Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Upon hearing this, the two quickly stood up from the ground and followed Hinata Karen in the sky from a distance through the forest.

On the other side, Orochimaru moved quickly through the forest. He had already deactivated Sage Mode, and his aura had become somewhat weak. Clearly, the powerful fusion ninjutsu he had just used, which employed Sage Chakra to unleash the Five Elements: Great Combo, had taken a heavy toll on him.

But there was no sign of panic on his face, as if everything was still under control, even though he had sensed that the three troublesome pursuers behind him were rapidly closing in.

"Hmph, as long as that person doesn't come, no one can stop me."

Orochimaru sensed Hyuga Karen's chakra getting closer and closer, and sneered inwardly. He then focused on consuming the powerful soldier pill he had just eaten, quickly recovering his severely depleted chakra.

About a minute later, Orochimaru finally arrived at his destination. The forest disappeared, and a huge waterfall canyon appeared, with an enormous stone statue on each side of the waterfall.

This is the Valley of the End.

"We've finally arrived. Hopefully, that guy will keep his promise."

Looking at the waterfall canyon before him, Orochimaru thought excitedly, a feeling of finally breaking free from his cage welling up within him.

Although he had made many preparations for this escape, he was still not very at ease because Konoha had the terrifying ninja Kirito Tohsaka. Once this person made a move, his chances of escaping would be extremely slim.

Fortunately, this person didn't come; only a few useless people showed up, who couldn't possibly catch him.

Now that he's here, even if Kirito Tohsaka himself comes after him to kill him, he has nothing to fear.

Because that person promised that he would be safe as long as he could get here safely.

You seem very happy.

Suddenly, a familiar voice appeared in Orochimaru's mind, making his hair stand on end and him break out in a cold sweat.

The next moment, a black-haired boy appeared in his sight, standing on the giant stone statue of Hashirama Senju, staring at him from afar.

Kirito Tohsaka, he finally caught up.

Orochimaru smiled bitterly to himself. Even though he was thousands of meters away from his opponent, he still felt like he had a thorn in his side and was not safe at all.

"Damn it, where is that person? Kirito Tohsaka is here, why hasn't he come yet?"

Orochimaru cursed inwardly.

The person he was referring to was, of course, Madara Uchiha. The reason he was confident of escaping even when facing Kirito's pursuit was precisely because he had the support of this great enemy of Konoha.

Some time ago, when he went out to find a suitable body, a mysterious ninja who claimed to be Black Zetsu found him and exposed his human experimentation on innocent civilians.

He immediately had the idea of ​​killing him to silence him, but he didn't expect that the other party would say that he could help him escape Konoha safely and find more test subjects, on the condition that he join the Demon Organization.

He certainly didn't want to join, nor did he want to be threatened, so he refused without hesitation.

But at that moment, Madara Uchiha appeared and defeated him with absolute overwhelming force.

In order to survive, he had no choice but to accept Madara Uchiha's 'invitation'.

The other party originally hoped that he would continue to infiltrate Konoha as a spy, but unfortunately, plans can't keep up with changes. Before he could clean up the various experimental traces, the incident was exposed, and he had to immediately begin his escape.

During his escape, he had already contacted Madara Uchiha through special means. Madara told him to go to the Valley of the End, saying that he would be safe once he arrived there.

Who knew that this guy wasn't here at all? Instead, Kirito Tohsaka seemed to have foreseen this and was waiting here in advance.

"I didn't expect Tsunade to even invite you. It seems that the crimes I committed were truly heinous, to the point that even she couldn't stand it anymore."

Orochimaru took a deep breath, suppressing his nervousness, and said in a calm manner.

"Wrong, she was actually too soft-hearted. Otherwise, I would have intervened from the beginning and wouldn't have waited until now."

Kirito shook his head, looking at Orochimaru with a cold gaze, who now resembled more of a monster than a human.

Just like in the original story, this legendary Konoha Sannin ultimately went astray.

"I see. So you also intend to take me back for trial?"

Orochimaru joked, revealing an ugly smile.

Kirito shook his head again and said, "No, I will kill you here with my own hands, Orochimaru. As long as someone like you lives, he will still be a huge threat. I must completely eliminate this threat."

"I see. Well then, let's see if you have the ability."

Orochimaru said with a dark look in his eyes.

The next second, his body rapidly inflated like a balloon, and a huge white snake head burst out from it, then a second, a third...

A moment later, a monster with eight giant snake heads appeared in front of Kirito.

This is the form that Orochimaru displays after using his strongest ninjutsu, the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique.

Chapter 323: Orochimaru's 'Death'

"The Eight-Headed Serpent, the Eight-Headed Technique."

Kirito looked at the giant white snake monster with eight heads that Orochimaru had transformed into and murmured, but his face showed no emotion. It was as if he was seeing a normal wild beast, not a terrifying monster.

Orochimaru's half-body grew out of one of the giant snake heads. Disappointed and angry at not seeing any emotion on Kirito's face, he shouted, "How arrogant, brat! Let me show you the power of the Eight-Headed Serpent Technique!"

As soon as he finished speaking, six of the eight giant snake heads immediately spewed out venom, flames, lightning, torrents, boulders, and hurricanes, respectively, shooting towards Kirito at high speed.

Faced with such a powerful attack, Kirito clapped his hands together, and a surge of powerful Sage Earth Release chakra erupted from his body. A rock giant, as tall as Orochi, rose from the ground, wielding a sword and a shield.

Immortal Technique: Earth Escape: The Rigid Formation!

The rock giant held up a massive rock shield, as large as a small mountain, blocking the attack of the Yamata no Orochi.

Then, Kirito swayed and landed in the rock giant's hand.

In an instant, the rock giant's originally incredibly clumsy body became light and agile, and the huge rock sword in its right hand slashed towards the Yamata no Orochi with a terrifying whooshing sound.

Earth Release: Super Light Heavy Rock Technique!

Orochimaru quickly manipulated the eight-headed serpent to dodge, but his body was too large and cumbersome, and his agility was far inferior to that of a rock giant enhanced by the Super Light-Heavy Rock Technique. He had only retreated a short distance when two of his heads were severed by a sharp rock sword.

A large amount of purple snake blood splattered from the severed wound, and Orochimaru couldn't help but let out a scream.

But the rock giant's attack was not over. With an upward slash, the rock sword quickly cleaved down, severing two more of Orochimaru's snake heads.

Orochimaru was no pushover either. After having four heads severed, the remaining four heads immediately exerted their power. Two of them bit the rock sword, while the other two spewed flames and hurricanes at Kirito atop the rock giant.

But once again, the flames and hurricane were blocked by the sturdy rock shield.

Under Kirito's control, the Rock Giant decisively abandoned the Rock Sword and swung its fist fiercely at one of the Yamata no Orochi's heads, smashing it to pieces. However, the price was that its right hand was bitten off by two of the snake heads, and its body was also entangled by the Yamata no Orochi's body.

The Yamata no Orochi's strangulation attack was incredibly powerful, and the rock giant's body was instantly covered in cracks.

Kirito ignored this, clapped his hands, and sharp tree roots pierced into the body of the Yamata no Orochi, followed by a large number of wooden spikes emerging from its body.

Wood Release: Wood Splinter Technique!

Having suffered such a severe blow, Orochimaru immediately let out a painful scream, abandoning his attempt to strangle the rock giant. His massive body trembled and rolled on the ground, clearly enduring some kind of immense pain.

On the other side, Hyuga Karen, Jiraiya, and Namikaze Minato also arrived at the edge of the battlefield. They looked at the great battle in the waterfall canyon with shocked expressions on their faces.

"As expected of Kirito-sama, he has even mastered Wood Release, a bloodline limit. He is so strong. Orochimaru is definitely doomed this time."

After being shocked, Hinata Karen said with a look of admiration.

The stronger Kirito is, the happier she is.

Jiraiya quickly showed a reluctant expression, sighing inwardly, "I didn't expect him to come in the end."

His main purpose in relentlessly chasing Orochimaru was, of course, to capture him, but he also had a reason for not wanting Orochimaru to die.

He even claimed that Orochimaru possessed many secrets of Konoha, and that his defection would cause immense damage to the village.

Therefore, Kirito will most likely take action himself.

However, if Kirito personally takes action, Orochimaru will definitely die and will not be able to be brought back to the village for trial.

Now that his prediction had come true, seeing how ruthless Kirito was, he understood that Kirito had murderous intent towards Orochimaru and planned to execute Orochimaru on the spot.

"No, Orochimaru looks a bit strange."

Minato Namikaze, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

The two were startled by his words, somewhat confused about what he was talking about. The situation was already quite clear: Kirito was clearly suppressing Orochimaru, who had no chance to fight back.

But they quickly understood what Minato Namikaze was talking about.

A white light shone from the body of the Yamata no Orochi, which had lost six heads and was in a terrible state. Its body then began to writhe abnormally, and a new Yamata no Orochi emerged from its original body, its wounds completely healed.

The only change is that its body has become a little smaller.

"They actually mastered a skin-shedding technique similar to that of the White Snake Immortal."

Kirito looked at the newly born Yamata no Orochi and murmured, then a cold glint flashed in his eyes.

He didn't plan to continue playing.

With his strength, killing Orochimaru now would be a piece of cake. He could have easily killed him with a sealing technique right away. The reason he hasn't done that yet and is only fighting Orochimaru here using conventional methods is simply to confirm whether Orochimaru has that person supporting him.

Since that person hasn't appeared yet after all this fighting, it basically means that even if that person were here, they wouldn't intend to help Orochimaru.

In this way, he no longer needs to waste his time.

The next moment, he clapped his hands again, and huge tree roots covered with numerous sealing techniques transformed into chains that quickly bound the massive body of the Yamata no Orochi.

Orochimaru immediately sensed something was wrong; his chakra was being restricted and he could no longer use it.

Wood Release: Steel-Wood Lockdown!

This is a Wood Release sealing technique that Kirito developed based on an improved version of the Adamantine Sealing Chains, and its main feature is stealth.

After all, he had frequently used the modified version of the Adamantine Sealing Barrier to defend against enemies, and the information had already been leaked. He had to upgrade his ninjutsu in order to achieve surprise.

"It seems this is the only way. Orochimaru's abilities are not bad, but that's about it. He's about the same as Hiruko."

In the sky, Madara Uchiha, who had become invisible using the secret technique of the Second Tsuchikage Mu, flew through the air with chakra wings. He looked down at the battlefield below, where the Orochi was entangled by tree roots and unable to move, and mocked.

Orochimaru was wrong. Madara Uchiha kept his promise and had arrived early to wait for him.

However, his arrival does not necessarily mean he will save Orochimaru, especially given that Kirito is also there.

In his view, revealing his information to Kirito in advance was more important than saving Orochimaru.

Unless Orochimaru can demonstrate enough value to him, he is unlikely to reveal his whereabouts to fight Kirito. Instead, he would be happy to watch from the sidelines and obtain more information about Kirito.

For example, he has just obtained some good intelligence.

With his Rinnegan, he clearly sensed that Kirito's Wood Release technique possessed terrifying sealing abilities. If he wasn't mistaken, Kirito had specifically prepared this for the Susanoo he was dealing with.

"Lord Madara, Orochimaru is much smarter than Hiruko, and he has a lot of information about Konoha. I think we can try to save him."