Fear, cold and absolute, descended upon Orochimaru as he saw the God of Death for the second time.

"I will not let you succeed, old man!" Orochimaru made his final, desperate decision. He spat the Kusanagi sword from his mouth, telekinetically guiding it toward Hiruzen's back in a last-ditch effort to resist.

Before you can seal me, I will kill you!

Hiruzen sensed the imminent danger and shouted, "Enma, help me!"

The Monkey King's staff form stretched out, its large hand racing toward the Kusanagi sword. "I'm already on it!"

Just as he was about to snatch the legendary blade from the air, four figures suddenly blocked his path. It was the Sound Four.

Jirobo bellowed, "I swear to protect Lord Orochimaru with my life!"

"Third hokage is strong," Sakon warned. "Even four-on-one, we can't let our guard down! Activate State Two, now!"

Dense, black markings began to spread across their bodies like cursed talismans. Soon, all four had transformed into their grotesque second states.

"Get out of my way, you little minions!" Enma roared, not taking them seriously at all. He spread his massive palm, ready to swat the four of them away like insects.

"Argh!" Jirobo groaned with effort, taking two steps forward and blocking Enma's powerful strike with his bare arms.

"!!!" Enma was shocked. He couldn't believe the strength of the boy before him was comparable to his own.

Jirobo sneered, "Old monkey! In my second state, I am the strongest! I can even lift a mountain!"

Enma had no time to listen to his bragging. His eyes were fixed on the Kusanagi sword. Because of those few seconds of delay, the blade had already reached Hiruzen.

"Oh no!"

Thwack!

Because Enma couldn't reach it in time, the Kusanagi sword struck true, piercing completely through Hiruzen's chest. Streams of blood flowed continuously from the blade.

"Ngh…" Hiruzen closed his eyes tightly, suppressing the agony. "Orochimaru, you… you pierce my heart, so what? Hehe… hehe…"

Looking at Hiruzen's pained but triumphant smile, Orochimaru was completely panicked. "Why?! I've destroyed your heart! Why aren't you dead yet?! Could it be that you…!"

Orochimaru looked at Hiruzen's chest and suddenly noticed that the bleeding had stopped. "This is… Medical Ninjutsu!"

"Old man, I never expected you to know medical ninjutsu!" Orochimaru was stunned. From childhood to adulthood, in all their years together, he had never once seen Hiruzen demonstrate medical skills.

"Hehe… Hehe, don't forget… they call me the Professor," Hiruzen rasped. "Before you attacked, I wagered that you would aim for my heart, so I concentrated all of my remaining chakra there…"

"If… if you had pierced my head directly, I would probably… be dead by now."

"Damn it!" Orochimaru gritted his teeth. He had planned for everything but had never anticipated this.

Hiruzen continued, "You… you should be able to see that I have extracted half of your soul. Those whose souls are sealed by this jutsu can never ascend to the Pure Land. They can only suffer in the belly of the God of Death."

"The souls of the sealer and the sealed will be forever entangled, hating each other, fighting each other for all eternity…"

Hearing this, Orochimaru could no longer remain calm. He shrieked at the top of his lungs, "You must be joking! I am immortal! I refuse to spend eternity like this with you!"

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