Orochimaru's cold yet aggressively challenging words were like a bomb dropped into both ninja camps, causing an immediate commotion.
On the Konoha side, the Jōnin were mildly surprised but prepared to cover Orochimaru at any moment. The Chūnin, however, were thrilled by his arrogant, dominating words. Their eyes, fixed on Orochimaru, showed traces of awe that nearly overflowed.
In contrast, the Amegakure Chūnin, who were also staring intently at Orochimaru, looked at him with an intense, blade-like hatred, as if they wished to flay him alive with their eyes alone. One particularly volatile Amegakure Chūnin, without waiting for Hanzō's command, charged out. He drew a sharp kunai from his ninja pouch and furiously lunged at Orochimaru.
Hanzō and his two Amegakure Jōnin, though inwardly angered by Orochimaru's words, silently sanctioned the rogue ninja's attack, maintaining an impassive exterior.
Orochimaru's powerful spiritual energy swept over the charging Amegakure Chūnin, instantly and completely discerning his strength, which was merely that of an average Konoha Chūnin.
With cold indifference in his dark-golden snake eyes, Orochimaru remained standing, not even moving his body. He simply extended his right hand flatly. Chakra surged and his hand trembled slightly, and in that instant, the Hidden Shadow Snake Hand jutsu, honed through countless battles in his previous life, was unleashed.
With a soft, "Hiss, hiss, hiss—" five mottled brown and black venomous pythons, their mouths wide open and crystal venom dripping from their sharp fangs, shot out like lightning from the narrow sleeve of Orochimaru's right arm.
The Amegakure Chūnin charging at Orochimaru only saw five black blurs flash before his eyes, followed immediately by a wave of gut-wrenching pain spreading through his body.
The five striking pythons had traversed the dozen or so meters in an instant.
"Ah—"
With a shrill, piercing scream, four of the pythons fiercely pierced the ninja's four limbs, carving out bleeding holes the size of a baby's fist. They then coiled up his limbs, binding the Chūnin's stout body tightly like a mummy. The force of the coiling continuously increased, threatening to crush every bone in his body.
The fifth mottled python, which had been moving leisurely behind the others, still flashing with bloodthirsty malice and flicking its tongue, slowly wrapped itself around the Chūnin's neck.
Feeling the smooth, icy cold sensation of the snake scales against his throat, and hearing the sinister, soul-calling "Hiss—" sound in his ear, the intense pain from his pierced limbs surged over him like a tide.
The Chūnin had never felt such overwhelming fear of death. His eyes were wide with terror, his pupils constricted into pin-sized black dots due to the extreme panic. As his gaze met Orochimaru's icy snake eyes, a desperate plea for mercy flowed out. He tried to beg, but the python relentlessly tightening its grip around his neck only allowed a helpless, guttural, "Huk! Huk! Huk!—" sound to escape as his face turned crimson.
Orochimaru clearly saw the plea for mercy in the Chūnin's eyes but disregarded it entirely. The sinister smile curled upon his lips, and he said softly, "I told you to come up, all of you!"
The moment his voice fell, Orochimaru's dark-golden eyes hardened. The python wrapped around the Chūnin's neck opened its jaws wide and applied sudden, tremendous force.
A crisp, cracking sound—"Crack! Crack! Crack!—"—rang out. The Chūnin's eyes instantly dimmed, and life left his body.
Swish! Swish! Swish!—
The five pythons darted back into Orochimaru's sleeve. The Chūnin's lifeless corpse fell into the river with a weak "Plop!—."
Having instantly killed one opponent, Orochimaru glanced at Hanzō's group across the river. His astonishing killing intent, which was nearly substantial, was released without restraint, causing the surrounding water to ripple violently. The wicked smile on his lips intensified: "Come on. Let me test my own caliber!"
Orochimaru's highly provocative act finally enraged the remaining six Amegakure ninjas who had previously volunteered to fight. After receiving a nod from Hanzō, they all shot forward, fueled by anger.
The six Amegakure ninjas varied in skill: four were standard Chūnin, and two were Elite Chūnin.
Orochimaru's powerful spiritual energy swept over the six ninjas. A flash of blood-red, bloodthirsty intent crossed his dark-golden pupils, and his signature smile returned.
His immense killing intent fused with his spiritual power, and he skillfully infused pure chakra into it. Silently, a Genjutsu was launched: the Blade of Killing Intent!
The six charging Amegakure ninjas suddenly felt an overwhelming, mountain-like surge of killing intent descend upon them. Every single one gasped, eyes wide, as they seemingly saw the moment of their own death at Orochimaru's hands.
Taking advantage of the instant the Amegakure ninjas were paralyzed by the Genjutsu, Orochimaru quickly formed the necessary hand seals and launched a Ninjutsu!
Now backed by pure and abundant chakra, Orochimaru's superior Ninjutsu control technique was demonstrated to its utmost, making the technique's power even greater than before.
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
The high-temperature fireball, the size of a hydrogen balloon, was under Orochimaru's perfect control. It glowed fiery red and emitted intense heat, yet not a single visible flame escaped its surface—all the heat was compressed within the massive sphere. Radiating a scorching red light, it steamed up large amounts of mist-white water vapor as it rolled rapidly toward the six Amegakure ninjas.
The Amegakure ninjas, trained and taught by a Kage-level master, possessed adequate battle sense and awareness despite their lack of training resources. After only a moment's daze, they regained their footing and immediately used the simple method Hanzō had taught them to break out of Genjutsu—disrupting the flow of chakra within their bodies.
However, their reaction was entirely within Orochimaru's control.
The moment the Amegakure ninjas cleared the Genjutsu and saw the true situation, their faces paled. The highly compressed, massive fireball had already flown over ten meters and was right upon them!
Furthermore, having disrupted their chakra flow to break the Genjutsu, the ninjas were in an awkward moment where they couldn't immediately use Ninjutsu. Two ordinary Chūnin who had been charging at the front and were less skilled couldn't dodge in time. They were mercilessly swallowed by the fireball and killed without even letting out a scream.
The timing of that Genjutsu and subsequent Ninjutsu was absolutely impeccable. The Konoha Jōnin were astounded, and the Konoha Chūnin's eyes were practically glowing. Sarutobi, watching Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hand, was deeply moved: That was a summoning jutsu I only gave the boy last night!
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