[NTU] [ARC-26] Chapter : 342

As Sasuke disappeared into the distance, retracing his path back toward the clan, Fugaku turned, his eyes locking onto the enemies before him.

“This needs to end quickly.”

Assessing the battlefield, his once composed and stoic expression hardened into grim resolve.

Standing within the half-manifested form of Susanoo, Fugaku’s gaze—those emotionless, crimson Mangekyō Sharingan—fixed coldly on his undead opponents.

“Forgive me, Second and Third Hokage.”

Having once witnessed the Edo-tensei firsthand, Fugaku understood its insidious mechanics. Standard ninjutsu wouldn’t work against these reanimated corpses. They were puppets, endlessly returning unless handled with something far more precise—and costly.

Closing his left eye, Fugaku prepared to invoke a powerful dōjutsu technique, even knowing the toll it would take.

But just as he was about to unleash it—

A ripple of strange chakra disrupted everything.

Rustle.

Back along the path, Sasuke’s ears caught the faintest movement in the silence.

“…Was that just my imagination?”

His Sharingan spun slowly, scanning his surroundings with care. Nothing appeared out of place. Still shaken by his earlier encounter, Sasuke didn’t dare let his guard down. His hand instinctively fell to the hilt of his sword.

Then—

Hiss.

A low, unmistakable sound echoed from below.

Sasuke’s expression changed instantly. He knew that sound. A predator was nearby.

In the blink of an eye, thick, venomous serpents erupted from beneath the ground, fangs gleaming, hurling themselves toward him.

“When did they—?”

Just seconds ago, the ground had appeared normal—even through the Sharingan. Although it couldn’t see underground, he should’ve sensed something that obvious.

No time for questions.

Sasuke leapt into the air, avoiding the first wave of snakes, and began weaving hand signs rapidly.

“Fire Style: Fire Dragon Jutsu!”

FWOOOSH!
A searing column of flame burst forth, engulfing the serpents below. The hiss of vaporizing flesh mixed briefly with the scent of roasted meat—then soured into the acrid stench of burning scales.

Though classified as a B-rank jutsu, Sasuke had poured a surge of chakra into it. His mastery of Fire Style had pushed its force into A-rank territory.

But the attack hadn’t finished them all.

Hiss!
From within the smoke, a snake—its body charred, but fangs still bared—shot toward him like a flame-wrapped arrow.

“Tch. Cheap tricks.”

Unimpressed, Sasuke drew the Kusanagi blade in a flash. A flurry of dazzling slashes followed, slicing through the creature midair. The scent of snake blood mixed with smoke, hanging heavy in the air.

“Enough games, Kabuto.”
He narrowed his eyes, Sharingan scanning for chakra fluctuations. “You can stop mimicking Orochimaru now—you’re not fooling anyone.”

As he descended from the air, Sasuke chose a seemingly safe landing zone—deliberately avoiding places where Kabuto might hide again.

But as his feet neared the ground, something shifted.

The earth, which had looked perfectly still even under the scrutiny of the Sharingan, suddenly changed.

Sasuke’s eyes widened. The three tomoe spun violently within his irises.

Something was very wrong.

Then—

From the soil below, Kabuto emerged. Silent. Sinister.

He wore the infamous Akatsuki cloak, red clouds blooming like blood across the dark fabric. His upper body slid from the earth like a serpent rising from its den.

But what froze Sasuke wasn’t his presence—it was his face.

Kabuto’s jaw unhinged unnaturally, stretching wider and wider, his mouth forming an impossible 180-degree angle, like a serpent preparing to swallow its prey whole.

A python, cloaked in flesh and malice, aimed to consume him—completely.

But that wasn’t all.

Kabuto’s mouth stretched far beyond human limits—grotesquely wide, as if he had activated the Akimichi clan’s Multiplication Jutsu, but only on his jaw.

“You’re asking for death.”

Sasuke’s voice was ice-cold, his eyes narrowing.

A sharp burst of blue lightning flared along the length of the Kusanagi blade. In a flash, he unleashed the Chidori Sharp Spear, thrusting it straight toward Kabuto’s throat.

If it connected, it would pierce through him from neck to gut without mercy.

“Got you.”

Kabuto's eyes gleamed with the cruel satisfaction of a well-executed trap. He made no effort to dodge the attack. Even the Chidori’s blinding radiance didn’t faze him.

From the very moment Sasuke had sensed danger and leapt into the air, Kabuto had him exactly where he wanted.

“Damn it... It’s a trap!”

Through the heightened clarity of the Sharingan, Sasuke watched his spear pierce Kabuto’s throat—and vanish without resistance, as though it had sunk into an illusion. Like throwing a needle into an abyss, it caused no harm.

Kabuto’s grotesque mouth gaped wider still—a dark, bottomless chasm ready to consume everything.

Swish!

Sasuke, drenched in sweat, moved in a blur. Before he could be swallowed whole, he launched several shuriken tethered with sharp, steel wires, embedding them in the nearby terrain. With a flick of his wrist, he prepared to use the wires for a last-second escape.

“Heh... too slow!”

Kabuto’s lower half—still buried underground—twitched. Then, like a serpent shedding its skin, he exploded from the earth. His elongated neck and massive white jaws lunged at Sasuke with monstrous speed.

Like a demonic python striking its prey, Kabuto closed in—and swallowed Sasuke whole.

It all happened in an instant.

So fast that even Fugaku, watching from afar, had no time to react.

“SASUKE!!”

His head snapped around, but his son was nowhere in sight.

“Damn it... what are you?”

For once, the usually impassive Fugaku showed genuine emotion—fury. His cold gaze locked onto the monstrous figure now standing before him.

The last attack had torn part of Kabuto’s Akatsuki cloak, revealing a body covered in pale, reptilian scales. From his stomach, a serpentine head grotesquely protruded.

This creature—was it even human anymore?

“Heh... the Uchiha’s Mangekyō Sharingan?”

Kabuto’s expression was a twisted mix of fear and amusement. He mockingly patted his now-rounded belly and sneered.

“Thinking of using your eye technique? Careful, Fugaku. Sasuke-kun is in here now. Wouldn’t want to hurt him by mistake, would we?”

To drive the point home, Kabuto puffed out his belly slightly and gave it a few exaggerated pats, as if to taunt the enraged father before him.

Fugaku’s eyes narrowed in fury.

Moments earlier, when Sasuke had let his guard down, Kabuto had seamlessly melded with the earth—drawing on his years of experience as a master spy. He'd waited in silence, striking with precision.

First came the wave of poisonous snakes, meant to distract.

Then the flaming serpent, meant to provoke.

And finally, when Sasuke focused on the wrong threat—Kabuto had pounced.

He hadn’t actually digested Sasuke—he needed him alive.

Kabuto still had plans.

And Sasuke was now an unwilling pawn in whatever nightmare he was about to unleash.