Trust
"A truly 'touching' display of camaraderie."
Orochimaru watched as Lin Ke dove underground, and Nara Yan Shui and the two Genin charged towards him, unable to help but chuckle.
It was almost comical, the enemy not fleeing but attempting to fight back.
As he laughed, a complex mix of emotions welled up within him. Even after so many years away, was Konoha Village still the same?
But having come this far, he would no longer be swayed by the village or past bonds.
"Swish! Swish! Swish!"
Clone Jutsu, Shuriken, Kunai...
Yuan Wei, running at the forefront, launched the first attack, throwing ninja tools in a simple, unadorned manner, before wasting a large amount of Chakra to create seven or eight clones (illusions). The real body and clones intermingled, seemingly to confuse the enemy.
Orochimaru's expression didn't change as he dodged the Shuriken and Kunai with a sidestep. Too slow.
However, there seems to be a rather naive idea, he thought, watching Xia, who was hiding among the clones, take a deep breath, revealing half her face.
"Whoosh!"
A massive fireball was expelled, and at the same time, Yuan Wei was forming hand seals, spitting out the exact same hand seals as Orochimaru had just used—
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique followed by Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. Even with the two Genin's long-term training and mission experience together, their coordination created a seemingly impressive and swift flame attack.
Orochimaru was about to form hand seals when he suddenly found his body stiff and unable to move.
Using the shadow of the Great Fireball to capture my shadow? He glanced sideways at Nara Yan Shui, who was forming hand seals and standing in place, binding him, and still had the composure to do so despite the fireball being so close.
"Bang!"
A Shadow Clone exploded.
"Boom!" The wind fueled the fire, and the Great Fireball, enhanced by the Great Breakthrough, scorched and shattered the tree trunk beneath Orochimaru's feet.
Before the broken planks could even fall—
"Indeed, I should have dealt with you first..." Orochimaru's voice was already in his ear. Nara Yan Shui felt a chill in his chest as the Kusanagi Sword silently and effortlessly pierced through his Chakra-enhanced body as if it were tofu.
Well then, we've got you too... Without this sword... It's up to you, Lin Ke!
Nara Yan Shui slightly altered the hand seals in his hands, and the Shadow Sewing Jutsu, which had been prepared long ago, suddenly transformed from beneath his feet, taking physical form and tightly entangling the Kusanagi Sword.
"Crack!"
The ground suddenly burst open, and Lin Ke reached for Orochimaru's legs, using the Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage Technique to imitate the original Headhunter Technique.
But clearly, the teacher and student's intentions were seen through. Orochimaru released the sword after stabbing his target and dodged the Shadow Sewing Jutsu's entanglement, leaping gracefully into the air, the timing of his jump almost perfectly synchronized with the ground breaking open.
"Swish!"
Xia, with her keenest mind, didn't capture the enemy's movements after spitting out the Great Fireball, so she looked directly at Yan Shui Teacher, who posed the greatest threat to the enemy. Seeing Yan Shui Teacher's chest being pierced, she threw three Shuriken into the air almost without thinking.
Not bad coordination...
Orochimaru slightly curved his lips. It wasn't that the plan was good, but it proved that these four were competent in tactics and had considerable teamwork.
In fact, in this battle, the ones who impressed him the most weren't the target, Lin Ke, but the two Genin. They broke his Genjutsu, had excellent physical and mental qualities, were reasonably clear-headed, and were loyal enough... The psychological strength of Yuan Wei and Xia is actually based on their personal worship of Lin Ke.
Apart from lacking talent and, most importantly, a bloodline, their foundations were quite solid, and at a young age, they had the level of an average Chunin.
Just looking at them, he couldn't help but want to take these two back and give them a taste of the Cursed Seal. If they could survive, they might become excellent materials.
"Shua!" Orochimaru's shadow below him twisted and moved again.
He glanced at it out of the corner of his eye. Another 'shadow'?
It wasn't that he looked down on his own shadow, but not being able to release Ninjutsu and Genjutsu was definitely a significant weakening for him. Even if it inherited his Taijutsu level, the shadow would definitely not be able to last long in his hands.
"Swish!" Lin Ke, jumping into the air, aimed at Orochimaru and threw his hand, glowing with the Five Elements Sealing, towards him.
His throwing speed was certainly much faster than Xia's, but the shape of his hand wasn't suitable for throwing, so it was only so fast.
Even in mid-air, Orochimaru could still use his softened body modifications to temporarily deform and dodge, but—
Orochimaru's shadow happened to jump up and grab the hand, acting almost in sync with the main body. The speed and bizarre Taijutsu it displayed were too fast for the two Genin to see clearly, and the Jonin was already tightly clutching the Kusanagi Sword, half-unconscious.
Only Lin Ke could see it a little more clearly. He stared intently at Orochimaru, who was at a disadvantage in the exchange due to losing the initiative and being in the air. The shadow used his hand as if it were the Kusanagi Sword, attacking continuously. In a flash, his fingers imprinted on the main body's arm.
"It worked..."
He felt a sense of relief. His depleted Chakra couldn't sustain the transformation any longer, and with a poof, he reverted to his small form.
To imprint his palm on the main body, the Shadow Clone was directly kicked away by Orochimaru. As for Lin Ke's main body, his expression turned somber for the first time. The peculiar Sealing Jutsu, which he had hoped would work on Orochimaru, was now pressed against him, causing a deep-seated unease.
"It's time to end this!" He decided to hold back no longer and finish the battle seriously. His hands began to form hand seals rapidly—
"Aaaaaaaah!"
As he attempted to form the hand seals, Orochimaru screamed in agony.
On his chest, the ten fingers corresponding to the hand seals were transforming. Two thumbs were becoming metallic, two index fingers turned into wood, the skin on two middle fingers wrinkled and clung to the finger bones, two ring fingers turned into charcoal, and dust flew from the cracks in two little fingers.
Where the Five Elements Sealing had gripped his arm, light bloomed. Wisps of colorful particles surged into his wrists, eventually spreading to the palms and backs of his hands, transforming into five different colored patterns that completely covered them, before disappearing from sight.
The so-called Five Elements Sealing uses the five elements to seal your ability to form hand seals...
Lin Ke gasped for breath and stuffed another Soldier Pill into his mouth. As long as he tried to form hand seals, his fingers would suffer damage from the five elements. Even if he healed them, it wouldn't matter—
The seal had no time limit. Only he could undo it, as he was the only one in the world who knew the Five Elements Unsealing.
This was the trump card he believed gave him and his team a chance to defeat Orochimaru.
Against ninjutsu-type ninjas, as long as he had the opportunity to successfully imprint the Five Elements Sealing, losing the ability to form hand seals would be a huge setback for most ninjas.
What's more, without knowing the consequences, once the opponent tried to form hand seals, it wouldn't just be that they couldn't form them, but they would directly lose their hands under the effects of the five elements.
He looked at Orochimaru, whose face was filled with terror, and a feeling of elation washed over him.
There's no helping it. Who told my ninjutsu to be so abnormal!
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