The Ownership of the Horse Talisman

Even among jonin, there are differences. After Orochimaru deflected Hema's chakra blade with a single strike of his sword, he retreated rapidly and, without haste, formed hand seals:

"Manyara no Jin!"

Orochimaru pressed himself against the ground and opened his mouth wide. As his raspy voice faded, a massive swarm of venomous snakes with gaping maws and sharp fangs poured forth.

The dense, writhing mass of snakes surged forward like a tidal wave, spreading out to entangle the bodies of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

They fought desperately, swinging their blades to sever the snakes in two, but Orochimaru's Wind of Calamity followed immediately behind.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

The principle behind this move was simple: it utilized the properties of wind-attribute chakra to compress air into an incredibly thin layer, creating a pressure differential at the target location to produce a cutting effect. It required no hand seals and was a basic technique that any wind-style ninja could learn.

But when the user was Orochimaru, everything changed. A gale erupted around him, and with every swing of his arm, a fierce blade of wind shot forth.

--Bang!

No one dared to take such sharp wind blades head-on, and they all leaped backward to dodge. At the same time, Akainu smashed through the barrier of the Lightning Binding Technique and gave chase to the Shadowkhan.

Seeing Akainu in such hot pursuit, the Shadowkhan decisively chose a safer method of retreat. Just as their forms were about to sink into the shadows, a dazzling green light suddenly cut off all shadows. Uncle stood there, a dried gecko in his left hand and a dried pufferfish in his right, balancing on one leg: "Uncle isn't just here to watch the show!"

"Damn it! You old geezer!"

Uncle's previous Petrification Spell on Beizi hadn't been used at full strength—after all, the man was a civilian, not a demon—and the spell wore off after a short while. As Beizi clutched his head and stood up, summoning his three-section black staff to teach Uncle a lesson, a hand suddenly stopped him.

It was Nanwu!

As the saying goes, "all squinty-eyed people are dangerous." Nanwu was no exception. His body crackled with electricity as he entered his "combat stance," pointing toward Akainu and the Shadowkhan, who were about to rush out of Amegakure:

"Beizi, retrieving the Daimyo's heirloom is the priority!"

The Twelve Guardian Ninja reached a consensus, ignoring the cumbersome Uncle, and chased after them using several Body Flicker Techniques.

Orochimaru also wore an expression that said, "Trying to escape?" and immediately followed, leaving only Uncle and Nagato's group in the rain.

"Nagato! Are you alright?!"

Yahiko and Konan arrived late with reinforcements. Looking at the dilapidated scene around them, they asked with concern.

"I'm fine..."

Nagato shook his head. He was truly at a loss; both sides had their own stories. The Twelve Guardian Ninja claimed the talisman was their Daimyo's heirloom, while Konoha claimed it was the power of a demon that had to be kept out of the hands of the Shadowkhan.

Although Nagato had no idea who was lying, it was a fact that the Shadowkhan had destroyed the high tower of Amegakure, and... there was a wise-looking old gentleman right there who could answer their questions, wasn't there?

"Old sir... please, come with us!"

"Little thief! Don't run!"

Beizi raised his three-section black staff and shouted, "Lightning Release: Lightning Strike Run!" He slammed the staff into the ground, and lightning surged along the earth, striking toward Akainu.

Several crackling bolts of lightning, like slithering snakes, suddenly spread out and instantly engulfed Akainu.

However, Akainu said nothing, merely using his thick-skinned body to endure the baptism of lightning. At the same time, he raised his arms high, a low growl rumbling in his throat. He gathered magma into his arms, condensing it into giant fists like those of a titan, and unleashed it all at once.

"Great Eruption!"

This was Akainu's most destructive move from One Piece, powerful enough to melt the seawater frozen by Aokiji's "Ice Age." Akainu's version was even more formidable; countless meteors of molten lava fell from the dome of the sky as the surrounding landscape trembled.

--Rumble!

It was a scene of apocalypse. Every falling lava meteor caused massive environmental changes upon impact. Having lost the ability to hide in the shadows, the Shadowkhan could only take the attacks head-on.

However, their feeble resistance was like a "mantis trying to stop a chariot"—utterly useless. Boiling magma erupted, the ground was left scarred and devastated, and all the Shadowkhan vanished in an instant...

"You starfish monster! How dare you attack the Daimyo's personal guards!"

The late-arriving Twelve Guardian Ninja were now filled with murderous intent. Such a person who dared to challenge the authority of the Daimyo could not be left alive!

A radical ninja from Hema's faction was the first to form hand seals, "Lightning Release..."

However, before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen. He looked back to see Orochimaru wearing a cold smile, clutching the Kusanagi Sword as he sneered: "Heh... did you all forget that I was still here?"

"Orochimaru... how dare you?!"

Never had they imagined that a guardian of the Land of Fire could be backstabbed by a Konoha ninja from the same land. Even as the guardian collapsed into a pool of blood, his face remained frozen in disbelief and resentment.

"Orochimaru?! Are you really going to become a rogue ninja?!"

The late-arriving Lightning Release Quartet also looked shocked. Killing a symbol of the Daimyo's authority in public was likely beyond the scope of a simple rogue ninja; this was treason and an S-rank defection.

Ignoring their questioning, Orochimaru simply sidestepped their Lightning Release techniques with ease and formed seals—

"Wind Release: Wind of Calamity!"

This was a technique that had a highlight moment in the original Naruto series.

Although it was only a simple C-rank jutsu, its scale varied depending on the user's ability. When used by an excellent ninja, the wind had the destructive power to topple century-old trees; when used by Orochimaru, the power was even greater.

The gale tore up large patches of earth, and the immense destructive force whipped up debris, completely obscuring the sky. It wasn't just a physical attack; the shrill howling of the wind seemed to pierce their eardrums, forcing the guardians to cover their ears and squeeze their eyes shut, unable to make a move.

It wasn't until Akainu's Great Eruption had completely wiped out the Shadow Ninja that the gale finally ceased.

"Got it!"

As the Shadow Ninja shattered, the Horse Talisman fell naturally. Akainu reached out with his pink, round hand to catch it, saying in a somewhat honest, simple voice.

"Truly astonishing destructive power, Chixing."

On the other side, Orochimaru was single-handedly taking on the Twelve Guardian Ninja, forcing them into a steady retreat by summoning various giant snakes from Ryūchi Cave before arriving at Chixing's side.

Watching the surrounding boiling magma converge into the shape of a small lake, Orochimaru thought to himself: Such destructive power... it will likely cause permanent environmental changes... Heh...

"Damn snake-wielding bastard... damn Pink Starfish Monster!"

The Twelve Guardian Ninja had finally managed to slay all the giant snakes, but their chakra reserves were bottoming out.

With the Shadowkhan now completely wiped out and their own stamina and chakra nearly exhausted, they had no choice but to spit out a few insults before retreating.