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 344
Main
MenuCHAPTER 345 - The Ritual
The battle between Sasuke and Orochimaru appears
to have ended quickly. All around Sasuke lies the dismembered
body of Orochimaru’s snake form. Slashes from his
sword have severed the snake body into several pieces. Sasuke
reverts back from his Cursed Seal second level to his normal
state. He calls the fight a disappointing end for Orcchimaru.But as soon as Sasuke has changed back to normal, his strength seems to  drain
away and he collapses to his
knees. Orochimaru’s snake head rises again
and
tells Saskue he has been exposed to his poison. The body
fluid from Orochimaru’s snake body vaporizes when it comes in
contact with air to form a paralyzing poison. Orochimaru
declares that he cannot be destroyed by Sasuke’s
insignificant jutsus. He lunges at the paralyzed Sasuke and
everything goes dark.Sasuke regains his vision but realizes he is no longer in Orochimaru’s room. The ground appears organic and is coated  with
slime, as if it were the stomach of a giant
snake. A bulge from the ground emerges by Sasuke and part of
it forms into Orochimaru’s face. He tells Sasuke he
is in a separate dimension inside of himself. It is here
where he conducts the ritual for transmigration; transferring himself
to another’s body.  Orochimaru commences the ritual
and uses coils of tentacles that wrap and merge with Sasuke
body. Sasuke looks around him and discovers mounds of the
organic substances bearing the faces of persons who have been previous
victims of Orochimaru’s body stealing jutsu.
However, despite being in such a dangerous situation, Sasuke shows no
signs of panic. He simply stares back at Orochimaru
resiliently with his Sharingan eyes.
Those eyes bring back for Orochimaru the memories
of his fight against Itachi while they were partners in
Akatsuki. Orochimaru envied Itachi’s Sharigan
abilities and attempted to defeat him and take his body for his
own. However, Itachi’s level was far above his own
and Orochimaru was defeated before he can even begin. Itachi
had caught
him in a Blinding Illusion genjutsu and, in an instant, five
giant spikes appear and are impaled into Orochimaru’s
body. Orochimaru attempts to move his hands together to
perform a jutsu, but in a blink of the eye, Itachi severs his left
hand. He tells Orochimaru that all his jutsus are useless in
front of his Sharingan eyes. Back inside Orochimaru’s dimension, Sasuke has performed the same genjutsu which Itachi had used on Orochimaru. Again, Orochimaru is impaled by large spikes, but this time he is determined to possess the power of the Sharingan and pushes forward towards Sasuke. Inside a laboratory, Kabuto is done preparing the medicine for Orochimaru. Among the many odd ingredients on the shelves is the petrified remains of Orochimaru’s original hand that Itachi had severed. It still bears on the pinky  the
Akatsuki ring Orochimaru was given. Kabuto knows that the
medicine is losing effectiveness and believes Orochimaru would need to
perform his transmigration ritual either today or tomorrow.
Though Kabuto knows Sasuke will not likely agree to it willingly, he  believes
even Sasuke would not be able to withstand
Orochimaru’s ritual.As Kabuto heads back to Orochimaru’s room, he sees that the door has been destroyed and a spray trail of blood appearing from the entrance. He rushes to the doorway and sneaks a peek inside. Sasuke is standing in a pool of blood from Orochimaru’s snake body. Kabuto recognizes from the body of the  giant
white snake that the ritual has
already taken place. But the situation is strange and Kabuto
is unsure what exactly has happened.Sasuke notices Kabuto by the entrance and calls out his name. As Kabuto steps out, Saskue walks towards him. However, Sasuke doesn’t utter another word and walks straight past him and down the hallway. Kabuto can no longer handle the anxiety. He turns to Sasuke with a nervous look and asks him whether it is Orochimaru or Sasuke inside that body.
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Naruto Hurricane - Naruto manga volume 38 chapter 345 |
