Uchiha orphan, so what if I'm ruthless?

Uchiha Taiga made the first move. Swiping a hand across his ninja pouch, two kunai appeared in his grasp. In the next instant, he hurled one of them, sending it shooting straight toward Orochimaru.

Orochimaru remained completely unfazed by this probing attack. With just a slight tilt of his head, the kunai grazed past the tip of his ear and embedded itself into a tree trunk.

In the next moment, Taiga activated the Body Flicker Technique. Moving like a gale, his approach was completely silent and seamless.

He drove his knee toward Orochimaru's abdomen, but only struck a lingering afterimage.

Orochimaru's voice drifted from behind. "The Uchiha's Body Flicker Technique is much sharper than the rumors suggest. You have mastered it quite well, Taiga-kun."

Taiga spun into a sweeping kick. Orochimaru bent backward to evade, simultaneously flicking out three shuriken.

Taiga raised his arm to block. Amidst the crisp clatter of colliding metal, he caught a kunai between his fingers and thrust it straight at Orochimaru's throat.

"Fast reflexes."

Orochimaru commented as he sidestepped. He clearly had energy to spare against Taiga's assault; the kunai merely sliced through his sleeve.

"But the power of the Sage Body shouldn't be wasted on something like this."

As soon as the words left his mouth, Orochimaru formed hand seals with a single hand, his fingers blurring into an afterimage.

An Earth-Style Wall suddenly erupted beneath Taiga's feet, launching him into the air.

His reaction was equally swift as his hands flew through a series of seals.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

Flames spewed forth, forming a massive fireball over three meters in diameter that hurtled directly toward Orochimaru.

But Orochimaru had already vanished from his spot.

The moment Taiga landed, the sound of tearing wind came from behind. He rolled across the ground just as a high-pressure water stream grazed his back and smashed into the earth. Splattering mud soaked the hem of his clothes, and amidst the roaring impact, a massive crater was gouged into the ground.

Surging waves of water rippled outward, flooding the entire training ground in the blink of an eye.

"Water Dragon Jutsu?"

Taiga raised an eyebrow.

"The Sannin truly live up to their reputation."

Orochimaru's voice echoed from all directions. "Your mastery over basic ninjutsu has also exceeded my expectations."

"Whether it's the Body Flicker Technique or the intensity of your Fire Style, both are executed flawlessly."

Taiga suddenly formed hand seals.

Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!

A fierce gale swept up the loose debris on the ground, surging violently toward the source of the voice.

Orochimaru's figure materialized amidst the flying rubble, his shuriken already closing in on Taiga's face.

His appearance was completely silent, as if he had seamlessly blended into the wind itself—a truly astonishing feat.

Though surprised, Taiga did not panic. He quickly tilted his head to dodge, simultaneously driving a heavy punch toward Orochimaru's chest.

Orochimaru raised an arm to block. The collision of their physical strength sent the surrounding fallen leaves scattering into the air.

"Your physical strength is indeed formidable, Taiga-kun."

A sinister smile crept onto Orochimaru's face as his long tongue slithered out to lick his lips.

"But how much do you truly understand about the secrets of the Sage Body?"

"None of your business."

Taiga's reply was blunt and decisive. At the same time, he activated the Body Flicker Technique once more, reappearing directly behind Orochimaru.

He clenched his fist and swung.

A sharp crack tore through the air, sounding as though the very atmosphere had been detonated.

The faint, mocking amusement on Orochimaru's face vanished instantly. He spun around, crossing his arms in front of him to block.

The next moment.

Orochimaru felt as though he had been smashed by a massive boulder. His body was sent flying backward uncontrollably, a sharp, stinging pain radiating from his forearms. The bones felt as if they had fractured.

*Swish!*

Taiga's figure vanished again, using the Body Flicker to catch up to the airborne Orochimaru.

Twisting his body, he threw another punch!

A flash of shock crossed Orochimaru's face. His body suddenly went limp in mid-air, becoming as pliable as if he had no bones at all, narrowly evading the devastating blow.

"Is this Tsunade's monstrous strength?"

Even as he spoke, Orochimaru contorted his body in the air, brushing past Taiga.

The moment he landed, he whipped his arms out. A series of crisp cracks echoed, sounding as though he had snapped the bones inside.

But immediately after, Orochimaru grabbed and yanked at his own arms, instantly restoring his previously limp limbs to their normal state.

All of this happened in a fraction of a second. Having reset his arms, Orochimaru pulled a scroll from his lower back and slammed his palm onto it.

*Poof!*

White smoke billowed out, and a sword appeared in his grasp.

It was a straight sword with no handguard. The blade was as smooth as a mirror, its edge gleaming with a cold, deadly light.

Orochimaru grinned widely. "I've already experienced your Body Flicker Technique, taijutsu, and ninjutsu. So, Taiga-kun, would you care to test your skills against my kenjutsu?"

Despite his polite phrasing, he showed absolutely no mercy, lunging forward aggressively.

Taiga, having just landed, held a kunai in each hand, his gaze locked intently on the charging Orochimaru.

*Clang, clang, clang...*

The brilliant flashes of the blade cascaded like a torrential downpour, striking at him with the ferocity of a violent storm.

The kunai in Taiga's hands managed to block a few strikes before they were cleaved and shattered amidst a series of sharp metallic cracks.

Clearly, the straight sword in Orochimaru's hand was no ordinary weapon. It was highly likely to be a Sword of Kusanagi.

The Sword of Kusanagi was not the name of a single specific blade, but rather a collective term for a class of legendary swords, each varying in shape and design.

As far as Taiga knew, the Orochimaru from the original storyline had wielded no less than four different Swords of Kusanagi.

"Heh!"

Taiga tossed aside the broken kunai hilts and dodged multiple times, evading the lethal slashes by mere millimeters.

Unbeknownst to his opponent, his Sharingan had already activated, the three tomoe spinning rapidly within his crimson eyes.

Seeing this, the smile on Orochimaru's face deepened. His movements didn't slow down in the slightest; if anything, his strikes became even more ruthless.

It had to be said—he truly lived up to the title of Sannin. He had virtually no weaknesses in any aspect of combat.

Even though Taiga was brimming with confidence thanks to his system cheats, he still felt the mounting pressure of facing Orochimaru.

It wasn't that he couldn't use stronger ninjutsu. Taiga could easily unleash devastating Fire Style techniques right now, such as the Great Fire Destruction or Majestic Destroyer Flame. Backed by his massive chakra reserves, the destructive power would be staggering.

But doing so would cause far too much of a commotion.

That was his line of reasoning, and the Orochimaru standing opposite him undoubtedly shared the exact same thought.

That was why, from the beginning of their clash until now, their battle had been strictly confined to taijutsu and standard ninjutsu, with kenjutsu only just being introduced into the mix.

Under these constrained circumstances, Taiga was undoubtedly falling at a disadvantage, but he already had a plan in mind.

The next moment, Orochimaru thrust his sword straight forward.

Taiga intentionally halted his evasive maneuver, allowing the straight blade to pierce directly into his right abdomen.

Orochimaru clearly hadn't expected the strike to land. A fleeting moment of surprise caused his reaction time to lag by a fraction of a second.

Taiga seized that exact split-second opportunity, his hands darting out to grab Orochimaru's sword-wielding wrist.

Orochimaru was incredibly decisive, immediately abandoning the straight sword to pull back.

However, Taiga had already anticipated this exact move.

The next instant, blood sprayed through the air!

*Slash!*

A flash of cold steel cleaved through the air, and one of Orochimaru's arms was severed cleanly at the shoulder, sent flying high into the sky.

The blood that had initially sprayed belonged to Taiga.

In that critical moment, he had used the Body Flicker to surge toward Orochimaru. The distance between them hadn't widened when Orochimaru retreated; instead, it had closed even further.

Taiga's hand, which had originally reached for Orochimaru's wrist, had instead gripped the hilt of the embedded sword, ripping it free and slashing upward in one fluid motion.

At the exact same time, he cast a seemingly casual glance at Orochimaru, the three tomoe in his eyes spinning furiously.

Orochimaru fell into a momentary daze before rapidly snapping back to reality.

But even with his incredibly swift recovery, he was still a fraction too late to prevent Taiga from severing his arm.

Both men landed. Orochimaru immediately executed several backward leaps to put distance between them. He clutched his bleeding stump with his remaining hand, his serpentine eyes locked dead onto Taiga.

In stark contrast, Taiga was grinning widely. He didn't even look at Orochimaru, instead carefully examining the straight sword now in his possession.

"Good sword. A truly excellent sword!"

The next moment, a layer of chakra coated the blade.

It was obvious that this sword was forged from chakra metal. Whether in terms of hardness, flexibility, or chakra conductivity, it was an absolute masterpiece.

There was no mistaking it.

This was the very same Sword of Kusanagi that Sasuke wielded in the original storyline.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru's gaze remained fixated on Taiga's right abdomen.

The clothing there had been torn wide open when the sword was thrust in and ripped out, exposing the skin underneath.

The gaping puncture wound had incredibly already begun to scab over. Faint steam rose from the injury as it healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"So this is the Sage Body. No wonder... no wonder you are so fearless, Taiga-kun."

Orochimaru's face was pale, and sweat beaded on his forehead, yet he still managed to force a smile.

However, no matter how one looked at it, the smile seemed rather strained.

It was clear that Taiga's ruthless gambit had completely caught him off guard. Having suffered such a massive loss, the veteran powerhouse and legendary Sannin couldn't help but feel a deep sense of frustration.

His original intention had been to test the waters, but now, it seemed the test had ended in failure.

Taiga withdrew his gaze from the sword and looked at Orochimaru, his smile appearing entirely genuine.

"Orochimaru-sama, I really like this sword."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Since you like it so much, consider it a gift."

He didn't swap bodies like he would have in the original storyline, which gave Taiga a sudden realization.

At this point in the timeline, it seemed Orochimaru hadn't yet developed the Living Corpse Reincarnation jutsu. He had likely only completed the Soft Physique Modification on his body.

"Thank you very much. As a return gift, I suggest you strengthen your genjutsu resistance training, Orochimaru-sama—especially against Sharingan genjutsu. In that regard, your weakness is a bit too obvious."