The Eight-Branched Serpent

Jiraiya leaped out of the Scorched Forest, panting heavily with exhaustion.

Sage Fukasaku wiped the sweat from his brow and said gravely, "Little Jiraiya, your body is reaching its limit. I can no longer refine Sage Chakra for you."

From Madara's Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to the Tree World Descends now, they had already used a great deal of Sage Techniques.

Though Natural Energy was drawn from nature and inexhaustible, Sage Techniques weren't pure Natural Energy—they were a one-to-one synthesis of Natural Energy, Physical Energy, and Mental Energy.

It was like a wooden bucket: Jiraiya's body and mind were the shortest planks.

How much Sage Chakra Jiraiya had depended on his Ninja Stats.

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima could at most refine Sage Chakra in his place, ensuring he had a steady supply during battle.

But Jiraiya's Sage Mode still had major flaws—the conversion rate of Sage Chakra was very low. After using so many Sage Techniques, his body and mind were overloaded.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth hard. "Two Sages, don't worry about me. Keep refining. I can still hold on."

Sage Fukasaku and Sage Shima sighed inwardly as they watched Jiraiya stubbornly tough it out.

Jiraiya's biggest flaw was always shouldering every burden himself.

A ninja on the level of Madara Uchiha wasn't something the Sannin could handle, nor could a single ninja village.

Someone like that could only be dealt with by gathering all the power of the Ninja World to form a Ninja Alliance and hunt him down.

Tsunade leaped over and transferred her own chakra into Jiraiya.

Jiraiya finally felt better. "Thanks, Tsunade!"

Tsunade shook her head. "Jiraiya, this might be the last time we fight side by side."

Tsunade looked at Madara, who was looking down on them from afar.

Jiraiya smiled. He thought he was luckier than Liao Wu—at least Tsunade was still standing beside him, fighting together.

Jiraiya wanted to make another deeply affectionate confession, but he thought better of it. He'd confessed plenty of times already; no need to waste time on it now.

Just as Jiraiya and Tsunade were about to go all out, Orochimaru's shout rang out.

"Forbidden Technique: Eight Branches Technique!"

"Orochimaru!"

Tsunade and Jiraiya couldn't help but look toward where Orochimaru was.

Boom, boom, boom—

The ground split open with a violent crack, thick snake-shedding mucus splattering everywhere. Orochimaru swelled wildly within the white mist, his spine arching into eight hideous bulges.

In an instant, Orochimaru transformed into a terrifying demon with eight snake heads and eight tails.

The Eight-Branched Serpent!

Madara watched Orochimaru with mild interest. "The Eight-Branched Serpent. Interesting."

"When did Orochimaru learn a Forbidden Technique like this?"

Jiraiya once again felt that Orochimaru was drifting further and further from the Leaf Village.

But now wasn't the time to discuss the Will of Fire. He just hoped Orochimaru's Eight Branches Technique could handle Madara Uchiha!

Orochimaru, as the Eight-Branched Serpent, charged at Madara Uchiha.

Tsunade and Jiraiya didn't sit idle. This time, Orochimaru was the main attack, and they were the support.

Orochimaru's eight snake heads inhaled the surrounding Natural Energy and released white light orbs.

Sage Shima sensed this energy and was startled. "Sage Technique?"

Sage Fukasaku shook his head. "No, it's not a Sage Technique. Though this energy has the aura of Sage Chakra, it's far inferior."

"Little Orochimaru must be using some method to drive Natural Energy. He really is a genius."

Orochimaru hadn't passed the White Snake Sage's trial and couldn't learn Sage Techniques, but he wasn't willing to give up on gaining the power of Natural Energy. So he developed the Sage Mark.

Orochimaru used the Jugo Clan's affinity for Natural Energy, extracting their enzymes and fusing them with White Snake Chakra to create the mark.

It was a low-grade derivative of Sage Techniques.

Its power wasn't as strong as Sage Techniques, but it allowed most people to tap into Natural Energy.

There was just a small side effect: a low compatibility rate and an extremely high mortality rate. One survivor out of a thousand was lucky.

Moreover, once the mark was planted, the body and mind would be eroded over time, making it easy to lose control.

But compared to the high threshold of Sage Techniques, Orochimaru's mark was clearly a groundbreaking creation.

"Orochimaru's opened up too!"

Liao Wu squeezed Fish Ball's head, watching with some jealousy. He felt he'd been too conservative in his own opening.

The Eight Branches Technique and the curse mark had both been recreated ahead of time by Orochimaru. The Ninja World's version was starting to develop toward the later-stage immortal battles.

Would any ninja still bother with hand seals in the future? Techniques like Water Dragon Bullet, which required half a day of hand seals, would probably go extinct.

Fish Ball huffed at Liao Wu: "Liao Wu, stop squeezing me. I'm busy watching the fight!"

Eight-Branched Serpent-Head Consecutive Cannon!

The Eight-Branched Serpent that Orochimaru had transformed into used the Curse Mark to absorb the surrounding Natural Energy, then condensed it into white Chakra cannons that blasted toward Madam.

These Chakra cannons looked a lot like the high-density Chakra cannons Jugo fired by compressing his Chakra in Stage Two, only bigger and more powerful.

Maybe they were the same in nature.

Orochimaru's eight snake heads fired high-density Chakra cannons relentlessly, all aimed at Madam.

Booming and rumbling, it sounded like thunder.

Madam was getting annoyed: "Haven't you had enough yet?"

"Wood Style Dragon Technique!"

A giant dragon formed from Towering Ancient Trees burst out of the earth.

The Wood Dragon's body was as thick as a Mountain Range, its scales made of layered, hard Tree Bark, its whiskers were flexible Vines, and its claws were as sharp as Steel Claws...

Madam rode the Wood Dragon as it charged out of the explosion's smoke. The Wood Dragon immediately sank its Tear and Bite into the Eight-Branched Serpent, executing a Death Coil on it.

The moment the Wood Dragon touched the Eight-Branched Serpent, it viciously sucked out its Chakra, then bit off one snake head after another.

Yellow Qi, White Qi—all of them were crushed.

Orochimaru let out a pained howl.

Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade didn't know how to save him either.

If they unleashed Sage Fire Style, it would also engulf Orochimaru.

The next second, Madam leaped off the Wood Dragon, a dangerous Great Black Rod in his Hands, heading straight for Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade.

"Madara Uchiha—"

Another Master?

Madara Uchiha stopped and looked toward the one who had called out.

The Sannin, Liao Wu, Fish Ball, and Black and White Zetsu also looked along with him.

Turning his head, he saw a Yin Yang Person with half-yellow, half-white skin, storming into the battlefield in Anger to settle accounts with Madam.

"Obito?!"

Liao Wu was puzzled.

After the Grass Village Ninja retreated, Obito had come running back.

As a Leaf Ninja carrying the Will of Fire, how could he stand by and watch fellow Leaf Ninja in trouble without helping?

Obito didn't know how terrifying Madam was; he only had a Will of Fire burning for his Comrades.

Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade were confused: "Who's this?"

To be honest, even if Minato had come to recognize the current Obito, he wouldn't have known him at first glance.

Obito saw Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade and called out happily: "Lord Jiraiya, Lord Tsunade, I'm Minato-sensei's Disciple, Uchiha Obito of the Uchiha Clan!"

Lord Jiraiya was startled: "Obito?! You're not dead?"

Obito nodded: "Lord Jiraiya, that day I was saved by Madara Uchiha. He wanted to drag me into darkness and destroy the Ninja World with him."

Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade looked at Obito, then glanced at Madam.

Obito's uselessness was well-known in the Uchiha Clan. Madara Uchiha wanted to recruit Obito?

Madam felt a bit embarrassed.

He firmly believed that the Uchiha's talent was love, but others didn't know that. The current Obito hadn't lost his love yet, nor awakened the Uchiha's true power.

He was so useless—if Madam wanted to recruit him, it would tell everyone that Madam had already been scraping the bottom of the barrel to the point of sitting at the same table as Obito.

"Obito, you bastard, die!"

Madam prepared to kill Obito, but Liao Wu suddenly jumped out.

"Ancestor, Ancestor, I'll handle this small fry. No need for you, Old Man, to trouble yourself."

"Obito, who told you to come back?"

Liao Wu's Hands sparked with electricity, instantly shocking Obito until he foamed at the mouth.

Madam snorted and turned back to deal with Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade.

Obito was still pretty impressive—he had hard-stunned Madam for nearly half a minute, at least buying Lord Jiraiya and Lord Tsunade some recovery time.