Orochimaru never expected Hyuga Soushu's fighting style to be so rigid and forceful. It completely lacked the subtlety and precision of Gentle Fist, instead adopting a brutal and unrefined approach akin to the raw power of Strong Fist taijutsu.
Therefore, he felt somewhat unprepared.
Soushu's unconventional moves directly interrupted Orochimaru's carefully laid battle plan.
After his blade energy was dispersed head-on by Hyuga Soushu, Orochimaru immediately halted his movement, pushing off the ground to leap backward toward the afterimage left by the Clone Jutsu. Meanwhile, Soushu advanced forward, gripping the torch pole with both hands as he strode ahead.
This behavior completely contradicted the tactical intelligence Orochimaru had analyzed from previous battle records. At this moment, Soushu seemed less like an agile and nimble ninja and more akin to those outdated samurai discarded by the tide of time.
"What arrogance,"
Orochimaru thought with irritation. His uniquely twisted mind interpreted this as Soushu's contempt toward him, causing his inner anger to flare up uncontrollably.
"Fine then, let me show you the true power of a ninja!"
Fueled by growing anger, Orochimaru flung the Sword of Kusanagi aside and slammed his hands together, swiftly forming a series of hand seals!
"This should've been done earlier!"
Soushu continued advancing at a steady pace, seemingly undaunted by Orochimaru's ninjutsu at all, while saying, "The centuries of accumulated might within a kekkei genkai bloodline cannot be erased by the efforts of a single generation!"
"How laughable."
Orochimaru snorted coldly, his fury intensifying further!
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
A massive dragon-shaped projectile emerged from the earth before him, manipulated by Orochimaru to charge straight at the advancing Soushu.
While the Earth Dragon Bullet was a powerful B-rank technique often used by jonin to finish off opponents, Orochimaru considered it nothing more than an appetizer.
If Soushu insisted on tanking the attack, Orochimaru would use his master-level ninjutsu versatility to demonstrate why the five elemental transformations were regarded as the ultimate strength of shinobi!
[Counter Storm!]
[Jumping Slash!]
But this time, Soushu activated two skills simultaneously, locking onto Orochimaru just as he was still finishing his rapid sequence of hand seals!
"Take this punch!"
Roaring with fury, Soushu suddenly appeared above Orochimaru at an impossible angle and swung the torch pole down hard on his skull!
"Pop!"
Although the shattered head appeared bloody and mangled, the sensation and sound upon impact felt strangely hollow—like striking a worn-out leather sack. With years of head-on combat experience, Soushu instantly realized something was off!
There was no way Orochimaru could die so easily!
[Byakugan!]
Activating his Byakugan instantly, Soushu locked onto Orochimaru's figure located at the far opposite corner of the training ground—where he had somehow reappeared, still completing his hand seals.
The corpse that he had smashed with a single strike turned into a pile of mud after its Ninjutsu structure was destroyed. This represented an ultimate application of the Earth Release Body Fission Technique (a highly advanced form of body duplication). Even within Iwagakure, where Earth Release techniques are predominant, very few shinobi could match Orochimaru's mastery of Earth Release.
At the head position of this mud lay a snake's head, completely crushed, its body hidden inside. The main purpose of this snake was to imitate scattered flesh flying around after someone was killed in battle, making the scene visually more convincing and tricking people into believing it was actually Orochimaru's true body that had been slain.
Although such minor tricks wouldn't fool perceptive ninja, particularly not those using the Byakugan of the Hyuga clan, the real goal behind Orochimaru's carefully designed tactical trap wasn't much more than exploiting that brief moment of relaxation his opponent would naturally feel after successfully eliminating what appeared to be a powerful enemy.
For high-level combatants, even a single instant of carelessness could expose fatal vulnerabilities!
[Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
With a puff of smoke, Orochimaru created three shadow clones. They formed a triangle formation, leaping behind his real body as all three quickly made hand seals.
On the surface, it appeared as though Orochimaru planned to assign the task of unleashing area-wide jutsu attacks to his clones while his strongest true form acted as a close-range attacker—allowing the clones to wear down Hyuga Soushu safely from afar!
And indeed, the following battle unfolded precisely along these lines.
Orochimaru's true body spat out another long sword from his mouth, clashing fiercely with Hyuga Soushu's Torch Pole using his sharp swordsmanship skills. Meanwhile, his three shadow clones continuously bombarded Soushu with various Ninjutsu and Genjutsu to test his resistance.
From the very first clash, both warriors immediately sensed something different about each other.
Orochimaru felt that Soushu's strikes with his Torch Pole were growing increasingly stronger, to the point where the force delivered upon impact made him feel as if he might lose grip of his sword.
Meanwhile, Soushu himself found Orochimaru's swordplay viciously unpredictable, always attacking from unexpected angles, difficult to defend against. Moreover, Orochimaru's blade was far sharper than he had previously believed possible; every clash between sword and Torch Pole left visible scratches on the chakra-infused metal of the pole!
[Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!]
[Genjutsu: Fox's Inward Gaze Technique!]
[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!]
[Earth Release Swamp of the Underworld!]
Even while locked in direct combat himself, Orochimaru kept his three shadow clones actively engaged.
From low-level D-rank distraction genjutsu up to battlefield-altering B-rank secret techniques, the secret arts unleashed by Orochimaru's three clones caused little direct harm but enough annoyance to frustrate Soushu immensely.
Through this lighter skirmish, Orochimaru began piecing together Soushu's combat rhythm.
Just as intelligence gathered earlier at the Hokage Tower had indicated, Soushu primarily relied on straightforward offensive tactics like aggressive rushes and breakthrough strikes. His Shifting Body Technique was also exceptionally fast, with no obvious chakra fluctuations or telltale signs before activation.
However, none of these were truly insurmountable issues!
Orochimaru's shadow clones' harassment tactics might not be able to kill, but they were absolutely brilliant at annoying opponents! Moreover, they completely disrupted Hyuga Soushu's fighting rhythm, forcing the straightforward Hyuga into close-range combat—Orochimaru's specialty.
Gradually, after a round of exchanges, the alerted Hyuga Soushu began adjusting his fighting style. He started intentionally moving toward the direction where Orochimaru's shadow clones were using jutsu.
"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"
The more experienced Orochimaru immediately saw through Hyuga Soushu's intentions. He leapt straight back to face his three shadow clones. Then, suddenly dropping to the ground, he spat out a swarm of colorful, venomous snakes from his mouth—clearly deadly!
Almost instantly, the swarm of snakes shot forth like moths to a flame, surging directly toward Hyuga Soushu.
[Blood Slash!]
Suddenly feeling his scalp crawl from imminent danger, Hyuga Soushu activated the Hunger Hydra's innate skill. A crimson ripple spread outward, cutting down a large portion of the advancing snakes!
[Interesting!]
Orochimaru's eyes flickered with surprise and intrigue.
This technique, which released an energy field to attack, felt similar to chakra-based external attacks such as Blade Energy. But the fact it could strike from a full 360 degrees made it uniquely special.
Also, during their previous close-quarters battle, whenever Soushu swung his weapon, it emitted an invisible force that harmed surrounding people and objects—a phenomenon entirely unknown to Orochimaru.
Intrigued by this unusual fighting style, Orochimaru was extremely eager to uncover its underlying principles!
Licking his lips, he decided to go all-out and show Hyuga Soushu—the man who defeated Elder Chiyo of Sunagakure—just how powerful a senior Jonin from the Hidden Leaf Village could be!
[Shifting Body Technique!]
He first body-flickered to Soushu's side and slashed sideways with his long sword!
At the same time, Orochimaru subtly hooked his finger.
The Sword of Kusanagi lying discarded nearby trembled slightly, then silently floated up into the air!
[Sword of Kusanagi - Sky Cut!]
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