Facing the fierce Bone-Crushing Kick coming at him, Jiraiya was so startled that his hair stood on end. He quickly rolled to the side, barely dodging the lethal move.
The full-power Heavenly Foot of Pain instantly shattered the ground within a ten-meter radius. The destructive force was truly terrifying!
Seeing that her kick had missed, Tsunade immediately swung her fist, engaging Jiraiya in a fierce taijutsu exchange.
"Ninja Art: Shadow Shuriken Clone Technique!"
Orochimaru threw out three shuriken, then swiftly formed hand seals.
In the next moment, a dense swarm of shuriken appeared before Uchiha Ryun.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
Ryun spat out a torrent of water, forcefully repelling the incoming shuriken.
During this time, he had already developed water-natured chakra and used his Three Tomoe Sharingan to copy many of his enemies' water-style jutsu.
Just as he blocked the attack with the water wall, two brightly colored venomous snakes ignored the rushing water and lunged straight for Ryun's neck from both sides.
His teacher Orochimaru was extremely ruthless and would never go easy on his disciple just because he was young.
The snakes were caught in Ryun's hands just before they could bite him. But before he could relax, another snake suddenly burst from the water, aiming for his thigh.
Ryun's Three Tomoe Sharingan had already detected the hidden threat underwater. Calmly, he kicked the snake's head away and immediately activated the lightning energy within his body.
"Chidori Current!!!"
The lightning traveled through the snakes in his hands, rapidly conducting toward Orochimaru's palms.
"Good move, kid..."
Orochimaru immediately severed the snakes in his hands and then used the Body Flicker Technique to leap away from the ankle-deep water.
Where there was water, there was electricity. Ryun's conductive attack wasn't just aimed at the snakes in his hands.
The Water Wall earlier was entirely for the purpose of electrifying the battlefield.
As a master of ninjutsu, Orochimaru refused to be outdone in a ninjutsu battle. Without holding back his chakra, he chose to engage Ryun in a fair ninjutsu duel.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!!!"
But before he could unleash his attack, he suddenly noticed Ryun forming the exact same hand seals!
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!!!"
Two identical fire dragons collided violently, and the terrifying flames instantly engulfed the entire clearing.
Jiraiya and Tsunade were startled by the sudden inferno and quickly retreated from the sea of fire.
"Wind Style: Whirlwind Technique!"
Orochimaru spat out a whirlwind, and using the heat from the flames, it instantly transformed into a terrifying fire tornado, trapping Ryun inside.
"As expected of Orochimaru-sensei..."
Feeling the scorching flames and suffocating heat around him, Ryun couldn't help but admire Orochimaru's mastery of ninjutsu.
The Whirlwind Technique was just a low-level minor jutsu, but in Orochimaru's hands, it displayed the power of a high-level technique.
Ryun was completely trapped inside the fire tornado, unable to escape even with the Body Flicker Technique!
"But this won't be enough to defeat me."
Facing the rapidly intensifying flames, Ryun quickly formed hand seals and spat out a ring of water around himself.
"Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"
He imprisoned himself inside a water sphere to resist the surrounding firestorm.
"Ryun!!!"
Seeing the powerful fire tornado swallow Ryun, Tsunade's face filled with anxiety.
She thought Orochimaru was being far too ruthless as a teacher, using such a dangerous jutsu. Didn't he fear accidentally killing Ryun?
She wanted to rush to his aid, but Jiraiya immediately blocked her path.
"Earth Style: Mud Swamp!"
Jiraiya quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palms on the ground, turning the area beneath Tsunade's feet into sticky, swampy mud.
"Bastard!!!"
Sinking knee-deep into the muck, Tsunade gritted her teeth and cursed.
"Give up, Tsunade. You're no match for me, and Ryun definitely can't beat Orochimaru. Just surrender so I can go save him!" Jiraiya loudly urged her to concede.
"Shut up! Don't think I'll admit defeat!"
Tsunade stubbornly refused. She would never acknowledge that she was weaker than Jiraiya, that big idiot.
"In that case... Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"
Jiraiya spat out a massive fireball, which shot straight toward Tsunade, still trapped in the mud.
At the critical moment, Tsunade formed a single hand seal.
A log took the fireball's impact in her place.
"Substitution Technique? To pull that off in this situation... Tsunade's really something," Jiraiya praised with a grin.
Tsunade wasn't just skilled in taijutsu and medical ninjutsu. Underestimating her would be a costly mistake.
The fire tornado on the battlefield gradually dissipated, allowing Orochimaru to assess the situation.
"Is it over?"
Ryun lay sprawled on the ground, appearing severely burned and in a "pitiful" state...
Orochimaru walked straight up to Ryun.
"Lightning Style: Earth Flow!"
The hands pressed against the ground suddenly released a surge of electricity. Orochimaru was caught completely off guard, letting out a sharp cry of pain.
In the next instant, Ryun leaped up from the ground and thrust a kunai into his teacher's abdomen.
There was no trace of burns on him now. His earlier "injured" state had been an act using the Transformation Technique. The fire tornado hadn't harmed him at all.
"Something's wrong!!!"
Ryun suddenly felt that the sensation of stabbing his target was off. He had stabbed enough people recently to notice even slight differences.
Sure enough, his beloved teacher instantly turned into a mud clone.
"Body Flicker Technique!!!"
Without hesitation, Ryun activated the Body Flicker Technique at full power, sensing a deadly threat.
BOOM!!!
Two explosive tags had been secretly placed on the mud clone's back. The moment Ryun teleported away, they detonated violently.
He reappeared over twenty meters away. Had he reacted even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been severely injured, if not killed!
Orochimaru wasn't playing around or holding back in the slightest.
"Hey, hey! What the hell is Orochimaru thinking? Does he want to kill his own precious disciple?!"
Jiraiya and Tsunade watched in shock. They had been keeping an eye on Ryun's battle as well.
The master and disciple were now fighting with real killing intent, using every means at their disposal without restraint. Anyone watching would think they had some deep-seated grudge like a father's murder...
If this were any other pair fighting like this, Jiraiya and Tsunade wouldn't be so surprised. But these two usually had an excellent relationship. How could a simple sparring bet drive them to such extremes?
Was this really necessary? Weren't they afraid of damaging their bond?
Ryun panted heavily, glaring coldly at Orochimaru. Orochimaru was also breathing heavily but stared back at Ryun with snake-like intensity.
After exchanging numerous ninjutsu, both were clearly running low on chakra.