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[NTU] [ARC-16] Chapter : 204
🕑 Added 2024-11-10 17:05:26 +0000 UTCJust as Toshiro was bound by Orochimaru's Snake Mouth Bind, a middle-aged Iwa Shinobi, standing five or six kilometers away from the battle site, quietly lowered the telescope in his hand.
"Prepare to retreat. These opponents are beyond what we can handle."
Captain Kasshoku glanced at the ninja handbook, confirming the appearance of the targets in the photos once more before turning to leave.
"But Captain, shouldn’t we go and drive them out?"
A young chunin, clearly reluctant to withdraw so easily, looked in the direction of Toshiro’s fight and spoke with frustration.
"Fool! These are ninja on the level of the Tsuchikage. If we go in, we’ll just be throwing our lives away."
"More importantly, we need to bring this information back!"
After a brief scolding of the young subordinate, Captain Kasshoku led the team away from the area.
"Senpai's techniques are truly varied, but the theme seems to be the Sanke all the time..!"
Though trapped by Orochimaru, Toshiro remained unshaken, regarding his opponent with a calm expression, as though entirely unaffected by the predicament.
"It seems your skills are just as formidable."
Observing Toshiro’s unruffled demeanor, Orochimaru sensed something, his expression growing even more serious. His eyes roamed over Toshiro, as though he were attempting to discern everything about him.
"Did you figure it out?"
Noticing Orochimaru’s reaction, Toshiro saw no need to keep up the pretense. As he spoke, another Toshiro emerged from his shadow.
Much like the shadow manipulation technique Jiraiya once used while infiltrating Hidden Rain Village, Toshiro had hidden his true self within his own shadow.
The one fighting Orochimaru all along had merely been a clone.
"Such a subtle hiding technique— I didn’t see through it!"
"A clone technique involving Yin Release? Toshiro, you’ve truly impressed me."
Now realizing he had been dealing with a Yin clone, Orochimaru lowered the paralysis technique and pointed his Kusanagi Sword directly at Toshiro.
"This is all thanks to Orochimaru-senpai’s Edo-tensei jutsu. With this jutsu, the so-called clan secret jutsus are no longer secret to me!"
While the living can protect secrets by casting seals and spells on themselves, the dead have no such defenses.
With his control over his eye powers, those he resurrected had no choice but to yield to him completely.
"Oh! So you've experimented with that jutsu as well!"
Even Orochimaru hadn’t expected Toshiro to use Impure World Reincarnation for extracting information or secret techniques.
"It seems you aren't one to play by the rules!"
Imagining that Toshiro might have mastered a vast array of Konoha clans' secret jutsu, Orochimaru couldn't help but wonder how his former sensei or the heads of those clans would react if they knew.
Yet, he also realized that his current plan might never come to fruition.
Initially, he had hoped to attempt capturing Toshiro and reincarnating within his body before obtaining Pain's. Though his opponent was powerful and not an ideal target, Initially, Orochimaru felt confident in his ability to handle the situation. But now not so much…
"It seems Orochimaru-senpai is quite interested in my body as well!"
Does he just want to force me to reveal the Mangekyou, or is he truly aiming to use me as his next reincarnation vessel?
'Isn’t he being a bit overconfident!'
Watching Orochimaru, who alternated between laughing and silence, Toshiro almost wanted to tell him that his efforts were in vain.
If he couldn’t handle Sasuke’s three-tomoe Sharingan, he shouldn’t even think about such wild ideas.
Still, Toshiro knew the saying: “You won’t learn until you hit a dead end.” So, he’d let Orochimaru learn his lesson in due time.
"So... Orochimaru-senpai, in the coming battle, you'd better be careful. Don’t let me kill you too easily!"
Grasping the chakra sword from his Yin Release clone, Toshiro allowed it to meld back into his shadow, preparing to engage with his own body.
"Impressive clone technique!"
Orochimaru watched intently as Toshiro's clone transformed into a shadow and slipped into his own.
Licking his lips, Orochimaru murmured, "If Nara Shikaku were to see this, I wonder how he’d react!"
Compared to the Nara clan's shadow-binding technique, Toshiro’s Yin clone was far more formidable, especially in close combat. A careless opponent who fails to keep track of Toshiro’s shadow could find themselves fatally outmaneuvered in an instant.
"The Nara clan?"
"It’s irrelevant. Even if they see me using this technique, there’s nothing they can say; this clone technique is quite different from their family’s secret jutsu!"
With his mastery of Yin Release, he wasn’t about to settle for a mere shadow imitation. As soon as he acquired the basics of this jutsu, he reworked it into something nearly unrecognizable.
Even if Nara Shikaku were to see it now, he likely wouldn’t recognize it, let alone have an opinion.
"Alright, enough of these trivialities. Let’s see if this so-called Snake mouth Binding Technique is as unbreakable as its creator claimed. Can it withstand the sword in my hand?"
With that, Toshiro raised his chakra-infused sword and thrust it toward the fleshy barrier beside him.
But that wasn’t enough; to keep Orochimaru from interfering, Toshiro exhaled a blast of fire, filling the narrow corridor with flames.
The flames served two purposes: to keep Orochimaru at bay and to incinerate any toxins lingering in the air.
As for oxygen? Toshiro figured he could easily hold his breath for over ten minutes without issue.
A sharp sound split the air as Toshiro increased the chakra flowing through his blade, slicing through the fleshy wall in front of him, which then dissolved into a cloud of white smoke and disappeared.
Without pausing, Toshiro became a swift, invisible blur, charging toward Orochimaru's location as sensed by his chakra.
"Excellent timing!"
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Orochimaru had no intention of backing down. As one of the Sannin, he carried his own pride—and having been taught a lesson recently by Jiraiya's disciple "Pain" had left him simmering with frustration.
This battle with Toshiro would be the perfect opportunity to unleash the pent-up resentment he'd been carrying.
In a flash, Toshiro appeared before him, his chakra-infused sword aimed directly at Orochimaru's head.
His strike was swift, ruthless, and precise.
But Orochimaru was ready. Anticipating the attack, he twisted his body like a snake, his neck extending and bending unnaturally, allowing him to dodge Toshiro’s fierce blow with ease.
"It's not that easy to take my head!"
Seeing Orochimaru evade his attack, Toshiro wasn’t surprised. Just as he spoke, however, another Toshiro emerged from his shadow, also wielding a chakra sword, and struck at Orochimaru.
Though Orochimaru felt a flash of surprise, he reacted swiftly—his head twisted sharply as his neck elongated like a serpent, curving around to the ribs on Toshiro’s left side in a stealthy maneuver.
He completely ignored the attack from Toshiro’s shadow.
'So, you plan to use the Snake-skin Substitution Technique to try an exchange of injuries with me?'
Toshiro responded with precision; he gave a slight twist to the kunai in his right hand, and the chakra blade in his grip extended several meters as it cut through the air.
Toshiro swung his blade down powerfully, slicing through Orochimaru’s neck in one smooth motion, as if a heated scalpel were cutting through butter.
Though the strike seemed flawless, Toshiro felt no satisfaction; the decapitated figure of Orochimaru collapsed into two soft lumps on the ground with a dull thud.
Orochimaru had used a mud clone Substitution Technique to dodge Toshiro’s attack.
"A dull trick!"
For Toshiro, who possessed keen senses and the Sharingan, such conventional tactics of using a decoy to disguise the real target for a surprise attack were futile.
Even now, he could clearly sense Orochimaru’s presence underground, directly behind him. He seemed to have used a summoning technique as well—almost immediately, Toshiro heard the rustling of leaves and grass around him. Then, a massive snake burst forth, lunging with its mouth wide open.
Toshiro, already aware of the approaching threat, increased his chakra output. With a powerful swing, the cyan-blue chakra longsword in his right hand unleashed a crescent-shaped light blade aimed at the summoned serpent.
The blade, resembling a condensed half-moon laser, sliced cleanly through the massive snake’s head with a soft pop. The severed head, the size of a carriage, fell while the body writhed violently on the grass, spraying snake blood everywhere.
“This incredible speed, the razor-sharp chakra blade unlike anything I've ever seen, and this near-death rush... Truly exhilarating... exhilarating!”
