Orochimaru, Don't You Dare Die

"Damn it," the two Jonin cursed under their breath.

The earth beneath their feet gradually turned muddy.

They tried to escape, but the ground beneath them had already become a swamp, locking their feet firmly in place.

No matter how they struggled to move their feet, it was useless.

Here's my chance...

Jiraiya was delighted to see the two men trapped by his ninjutsu.

He formed hand seals and stepped out from behind the rock wall.

His cheeks puffed out. "Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"

A blazing fireball shot from Jiraiya's mouth toward the two men.

This is bad... Both Jonin sensed trouble at once.

With the attack about to hit, they exchanged a glance.

Both formed hand seals simultaneously.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

A massive wall of water rose in front of them, barely blocking the fire attack.

To their astonishment, however, the flames did not disappear. They kept burning.

"What kind of fire release is this? How is it so powerful?" one of the Jonin, dressed in white, exclaimed.

"We underestimated him. He's so young, yet he's already this strong."

The white-clad Jonin had never expected the brat before them to be so powerful.

Even working together, they could not beat him. Worse, he seemed to have the upper hand.

"Then what do we do now?" the ninja wearing a vest asked. "You're the one who told us to defect together. You'd better come up with something!"

"I don't know." The white-clad Jonin shook his head.

"Besides, didn't you all agree to this willingly?" he added disdainfully.

"Damn you." The vest-wearing Jonin nearly exploded with anger at that response.

Still, he knew this was no time to argue about it.

Once we get out of here, I'll make him pay.

Jiraiya hid behind the wall again and observed them.

They blocked it? Jiraiya frowned.

Looks like I'll have to use that.

I just hope my earlier ninjutsu can hold them for a while.

But he had only just learned that mode. He probably could not maintain it for more than a minute.

He crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and quietly meditated.

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from ahead, breaking his concentration.

"Jiraiya, do you need a hand?"

He opened his eyes and saw the figure approaching him.

"Tsunade?" Jiraiya sounded puzzled.

"Have you finished your fight?"

Tsunade nodded. "I've taken care of my side. I saw you were still stuck here, so I came to help."

"You came at just the right time. I could really use your help!"

With her arrival, Jiraiya abandoned the idea of using that mode.

"What do you need me to do?" Tsunade asked.

Jiraiya leaned close to her ear and quietly explained his idea.

"Mm..." Tsunade nodded, understanding his plan.

Meanwhile.

"Ugh..."

"This swamp is a real pain."

After expending a tremendous amount of effort, the two men finally freed themselves from the swamp.

Yet they were also puzzled.

Why had their opponent not attacked again while they were escaping?

Normally, that would have been the perfect time to strike.

Has he run out of chakra?

"Let's go. Forget about him." The white-clad Jonin shook his head.

Whatever the reason he had stopped attacking, they had a chance now. They would be fools not to run.

"Yeah..." The black-clad Jonin nodded.

Having experienced their opponent's strength, he had lost all desire to fight.

They exchanged a glance, turned, and prepared to flee in different directions.

Suddenly, the earth beneath them churned again. Before they could react, the swamp trapped their legs once more.

"Damn it... not this disgusting ninjutsu again!"

Seeing the two men caught by his ninjutsu once more,

Jiraiya chuckled softly.

"Heh, let me show you the new ninjutsu Teacher Sarutobi taught me!"

He slowly formed hand seals and leaned back, his chest and abdomen gradually swelling.

His cheeks bulged, and a pillar of fire erupted from his mouth.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

"Damn it..." Both men cursed under their breath at the sight of the ferocious attack.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

Their water release once again blocked the flames before them.

What they had not expected, however, was that this fire release ninjutsu would keep coming.

Their combined water release could not hold it back.

The vest-wearing ninja thought for a moment, then said, "I'll prepare a stronger water release ninjutsu."

"You hold it off for now."

With that, he stopped contributing to the ninjutsu, crouched down, and began forming hand seals.

"What are you doing...?" With one person no longer supporting it, the Water Formation Wall instantly weakened.

The white-clad ninja felt an immense pressure bear down on him.

"Hurry up with those hand seals!" he urged.

The collision between the water release and fire release ninjutsu sent clouds of thick mist billowing around them.

It obscured visibility throughout the area.

By now, the vest-wearing ninja was sweating all over, his hands continuously forming seals.

This ninjutsu has so many seals.

A moment later, the white-clad ninja could no longer withstand the attack, and his ninjutsu began to dissipate.

Just then, the vest-wearing ninja finished preparing his own technique.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A dragon-shaped column of water gathered from their surroundings and collided with the flames just before they reached the white-clad ninja, stopping them.

Then, with overwhelming force, it drove the fire attack back.

Boom!

The clash of the two powerful ninjutsu thickened the surrounding mist, and visibility continued to drop.

"Whew..."

The two men breathed sighs of relief.

Thank goodness we blocked it.

"Let's go while no one can see anything," the white-clad ninja whispered.

The vest-wearing ninja nodded.

They trudged slowly toward the edge of the swamp.

Just then, a fierce rush of air rang out nearby.

Before either could react, a tremendous force struck them from behind.

Crack! Crack!

The sound of shattering bones came from both their bodies.

Splat!

The blow slammed them hard into the swamp, facedown.

"Mmph, mmph..."

The swamp held their bodies fast, leaving them unable to move.

Even breathing became difficult.

"Let me..." The white-clad ninja tried to beg her to spare him.

Tsunade frowned and pressed down harder with both legs.

Only after she sensed that neither man was breathing did she shout behind her, "Jiraiya, that's enough."

"They're dealt with..."

Tsunade had had enough of the sticky feeling beneath her feet.

A gust of wind swept through, dispersing the mist and bringing their surroundings into clear view.

Jiraiya slowly approached from ahead.

The swamp beneath Tsunade's feet gradually disappeared, turning back into solid earth.

As the swamp vanished, the two corpses beneath her feet slowly emerged.

After confirming that they were dead, Tsunade took two scrolls from her ninja tool pouch.

She sealed each corpse into a separate scroll.

Once everything was done, the two exchanged a glance.

Then they sprang into motion, heading toward Orochimaru.

"Orochimaru probably has four Jonin to deal with. I don't know if he can hold out," Jiraiya said worriedly.

"Relax. He probably won't die," Tsunade said.

Though she said that aloud, she was actually deeply worried.

When they drew closer and saw the devastation before them, their pupils constricted.

"This is bad..."

A vast stretch of ground had been scorched by fire release ninjutsu, and signs of battle were everywhere.

Kunai and shuriken were embedded in every corner.

Not far ahead, Orochimaru lay on the ground, covered in wounds.

In front of him lay three corpses whose features were unrecognizable.

"Orochimaru... don't you dare die..." Jiraiya murmured.

The two quickly stopped beside Orochimaru.

Upon seeing Orochimaru's injuries, Jiraiya stood rooted to the spot, his eyes blank, unable to recover for a long time.

Tsunade swiftly knelt before Orochimaru and examined his injuries.

How did this happen? How did he end up in such a state? Tsunade cursed inwardly.

Orochimaru's injuries were truly severe. An extremely deep gash stretched from his left shoulder to the top of his thigh.

Fine beads of cold sweat formed on Tsunade's forehead.

Her trembling hands gathered green chakra as she began treating Orochimaru's wound.

But the wound was too long to heal all at once.

After a moment's thought, Tsunade bit her thumb open.

"Summoning Technique..."