Shuichi vs. Orochimaru

Although his Water Release ninjutsu practice was only half-baked, Shuichi had already become proficient in most other ninjutsu. Recently, he had been running combat strategy simulations, considering how to fully bring out his fighting strength.

The day of his second lesson with Orochimaru gradually arrived. As usual, Shuichi reached their meeting place early.

It was the same small grove, but the atmosphere felt somewhat different today.

Orochimaru did not arrive when the appointed time came. Shuichi noticed but did not immediately go looking for him. Instead, he considered Orochimaru's intentions while slowly raising his guard.

As a breeze stirred, the sounds drifting through the woods seemed faintly off.

"Whoosh, whoosh..." Shuichi immediately reacted. It was the sound of incoming shuriken.

When he looked over, the shuriken had already flown out of the woods and were close to him. Yet Shuichi did not panic at all. The Body Flicker Technique, ingrained in him through practice, came naturally.

He shifted Chakra to the soles of his feet and lightly leaped backward, easily evading the attack. In a few quick bounds, he landed on a nearby tree trunk. At the same time, his hands did not stop moving as he pulled out ninja tools and threw them toward where the shuriken had come from.

The person in the woods seemed to have no intention of hiding any longer. After dodging the shuriken, he appeared before Shuichi.

It was Orochimaru. Shuichi was not surprised to see him. From the moment the shuriken came flying, he had already guessed.

Master and disciple tacitly said nothing. Both understood the meaning of this exchange. The moment Shuichi saw Orochimaru emerge, he immediately began his counterattack according to the plan he had prepared.

With a slight movement of his hand, he instantly drew three shuriken with his left hand and rapidly followed after throwing them. "Ox—Dog—Dragon—Rat—Dog—Boar—Snake—Tiger, Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique."

In the blink of an eye, countless shuriken blanketed the space before Orochimaru. This time, however, he seemed prepared to seriously exchange blows with Shuichi. "Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall."

"Rumble!" A thick, broad earthen wall instantly rose from the ground.

"Thud, thud, clang, clang..." Some of the shuriken aimed at Orochimaru embedded themselves in the earth wall, while others struck it and fell to the ground. None could harm Orochimaru behind it.

The instant Orochimaru's Earth Flow Wall rose, Shuichi's hands began forming seals at high speed. Then he ran toward the right side of the wall.

After rounding the wall and seeing Orochimaru, he hesitated not at all. He drew a kunai and instantly threw it at Orochimaru, charging forward at the same time with another kunai in hand.

Orochimaru noticed Shuichi coming around from the side. He did not panic at the incoming kunai, merely shifting his body slightly to dodge it before waiting for Shuichi to engage him at close range.

This Shuichi seemed somewhat sluggish. After rounding the wall, he simply thrust his kunai directly toward Orochimaru's center. Orochimaru reached out and grabbed Shuichi, then drove his knee straight into him.

"BOOM!" It was the sound of a Shadow Clone exploding. At the same time, as one of Orochimaru's feet left the ground, something seemed to burst out from the earth behind him.

"Crash!" Another Shuichi broke through the ground, flying in from behind Orochimaru with a kunai.

"Splurt!" The instant he struck, Shuichi knew from the feel that something was wrong. Sure enough, the Orochimaru before him gradually turned into mud.

An Earth Clone? So he formed the seals for an Earth Clone right after putting up the Earth Flow Wall.

Just as that thought crossed Shuichi's mind, he took a heavy kick directly in the back.

"BOOM!" "Hm?" This time, Orochimaru was somewhat surprised. He had guessed that Shuichi would devise another attack strategy when he used the Earth Flow Wall.

He just had not expected Shuichi to create two Shadow Clones outright. The second even had enough Chakra to use Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu, and even that was not the real body.

At that moment, a fierce gale erupted behind Orochimaru, and a concentrated blast of wind rushed toward him.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" Beneath a tree more than ten meters away, Shuichi had finished forming seals. His cheeks swelled as powerful winds continuously spewed from his mouth.

"Bang! BOOM!" Orochimaru was blown into the air and slammed directly into the corner of the earth wall, then exploded.

"Uh..." Shuichi's mouth twitched as he saw it. I'd been fighting a Shadow Clone from the very beginning.

At that moment, Orochimaru slowly walked out from the woods on the other side. A rare look of surprise appeared on his face as he praised, "Shuichi-kun, I still underestimated your talent."

This time, Orochimaru's praise came from the heart. After all, their exchange from a month ago remained vivid in his mind. When he returned from completing a mission, this disciple of his had already undergone tremendous changes.

He had seen everything clearly from the side. Though this exchange had not lasted long, Shuichi's tactical arrangement had been truly flawless. Within an extremely short time, he had carried out a bold yet meticulous chain of attacks.

First, Orochimaru saw his proficiency with the Body Flicker Technique. Although it had not yet reached the high speeds of certain Jonin, his Chakra control and fluidity were both excellent.

Then there was his progress in ninjutsu training. Seeing the effect of the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique, Orochimaru knew that Shuichi had already become proficient with most of the ninjutsu he had taught him.

What truly amazed him was Shuichi's tactical arrangement afterward. After Orochimaru used the Earth Flow Wall, he had indeed habitually created an Earth Clone, waiting some distance away for Shuichi's possible attack.

But Shuichi's decision had exceeded his expectations. During the brief instant when the Earth Flow Wall blocked their vision, he first used Multiple Shadow Clones to create two clones, then transformed his real body into a kunai.

The Shadow Clone in the middle took advantage of the shuriken flying wildly outside the earth wall's range to throw the kunai that the real body had transformed into beneath a tree on the left side of the wall.

Because many shuriken were still striking the woods behind the wall, both visually and audibly, the sound of the kunai was mixed among them. This kept Orochimaru's Shadow Clone from realizing that Shuichi's real body had already shifted to the other side.

At that point, Shuichi's clone circling around the right side completely drew Orochimaru's attention. Both sides likely understood that it was merely bait.

Just as Orochimaru had expected, Shuichi's second attack came from underground using Earth Release, and that attack was not from the real body either.

Orochimaru believed Shuichi had guessed that he would use an Earth Clone. Judging from the speed at which Shuichi launched his Wind Release, Wind Release: Great Breakthrough had already been prepared by the time that Shadow Clone completed its attack.

Thus, when he blew up Shuichi's Shadow Clone, he had not disrupted the real body's Wind Release. This strike had solidly achieved the effect of a killing blow.

Although Orochimaru had not gone all out, Shuichi had gone from being unexpectedly attacked to completing such an exquisite counterattack. No one would have guessed that he had only officially become a ninja a month ago.

If his opponent had been an ordinary Chunin, they would likely have already been seriously injured by an offensive like Shuichi's.