Earth Oscillation Barrier — The Hidden Rock Crust
Orochimaru did not say what Tsunade wanted to hear.
"Is that all?" Tsunade asked, a trace of disappointment flashing across her face.
"What else could it be?" Orochimaru replied calmly, as if stating an obvious fact. "Isn't it perfectly normal for a beautiful and exceptional woman like you, Tsunade, to have admirers?"
He paused, then added casually, "If I reject him, I'll simply tell him that I'm the one you like."
"Haha…"
Hearing the answer she wanted, Tsunade broke into her familiar, confident smile.
Do you like it?
Tsunade… likes Orochimaru?
Hidden behind a nearby tree, Jiraiya clutched his hair in disbelief. His mind went blank. The girl he had felt an emotional connection with for the first time… was together with his former first love?
Could anything in the world be more absurd than this?
After the initial shock passed, Jiraiya still couldn't accept the idea of Tsunade and Orochimaru being together. After all, Orochimaru had practically raised Tsunade since childhood.
He even ate free meals at Orochimaru's house all the time.
Lost in thought, Jiraiya quietly returned to the campfire to rest, his emotions tangled and unresolved.
The Following Day
Land of Grass
Konoha and Iwagakure forces clashed violently on the battlefield.
The air was thick with killing intent.
For both sides—especially Konoha and Iwagakure, who had recently been at war—this confrontation was filled with hatred and fury. Bloodshot eyes locked onto enemies without hesitation.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
"Fire Release: Flame Burst!"
"Fire Release: Flame Projectile!"
Konoha ninjas unleashed wave after wave of Fire Release ninjutsu. Flames roared across the battlefield, scorching the land and turning the air suffocatingly hot.
Jiraiya stepped forward, forming hand seals rapidly. Chakra surged through his body as he released an even more powerful flame technique—one refined through his training at Mount Myōboku.
A massive column of fire shot forward, threatening to devour everything in its path.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Hidden Stone ninjas responded instantly. Multiple shinobi worked together, raising a massive earthen wall that resembled a city rampart. The flames crashed against it, spreading hot oil across the surface but failing to break through.
"Fire Release ninjas, retreat!" Tsunade shouted.
"Water Release ninjas, advance!"
She formed hand seals at lightning speed.
"Water Release: Water Shockwave!"
Tsunade and several Water Release ninjas acted in unison. A towering wave surged upward, rising higher than the earthen wall before crashing down with overwhelming force.
Hidden Stone ninjas hiding behind the wall screamed as water poured over them.
"Water Release: Destructive Wave!"
Orochimaru's hands blurred. In an instant, he completed a complex series of seals.
From the churning water, ultra-high-pressure streams erupted—sharp as blades. They pierced straight through the earthen wall, cutting through flesh and stone alike.
Screams echoed across the battlefield.
Bright red blood spread through the water, staining it a horrifying crimson.
That was enough.
Orochimaru deliberately restrained himself. Excessive chakra consumption by his main body would weaken his Shadow Clones elsewhere.
A white snake slithered out from his sleeve, opening its mouth to spit out the hilt of a sword.
Orochimaru grasped it and drew the Kusanagi blade.
"Earth Release: Underground Projection Technique!"
The ground shook violently.
The terrain twisted and shifted, disrupting the flow of water and breaking several ninjutsu formations. The battlefield became chaotic as earth and water techniques clashed violently.
Then—
"Earth Oscillation: Piercing Stone Spikes!"
Sharp stone pillars burst from the ground.
Several Konoha ninjas were impaled before they could react, screaming as blood sprayed into the air.
Those who survived immediately swallowed rebirth pills. Under the support of their comrades, their horrific wounds visibly healed before everyone's eyes.
The Hidden Stone ninjas watched in horror.
Konoha's rebirth pills were far superior to their own healing medicine.
"Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Crush!"
Massive boulders were hurled through the air.
Tsunade leapt forward, her fist glowing with chakra.
Boom!
With a single punch, she shattered every incoming boulder. The impact sent shockwaves rippling across the battlefield.
Hidden Stone ninjas responded by raining kunai and shuriken toward her.
Weapons fell like a storm.
"Wind Release: Rapid Wind Barrier!"
Orochimaru and Jiraiya jumped simultaneously, forming the same hand seal.
A powerful wind vortex formed around the flying weapons.
Every kunai and shuriken froze mid-air.
Not good!
The Hidden Stone ninjas immediately realized how foolish it was to rely on projectiles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosive tags detonated one after another in mid-air.
"Earth Release: Underground Shelter Technique!"
Hidden Stone ninjas bit down on soldier pills and altered the terrain once more, blocking the explosions with raised earth.
Lightning flickered faintly across Orochimaru's body as he stepped onto the newly formed wall, running up its surface with terrifying speed.
Tsunade followed closely behind.
"So you think I'm easy to bully just because I can't use Lightning Release?" Jiraiya muttered, clicking his tongue as he struggled to keep up.
Once long-range ninjutsu exchanges ended, the battle shifted into brutal close-quarters combat.
Orochimaru wielded the Kusanagi sword with lethal precision. Even elite Hidden Stone taijutsu specialists couldn't withstand more than a few exchanges. Their weapons were cleanly severed—along with their lives.
My chakra is running low…
Orochimaru swallowed another soldier pill, deliberately avoiding the Yin Seal on his wrist.
He had increased the number of Shadow Clones researching the Gedo Statue and Hashirama cells, leaving his chakra reserves stretched thin. Otherwise, the Hidden Stone ninjas would already be facing something far worse.
Hands burst from the ground beneath him.
Orochimaru leapt backward, driving his sword into the earth. Blood splattered.
"Wild Lion's Mane Technique!"
Jiraiya's long silver hair extended wildly, wrapping around nearby enemies. With a violent pull, bones shattered and screams filled the air.
"You're not moving, are you?!"
A Hidden Stone ninja slashed at Jiraiya with a katana.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizō!"
Hardened hair enveloped Jiraiya's body, blocking the blade completely.
"Ninja Art: Needle Hell!"
The hair exploded outward. The attacking ninja was pierced from every angle, collapsing like a silver hedgehog, eyes wide in terror.
Bang!
Tsunade punched another Hidden Stone ninja into the air. Lightning crackled faintly around her as she moved at inhuman speed, each punch delivering monstrous, fatal force.
"Retreat!" a Hidden Stone ninja shouted.
The enemy forces began to pull back.
"You think you can escape?!"
Blood-thirsty Konoha ninjas roared and gave chase.
"Tsunade, Jiraiya—be careful," Orochimaru warned. "This could be a trap."
He remembered the terrain well. Ahead lay a cliff—an ideal ambush point.
Tsunade's expression changed. She remembered it too.
"A cliff… if we keep chasing them—"
Jiraiya nodded grimly. He had traveled extensively and knew the Land of Grass well.
"Orochimaru, if you knew it was a trap, why didn't you stop them?" Jiraiya asked urgently.
"Would they have listened?" Orochimaru replied coldly.
Jiraiya fell silent.
"So what do we do?" he asked. "We can't just let them die."
Orochimaru's eyes narrowed.
"Counter Earth Oscillation with Earth Oscillation."
He grabbed Tsunade and Jiraiya and activated a high-speed movement technique, catching up to the pursuing Konoha forces.
As expected, the Hidden Stone ninjas lured them toward the cliff.
"Foolish Konoha ninjas," the ambushers sneered. "Do they really think the Will of Stone is made of mud?"
"Earth Release: Cliff Collapse!"
Three Hidden Stone ninjas activated the technique simultaneously.
The cliff—nearly a hundred meters tall—collapsed instantly.
Konoha ninjas froze in horror.
It was too late to escape.
"Earth Release Barrier: Hidden Rock Crust!"
Orochimaru's hands blurred.
Tsunade and Jiraiya poured chakra into him.
Falling rocks were drawn together, merging with earth to form a massive, rotating stone shell—like two fused clam shells.
The stone structure spun and drilled underground, vanishing from sight.
This was Orochimaru's original technique—developed from Earth Dome Prison and Mole Hiding.
A mobile underground barrier capable of transporting people at high speed while repairing itself with chakra.
It had been designed as an escape tool.
He never expected to use it like this.
"What kind of Earth Release is that?!" the Hidden Stone ninjas shouted in disbelief.
Even they—masters of Earth Release—had never seen anything like it.
The Konoha ninjas safely emerged from the ground moments later.
"Do you have any idea what happens when you recklessly chase an enemy?" Orochimaru scolded coldly.
The Konoha ninjas lowered their heads in silence.
Orochimaru's anger was terrifying.
Kato Dan, watching from the side, swallowed nervously.
This battle… was far from over.
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