Yun Xi's Counterattack

"Once I make it to the Hokage Office Building, I'll be safe!"

After a quick scan of his surroundings, Yun Xi made up his mind.

The idea was simple enough.

But putting it into practice was another matter entirely.

After all, Orochimaru's strength was undoubtedly at the very top of the field before the Chunin Ninja Exams.

And there were very few people in Konoha who could match him.

In the original story, the only person who clearly had Orochimaru's number was Uchiha Itachi, thanks to his Sharingan...

Yun Xi had a Sharingan too.

But...

The gap between the Three-Tomoe Sharingan and the Mangekyō Sharingan was no smaller than the difference in strength between an ordinary Jonin and someone at the peak of Kage Level...

Yun Xi was starting to panic.

And the most important thing was...

The place where Yun Xi and Orochimaru stood was terribly inconvenient.

The Hokage Office Building was right in front of him.

But the distance from where Yun Xi stood to the building was at least two kilometers.

And that was assuming he ran at full speed...

"Forget it. No point thinking about it!"

As he worked through the plan in his head, Yun Xi felt helpless. Then, realizing his chances of escape were growing slimmer by the second, he decided to stop overthinking.

He pushed all those complicated thoughts out of his mind.

Once he had settled on an escape route, a spark of determination flashed in Yun Xi's eyes!

"I don't know how strong you are, kid, but I'm willing to give you another chance, just for your courage."

"Are you willing to come with me?"

After Orochimaru finished speaking, Yun Xi and he fell silent again.

Orochimaru clearly knew that Yun Xi wanted to escape.

Under normal circumstances, he should have subdued Yun Xi first and dealt with everything else afterward.

But Orochimaru disdained doing that.

The boy in front of him was only twelve. Though there were things about him that piqued Orochimaru's curiosity,

to Orochimaru, Yun Xi was nothing more than an interesting little ant.

Make the first move?

In Orochimaru's eyes, Yun Xi wasn't worth the effort...

"Thanks, but I still don't want to go!"

When Orochimaru spoke again, Yun Xi refused without hesitation. Then, without pausing,

Yun Xi moved!

Before making his move, Yun Xi had already positioned himself along a relatively ideal escape route.

The instant he finished speaking, Yun Xi ran with all his might.

It took only a few seconds.

With all his strength, Yun Xi finally burst out of the alley.

But when he saw his surroundings, his expression remained grim.

"There's still no one..."

Looking at the deserted wilderness before him, Yun Xi felt as though the world itself was against him.

According to his original plan, if there were other Konoha villagers outside the alley, all he had to do was make it out and he would basically be safe.

Orochimaru had dared to kill the few ninja who had been watching Yun Xi because there was no one else at Yun Xi's home.

But Orochimaru would never dare attack civilians near Konoha's main street!

Orochimaru was certainly strong.

But he was still weaker than Konoha as a whole.

And Yun Xi knew that, since Orochimaru was still working with Danzo at this point, he didn't want to expose his identity either.

Yun Xi's plan had been perfect...

It was just...

His luck had been terrible.

There was no one here.

Apart from Yun Xi and Orochimaru, not a soul was around...

"Looks like luck isn't on your side, kid."

Just then, Orochimaru slowly emerged from the alley, speaking to Yun Xi in a teasing tone,

as if he wasn't worried in the slightest that Yun Xi might escape his grasp.

"Damn it..."

Yun Xi was already in a foul mood, and Orochimaru's words only made him feel as though the world was out to get him.

But Yun Xi didn't give up...

As he scanned the area, he searched for another escape route.

Suddenly!

A dense grove of trees came into view.

Looking at the grove, Yun Xi immediately remembered something...

"Big Brother Yun Xi, want to go play?"

"Big Brother Yun Xi, I'll tell you a secret. If you go through this grove, you can get straight to the Ninja Academy. It'll save you lots of time..."

"..."

In an instant, little Tenten's adorable face appeared in Yun Xi's mind.

Along with what she had said earlier.

"I'll run that way!"

Yun Xi's original plan had been to head for the Hokage Office Building and seek the protection of Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi. That was by far the safest option.

But when he thought of how far away it was,

he could only give up on it.

The Ninja Academy was another decent option.

There weren't any especially powerful ninja at the school.

But...

Yun Xi didn't believe Orochimaru would dare attack him at the Ninja Academy!

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Just as Yun Xi made up his mind, he saw Orochimaru slowly approaching.

Seeing this,

Yun Xi immediately gathered the chakra in his body in his mouth, then swiftly formed Hand Seals!

In less than half a second,

a red fireball about the size of a basketball shot out of Yun Xi's mouth.

It was aimed straight at Orochimaru, who was steadily closing in on him!

"Looks like I underestimated you, dead-last kid!"

Feeling the heat of the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique, Orochimaru didn't panic. A faint smile simply appeared on his face.

Clearly, in Orochimaru's experience,

anyone capable of releasing a Fire Release Ninjutsu like that so skillfully couldn't be a dead-last who hadn't even graduated from the Ninja Academy.

In other words,

Yun Xi had at least the strength of a Chunin...

"Twelve years old, and already a Chunin..."

Orochimaru looked thoughtful.

Then he suddenly spoke!

"If I remember correctly, there was a genius in the Uchiha Clan named Uchiha Itachi who achieved about the same thing."

"A kid like this..."

"Was actually called a dead-last?!"

"Konoha really has grown rotten..."

As Orochimaru lamented, Yun Xi's Great Fireball Technique reached him.

"Shing!"

Suddenly.

A sword flashed.

The fireball, which had been about the size of a basketball, was cleaved apart by the Kusanagi Sword in Orochimaru's hand.

Then it vanished into thin air...

"Just as I thought..."

"For Orochimaru, a ninjutsu of this level is child's play."

Watching the scene unfold, Yun Xi wasn't particularly surprised.

Instead, he looked as though he'd expected it.

After all...

The Fire Release Ninjutsu he had just used was only a simple Great Fireball Technique.

He hadn't added in the power of the Flame-Flame Fruit.

He hadn't even used his Sharingan or the power granted by the system.

If a Fire Release Ninjutsu at that level had managed to injure Orochimaru,

Yun Xi would have been shocked...