Orochimaru glanced around. All the mist was emanating from the roses.
Could the gas converted from the liquid extracted from poisonous rose petals really be just simple, beautiful-looking mist?
Even without experiencing it personally, Orochimaru knew how terrifying this substance was.
"A terrifying talent, to think of such an attack method…" At this moment, Orochimaru wasn't just full of praise for Ethan. He even felt that such an outstanding genius shouldn't be wasting his life in Konoha. "I truly admire you. How about leaving Konoha with me?"
Ethan hadn't responded yet, but the Third Hokage beside him trembled violently, his muscles instantly tensing. He could barely restrain himself from launching a Great Fireball at Orochimaru.
At the same time, he observed Ethan's reaction out of the corner of his eye, especially as Orochimaru continued to increase the stakes. It seemed he genuinely admired Ethan and wasn't just trying to mess with his opponent's mind.
"Sorry, I can't think of any reason to follow you. I'm very happy living in Konoha."
"Hehehehehe, young man, there's a lot you don't know. I'm sure you'll change your mind when the time comes… My invitation stands for the long term. If you change your mind, you can come find me anytime."
Ethan lowered his hands from the hand seal, as if he was being swayed by Orochimaru's words.
But in reality, he had already completed the jutsu. There was no need to keep his hands raised. Even the rose whip in his hand had disappeared at some point. Now, with his hands back in his pockets, he stood quietly, looking at Orochimaru.
"Wood Release: Crimson Thorns!"
The towering red mist didn't spread out but surrounded Orochimaru from all directions. As Ethan withdrew from the hand seal, the space between the two sides was also enveloped by the red mist. At this point, Ethan and Hiruzen could no longer see Orochimaru, who was trapped within the thick fog.
Once the jutsu was activated, the mist recondensed into liquid and turned into sharp arrows that attacked Orochimaru from all directions. The constant whooshing sounds echoed throughout the barrier, drowning out all other noises. For a moment, only the sound of biu, biu, biu, biu, biu, biu could be heard.
The original Crimson Thorns used blood filled with toxins as the attack medium. Leaving aside whether Ethan would use such a self-harming method, even if he was willing, his blood didn't contain poison. If he really used his own blood, Orochimaru might just die laughing.
So instead, he used the toxic liquid extracted from the roses he created. Since plants could be juiced, this method didn't hinder the execution of the jutsu.
As the mist gradually thinned, Hiruzen and Ethan could once again see Orochimaru on the other side. At this moment, Orochimaru still appeared composed. Although the all-around attacks were troublesome, defending against them wasn't too difficult for someone of his level.
But in the next second, something happened that gave him a headache.
The biggest difference between Ethan's Crimson Thorns and the original version was that Ethan was extremely thrifty and had a deep understanding of the benefits of recycling and reuse.
If the toxic liquid failed to penetrate the opponent's body, that meant it was blocked. And such a large amount of liquid wouldn't just disappear after being blocked—it pooled at Orochimaru's feet.
Then, Orochimaru watched helplessly as the red liquid at his feet turned back into mist, continuing to surround him.
"Truly… a headache-inducing and terrifying jutsu."
Now he felt like he was facing an immortal enemy brought back by the Reanimation Jutsu—relentless and unkillable.
The biu, biu, biu sounds echoed again inside the barrier, but despite how frightening the jutsu was, for some reason, everyone present, including Hiruzen, suddenly felt a strange sense of amusement?
Especially since he hadn't had a real chance to fight back from start to finish, and had just been standing there watching the show. He suddenly felt, I really am old.
As the Hokage of Konoha, a former peak figure in the ninja world, perhaps what he feared most was the day he became useless.
Maybe he had already anticipated this day, which was why he had intentionally or unintentionally planned to die in this battle.
Unfortunately, Ethan's appearance had changed everything. Maybe he really should start thinking about how to spend his retirement.
"Ethan."
"Hmm?"
"This move of yours doesn't seem to be hurting him."
"It's fine. We can just keep wearing him down like this."
Hiruzen looked at the rising red mist again. It seemed Ethan wasn't just talking.
"Can your chakra sustain this?"
A jutsu of this scale should consume a huge amount of chakra, right? Did Ethan really have that much chakra?
Ethan had already prepared a suitable explanation for this question.
"The environment created by the First Hokage gives me a lot of convenience. In his current state, the First Hokage doesn't have strong control over his own Wood Release, so I can borrow it directly and use it as the base for my own Wood Release... For a technique like this, the most chakra-consuming part is creating enough roses at the start. Once there are enough, the rest mainly relies on chakra control or jutsu manipulation…"
According to Ethan's explanation, he was actually using the First Hokage's power to calmly execute such a large-scale jutsu. If he had to create all the roses himself, he might be completely drained after just one move.
However, considering the power of the roses he created, even if he couldn't fight anymore after using Royal Demonic Palace Roses, it probably wouldn't matter much.
Most people wouldn't be on guard against a sea of beautiful flowers. By the time they realized something was wrong, they probably wouldn't even have the strength to escape and could only await death quietly in the flowery field.
Hiruzen didn't know that Ethan's rose sea wasn't just poisonous on contact. Even the scent could cause poisoning.
It was just that he had been standing there this whole time and hadn't been affected by the scent, so he instinctively dismissed the possibility.
So when Ethan said, "That's about enough…", he was a little surprised. Seeing Orochimaru's expression suddenly turn ugly and increasingly strained, he still didn't quite understand what had happened.
"It seems your Wood Release is even more terrifying than I imagined."
"Unless you can block all five senses and even seal all the pores on your body, you can't completely defend against these toxins."
The ultimate goal of the liquid arrow attacks was to get the poison into the body.
But with toxins that permeated everything, there was no need to rely on such aggressive methods. Just being in the environment and breathing normally was enough to inhale many harmful substances, and the area around Orochimaru was nearly saturated with toxins.
Even though he was cautious, the omnipresent toxins still entered through his skin. However, since this method was slow compared to directly injecting the poison into the bloodstream, Ethan had to repeat his attacks several times before Orochimaru noticed he had actually been poisoned.
"Today… you win."
Orochimaru realized that continuing to fight would only put him at an even greater disadvantage. This battlefield, which had originally been prepared as a death trap for the Third Hokage, had unexpectedly become his own grave.
He admitted that he had miscalculated. He hadn't expected such a monster to suddenly appear in Konoha.
"But your days in Konoha won't be easy either. Hehehehehe, I'll be waiting for you to come find me!"
A young genius, proud and exposed too early. Orochimaru could already imagine what Ethan would be facing next.
As for the Third Hokage? It was a pity he couldn't kill him today, but it didn't matter. He could see how much Hiruzen valued Ethan, and he was very curious to see how Ethan would react when he was eventually forced out of Konoha.
He ordered the Sound Four to release the barrier and retreated decisively while he could still move.
Although Konoha's Anbu reacted in time to pursue, they were immediately intercepted by the Sound Four. Ethan had long forgotten about them, but now he looked at them with a bit more respect. These minor characters didn't seem as useless as he had initially thought.
If he had wanted to, he could've killed Orochimaru on the spot, but that would've been too over-the-top.
Up to this point, his combat ability was still explainable. If he suddenly used some overwhelming technique to instantly kill Orochimaru, no amount of explanation would be convincing. It would just look like he had been hiding his true strength all along while living in Konoha.
Even so, he would probably still have to deal with some old schemers who had been stirring up trouble in Konoha for decades.
As Orochimaru fled while injured, the Reanimation Jutsu was also lifted, and the rooftop that had nearly been torn apart slowly returned to its original state. The Wood Release technique that had reshaped the terrain began to fade—it was said that the First Hokage once used his jutsu to permanently improve Konoha's environment, even after death.
This weakened version didn't have such lasting power. Once it disappeared, the effects vanished with it.
Ethan took the opportunity to cancel his own technique as well, making it appear to vanish along with the First Hokage's Wood Release, reinforcing what he had said earlier about borrowing the First Hokage's power to use Wood Release.
"Third Hokage, are you alright!"
With the barrier down and Orochimaru gone, Anbu immediately rushed in to protect the Hokage. Hiruzen displayed the composure expected of a leader and didn't dwell on these minor matters. He began asking about the village's situation and the outcomes of battles in other areas.
In fact, there wasn't much need to ask. Just seeing the large number of Jonin gathered here was enough to know that this sudden war was basically over. All that remained was some cleanup work.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)