They traveled through time at the same time, but the villainous scientist

Chapter 446 Trump Card
However, just as the tip of the black rod was about to touch one-thousandth of the space between Hashirama Senju's eyebrows...

There was no warning.

A twisted white shadow, accompanied by a piercing scream that tore at eardrums, crashed into us from the side!
boom--! ! !
That wasn't the sound of an impact; it was more like the mournful cry of space itself being forcibly torn apart.

For the first time, the godlike indifference on Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's face was replaced by pure astonishment.

With a single blow, he was sent flying uncontrollably, smashing through several huge vines that had just risen from the ground, before finally crashing heavily into the distant, broken mountainside, kicking up clouds of dust.

The black rods that pierced through the bodies of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha dissipated instantly as they were knocked away by the first strike.

The terrifying regenerative power of the reanimated body began to take effect, and countless dust particles rapidly gathered and reformed at the pierced wound.

"This kind of power... are you kidding me..."

Madara Uchiha broke free of his restraints, ignoring his rapidly healing body, but his gaze was fixed on the figure who had knocked Isshiki away, his usually arrogant face filled with disbelief.

The speed and power that burst forth in that instant were so great that even his kaleidoscope couldn't fully capture them!
Hashirama Senju steadied himself and looked at the back of the figure standing in front of them with a very complicated expression.

Orochimaru...?

He muttered to himself, a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

There, a figure stood quietly.

Or rather, he can no longer be called "Orochimaru".

His original body was now completely enveloped by a biological tissue that seemed to possess life.

That wasn't armor, but rather a kind of exotrophic flesh and blood.

Its entire body is covered with fine, pure white scales that shimmer with an inorganic luster, like those of a snake. On the scales, countless strange black patterns flow slowly like ink, outlining mysterious designs.

His head was covered by a hideous dragon-like helmet, revealing only a pair of golden vertical pupils that gleamed with a cold light.

What's even more unsettling is that an invisible energy vortex formed around him.

The invisible natural energy in the surrounding air was transforming into streams of emerald green light, which were being devoured greedily and frantically by the white suit of armor on his body and flowing into his body.

The ground beneath his feet, the plants that had just been sprouted by Wood Release, were withering and turning into sand at a visible speed, all their vitality being forcibly stripped away!
"Oh?"

Amidst the ruins, Isshiki's figure slowly rose. He patted off non-existent dust from his body, and in his gaze toward Orochimaru, there was no anger at being ambushed. Instead, a near-fanatical joy and curiosity, the joy of a discoverer, burned within him.

You really are... irresistible!

He let out a low chuckle, his strange pupils reflecting Orochimaru's current form, filled with a sense of inquiry.

"The essence of this domineering plundering of the planet's life energy... is the divine tree."

"You've studied that thing Kaguya left behind to this extent without the 'Wedge'?"

"I see. You probably can't keep this up for long, right?"

In the vision provided by his Byakugan, Orochimaru's main body chakra was steady and deep, but within that suit of armor, there were nine violent, scorching energy sources that were constantly reacting like stars!
Orochimaru did not answer.

Because Yishi was right, this [Divine Tree Armor] is indeed his greatest masterpiece in recent years.

Based on technology obtained from other worlds, and combined with the cells of the Gedo Mazo, an artificial "shell" was created. Then, using a portion of the chakra of the nine tailed beasts as energy, the God Tree cells grafted onto the suit were forcibly driven.

Although it's only a half-finished product with a time limit, but...

"That's enough to deal with you."

A hoarse, distorted sound, like the friction of metal, came from under the white helmet.

Before he finished speaking, the ground beneath Orochimaru's feet suddenly collapsed, and his figure vanished from the spot!
There were no hand seals, no energy condensation, just pure, extreme speed and power!
He appeared in front of Yishi in an instant, his fist covered in white scales, carrying a terrifying power that could pierce through the air, and he slammed it out!

The power of this attack even surpassed that of Might Guy's Day Tiger, which was unleashed after he opened the Seventh Gate!

With a slight contraction of his pupils, he raised his hand and threw a punch to meet the attack.

Boom-! ! !
The two fists collided, but instead of a loud bang, a visible white shockwave suddenly exploded outwards from the two men.
The Hokage Rock beneath their feet, the massive mountain wall that had been regarded as a symbol of glory by generations of naval heroes, was violently distorted like water with stones thrown in it under the spread of this silent shockwave, and then... it collapsed with a roar, turning into a torrent of billions of tons of rubble that poured down!

Hokage Rock... collapsed!
In the village, Shigeaki Hatake, who was evacuating the people, suddenly looked up and saw the familiar landmark crumbling into ruins before his eyes. His heart clenched painfully.

"What level of battle was that...?"

"All security personnel! Immediately double the evacuation zone! Now!"

A member of the Uchiha clan roared, his voice tinged with fear. The place had become a battlefield between two inhuman monsters.

Orochimaru and Isshiki's figures kept intersecting and colliding amidst the collapsing rubble and billowing dust.

Every contact unleashes terrifying energy powerful enough to change the appearance of mountains and rivers.

The move was simple yet efficient. With a single palm strike, it shrank instantly before contacting Orochimaru's chest armor, penetrating the gaps in the defense, and then suddenly returned to its original size, intending to detonate it from the inside.

But Orochimaru's armor seemed to be alive; the flesh beneath the scales writhed, forcibly absorbing and transferring that explosive power.

"A beast-like fighting instinct, coupled with this regenerative ability..."

With a sigh of admiration, he swayed and dozens of black rods appeared out of thin air, shrinking to the size of needles, and shot out.

Orochimaru neither dodged nor evaded. His armor suddenly exploded, transforming into hundreds of thick, white giant snakes. Like pythons emerging from their caves, they precisely lashed out and coiled around the black needles, blocking them all.

The scales on the surface of the armor shattered repeatedly during the collision, but the newly formed flesh and scales underneath instantly reassembled, as if possessing endless vitality.

A moment later, the two separated again, each standing at one end of the ruins.

The once majestic Fire Shadow Rock has been completely transformed into a vast basin.

Yishi was breathing slightly heavily. His white feather robe was torn for the first time, and there was even a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth.

But the expression on his face grew increasingly excited...

"Wonderful! It's really wonderful!"

He looked at Orochimaru, sparing no praise.
"You are the first human to unleash the power of the Divine Tree to such an extent!"

Thinking this, Yishi suddenly raised his hand and gently gestured towards the empty space beside him.

A dark, hollow, circular portal opened out of thin air.

He reached in, grabbed a figure from inside, and casually tossed it toward Orochimaru.

It was a red-haired boy dressed in plain clothes, his eyes closed, seemingly unconscious.

Orochimaru flashed forward and caught the boy, his golden vertical pupils slightly contracting.

"Nagato..."

He instantly realized that the one who attacked Amegakure and stole the Rinnegan was none other than Isshiki Otsutsuki standing before him.

"Consider this footage my 'reward' for your wonderful performance."

A playful smile played on Ichishi's face.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of amazing things you can research now that you have the Rinnegan and the power of the Divine Tree."

"Don't let me down..."

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure vanished from the spot without any warning, along with his strange teleportation portal, as if he had never existed.

A deathly silence enveloped the ruins.

"Ah……"

Orochimaru let out a cold, ambiguous laugh, glancing down at the unconscious Nagato in his arms.

"From beginning to end, they didn't take us seriously at all..."

As he spoke, the gleaming white suit he wore quickly lost its luster, peeling away and decaying like weathered rock, eventually turning into inorganic white powder.

The power of Ōtsutsuki Isshiki indeed exceeded his expectations.

But this encounter was not without its gains...

Orochimaru slowly spread out his left hand.

In his palm lay a small piece of bright red flesh, still wriggling slightly and exuding an ominous aura.

That was a trophy that had been instantly entangled and torn from the arm of the armor during the previous exchange of blows, where the armor's roots had instantly wrapped around the body.

"The cells of Isshiki Otsutsuki... have been obtained."

(End of this chapter)