Hidden Stone Collapse Operation Six

Chunin Ninja Exams Arena

Shukaku, One-Tail its two hands supporting the massive earthen mound, bared its teeth, seemingly struggling to resist the mound closing in.

"I finally got out, I'm not going back... uh."

As the Shukaku One-Tail drew its Chakra its power, it shouted loudly, but before it could finish speaking, its expression suddenly froze.

Shukaku's eyes turned crimson, and three Tomoe swirled within its crimson pupils. Its body, formed from sand, began to melt and gradually dissipate.

In front of Shukaku, Uchiha Zensui, dressed in the Akatsuki's red cloud black robe, maintained the Unbound Seal with both hands, staring intently at Shukaku, and easily Shukaku.

"Thank you for your help. I'll need your assistance again next."

Sweat dripped from Kitsuchi's forehead. While he was terrified that the Akatsuki members who came to his aid had easily suppressed the Tailed Beast, he still politely thanked them in a low voice.

Kitsuchi is a high-ranking member of Iwagakure and is well aware of his father Ōnoki's many decisions, as well as the fact that Akatsuki is a hired security force.

"Is this the power that allowed one person to destroy Kirigakure? Truly powerful..."

A Sound Ninja was hanging on Kisame Hoshigaki's greatsword behind Uchiha Zensui, marveling at the power with which Uchiha Zensui easily subdued the Tailed Beast.

The Sunagakure Ninja and Otogakure in the arena were originally evenly matched with the Iwagakure Ninja. However, after several elite members of the Akatsuki joined the fray, the situation turned completely one-sided, with the Sand Village and Sound Village ninjas retreating or falling in disarray.

Shukaku's sand-formed body dissipated even faster, its enormous form melting away. Gaara, the Jinchuriki atop Shukaku's head, also fell to the ground along with the sand, regaining consciousness.

"The One-Tail has lost its power. We're going to reinforce the Tsuchikage now."

Uchiha Zensui only released his hands after Shukaku had completely dissipated, and softly answered the Iwagakure, Kitsuchi, Jonin beside him. After speaking, he turned to look at Kisame Hoshigaki behind him and said coldly:

"The client is upstairs, let's go!"

As soon as Uchiha Zensui finished speaking, he ignored the situation in the arena, leaped a few times, and arrived on the high platform.

Kisame Hoshigaki flicked his greatsword, throwing the unconscious Sound Ninja off Chakra after his Samehada was drained, and followed in Uchiha Zensui's footsteps, leaping towards the high platform.

On the high platform

Boom!

Two enormous, blinding white beams of light collided, producing a deafening roar.

"Um!?"

Having just unleashed Dust Release and slightly out of breath, Ōnoki sensed danger and abruptly moved his floating body backward.

Boom!

A bolt of lightning suddenly struck the clear sky, hitting the spot where Ōnoki had just been standing. Flash Cut blue light disappeared in an instant, and the lightning struck the floor.

"Lightning Release: Thunder!"

Orochimaru's face was solemn, his hands maintaining the final hand seal of the Lightning Style Jutsu. With a cold shout, lightning once again struck down from the sky.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Three bolts of lightning struck in succession. Ōnoki floated in the air, sometimes moving forward, sometimes sideways, dodging two of the lightning bolts in succession.

Although Ōnoki was experienced, Orochimaru was no pushover either. In the end, Ōnoki couldn't dodge the third lightning bolt and was struck squarely.

"Ugh!"

Ōnoki let out a scream and fell from the sky.

"Hehehehe"

Orochimaru immediately rushed towards the spot where Ōnoki had fallen. At the same time, he opened his mouth wide and spat out a sharp sword. Orochimaru gripped the sword and dashed forward at lightning speed.

Orochimaru suddenly moved with incredible speed, leaped, and with a wicked grin, swung his longsword, cleaving the charred body of Ōnoki in two.

The two halves of his body fell to the ground. After landing, Orochimaru walked over unhurriedly to check on Ōnoki's condition. Confirming that his true body had been killed, he couldn't help but feel a little smug.

"Hahahaha, the Shadow of a Great Nation, is nothing more than this. Two Shadows have already died by my hand... no, wait!"

Orochimaru's smug and arrogant smile suddenly froze. He planted the Kusanagi Sword in the floor, closed his eyes, and formed a hand seal.

"Genjutsu: Dispel!"

"As expected of Orochimaru Sannin, he broke my Genjutsu so quickly."

Uchiha Zensui was somewhat surprised by Orochimaru's wariness. He had just pulled Orochimaru into Genjutsu when Orochimaru noticed and broke through it.

Orochimaru opened his eyes and saw that Ōnoki had indeed been Lightning Release; his body was charred black, and his hair and beard stood on end, indicating that he was seriously injured.

However, the two men in red robes and black cloud patterns standing in front of Ōnoki caused Orochimaru's eyes to flicker with apprehension.

Orochimaru was very familiar with the red cloud and black robe attire, as he had previously served in this organization.

"Kisame Hoshigaki, Uchiha Zensui..."

Orochimaru recognized the two. He was very familiar with Kisame Hoshigaki, but only had a few encounters with Uchiha Zensui when they were in Konoha.

"I heard that Uchiha Zensui almost destroyed Kirigakure, but I never expected that he would team up with Kisame Hoshigaki, who is also from Hidden Mist. Pain really knows how to arrange things."

Orochimaru and Naraku had a few minor skirmishes, each one fraught with danger, and Uchiha's high-ranking ninjas had taken deep root in his heart.

Seeing Orochimaru's serious expression, Kisame Hoshigaki grinned mischievously and whispered:

"Orochimaru, I didn't expect you to still be so capable after leaving the organization. Now that you've met us, you should understand why we're here, right?"

With Uchiha Zensui by his side, Kisame Hoshigaki, though wary of Orochimaru, looked ready to attack at any moment.

Uchiha Zensui also said in a timely, cold voice:

"Orochimaru, you betrayed the organization; you should have expected this day to come."

Uchiha Zensui's expression and demeanor suggested that he was extremely loyal to the Akatsuki.

Orochimaru's wary expression flashed for Flash Cut moment, then he regained his composure and sneered:

"Heh heh, I joined Akatsuki simply because I was interested in some things about the organization. Do you really think you can compare to me?"

As soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, two figures rushed to his side. They were the First Tsuchikage, Orochimaru Earth River, and the Second Tsuchikage Mu.

The two Tsuchikage stood before Orochimaru, their expressions calm, like puppets.

Ōnoki, who was behind Uchiha Zensui and Kisame Hoshigaki, had also recovered his senses and said coldly to the two people in front of him:

"I'm afraid your organization will have to put in some effort today, but the compensation will be increased accordingly, so don't worry."

Also, that's enough small talk. Please eliminate the intruders for me immediately.

In the current environment of Iwagakure, Ōnoki won't care about a few S-rank mission commissions; he needs to kill Orochimaru, who is fooling Iwagakure, to restore the Iwagakure's reputation.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two figures rushed into the Chunin Ninja Exams arena and landed on the high platform.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Orochimaru's here? I've wanted to offer him up to the Jashin for ages!"

"So noisy."

After Kakuzu and Hidan helped Iwagakure gain the upper hand from below, they immediately went up to carry out the mission Pain had given them: to eliminate Orochimaru.

After the two went on stage, they stood next to Uchiha Zensui and Kisame Hoshigaki.

Hidan stared at Orochimaru, his pupils wide, the corners of his mouth turned up in a crazy and somewhat insane grin.

Ōnoki frowned as he looked at the two new Akatsuki members, but felt reassured.