The two fighters created some distance between themselves, only to pivot almost simultaneously and charge at each other.
Midway, Orochimaru drew a slender Kusanagi blade, pulling it from his mouth.
Under his control, the blade slithered like a serpent, meeting Seimei's long sword head-on.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A crisp series of metallic clashes echoed.
The long sword and the slender blade collided repeatedly, sparks scattering with each impact.
After dozens of exchanges, Seimei seized an opportunity. At the moment their weapons clashed again, he unleashed the Lightning Style: Thunder Blade Technique.
Zzzzt! Crackle!
The sharp sound of electricity buzzed through the air.
A surge of electric current erupted from Seimei's palm, traveling along the length of his blade and shooting through the point of contact between their weapons. It reached Orochimaru's body with incredible speed.
The sudden shock made Orochimaru's body shudder violently, momentarily impairing his movements.
Seeing this, Seimei's eyes lit up. Wasting no time, he swung his blade toward Orochimaru's neck.
Slash!
The sound of flesh being cut echoed.
Seimei's strike cleanly severed Orochimaru's neck, causing his head to tumble to the ground.
"Hmm?"
Seimei raised an eyebrow at the sight.
He didn't believe for a second that Orochimaru could be killed so easily.
As expected, the severed head on the ground quickly shriveled.
At the same time, a new Orochimaru emerged from the stump of his severed neck.
"The Orochi-Style Substitution Jutsu?"
Seimei immediately recognized the technique with a single glance.
However, he had always believed that the technique required Orochimaru to emerge from his mouth. He hadn't expected it to be used in this manner.
Without hesitation, Seimei moved to strike again.
But Orochimaru, having feigned death to create an opening, was not about to let Seimei repeat the same move.
Almost the instant his new body appeared, a torrent of venomous brown snakes spewed from Orochimaru's mouth, surging toward Seimei like a massive wave, threatening to engulf him entirely.
This was one of Orochimaru's advanced jutsu—Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes. It allowed him to summon thousands upon thousands of venomous snakes in an instant, overwhelming his enemies.
Faced with such a massive number of snakes, even Seimei, with his exceptional swordsmanship, dared not face them head-on.
He slammed his foot against the ground and propelled himself backward like a cannonball, creating a safe distance between himself and the snake horde.
However, Orochimaru wasn't about to let him escape. He directed the swarm of snakes to pursue Seimei relentlessly.
Seeing this, Seimei didn't hold back. He swiftly sheathed his sword, formed hand seals, and performed the jutsu Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.
Whoosh!
A stream of fire erupted from Seimei's mouth, transforming midair into a small fireball.
The fireball quickly expanded, growing into a massive sphere over three meters in diameter. It spun furiously as it descended toward the snake horde.
Boom!
The fireball exploded violently.
Fierce flames spread outward in all directions, engulfing the swarm of snakes in the blink of an eye.
Hissing sounds filled the air as countless venomous snakes writhed and struggled within the inferno, unable to escape their fiery demise. Ultimately, their charred remains were reduced to ashes.
A pungent, burnt stench filled the battlefield, sickening to the senses.
When the flames finally subsided, no trace of the snake horde remained.
Seimei and Orochimaru stood at opposite sides of the battlefield, neither making a move to attack again.
After a few seconds of tense silence, Seimei was the first to speak. "Lord Orochimaru, what is the meaning of this? Why are you attacking me?"
"Hehehe~"
Orochimaru, upon hearing this, let out a sinister and eerie laugh.
After laughing for a while, he finally spoke, "Why would I make a move against you? Kid, do you even realize that by killing Danzo, you've made me lose such a valuable partner?"
Seimei found himself at a loss for words.
At this point in time, the help Danzo provided to Orochimaru was indispensable.
Setting aside those clandestine experiments, even in the matter of competing for the Hokage position, without Danzo's assistance, Orochimaru's chances of success were minimal.
By killing Danzo, Seimei effectively cut off Orochimaru's political path. Although Orochimaru might not have cared much about the position, the fact remained that he originally had a shot at vying for it.
Now, thanks to Seimei's actions, Orochimaru's chances of winning plummeted dramatically, which naturally made him come looking for trouble.
What Seimei didn't know was that earlier this morning, Hiruzen Sarutobi had specifically confronted Orochimaru and presented evidence of his and Danzo's human experimentation. Hiruzen then pressured Orochimaru to withdraw from the Fourth Hokage election.
Under this pressure, Orochimaru had no choice but to agree.
In other words, it wasn't just that Orochimaru's chances of winning had dropped; he had completely lost them.
Because of this, Orochimaru was displeased and decided to find Seimei.
Of course, this was only part of the reason. The bigger reason was that Seimei's actions had piqued Orochimaru's interest.
Orochimaru was well aware of Danzo's strength and that of the Root ninja. He also understood Danzo's character—if Danzo decided to take action, he would have made thorough preparations.
Yet, despite that, Seimei had still managed to kill Danzo.
Not only did none of the Root ninjas sent return, but even Danzo himself was eliminated. Most notably, Seimei showed no signs of injury afterward.
This sudden revelation pushed Orochimaru's curiosity about Seimei to its peak.
Thus, he followed his instincts and came to take a closer look.
And upon closer inspection, Orochimaru found Seimei to be extraordinary.
Setting everything else aside, Seimei's composure in facing him was already something that ordinary jōnin could not achieve.
Such composure required absolute confidence in one's strength.
Furthermore, Orochimaru's brief probing confirmed that Seimei's abilities were indeed impressive.
Unfortunately, this location was too close to the village, making it an unsuitable place for a fight.
Additionally, Orochimaru had only come to test the waters; he hadn't decided on anything more.
With that in mind, he decided not to take further action.
Having made up his mind, Orochimaru fell silent and, in the end, simply said to Seimei, "I hope we have the opportunity to work together in the future." With that, he disappeared into the depths of the forest.
"Work together? More like an opportunity to be experimented on!"
Seimei scoffed internally as he watched Orochimaru's retreating figure.
However, he didn't find Orochimaru's departure particularly surprising.
From the moment Orochimaru chose to act here, Seimei knew this was merely a probe—barely even that. At most, it was like saying hello.
Now that the "hello" was over, it was natural for Orochimaru to leave.
As for why Seimei didn't stop him—
Right now, there was no deep-seated hatred between them. Why would he prevent Orochimaru from leaving?
This wasn't a video game where defeating an opponent would grant him experience points. Seimei only needed hard work to improve his strength.
There was no need to complicate matters unnecessarily.
Besides, what would happen if he did try to stop Orochimaru?
It wasn't like he could kill Orochimaru in a short time. The area was too close to Konoha, and any significant commotion would attract the village's attention.
If that happened, how would he explain himself?
Seimei wasn't someone who would do things that were both troublesome and unrewarding.
With this in mind, he decided it was better to focus on his training.
Thinking this, Seimei immediately formed hand seals, activating "Wind Release: Wings of Wind" and "Chakra Feather Cloak." He took to the sky and flew in the direction of the island.
please vote this story to motivate me post 2ch/day