"Impossible!"
For the first time, shock appeared on Orochimaru's pale face.
He stared fixedly at Shengu Xuan's finger, which still hung in midair.
Turmoil surged through his heart.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough was only a C-rank ninjutsu.
But with his Sannin-level chakra reserves behind it, its power absolutely rivaled an A-rank technique!
Never mind a Genin.
Even an ordinary Jonin could not have blocked it completely with a single finger!
Let alone without any hand seals or chakra fluctuations!
Orochimaru's voice turned grim.
"Who exactly are you?"
He finally realized that the seemingly ordinary black-haired boy before him was anything but ordinary.
Shengu Xuan withdrew his finger.
He ruffled his hair, which the wind had mussed slightly.
"Me?"
"I'm just an ordinary Genin passing through."
"But I do have one little problem."
"I really hate people messing up my hair."
The instant those words fell.
Shengu Xuan's gaze turned bone-chillingly cold!
He gave Orochimaru no time to react.
The black in Shengu Xuan's eyes faded instantly.
Two points of dark red light, blazing like magma, erupted!
Pig Talisman!
Lightning Divine Authority!
Two arm-thick beams of dark red, high-energy laser light tore through the air at light speed.
Carrying terrifying heat capable of melting steel, they shot straight toward Orochimaru's chest!
The sudden attack was impossibly fast!
Orochimaru only saw a flash of red.
A sense of mortal danger instantly enveloped his entire body.
Years of battle instincts drove him to react at his absolute limit.
"Ninja Art: Shedding!"
The instant the laser beams struck Orochimaru.
Like a snake, Orochimaru's body abruptly spat a brand-new version of himself out of its mouth!
His original shell did not last even a second under the laser beams' terrifying heat.
It was vaporized directly into a cloud of white steam!
On a large tree dozens of meters away.
Orochimaru's new body gasped for breath.
He looked at the still-smoking scorch mark on the ground.
A sheen of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
"What a terrifying attack."
"That heat can instantly melt even my chakra defenses."
"If not for the shedding technique, I would have died just now!"
Orochimaru was inwardly shaken.
He had originally come only to place a Cursed Seal on Sasuke.
He had never expected to encounter such a monstrous wild card here!
Shengu Xuan raised an eyebrow at Orochimaru in the tree.
He seemed somewhat surprised that Orochimaru had escaped that strike.
"Oh?"
"You're pretty good at running for your life."
"Like a slippery loach."
At that moment, Sasuke, who had been cowed by Orochimaru's palpable killing intent, finally managed to regain a shred of reason.
He gasped for breath.
He watched Shengu Xuan force that terrifying Grass Ninja back.
Humiliation and helplessness welled up in his heart again.
Sasuke bit the tip of his tongue.
The intense pain freed him completely from the genjutsu's control.
"Damn it!"
"How can I, Sasuke Uchiha, keep hiding behind someone else!"
He sprang to his feet, his hands rapidly forming hand seals.
The two tomoe in his Sharingan spun wildly.
He locked firmly onto Orochimaru in the tree!
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
A straight stream of searing flame hurtled toward Orochimaru like a fire dragon, following the steel wires along the ground!
Yet in the face of Sasuke's attack.
Orochimaru merely sneered.
"Sasuke-kun."
"That look in your eyes is quite good."
"But your strength still has a long way to go!"
Orochimaru did not even form hand seals.
He simply waved a hand.
A powerful gust of chakra instantly scattered Sasuke's Dragon Fire Technique!
Immediately afterward, Orochimaru vanished from the tree like a phantom.
The next second, he appeared right in front of Sasuke!
Orochimaru drove a heavy kick into Sasuke's abdomen!
Sasuke felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
His whole body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
He smashed through three large trees before coming to a stop and spewing a mouthful of blood.
Suspended in midair by a venomous snake coiled around him, Naruto's eyes widened with fury.
"Sasuke!"
The Nine-Tails chakra inside him began running wild with rage.
A red Chakra Cloak faintly emerged.
He actually tore the venomous snake wrapped around him to pieces through brute force!
Naruto roared and charged at Orochimaru.
"I'll kill you!"
Orochimaru did not even glance at Naruto.
He struck out with a backhanded slap!
"Brat, you're in the way."
Naruto flew backward faster than he had charged in.
He slammed heavily into the ground and immediately lost consciousness.
In a single exchange.
Orochimaru had instantly taken down two of Team 7's fighters with absolutely overwhelming superiority!
This was the terrifying strength of a Sannin!
This was absolute dominance!
Orochimaru slowly walked through the wreckage toward Sasuke, who lay unable to rise.
A fanatical light flickered in his eyes.
"Do you see, Sasuke-kun?"
"This is the gap in our strength."
"You'll never gain true power in a hothouse like Konoha."
"Come."
"Accept my gift."
"I'll make you stronger than anyone!"
Orochimaru opened his mouth wide.
His neck stretched unnaturally again as he lunged to bite Sasuke's neck.
Sasuke closed his eyes in despair.
All his pride and effort were utterly powerless before this monster.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
At that moment of despair.
That familiar, arrogant applause rang through the forest again.
Orochimaru's movement stopped abruptly in midair.
He whipped his head around and stared fixedly at Shengu Xuan, who was walking slowly toward him.
Orochimaru's patience had run out.
He decided to dispose of this nuisance first.
"You little insect."
"Do you really think I can't kill you?"
Shengu Xuan stopped less than ten meters from Orochimaru.
He looked at Orochimaru as though he were a prancing clown.
With both hands in his pockets, Shengu Xuan spoke in an infuriatingly calm voice.
"Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, right?"
"You just said."
"That here, you're absolute power?"
Shengu Xuan tilted his head up slightly.
Within those pitch-black eyes.
An aura a hundred times more violent and a thousand times more terrifying than Orochimaru's was brewing wildly.
The corners of Shengu Xuan's mouth spread into a cruel curve.
"Since you're so confident in your power."
"Then let me show you."
"What true despair means."
His words fell.
Shengu Xuan abruptly raised his right hand and aimed it at Orochimaru.
The previously clear sky instantly filled with dark clouds as fierce winds howled!
A terrifying surge of magical power erupted with Shengu Xuan at its center!
Orochimaru felt that power.
His face instantly turned deathly pale!
What kind of monster was this?!
Before you continue