A bright, magnificent light flashed in the dark-golden eyes. Orochimaru slowly closed his eyes.
Within the ten-plus meter Vacuum Domain, Orochimaru's powerful spiritual sensing unfolded without reserve, instantly presenting a silent, spherical, silver-white ball of light in his mind. He was standing inside this light ball!
The light ball changed. Ten silver-white light chains, roughly one and a half meters long, suddenly appeared inside. They traced faint white trajectories, flying toward Orochimaru like graceful butterflies—but this stunningly beautiful image in his senses carried the danger of death, tracing the path of the Grim Reaper's scythe!
The flight trajectories of the yellow sand wind blades were slowed down several times under Orochimaru's powerful spiritual sensing, as if viewing a movie in slow motion. This allowed him to easily evade the blades' cutting action as if strolling in a garden.
The faint-golden light cocoon of Yamata at his heart, as Orochimaru dodged the wind blades, gradually took the place of his heart. Its beating frequency synchronized with his heartbeat, continuously releasing incredibly subtle and pure light-golden aura that melted into Orochimaru's flesh and blood. This made his body increasingly stronger, his movement speed faster, and his utilization of special ninja footwork more refined!
He took a short side step, dodging a long, narrow wind blade flying directly at him. Two more wind blades came rushing in from the left and right, encompassing him. The "buzz, buzz—" hum echoed in Orochimaru's ears. He fiercely leaned his upper body back, using his hand to support himself on the ground. Suddenly, an unexpected two-meter-long "Scythe of Death" spun back toward him from the front!
Spiritual sensing clearly presented the trajectory of this fatal wind blade in Orochimaru's mind. However, though he saw the path of the "Scythe of Death," he was currently in the fatal phase where old strength was exhausted and new strength was yet to be born!
The wind blade came closer and closer. Orochimaru's scalp felt a cold prickle. In the nick of time, he violently slammed his right hand onto the ground. His entire body spun rapidly in mid-air like a top, rotating several 360-degree turns before precariously hanging in the air. The two-meter-long, light-yellow wind blade easily severed some strands of black hair that Orochimaru shook off, grazed the clothes on his back, and flew past by the narrowest margin!
As the Vacuum Domain rapidly expanded and the internal air pressure gradually increased, Orochimaru's enhanced physical endurance and movement speed were steadily outpaced by the rate of consumption. Already unable to breathe, his normal and enhanced stamina were being drastically depleted with no chance for recovery via breathing. The situation became increasingly perilous. Such dangers occurred multiple times, and his body gradually accumulated several cuts. The crimson blood flowing from them even soaked the clothes on his upper body red!
Orochimaru, however, was unconcerned. The more he sensed the mysteries of the ninjutsu, the more excited he became. He constantly licked his lips. This powerful jutsu, whose full potential had not yet been reached even at its current scale, held a plasticity that drove him to greed and madness. He absolutely had to figure out its secrets!
His powerful spiritual sensing spread out. Under the excitement and madness, Orochimaru's senses became even sharper.
Suddenly, a new, roughly one-meter-long wind blade abruptly appeared.
Orochimaru focused all his attention, rigidly locking onto this process that had been repeated many times before. The entire process of the wind blade's condensation, which lasted about half a breath, was sensed, then segmented and analyzed in his mind hundreds or thousands of times, like splicing film frames, allowing him to understand it!
Pshh—
A one-and-a-half-meter-long, light-yellow wind blade, its jagged edge scraping Orochimaru's left arm, drew out another spurt of fresh blood and a piece of crimson flesh!
Orochimaru frowned slightly, licked his lips, and a wicked, crooked smile spread across his face!
I understand. I finally understand!
Orochimaru roared internally with madness. His eyes suddenly snapped open, shooting out a brilliant light.
In his mind, the process that had been segmented and analyzed hundreds and thousands of times slowly unfolded: tiny specks of dust from within the Vacuum Domain, combined with the air and sand dust disintegrated from the external storm vortex, were injected at the moment the wind blade formed, along with the high speed of the external storm vortex's surge!
This was what added the yellow-sand serrations to these sharp wind blades!
After figuring out the jutsu's secret, Orochimaru looked at the light-yellow wind blades continually flying around him and smiled coldly. Game over!
He extended his right hand. A sphere of Wind Release chakra condensed to its absolute limit, disrupting the air pressure and wind blade trajectories within the Vacuum Domain, rapidly gathering in his right palm!
Wind Release: Rasengan!
The shape transformation of Wind Release chakra, under Orochimaru's superb chakra control technique, was utilized to the extreme in his palm at this moment. A sphere of highly condensed, deep-blue Wind Release chakra, about the size of an infant's head, appeared in Orochimaru's palm!
The moment the Rasengan appeared, it seemed to be the perfect counter to this jutsu, immediately causing an uproar throughout the entire Vacuum Domain.
The wind blades' movement trajectories were greatly disrupted. The thin, long, light-yellow wind blades swayed uncontrollably, like drunkards who had downed several bottles of strong liquor, flying aimlessly in the air. Their paths even began to overlap, with two wind blades occasionally colliding with each other.
The entire Vacuum Domain began to sound with unusual explosions, continuously shaking, showing signs of instability.
Orochimaru smiled faintly. When a ninjutsu that utilizes shape transformation to its extreme encounters another ninjutsu that is even more condensed and extreme in its shape transformation, the result is self-evident!
Holding the Rasengan, Orochimaru pushed off the ground, transforming into a black shadow. He raised his hand and pressed forward. The wind blades he encountered melted rapidly, like ice and snow under the hot sun, turning into wisps of breeze that brushed past Orochimaru's ears and vanished into thin air.
After a few strides, the barrier of the Vacuum Domain was right before him. Orochimaru's gaze turned cold, and he fiercely pressed the deep-blue Rasengan in his hand against the light-white barrier!
Scratch! Zzzzt!—
The collision between the Rasengan and the barrier even fiercely sparked sporadic blue-violet flames!
A powerful rotational twisting force, even greater than the front of the Rasengan, suddenly erupted on the back of the object under attack. It was as if a slightly smaller but absolutely no less intense, counter-clockwise rotating tornado was forcefully inserted into a clockwise rotating, sky-high tornado.
The two abruptly clashed, sparking blue-violet lightning chains that sprayed out over ten meters!
Accompanied by the deafening sounds of "Boom! Rumble! Zzzt! Scratch!—," the gigantic, ten-plus meter tall tornado, along with the ten-plus meter diameter Vacuum Domain, disintegrated and broke apart in a few breaths!
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!—
After carving several ground marks, tens of meters long and several centimeters deep, across the ravaged ground, the force rapidly dissipated!
Poof!—
The surging airflow was suddenly and forcefully arrested, resulting in a deafening explosion at the scene!
Under the eyes of Sarutobi and his group, the Suna Jōnin, and the six elite Konoha Chūnin—eyes filled with relief, unease, and anticipation—the large clouds of foggy white smoke dissipated, revealing Orochimaru, standing firmly in the center of the clearing!
At this moment, his slightly young and slender figure appeared in the eyes of everyone like a towering mountain range rapidly rising into the sky!
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