The battle begins

As the sun rose the next day, Ye Feng stopped training and silently prepared the equipment for the day.

Ye Feng knew he would only play a supporting role in today's battle. Orochimaru would be the main force, and Might Duy would need to activate the Eight Gates Released Formation if necessary. He would not need to open all the gates; to Ye Feng, Shinnō was nowhere near as valuable as Might Duy.

He arrived at Might Duy's house early. He needed to explain today's arrangements to Might Duy and his son.

"Senior Duy, Lord Orochimaru and I will kill Shinnō here today. There will be some damage, which I'll compensate you for afterward. I hope you can keep your strength hidden and stand by, only intervening when necessary to prevent Shinnō from escaping. Also, it's best if Guy doesn't stay home, in case things get out of control and he gets hurt."

"It's fine. There's no harm in letting Guy stay here. Battles like this are rare, and it'll broaden his horizons. Once the fighting starts, I'll protect Guy and take him away from the battlefield so he can watch from a distance. Then I'll sneak back into hiding to prevent Shinnō from leaving." Might Duy did not want to miss this opportunity. He wanted Might Guy to witness a battle between powerful fighters, which could also kindle his enthusiasm.

Since Might Duy insisted, Ye Feng said no more. After all, there was only one enemy, so there probably would not be much danger.

All three felt nervous about the approaching battle, and even a little excited.

Suddenly, they heard a knock at the door, and both Ye Feng and Might Duy cried inwardly: He's here.

Might Duy straightened his clothes, put on a happy expression, and went to open the door for Shinnō.

Seeing Shinnō enter, Ye Feng also put on a look of happiness and admiration and greeted him:

"Lord Shinnō, thank you for your guidance. After I went home yesterday, I thought back over your treatment and learned so much."

"You're welcome. Yesterday, I was mainly just performing the usual treatment and only gave you a few pointers here and there. If you learned anything, it was thanks to your own efforts," Shinnō replied, his expression as kindly as ever.

"There was so little I could help you with yesterday, great healer. I hope you'll give me more things to do, Lord Shinnō."

"Students who work this hard are rare these days. I'll teach you a little more today. Come, Duy, just like yesterday. Take your clothes off and lie facedown."

As Shinnō spoke, he took out the equipment he would use and told Ye Feng to fetch a basin of hot water to wash it.

Hearing this, Ye Feng's eyes lit up. He had thought of a good idea that might let him find out where the ninjutsu scroll was, and he hurried off to fetch the hot water.

Shinnō also noticed the gleam in Ye Feng's eyes, but merely thought it was a child's delight at being able to help.

"Here's the hot water!" Ye Feng called as he ran in from outside, carrying a large basin of water.

Hearing that the hot water had arrived, Shinnō lowered his head to pick up his equipment, paying no attention to Ye Feng.

Ye Feng seized his chance and pretended to trip, spilling the entire basin of water over Shinnō. It was boiling water, and Shinnō jumped in fright, his hand instinctively reaching toward his chest. Ye Feng saw this and had all but guessed the ninjutsu scroll's location.

"Ah... ah, I'm so sorry, Mr. Shinnō. This basin was a little heavy, and I couldn't hold it steady." Ye Feng hurried forward, pretending to brush the water off Shinnō.

Might Duy also stood up to remove Shinnō's soaked clothes.

With something to hide, Shinnō quickly held out his hand to refuse Might Duy's "kindness."

Seeing his chance, Ye Feng suddenly produced a steel needle coated with the poison Orochimaru had given him and stabbed it straight into Shinnō's arm.

Shinnō felt a slight prick in his arm and instinctively tensed his muscles, a sense of foreboding rising within him.

Seeing that the needle would go no farther after piercing halfway in, Ye Feng realized Shinnō had noticed. He quickly reached toward the spot where Shinnō might be keeping the ninjutsu scroll.

Unfortunately, Shinnō reacted faster than Ye Feng. He blocked Ye Feng's reaching hand with his palm, spotted the steel needle in his arm out of the corner of his eye, kicked Ye Feng squarely in the abdomen, and pulled out the needle.

Ye Feng flew straight through the wall, smashing through two homes before coming to a stop. Ignoring the pain, he immediately shouted, "Attack!"

Seven or eight figures immediately appeared around them, surrounding Might Duy's house, with Orochimaru at their head.

Might Duy reacted swiftly when he saw what had happened. Grabbing Might Guy, he burst through the wooden wall and vanished in a few leaps.

Shinnō slowly walked outside, seemingly oblivious to the ninja surrounding him, his eyes fixed on Orochimaru. As far as he was concerned, Orochimaru had planned all of this.

"I don't believe I've given anything away. How did you discover my identity?" Shinnō was deeply puzzled. He had been extremely careful in everything he did.

By then, Ye Feng had walked over to Orochimaru's side, clutching his stomach. He told Orochimaru, "The scroll is inside his clothes, against his chest."

Shinnō was shaken to the core. From what they were saying, they had come for his "Medical Forbidden Technique: Body Revival" scroll. How had they known? He had only opened the scroll a handful of times, always in sparsely populated places with no one around. There was no way he could have exposed it unless he had told someone himself. But with his strength, he believed no one existed who could use genjutsu to make him reveal his secrets.

"Shinnō, the great healer, creator of Medical Forbidden Technique: Body Revival," Orochimaru said.

They really even know that! Impossible!

Seeing his unsettled state, Orochimaru struck first. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" A snake shot out of the sleeve of Orochimaru's raised right arm and coiled around Shinnō, flicking its forked tongue toward his face.

Seeing the snake wrap around Shinnō, the Jonin who had come with Orochimaru looked delighted, thinking Shinnō was nothing special after all.

Orochimaru, however, frowned slightly. He did not believe Shinnō could be subdued so easily and began to guard against him.

Shinnō looked at the snake around his body. The kindly look vanished from his face, replaced by a trace of disdain, and then he burst into peals of wild laughter. As he laughed, his muscles began to change, as though countless larvae were wriggling beneath his skin. His muscles slowly bulged, and he even grew taller. The hair on his head began turning from white to black, leaving him looking like a man in his prime.