"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya shouted in anger. He couldn't believe it—what Sarutobi-sensei had said was true. Orochimaru was really conducting inhumane human experiments, and to make matters worse, he had killed two ANBU members while escaping. Attacking fellow villagers could already be considered a form of betrayal, and with his involvement in human experiments, even his past accomplishments couldn't save him. The best outcome for him now would be imprisonment in Konoha's cells, or else it would be impossible to calm the public's anger.
"Come with me. I'll plead with Sarutobi-sensei. If you confess, I swear by Fukasaku's name,I won't let you die." Jiraiya's face was stern, his words carrying a sense of pleading. Tsunade had already left in a huff, and Jiraiya absolutely didn't want to lose the last teammate still in Konoha.
"Heh, Jiraiya, you're still so naive," Orochimaru chuckled darkly. The blood of the ANBU had barely dried on his hands. He had shown no mercy to Jiraiya, and yet Jiraiya still thought he could bring him back to Konoha. To fulfill the bond he spoke of, he was supposed to be locked away in Konoha's prison for life. This was why Orochimaru always considered Jiraiya his most reliable teammate—but never a close friend.
"You won't stop me today, Jiraiya," Orochimaru's slit pupils narrowed. Though his words dismissed Jiraiya, in his mind, he was already planning his escape route.
Suddenly, Orochimaru threw a shuriken, rapidly forming hand signs.
"Ninjutsu: Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The shuriken multiplied in an instant, transforming from one to two, then two to four, and soon dozens filled the air, blocking all of Jiraiya's escape routes.
Such fast hand signs!
Jiraiya was taken aback. When they were teammates, he hadn't felt it as strongly, but now, standing on opposite sides, Orochimaru's mastery of ninjutsu made him a formidable opponent. The dense cloud of shuriken forced Jiraiya to rely on his own ninjutsu to defend; there was no way to avoid them.
"Ninjutsu: Needle Hell!"
Jiraiya transformed his hair into his most unique weapon. His hair became as hard as steel, creating a barrier in front of him, leaving only half his eye exposed for observation.
Clang, clang, clang!
The shuriken clashed against Jiraiya's hair, producing sharp metallic sounds. Though Jiraiya managed to block the attack, it allowed Orochimaru the opportunity to break free from the encirclement and flee. With two teams of ANBU, only three remained with Jiraiya, the rest still by Sarutobi's side. Orochimaru, with his ability, could break free from their grasp.
Using Shadow Clone Jutsu, Orochimaru swiftly moved toward the nearest white-haired ANBU member. But as he got close, he saw the Sharingan hidden beneath the ANBU mask.
"Sharingan? It's Kakashi."
"You want to stop me too, Kakashi?" Orochimaru's slit pupils glinted with murderous intent, along with a surge of genjutsu energy that surged toward Kakashi.
Though Kakashi had been through many battles, facing someone of Orochimaru's caliber was another matter entirely. The pressure from Orochimaru's killing intent and genjutsu caused the spinning tomoe in Kakashi's Sharingan to momentarily slow down.
Pfft!
The strike from Kakashi's sword didn't land a fatal blow, only leaving a shallow wound on Orochimaru.
Whew!
Kakashi exhaled. Under the oppressive gaze of Orochimaru's pupils, he had nearly lost the courage to strike.
"So this is the power of the Sannin," Kakashi murmured.
"Stop dawdling, move!" Jiraiya yelled, dashing forward. The other two ANBU had dealt with Orochimaru's Shadow Clones, so the real body was now fleeing from Kakashi.
For a white-haired kid to endure Orochimaru's full killing intent and still land a blow, Jiraiya knew that Kakashi had performed admirably. He also knew Kakashi was Minato's student, so he called out to him.
"I'm going to notify the Hokage!" One of the ANBU quickly spoke to Jiraiya before peeling off to find Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Jiraiya nodded. Alone, he wouldn't be able to capture Orochimaru, and his strongest trump card, Sage Mode, wasn't yet perfected. While Sage Mode increased his strength, he hadn't mastered it to perfection. He still needed Fukasaku and Shima's help to access it, and Orochimaru wouldn't give him the chance. Even with two ANBU assisting, Jiraiya didn't believe he could capture Orochimaru on his own.
Years of being teammates with Orochimaru had made Jiraiya understand him better than anyone. Unlike himself, who had always been a bit behind, Orochimaru had always been considered a prodigy. Whether in ninjutsu or intelligence, Orochimaru surpassed him in every way.
"Orochimaru, I will never let you betray Konoha!"
Jiraiya's resolve hardened, and his pace quickened.
"You two, follow my lead!"
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
When another ANBU saw Jiraiya use Fire Style, he immediately formed hand signs, using Wind Style to amplify Jiraiya's flames. The fire's power and speed increased, as wind fueled the flames.
Orochimaru felt the intense heat of the windstorm behind him. Without looking back, he knew that ordinary Earth Release techniques would be unable to counter this combined ninjutsu.
He bit his finger and quickly performed hand signs, summoning a different jutsu.
"Summoning Jutsu: Rashomon"
Boom! The massive firestorm crashed into the hellish face of the summoned gate, causing a huge explosion in the forest.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
Orochimaru summoned two giant snakes from Ryūchi Cave, but he refrained from summoning Manda, as it would waste too much chakra, especially considering that he was unaware of how many pursuers would follow.
"I told you," Jiraiya's voice rang out firmly, "Today, no matter what, you won't escape Konoha."
Jiraiya also bit his finger, performing the Summoning Jutsu. A large puff of smoke erupted, and in its wake stood a massive toad with a pipe in its mouth and a sword at its waist. Even the two giant snakes Orochimaru had summoned were dwarfed by this toad.
"Troublesome," Orochimaru muttered. He hadn't expected Jiraiya to summon such a formidable toad.
"Jiraiya, what's going on?" the toad, Fukasaku, asked, sensing that Jiraiya had summoned him to face Orochimaru.
Jiraiya answered, "The enemy is Orochimaru. Fukasaku, don't let him escape."
At that moment, several figures appeared from the distance. When they saw the giant summoned beasts, they stopped and called out from a safe distance.
Hyuga Nichirin initially thought they were enemies, but upon closer inspection, he realized that both combatants were from his own village—two of the Sannin, no less.
Jiraiya glanced over and immediately felt a surge of hope. With five more members from the Hyuga clan joining, Orochimaru wouldn't be able to escape. With five pairs of Byakugan, no matter how skilled Orochimaru was, he wouldn't escape.
Orochimaru smiled faintly. "Jiraiya, you're always like this. Once you see what you want to see, you overlook many other important things."
Like the person hiding behind the tree, deliberately keeping out of Jiraiya's sight?
"Orochimaru, no matter what you say today, you won't escape," Jiraiya declared firmly. Although he didn't understand what Orochimaru was trying to say, he had made up his mind—he would bring Orochimaru back to Konoha, even if it meant breaking his limbs.
"Always talking about peace, but putting your hope in the 'Child of Destiny.' Jiraiya, you're just bound by the title of 'ninja,' constantly shouting unreachable dreams, never able to touch them."
Orochimaru, though surrounded, still wore a calm smile. He took out a piece of purple snake scales from his robes and continued, "As for me, in pursuit of my lifelong ambition, I've already taken the first step. I will continue to move forward, while people like you, shouting in vain, will never stop me."
Crack!
The snake scale snapped in Orochimaru's hands.
Jiraiya, though unsure of Orochimaru's confidence, couldn't help but feel unease growing in his chest.
"You're right, Orochimaru!" A third voice suddenly echoed, and Hyuga Mirai, watching from a distance, stiffened. The voice had come from behind them.
*This is bad!*
Hyuga Nichirin immediately felt his spine go cold and instinctively tried to turn, but it was too late. A whiplash-like kick struck his neck. The speed of the attack left him no time to react.
Crack!
With the force of the blow, his neck snapped, and his body flew like a rubber ball, landing far away.
At the same time, two other Hyuga branch family guards were attacked. They sensed something wrong, but the speed of the ambush was too fast. Before they could react, their internal organs were damaged, and they crashed to the ground, vomiting blood, unable to move.
'Not good!'
Kiyo Hyuga also sensed the attack on her and immediately activated her Kaiten, spinning her chakra to form a defensive shield. The attack struck her Kaiten, but it wasn't enough to stop the force. She was sent flying and crashed into a tree several dozen meters away. However, being skilled in taijutsu, she quickly adjusted in the air, minimizing the damage.
In just a few moments, there were one death and two injuries, along with one light injury. It all happened so fast that Jiraiya and the others hadn't even reacted.
"Who did this!?" Kiyo Hyuga demanded, her eyes burning with fury as she glared at the spot where the attack had come from. She wanted to know who had ambushed the Hyuga clan.
Even with her Byakugan activated, all she saw was Hyuga Mirai.
"Mirai, where is the person who attacked us? And your hand... what happened?" Kiyo's voice wavered, her tone starting high but ending in a tremor. She hadn't immediately understood, but now it was clear—Mirai's cold, detached expression and the blood dripping from his right hand revealed the truth.
"Hyuga Mirai!" Jiraiya shouted in anger, quickly joining his hands to summon the two Great Sages of Mount Myoboku.
With all his attention focused on Orochimaru earlier, Jiraiya hadn't seen Mirai's actions, but now, it was clear that Mirai and Orochimaru must have been in league all along.
"Mirai... Hyuga Mirai, what are you doing? What did you just do?" Kiyo's voice cracked as she demanded answers.
Mirai responded in a calm tone, as if teaching his team members back in the Chunin exams.
"What's wrong, Kiyo? A qualified ninja shouldn't be asking such naive questions, especially when the answers are right in front of your eyes."
With his cold eyes locked on Kiyo, he continued, "As you can see, I've just killed Hyuga Nichirin, the second elder of the main house, and heavily wounded you three. However, I must say, Kiyo, your Kaiten has become much more skilled since the war. It seems you haven't stopped your training."
(End of Chapter)
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