Chapter 121: The Rich Lady's Fighting Style
How could an ordinary jōnin possibly escape from a situation like this?
Ōtaka Yūten was terrified.
He had only wanted to find that woman and marry her.
And look at what he had found himself up against.
A jōnin from the Uchiha clan—the kind of shinobi he couldn't defeat even in a one-on-one fight.
A jōnin from the Sarutobi clan who could perform at least three ninjutsu simultaneously.
And an Akimichi jōnin whose size was no smaller than that of the Akimichi clan head he had seen on the battlefield. She had to be a jōnin highly proficient in the Partial Multi-Size Technique, right?
But...
But...
He was an elder of the Akatsuki, and he still had the huge sum of money he had painstakingly earned over the past six months.
So he had to go back.
"I can do this!"
Ōtaka steeled his resolve, and white steam began to rise from his body.
In this world, small villages had their own ways of surviving, besides relying on the Five Great Nations not to look down on them.
For example, there were certain ninjutsu capable of unlocking one's latent life potential.
Of course, such techniques came at a price.
Thinking of this, he looked somewhat awkwardly at the Inuzuka clan member who was slowly getting back to her feet.
Not only had she rejected him, but he had even paid the price for it.
What a futile confession.
"Activate Ninjutsu: Triple Speed!"
A trace of blood seeped from the corner of Ōtaka Yūten's mouth, and his body swayed as though he had been struck heavily.
Then his figure flashed.
He vanished from Asuka's grasp in an instant, broke through the encirclement, and appeared behind Sarutobi Nanaka.
Nanaka's gaze sharpened when she noticed the Rain shinobi's sudden burst of speed. She immediately drew a kunai with her backhand and hurled it.
Whoosh!
The kunai tore through the air.
Ōtaka felt a chill run down his back. He glanced toward the corner of his eye, gritted his teeth, and chose not to dodge.
Instead, he took the attack head-on.
Pfft!
His body shuddered as blood sprayed from his back, but Yūten's speed did not slow.
In the blink of an eye, he had already appeared much farther away.
"You can't keep up with my speed."
A faint smile curled at the corner of Yūten's mouth.
Although every inch of his body was screaming in pain, he refused to let the Konoha shinobi see it.
He stared at the road ahead and took a deep breath.
What a terrible day.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Watching the Akimichi giant and his captain charging after the fleeing Rain shinobi, Asuka bent down and picked up a stone from the ground.
His deep black eyes transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Ōkuninushi!"
A blue barrier instantly spread out from him, enveloping everyone within it.
Asuka weighed the stone in his hand.
Then his figure vanished from the spot.
In the blink of an eye, he had exchanged positions with a small pebble lying not far ahead of Ōtaka Yūten.
Hiss!
The Konoha shinobi had appeared directly in front of him as though he had teleported.
Yūten brought his legs together and abruptly raised his toes, desperately braking with his heels.
Asuka casually weighed the stone in his hand.
His Mangekyō Sharingan immediately ceased spinning and returned to its normal black state.
"Trying to run?"
With that, he swung the stone twice through the air before throwing it straight at Yūten's face.
Whoosh!
The stone tore through the air.
The Akatsuki elder's pupils contracted slightly as he watched it hurtling toward him.
The next moment, he dropped to one knee and slid forward, using his knee like a wheel.
Seeing the Rain shinobi sliding toward him on his knees, Asuka raised his foot and kicked him straight back into the face of the Akimichi giant.
"Tch."
Asuka put his hands behind his back, sighed, and continued walking forward.
"I'm really unlucky today."
At that moment, the Akimichi shinobi grabbed the Rain shinobi tightly with both hands and stared at Asuka as though he were some kind of monster.
That...
Is that really a human's speed?
The Flying Thunder God Technique?
It had to be the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Having once fought alongside Minato Namikaze, he was very familiar with the Fourth Hokage's famous technique.
The Flying Thunder God!
The instantaneous movement Asuka had displayed just now was almost identical to the Flying Thunder God.
But there were no marked kunai nearby.
Could it be that he was simply moving so fast that he couldn't see the movements clearly?
Thinking this, the Akimichi shinobi slowly returned to his normal size and looked toward Sarutobi Nanaka beside him.
"Captain, did you see what he just did?"
The corner of Nanaka's mouth twitched.
She really wanted to say that she hadn't seen it either.
However, when she saw the captured Rain shinobi in his hands, Nanaka immediately changed the subject.
"You decide how to interrogate him. No matter which village he comes from, don't kill him. Keep him alive. He may prove useful later."
If he died, the shinobi world might be plunged into another storm.
Peace had not come easily to the shinobi world, and the villages needed time to recover.
"Yes!"
Watching the others leave, Nanaka glanced at Asuka as he approached her.
"What do you want to say?"
Asuka gestured toward the pouting Inuzuka clan member.
"Why don't we hand the shinobi we just captured over to her? Let her vent her anger a little."
Nanaka followed his gaze and glanced at the Inuzuka before shaking her head.
"The bigger picture is more important. Personal grievances can wait."
That's it?
And she was talking about girls helping girls?
"Captain, I think that girl needs your help."
Nanaka's expression immediately turned cold.
"I already helped her. She failed to seize the opportunity to vent her anger, and now that opportunity has passed."
"And that technique you just used..."
Nanaka looked at him in confusion.
"...?"
Asuka blinked.
"What?"
"I wasn't using the Flying Thunder God Technique. I'm just a little faster than usual."
Captain, didn't you see how fast I was just now?
Nanaka sucked in a breath.
She stared at Asuka's innocent-looking eyes and felt as though she had swallowed a fly.
Why are both of them asking whether I saw what they did?
What if I didn't see it?
She took several deep breaths, then waved Asuka away, her voice carrying a hint of irritation.
"Get some rest. Once the interrogation is finished, we'll continue pursuing Orochimaru."
"Yes!"
Asuka answered perfunctorily.
By now, he no longer expected their team to actually encounter Orochimaru.
Sarutobi Nanaka had clearly received some kind of hint from someone, which was why she kept delaying the pursuit.
She didn't look like she was pursuing a missing-nin at all.
The next day.
Orochimaru looked up at the stone wall overhead while undoing the bandages around his body.
He began considering his next move.
His research still had to continue, but where he should settle down had become a problem.
Secretly control an entire country?
Use the financial resources of the entire country to fund my experiments...
Orochimaru continuously calculated the feasibility of the plan in his mind.
His eyes gradually brightened.
"Orochimaru is really here, isn't he, Konan?"
"He definitely is. Trust the Akatsuki's intelligence."
Hearing the voices of two women outside, Orochimaru frowned.
An organization?
Danzō?
They've already caught up?
After removing his bandages, Orochimaru casually rotated his wrist before walking outside.
Hmm?
Looking at the two women standing before him, a dangerous glint flashed through his narrowed eyes.
Danzō shouldn't have the ability to turn Pakura into one of his people.
"Orochimaru, do you need protection?"
Hearing the blue-violet-haired woman speak so directly, Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth and replied disdainfully,
"Protection from Sunagakure?"
"No."
Konan shook her head.
"She is one of us, but we're not from Sunagakure."
Pakura placed a hand on Konan's shoulder and emphasized,
"For the time being."
Konan completely missed the hint. Her eyes remained fixed on Orochimaru as she continued,
"Orochimaru, what is your dream?"
Dream?
Orochimaru frowned at the woman before him.
For some reason, he suddenly felt as though she were trying to paint a picture for him.
Orochimaru glanced at Pakura, who clearly wanted nothing more than to fight him, then noticed that he was still carrying injuries that had yet to fully heal.
He answered coldly,
"Immortality."
Konan nodded and softly replied,
"The Akatsuki supports your dream. Come with us."
"...?"
A string of question marks seemed to appear above Orochimaru's head.
What exactly does she mean by saying the Akatsuki supports my dream?
Before he could organize his thoughts, Orochimaru suddenly noticed several figures speeding toward them from the end of the road in the distance.
Once they drew closer, he licked his dry, cracked lips and shook his head.
"I have no intention of joining the Akatsuki for now."
Pakura patted Konan on the shoulder and said coldly,
"For a shinobi with such a strong will, trying to persuade him with words is the worst possible choice."
"I told you before we came here. Actions speak louder than words."
"Are you still going to—"
"You deal with the people behind me, and I'll deal with him."
Konan slowly raised her right arm.
Countless sheets of white paper instantly flew from her arm, spreading across the sky like a vast bank of white clouds.
Orochimaru warily stared at the nearly ten thousand sheets of paper hanging overhead, his brows drawing together slightly.
A strange ninjutsu.
The next moment, he watched as nearly ten thousand sheets of paper ignited simultaneously.
His pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks.
Are all of those... explosive tags?