Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

As Manda and his swarm of snakes appeared, demanding offerings from Orochimaru, Aburame Shisei knew that the other party had decided to escalate the situation, completely break off relations, and force him out.

"Alas! Why must it be like this?" A long sigh echoed through the air. The sound was calm, yet it seemed to come from all directions at once.

In the village not far from them, everyone, whether civilians or ninjas, seemed to have lost their hearing, subconsciously ignoring certain things.

Although I do what I'm supposed to do, I always subconsciously want to go back to the house, talk to my children and relatives, or take a nap.

As the sound ended, Orochimaru suddenly looked up into the distance and saw countless swarms of insects buzzing in from all directions.

They emerged from the ground, from the walls, from the air, in all shapes and sizes, capable of changing color from black to mud. Some ordinary snakes were no match for the insects' feeding frenzy, and soon only a pile of withered bones remained.

However, the enormous snakes still possessed the strength to fight back, and the two sides were attacking each other, much to the annoyance of the swarm of insects.

"Orochimaru, this time I want 100 more sacrifices! No, I want 1000!"

Orochimaru didn't move or respond; he simply stared intently ahead with his snake-like eyes, watching the swarm of insects in the distance gradually coalesce into human form.

Dressed in black, wearing sunglasses, surrounded by a buzzing swarm of insects, his young face held a calm as still as a pool of water.

Orochimaru's pupils contracted slightly; he remembered this face.

"So it was you, Shisei Aburame. I never imagined that the unremarkable insect controller in Konoha would grow to this level."

"No wonder... now everything makes sense."

His gaze swept over the surrounding swarm of insects, his eyes burning with intensity.

"Your talent truly amazes me. I never imagined that you would break through the shackles of the Aburame clan and take insect control to a whole new level."

Not far away, the swarm of insects and snakes were still fighting. Although the swarm of snakes could not be penetrated by the insects, they were trapped in the pit created by the earthen insects and stuck to the crater in the sticky mud created by their self-destruction.

This secret technique looks exactly like the Earth Release: Yellow Mud Swamp technique from the Earth Release: Earth Release technique.

Both sides are fighting with their summoned creatures, and it seems neither of them intends to make a move.

Orochimaru, on the other hand, kept looking Aburame Shisei up and down, his eyes full of curiosity and admiration.

"No wonder I've always felt like I'm being watched... It's not people watching me, but these insects. I'm curious how you created these insects that can blend into ordinary swarms undetected. And how do you control these insects, transmitting what they see and hear to you?"

In his view, insects are low-intelligence creatures. Ordinary parasitic insects can collect scents and transmit vague messages by flying back and forth, which is already the limit of the Aburame clan.

But this limit was broken by the person he had once let go, so how could he not feel curious and want to explore the secret behind it?

Aburame Shisei—or rather, Aburame Shisei's insect clone—did not respond to Orochimaru's exclamation, but simply said:

"Wouldn't it be better if we tested each other and then parted ways?" "Lord Orochimaru, I remember you're a person with strong boundaries, and you hate having your limits tested. Why are you so confident that you're forcing me out here?"

Aburame Shisei's hands began to form hand seals, and for a moment the earth began to tremble slightly. Countless insects swarmed out from the four corners and gathered towards Orochimaru.

"So, this is the arrogance of the strong?"

"arrogant?"

Orochimaru's smile vanished: "No, it's just curiosity."

His hands began to form hand seals rapidly, and a large number of giant snakes reappeared, fighting alongside the swarm of insects. The venomous snakes spewed venom, crushing the flying insects; while the insects burrowed into the snakes' seven orifices, gnawing at them from the inside.

Not only that, various Five Elements Ninjutsu flew out from Orochimaru's hands to defend against all the insects that wanted to get close to him.

It was clear that the other few people were not capable of participating in such a battlefield, so they could only lead Naoto to retreat far to the edge of the battlefield.

The battle lasted less than a minute, and Orochimaru was already panting heavily.

His strength, which had surged recently, seemed somewhat inadequate in the face of the swarm of insects, but he was still quite excited.

No, it's not excitement, it's exhilaration.

He felt he could continue fighting and fight to the very end.

Manda let out a painful howl, "Ah, these wretched, annoying insects have crawled into my eyes! Orochimaru, I'm not playing with you anymore. If the next sacrifice isn't delivered, don't even think about ordering me around again."

Finally, it turned into a cloud of white mist and disappeared from the spot. After it left, the other several large snakes with high intelligence also ended their spiritual communication and withdrew from the battlefield.

Suddenly, Orochimaru's snake eyes changed; his originally wide-open snake eyes suddenly became alert.

No, this is obviously wrong. This is clearly an unequal battle. The opponent has only sent out a clone, so why should he stay here and be worn down?

As his mind cleared, he quickly cast a spell to restore the rhythm of illusion. After a while, the feeling that was affecting him finally disappeared by most of it, but the excitement in his body was still not diminished at all.

It's the air, the smell in the air... No, that's not right!

He looked around and quickly spotted his target. It turned out that this pheromone had begun to spread with the appearance of the swarm of insects. Although it wouldn't cause fatal harm if inhaled, it could easily affect a person's thinking.

If someone as powerful as him can act this way, then ordinary people would probably already be at his mercy.

Illusion? No, it's a mixture of neurotoxins and pheromones!

Orochimaru's rhythm was disrupted, so he immediately held his breath and retreated rapidly, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

"No wonder Yuhi Shinku fell to you. The combination of illusion and bio-pharmacology. If your opponent has a weakness in any aspect, you will be able to exploit it. Although Yuhi Shinku's illusion is strong, she knows nothing about bio-pharmacology. Her loss is not unjust."

Before he finished speaking, Orochimaru felt a chill run down his spine, his natural sense of danger reaching its peak.

An invisible scorpion had somehow crept up behind him, its sharp tail raised high, aiming for his back.

Orochimaru sidestepped at the last second, his tail hook grazing Orochimaru's left lower back, leaving a deep, bone-revealing bloodstain.

Blood gushed out, and the wound quickly turned black.

"Poisonous..." Orochimaru's expression changed slightly; at this moment, he had no desire to continue the fight.

Without hesitation, he bit his finger and slammed it heavily on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu: Ten Thousand Snakes!"