Chapter 310: Leading the Team
This time last year, Haruno Sakura was still in the Land of Snow, and Haku had gone to the Land of Waves by herself.
This year, Sakura was leading a Genin squad and was usually relatively free, so she went with Haku.
When she had escorted Tazuna back to the Land of Waves, the whole journey had taken two weeks. But with the speed of elite ninja like Haruno Sakura and Yuki Haku, they arrived in the Land of Waves in just over a day.
Land of Waves, Courage Bridge. (Note)
In a hidden valley.
A clear, green stream flowed leisurely out of the valley and into the sea. The river water was as clear as silk, shimmering in the light, winding and meandering. The scenery was beautiful.
Zabuza slept here.
His grave, with the Executioner's Blade as a marker, stood near the new bridge, deep in the valley.
Accompanied by the quiet green mountains and clear waters, far away from the hustle and bustle of the mortal world.
Following the ribbon-like stream, the girls stepped on the light green water and walked into this beautiful landscape of mountains and water.
Leaving ripples spreading behind them.
They came to the barrier guarding Zabuza's grave.
"The barrier is still intact. No one has been here recently," Sakura checked and said to Haku.
When they had left the Land of Waves back then, to prevent anyone from coveting the Executioner's Blade and disturbing Zabuza's peace, the thoughtful Haku had asked Kakashi to leave a barrier here to protect the grave.
If anyone tried to forcibly break the barrier, the power of the barrier would sink Zabuza's grave, along with his Executioner's Blade, deep underground nearby, where no one could find it.
Only Team Kakashi and Haku knew the key to unlocking the barrier.
"Let's start unlocking the barrier," Haruno Sakura said with a faint smile to Haku.
Haku forced a smile and nodded.
Seeing the familiar objects brought back memories, and her mood became low here. What had happened in the Land of Waves was only two years ago. The painful past was still fresh in her mind. Recalling everything from the past, Haku felt very depressed.
Forcing a smile was only because she didn't want Sakura to worry too much about her.
Haruno Sakura sighed inwardly. There was nothing she could do about this kind of thing. She could only let Haku adjust her own emotions.
A chakra light lit up on her fingertips. She pressed the hand seals to release the barrier. With a hum from the transparent barrier in front of them, something seemed to dissipate in the air. White light scattered, and then the barrier dispersed and disappeared. Sakura nodded and said, "The barrier is unlocked. Let's go."
She took Haku's wrist and was about to walk in when the smile on her face suddenly disappeared.
On the other side.
"Orochimaru, is the Executioner's Blade really inside the barrier?" the silver-haired youth asked the person walking in front of him without any respect.
The person in front of the silver-haired youth turned his head, his snake-like, cloudy yellow vertical pupils glancing at him faintly.
He was wearing a white kimono with a purple rope belt around his waist. It was Orochimaru, who had been missing for more than half a year.
After the death of the Sound Four and Kimimaro, Orochimaru had recruited a new batch of capable subordinates through abduction and training.
However, perhaps because he was a newcomer, or perhaps because of his naturally frivolous nature, the silver-haired youth behind him didn't quite know how to respect his superior.
Fortunately, Orochimaru didn't mind this level of offense.
"Don't be impatient, Suigetsu..." he said indifferently. "According to intelligence, after Zabuza was killed by Hatake Kakashi back then, the Executioner's Blade was not brought back to Konoha, so it was left here. If we can't find it nearby, then it can only be inside the barrier."
"Hmph... can't we just brute-force this barrier?" the man called Suigetsu said, sitting on a rock nearby and frowning. "With your ability, opening this barrier should be a piece of cake!"
"This barrier was left by Kakashi. He set a trap here," Orochimaru said, touching the barrier in front of him that was emitting a faint silver glow, without turning his head. "Forcibly opening the barrier will trigger the trap, and the Executioner's Blade and Zabuza's corpse will be buried deep underground... What an interesting setup that also shows insight into the human heart, Kakashi!"
He revealed a smile of interest, sticking out his long tongue to lick his lips.
"In that case, anyone who wants to get the Executioner's Blade will be in a dilemma," Suigetsu suddenly realized, and then frowned again. "So what do we do, Orochimaru? We can't brute-force it, and we don't know the hand seals to unlock the barrier. Are we just going to watch?"
Orochimaru turned to look at him and sneered.
"Of course not! This barrier was opened on this day last year. Do you know what that means?"
The silver-haired youth thought for a moment and answered, "Today is the anniversary of Zabuza's death. Someone came to pay their respects to him last year!"
"That's right. It should be that woman, Yuki Haku. That's why I chose to come today... If I'm not mistaken, the barrier will open soon!" Orochimaru lowered his face, calculating something. "Not just the Executioner's Blade and Zabuza's remains... the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, if all goes well, we can get that too!"
The snake-eyed man, whose face was as white as wallpaper, paused for a moment, inexplicably thinking of another person who possessed the Ice Style Kekkei Genkai.
Probably because of that person, Orochimaru was now also interested in Ice Style.
After talking for a while, Suigetsu and Orochimaru stopped talking and began to silently wait for the barrier to disappear.
They didn't wait long before a chakra fluctuation occurred, and the barrier suddenly trembled slightly!
Then, the transparent barrier emitting a silver glow dimmed bit by bit, like a light going out!
"The barrier has been released!" Suigetsu jumped up from the rock and said loudly.
"As expected, the barrier has been released." A sinister smile curled the corner of Orochimaru's mouth. "It seems Yuki Haku has arrived... Ice Style Kekkei Genkai, I've been waiting for you for a long time!"
As he was speaking, Orochimaru took a step forward, then suddenly stopped, the expression on his face extremely colorful.
"I didn't expect quite a few people to come today!"
He snorted coldly and jumped up suddenly!
A thin silver-white line suddenly shot out, slashing diagonally across the sky, catching up to Orochimaru's figure in mid-air!
SWISH—
In just an instant, the silver-haired youth on the ground was shocked to find that his immediate superior had been cut in two by the thin line!
With a few swish sounds, the water line circled a few times in the air, slashing horizontally and vertically, and in the blink of an eye, Orochimaru's body had been cut into several pieces!
Plop, plop.
The fragmented corpse fell to the ground, and pieces of bright red, unidentifiable flesh were scattered all over the place!
"What? Orochimaru, you died just like that?" he shouted, jumping up from the rock.
But then he saw the bald head of Orochimaru on the ground suddenly open its mouth violently, opening wide to a creepy and terrifying angle. Then, an intact Orochimaru crawled out from the corpse!
He shook off the sticky, transparent liquid on his body, ignoring Suigetsu who was making a fuss on the side, and just stared coldly at the other end of the valley, where the silver line had come from.
"Long time no see, Haruno Sakura." Orochimaru revealed a sinister smile. "That was a very sharp greeting!"
The pink-haired girl appeared in front of him with awe-inspiring killing intent.
She stood on the mountain top, looking down at the two people below.
"Orochimaru..." Those sharp eyes swept over the man in the kimono at the foot of the mountain, and then swept over Hozuki Suigetsu behind him.
Her brow furrowed sharply.
"There's another person..." Sakura said coldly. Orochimaru's new subordinate...?
She suddenly raised her hand, her left hand abruptly extending, pointing straight at the silver-haired youth.
"Eh?" Suigetsu, being suddenly pointed at by her, felt the nerves in his temples jump violently, and his scalp suddenly went numb. Then, he saw a second silver-white water line shoot out from the girl's slender index finger!
BANG—!
In an instant, the silver-haired youth's head exploded with a roar!
It was just...
"Even without a head, he still won't die?" Haruno Sakura murmured, her brow furrowing deeper.
The silver-haired youth opposite her, having had his head shot off by her, could still stand as if nothing had happened, and his chakra didn't fluctuate at all. Did this mean that person was completely immune to physical damage?
"Oh my, what a dangerous ninjutsu!" the silver-haired youth said in an exaggerated tone. "What a scary, violent woman, attacking without even saying hello!"
As he spoke, a blob of water flew over, flowed onto his neck, and then his head returned to its original state.
Did his body turn into water?
Haruno Sakura didn't dwell on this matter.
Judging by intuition and chakra, this person's strength was only considered decent, and not much of a threat to her...
"What are you doing here, Orochimaru?" she asked coldly, turning her gaze to Orochimaru and ignoring that person.
With her current strength, she was qualified to stand opposite Orochimaru. Moreover, since this place was very close to the sea, it should be her advantage...
So Sakura stood out with full confidence.
However... neither of them were opponents she could casually finish off. Haruno Sakura could only patiently ask first.
"Isn't our purpose obvious?" Orochimaru said, raising his head. "My new subordinate needs a suitable weapon..."
"So you've set your sights on the Executioner's Blade." Sakura revealed a sarcastic smile, as if she had expected this.
"That's right. Rather than letting it rot in the ground, dancing with the dead, it's better to let it continue to show its flair in the hands of the living!" the silver-haired youth said loudly, spreading his arms.
"Are you going to stop us?" Two long snakes crawled out of Orochimaru's sleeves, flicking their tongues restlessly. "This time, there's no second Jiraiya to come and save you!"
"We are by the sea, Orochimaru."
Haruno Sakura placed her hands in front of her chest, assuming a posture ready to form hand seals.
Her Sakura Rush and Yin Seal had already been quietly activated long ago, raising her combat power to the highest level.
"Why don't you think about whether there is a second person who can come and save you!"
Her right hand waved fiercely. Her slender and nimble fingers rapidly changed hand seals. A river like a sea not far away had all its water extracted by her, transforming into a giant dragon over a hundred meters long in the air. While moving its body, it quickly filled in the details.
Dragon horns, dragon claws, dragon teeth, dragon eyes, dragon scales, dragon body...
Carved out one by one by chakra!
In the blink of an eye, under Sakura's exquisite Water Style shape transformation control, it transformed into a lifelike giant dragon!
ROAR—
She waved her arm fiercely, and the giant dragon roared and charged towards Orochimaru!
"Interesting..." A wicked smile curled the corner of Orochimaru's mouth, and his hands quickly formed hand seals!
"Summoning: Rashōmon!"
A ferocious demon gate, dozens of meters thick, suddenly appeared between the two with Orochimaru's gesture, blocking the path of the baring-fangs-and-brandishing-claws water dragon!
Then.
BOOM—!!!
Two equally tyrannical ninjutsu collided brazenly!
At the center of the impact, the ground seemed to jump violently, as if the earth itself were trembling from this world-shaking collision!
The thick and hard Rashōmon was blasted with a large hole under this blow. The water dragon, having broken through the Rashōmon, lost its momentum and scattered into a sky full of water splashes, falling to the ground as a heavy rain.
"I never thought you would have grown to this extent..." Orochimaru jumped to the top of the crumbling gate, looking at the girl standing tall opposite him, and said faintly.
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