Boom!
Lightning crackled across the sky as thunder roared. Down on the ocean, the two sides' ships had already clashed.
Orochimaru's ship was large, and he had plenty of men, but they were still outnumbered by the pirates, who had more than a dozen ships.
However, seeing Orochimaru's overwhelming force in the sky only fueled the pirates' fighting spirit.
Even with one person facing three or four enemies, they still fought with full intensity.
In the sky, the remaining two sages were struggling to withstand Orochimaru's relentless assault. They wanted to escape, but they simply couldn't.
Orochimaru wasn't even going all out. If they tried to flee, he would just kill them instantly.
His goal was simple—wipe out every single one of these sages right here.
For now, he was just buying time. He had both of them under pressure while keeping a deadly move in reserve, ready to take one of them out at any moment.
Don't be fooled by how easily Orochimaru had taken down a sage with a single strike earlier—he could only pull off that move once.
That technique was something he had learned from fighting Shanks. After being cut down so many times, he had picked up a few things.
Just a few, though.
That move required him to spend a long time preparing, adjusting his body to its peak condition before unleashing a breakthrough attack.
Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even be able to use it.
Now, facing two sages at once, Orochimaru was starting to find them a bit annoying. If this dragged on, they could probably hold out for another twenty minutes.
Only now did he realize just how many survival techniques these sages had. As long as his attacks weren't strong enough, they could defend against them.
Of course, the other reason for this was that Orochimaru himself wasn't known for overwhelming attack power—his real strengths lay in endurance and defense.
Just think about it: even Shisui's Susano'o had managed to hold its own against him.
Orochimaru's strength was on a different level, but his raw attack power wasn't his main weapon.
Shisui's Susano'o didn't even have Senjutsu chakra. It was strong, but it wasn't quite at the level of the real heavy hitters.
Compared to his survival and defense abilities, Orochimaru's offensive power didn't seem all that ridiculous.
"Good thing I was prepared for this."
Orochimaru watched the battle below. Right now, Hiruko and Kabuto were still holding their ground. The longer this dragged on, the better it was for them.
Twenty minutes—neither too long nor too short—should be enough.
"As expected, the weakness is obvious. Compared to someone like Yamato Shanks, this level of attack is nothing."
Orochimaru opened his mouth, sucking in all the surrounding clouds. His cheeks swelled, and lightning crackled inside his mouth.
"Roar!!"
As he opened his mouth again, the lightning shot forward, mixed with the clouds he had inhaled, blasting toward the two opponents.
One of them spread his arms, creating a massive vacuum zone. A layered barrier formed, blocking Orochimaru's attack.
But the next second, Orochimaru had already closed the distance. His sharp claws came crashing down, wrapped in lightning and fire.
"Boom!!"
The barriers shattered instantly. The two opponents had already dodged to the side, barely avoiding the attack.
The lightning and fire on Orochimaru's claws sent chills down their spines—it was pure natural energy, condensed into a terrifying form.
"Damn it!! We need to get out of here!"
"No, if we don't fight with everything we have, we're all going to die here."
Both of them were in bad shape, but neither was willing to go all in just yet.
Orochimaru had a backup plan, and so did they. If they used it now, they'd just be sealing their own fate.
There were no second chances for sages—once dead, they stayed dead.
"Then just die here."
Orochimaru's voice carried an overwhelming pressure. The two of them looked grim. If this kept going, they really would die.
Meanwhile, out on the sea, two other sages were already fighting at full strength.
Their goal was simple—get away before Orochimaru arrived.
They knew this feeling all too well—the feeling of death creeping closer.
Even if no one said it, the sages weren't fools. They had plenty of experience.
They had never personally been hunted by Fukuda Kiyomu, but through various means, they had all tasted that chilling experience.
The feeling of death—the slow, inevitable march toward the end.
But just as they tried to escape, Hiruko and Kabuto refused to let them go.
Kabuto had inherited Ryūchi Cave's Sage Mode. While he lacked offensive skills, his survival abilities were top-notch.
Hiruko, on the other hand, relied on the Kekkei Genkai he had "acquired" through research to barely hold his opponents back.
Yet beneath the sea, where everyone's attention had shifted away…
There was still one person.
At this moment, Kiyosu Iemitsu's body had been split in half, sliced clean through.
And yet, his flesh was still moving. His very blood and tissue had transformed into Inazuma, his last remnants of strength struggling to hold on.
In his final moments, he had barely managed to move his head—if not, he would've been completely dead.
His current state was no better than waiting for death… but there was still a chance.
That secret technique allowed Kiyosu Iemitsu's body to partially turn into an element. As long as the Inazuma in his body hadn't disappeared, it meant his life hadn't ended yet.
"Ten minutes!! Just ten more minutes…"
"I can't die. I absolutely can't die!"
Kiyosu Iemitsu's eyes were bloodshot, his face twisted with madness. The veins on his forehead bulged as he clenched his teeth.
And finally…
"Sizzle!!"
The Inazuma on his split body drifted under the ocean currents and made contact.
Then, his hands twitched.
Though his body was still separated by dozens of meters, as soon as his palms formed a seal, the crazed look on his face faded.
"Seven minutes!!"
"Whether I live or not… it all depends on this last moment."
Kiyosu Iemitsu slowly closed his eyes.
Far away, deep in the ocean trench, as his hands completed the seal, a surge of chakra rose from the depths.
It wrapped around his body.
He had tapped into the power of the Dragon Vein.
A normal sage couldn't use Dragon Vein chakra. But Kiyosu Iemitsu wasn't using it the way Orochimaru would. He didn't need the chakra itself.
What he needed… was the will of the world attached to the Dragon Vein's chakra.
"For the final step… take me even further!"
"Divine Art—Evolution!"
---
You can read 50 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu