As the dust and chaos from the explosion settled down, Kimimaro and the sound's four could finally see the result of the confrontation between Orochimaru's giant snake form and the seven unknown monsters, and it wasn't to their liking as they could see that 6 of the giant heads of Orochimaru's snake form had completely disappeared.

As for the remaining two heads and the body, they were completely withered and rotten like a body that had been retrieved from its grave which made the already dangerous situation turn much eerier…

"Lord Orochimaru!" Yelled Kimimaro and was prepared to attack the seven giants recklessly but a girl that was a member of the sound's four suddenly held him back and pointed at the giant snake's body…

"This is?" Kimamaro's eyes lit up as he noticed that one of the remaining withered snake heads was twitching and not long after, Orochimaru's slimy body came out of it, although he appeared older and completely drained of all of his power. In fact, he seemed to be barely standing so Kimimaro quickly rushed to his side and lent him his shoulder to hold on to…

"Lord Orochimaru, what should we do?" Kimimaro didn't ask if he was alright since he could already tell that Orochimaru was on the verge of death so he instead wanted to see if there was a way for them to deal with this situation and Orochimaru eventually turned to stare at the seven giants with his snake-like slitted eyes that were full of an eerie coldness as he said

"These giant forms aren't their real bodies, they are merely an illusion created by that fog they are secreting, their true form is that of small pale beings with lamb-like horns… and they seem to be completely immune to that death energy since they didn't receive any damage from the explosion earlier…"

Kimimaro frowned when he heard this 'It seems like our only chance is to attack them from close range' with this thought in mind, he was prepared to rush at them but Orochimaru used the remainder of his strength to hold him back "Don't get close to them, that fog is a strong Genjutsu that can even rival the Sharingan of the Uchiha!"

"What should we do then?" Asked one of the sound's four, a two-headed person, but before Orochimaru and Kimimaro could come up with a plan, the first giant that attacked them with the ball of death started charging another ball aimed at them which made them feel helpless.

"You guys should run, I can revive myself, but you guys have no chance to live if you stay here…" Spoke Orochimaru while trying to stand on his own without Kimamaro's help

"But lord Orochimaru!" Yelled the sound four and Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder 'When did I get so soft…' Before he turned to the seven giants and eyed them coldly like a venomous snake and he was ready to take at least one of them down with him.

But his subordinates didn't obey him, and they remained with him which shocked him prompting him to say "How foolish" Although the smile on his face told another story…

"Fine then, let's show them the strength of the village hidden in the sound!"

"YES! x 5"

The giant didn't care much about them as it sent the terrifying ball of death it was charging planning to wipe them out with it!

'It seems like they realized that I wouldn't be able to survive because of this death energy even through the use of my curse marks… What foolish subordinates, but I guess it's fine to die with these people' For the first time in a long time, Orochimaru accepted death, his greatest fear.

But then another feeling started burning from the bottom of his soul as a certain regret was building in his heart… 'What if I pursued strength rather than eternal life… would I be able to beat these monsters?

"What if? A question many don't get a second chance in life to answer… but today you will be granted that chance" A voice suddenly sounded in the ears of the sound ninjas as a lone figure stood in front of them…

They instantly recognized who that wide back clothed in black clothing belonged to, it was the young man that was working their master like a slave for his own research, but now, he was also the person preparing to save them…

Orochimaru opened his eyes and shot Bakorio a weak smile "You are finally here?"

Bakorio didn't respond as he analyzed the approaching attack…

After Bakorio learned everything Orochimaru could teach, he removed his clones from his labs and created one of his own that only he knew the location of. However, he didn't trust what Orochimaru could do with the research they accumulated so he planted a spy among his researchers who was in reality one of his true clones.

This same true clone was the one taking action right now and he calmly stared at the rushing attack before he activated the six paths sage mode and used the gentle fist to create a terrifying shock wave that destroyed the ball of death from the inside out.

Then, with the white mist of the sage release revolving around his body, the true clone calmly approached the giants…

"Careful, their Genjutsu can't be underestimated!" Yelled one of the sound's four, a guy with multiple hands, but Kimimaro simply shook his head and said "Those monsters are doomed"

"Why do you say this, Kimimaro?" Asked the spider guy and Kimimaro simply said "Because they are facing a much more terrifying monster!"

…

Meanwhile, Bakorio was calmly thinking 'Their main attack power is their Genjutsu and death release, but they are both useless against me… However, I can't keep this sage state for long, I need to finish this fight fast'

The true clone noticed that he couldn't see through the illusion of the 7 monsters with his normal Sharingan, so he relied on his shared vision with the main body to locate the 7 bodies of the soul reapers…

'Thankfully, I awakened the Tenseigan otherwise, this fight would have been more difficult than it needed to be' With this thought in mind, the true clone retrieved a sword and started attacking the soul reapers with his void sword which took them by surprise and he instantly followed up with terrifying storm release that cut any escape paths they had and left them with multiple holes...

'I wonder what kind of thing will come of these bodies…' The true clone had a wicked smile on his face as he eyed the bodies of the horned gargoyle-looking monsters in front of him

…

"What kind of monster is this?" Wondered the sound four while Orochimaru's eyes shined with unprecedented light as he thought 'There's no meaning in having a long life if you can't protect it!'

"Oy Orochimaru, there are quite a few ghosts and dead surrounding your village and attacking your ninjas, is this really the time to start acting creepy?" Asked Bakorio with a smile reminding the 6 ninjas about the current situation in their village, they finally realized why no other ninja tried to assist them…

"Can you help us? As you can see, I can't do much in my current state… plus, it's a bit your fault for not acting fast enough" Asked Orochimaru with a shameless smile which made Bakorio frown slightly 'Guess it's not easy to trick a snake, he knew about the existence of this clone somehow and decided to pretend not to know just in case such a situation happens and I end up saving his ass…'

"fine, since I'm here anyway" Replied Bakorio with a shrug which brought a smile to Kimamaro's face as he felt this scene was too familiar… 'These two will never stop trying to trick each other' he thought before he nodded at Orochimaru and disappeared back to the village and started a terrifying killing spree that garnered him the nickname, White demon!