"What on earth is this?" Kushina picked up another piece, turned to look at Minato, and asked, "Minato, isn't this what you caught? What on earth is this that tastes even better than chicken?"
Minato silently took a step back, his face a little pale. "I... I don't really like eating snake meat, don't ask me."
"Snake... snake meat?!"
"Ah—"
A shrill scream resounded across the entire beach.
"Minato, don't run, I'm going to beat you to death!" Kushina dropped her chopsticks and chased wildly after Minato, flailing her claws. "Why didn't you tell me sooner!?"
Minato ran while asking, "Sen was clearly the one who caught it and added it in, why beat me and not him!"
"I don't have the heart to beat him! You stop right there!"
Watching this chaotic scene, everyone burst into uproarious laughter.
After the commotion subsided, Sen said to Orochimaru, who was drinking with Jiraiya, "Orochimaru, since today is a rare occasion, do you have time to spar with me a few rounds?"
Orochimaru put down his wine cup, a flash of interest flickering in his slit-like pupils. "I thought tonight was just a free meal, Sen-kun."
"I hardly think Senior would like anything 'free'." Sen smiled in response. "Let's treat it as post-dinner entertainment, how about that?"
"Very well." Orochimaru slowly stood up and walked to the center of the area.
"Everyone, make some room! The grand finale is here!" Jiraiya shouted to the crowd. "You'd better watch these two guys' fight closely!"
Everyone hurriedly stepped back, cheering, "With good food, drinks, and a fight to watch, this hardly feels like a mission!"
Orochimaru took out a kunai, looked at Sen, and said in a hoarse voice, "You really know how to ease the mood, well done."
"Then right now, I need you to help me ease something—my heart, which wants to grow stronger." Before his words fell, Sen had already drawn his blade and charged forward!
"Hehe..." Orochimaru gave a seductive smile, his figure shifting and vanishing from the spot!
Sen's Sharingan spun frantically, yet he could only capture one or two blurry afterimages as his opponent moved at high speed.
"Lord Orochimaru's speed is just too fast?!"
"Yeah, and he said we could watch the fight, we can't see anything at all."
"Hang in there, Sen! Even if you can't see him, win!"
Hearing Kushina's words of encouragement, Sen knew he couldn't drag this out. He spun his body and formed hand seals.
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!
Dozens of fireballs spewed from his mouth in rapid succession, covering a large surrounding area like scattered flowers falling from the heavens. They illuminated the dark night as bright as day, making even the patterns on the sandy ground clearly visible.
Hemmed in by the flames, Orochimaru's figure had to make continuous turns, his speed inevitably slowing down by half a beat.
Now is the chance!
Chakras suddenly erupted beneath Sen's feet. Amidst flying sand granules, the sandy ground instantly caved into a large crater, and his figure surged toward Orochimaru like a cannonball!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Blade light and firelight intertwined as Sen pushed Uchiha Style Swordsmanship to its absolute limit.
Even Orochimaru revealed a trace of surprise and curiosity in his eyes.
"Sen-kun, both your swordsmanship and your cooking fill me with curiosity. Your talent is truly rare." Orochimaru blocked effortlessly while still having the spare breath to speak.
Sen had no time to reply, using a sweeping kick to force the opponent back, followed immediately by a direct thrust with his short blade.
Orochimaru, airborne and unable to dodge, actually caught Sen's blade directly with his bare hand!
Fresh blood dripped down the edge of the blade.
Looking at the fresh blood on his opponent's hand, Sen said with confidence, "Shall we call it a day here?"
Orochimaru said calmly, "Very well."
Sen couldn't help swallowing a mouthful of saliva, because—
Orochimaru's voice was clearly coming from behind him.
"Let's end it here." Orochimaru licked his lips and said, "Any later, and my kunai would have pierced through. I wouldn't want to lose a teammate so skilled at cooking."
With that, the "Orochimaru" who had been stabbed by him turned into a pile of mud and scattered onto the ground.
Earth Release: Clone!
Orochimaru retrieved his kunai and consoled, "Just now, you were too focused on my movement, you didn't even notice when I used an Earth Release: Clone. However, once you awaken the Sharingan, you should be able to keep up."
Sen nodded, his heart filled with shock.
Is this one of the future Sannin? He was outrageously strong, feeling even somewhat stronger than Jiraiya!
The onlookers hadn't expected the battle to end in the blink of an eye, and only reacted a moment later.
"As expected of Lord Orochimaru, truly formidable!"
"Sen wasn't bad either; under those conditions just now, I almost couldn't see Lord Orochimaru's movements at all!"
"Lord Orochimaru is right. If Sen can unlock the Sharingan in the future, his strength can rise to yet another level. That will be the peak of his strength!"
Orochimaru yawned and said, "Let's leave it at that for today. I must head back, I have other matters to attend to. Many thanks to Sen-kun for the delicious food today."
Sen didn't say anything, quietly watching the system prompt:
[Defeated in battle against Orochimaru, please select the entry to absorb: Basic Medical Ninjutsu, Mental Power +1, Chakra +1]
He silently absorbed the first entry; after all, medical ninjutsu was very important on the battlefield.
What was somewhat regrettable was that opportunities to obtain entries through sparring with Orochimaru like this were gone for the next few days.
Over the ensuing days, he dragged the three team members into frantically formulating battle plans and sparring with each other, their strength improving rapidly.
On this day, Jiraiya looked at the listless Minato and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you? You seem very exhausted lately."
Minato rubbed his eyes and said with some uncertainty, "I don't know why... lately I always feel like watching fast-moving things has become very slow.
Just now, I could even clearly see the trajectory of a fly flapping its wings."
As soon as these words left his mouth, Jiraiya stood up abruptly, unprecedented brilliance bursting forth in his eyes!
"Are you telling the truth? After all these years, is that jutsu finally within reach? No, I must confirm this."
He picked up a stone, retreated fifty meters away, and shouted to Minato:
"Minato! Try to see if you can clearly track the stone's trajectory when I throw it with all my might! Pay attention, use your eyes to watch, don't dodge!"
Minato closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them again, his gaze had become incomparably focused. "Jiraiya-sensei, I'm ready!"
Jiraiya nodded, chakra then condensing in his right hand. Sen and Kushina, standing nearby, could visibly see the muscles on Jiraiya's arm surging rapidly, as if a powerful force had suddenly been injected into them.
"An ordinary person's limit reaction time is 0.2 seconds, and that jutsu requires at least 0.05 seconds of dynamic vision! See it clearly: is it on the left, or on the right!"
"Whoosh—"
Jiraiya's arm instantly turned into an afterimage. Because the distance was too short, the thrown stone had no reaction time whatsoever, save for the sudden impact of a massive gust of wind crashing against the sandy ground and emitting a loud sound.
At least, that was how it looked in the eyes of Sen and Kushina.
A dozen seconds later, the stone finally dropped to the ground.
Minato panted heavily, his body still maintaining the posture of dodging to the left. Clearly, the extreme focus just now had placed a tremendous burden on him.
A moment later, he slowly spoke, "It was on the left... it flew past my shoulder, about thirty-five centimeters away."
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya was overwhelmed with excitement!
When he threw it just now, he had deliberately kept some distance from Minato's body so the boy couldn't rely on the wind to sense whether it was left or right.
Coupled with Minato's words and his current appearance, he became even more certain—
The boy had dodged using his dynamic vision and physical reflex limits. He never expected this kid to possess such talent!
"All right! That's great!" Sen, watching from the side, was even happier than Jiraiya, raising his hands in cheers.
Jiraiya looked at him strangely. "You're this happy—did you see it too?"
Before you continue