Golden light, like the dawn breaking, cleaved straight through Orochimaru's Four Black Snakes Formation. As the barrier shattered, the purple poisonous gas inside began spreading uncontrollably outward. Even Orochimaru, the one who had produced the purple gas, could do nothing but watch as it spread in every direction...
The purple poisonous gas expelled from Orochimaru's snake clones was not particularly lethal. It had only one effect: paralysis—a specialized poison that made people lose control of their own bodies!
Without Orochimaru's specialized antidote, even a Jonin with decent physical abilities would need three or four days to regain control of their body after being poisoned. For a Chunin or Genin, that time might directly double...
"Not good!"
Orochimaru had thought that, with the sturdy barrier of the Four Black Snakes Formation, he could use the specialized poison without restraint. He had not expected Yuzuru, that monster, to forcefully break through it and cause the purple poison to leak.
Because it was a specialized poison, Orochimaru did not have much antidote on hand. If everyone outside the arena was taken down by his poison, it would be both an especially ridiculous and troublesome situation...
Whether it was Orochimaru's teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi, or his companions Tsunade and Jiraiya, they all knew the properties of Orochimaru's specialized poison. Their first concern was not everyone's safety, but how to handle the aftermath. They had only come to Tsunade's birthday banquet—if they returned home like vegetables, it would be difficult to explain to their clans!
Thus, Hiruzen Sarutobi, transformed into a young man, immediately used the Shadow Clone Technique. Three shadow clones appeared beside him, then, under everyone's astonished gazes, flashed evenly to the four directions outside the arena and formed the same hand seal in unison.
"Four Violet Flames Formation!"
A purple barrier rapidly formed, intercepting the scattered poisonous gas within it like a cage.
"Orochimaru, quickly collect this poisonous gas!"
After completing the Four Violet Flames Formation, Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately shouted at Orochimaru.
Orochimaru glanced at the "young man" and saw the shadow of his teacher in him. Sharp-minded as he was, he immediately understood that this was Hiruzen Sarutobi in disguise. He nodded, then had the snake clones retrieve the poison gas.
"That 'young man' is from the Sarutobi Clan? Why haven't I seen him before?"
"At his age, he can actually master such a difficult barrier formation as the Four Violet Flames Formation. How terrifying!"
"He actually dared to order Lord Orochimaru around. More importantly, Lord Orochimaru even seems to listen to him..."
"That 'young man' must be extremely close to the Hokage, or he wouldn't dare speak to Lord Orochimaru like that!"
"That makes sense!"
"..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's sudden entrance immediately set the spectators whispering. Their words were filled with curiosity toward the "young man." After all, aside from the Third Hokage, the Sarutobi Clan did not seem to have produced any especially outstanding younger generation members in recent years...
"That was Teacher's Four Violet Flames Formation?"
Jiraiya recognized at a glance that the "young man" was his teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had not expected his teacher to use the Four Violet Flames Formation just to clean up Orochimaru's mess. It left him with mixed feelings.
That biased old man!
In fact, some sharp-eyed upper echelons of the ninja clans could guess the "young man's" identity, such as Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Shinji with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated, and the naturally intelligent Nara Kentaro.
After all, even among elite Jonin, few had mastered a difficult barrier formation like the Four Violet Flames Formation, let alone a "young man"...
As the purple poisonous gas was recovered by Orochimaru, Yuzuru's figure gradually became clear. He was shrouded in pale green Chakra and floated in midair, his deep sapphire-blue eyes coldly watching the distance. In his right hand, he held a golden "light sword."
"Another formation?"
Yuzuru slowly raised his head and looked at the barrier of the Four Violet Flames Formation. Then he swung his right hand again, and the Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion slashed out once more!
With a boom, the sealing barrier of the Four Violet Flames Formation was instantly cleaved apart by the "light sword" in Yuzuru's hand. The motion was as effortless as cutting tofu!
"..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi, still transformed into a young man, fell silent. This was a Four Violet Flames Formation he had personally cast, its barrier far stronger than Orochimaru's Four Black Snakes Formation. Yet Yuzuru had still easily split it apart with one strike. The Four Violet Flames Formation's barrier looked as fragile as a sheet of paper...
Orochimaru was stunned as well. This scene had completely exceeded the bounds of his knowledge. What kind of "material" was Yuzuru's light sword made from to cut through barrier formations like tofu?
"What exactly is that 'light sword'? It easily broke through even the Four Violet Flames Formation cast by the Third Hokage!"
Hatake Sakumo stared intensely at the "light sword" in Yuzuru's hand, a trace of excitement stirring in his heart. At his current level, it was no longer possible for his strength to increase dramatically. He could only slowly polish his swordsmanship and improve bit by bit. But if he possessed a ninja blade as sharp as that light sword, his strength could immediately double, allowing him to truly kill a man within ten steps and leave no trace across a thousand miles!
"No way? That Hyuga brat really is a monster! Even Teacher's Four Violet Flames Formation was sliced apart that easily?"
Jiraiya's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief. This was somewhat overturning his worldview. Since when had kids this age become so terrifying?
"That Hyuga brat Yuzuru really seems to possess power comparable to Grandfather's!"
Tsunade, who had been staring blankly, suddenly muttered to herself.
"How is this possible?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke looked at the scene before him in shock. If he had not felt the Chakra in his body flowing normally, he would have instinctively assumed that he had fallen under a genjutsu. How could the Four Violet Flames Formation cast by his father look like tofu being easily sliced apart by Hyuga Yuzuru?
"Hyuga Yuzuru will definitely be the Uchiha Clan's greatest opponent in the future!"
Uchiha Shinji thought with certainty.
"Lord Orochimaru, I'll try to use less strength from now on. I hope you can withstand it."
After splitting apart the Four Violet Flames Formation with one slash, Yuzuru slowly floated toward Orochimaru and looked down at him as he spoke. At that moment, Orochimaru clearly felt that he was being looked down upon.
"Then I'll be looking forward to it!"
Orochimaru's face darkened slightly, and a trace of anger entered his hoarse voice. As a direct disciple of the Hokage, he had never been looked down upon like this, much less "despised" by a six-year-old brat.
"Summoning Technique!"
Having decided to go all out, Orochimaru no longer cared about the occasion and directly used the Summoning Technique to call forth his contracted summon.
A massive cloud of white smoke exploded before Orochimaru, and from within it coiled a three-headed giant snake dozens of meters tall.
At the same time, Orochimaru used a space-time summoning ninjutsu to summon the Kusanagi Blade he had acquired not long ago. This Kusanagi Blade was said to cut through anything, and its hardness and sharpness were unmatched in the Shinobi World. With the Kusanagi Blade for defense, Orochimaru felt much more at ease.
"A summon?"
Yuzuru looked at the three-headed giant snake dozens of meters tall before him and muttered softly. Then, as though he had thought of something, a playful expression appeared on his face for the first time.
"It's best to leave summoned beasts to summoned beasts!"
Thinking this, Yuzuru put away the "light sword" in his right hand. Then, under Orochimaru's watchful gaze, he formed the same hand seal.
"Summoning Technique!"
He bit his fingertip, using crimson blood as the catalyst. Under the call of contract power and the Summoning Technique, a massive snow-white tiger with a pair of wings sprouting from her ribs appeared before Yuzuru. She gently flapped her wings, her sleepy tiger eyes scanning the surroundings in confusion, seemingly surprised to have suddenly appeared here.
"White Tiger, leave that three-headed snake to you!"
"Yes, Lord Yuzuru!"
The familiar voice and aura were suddenly caught by White Tiger. Her spirits immediately lifted. After turning back to look at Yuzuru in this form, she charged fiercely toward the three-headed snake. It was merely an "earthworm" with three heads—dealing with it would be child's play!
"Is that Lord White Tiger?"
"That's right, it really is Lord White Tiger!"
Hyuga Yoshitoki and Hyuga Masato stared in shock at the massive White Tiger beast that had suddenly appeared before Yuzuru. For a moment, they were overwhelmed with fervor, as though they were fans seeing an idol. White Tiger seemed to be a kind of faith to them.
When the brothers Hyuga Hiashi and Hizashi saw that White Tiger had truly been summoned by Yuzuru, their eyes filled with even more envy. Their pale eyes nearly seemed on the verge of turning into Sharingan...
Since the ancient Warring States Era, the tiger clan had maintained a contract with the Hyuga Clan. However, only outstanding members of the Hyuga Clan were permitted to sign the summoning scroll contract and leave their handprints upon it.
Of course, signing the contract and leaving one's handprint on the summoning scroll did not necessarily mean White Tiger could be summoned...
That was because White Tiger had a very strange temperament. She was always the "active" party and had never passively allowed herself to be summoned. Only when she wanted someone to summon her could they do so...
However, even if one could not summon White Tiger, they could generally summon tigers with impure fur. Though their combat strength was far weaker than White Tiger's, they could still greatly enhance the power of the Summoning Technique's user!
"That Hyuga brat Yuzuru actually summoned White Tiger!"
Tsunade had just recovered from her daze when she saw the scene before her. She had initially wanted to remark that Orochimaru was taking this so seriously that he had even summoned his contracted beast, but before she could finish muttering, she saw Yuzuru summon White Tiger of the tiger clan!
As her gaze fell upon White Tiger, memories buried deep within Tsunade's mind slowly surfaced...
According to what her grandfather had said, before Konoha was established, the Warring States Era had only three most powerful ninja clans: the Senju Clan of the Forest, the Uchiha Clan, and the Hyuga Clan.
The strength of these three clans was a fact recognized by every ninja clan, large and small, in the Warring States Era. Much of that strength came from the existence of summoned beasts.
The Hyuga Clan's summoned beasts were the tiger clan. Among them, the strongest, White Tiger, could rival a Kage-level powerhouse. Even the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, had once acknowledged White Tiger's strength...
The summoned beasts that had formed contracts with the Uchiha Clan were the phoenix clan, immortal birds born with control over flames...
Meanwhile, the Senju Clan of the Forest had originally contracted with a summoned beast named Qinglong, which possessed Wood Release. That Qinglong had the ability to split into offspring, somewhat similar to the slug clan of the Six Great Sacred Lands...
"Now that White Tiger has appeared in the world, when will Phoenix and Qinglong appear in the Shinobi World again?"
Tsunade muttered to herself.
After Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and the previous head of the Hyuga Clan passed away in succession, Qinglong, Phoenix, and White Tiger had never been summoned again...
"I never expected White Tiger to choose that Hyuga brat Yuzuru..."
A solemn expression appeared on Jiraiya's face. After he had accidentally reverse-summoned himself into Mount Myoboku of the Six Great Sacred Lands, he had become Mount Myoboku's representative in the Shinobi World. He had also learned much information about summoned beasts from the Toad Sage. What Jiraiya remembered most deeply was the four great "divine beasts" the Toad Sage had mentioned: Xuanming, Qinglong, Phoenix, and White Tiger. Through the Toad Sage's words, Jiraiya had formed a vague understanding of their power in his mind. They were existences that the current him was nowhere near capable of opposing!
Hatake Sakumo looked at the White Tiger summoned by Yuzuru, then thought of his own summoned beast and immediately fell silent...
"It seems there is no longer any need for Orochimaru to continue testing Hyuga Yuzuru!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi thought as he looked at White Tiger, who had been summoned.
Hyuga Yuzuru, who could summon White Tiger, could already be judged to possess Kage-level strength. After all, the strength of a summoned beast was also considered part of the summoner's strength...
For example, when Hiruzen Sarutobi fought, he liked to summon his old partner, the "Monkey King, Enma"...
After Yuzuru gave White Tiger her command, Orochimaru saw a flash of snowy white. Immediately afterward came a wail. The three-headed giant snake collapsed directly onto the ground, a vicious blood-red wing mark left across its body. Its scales had shattered there, flesh curled outward, and blood flowed without end!
The next second, the terrified three-headed giant snake voluntarily dispelled the summon and returned to Ryuchi Cave.
This scene left Orochimaru completely stunned. It had only been a few minutes since he summoned the three-headed giant snake, yet such a powerful summoned beast had been instantly defeated?
Was that simply what one should expect of White Tiger?
Orochimaru thought bitterly to himself.
"Lord Yuzuru, do you want me to help you deal with him?"
After easily dealing with the three-headed giant snake, White Tiger still asked Yuzuru in the voice of a young girl.
"Go back. I'll handle the rest myself."
Yuzuru shook his head slightly and spoke to her.
"Yes, Lord Yuzuru!"
After responding, White Tiger merely gave Orochimaru a faint glance before dispelling the summon herself and returning to her Wind Rift Valley.
"Lord Orochimaru, let's continue!"
Only after White Tiger disappeared did Yuzuru speak to Orochimaru again, a dazzling golden "light sword" condensing in his palm once more.
Orochimaru said nothing. He merely held the Kusanagi Blade horizontally before his chest. At some point, a dense layer of cold sweat had appeared on his pale face...
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