[Puppet Control!]
The two swiftly manipulated their puppets, slicing through the incoming wave of Gold Sand Burial.
Seeing this technique couldn't defeat them, Orochimaru immediately formed several hand seals in succession.
[Magnet Release - Lurid Shards!]
[Magnet Release - Golden Sand Surge!]
[Magnet Release - Golden Sand Shuriken!]
Three consecutive Magnet Releases — all signature techniques of the Fourth Kazekage. Even Granny Chiyo was astounded!
Orochimaru's power was absolutely terrifying. While the original Fourth needed intervals between uses of his Magnet Release, Orochimaru wielded these techniques as naturally as fish in water, continuously bombarding Chiyo and her team with deadly jutsu without hesitation.
"There's still another person inside my belly — as long as he remains alive, I can endlessly use chakra!" Orochimaru laughed.
He meant Obito Uchiha, the one he had completely swallowed earlier.
But right now, Orochimaru was seriously confused.
Although he could continuously borrow Obito's chakra, the latter was merely a genin — yet his chakra supply had lasted until now!
"Forget it! Though I don't understand the reason, it's probably a good thing!"
Without further thought, Orochimaru refocused on battling Granny Chiyo.
[Earth Release - Earth Flow Wall!]
With a single-handed seal, Ebizō swiftly summoned a tall earthen wall in front of him.
BOOM! BOOM!
Crashing sounds echoed continuously.
"This won't last long! Sister, where's that Konoha teacher you mentioned earlier? Weren't you supposed to meet up with him?"
"I'm not sure! I received a message sent via shuriken this afternoon, but I have no idea where he is now."
Damn it! I knew Konoha ninja were unreliable!"
Ebizō shouted in frustration. He formed another wall — the last one was about to crumble any second.
"Give up! Don't get me wrong — even I, Orochimaru, don't kill without reason!"
"That's impossible! We must avenge the Fourth Kazekage!"
"Tsk tsk tsk, stubborn to the end!" Seeing they remained so determined, Orochimaru intensified his attack immediately.
[Fire Release - Dragon Missile Technique!]
[Water Release - Dragon Missile Technique!]
...
[Earth Release - Dragon Missile Technique!]
A series of Five Chakra Natures' Dragon Missiles surged toward Chiyo and her group. These techniques required five different types of chakra — something original Orochimaru from canon absolutely couldn't have mastered!
But now, he seemed completely off course!
"Hahaha! Die, you old fools!"
He let out a loud laugh, but barely started gloating when an intense pain shot from his stomach.
[Sage Art - Shinra Tensei!]
BANG!
A sharp shout rang out!
Orochimaru's abdomen exploded down the middle, leaving only his head flying toward the distance.
"How could it be you!" Orochimaru's gaze slowly shifted. Although his head had fallen to the ground, he clearly saw the face emerging from inside his body.
"Ye Liang! Dammit! I'll kill you!"
"You should worry about yourself first."
Ye Liang calmly replied. At this time, the Chiyo siblings, previously trapped by the Magnet Release, had also escaped safely.
"Ye Liang! You're here!"
"Hn."
Ye Liang nodded toward them.
Truthfully, he had never left. After fooling the enemy's intelligence officers with a shadow clone, Ye Liang's real body took on Obito Uchiha's appearance.
When he saw the forehead protector of a rogue ninja last time, Ye Liang had already deduced that Orochimaru was behind it all. After all, aside from the escaped Orochimaru, no other rogue ninja from Konoha possessed enough strength to eliminate the Fourth Kazekage.
Watching Orochimaru's head slowly gasp its last breath, Ye Liang exhaled in relief.
He reached up and tapped his eye.
"Activate Kanka (Cash Eye) System!"
With a "Whoosh!" sound, a modern transparent avatar frame appeared above Orochimaru's head.
This was the first time Ye Liang had used the Kanka (Cash Eye) System in combat. Previously, all opponents were too weak for him to bother using it.
"Orochimaru (Pseudo), Male, A Cup!"
Ninjutsu Level 4
Taijutsu Level 2
Ninja Tools Level 2
"Can we not display the A Cup part...?" Ye Liang was tempted to mutter under his breath.
He glanced at Orochimaru's stats.
Except for being one level lower in Ninjutsu, everything else was almost equal. In fact, Orochimaru's Ninja Tools were even one level higher!
"Woah, didn't expect Orochimaru to have gotten this strong already!" Ye Liang was slightly shocked.
Before leaving, he had secretly tested the levels of Hiruzen Sarutobi and others.
Ordinary Special Jōnin only had Level 2 Ninjutsu, while Hiruzen was at Level 5, and Danzō at Level 4. Somewhere in between must've been grown-up Kakashi at Level 3!
In other words, Orochimaru already had power close to that of a Kage—a title given to village leaders—just one level below Ye Liang's Level 5 Ninjutsu.
"Damn, if not for the surprise attack today, this would've been quite difficult." Ye Liang felt chills run down his scalp.
At this moment, he suddenly noticed the word "(Pseudo)" beside Orochimaru's name!
You're already dead—what the hell does "(Pseudo)" even mean?!
"Sigh..."
Ye Liang sighed deeply before touching Orochimaru's corpse.
Just as expected—it was fake!
The original Orochimaru could use a technique that turned him into a snake, escaping like a cicada shedding its shell. This must be exactly what happened—his core self had already fled along with his brain, leaving only an empty shell behind.
"Young man Ye Liang, thank you truly for today. Otherwise, our Sunagakure Village really might have perished."
Granny Chiyo approached, frightened, together with her younger brother.
"Sorry again, Brother Ye Liang. Earlier I thought you hadn't arrived and complained about you." Ebizō also continuously thanked Ye Liang. Since Ye Liang had hidden inside Orochimaru's belly earlier, they now had figured it out and naturally knew Ye Liang had overheard their conversation.
"No problem! After all, this is our own Konoha traitor—we should handle him ourselves."
After greeting both men, Ye Liang walked toward the dungeon and approached Kakashi.
"Teacher Ye Liang, you're finally here! Hurry up and save Obito—he got eaten by a giant snake!" Kakashi looked anxiously at Ye Liang.
Clearly, this expression wasn't faked.
"It's alright now—the culprit has been dealt with, and I've already hidden Obito somewhere safe."
"Alright now?" Kakashi blinked in surprise, then visibly relaxed.
If Ye Liang said everything was fine, then it truly was. Kakashi had complete trust in his teacher.
Ye Liang untied the ropes and began recounting what had just happened.
"So that Obito was actually our teacher in disguise! Teacher Ye Liang, you scared me half to death!" As always, Rin Nohara leaned in closely, blushing slightly.
"Teacher, were you serious about that line, 'Don't touch my woman'?"
"Uh... That was just acting."
"Teacher!"
Days later.
Under Ye Liang's leadership, Team 7 safely returned to Konoha Village. However, as he was leaving, Obito looked totally confused!
He had inexplicably acquired a group of followers overnight—older than him by several years...
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