Will of Fire: Great Flame World!

"Oh?"

Orochimaru had already moved when Ruohuo activated the Fire Formation Wall.

But two figures suddenly appeared and blocked his path.

They were built differently, both wore hoods, and one had a Root-patterned mask while the other wore only sunglasses.

"Ryoma, Chito... I never expected to see the two of you here."

Orochimaru's smile remained gentle. The moment they appeared, he knew what had happened.

"So Elder Danzo's mission for you is to stop me?"

Orochimaru raised two fingers.

The two immediately felt an overwhelming pressure!

Standing before them was the Third's strongest disciple, one of the Sannin, Konoha's Cold Lord—Orochimaru!

"Elder Danzo didn't mean it that way, Lord Orochimaru!"

Yamanaka Chito shouted at once. The two bowed together, their guard rising to its highest level!

"We have no intention of making an enemy of you, Lord Orochimaru. We're only here to relay a few words from Elder Danzo!"

"Is that so?"

Orochimaru's smile didn't waver. "Then I suppose I should thank Elder Danzo. After all, facing both of you at once would be quite troublesome..."

"What does Elder Danzo want?"

"Lord Danzo wants to cooperate with you, Lord Orochimaru!"

Yamanaka Chito spoke quickly, a hint of urgency in his voice. "Elder Danzo is willing to support your bid to become the Fourth Hokage!"

"Oh?"

Orochimaru's expression didn't change as he glanced in the direction behind them.

Flames lit up the night sky, and black smoke billowed as the explosions of Explosive Tags rang out without pause!

"That's certainly an unexpected honor..."

Orochimaru smiled and lowered the two fingers he'd raised to form Hand Seals. "So what does Elder Danzo want from me in return?"

At that, Yamanaka Chito and Aburame Ryoma finally relaxed.

Yamanaka Chito took a scroll from his robes and tossed it to Orochimaru.

"It contains all the records of Wood Style experiments from the Second Hokage's era up to the present, though only a portion of them."

"This is Lord Danzo's show of good faith... If you're willing, Lord Danzo wants you to help restart the project!"

"Lord Danzo is willing to provide you with all the support you need, including backing your bid for the Fourth Hokage's position!"

"And all you need to do is wait here for a while..."

Orochimaru furrowed his brow slightly.

He didn't open the scroll, nor did he doubt its authenticity.

He didn't doubt Danzo's promise, either... Danzo's support would indeed be a great help in his bid to become Hokage.

Orochimaru looked up at the sky again.

The flames had lit up half the heavens. His student was clearly fighting someone, and the battle was fierce.

Orochimaru understood...

That child was also one of the conditions of Danzo's cooperation with him.

The two of them had only been tasked with stopping him.

Once everything was over, Root could easily fabricate enough evidence to keep him out of it.

But...

"This arrangement doesn't seem very fair to me, gentlemen."

Orochimaru smiled again and walked right past the two of them, though he didn't return the scroll.

"That child is my student. I've invested a great deal of effort in him, and even our teacher has high hopes for him."

"I've shown Elder Danzo more than enough good faith."

"But Elder Danzo doesn't seem to care very much..."

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Ruohuo split his attention, keeping the Fire Dragon Bullet flying through the air as he changed the Great Fireball's form again, turning it into a barrage of fireballs that rained down over the ground!

His absolute advantage in the air let Ruohuo maintain control of the attack.

With absolute control over the Great Fireball and a full 500% boost to its power, Ruohuo kept the enemies on the ground completely suppressed!

"This is bad! It's drawing too much attention!"

"That brat is outside the range of my ninjutsu! What do we do?"

"How has he still not run out of chakra?"

"If he doesn't come down in three minutes, we'll have to retreat!"

"Prepare to take the bodies! We can't leave any evidence!"

The masked ninja exchanged words as they dodged.

Up above, Ruohuo had gone completely berserk!

"Come out and face me head-on, you bastards!"

Ruohuo kept his hands in the Tiger Seal.

Most Fire Style jutsu ended with this seal. With the 200% ninjutsu activation buff from Little Fire God, Ruohuo could use it to cast at least twenty different Fire Style jutsu.

But right now, he only planned to use the most basic Great Fireball!

"If you won't come out, then burn to ash along with the entire forest!"

Ruohuo gathered his chakra and poured fifty times the usual amount into this basic C-rank jutsu, increasing its scale!

The chakra cost was equivalent to five Great Fireballs at full power.

But it had five times the power and fifty times the scale!

"Will of Fire: Great Flame World!"

It was a colossal fireball, as dazzling as an Artificial Sun!

The night was set ablaze, and the entire forest was illuminated by the flames!

Boom!!!!

The Artificial Sun crashed down on the forest!

With heat and scale like this, there was nowhere to hide. They could only face it head-on!

If the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, were here, perhaps he could use his unparalleled Water Style to withstand it, even in this waterless place.

But against a Fire Style jutsu this far beyond the norm, even the Second Hokage would likely choose to evade it with Flying Thunder God—unless he had a compelling reason not to!

And these mere rats hiding in the shadows?

"What is that...!?"

Aburame Ryoma and Yamanaka Chito, who hadn't taken part in the battle, stared wide-eyed at the enormous fireball falling like the sun itself. Their faces went blank, and for a moment, they even forgot how to think!

"Retreat! Don't get caught in it!"

Aburame Ryoma was the first to react. He warned his comrade, then sprinted away without hesitation!

What kind of monster could use Fire Style on this scale!?

What kind of jutsu was that...

The Uchiha had mastered a Fire Style jutsu like that... a forbidden technique!?

It had to be a forbidden technique.

It could only be a forbidden technique!

No wonder Orochimaru had clearly seen through their intentions, yet still agreed to wait for a while.

A monster like this...

None of the plans Lord Danzo had spent a week preparing would be enough to destroy this Uchiha brat!

Unless Orochimaru chose to act, it would be impossible!

But would Orochimaru choose to cooperate with Danzo?

As he watched the blazing light descend,

the fervor in Orochimaru's eyes didn't dim in the slightest. He calmly formed Hand Seals, preparing to withstand the shock wave of heat.

"Is this the limit of your Will of Fire, Ruohuo?"

"For your sake, I gave up a shortcut to becoming Hokage..."