11 Emperor of the Desperate

Orochimaru began to get serious, the aura he exuded terrifying to behold.

Baiyu felt the pressure mount, his entire body tensing up.

He waited quietly for Orochimaru's attack.

Having witnessed Baiyu's bizarre swordsmanship, Orochimaru was quite intrigued.

He pulled a long sword from his mouth with his right hand, seemingly intending to test his swordsmanship against Baiyu.

"Kusanagi Sword!"

A look of shock crossed Baiyu's face as he tightened his grip on his inferior ninja blade.

He wondered if this blade could withstand the Kusanagi Sword.

One of the divine artifacts of the Naruto World, the Kusanagi Sword.

It was Orochimaru's personal blade, one he had always coveted.

"Mandala of Ten Thousand Snakes!"

After summoning the Kusanagi Sword, Orochimaru did not attack personally; instead, he opened his mouth wide, and countless gray snakes poured out.

"How cunning!"

Baiyu cursed aloud, but deep down, he felt a sense of relief.

If he were to engage in true close-quarters combat with Orochimaru, his chances of victory would be slim.

He was still short on his system quest, and these snakes were perfect for filling the gap!

Worried about potential pursuit from Konoha, Orochimaru was not using his full strength.

This gave Baiyu a glimmer of hope in this desperate situation.

If Orochimaru had summoned Manda directly, Baiyu would have had no way to deal with such a massive summoning beast.

Orochimaru's figure slowly faded, hiding within the sea of snakes.

"Battojutsu!"

Baiyu spun around, swinging his blade to clear the surrounding snakes, then leaped into the air to dodge the relentless swarm.

After a 0.5-second interval, he swung again, clearing another area below and killing a large number of snakes.

Before he could even steady himself upon landing, Orochimaru appeared behind him, Kusanagi Sword in hand.

"Battojutsu!"

While clearing the snakes, Baiyu had kept a close watch on Orochimaru's movements.

The moment Orochimaru appeared, he seized the opportunity and swung his blade.

"Squelch!"

The blade sliced into Orochimaru's neck, severing it completely.

A clone! No, a substitution... Kage-level, the gap in strength is too vast! My Sharingan can't see through his moves at all!

Baiyu realized, but more than a dozen snakes were now latched onto his legs.

He could only watch helplessly as Orochimaru shed his skin and slipped away!

He swung his blade again to sever the snakes, but their heads remained locked onto his calves.

"These snakes are poisonous, you know."

Orochimaru's ethereal voice offered a reminder.

Toying with a junior Chunin was proving to be quite an amusing process.

Five thousand draws left!!

Time for an all-out gamble!!!

Abandoning his defense against Orochimaru, Baiyu took a few steps back and, catching Orochimaru off guard, threw his katana.

It struck true, decapitating the guard ninja who had been frozen in place by a genjutsu.

Blood splattered across the ground.

His situation grew increasingly dangerous; within seconds, his legs began to go numb, a side effect of the poison.

Yet, a smile tugged at the corners of Baiyu's mouth.

One hundred thousand draws!

It was complete.

That ninja had provided six thousand draws worth of experience.

Ding! 100,000 draws completed. Reward obtained: Thunder Breathing Method.

Ding! Advanced Master Quest unlocked: 1,000,000 Iaijutsu draws. Reward: Advanced Iai Style swordsmanship. Note: Every master of the sword realizes the ultimate mystery of the blade through the basic practice of every single strike.

Current progress: 101,203/1,000,000.

Ding! Breathing is an essential technique for sword practice. Developed by countless masters, breathing methods evolved from simple techniques to enhance sword skills into specialized secrets for unique sword arts. Host, please master this!

"The Thunder Breathing Method is the foundational breathing technique for lightning-attribute sword arts; once mastered, one can comprehend lightning-attribute sword techniques."

"Ding-dong, do you wish to learn the Thunder Breathing Method?"

"Finally finished! Learn!"

Baiyu was overjoyed. Ignoring the numbness in his legs, he forcibly stimulated them with chakra to stand up.

The Thunder Breathing Method—an advanced ability.

From the illusions of the A-rank purple special item, he had already glimpsed a portion of the breathing method's mysteries.

For a swordsman, it represented a qualitative leap in power.

It was not a power belonging to chakra, but a method of controlling the body's muscles and blood.

Breathing methods were originally called 'tuna' (breath regulation), a technique for adjusting the state of various parts of the body to extend into a more perfect state for swordsmanship.

After being refined by generations of Sword Masters, it could enhance a swordsman's physique and allow for the execution of legendary sword techniques.

"That world... it must be a world centered on the sword, right?"

The moment Baiyu integrated the Thunder Breathing Method, images he had seen in Demon Slayer flashed through his mind.

But in reality, while the Thunder Breathing Method gave Baiyu a glimmer of hope, it could not change his current desperate situation.

"Open the lottery! Ten consecutive draws!"

In a crisis, pinning one's life on luck was a helpless necessity.

From the moment he decided to risk accepting an S-rank mission, this outcome had been destined.

The Thunder Breathing Method could not take effect instantly, so he had no choice but to use his one hundred thousand draws all at once.

With a thought, the lottery system activated, and the wheel began to spin.

System lotteries existed in a state of stasis relative to the outside world!

Everything was completed in an instant.

"Congratulations on obtaining: Swordsman's Headband (White), Broken Blade (Green), Thank You, Iai Style · Advanced Iaijutsu (Blue), Swordsman's Dignity (Green), Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu Mastery (Gold), Thank You, Iai Style · Advanced Sheathing Technique (Blue), Small Recovery Potion (Green), Thank You."

"Use all items."

"Ding-dong, Swordsman's Dignity failed to activate! All other items used successfully."

A tattered white headband automatically tied itself around his forehead, and the broken blade appeared in his hand.

Baiyu felt a cooling sensation course from his head to his toes, and his depleted stamina instantly recovered by twenty percent.

Even his chakra recovered by ten percent.

The potion had taken effect!

At the same time, a Sword Master with orange hair, wearing red clothes and white pants, appeared in his mind, demonstrating a set of perfect sword techniques.

Every move and stance of the sword art was etched into Baiyu's mind step by step.

"An entire school? A whole school of sword techniques!"

The knowledge exploding into his mind nearly caused Baiyu's brain to crash.

"Ding-dong! Congratulations to the host for observing the complete Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu sword techniques and comprehending the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu Secret Technique: Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki."

Swish!

"Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu · Secret Technique · Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki."

Baiyu whispered, his face filled with confidence at this moment.

This move was the ultimate Iaijutsu!

The transformation of his strength occurred in a single instant.

The secret technique of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu was a variation of Iaijutsu.

From the moment he watched that man execute Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki, Baiyu grasped the trick, combining it with the Iaijutsu he had been practicing to form his own unique Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki.

The other sword techniques could also be gradually mastered through continuous practice later.

At this moment, the entire world stood still, and the speed of Baiyu's blade exceeded the limits of the human eye.

The first strike tore through the air, creating a massive current that dragged all living and inanimate objects nearby into its wake. The second strike, a high-speed rotation, generated immense centrifugal force, turning the broken blade into a peerless divine weapon capable of cutting through iron like mud.

The supreme sword technique of Hiten Mitsurugi-ryu, an ultra-high-speed Iaijutsu faster than Godspeed. It was a two-stage attack that struck faster than any opponent could react, leaving no gaps.

The entire swarm of snakes gathered instantly, only to be reduced to chunks of flesh by the second strike, eventually vanishing into a cloud of smoke.

Orochimaru, hidden within the swarm, was also caught in the aftermath; under the fleeting flash of the blade, he had no time to shed his skin or dodge.

"What is happening? Why did his speed suddenly increase, and why have his moves changed? This strange binding force... Ninjutsu? No! He didn't perform any hand signs!"

In that instant, his entire body bound by a tremendous force, countless questions flashed through Orochimaru's mind.

A strike that pressed against the heart—a fatal blow.

The strength displayed by the youth before him was nothing like that of an ordinary Chunin!

"White Fang..."

A familiar figure slowly overlapped with the youth before him.

At the very last moment, Orochimaru unleashed his ultimate escape technique with the greatest speed of his life.

"Pfft!"

Orochimaru spat out a mouthful of blood, clutching his right shoulder with his left hand as he flickered back to the side of Yakushi Kabuto.

"Lord Orochimaru! Your arm..."

Yakushi Kabuto endured his own pain to reach Orochimaru's side, crying out in shock.

In that fleeting instant just now, Orochimaru's right arm had been left behind beside Baiyu.

In that hand, the Kusanagi Sword was still gripped tightly.

"Sacrificing an arm to escape a fatal blow... to kill a Kage-level ninja, even one severely wounded, is still impossible! The gap in strength is simply too vast..."

Baiyu gripped his broken blade, his expression cold and stern as he stared at the pair.

At this moment, his stamina and chakra were nearly exhausted, and he was forcing himself to stand solely through sheer willpower.