Orochimaru: Old man, you seem to have taken on quite the disciple.

Orochimaru was clearly taken aback when the man dressed Anbu called him "senior brother".

He then saw a figure rushing directly towards him.

The speed was so fast that Orochimaru couldn't help but become interested.

It wasn't the speed of this Anbu in front of me that impressed me, but rather his courage to face himself directly.

Orochimaru wanted to test the abilities of this Anbu before him.

He stepped back and suddenly swung his right hand at the Hagoromo.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Several long snakes emerged from Orochimaru's sleeves, hissing as they spat out sharp blades, attacking Hagoromo with lightning speed.

As if anticipating this, the rapidly approaching Hagoromo performed a side jump and landed on the ground.

He zigzagged his way around Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands.

Um?

Seeing Hagoromo's rapid change of direction, Orochimaru frowned and changed his attack direction again.

He intended to use this to stop Hagoromo from approaching him.

Hagoromo then took out several Shuriken from her ninja tool pouch and shot them out, her fingers moving irregularly.

Several Shuriken flew towards Orochimaru in an unusual direction, severing the heads of several long snakes along the way.

"Oh? Chakra Threads?"

Seeing that the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands had been broken, Orochimaru watched the incoming Shuriken with great interest.

After dodging in an extremely bizarre manner, the person spat out Kusanagi Sword and severed the threads on the Shuriken.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Hagoromo crouched down in front of Orochimaru and launched a low sweeping kick at Orochimaru lower body.

He then leaped up, striking Orochimaru's throat with his elbow, and before landing, he spun around and delivered a back kick to Orochimaru's abdomen.

Orochimaru, who had been hit by Hagoromo's combo, finally reacted and crossed his arms to block the kick.

In the next instant, countless snakes swarmed out from Orochimaru's sleeves.

"Multiple Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

As the swarm of snakes attacked, Hagoromo could only use a spinning kick to shatter a few of the approaching snakes.

Chance!

Seeing the opening, Hagoromo gathered Chakra in his right hand and slammed it into the ground.

Boom--!

The ground shattered from the impact, and countless rocks blocked the snakes' path.

The stone fell, and the snakes were smashed, their blood splattering all over the ground.

The dust that was kicked up obscured Orochimaru's vision.

Having lost his target, Orochimaru stopped his movements and slowly withdrew his spell, his golden vertical pupils warily scanning his surroundings.

As the ground shattered, Hagoromo disappeared from Orochimaru's sight.

And...

"Rasengan!"

Above Orochimaru, Hagoromo swooped down headfirst, a round, azure Chakra ball already gathered in his right palm.

The air whistled sharply as the Rasengan spun.

Using gravity to descend rapidly, Hagoromo used Rasengan to smash Orochimaru.

"Whispering sound--"

The instant Hagoromo's Rasengan struck, Orochimaru opened his mouth, and a hand swiftly emerged from it.

Just as the Rasengan finally struck, Orochimaru's entire body was ejected, and he quickly fled into the distance.

Boom--

The Rasengan struck the snakeskin and landed, sending up a cloud of dust that stretched for dozens of meters.

Not far away, Orochimaru had just landed and stood firm.

The next second, several Kunai carrying Explosive Tags shot towards him, as if pre-targeted.

Bang bang--

A series of explosions rang out.

With a leap and a retreat, Orochimaru ignored the wounds inflicted by the aftershocks of the Explosive Tags, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.

Just as he was about to form a hand seal, two figures rushed out from the lingering smoke on either side of him and grabbed his hands.

From the smoke ahead, another Hagoromo burst forth in a zigzag pattern.

He had already condensed another Rasengan in his hand, and was about to strike Orochimaru's wide-open heart.

"Damn it..."

Orochimaru's eyes twitched involuntarily at the sight.

He twisted his neck and stretched it out, then opened his mouth again, and a Kusanagi Sword Rasengan straight at the Rasengan in Hagoromo's hand.

When the Rasengan collided with the Kusanagi Sword, the golden fluorescence that had been shrinking from the Rasengan dissipated.

The next instant, a massive Rasengan directly blocked the blade of the Kusanagi Sword.

Upon seeing this amount of Rasengan in the Orochimaru, Chakra's pupils constricted sharply, and the Kusanagi Sword in his mouth extended rapidly.

The intention was to create distance and avoid being hit by the Rasengan again.

Feeling the force of the Rasengan in his hand, a slight smile appeared on the corner of his mouth beneath the Hagoromo mask.

Maintaining the existing Chakra output, he used the force of Orochimaru's rapidly extending Kusanagi Sword.

Then.

He was propelled through the dense forest at an incredibly fast speed by the force of the Kusanagi Sword, flying out of the border.

The Chakra in Hagoromo's hand dissipated instantly, and she dove backflip to avoid the blade of the Kusanagi Sword.

Without the Rasengan to shield it, the Kusanagi Sword thrust forward relentlessly.

Boom--

Looking at the Kusanagi Sword deeply rooted in the ground, Hagoromo looked up at the figure with its neck stretched out like something out of a horror movie.

Orochimaru, whose entire head was floating in the air, waved his hand and said, "I've already sensed my senior's abilities, so I won't bother you any longer."

After saying that, Hagoromo's entire body exploded.

Even from hundreds of meters away, Orochimaru could still clearly see the smoke from the dispelling spell.

Shadow Clones...

So, this guy had already escaped the moment he first used the Rasengan and then used the Explosive Tags to create smoke and dust that obscured his vision?

As he pondered this, Orochimaru gradually sheathed his Kusanagi Sword, his golden vertical pupils filled with malice.

As Orochimaru reverted to his original form, his grin widened even further.

"Hehehe..."

"So, old man, it seems you've taken on an extraordinary apprentice at this frail age."

Remembering that "senior brother" from the beginning, Orochimaru murmured sinisterly.

From the very beginning, this Anbu seemed to have a good understanding of its own combat methods.

Almost every step and every move was designed to force him to use Orochimaru Style Substitution Shedding Technique to deplete his Chakra.

In the end, no matter what happens to me.

He would likely try to prevent himself from using his magic, or seize the right opportunity to strike directly at his own heart.

You can only do so, either unintentionally or by force, to distance yourself from him.

It was only at this point that Orochimaru finally understood the old man's new disciple.

From the very beginning, I never intended to fight myself head-on; I was merely using the act of fighting as a pretext.

Escape.

"Interesting... It seems some changes have occurred in the village that I'm unaware of."

As he spoke, Orochimaru once again stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips.

--

"Huff--, huff--!"

By a small river, Hagoromo sat on the bank, soaking wet, panting heavily.

The instant the Explosive Tags detonated, he created Shadow Clones to distract Orochimaru, while he himself sprinted towards the nearest river.

The purpose was to avoid Orochimaru's disgusting way of perceiving things.

The tongue collects olfactory information from airborne particles and uses heat perception to detect the movement of snakes.