Orochimaru's shock

Hatake Ziyan had no intention of worrying about how Orochimaru would handle it. At worst, if Orochimaru defected, he could simply send someone to bring him back to his own base.

Orochimaru stood rooted to the spot, unable to recover for a long time.

Hatake Ziyan said nothing more. He simply waited quietly, watching the three children train below.

"Lord Ziyan, if my teacher knows what I've done, as you say, why does he still keep me in Konoha?" Orochimaru asked after taking a long while to collect himself.

"To use you! You're a powerful fighter on the verge of reaching Kage Level, and you still respect him deeply. Why would he kick such a useful enforcer out of Konoha? Besides, he supported what you were doing in the first place. If you haven't been exposed, why would he reveal it himself?" Hatake Ziyan replied.

"But..." Orochimaru still wanted to say something.

"No more buts. What's there to agonize over? You're just a researcher. You don't even know where the test subjects came from, and they weren't the first to conduct these experiments, either! I can't tell you much more about what really happened. If you truly want answers, investigate it yourself!" Hatake Ziyan interrupted.

"All right!" Orochimaru replied.

Hatake Ziyan stood up, looked at the three below, and asked Orochimaru, "What do you think of those three children?"

Orochimaru had been watching from the sidelines for quite some time, so naturally, he had noticed the three children as well. After a moment's thought, he replied, "I haven't seen them in actual combat, but judging solely by their training, Kakashi has the most talent, Kushina is a little behind him, and Nawaki probably comes last!"

Hatake Ziyan nodded. Of the three, Kakashi Hatake did indeed have considerable talent. He was only five, yet he already had the strength of an elite Genin. Even without Ziyan's intervention, Kakashi would become a jonin at twelve.

But the strongest of the three right now wasn't Kakashi. It was Kushina. Hatake Ziyan also wanted to see how far their strength had progressed.

"Orochimaru, interested in exchanging a few moves with these children?" Hatake Ziyan asked.

Orochimaru also wanted to show Hatake Ziyan his strength. After giving it some thought, he agreed.

Orochimaru jumped straight into the middle of the training ground and told the three, "Lord Ziyan asked me to test whether your strength has improved lately. Come at me together!"

Hearing Orochimaru's words, the three stopped training and looked toward Hatake Ziyan.

"This is Orochimaru the Cold Lord, one of the Sannin. You need to fight with the resolve to kill him, or you might not even touch his clothes!" Hatake Ziyan deliberately goaded them.

At Hatake Ziyan's words, Orochimaru glanced up at him, the corner of his mouth curling upward. He really didn't think much of these three children. He had only come down to show off a little in front of Hatake Ziyan!

Once they had confirmation, the three immediately took up a battle formation, with Kakashi Hatake and Nawaki Senju at the front and Kushina at the back.

Kakashi reached into his ninja tool pouch, pulled out two shuriken, and threw them at Orochimaru. He then immediately drew his sword and charged.

Nawaki also began forming hand seals at once, preparing to unleash Ninjutsu.

Just then, Orochimaru suddenly released his killing intent, enveloping all three in an instant to see how they would respond.

But Orochimaru immediately noticed something was wrong. None of the three were affected by his killing intent.

"Ninja art: Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"

Nawaki had finished his hand seals and unleashed Ninjutsu.

Orochimaru was a little surprised, but remembering that someone like Hatake Ziyan had trained them for a month, he found it understandable.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

Orochimaru immediately formed hand seals, then slapped both hands onto the ground. A wall of earth rose from below!

Nawaki's Ninjutsu struck the earthen wall with a chorus of metallic clinks. Although some shuriken embedded themselves in it, not a single one broke through.

Orochimaru had just stood up when he saw Kakashi leap over the wall.

"Hatake Swordsmanship: Flash!"

Kakashi's figure flashed, and he appeared directly behind Orochimaru.

Kakashi sheathed his blade and turned to look at Orochimaru.

No blood flowed from Orochimaru's body. Instead, a yellow color began spreading from his feet, quickly covering his entire body.

"This is bad!" Kakashi immediately realized it was an earth clone and turned to run toward Kushina.

The moment Nawaki saw Kakashi running in his direction, he knew something had gone wrong. But remembering that Kushina was behind him, he stopped just as he was about to turn back.

He grabbed Kakashi as he passed and said, "No need to go over there. If Kushina can't beat him, neither can we!"

"What?" Kakashi asked in surprise.

"Look!" Nawaki offered no explanation, merely raising a hand to point toward Kushina.

Kakashi looked toward Kushina.

Using Earth Release, Orochimaru appeared directly behind Kushina and kicked at her.

Kushina didn't even turn her head. Several Adamantine Sealing Chains rose from her body, binding Orochimaru's incoming foot. With a pull, she flung him away.

Orochimaru slammed into the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop.

Orochimaru stood up, dusted off his clothes, and looked at Kushina. "Mind's Eye of the Kagura! Adamantine Sealing Chains! You're Kushina Uzumaki, the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki?"

"Yes!" Kushina replied, several Adamantine Sealing Chains floating behind her.

Then Kushina's Adamantine Sealing Chains shot out, hurtling toward Orochimaru to bind him.

Orochimaru dodged nimbly, continuously forming hand seals as he evaded them.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Orochimaru thrust his right hand forward, and dozens of snakes shot out of his right sleeve toward Kushina.

Seeing dozens of snakes flying at her, Kushina screamed in fright. She didn't even think to counterattack, simply squeezing her eyes shut and raising her arms in front of herself.

Orochimaru hadn't expected these children, who weren't afraid of his killing intent, to fear snakes. Seeing Kushina offer no resistance, he tried to withdraw his Ninjutsu.

Just as Orochimaru was about to cancel his Ninjutsu, an enormous surge of chakra erupted from Kushina, instantly forming a Chakra Cloak around her—or, more accurately, a Tailed Beast Cloak.

The Chakra Cloak blasted away every snake flying toward Kushina.

"A Tailed Beast Cloak?" Orochimaru exclaimed in shock.

Kushina lowered her hands. Orochimaru looked into her eyes and saw that her pupils had become vertical slits.

Orochimaru grew serious and shouted to Hatake Ziyan, "Lord Ziyan, the Jinchūriki has gone berserk! Quickly take the other two children away, then come back to subdue her!"