Blood and flesh flew everywhere, splattering across the battlefield.
In an instant, Orochimaru's body, tattered like a rag doll, convulsed violently in the sky as if electrocuted.
"Lord Orochimaru!" the four Sound Ninja cried out in shock and rage, seeing their master defeated in a flash. But before they could react, Menma dropped Orochimaru from the sky, then abruptly turned and stomped his right foot into the ground.
A terrifying trench split open in the earth, revealing Orochimaru—who had been hiding there.
"I've been discovered!"
Looking at the brightened sky, Orochimaru, who had been preparing to launch a sneak attack, was startled. Without hesitation, he turned and ran. Meanwhile, the Orochimaru riddled with holes in the sky was reduced to a pile of dirt on the ground.
Having just witnessed the speed with which Menma killed those ANBU members, Orochimaru naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to expose himself in such an obvious spot. The moment Menma entered the Four Violet Flames Formation, he swiftly created an Earth Substitute to replace himself, hiding within the earth surrounding the substitute!
"Hiding like a cockroach, so tenacious, truly annoying," Menma muttered. "I'd like to see how many ways you can save yourself, escaping every time."
As he spoke, Menma took a step forward, preparing to force Orochimaru to recall the events again.
But the next second... Whoosh! Whoosh!
Hashirama and Tobirama, now fully recovered, appeared on the ground not far from him, using the Flying Thunder God Technique!
Orochimaru had already controlled Tobirama to leave the Flying Thunder God seal on the ground next to his substitute from the very beginning.
"You're so powerful, I don't want to fight you. Why don't you play with the First and Second Hokage instead?" Orochimaru called out from afar, slamming his hands together.
Simultaneously, Hashirama also slammed his hands together.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Boom! Crash!
The earth shattered. Dark green trees grew wildly, their roots intertwining. In an instant, a gigantic wooden dragon filled half the area!
"The Edo Tensei Hashirama can actually use Wood Release to this extent!" Hiruzen Sarutobi lay on the ground, staring in disbelief at the distant wooden dragon. He had originally thought that the Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees was Hashirama's limit, but he hadn't expected that Orochimaru hadn't let him use his true power during their fight! And the Edo Tensei Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique, too. If he had used those ninjutsu when he attacked him earlier, Hiruzen definitely wouldn't have lasted until Menma arrived.
Seeing Hiruzen's expression, Orochimaru excitedly licked his lips.
"To deal with you, Sensei, there's no need to risk awakening their full power. After all, at your age, your strength is almost falling below normal Kage-level~"
"Orochimaru!" Once again mocked for his age and strength, Hiruzen glared at him. "I shouldn't have held back then; I should have just killed you in that underground laboratory!"
Orochimaru retorted without hesitation, "So, it's because you're too weak, swayed by your emotions, teacher. If you were a competent Hokage, none of this would have happened."
"You..." Hiruzen deflated, his face filled with dejection.
"Didn't you want to kill me?" Orochimaru taunted. "Come on, while Menma is being held back, kill me for revenge."
The old Hokage remembered Menma's words and had a terrible premonition. Rather than live as a cripple, worrying about what awaits him, it was better to die at the hands of his enemy now—sacrificing his life to elevate it.
"Hehehe, I wouldn't dare kill you now, teacher. So you'd better continue to watch obediently from the sidelines, or think about how you're going to live as a cripple~"
After the recent exchange and the information received regarding the death of his substitute, Orochimaru clearly sensed it: The mysterious powerhouse and Menma were both using Nine-Tails chakra. Therefore, it was obvious that there was some unspeakable secret involved! Being hunted by the Akatsuki was already annoying enough for him. He didn't want to anger Menma only to be hunted down by some unknown force as well.
Of course, Orochimaru had no intention of sharing this information with Hiruzen. Instead, he was thinking about how to use this information to make a connection. After all, this was a method that allowed one to use powerful tailed beast chakra without becoming a jinchūriki. His level of interest was no less than that of the Uchiha clan's Sharingan!
In the distance, watching the massive wooden dragon coil toward him, Menma controlled his fox tail, slashing directly at it.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Tear!
Several huge gashes instantly appeared on the wooden dragon's body. However, the next second, the gashes abruptly closed, and lush green trees inexplicably sprouted forth. Conversely, the chakra fox tail that Menma had swung suddenly withered and disappeared.
"As expected of Wood Release, which is related to the Divine Tree," Menma observed coolly. "It can indeed directly absorb tailed beast chakra and make it his own."
Without attempting to directly confront the wooden dragon, Menma nimbly stepped onto its body, dodging to the side. However, with each step Menma took, a portion of his chakra disappeared, absorbed by the wooden dragon and transformed into trees.
"Chakra is absorbed upon direct contact," Menma mused. "So, can you absorb three Tailed Beast Balls the size of basketballs?"
As he spoke, red and blue chakra rapidly condensed on the three remaining fox tails behind Menma. In an instant, a terrifying chakra surge, carrying a chilling pressure, swept across the entire area.
"Tailed Beast Balls!"
"Three at once?!"
Orochimaru, who had been watching the spectacle, instantly felt a chill run through his body. Layers of white snake scales covered his form! This was a change that only occurred when facing a life-or-death crisis. But now, the Tailed Beast Balls hadn't even arrived yet, and their mere appearance had caused his White Snake Form to surface.
"Damn it, is he planning to kill everyone?" Shocked and enraged, Orochimaru instantly bit his finger, slamming his hands into the ground. "Summoning Technique: Triple Rashomon!"
Three enormous gates bearing demonic faces rose rapidly from the ground with a deafening roar. The bells hanging from the gates jingled throughout the entire arena! As the Rashomon gates rose, Orochimaru showed no sign of apprehension. Instead, he ran toward the outside of the Four Violet Flames Formation at incredible speed.
At the same time, he released his control over Edo Tensei Hashirama and Tobirama. Watching Orochimaru reach the edge of the Four Violet Flames Formation and have his subordinates open a passage, Menma showed no intention of stopping. With a flick of his fox tail, three Tailed Beast Balls shot out, piercing the air.
---