Known Like The Back of One's Hand!?

"Triple Rashomon," "Significant enhancement of physical constitution," "Three random Orochimaru-Style Ninjutsu."

"Rewards being issued immediately!"

As Lihuo shouted in his heart, a familiar sensation of pain rapidly spread throughout his entire body.

Yet this time, instead of feeling weary, Lihuo felt an incomparable sense of peace.

Because in front of this man, one could only earn the right to communicate as an equal if they possessed sufficient leverage and value.

Feeling the pain of his body being reinforced, Lihuo watched quietly as the Wind Style: Rasenshuriken before him wantonly ravaged the area where Orochimaru had just been standing.

Lihuo had given careful thought to his choice of these three rewards.

First, the enhancement of his physical constitution went without saying; the fact that Orochimaru had just physically pressed a Rasengan into the ground was the best example.

Without a matching physical constitution, even the best ninjutsu would yield half the result with twice the effort.

As for the "Triple Rashomon" and "Orochimaru-Style Ninjutsu," Lihuo had hidden his own selfish motives behind those choices as well.

Judging by today's battle, as his strength grew, it was a foregone conclusion that he would come into contact with more and more people who coveted him.

It was inevitable that he would encounter situations where he had to pull out all the stops, and the "Triple Rashomon" would be one of Lihuo's trump cards for the future!

The Triple Rashomon was inherited from the First Hokage's Fivefold Rashomon.

Its effect was to summon a defensive wall capable of absorbing any attack—the Rashomon—and summoning three of these gates simultaneously was a physical defensive technique employed by Orochimaru!

The first gate took the frontal attack, the second gate reduced the power of the strike, and the third gate dispersed the pressure of the attack.

With these three gates, each serving a different function, the power of any attack would be drastically reduced by the time it reached the user!

Since the First Hokage, only Orochimaru had been capable of using this ultimate absolute defense ninjutsu in Konoha!

The track record of the Rashomon was also quite astonishing; it had once been used by Orochimaru to defend against Four-Tails Naruto's Tailed Beast Bomb! This alone was enough to demonstrate its outstanding defensive capabilities!

As for the final reward, "Orochimaru-Style Ninjutsu," Lihuo simply wanted to gamble on his luck.

"Body Shedding" was too cruel, and Lihuo was not currently lacking in "Wind Style Ninjutsu."

"Five Elements Seal" did not seem very useful to Lihuo at the moment, and besides, he could always obtain sealing techniques later by touching Kushina.

However, "Orochimaru-Style Ninjutsu" was exclusive to Orochimaru, and among them, the "Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique" was a life-saving divine skill that most transmigrators coveted.

The track record was clear: Orochimaru used it to escape death, and Sasuke used it to turn danger into safety; the life-saving value of this technique was undeniably high!

After the painful transformation, Lihuo, whose body had been dragged down by the grueling battle, suddenly felt a surge of power within him.

For Lihuo, this enhancement of his physical constitution was exponential! Lihuo could be certain that his current physical constitution already surpassed that of Guy, who trained day and night.

If Lihuo were to duel Kakashi again now, in terms of taijutsu alone, Kakashi wouldn't last fifty moves before being beaten to the ground! And that was even including the bonus from the Hatake Sword Technique.

If the opponent were Orochimaru, Lihuo could only say he wouldn't be as wretched as before.

The "Triple Rashomon" was also promptly issued, and Lihuo could now skillfully use the Rashomon for defense, possessing a proficiency that was in no way inferior to Orochimaru's!

"Ding! Now beginning to draw three random Orochimaru-Style Ninjutsu."

The cold, mechanical voice rang out in Lihuo's mind. Lihuo knew that whether he could obtain the life-saving divine skill depended on this moment!

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining: B-rank ninjutsu, Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."

Hmm... Orochimaru's signature ninjutsu.

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Soft Physique Modification."

Lihuo: (;￣O￣)

"Congratulations to the host for obtaining: Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique."

Lihuo: ♪(´ε｀ )

Lihuo was overjoyed, for he knew that with these key ninjutsu, even if he burned his bridges with Orochimaru or even Konoha this time, he would still have a glimmer of hope for survival.

Subsequently, the methods for using these three ninjutsu appeared in Lihuo's mind. What annoyed him slightly was that the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands required a summoning contract with Ryuchi Cave to be used.

In the original work, both Orochimaru and Anko were the same.

However, the other two ninjutsu had been completely mastered by Lihuo.

So much so that even if he wanted to escape death like Orochimaru, he could now do so by relying on the "Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique"!

Finally, Lihuo finished digesting all the rewards from touching Orochimaru, and the lingering power of the Rasenshuriken dissipated completely at this moment.

A massive crater appeared where the attack had struck, the pit filled with dense traces of cuts from wind blades; apart from the soil, no living creature had survived in the pit!

Suddenly! A white snake as thick as an arm broke through the soil from the bottom of the crater, clearly having burrowed underground before the Rasenshuriken exploded.

As expected, the white snake's mouth opened at an impossible angle, and then a pair of pale arms reached out from the snake's mouth—it was Orochimaru!

Following that, Orochimaru's entire body emerged from the white snake's mouth, completely unscathed.

Although he was covered in mucus, a ninja who could escape the attack of a Rasenshuriken completely intact was truly one in a million!

"Hehehe, adding nature transformation to a self-created A-rank ninjutsu to form an extremely powerful S-rank ninjutsu, have you?"

Orochimaru's hoarse voice reached Lihuo's ears once again.

Yet Lihuo could clearly feel that his voice was slightly weak; it was obvious that escaping death from an S-rank ninjutsu had cost Orochimaru quite a bit of effort.

"What a truly formidable youth, Uchiha Lihuo. You are becoming more and more interesting to me."

Orochimaru extended his long tongue, licking his lips without a shred of decorum.

"Stop testing me, Lord Orochimaru. I already know your identity!"

Lihuo spoke in a loud, clear voice, though his clenched fists betrayed the trepidation in his heart.

Lihuo was playing a high-stakes gamble, betting on his chance to maintain a peaceful life in Konoha!

"Oh?" Orochimaru feigned slight surprise before tearing off the mask on his face and grinning. "How did you discover it was me?"

"Exquisite Wind Style Ninjutsu, an aura like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, powerful taijutsu, superb combat awareness, and the ability to escape from an S-rank ninjutsu."

"In Konoha, no one else could accomplish that besides Orochimaru."

Lihuo reeled off such a long string of seemingly flattering words, yet he was truly lamenting Orochimaru's strength!

"Hehehe, I didn't expect a junior to still remember me. I am truly honored."

Orochimaru laughed, though his words were laced with a chilling undertone.

"Uchiha Lihuo, you know me, and of course, I know you."

"However, could you answer a few questions for me?"

"First, why are you so keen on patting people's heads?"

Thump, thump, thud!

If Lu Miao had asked this question, Lihuo might not have felt such dread, but with Orochimaru asking it, it meant he likely had proof.

"According to Oshima's reports and the accounts of the Anbu, when you first fought Kakashi, you were outmatched in the beginning, yet you seemed to improve suddenly in the later stages. And in between those moments, there was only a single head pat."

Orochimaru walked slowly toward Lihuo.

"Including today's battle, the number of people you have patted is countless. Can you tell me why that is?"

As Orochimaru pressed in step by step, a familiar sense of terror once again flooded Lihuo's entire body.

Unlike last time, this was more like the panic of having one's secrets exposed.

"Lord Orochimaru, everyone has their own secrets, don't they? Perhaps I was simply hiding my true strength."

"Hiding your strength? Hehehe." Orochimaru remained noncommittal.

"Then, could you please tell me where that ability of yours to absorb natural energy to strengthen yourself comes from?"

Hearing this, Lihuo suddenly realized that the first time he activated Simplified Sage Mode, he had felt a cold, sinister chakra spying on him!

It was Orochimaru!

"And why were you able to burst forth with such astonishing speed at the critical moment to save that little girl from the Nara clan?"

What! How does he know about that too!

Lihuo suddenly recalled the little white snake that Oshima had briefly mentioned when he came to visit him!

"So, Lord Orochimaru, have you been observing and testing me from the shadows all this time?"

"That's right. At first, the Third Hokage only asked me to observe you, but who would have thought you would provide me with more and more surprises?"

Having said this, Orochimaru finally stood right in front of Lihuo!