r18novel Chapter 156 Orochimaru finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Chapter 156 Orochimaru finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Chapter 156 Orochimaru finally couldn't hold back any longer.
Orochimaru's golden vertical pupils were fixed on Sasuke in the arena, a hint of regret flashing in his eyes.
but·.
This outstanding performance has far exceeded his expectations.
Uchiha Sasuke definitely has the qualifications to become my "vessel"!
Upon thinking of this, Orochimaru gave a sinister smile and suddenly raised one hand.
"action!"
"yes!"
The two Sand Ninja guards behind him had been holding their breath and waiting for a long time. Upon hearing the order, they immediately understood.
With a flick of their wrists, they simultaneously threw two dark green smoke bombs from their sleeves.
"!!"
Two muffled thuds exploded on the high platform!
In an instant, thick smoke, like a gray torrent bursting its banks, spread wildly around the stands.
In the center of the arena, Sasuke and Gaara also noticed the strange occurrence in the stands at almost the same time.
A large, hazy cloud of smoke rose from the central stands, engulfing the figures and making them impossible to see clearly.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, and the solemn instructions Kakashi-sensei had given him that morning instantly flashed through his mind.
"If you notice anything amiss later, immediately distance yourself from Gaara, the farther the better—understand?"
Almost without thinking, Sasuke retreated rapidly, his toes barely touching the ground as he retreated more than ten meters, instantly creating a safe distance between himself and Gaara.
"You think you can run away?!"
Gaara also noticed the sudden chaos erupting in the stands. His light green pupils contracted sharply, and a cruel and crazed smile appeared on his face. "It's no use! You're finished!"
Before he could finish speaking, Gaara suddenly clasped his hands together.
"The art of feigning sleep."
During the fog, a large amount of sand surged out like a boiling tide, enveloping Gaara's body and instantly solidifying into a thick sphere of sand!
Yellow sand filled the air, and a fierce wind raged.
The enormous sand sphere completely sealed Gaara inside, with the sand grains on its surface still constantly flowing, faintly emanating a highly unstable chakra fluctuation!
At this critical moment, several figures suddenly darted out from the stands!
“!!!!!!”
Four Konoha ninjas dressed in ANBU uniforms and wearing animal-patterned masks rushed over and surrounded the sand ball in an instant.
One of them leaped to the top of the sand ball, knelt on one knee, and forcefully pressed down a pre-prepared talisman!
"Seal!" A bright red "Seal" character was clearly visible in the very center of the talisman.
Almost simultaneously, the other three members of the Dark Guard also released their talismans, which were firmly attached to the other three directions of the sand sphere.
The four exchanged a glance, simultaneously formed hand seals, and whispered, "Seal!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the talisman on the surface of the sand ball suddenly glowed with a faint black light!
Immediately afterwards, countless complex and mysterious black patterns seemed to come alive, spreading wildly from the talisman and covering the entire surface of the sand sphere in the blink of an eye, completely enveloping it!
Mouth, mouth, mouth—one by one!
With a strange sound, the sand grains on the surface of the sand ball, which had been flowing turbulently, seemed to be frozen in place by some force.
Complete stillness!
In the stands, many spectators snapped out of their daze and cautiously peered into the field, whispering amongst themselves.
"Were those guys from Miyo's ANBU just now?"
"Are they sealing Gaara?"
The crowd whispered amongst themselves, their voices filled with surprise and uncertainty.
"hateful!"
In the stands, Dou pushed up his round-framed glasses and looked at the Sand Sphere that was sealed and suppressed in the arena. His expression immediately turned very ugly.
He had long suspected that Konoha had become suspicious of him, and that the Anbu had been secretly watching and monitoring him for some time.
However, Kabuto never expected that Konoha was so well prepared—they even saw through their plan to use Jinchuriki to cause trouble!
"Where exactly did things go wrong? Could there be a traitor in Sunagakure who leaked the information to Konoha beforehand?!"
His mind raced, and a bead of cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
But now is clearly not the time to dwell on this issue.
Suppressing his shock and anger, Kabuto Yakushi quickly formed hand seals without hesitation.
The next second—
An invisible wave of chakra rapidly spread out from Kabuto's center!
Almost simultaneously, large flakes of pure white feathers floated up from mid-air, falling as lightly as gentle snowflakes.
"This is—an illusion?!" Some perceptive viewers immediately sensed something was wrong and exclaimed in surprise.
However, before any action could be taken, the feathers had already blanketed the audience.
In an instant, most of the audience in the stands felt their eyelids grow heavy, their bodies swayed a couple of times, and then they collapsed and fell into a deep sleep!
The screams and clamor that had been rising and falling on the huge training field suddenly stopped, replaced by an eerie silence!
However, the silence did not last long.
"Whoosh!" A slight rustling of clothing could be heard from several seats in the audience. Immediately afterwards, dozens of ninjas mixed in with the audience suddenly stood up and shielded the slumped crowd behind them.
These people looked clear-headed, clearly having already broken free from the illusion!
Their forehead guards gleamed in the morning light—each one clearly bearing the symbol of Konoha!
"Evacuate! Quickly escort the audience out of here!" one of the plainclothes officers shouted.
Before the words were even finished, a bright golden figure darted out from the seats, nimbly weaving through the crowd, constantly helping up the villagers who had collapsed and carrying them to safety.
It was Naruto who dispelled the genjutsu ahead of time!
"Sakura, how are things on your end?"
Naruto shouted, putting down the old man on his back and turning around to deliver a sweeping kick that knocked a Sound Ninja who was trying to approach to the ground.
"Everything went smoothly!"
A clear, bright response came from not far away.
Sakura, with her sleeves rolled up, was seen bending down with several other ANBU members who had also quickly regained consciousness to wake up a few unconscious civilians and urge them to retreat to a safe area as soon as possible.
Kakashi-sensei had warned them long ago that the situation might change on the day of the exam, and that if any disturbance occurred, they must immediately break the illusion and protect the people.
Soon, with the help of dozens of Konoha ninjas who had been lying in wait, the vast majority of the audience was quickly moved out of the stands.
Although they were not yet fully recovered from the illusion and were stumbling along, they were at least temporarily out of danger.
The situation seems to be developing in Konoha's favor.
However, the Sunagakure spectator rest area on the other side of the stands was still in chaos.
"H-How could this happen?!"
The Sand Village's Jonin leader, Maki, was deathly pale as he stared in disbelief at Gaara, who was sealed in a protective suit.
He never dreamed that the surprise attack, meticulously planned by Sunagakure and launched in conjunction with Otogakure, would collapse in an instant!
"Maki-sensei!" Temari's pretty face turned deathly pale. She clutched the giant iron fan tightly, looking at her Jonin teacher beside her in a panic. "Why did the Konoha Anbu suddenly attack Gaara?!"
"That looks like Konoha's sealing team!" Kankuro exclaimed, equally incredulous. "Could it be—our plan has been exposed?!"
Maki nodded through gritted teeth, his voice low and menacing: "That's right, the operation has been exposed! Konoha was prepared!"
"No—impossible!" Temari's eyes widened instantly. "How could information about a top-secret plan known only to a handful of people be leaked so thoroughly?!"
"Hmph, don't forget, this time we're cooperating with the Sound Village!"
Maki snorted coldly, his words filled with suppressed anger and regret. "It's possible—those Sound Ninja guys betrayed us! Or perhaps, this is all a scheme set up by the Sound Ninja and Konoha, with Sunagakure as the target!"
Upon hearing this, Temari and Kankuro were both struck dumb, frozen in place: "W-How is this possible?!"
Temari drew her fan: "No! I have to go save Gaara!"
After saying that, he tried to rush towards the training field.
"Foolish!" Maki shouted sharply, stopping Temari. "Plan failed! Retreat immediately!"
"But...but Gaara—" Kankuro said anxiously, wanting to say something, but was roughly pushed away by Maki.
"Retreat!" Maki roared.
The brother and sister exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with pain and resentment, but they knew there was no other way at this moment, so they could only grit their teeth and nod.
Just then, a lazy, teasing voice came from the flank: "Sorry, you can't leave."
The three Sand Shinobi were startled by the sound and immediately looked towards its source.
What greeted them were four agile figures who had silently approached without them even noticing!
Might Guy, Kakashi Hatake, Hayate Gekko, Genma Shiranui -
Four Konoha ninjas each occupied a side, surrounding Maki and his group in the center.
A powerful killing intent emanated from them, subtly causing the surrounding air to freeze!
"Oh no, oh no!" Maki's heart sank, and his back was instantly soaked with cold sweat.
He glanced at the headbands and imposing aura of the four people opposite him and immediately realized that he and his companions were no match for them.
Two Jonin and two Special Jonin—Konoha actually sent out such a lineup to block their retreat, clearly determined to win!
"Konoha is giving me way too much credit!"
Maki forced a bitter smile and muttered a self-deprecating remark.
Smoke swirled around the rooftop above the central platform.
A figure was surrounded by smoke and dust from the gaping hole, and suddenly leaped out, landing on the rooftop in a few flashes.
Another tall, dark figure followed closely behind, emerging step by step from the thick smoke and also leaping onto the roof.
The strong wind dispersed the smoke and dust.
Orochimaru, disguised as the Kazekage, grinned maliciously and grabbed Hiruzen Sarutobi's shoulder, pressing a gleaming kunai against Sarutobi's throat.
He crept backward, nudging the Hokage, and said with a grin, "This boring exam game is over. Sarutobi-sensei—the wheels of history are about to turn!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned slightly, but showed no sign of panic.
Just then—"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!"
Four figures sped out from the four corners of the rooftop, landing precisely at the four corners of the area, completely surrounding the two people's location.
The four ninjas surrounding the rooftop are none other than the famous "Sound Four" of Sound Village!
"Lord Orochimaru!" The four bowed in unison, their eyes filled with fervent reverence.
Orochimaru nodded slightly, his vertical pupils revealing a murderous intent: "Let's do it." In the misty moment, the four formed the same hand seals, slammed them onto the ground, and shouted, "Ninja Art: Four Purple Flames Formation!"
hum! ! !
A dazzling purple light wall rose from beneath the four people's palms, converging and merging above the rooftop!
The next second, billowing flames swirled up from the ground, transforming into a massive, blazing cubic barrier that enveloped both Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru!
The whole process happened in the blink of an eye!
A wall of blazing purple fire had already erupted atop the central platform, resembling an insurmountable cage that isolated the two leaders from the outside world!
"Hokage-sama!!"
Gasps of surprise came from the Konoha ninjas below the field.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi, inside the barrier, remained calm, even slowly raising the corners of his mouth.
"Hmph, that's enough of that boring charade!" Orochimaru licked his lips in a frenzied manner, his eyes gleaming with a maniacal light. "Now I will let you witness the end of the old era! From this day forward, the wheels of history will once again crush Konoha!"
"Is that so?" Surprisingly, in the face of Orochimaru's threat, Hiruzen Sarutobi in the barrier suddenly chuckled.
The laughter was deep and resonant, with a hint of mockery and regret in its tone, completely different from the hoarse and aged voice of Sarutobi from before!
Orochimaru's pupils contracted, and his face darkened: "That voice—?!"
Before he could finish speaking, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly raised his leg and swept it horizontally, aiming straight for Orochimaru's waist and abdomen!
Orochimaru was taken aback and quickly let go, retreating rapidly to barely dodge the fierce kick.
Realizing what had happened, a chilling premonition suddenly rose in his heart. He stared intently at the person before him, his face grim, and demanded sharply, "Who exactly are you?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had been held hostage, now stood calmly in place, a slight smile playing on his lips: "What, it's only been a few years, and you can't even recognize my voice?"
As he spoke, his hands suddenly formed a hand seal, and he shouted sharply, "Release!"
Boom!
A burst of white smoke exploded and dissipated, revealing a tall, white-haired man standing within the barrier!
The newcomer was wearing a red vest with wide sleeves, and the word "oil" was engraved on his forehead. Two long red lines on his face were very conspicuous.
It was none other than Jiraiya, one of the Legendary Sannin of Konoha!
"Long time no see, Orochimaru." The white-haired man grinned, a hint of regret in his expression. "You finally couldn't hold back."
Orochimaru has really disappointed me.
Orochimaru was completely stunned.
Just as he was deeply shaken, a commotion arose again from the direction of the stands.
Orochimaru's heart tightened, and he subconsciously looked in the direction of the sound.
Throughout the audience, the Sand Ninja and Sound Ninja who should have been lying in wait were being dragged out one by one by Konoha ninjas and pinned to the ground, completely powerless to fight back.
The Konoha spectators, who were supposed to be asleep as originally planned, were mostly awake at this moment, and under the command of groups of Konoha ninjas, they orderly evacuated from various parts of the stands.
In the center of the training field, the desert jinchūriki who should have fully unleashed the One-Tailed Shukaku was now covered in talismans with the character "seal" written on them, lying obediently on the ground unconscious.
As for Uchiha Sasuke, he disappeared without a trace at some point!
"Konoha completely knew about my actions?"
Orochimaru stood there dumbfounded, veins throbbing on his forehead, a look of disbelief and panic flashing in his eyes for the first time. "This—how is this possible?!"
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
Whether in dreams or reality, Orochimaru has taken action against Konoha.
Orochimaru is beyond saving!
Jiraiya didn't hold back either, decisively launching an attack while Orochimaru was distracted.
His cheeks puffed out, and he suddenly opened his mouth and spewed out a huge, blazing fireball!
Boom!
The blazing fireball struck Orochimaru directly, exploding with a deafening roar!
The intense heat and raging flames engulfed the entire rooftop in a scorching inferno.
Smoke and dust billowed from within the purple firewalls, and charred rubble fell continuously from the roof.
A moment later, as the thick smoke dissipated slightly, Orochimaru and Lu stood inside the barrier, their Kazekage robes now tattered and torn.
His face was ashen, and with a single wave of his hand, he angrily tore off his charred outer garment and threw it at his feet, revealing his pale and ferocious true face.
Orochimaru slowly licked his dry, cracked lips with his tongue, his voice low and sinister, as if squeezed from his throat, "It seems I won't be able to leave Konoha Village unless I kill you today."
On the other side of the barrier, Jiraiya stood solemnly in a fighting stance: "This time, don't think you can escape Konoha so easily again!"
"How arrogant!" Orochimaru sneered disdainfully. "You? From childhood to adulthood, you've never beaten me—you loser!"
Jiraiya sneered, "Whether it works or not, we'll only know by trying. Besides, it seems like it's been a while since we've done anything!"
"Hiss—..."
Orochimaru laughed wildly, his golden vertical pupils revealing murderous intent, and a strange smile curled at the corner of his mouth. "Fine, I'll kill you first, then I'll deal with the old man!"