Chapter 319: The End of the Battle
BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!!
The endless explosions seemed to want to overturn the sea; the waves brought up by the explosion were over ten meters high! The waves surged, forming a boundless tsunami, with a toppling momentum, rising wave after wave, surging outwards!
In mid-air, the huge roaring sound formed walls of translucent air, carrying a violent wind, spreading from the air.
The continuous waves and fierce wind, which were just a little aftershock of the explosion, had beaten and blown the nearby beach into a mess. Sand, stones, fallen leaves, and dead branches were scattered, and countless birds, beasts, and trees were lying on the ground!
The continuous explosive sounds lasted for half a minute before Sakura stopped the Mutually Multiplying Ice Clone Explosion Technique.
More than half of the thousands of ice clones had been consumed. The originally dense crowd was now much sparser, leaving only a few scattered figures in the emptiness.
And Orochimaru's chakra signature had weakened a lot again.
Haruno Sakura looked over calmly.
"We have a result..." she said faintly. The sea surface gradually calmed down. The countless splashes and smoke kicked up by the clone explosions slowly dissipated, and Orochimaru's figure appeared on the sea surface.
Several giant snakes were coiled together, protecting him in the center of the snake coil. The giant pythons on the outside had long been blown to pieces, pitted and unrecognizable. Even the innermost pythons were covered in wounds from the ice shards produced by the explosion, bleeding profusely.
Orochimaru stood in the middle of the giant pythons, his face even paler.
His aura had become very weak, and his chakra had also become faint... Haruno Sakura thought to herself, It looks like if I attack fiercely for another two or three rounds, Orochimaru will really be beaten down by me!
Even if he had a body full of secret techniques, it would be useless if he didn't have the chakra to use them; and Orochimaru's current stamina had indeed dropped to a very dangerous level.
That Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique, which was perfectly immune to all damage, having such a powerful effect meant that its consumption was not low! How many times had he used it?
He probably didn't even remember himself.
Haruno Sakura and the remaining clones surrounded him. There were only about a dozen or twenty clones left in total, a tiny fraction compared to the overwhelming number of clones just now, but Orochimaru's expression was grave.
The chain explosion had stirred up a fierce wind and shocking waves, and the aftershocks still remained.
A gentle breeze blew, lifting the girl's soft pink hair; the water rippled, washing over the girl's exquisite sandals from time to time. The spray carried foam, slapping on her feet, playfully falling between those round toes.
She stepped on the water surface, her light, cloud-like steps dotting between the waves, walking leisurely.
"Orochimaru, you're finished," Haruno Sakura said calmly, looking at him. Her light and spirited steps and the brimming light in her eyes were full of confidence in winning the battle.
The continuous attacks had not given Orochimaru any time to breathe, which had accelerated the decline of his stamina.
Sakura could feel Orochimaru's aura; if she had given him a moment to rest and catch his breath just now, this battle would really have been endless. Unfortunately, he didn't have this time...
The victory of the battle was already in her hands.
"Phew," Orochimaru suddenly revealed a smile as he watched the girl walking leisurely towards him. "Fighting you in a place like this is indeed very strenuous..."
"However, I won't be defeated so easily!"
Haruno Sakura stopped, standing at a distance that was neither too far nor too close, sizing up the man in front of her.
"Is that all for your last words?" she said, raising her hand and pointing at Orochimaru.
"Starting today, the title of Sannin is officially revoked by me!"
Sakura waved her hand fiercely, and the water under Orochimaru's feet suddenly boiled. Five giant dragons shot up from the seabed and crashed into Orochimaru!
Orochimaru's face changed instantly. Such a powerful ninjutsu had actually been used by her without any warning!
"She was quietly casting this ninjutsu while she was walking over just now... damn it!" Orochimaru dodged the collision of two water dragons in a sorry state, this thought flashing through his mind instantly.
The offensive of a super-S-rank ninjutsu had to be dealt with carefully even when he was in good condition. Now that his stamina was greatly reduced, his dodging was even more pathetic. The third water dragon brushed past Orochimaru, only grazing his right hand, but the bones were instantly shattered; then the fourth water dragon came head-on. Orochimaru held his hand and barely dodged it, but was fiercely whipped by the tail of the fifth water dragon!
BANG—
A huge dull sound of flesh colliding with a hard object was heard. Haruno Sakura, who was controlling the water dragons' attack from the side, felt a chill in her heart. She saw Orochimaru being hit in mid-air, flying backwards into the sky, half of his body seemingly beaten into meat paste!
Sakura changed her hand seals, and the five water dragons instantly turned, biting at Orochimaru in mid-air.
"Die!" she said fiercely, her open palm suddenly clenching into a fist!
Being hit head-on by this kind of ninjutsu, even if Orochimaru's vitality was strong, he would lose half his life on the spot!
SWISH—!
In the instant the giant dragons hit Orochimaru, a figure suddenly appeared behind him, teleporting him away; the five water dragons missed, and then, an explosion suddenly occurred on their bodies!
It was the Second Hokage...
Haruno Sakura frowned and immediately reacted. After the battle just now, Tobirama Senju had recovered. He had saved Orochimaru in the nick of time, and by the way, had also stuck explosive tags on the water dragons!
The endless bombardment of the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags, even the water dragons couldn't resist its power!
The first few explosive tags only tickled the water dragons. Then, the continuous attacks concentrated on the same point began to blast out shallow scratches; as the number of explosive tags increased, the power of the explosion also became stronger. Scales began to shatter and fall, blood and flesh foam flew constantly. Amidst the roar, the giant dragons let out injured roars, their voices gradually becoming mournful and slowly fading, finally dissipating into countless water streams with a sad cry.
Haruno Sakura watched as Tobirama Senju took Orochimaru through a few Body Flickers, dodging the water dragons' final attack, and landed on the sea surface to the side. There was a faint annoyance in her heart that her sure-kill blow had been thwarted.
She suppressed her unwilling emotions and asked, "How did you flicker to his side?"
There was no water in the air, and he couldn't use moves like the Instant Water, unless...
"I left a Flying Raijin formula on Orochimaru's back," Tobirama Senju said calmly, confirming Sakura's guess.
Although Tobirama Senju was controlled by Orochimaru, he could still control his speech. Orochimaru could only watch as he revealed the secret of the jutsu.
"Orochimaru's stamina is already very low. You just need to be careful of my attacks..." Tobirama Senju continued to explain. "Apart from the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, you've seen most of my ninjutsu, and you've dealt with them well. Next, you just need to deal with them cautiously... Orochimaru has already lost."
Sakura nodded.
Watching the enemy standing opposite her explaining how to fight against himself, the girl felt that the scene was a bit comical.
This was clearly a life-or-death battle, but it felt very unserious.
"Hehe, I'll just say it plainly," Orochimaru said with a sneer, having just shed his heavily injured body and replaced it with a new one. "Just now, I controlled him to place a few Flying Raijin formulas in the distance. I can leave the battlefield at any time..."
Haruno Sakura looked over with a frown. Did Orochimaru mean he was going to run away?
Tobirama Senju glanced at him coldly.
"That is indeed the case. There are three formulas distributed in different places a few kilometers around," he turned to Haruno Sakura and said, his voice a little helpless. "One at two o'clock, one at six o'clock, and one at ten o'clock. If he wants to run..."
"Even if you tell her all the locations, it's too late..." Orochimaru's voice was still a little weak. He said, "The Flying Raijin technique is really convenient. No wonder that kid Minato could become Hokage with this technique!"
Tobirama Senju ignored him and continued to say to Haruno Sakura, "You've already seen the activation speed of the Flying Raijin. With this jutsu, I don't need to form seals to teleport to the Flying Raijin formula. Ordinary attacks, including those few Water Style moves of yours just now, can't touch Orochimaru and me at all! If you have other moves, you can try them and see if you can keep him here. Forget about those moves just now!"
Sakura pondered for a while.
The extremely fast moves she had on hand, apart from the Wind Blade Raging Stream, were the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.
Unfortunately, the speed of these two jutsu might not be able to catch up with the Flying Raijin's footsteps.
A sneak attack from under the sea was also not fast enough... For a moment, the girl's mind raced, but she couldn't think of an effective method.
Haruno Sakura sighed. "I have no way..."
Back then, the entire ninja world, except for Konoha, had been researching ways to crack the Flying Raijin, but had only come up with the countermeasure of running away upon seeing the Golden Flash. If Sakura could find a way to deal with it in such a short time, then all the ninja in the world would probably be idiots, right?
An enemy proficient in space-time ninjutsu who was bent on running away, there was simply no way to keep him...
"It seems that today's battle can only end here," Orochimaru laughed heartily. "Haruno Sakura, your growth is truly impressive!"
His combat power had already weakened significantly.
And the battle between the Second Hokage and Haruno Sakura was also indistinguishable... Orochimaru glanced at the large bloodstain on Sakura's chest. Just now, Tobirama Senju's Flying Raijin Slash had failed to hit her vital point, and the penetrating wound left behind had quickly been healed by Sakura, restoring it to its original state. Apart from the bloodstain, no wound could be seen, so using it again would be useless. As for using Tobirama Senju's other ninjutsu on her, it probably wouldn't mean much...
This was on the sea!
If Tobirama Senju could use his full strength from when he was alive... No, as long as he resisted his control with all his might and fully unleashed the power of the Reanimation Jutsu, Orochimaru believed that this battle would not have been so difficult. He had put too much energy into controlling Tobirama Senju!
As for the other side, although Haruno Sakura could maintain a winning momentum, she couldn't force them to stay...
So, both sides had no way to deal with the other.
"Leave Konoha! I propose one last time," he licked his lips with his slippery tongue. "Come to me, we can be equals! Not a subordinate relationship, but equal partners... I can share all the data with you, including the Reincarnation Jutsu that can grant eternal life!"
Haruno Sakura sneered.
She didn't care for Orochimaru's moves at all. Except for that strange shedding body replacement technique that made him unkillable no matter how much he was hit.
As for the Reincarnation Jutsu... Sorry, she hadn't reached the point of lamenting that she was about to die. She wasn't dissatisfied with her current identity as Haruno Sakura. With a bunch of relatives and friends, Sakura would have to be crazy to abandon these bonds and join Orochimaru!
"Orochimaru, are you trying to seduce a Konoha ninja to defect right in front of me!" The Second Hokage's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he looked at Orochimaru with awe-inspiring killing intent.
"Hehe, so what if I am? Anyway, you're just a dead person controlled by me. The affairs of the living are not for you to manage, and you can't break free from my restraints!" Orochimaru sneered, then said to Haruno Sakura, "How about it? I'm already very sincere! I genuinely want to invite you..."
"If you and I cooperate, we can definitely develop ninjutsu to the extreme and explore the truth of the world!"
The girl was unmoved, just looking back at him calmly.
"I will not leave Konoha," she said faintly. "I'm not interested in what you're talking about! Besides, is your so-called Reincarnation Jutsu that can grant eternal life really that good?"
"After today's battle, you should have felt it, right? Your soul has been severely damaged in multiple reincarnations, and your spiritual strength is not as good as before... So, your so-called reincarnation is nothing more than lingering on for a while longer. In the end, it will only be a dead end!"
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