We urgently moved to intercept the Sand team and met them the next day in a large clearing. More precisely, the opponents noticed our approach and decided to wait for us in the open. Hiding was pointless, so our team also stepped forward openly and stood a hundred meters from the Sand trio.

The team facing us was somewhat 'non-canon.' It included Gaara, who was easily recognizable by the 'bottle' on his back and the 'love' kanji on his forehead. The second member was a lively old lady. Judging by Gaara calling her an elder, it was Chiyo. And the third member was the Fourth Kazekage Rasa, whom Kakashi had already identified.

"The Fourth Kazekage?" - I exclaimed. - "Didn't Orochimaru kill you?"

"Not yet" - came the reply from a suddenly appearing representative of the third team.

Orochimaru unexpectedly appeared on the scene, accompanied by two other game figures and a whole crowd of shinobi resurrected using Edo Tensei. His appearance was a surprise because they had moved underground, and the chakra disturbances from them were almost imperceptible.

"Orochimaru?" - I was surprised. - "Good that you came, now I don't have to chase after you."

I looked at his two companions and recognized Juugo and Guren. But the undead was a colorful mix, and it was difficult to figure out who was who. But what surprised me the most was the undead surrounded by a faint rainbow aura. It was the 'missing' member of the Earth team. Now it was clear what had happened to him. And it also increased my chances of getting frags. Now we had seven opponents against us, and if I could absorb all seven souls, Azathoth's task would be almost complete.

"Ha-ha" - Orochimaru licked his lips in his usual manner. - "I recognize Kakashi, but who are you? Don't tell me you're the seventh team."

"Yes, before you stands the almighty Uzumaki Naruto, the crazy rogue Haruno Sakura, and the useless ghoul Uchiha Sasuke" - I introduced us.

Uchiha shot me a furious glare for such an introduction.

"Orochimaru, your fate is to die by my hand!" - declared the uchiha, pompously pointing at the enemy. - "Die!"

With these words, he used his signature technique, blowing Orochimaru's brain out. He fell to the ground, but a second later, the Snake Sannin emerged whole and unharmed from his disfigured body.

"Nice try" - he commented. - "But I won't fall for that trick again..."

Smack! Orochimaru's head exploded again. Resurrecting once more, he didn't look at Uchiha but turned his gaze to the Kazekage.

"Guren, you take care of the Konoha team. Juugo and I will handle the Sand" - Orochimaru ordered.

After that, he rushed towards the Sand team, and Guren and the undead horde charged at us.

"Sasuke, Kakashi - handle them" - I indicated the two enemy teams. - "Sakura and I will deal with this girl and the undead and then join you."

Uchiha shot me a hateful look before heading towards Orochimaru, with Kakashi following him.

"Guren is yours" - I commanded Sakura. - "I'll deal with the immortal undead."

In fact, the shinobies resurrected using Edo Tensei were probably the most dangerous force here. They couldn't be killed. And there were more than forty of them, so they could simply overwhelm their opponents. However, this whole crowd was essentially a gathering of spirits, or 'bare' souls. So, for my parasite, they should be easy prey.

I rushed forward, intending to immobilize the future meal with my chakra chains, but a moment later, I had to brake because the former Sand team member started shooting at me with some sort of weapon. The charges from this weapon were quite dangerous, so I had to focus on defense, using the chakra chains as a shield.

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Fortunately, the entire undead horde also decided to kill me first, so they came closer on their own. This time I didn't hold back and sharply extended my chains, then summoned the parasite's tentacles and set them on the prey. Some opponents tried to dodge or escape, but I sent my clones after them. Even the game figure couldn't do anything against my superior strength, and in just five minutes, the whole crowd went to Azathoth's stomach.

*** Score 3/10 ***

Having confirmed that I had already scored three out of ten frags, I went to help Sakura. She indeed needed help because Guren turned out to be quite strong. Using her innate ability, she created beasts from crystals that attacked Sakura. Moreover, she constantly created particularly durable crystals that blocked Sakura's Waaagh attacks, and from time to time, she tried to shoot at the agile opponent with a stream of sharp crystals.

Sakura was constantly smashing the crystal beasts into dust, pounding against the shields, and ignoring the ranged attacks, taking them on her stone armor. However, she couldn't land a single hit on Guren herself. With my help, the balance of the battle shifted, and we began to corner Guren. She desperately tried to resist us, but my chains simply bypassed all her shields, and the hordes of clones surrounded her from all sides, leaving no room to retreat. Eventually, Guren created one enormous crystal, placing herself inside it. This behemoth was about twenty meters in diameter, making it a tough nut to crack. Sakura attacked the crystal, but all she managed to do was damage it a few dozen centimeters on the outside. Moreover, all these damages immediately regenerated, so we didn't even have the option to slowly bore our way to the target.

My chakra chains also proved powerless. I tried to sic my parasite on Guren, but it simply refused to attack, arguing that it would only devour game figure once my victory was assured. Useless creature!

I looked towards the ongoing battle among the other game figures. So far, the only casualty of this fight was Chiyo. She had attempted to attack Sasuke and Kakashi using her puppets, but he caught her in his genjutsu and promptly decapitated her. Fortunately, my clone was ready and managed to slap a resurrection fuin on Chiyo's body, preventing her from fully dying.

Orochimaru and Juugo were locked in a fierce battle with Gaara, with his father assisting him as much as he could. The One-Tail Jinchuriki had transformed into a massive 'tanuki' and skillfully controlled the sand, fending off all attacks. Sasuke and Kakashi occasionally tried to attack one group or the other but were not particularly successful. Gaara's sand and the Kazekage's Gold Dust created an impenetrable barrier, and Orochimaru and Juugo constantly unleashed powerful techniques without limiting their chakra expenditure, making it impossible for Uchiha to approach. Kakashi could probably finish them off, but he was not keen on intervening in this monster battle, preferring to wait until they finished each other off.

In short, my help was necessary, but I couldn't leave Guren behind, giving her the opportunity to strike from behind or escape. The clones were too fragile to reliably block all escape routes.

"We need to destroy her at any cost!" - I declared, looking at Guren holed up in her refuge.

"It looks like it's time for my great secret technique!" - Sakura declared pompously. - "Great Secret Waaagh!!!" - she screamed and then hit the crystal with all her might.

Its surface didn't suffer any damage, but the girl hidden under its protection suddenly exploded into a bloody mess. This result was extremely unexpected. I immediately tried to sic my parasite to catch the soul of the victim, but it informed me that the soul had already escaped. Judging by the complex image it conveyed to me, the Judge was somehow involved in this. Damn him!

After the creator's death, the crystal remained intact, becoming a sort of tomb. I didn't attempt to destroy it but headed towards the main battlefield with Sakura. My primary goal was to deal with Chiyo's soul before it escaped as well.

The intensity of the battle had now reached a level unattainable for mere mortals. This was especially true of the clash between Gaara and Juugo. The One-Tail Jinchuriki had transformed into a huge 'dog' that was smashing everything left and right. Moreover, his control over the bijuu was at the highest level, so the scale of the destruction was simply staggering.

What surprised me was that Juugo could compete with this monster and even start to overpower him. This 'Orochimaru's guinea pig' had an innate ability to absorb natural chakra, simultaneously transforming into some sort of monster with many arms and legs. Initially, he had a vaguely humanoid appearance, but now it was just a mess of limbs rolling across the ground and spewing powerful techniques in all directions.

At this moment, Kakashi made another attempt to approach the Kazekage from behind, who was distracted by the fight with Orochimaru. But at the last moment, he was suddenly attacked by... Chiyo. It turned out that due to my fuin, the game piece's soul remained in this world and was able to take control of her physical body using puppet technique. And through this body, Chiyo controlled other puppets, which then attacked Kakashi. This attack was so unexpected that even the elite jonin didn't have time to react, and several poison-covered blades pierced him through.

Seeing the unexpected 'resurrection' of their ally, the Kazekage got distracted, and Orochimaru immediately took advantage of this. He silently emerged from the ground behind his victim and impaled him with his Kusanagi sword. However, he recklessly left Kakashi behind, who was supposedly 'dying' from the puppet's attack. But my creation was absolutely immortal and didn't feel pain, so our captain rushed forward and drove the poisoned blades sticking out of his chest into Orochimaru. Moreover, he used his 'steel claws' to further impale Orochimaru and the Kazekage. These claws had a fuin on them, which was supposed to prevent the soul from 'escaping.'