Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Jiraiya looked down at the scorched, steaming earth, his face showing no sign of victory, but rather an increasingly solemn expression.

Because he didn't believe that his attack, which was of that level, was enough to defeat Orochimaru.

When he saw Orochimaru again here, he knew that the guy's strength had increased significantly. Considering the guy's near-immortality on the battlefield, he knew that killing him would be extremely difficult.

"Hehehe~, I really underestimated you, Jiraiya. I didn't expect that I wasn't the only one who improved. It seems that you, the loser, have also learned a lot in the last war, and you even listened to what I said. That's good. That's why you're worth defeating."

Hehehe~

Suddenly, a chilling laugh rang out, and a half-human, half-snake monster, with the upper body of a human and the lower body of a snake, quickly emerged from the scorched earth.

It was Orochimaru who had entered Sage Mode.

"Orochimaru, this is your last chance. Come back with me. Only then can you save your life."

Jiraiya looked down at Orochimaru, who was completely unharmed, and said expressionlessly.

"Hehehe~, from what you're saying, do you think you have the ability to kill me, or do you want to add those two adorable disciples to the mix?"

Orochimaru scoffed.

As soon as he finished speaking, a Mitsubishi kunai was shot swiftly in front of Orochimaru. Even though Orochimaru dodged it, a bloody gash was still left on his face.

Then, the Mitsubishi kunai that had just passed Orochimaru vanished instantly, replaced by a blond boy holding a blue chakra ball in his right hand—it was Minato Namikaze.

Minato Namikaze showed no mercy to his mentor Orochimaru, merely revealing deep sorrow in his eyes before striking Orochimaru on the back of the head with his Rasengan the moment he appeared.

But at the crucial moment, a sharp snake tail burst from the ground and pierced Minato Namikaze's abdomen.

In a flash, the sharp snake tail pierced through one of Minato Namikaze's afterimages, and Minato appeared in front of a large tree a dozen meters away, where a Mitsubishi kunai that Minato had left behind was stuck.

Minato Namikaze's sneak attack failed, but Jiraiya didn't sit idly by. During this time, he used the Summoning Jutsu to summon the two sages of Mount Myōboku, Fukasaku and Shima.

Although his Sage Mode is already perfect, the strongest form of his Sage Mode is still when he temporarily merges with two Sages of Mount Myōboku using the Two Lives Technique.

Upon seeing the two sages of Mount Myōboku, Orochimaru instantly realized what Jiraiya was about to do. He immediately and quickly climbed up the tree, not giving Jiraiya time to use the Two Lives Technique to merge with the two sages of Mount Myōboku.

Just as he began to climb the tree, a terrifying blue chakra shockwave descended from the sky, striking him swiftly and accurately, sending him flying backward and coughing up blood.

"Orochimaru-sensei, please don't pretend I don't exist."

The next moment, a sweet yet icy voice came from the air.

A white-haired, golden-eyed girl dressed in a repaired white kimono slowly descended, flapping her chakra wings.

Chapter 322: Yamata no Orochi

Orochimaru watched his second disciple fall from the sky, remaining silent, but his golden snake eyes grew even colder.

He didn't actually have much affection for Hinata Karen, his disciple. He mostly saw her as an interesting bonus he got from buying Minato, a bonus that was a little more valuable than Akimichi Tou.

Since she was essentially just a slave of the Hyuga clan, even if he took her in, she wouldn't be of much value to him in the future; it would only benefit the Hyuga clan for nothing.

Therefore, he wasn't very enthusiastic when teaching Hinata Karen; he was merely dutiful, neither good nor bad.

But to his utter surprise, this little girl from the Hyuga clan had a very powerful backer, possessed a ninjutsu that he coveted, and was rapidly growing stronger at an impressive pace, no less capable than Minato, whom he had carefully trained.

It can only be said that he misjudged the situation at the beginning.

This is a very promising little girl. Even though she was in a cage, she kept struggling and was fortunate enough to receive help from others. Now she has become a real bird and can soar in the sky.

"What an unpleasant pair of eyes."

Orochimaru stared at Hyuga Karen's Byakugan, which had changed color, and said coldly.

"Did it make you uncomfortable, Orochimaru-sensei? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to, but there's nothing I can do. That's just how its power is. Under its gaze, you can't escape, Orochimaru-sensei."

When Hyuga Karen heard Orochimaru's words, she replied indifferently, still with a slight smile on her face, but her eyes were gradually turning cold.

To be honest, she didn't dislike Orochimaru personally, even though he showed obvious favoritism in teaching. After all, she had received a lot of knowledge and protection from him.

Therefore, deep down, she was grateful to Orochimaru.

It wasn't until she was sent by the Fourth Hokage to follow his teacher and witnessed firsthand the various inhumane experiments in those damned laboratories that her attitude towards her teacher immediately changed from gratitude to hatred.

She saw her past reflected in the poor experimental subjects imprisoned in jail, and the teacher she was grateful to had become the kind of person she hated most, which was a huge irony.

At this moment, both master and disciple saw the murderous intent in each other's eyes.

An invisible bond was suddenly broken.

The next moment, two white snakes suddenly grew from Orochimaru's shoulders, and they spewed out fireballs and gusts of wind respectively.

Sage Art: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

Sage Art: Wind Release - Great Breakthrough!

As the wind intensified the fire, the fireball grew larger and larger, almost instantly transforming into a giant fireball more than ten meters wide. In the blink of an eye, it reached Hinata Karen, and the terrifying heat emanating from the fireball caused her clothes to ignite.

Without hesitation, Hinata Karen flapped her wings and retreated quickly, but the huge fireball exploded without warning, turning into countless fireballs that came at high speed. Such a dense attack was impossible for her to completely dodge, even with her Byakugan enhanced by the cursed seal.

Left with no other choice, she used the Reverse Heaven technique to defend herself, and a rapidly spinning chakra ball appeared in the sky.

Countless fireballs were blocked and deflected.

However, the fireballs in the sky did not extinguish completely. With a clap of Orochimaru's hands, they began to rapidly converge in his mouth, transforming into a giant fire serpent, which then used its massive body to coil around the rapidly spinning chakra ball in the air.

Immortal Technique: Inorganic Rebirth!

"Little Jiraiya, hurry up and make a move! That little girl can't hold out for long against those inorganic rebirths in Ryuchi Cave."

On the other side, Fukasaku, the sage on Jiraiya's shoulder, immediately spoke up upon seeing this.

Jiraiya understood Fukasaku's meaning. He couldn't continue using the Reincarnation Technique to merge with the two Myoboku-san sages, and quickly stepped in to help them out.

However, before he could make a move, Minato had already taken action.

At that moment, a rapidly spinning vortex of water appeared in his right palm, which he then threw into his mouth. It quickly transformed into a huge vortex of water, engulfing the fire snake that was entangled in the chakra ball.

Water Release·Rasengan!

Next, Minato forcefully threw a shuriken at Orochimaru, then quickly completed the hand seals.

Ninja Art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!

A large number of shuriken suddenly appeared, shooting towards Orochimaru like a volley of arrows.

Orochimaru watched Minato make his move, chuckled, and used the Inorganic Reincarnation technique to manipulate the earth beneath him. A thick earthen wall instantly rose in front of him, blocking all the incoming shuriken.

"Watch out, Minato."

Suddenly, Hinata Karen shouted from the sky.

Upon hearing this, Minato was startled, and then he saw two long white snakes emerge from the ground like lightning, quickly coiling around his feet and biting his legs.

The moment he was entangled, Minato realized that something was wrong with the chakra in his body; it was imprisoned and he could not use it as he usually did.

As a result, he was also unable to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport.

Sealing Technique: Twin Snake Lockdown!

This is a sealing technique that Orochimaru developed after understanding Kirito's improved version of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, making it more suitable for him. Although the effect is somewhat weakened, it is more secretive to activate and easier to control, because these two white snakes grew out of his body after he entered Sage Mode.

The snake tail that grew out was located beneath him.

"It's a pity, but you should still die, Minato."

After Orochimaru used a sealing technique to capture Minato, he thought with a slight sense of regret, but his hands did not stop moving at all.

He manipulated the surrounding air with inorganic rebirth, instantly transforming it into a sharp air blade that slashed mercilessly at Minato.

He knew better than anyone how troublesome Minato was. If he couldn't deal with this good disciple as soon as possible, he would inevitably be severely injured or even killed by this disciple who was skilled in assassination and had an extremely strong ability to seize opportunities.

Minato must be killed first, even if he has to endure a combined attack from Jiraiya and Hyuga Karen.

"stop!"

Jiraiya roared angrily, then his long white hair rapidly stretched out, wrapping around Nagato's entire body and transforming into a hard armor to help Nagato withstand the attack of the spirit blade.

Ninja Technique: Needle Jizo!

However, there was more than one air blade. Under Orochimaru's control of the Inorganic Reincarnation technique, one air blade after another shot towards Minato, causing the protective hair armor to quickly shatter.

"Break!"

In the sky, Hinata Karen shouted, and a stream of water shot out from her mouth, cutting a deep gash in the earth, from which two blood flowers bloomed.

The two long snakes that Orochimaru used to imprison Nagato were cut off.

Water Escape · Water Breaks Waves!

Orochimaru's face immediately showed a pained expression, and then he quickly retreated to avoid the water line with its amazing cutting power.

The art of inorganic rebirth was thus broken.

However, the two long white snakes on his shoulders then split off a head, turning into two-headed snakes.

Then, Water Release, Fire Release, Lightning Release, Wind Release, and Earth Release techniques were transmitted from Orochimaru and the four snake heads, respectively.

Jiraiya noticed the situation and his expression changed drastically. Realizing what kind of ninja Orochimaru was about to use, he quickly shouted, "Dodge quickly!"

As soon as he finished speaking, water, flames, lightning, gale, and flying stones shot out from Orochimaru and his four snake heads, quickly merging together to form a terrifyingly powerful ninjutsu.

Immortal Technique - Five Escapes - Great Combo!

In an instant, a huge mushroom cloud rose from the vast forest. The shockwave and gale generated by its aftershocks quickly destroyed the trees within a radius of thousands of meters, turning them into an enormous crater.

"Cough cough cough~"

At the edge of the crater, Jiraiya and Minato lay on the ground coughing incessantly. Looking at the huge crater in front of them, both of them had expressions of lingering fear on their faces.

"This is too reckless. This guy actually used such a terrifying ninjutsu at close range."

Jiraiya said with lingering fear.

At the critical moment, if Nagato hadn't kept a secret and used the Flying Thunder God Technique to take him away, he would probably be dead by now.

He then tried to use his natural energy to sense Orochimaru, but found nothing, and his heart sank.

"Yes, Orochimaru-sensei, no, Orochimaru was just planning to take us all down with him, but I don't think he'll die so easily."

Minato said with a grim expression.

During this joint pursuit, he never expected that he would become a burden, and in the end, Orochimaru escaped.

But the next second, Hinata Karen's voice came from the sky: "He ran east, very fast. I'll go after him first, you guys hurry up and catch up."