Under the cover of night, a sudden, heart-stopping feeling jolted the young queen of Rouran, Sara, awake from her light slumber. The secret connection within her bloodline told her that someone had touched the deeply buried Ryūmyaku.
What was going on? Wasn't the Ryūmyaku sealed by the Fourth Hokage of Konohagakure? Could someone actually break the Hokage's seal?
Sara bit her lip. She got out of bed, grabbed the long sword resting in her bedroom, and rushed towards the Ryūmyaku's node without hesitation.
She hurried along, and when she reached the underground space via the secret passage, she indeed found a white snake resting on the Ryūmyaku's node. The snake's tail seemed to be coiled around a person.
After Habara had gnawed through the Fourth Hokage's seal, the surging power of the Ryūmyaku leaked out. For some reason, he felt a bit… indecent, like he was about to drink directly from the groundwater source.
It wasn't like he could get a straw or a spoon. He didn't even have hands right now. A serpentine creature drinking juice with a straw wouldn't exactly be elegant... Never mind, Habara dove right in.
He extended his head into the Ryūmyaku's node and activated his "pumping jutsu." This wasn't just "sipping;" it was "guzzling"... The tiny white snake's body began to expand rapidly, at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Five minutes later, the little white snake was already enormous. Ten minutes later, it was comparable in size to Manda. Half an hour later, it could coil around the central pillar and fill the entire circular pit.
But it still wasn't enough. The Ryūmyaku was a Tailed Beast-level energy cluster, and Habara's "guzzling" was still just taking small sips. He felt like he was reaching his limit, but the Ryūmyaku still had plenty of capacity.
As the saying goes, "Human greed is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant." Since Habara had already taken the risk, there was no way he was backing out now... Greed, he had to be greedy now. Not being greedy would be unhuman.
Fortunately, Habara was prepared. He knew how to handle this situation:
Ninpō: Yamata no Jutsu (Ninja Art: Eight Branches Technique).
The giant white snake's body instantly swelled, transforming in the blink of an eye into a monster with eight heads and eight tails. Orochimaru had judged that Habara lacked the chakra to use this forbidden technique, and that judgment was correct. However, when Habara did use this jutsu, its scale far exceeded Orochimaru's version.
After transforming into the Yamata no Orochi, Habara's eight snake heads suddenly reared up, and his body instantly broke through the ground, reaching a hundred meters into the sky. He tried to stretch, and the spires of Rouran's ancient city began to tilt and collapse with his movements.
Hearing the commotion, many residents rushed out of their homes, only to see the serpentine monster under the moonlight.
"What... is that...?"
"Run, everyone, run! It's a monster!"
"The Queen! Where is the Queen?"
"Run! Run!"
Honestly, those who reacted immediately by running were the smarter ones. Most people, upon seeing such a monster, would be completely stunned, unsure of what to do... They didn't know Ultraman, so they had no hope.
They subconsciously understood that this thing could crush them instantly, leaving them completely dumbfounded.
And Habara? Due to the changes in his senses and body shape, he wasn't actually aware of what he was doing. After successfully expanding his "capacity," three or four of his snake heads plunged back underground, continuing to siphon the Ryūmyaku's chakra energy.
Then, the seemingly ethereal white, eight-headed serpent's body became increasingly solid, its scales and other details becoming richer. Subsequently, large "antlers" began to sprout from the smooth snake heads... This was no longer the "Eight Branches Technique;" it looked more like "Eight Dragon Heads" – especially since there was a human-shaped dead weight hanging beneath the dragon heads.
Anyway, after another fifteen minutes, the Ryūmyaku's energy... was gone.
The even larger and more solid serpent raised its heads and began to roar at the moon and the night sky. This roar had nothing to do with a snake's hiss; it was clearly the roar of a wild beast... Okay, maybe this was the equivalent of burping after a big meal.
At this point, Habara had no idea what to do next. The sudden enlargement of his body had dulled his senses, and his mind was a blur. So, he started spinning in place... Right in the middle of the ancient city of Rouran, with that ridiculously huge body, spinning in place.
Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing?
Unable to figure out the situation, Habara automatically began a "system self-check." Then, he discovered something peculiar within his massive body... his own body, the natural energy, and the special jutsu formula.
Then, another jutsu was triggered:
Ninpō: Hakuryū Taurin Kenpaku no Jutsu (Ninja Art: White Dragon Shedding Scales, Revealing the Core Technique).
Seven of the eight snake heads suddenly disappeared, and the remaining giant white snake with two horns crashed to the ground, rapidly "collapsing" towards a single point.
The Gika Hakurin Orochi (Pseudo White-Scaled Orochi Transformation) specially encodes a ninja's chakra and spiritual energy, with its core originating from the Fushi Tensei (Living Corpse Reincarnation). The Hakuryū Taurin Kenpaku no Jutsu is the reverse decoding of the Gika Hakurin Orochi, allowing the ninja to return to their original form.
Pseudo White-Scaled Orochi Transformation — Eight Branches Technique — White Dragon Shedding Scales, Revealing the Core Technique. By consecutively using these three potent techniques, Habara had guzzled the Ryūmyaku's chakra, gaining a special constitution comparable to that of the Senju or Uzumaki clans... This was truly taking it for himself.
To put it bluntly, whether it was Shimura Danzo, Orochimaru, Habara, or even Uchiha Madara, whatever their ultimate goals, they all adopted similar approaches and shared converging thought processes in achieving them... Ordinary ninja have limitations, so I will stop being a ninja.
The white snake collapsed faster and faster, and finally, Habara's form reappeared. He stood there with his eyes closed, motionless, without any reaction... In Yamato's words, this was called "peaceful."
The surrounding area was filled with dust from the collapsing buildings. As Habara stood there motionless, a figure holding a sword quietly approached him from behind and, without hesitation, stabbed at him.
Habara almost instinctively performed a "backhand grab." He grasped the blade with his right hand, the sharp pain quickly bringing him back to his senses.
Huh? Why did I just grab a blade barehanded? Where's my chakra?
A surge of chakra emerged from Habara's right hand, but unable to control the amount, he accidentally crushed the long sword.
He raised his right hand, examining the deep wound on his palm, the bone visible...
Huh? Where's my protective layer?
Where's my Sword Box?
Wait a minute, where are my clothes?
With this question in mind, he turned around, looked up at the person in front of him holding the broken blade, and asked, "Where are my clothes?"
His tone was the epitome of innocence.
One might say that using Orochimaru's jutsu inevitably leads to a certain degree of "Orochimaru-ization." Orochimaru had just left Konoha naked, and now Habara, after leaving Konoha, had also become naked.
The Queen of Rouran, Sara, gritted her teeth. She took a few steps back and asked Habara, "Who are you?"
Habara looked at her and then had a realization. "Ah, I remember you, the knock-off Uzumaki Kushina."
Habara's mind started racing, his thinking ability rapidly returning. He then realized that communicating with a village girl in his current state might be considered indecent.
So, he tried to sense his Sword Box and ninja tool pouch, which he had no idea where he'd thrown. Those items were imbued with his chakra, so they should be easy to find.
Then, with a lift of his hand, his sword box and ninja tool pouch flew towards him. But that wasn't all. As he raised his hand, a large amount of iron sand from the surrounding soil was also drawn out, rising suddenly and then freezing in mid-air.
"I... seem to have succeeded?"
Only then did Habara realize the surging chakra within his body.
He waved his hand, and the iron sand fell to the ground.
"Cough, cough..." The iron sand hit her face, causing Sara to cough lightly.
Habara opened his ninja tool pouch, took out some clothes from a scroll, and, in the interest of respecting the customs of the ninja world, immediately began to get dressed.
As he was dressing, he noticed several bloodstains on his clothes. Looking at his hand... Huh? I'm still injured.
He stopped dressing, simply cleaned his wound, and then bandaged it himself.
After treating his wound, putting on his clothes, and reattaching his ninja tool pouch and sword box, Habara looked again at the broken blade in Sara's hand. "Knock-off... uh, whoever you are, why did you stab me for no reason?"
Habara really couldn't remember her name. Now that he was clear-headed, he couldn't possibly keep calling her "knock-off Kushina."
The young girl on the other side was about to explode with anger. What did he mean, for no reason?
She gripped the broken blade tightly, her expression grim, and asked, "Who are you? Was that monster just now your summoning beast? Where is the Ryūmyaku? What did you do to the Ryūmyaku?"
"Hold on, hold on, I'm still a bit disoriented here. You have too many questions... I'm actually a Konoha ninja. As for the Ryūmyaku, what Ryūmyaku? I don't know anything about it."
Habara first claimed to be a Konoha ninja to gain trust, then immediately started deflecting responsibility.
"Impossible! I can sense the Ryūmyaku's aura on you!"
"..."
What kind of mystical sensing was this?
Habara's lie was instantly exposed.
By this point, Habara had noticed the state of Rouran and realized he was responsible for the destruction. So, he decided to change the subject:
"Let's put the Ryūmyaku aside for now. What do you say, how about we start with some disaster relief?"