Obtained?

The moment Yemo saw the mound of earth appear in the flames, his expression changed. He shot backward, retreating frantically.

There had been no movement at all, so why had Yemo suddenly retreated? Simple. The mound of earth still standing there was enough to show that Orochimaru had used Earth Release to escape the fireball's attack.

Barely a dozen seconds had passed from the fireball's explosion to its dissipation. An ordinary person could hardly accomplish much in that time, but for a ninja of Orochimaru's caliber, it was more than enough to do a great deal.

Yemo had only just stepped back when spikes thrust up from the earth. If he had acted a moment later, they might have pierced him.

That was close! Yemo thought, immensely relieved as he looked at the spikes jutting out of the ground before him.

"Good reflexes, but you've already walked into my trap. Earth Release: Earth Swamp!"

Before Yemo could catch his breath, Orochimaru appeared in the bushes beside him, having already completed his Hand Seals. He called out coldly, releasing the Ninjutsu he had prepared long ago.

The earth beneath Yemo twisted, and the hard ground turned into a swamp. It happened so quickly that before he could react, his legs had sunk deep into it. It was as though a pair of invisible hands were constantly pulling him farther in.

Faced with this situation, Yemo's first move was not to find a way out of the swamp. Instead, he raised his hand and hurled several Kunai at Orochimaru in the bushes.

The sharp Kunai flew through the air, but Orochimaru made no move to dodge, as though he had not seen them coming.

The Kunai cut through the air with a piercing whistle and struck the motionless Orochimaru. Then something astonishing happened. The Kunai passed straight through his body as though he were nothing but empty air, embedding themselves in the hard tree trunk behind him with a sharp thud.

"It's Genjutsu!" Yemo cried in surprise. "If the Teacher Orochimaru in front of me is an illusion created by Genjutsu, then the real Teacher Orochimaru is behind me..."

Before he finished speaking, Yemo whirled around. At the same time, Chakra burst from his body with him at its center. The invisible Chakra seemed to become a massive hammer, collapsing the space wherever it passed. The surroundings began to return to normal, and the empty space behind him distorted as Orochimaru's figure slowly emerged.

Seeing Orochimaru, Yemo smiled and sighed. "As expected of you, Teacher Orochimaru. Using the flames of my Fire Style as cover, you secretly escaped with Earth Release, then laid a trap behind me. You used Earth Release: Earth Spear to force me backward, then triggered the trap to pin me down. And throughout all that, you also used Genjutsu to hide your true position, making everything I saw an illusion."

It had to be said that Orochimaru's use of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu in that sequence was beyond reproach. If this had been a fight to the death, Yemo would have died long ago, quite possibly without even knowing how.

Orochimaru had been famous for a long time, so praise from a youngster like Yemo naturally did not affect him. He said, "Your performance was quite a surprise. Although you were lacking in several respects during the fight, overall you did well. Unfortunately, you won't be able to take the bells from me."

"Not necessarily, Teacher Orochimaru. The fight isn't over yet!" Yemo said confidently, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Then, under Orochimaru's puzzled gaze, Yemo grabbed something in the air in front of him with both hands and pulled hard, sending himself flying out of the swamp.

Orochimaru focused his gaze and finally noticed that the Kunai Yemo had thrown were tied to thin, nearly transparent threads that were invisible to the naked eye. Yemo had pulled himself out of the swamp by grabbing those threads.

Interesting. He even knows to tie threads to his Kunai. By all rights, he's never had a teacher or studied at the Ninja Academy, so how does he know these fighting methods that only experienced ninja know? Orochimaru wondered.

After all, Yemo had followed Hokage for six or seven years and had lost count of how many times he had watched its hundreds of episodes. As the saying went, even if he had never eaten pork, he had seen pigs run. Though he had never been on a battlefield, the fighting methods he knew were no worse than those of experienced ninja.

"You think you can get away that easily? Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Orochimaru thrust out his right hand and summoned several large white snakes. They shot out like arrows loosed from a bow, their huge mouths open and red tongues flicking, stirring gusts of foul-smelling wind.

The snakes moved swiftly, closing in on Yemo in an instant. He could already feel the foul wind rushing toward his face.

Yemo released the threads and turned to land. His hands flew through the seals as he shouted, "Yin-Yang Release: Wood Manipulation Technique!"

The instant the words left his mouth, Yemo slammed his right hand against the ground. A wave of Chakra spread out, and the earth trembled as dark yellow tree roots burst from the soil.

Under Yemo's control, the once lifeless roots seemed to come alive, each one grappling with the white snakes flying toward him.

Watching this, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes slightly. "That strange secret technique again, the one that resembles Wood Release. It's somewhat like the Nara Clan's Shadow Manipulation Technique. It seems my disciple has some secrets no one knows about."

At that thought, interest appeared in Orochimaru's eyes. As a research fanatic, he too wanted to get to the bottom of this marvelous secret technique.

The white snakes Orochimaru had summoned were not under his control, while the roots were controlled by Yemo. In a few moves, they wrapped around every white snake flying toward him.

Yemo gave his right hand a slight shake, snapping the white snakes in half at the waist. Yet not a drop of blood flowed, and the snakes tightly bound by the roots vanished with a puff. Orochimaru gave his right hand a light wave, and it returned to normal.

Orochimaru said, "Yemo, if this is all you can do, there's absolutely no way you'll get the bells at my waist."

Yemo knew that as well as anyone. Taking the bells fastened to Teacher Orochimaru's waist would be no easy task. First, he had to get close to him, but even now, Yemo had not managed that, let alone taken the bells.

But that did not mean Yemo had no way. Since he could not get close to Teacher Orochimaru himself, he could control something else to approach him. With Yin-Yang Release, tree roots were not the only things Yemo could control.

The corners of Yemo's mouth lifted as he said meaningfully, "Teacher Orochimaru, take a good look at this move!"

As he spoke, Yemo moved his hands, forming only a single seal. Then he lightly stamped his right foot, and a strange Chakra spread outward in every direction with him at its center.

Orochimaru naturally sensed the strange Chakra surging beneath his feet. He could not quite understand what Yemo meant by sending Chakra into the ground, but he had a bad feeling. His eyes narrowed slightly, and at last his expression grew serious.

"Yin-Yang Release: Earth Manipulation Technique!"

The hard earth began to tremble as though struck by an earthquake of more than ten magnitudes. Cracks appeared across the ground, which continued to shake with growing intensity. Under the violent tremors, even Orochimaru found it hard to keep his balance, his body swaying with the ground.

Orochimaru wondered what Yemo was doing. Was he merely making the ground shake? What good would that do? What exactly was he planning?

"Condense, Earth Protrusion!"

Yemo abruptly clapped his hands together. The ground beneath Orochimaru suddenly bulged high into the air. It happened without warning. Orochimaru had never expected that Yemo could make the earth beneath his feet rise while the ground was shaking, launching him high into the air.

"Not good!"

Hurled into the air, Orochimaru sensed serious trouble. Unable to move in midair, he was a perfect target. Now he somewhat understood what Yemo was doing.

"You can't push off anything in midair, Teacher Orochimaru. You can't get away now!"

Yemo smiled faintly and formed seals again. At the same time, he slapped his right hand against the ground and shouted, "Yin-Yang Release: Wood Manipulation Technique!"

Countless roots surged through the cracks in the trembling earth. Under Yemo's control, they moved like flexible ropes, swiftly binding Orochimaru, who had nothing to push off in midair.

Countless vines shot into the sky, holding Orochimaru firmly in midair. At the same time, Yemo controlled a slender root in his hand, sending it creeping toward Orochimaru's waist to remove the bells fastened there.