The Battle's Final Act!

Boom boom boom!!

The endless explosions seemed to be lifting the ocean; the waves generated by the explosions were over ten meters high! The surging waves formed a boundless tsunami, with overwhelming force, rising wave after wave and surging outwards!

In mid-air, the enormous roar formed semi-transparent walls of air, accompanied by fierce winds that spread outwards.

The continuous waves and strong winds, even just a small aftershock of the explosion, battered and blew the nearby beach into a mess, with sand, stones, fallen leaves, and withered branches scattered everywhere, and countless birds, beasts, and trees lying on the ground!

The continuous roar lasted for half a minute before Sakura stopped her Mutually Multiplying Clone Explosion Technique.

The thousands of Ice Clones have been mostly used up. What was once a densely packed area is now much sparse, with only a few figures remaining in the empty space.

Orochimaru's Chakra sensing has weakened considerably.

Sakura Haruno looked over calmly.

"There's a result..." she said calmly. The sea gradually calmed down, and the countless splashes of water and smoke from the explosion of the clone slowly dissipated, revealing Orochimaru's figure on the sea.

Several giant snakes coiled around him, protecting him in the center of the coil. The outer pythons had already been blown to pieces, pitted and unrecognizable. Even the innermost pythons were covered in wounds and bleeding profusely from the ice shards produced by the explosion.

Orochimaru stood in the middle of the giant python, his face even paler.

His aura had become very weak, and his Chakra was also waning... Sakura Haruno thought to herself, it seems that if she attacks fiercely for another two or three rounds, Orochimaru will really be defeated!

Even if one possesses a wealth of Secret Technique, it's useless without Chakra; and Orochimaru's current stamina has indeed dropped to a very dangerous level.

The Orochimaru-Style Substitution Technique, which grants perfect immunity to all damage, possesses such a powerful effect, which clearly indicates that its consumption is not low! How many times has he already used it?

He probably doesn't even remember it himself.

Sakura Haruno and the remaining clones surrounded them. There were still a dozen or twenty clones left, a tiny fraction of the number that had covered the ground earlier. Orochimaru, however, had a solemn expression.

The series of explosions stirred up fierce winds and terrifying waves, the aftershocks of which still linger today.

A gentle breeze stirred, lifting the girl's soft pink hair; ripples of water lapped over her delicate sandals, waves carrying Utakata that playfully splashed onto her feet and nestled between her rounded toes.

She walked gracefully across the water, her light, cloud-like steps lightly touching the waves.

"Orochimaru, you're finished." Sakura Haruno said calmly, looking at him with graceful steps and eyes brimming with confidence in victory.

The relentless attacks gave Orochimaru no time to catch his breath, which accelerated the rate at which his stamina was waning.

Sakura could sense Orochimaru's presence; if he had been given even a moment to rest and catch his breath, this battle would have gone on indefinitely. Unfortunately, he didn't have that time...

Victory in the battle was already in her hands.

"Hmph," Orochimaru smiled as he watched the girl stroll towards him, "Fighting you in a place like this will definitely be very difficult..."

"However, I'm not so easily defeated!"

Sakura Haruno stopped and stood at a distance that was neither too close nor too far, sizing up the man in front of her.

"Is that all your last words?" She raised her hand and pointed at Orochimaru.

"From this day forward, the title of the Sannin is officially revoked!"

Sakura suddenly waved her hand, and Orochimaru's feet suddenly began to boil. Five giant dragons rose from the seabed and crashed into Orochimaru!

Orochimaru's expression changed instantly; such a powerful Ninjutsu had been used without warning!

"She was secretly using this Ninjutsu when she came over... Damn it!" Orochimaru thought to himself as he dodged the impact of the two water dragons.

Even when he was in good health, he had to be careful to deal with the super S-rank Ninjutsu attack. Now, with his stamina greatly reduced, he was even more disheveled in his dodging. The third water dragon just brushed past Orochimaru, his right hand barely grazed, and his bones were instantly shattered. Then the fourth water dragon came straight at him. Orochimaru barely managed to dodge it, but was struck hard by the tail of the fifth water dragon!

Bang--

A loud, muffled thud echoed as flesh collided with a hard object. Sakura Haruno, who was controlling the water dragon's attack from the side, felt a chill run down her spine. Orochimaru was struck in mid-air and sent flying backward, half of his body seemingly turned into a bloody pulp!

Sakura changed her hand seals, and the five water dragons instantly turned and bit Orochimaru in mid-air.

"Die!" she hissed, her outstretched hand clenching into a fist!

If Orochimaru were to be hit head-on by this Ninjutsu, even if he had a strong life force, he would lose half his life on the spot!

Whoosh--!

The instant the dragon collided with Orochimaru, a figure suddenly appeared behind him and teleported away; the five water dragons missed their target, and then suddenly exploded!

He is the Second Hokage...

Sakura Haruno frowned, immediately realizing what had happened. After the battle, Tobirama Senju had recovered and rescued Orochimaru at the last minute, also managing to attach Explosive Tag to Suiryu!

The endless bombardment of Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags was so powerful that even a water dragon couldn't withstand it!

The first few Explosive Tag did little damage to the water dragon; then, as the continuous attacks focused on the same point, they began to leave shallow scratches. As the number of Explosive Tag increased, the power of the explosions grew stronger, scales began to shatter and fall off, blood and flesh splattered everywhere, and amidst the roar, the dragon let out a wounded roar, the sound gradually becoming mournful and fading away, finally dissipating into countless streams of water with a final, sorrowful cry.

Sakura Haruno watched as Tobirama Orochimaru, along with Tobirama Senju, used a few Body Flicker Technique to dodge the dragon's final attack and landed on the sea nearby. Her sure-kill strike had been thwarted, and she felt a slight annoyance.

Suppressing her resentment, she asked, "How did you Body Flicker Technique to his side?"

There's no water in the air, so he can't use techniques like Shunsui, unless...

"I left the Flying Thunder God Formula on Orochimaru's back," Tobirama Senju said calmly, confirming Sakura's guess.

Although Tobirama Senju was under Orochimaru's control, he was still able to control his own words, and Orochimaru could only watch as he revealed the secrets of the technique.

"Orochimaru's stamina is already low, you just need to focus on my attacks..." Tobirama Senju continued to explain, "Aside from the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, you've already seen most of my Ninjutsu, and you dealt with them very well. From now on, just be cautious... Orochimaru has already lost."

Sakura nodded.

Watching the enemy standing opposite her fight her, the girl felt the scene was somewhat comical.

This is clearly a life-or-death battle, yet it feels very unserious.

"Heh heh, I see," Orochimaru sneered, having just shed his heavily injured body and donned a new one. "I just manipulated him to place several Flying Thunder God Formulas at a distance, so he can escape the battlefield at any time..."

Sakura Haruno frowned as she looked over. Did Orochimaru mean to run away?

Tobirama Senju gave him a cold glance.

"That's right, there are three locations, scattered several kilometers away." He turned to Sakura Haruno, his voice tinged with helplessness, "One at two o'clock, one at six o'clock, and one at ten o'clock. If he wants to run..."

"Even if you tell her all the locations, it's too late..." Orochimaru's voice was still somewhat weak. He said, "The Flying Thunder God Technique is really convenient. No wonder Minato was able to become Hokage with this technique!"

Tobirama Senju ignored him and continued speaking to Sakura Haruno, "You've already witnessed the speed at which the Flying Thunder God Technique is activated. I can teleport to the Flying Thunder God Formula seal without even Hand Seals. Ordinary attacks, including your Water Release just now, can't even touch me or Orochimaru! If you have any other techniques, you can try them to see if you can catch him, but forget about those last few attacks!"

Sakura hesitated for a moment.

Besides Wind Blade Torrent, her two fastest moves are Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals.

Unfortunately, neither of these two techniques can keep up with the speed of the Flying Thunder God Technique.

A sneak attack from underwater isn't fast enough... For a moment, the girl's mind raced, but she couldn't think of an effective method.

Sakura Haruno sighed, "I'm out of options..."

Back then, the entire Shinobi World, except for Konoha, was researching ways to counter the Flying Thunder God, and the only strategy they could come up with was to run away as soon as they saw the Yellow Flash. If Sakura could find a way to deal with it in such a short time, then all the ninjas in the world would probably be idiots, right?

The enemy, a master of Space-Time Ninjutsu, was determined to escape, and there was simply no way to stop him...

"It seems this battle has to end here," Orochimaru chuckled. "Sakura Haruno, your growth is truly remarkable!"

His fighting ability has been severely weakened.

The battle between the Second Hokage Sakura Haruno was also evenly matched... Orochimaru glanced at the large patch of blood on Sakura's chest. Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God Strike had missed her vital points, and the penetrating wound it left was quickly healed by Sakura, leaving her completely recovered except for the bloodstains. Therefore, using it again would be pointless; as for using Tobirama Senju's other Ninjutsu, it would probably be of little use...

This is at sea!

If Tobirama Senju could unleash his full power from before his birth... no, if he could just fight back against his own control and fully unleash the power of the Impure World Reincarnation, Orochimaru believed this battle wouldn't have been so difficult; he had focused too much of his energy on controlling Tobirama Senju!

On the other side, Sakura Haruno was able to maintain her winning position, but she couldn't force them to stay...

Therefore, neither side could do anything about the other.

"Leave Konoha! I'll make this one last suggestion," he licked his lips with his slick tongue, "Come to me, and we can be equals! Not subordinates, but equal partners... I can share all my information with you, including the Reincarnation Technique that grants immortality!"

Sakura Haruno gave a cold laugh.

She didn't care about Orochimaru's techniques at all, except for that bizarre skin-changing technique that made him virtually invincible.

As for the Reincarnation Technique... sorry, she hasn't reached the point of lamenting her impending death, nor is she dissatisfied with her current identity as Sakura Haruno; with a large number of relatives and friends, Sakura would only abandon these ties and join Orochimaru if she were in a daze!

"Orochimaru, are you trying to entice Konoha Ninja to defect right in front of me?!" The Second Hokage's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he stared at Orochimaru with murderous intent.

"Heh heh, so what? You're just a dead man I'm controlling anyway. The affairs of the living are none of your business, and you can't break free from my control!" Orochimaru scoffed, then said to Sakura Haruno, "Well, I've been very sincere! I genuinely want to invite you..."

"If we work together, we can definitely develop Ninjutsu to its ultimate level and explore the truth of the world!"

The girl remained unmoved, simply looking back at him calmly.

"I will not leave Konoha," she said calmly. "I have no interest in your things! And is your so-called Reincarnation Technique that grants immortality really that good?"

"After this battle, you should have felt it, right? Your soul has suffered severe damage during your multiple reincarnations, and your mental strength is far weaker than before... Therefore, your so-called reincarnation is nothing more than prolonging your life a little longer; ultimately, it will only lead to your death!"

(Third update! Guaranteed update! I probably won't be able to finish the next chapter, so I'll try to update four times tomorrow!)

(I'll be updating at least three times a week, totaling 10,000 words each time!)

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