I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Orochimaru's forehead.

With a look of relief on his face, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That was so close!"

"It was indeed a little short." Hashirama Senju, who seemed to be restrained again, spoke up on his own after hearing this. "I didn't expect that you, my junior, could develop Tobirama's Impure World Reincarnation Technique to this extent. However, junior, you can stall for a while, but how long can you stall?"

Compared to its previous strength, which was less than one-tenth of what it used to be.

Now, having returned to the human world through the body of a White Zetsu possessing Hashirama's cells, Hashirama Senju, though no longer at his peak, has regained most of his strength and is now capable of contending with Orochimaru, the master of the technique.

Although he is not yet completely free from the control of the Impure World Reincarnation technique, commands such as erasing his will and manipulating his actions can no longer affect him.

Damn it!

Orochimaru's expression was quite unpleasant at that moment.

He never expected that the First Hokage, after his strength increased, would be so different from other ninjas resurrected through Edo Tensei.

"The First Hokage definitely has the ability to break free from my restraints and could kill me at any time!"

Looking at the completely calm Hashirama Senju in front of him.

Under intense pressure, Orochimaru could not afford to be careless in the slightest. He could only continue to keep his hands in hand seals, fearing that if he relaxed his guard, his opponent would regain his mobility and kill him instantly.

However, with his entire focus on vying for control with Hashirama Senju, how will he deal with Aya Uchiha and the others, and even Sarutobi-sensei and his pursuers?

Orochimaru's eyes gleamed.

After making the grave mistake of killing Hashirama Senju, he realized that it was no longer possible to severely damage Konoha. Now, with survival as his top priority, he had the idea of ​​escaping.

However, after some attempts, he was shocked to find that he couldn't even remove the Impure World Reincarnation technique from Hashirama Senju and send him back to the Underworld in a short time.

"The First Hokage... the God of Shinobi... just how powerful was he?!"

Orochimaru was utterly horrified to see that even though Hashirama Senju was in an extremely disadvantageous position, the immense power within him could still rival that of him, the caster, who was in a position of absolute advantage.

In his previous Impure World Reincarnation techniques, he has summoned powerful ninjas such as the Third Kazekage.

There were unexpected events during the process of summoning these people.

Even so, they were unable to turn the tables on themselves.

The only thing they could do was rely on their own will to break free from their shackles and return to the underworld.

Unlike Hashirama Senju in front of him, who could kill him if he wasn't careful.

Even the Second Hokage, who originally created the Impure World Reincarnation technique, couldn't do that.

Thinking of this, Orochimaru glanced at Tobirama Senju's location.

Although you can still control the other party.

However, after being struck by Hashirama Senju, Tobirama Senju, whose body was completely shattered, recovered much more slowly.

And in this gap.

The Konoha members, having already resolved the Ten Thousand Snake Formation, have arrived.

Among them, when Aya Uchiha, who was in the lead, saw the strange sight of Orochimaru and Hashirama Senju facing each other, she was slightly taken aback, but it did not affect her actions at all.

next second.

Amidst the sharp whooshing sound, Uchiha Ayato, rushing at high speed, ruthlessly swung his ninja sword, aiming at Orochimaru as originally planned.

"It's over!"

At that moment, Orochimaru's face showed utter despair.

Chapter 301 You get used to dying eventually.

In deciding to take revenge on Konoha and putting it into action, Orochimaru was extremely cautious, not even daring to set foot in Konoha, for fear that he, who had only recently been resurrected, would die again.

As for not retaliating against Konoha and continuing to live in hiding?

Even Buddha would be angry if he were killed twice by the same person.

Furthermore, if Konoha were to achieve final victory and extend its reach to the entire ninja world, how could he, as a rogue ninja, possibly fare well?

Therefore, it would be better to take advantage of the present moment to punish Konoha severely and hinder its path to unification.

A ninja world teeming with various factions is the best environment for someone like me, who can't stand the light of day, to survive.

But man proposes, God disposes.

Orochimaru never expected that his trump card, which was meant to be his ultimate weapon, would not only fail to help him at all, but would ultimately become the culprit that took his life.

That's great.

He failed to steal the chicken and ended up getting himself into trouble once again.

At this moment, feeling the approaching cold blade behind him and looking at Hashirama Senju who was so close, Orochimaru's face was filled with despair.

Even so, he was not one to give up and wait for death, so he chose to take a gamble.

Just as Aya Uchiha's ninja sword was about to strike, Orochimaru decisively interrupted his struggle for control of Hashirama Senju's Impure World Reincarnation technique.

In an instant, he was able to focus his energy elsewhere, and his neck suddenly stretched out, sending his head flying more than a hundred meters away.

Tear!

The next second, Aya Uchiha's ninja sword separated Orochimaru's exaggeratedly long neck from his original body.

In response, as expected, a brand new Orochimaru crawled out of the head's mouth a hundred meters away. After his lower limbs transformed into a thick, white phosphorus snake tail, he moved with a speed much faster than at his peak and fled into the distance.

Aya Uchiha frowned, about to continue the pursuit.

boom!

Suddenly, a violent sonic boom rang in her ears.

In an instant, a figure that even her powerful Sharingan could not detect flashed past her.

It was as if they had been teleported out of nowhere.

Just as Orochimaru was desperately fleeing, a heavy punch came crashing down on his path as he was about to escape.

Boom!

Unable to dodge in time, Orochimaru was sent flying backward at an even faster speed.

After smashing into more than a dozen large craters and then dragging a long, deep trench in the ground, his shattered body finally came to a stop.

tearing~

Without daring to delay for even a moment, like a snake shedding its skin, the brand-new and intact Orochimaru was once again swiftly extracted from his original body after being disemboweled.

Before he could even catch his breath, Hashirama Senju, who had just thrown that punch, attacked again.

Without any power to resist, Orochimaru was sent flying backward once again.

Seeing this, Uchiha Aya, who was about to give chase, stopped in her tracks and stared blankly at the scene before her. She never expected that Orochimaru, who had been able to easily defeat her and the other Konoha ninjas, would be beaten so badly that he was powerless to fight back.

"As expected of the First Hokage, he's truly amazing!" Nara Shikaku exclaimed in amazement.

Although he didn't yet understand why the First Hokage was able to break free from the Impure World Reincarnation technique, he only needed to know that the current situation was extremely advantageous to his side.

In the following time, under Hashirama Senju's relentless barrage of punches, Orochimaru, who was completely overwhelmed and had no chance against him, was repeatedly knocked away like a baseball.

Soon, Orochimaru felt the strain of his Substitution Jutsu for the first time. Knowing that he would be beaten to death if he continued like this, Orochimaru gritted his teeth and began his final desperate attempt.

"The Eight-Headed Serpent Technique!"

In an instant, as Orochimaru's entire body expanded like a balloon, one after another, huge white snake heads burst out of his body.

In the end, a gigantic white snake with eight heads and a tail appeared in his place.

This is the Yamata no Orochi, Orochimaru's strongest ninjutsu, and the embodiment of his long-held obsession.

Not far away, Nara Shikaku and the other Konoha ninjas, who couldn't keep up with Hashirama Senju's speed and could only watch from the sidelines, were filled with horror when they saw the enormous, monstrous snake.

It's hard to imagine the heavy casualties they would have suffered if Orochimaru had used such a powerful ninjutsu from the beginning.

On the other side, Hashirama Senju, who had already rushed up to the front, threw another punch with an expression that remained unchanged.

Boom!

Compared to Hashirama Senju's size, the enormous Yamata no Orochi was still forced to retreat under the miniature fist.

However, compared to his human form, Orochimaru's current form as Yamata no Orochi still has the power to resist by whipping out his eight tails and quickly stabilizing his body.

Then, its eight snake heads opened their enormous, ferocious mouths, carrying a strong gust of wind, and lunged at Hashirama Senju on the ground at incredible speed.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Eight snake heads, as large as small mountains, kept crashing into the ground, creating deep craters.

Among them, Hashirama Senju's figure was dodging rapidly.

Soon, as the eight tails and even the massive body of the Yamata no Orochi joined in, Hashirama Senju, whose space for dodging was shrinking, used the force of a tail swing to quickly escape.

"It's a pretty good technique, but it's a pity that you've chosen the wrong path, junior."

Pulling his ninja shoes out of the straight ruts dragged in the ground, Hashirama Senju, finally getting serious, clapped his hands as he spoke, instantly activating Sage Mode.

And then,

"Wood Release: Advent of the World of Trees!"

The forest, far more powerful than the one it had faced before against Senju Maki, rose rapidly from the ground, heading straight for the enormous, live target-like Yamata no Orochi from all directions.

In the blink of an eye, the once awe-inspiring Yamata no Orochi was seen struggling in a sorry state as it was swept away by a sea of ​​trees hundreds of times larger than itself.

As time goes by, like a tiny wave in the ocean, the more it struggles, the weaker it becomes, and the quieter it becomes.

Finally, with a howl of resentment, the Yamata no Orochi was completely submerged by the sea of ​​trees, and after a few breaths it quickly shrank and returned to human form.

"The gap is still too big. Wood Release, it's truly an enviable bloodline limit."

With the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique broken, even though it separated, the white phosphorus snake, used as an escape method, was engulfed by the ubiquitous trees. Orochimaru, now back in human form, helplessly opened his eyes, looked down at his body, which was tightly bound by Wood Release and unable to move, and sighed softly. ...

Including the previous two times, all three major setbacks in his life were due to Wood Release.

I really do have an inexplicable connection with Wood Release!

Orochimaru, once again at the mercy of others, chuckled self-deprecatingly.

Having accepted reality, he looked at the approaching Hashirama Senju and couldn't help but compare the two, both being masters of Wood Release, and wondered which was stronger, this god of the ninja world or Hashirama Senju.