Chapter 83: Catch Them All
With a loud bang, Ayaan threw a punch, and the air exploded violently, like a bomb going off.
Manda screamed in pain as a huge spray of blood filled the air like rain. A massive hole had been blasted into his tail, nearly splitting it in two.
"Looks like I used a bit too much force," Ayaan muttered, slightly embarrassed. He had been too excited and struck harder than intended.
"Besides, this guy's physical strength is pretty weak. If it weren't for chakra reinforcing his body, he might not even compare to the monsters in the world of One Piece!"
Still mumbling to himself, Ayaan remained calm. Manda, however, was writhing in agony. Eyes bloodshot, the giant snake opened its mouth wide and lunged at Ayaan to bite him.
"You really want to die?" Ayaan snorted coldly. Snakes only have a few fangs, not teeth for chewing, he thought. So they usually kill their prey first—they're afraid of it thrashing around inside.
The dizzy snake lunged at Ayaan, and he had no intention of letting it succeed—or even letting it drool on him.
Before Manda's fangs could reach him, Ayaan raised his hands and unleashed a surge of black energy into the serpent's gaping maw. Instantly, a horrifying shriek echoed from the beast.
The strange gravitational power of the Yami Yami no Mi began absorbing Manda's internal organs, chakra, and life force. In seconds, the giant snake shriveled and dried up. With a final bang, it disappeared in a puff of white smoke.
The moment Ayaan and Manda clashed, Orochimaru had already leapt back from above. Yet in less than two exchanges, Manda had been completely defeated. If not for the Reverse Summoning Technique, Manda would have died on the spot.
Orochimaru sighed with relief—but also felt a rising dread.
I don't know what's wrong with this guy... Tsunade and Jiraiya were the ones who attacked him first, he thought, but all of his attention is on me, making it impossible to escape.
Luckily, Orochimaru had come prepared.
"Even if it's not perfected... I have no choice but to use it now!"
"Reanimation Jutsu!"
Two coffins rose from the earth. Ayaan narrowed his eyes slightly.
"So the Impure World Reincarnation has already been developed?"
Soon, the coffin lids opened—and the figures of Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama stepped out.
"Orochimaru, you bastard!" Tsunade, having just recovered from her injuries and hemophobia, saw the scene and immediately cursed. "You even used a forbidden technique like this!"
Jiraiya wasn't surprised—he had already received intel from Ayaan beforehand. This only confirmed it.
Orochimaru's face twitched slightly. He responded flatly, "This forbidden technique was developed by the Second Hokage..."
"I'm sure that when Tobirama created it, the number of people who died wasn't much less than in my own experiments..."
And that was true. The death toll under Tobirama Senju wasn't much lower than that of Orochimaru, and his personality wasn't necessarily any better. Apart from not obsessing over immortality, the two were remarkably similar.
Had Orochimaru lived in Tobirama's era, he likely would have been the Second Hokage's most gifted student—and the only candidate to become Hokage, leaving no room for others.
Ayaan eyed the two reanimated Hokage carefully, frowning. Their eyes were dull and lifeless, clearly lacking full consciousness.
"Orochimaru's Impure World Reincarnation still isn't perfected. I wonder how much combat ability they actually have." Ayaan mused, watching as the First Hokage began forming hand signs.
"Wood Release: Advent of the World of Trees."
This reanimated Hashirama, with a blank look in his eyes, slowly completed the hand signs and released the jutsu after several seconds—like a robot.
Tobirama, too, methodically formed hand signs, taking his time before releasing a Water-Style technique.
Ayaan curled his lips and clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release: Dark Tree World Emergence!"
Countless trees shrouded in black mist erupted from the ground. Orochimaru was engulfed by the forest before he could even utter a curse.
Desperate, Orochimaru drew the Kusanagi Sword and tried to fight his way out. But to his shock, every tree released a strange gravitational force, draining his chakra almost instantly.
Wood Release alone already had the property of chakra absorption. But combined with the Yami Yami no Mi, the effect was devastating. Even with his vast reserves of chakra, Orochimaru was drained in moments.
As for the reanimated First and Second Hokage, they were caught in the trees immediately. Their sluggish reactions and lack of consciousness made them easy prey. Even with infinite chakra, their slow recovery couldn't keep up with the speed of Ayaan's chakra absorption.
It wasn't just Orochimaru. Tsunade, Jiraiya, the other Konoha ninja, Shizune, and even her little pig were caught in the black forest.
"Wh-what is this? Is this really Wood Release?" Tsunade asked weakly. At that moment, all of her chakra had been drained. She had no strength left to resist. She looked over at Jiraiya beside her for answers.
Jiraiya, also completely powerless, shook his head.
"Ordinary Wood Release is powerful, sure—but it could never drain us like this. This must be a combination of Wood Release and Dark Release."
"Still... there are too many people who can use Wood Release now! Feels like they're everywhere!" Jiraiya muttered, unable to hide his frustration.
Tsunade rolled her eyes. "That's because of those fools in Konoha who kept experimenting with my grandfather's cells!"
"In the end, they not only got a bunch of people killed but failed to produce any solid results. Instead, someone else came along and took everything. All that research ended up in their hands."
Tsunade cursed under her breath. Jiraiya could only offer a bitter smile. Though he hadn't been involved, as the one most connected to Konoha, he was the obvious target for her venting.
Elsewhere, Sara watched the descent of Ayaan's tree world, her jaw dropping in awe. As someone who could use Wood Release herself, she fully understood how insane Ayaan's version was.
"How do you use that move? Can you teach me?" Sara asked, eyes sparkling.
"Sorry. My unique bloodline limit can't be passed on to anyone else," Ayaan replied bluntly.
And it was the truth. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't teach her. This wasn't a traditional bloodline or kekkei genkai. It was a power from a Devil Fruit—something entirely separate from chakra or genetics.
---