Chapter 755: Hiruzen's State
'Is this it, Orochimaru?' Jiraiya wondered as Fujin's Vacuum Bullets were merely inches away from Orochimaru's body. Even though Jiraiya wasn't sure that such an attack could kill Orochimaru, he could sense the massive chakra Fujin was building up. He did not doubt that Fujin was going for the kill.
However, just as the Vacuum Bullets were about to rip through him, Orochimaru disappeared! Fujin squinted his eyes and thought, 'As expected, he had already set up reverse summoning jutsu. However, he got very lucky with the timing. In his state, he couldn't have initiated it. If the person who used the jutsu had been a couple of seconds late, he'd be dead!'
In a base in the Land of Rice, Orochimaru appeared in front of Kimimaro and Jugo. Kimimaro's hand froze mid-air, the words caught in his throat, while Jugo's usually steady gaze flickered, both of them staring at Orochimaru as if they had just witnessed the impossible. Neither of them imagined that they'd ever see Orochimaru in such a terrible state!
Finally, Kimimaro gathered himself and asked, "Orochimaru-sama, what happened in Konoha?"
On the stadium rooftop, Jiraiya thought, 'I should have expected as much…'
Fujin appeared next to Jiraiya and asked, "How's the old man?"
Jiraiya's expression became grim. He replied, "I haven't taken a closer look yet, but he isn't good. His soul is almost completely shattered. It's a miracle that he's still alive…"
Fujin nodded. The sight of Hiruzen slashing his own soul was too shocking. After learning the Spirit Transformation jutsu, Fujin studied souls quite a bit. Even though he couldn't be compared to the likes of Orochimaru, Hiruzen or Danzo in this aspect, he still knew a lot.
A simple injury to the soul could end up destroying a person for good and put them in a vegetative state, if not kill them outright! In the rarest of cases where the person managed to live properly, they'd experience extreme pain until the soul was completely healed. The pain alone would exhaust the will to live of most people.