Battle Against Orochimaru!

Once the engagement began, no one could stop the Three Summoned Great Snakes from pursuing Inuzuka Yoru and the others!

But there was no helping it; the person who had arrived was Orochimaru. If things went poorly, everyone would be eliminated!

Orochimaru delivered a whip kick, sending Jiogan flying. Jiogan retreated a short distance. "Kid, how dare you get distracted while fighting me! You'll get yourself killed," Orochimaru said.

Jiogan realized that unless he showed Orochimaru something impressive, they wouldn't be able to get away!

He immediately formed hand seals to cast the Water Release: Water Needle Technique. Several water needles condensed and shot toward Orochimaru with a whistling sound. Orochimaru pulled out a kunai, dodging and parrying. "Not bad ninjutsu. Very practical, and the power is decent enough," Orochimaru remarked, gauging the strength of the Water Needle Technique.

"However, since you've used ninjutsu first, I won't hold back!" Orochimaru said.

He immediately unleashed the Shadow Snake Hand!

He coiled the snakes around Might Duy, who had closed the distance, and slammed him into the side, knocking over a large tree and kicking up a cloud of dust!

But the tough-skinned Might Duy was unharmed and quickly retreated to Jiogan's side.

"Brother Duy, don't use the Eight Inner Gates yet. The consumption is too high and it will affect the next round of the competition. Let me trade blows with Lord Orochimaru first; you act according to the situation!" Seeing Might Duy preparing to open the Eight Inner Gates, Jiogan quickly stopped him!

At this moment, Orochimaru's Shadow Snake Hand struck again. Jiogan immediately cast the Water Wall to block the attack, then followed up with the Water Release: Water Gun, spitting out six deep blue water spheres in quick succession! They attacked Orochimaru from different angles, sealing off his retreat!

Seeing this, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. "To think he could fire off six Water Guns in a row—this kid's level of Water Release ninjutsu is quite good!"

He immediately cast the Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall! Earth walls rose from four directions, blocking all the water spheres!

Bang! Bang! Bang! The water spheres struck the earth walls, shattering them and scattering mud everywhere, but that was all. Orochimaru, standing behind the walls, was completely unscathed!

"The power is good, better than I expected," Orochimaru commented again.

But he immediately launched a counterattack, casting the Wind Release: Gale Palm!

A violent gust of air rushed toward Jiogan and his companion! Jiogan stepped in front, casting the Water Release: Water Wall once more. The airflow from the Gale Palm hit the water wall and was blocked!

Jiogan seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale Water Release: Water Wave! A massive volume of water surged toward Orochimaru! Orochimaru was clearly surprised by the sheer scale of the Water Wave and retreated with continuous dodges, finally landing atop a large tree.

"To think he could perform a Water Wave of this scale! Even I couldn't do that! This is truly a surprise!" Two names appeared in Orochimaru's mind: Tobirama Senju and his own teacher, Hiruzen Sarutobi. He feared that in all of Konoha, only those two could have performed a Water Release: Water Wave of this magnitude.

Jiogan didn't expect the Water Wave to cause any real trouble for Orochimaru. The reason he used a Water Release: Water Wave of such scale was to create a favorable battlefield environment, making it easier to employ more complex tactics!

"Kid, after performing so many Water Release ninjutsu, your chakra must be hitting rock bottom, right?" Orochimaru said.

"Thanks to you, I still have plenty of chakra left!" Jiogan replied. He wasn't lying; the chakra in his Dantian hadn't depleted much at all.

"Heh, you've got a sharp tongue, kid! Let's see what other tricks you have," the snake-like man sneered, clearly not believing Jiogan.

"Brother Duy, coordinate with me. I need to use the Water Palm Prison Technique, but it will be very difficult for me to trap Lord Orochimaru on my own!" Jiogan said.

"Understood!" Might Duy, standing beside him, immediately rushed toward Orochimaru to engage in close-quarters combat once again!

Orochimaru immediately unleashed the Shadow Snake Hand! Having suffered from this technique before, Might Duy dodged with a series of quick movements. Jiogan took the opportunity to provide cover for Might Duy with the Water Needle Technique, simultaneously casting the Water Palm Prison Technique!

Several water palms emerged from the puddles left behind by the previous Water Wave, reaching out toward Orochimaru and forcing him to move toward Might Duy to evade them!

Is it this technique again? The Summoning Technique is a great way to break this water palm, but that would be a bit too bullying, Orochimaru thought.

Might Duy and Orochimaru clashed, while Jiogan provided long-range support from afar with the Water Needle Technique and Water Release: Water Gun. For a moment, Orochimaru appeared to be on the defensive, though he was quite impressed by the coordination between the two, one fighting at close range and the other from a distance.

However, Jiogan and Might Duy were unaware that when the Water Wave had destroyed the terrain earlier, Orochimaru had already cast the Shadow Clone Technique. His main body had circled around and reached the area behind Jiogan!

"Shadow Snake Hand!" Orochimaru's main body bound Jiogan at close range.

Immediately after, the snake body constricted, pulling Jiogan to his side. "Little one, you've lost!" Orochimaru flicked his tongue in his signature manner. Taking down Jiogan meant the end of this battle.

The Shadow Clone fighting Might Duy dissipated with a pop. Might Duy turned back, casting a meaningful look at Orochimaru and Jiogan.

At this moment, Jiogan was struggling hard, but the snake body only tightened around him. Orochimaru did not notice the expression on Might Duy's face in the distance.

"Stop struggling, brat. The more you struggle, the tighter the Shadow Snake Hand binds!" With that, he pulled the snake body closer to himself.

Suddenly, the Shadow Snake Hand loosened, and Jiogan's body transformed into water. Orochimaru was stunned, immediately realizing he had been tricked. He saw the water morph into a giant palm, reaching out to grab him!

At such close range, even someone as strong as Orochimaru only had enough time to perform the Substitution Technique!

The water palm gripped Orochimaru tightly, forming a cage, and with a pop, Orochimaru turned into a wooden log! His main body was nowhere to be found.

"As expected of Lord Orochimaru! One of the future Sannin! To be able to react and use the Substitution Technique at such close range!" Jiogan exclaimed in admiration. He had to remember, he had successfully used this trick to take down his own teacher, the Elite Jonin Kurama Heiji!

Following that, he used the Qi Sensing Technique to pinpoint Orochimaru's location and immediately said to Might Duy, "Brother Duy, watch out! He's on the large tree thirty meters to your left!"

Might Duy immediately retreated in the opposite direction, putting some distance between them.

Hearing Jiogan's words, Orochimaru, who hadn't yet recovered from the shock of almost being tricked, was startled again. What? This kid is actually a sensory ninja too?!

Emerging from the tree, Orochimaru's face was somewhat gloomy, looking as if he wanted to devour Jiogan!

Seeing Orochimaru's expression, Jiogan immediately recalled the scene where he threatened Suigetsu to treat Tsunade. He couldn't help but swallow hard. He had already exhausted all his tricks, while Orochimaru, who possessed all five Chakra natures, had only just revealed the tip of the iceberg of his true strength.

Might Duy hurriedly appeared by Jiogan's side, ready to open the Fourth Gate at any moment!

However, the scene of Orochimaru flying into a violent rage did not occur. After a moment of silence, Orochimaru spoke: "Brat, you're not bad. I'm very interested in you! Let's call it a day for now! We will meet again!"

After saying this, he revealed his signature evil smile, merged into the large tree, and vanished.

Listening to Orochimaru's final words and his evil smile, Jiogan felt terrible. His face turned pale; he felt as though he had truly angered Orochimaru.

Being targeted by Orochimaru, Jiogan could almost see himself tied up in a laboratory, being used for experiments!

"Jiogan, are you alright!?" Might Duy asked with concern.

Jiogan snapped back to reality, took a deep breath, and said, "I'm fine, just a bit exhausted!"

When soldiers come, block them with generals; when water comes, block it with earth. His current strength was indeed far inferior to Orochimaru's, but he still had plenty of time to grow. By the time Orochimaru went down the wrong path, his own strength might not be any worse than his!

Thinking of this, Jiogan's complexion improved significantly.

He used the Qi Sensing Technique to confirm that Orochimaru had left, then hurriedly called Might Duy and headed in the direction of Kurama Feiyun and the others!