming into a Wood Clone.

Then, without a sound, Yagyu's true body vanished into thin air, without even a "whoosh" or "swish" to indicate his departure.

——

"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"

"Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!"

"Combined Jutsu: Flame Wind Chaos!"

Boom…

On a certain grassy plain in the Land of Fields, a sea of fire raged, consuming everything in its path. The flames, not only bolstered by a violent wind but also explosive in nature, wreaked havoc.

A defensive wall, already severely damaged by a previous lightning spear attack, was completely shattered by the oncoming flames, which then engulfed Orochimaru, whose pupils had shrunk in shock behind the wall.

When the firestorm finally dissipated, the vast grassland had been reduced to scorched earth, still radiating intense heat.

Among the rubble, glowing red like burned bricks, lay a charred corpse.

"Ugh…"

A few seconds later, the scorched corpse, without using its hands, rose upright like a snake. Orochimaru made a dry retching sound as he prepared to shed his burned body and reveal a new one.

Boom!

Suddenly, a deafening clap of thunder echoed from the sky.

A massive lightning bolt struck down, engulfing the half-shed body of Orochimaru and blasting a bottomless crater into the scorched ground.

The chakra from the firestorm had risen into the sky along with the heat, turning what had been a clear day into one of dark clouds without anyone noticing.

Seizing this opportunity, Uchiha Sasuke unleashed Lightning Style: Kirin, a perfected technique from his two years of training, hitting the immobilized Orochimaru directly.

From start to finish, Orochimaru was no match for Uchiha Sasuke.

With the selfless instruction of Haku, Sasuke had grown far stronger than his counterpart in the original story.

He had not only mastered Wind Style chakra transformation and combined jutsu but also learned many Fire Style and Lightning Style techniques.

In addition to his own development of Chidori Stream and Kirin, Sasuke had all the tools he needed for close combat, long-range attacks, and defense.

However, Sasuke's greatest growth compared to the original story wasn't in his mastery of elemental techniques, but rather in his genjutsu, which had become immeasurably more powerful.

Haku had taught Sasuke virtually all of his genjutsu techniques—some from Kurenai Yuhi, some from Sound Village, others from the Kurama clan, and even forbidden jutsu scrolls from the Hidden Leaf's archives.

Under Haku's tutelage, Sasuke had honed the genjutsu and hypnotic powers of his Three Tomoe Sharingan to their absolute limits.

Even if Orochimaru hadn't lost his hands, he still wouldn't have been a match for Sasuke.

The fact that Orochimaru hadn't been instantly defeated by Sasuke's gaze meant he had learned from his past experiences with Itachi Uchiha and Haku, but his growth was minimal.

After using Kirin to blast Orochimaru underground, Sasuke, now in his second-level Cursed Seal form, approached the edge of the massive crater, his Three Tomoe Sharingan scanning the bottomless abyss.

Whoosh!

Just as Sasuke stared into the abyss, the abyss stared back.

A piercing sound cut through the air as a gigantic White Phosphorus Snake shot out from the darkness below like an arrow.

Its gaping maw was large enough to swallow Sasuke whole.

However, Sasuke calmly stepped back, avoiding the snake's bite. His Kusanagi sword, now a blue-white laser sword, extended suddenly and pierced the snake's body precisely at its vital point.

Just as Sasuke was about to slice the White Phosphorus Snake in half, his expression changed abruptly.

The Chidori Sharp Spear he had extended began to retract on its own, and his Cursed Seal form quickly reverted back to normal.

Sasuke managed to move his head just enough to look down at his feet.

Green vines had sprouted from the charred ground, coiling around Sasuke's legs like snakes. His body was completely immobilized, and his chakra was rapidly draining away.

"Sasuke, hold back."

A voice, deeper and more mature after three years but still familiar, calmly reached Sasuke's ears.

"Yagyu."

Sasuke uttered Yagyu's name, his eyes filled with disbelief, frustration, and defeat.

He had thought that after three years, he had finally closed the gap between himself and Yagyu, maybe even surpassed him.

After all, Yagyu had only mastered existing S-rank Water Style techniques, while Sasuke had developed S-rank Lightning Style techniques of his own.

But to his surprise, after three years, the gap between him and Yagyu hadn't narrowed—it had only widened.

As his chakra drained rapidly and his body remained paralyzed, Sasuke glanced at the vines that had now grown into branches, binding him all the way up to his torso. His Sharingan reverted from the Three Tomoe form to his normal black eyes.

So this was the legendary Wood Release, a bloodline limit.

Was this how their ancestor, Uchiha Madara, had felt when facing the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?

Sasuke silently wondered to himself.

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