Chapter 55: Thunder Howl
"Beast bones scattered all around. Spiers. Red crystals. Steel wheels. Movement is like wind; stillness is nothingness. The sound of long spears striking each other fills the empty city."
"Hado #63: Thunder Howl!"
The incantation finished.
A golden lightning bolt suddenly flashed in Naruto's palm.
The golden light burst forth like thunder and lightning, crackling with energy.
In an instant, countless golden sparks of lightning condensed in Naruto's palm. A massive golden arc flickered, and a terrifying golden thunderbolt appeared.
Thunder Howl. Condensed.
After the lightning condensed, Naruto aimed at Orochimaru and unleashed it toward him.
Feeling the terrifying power of Thunder Howl, Orochimaru cried out in shock. He had never expected that Naruto could display such a terrifying technique.
This was Hado #63, chanted by Naruto with full incantation.
Seeing Thunder Howl tear across the sky, countless bolts of lightning exploding as it approached, about to bombard Orochimaru's body.
Orochimaru struggled violently, but he couldn't break free from the Six-Stick Light Prison in time.
Boom!
Thunder Howl struck in an instant.
Terrifying power poured out onto Orochimaru. Countless golden arcs of lightning erupted.
Orochimaru's body was instantly engulfed by the golden lightning. The golden lightning roared like a dragon, tearing apart everything around it.
In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru's body was destroyed by Thunder Howl—bloodied and tattered.
The entire ground was blasted into a massive crater by the terrifying power of Thunder Howl.
Orochimaru's body was charred black from the explosion, and he collapsed into the pit in a sorry state. It was unclear whether he was alive or dead.
Seeing this scene, Sasuke and little Sakura were also stunned.
They had no idea that Naruto could display such a terrifying technique.
When they saw the golden arc appear earlier, they had been shocked. It felt like just touching that lightning would completely destroy them.
After Thunder Howl bombarded Orochimaru, leaving his body scorched and tattered, Naruto didn't let his guard down. He kept his eyes fixed on Orochimaru's scarred, blackened form.
He knew that Orochimaru—one of the Sannin—wouldn't die that easily.
He had his ways of surviving.
But being hit by a fully incanted Thunder Howl would hurt him badly at the very least.
Sure enough.
Just as Naruto expected, Orochimaru's body suddenly began to squirm in the pit.
Then Orochimaru's scorched corpse burst open. A hand covered in mucus pushed out from inside.
After the hand appeared, a figure slowly crawled out.
The figure was covered in disgusting saliva. Though it was hard to make out clearly, everyone could still recognize at a glance that it was Orochimaru.
Seeing Orochimaru reappear, Sasuke and little Sakura were shocked, disbelief on their faces.
Naruto wasn't surprised. He looked at Orochimaru's new body and thought to himself:
So this is Orochimaru's Molting Technique.
That's right. Orochimaru, struck by Thunder Howl, hadn't died. He had survived using his strongest life-saving technique—the Molting Technique.
But even so, the new Orochimaru seemed very weak at the moment.
After appearing, he gasped for breath, still looking at Naruto in shock.
It seemed that although Orochimaru had survived the Thunder Howl Naruto had thrown at him, he had still suffered heavy injuries. His presence was much weaker than before.
After taking a few breaths, Orochimaru looked at Naruto in horror and disbelief.
He clearly hadn't expected that a genin could push him this far—that a genin could leave him in such a miserable state.
Of course, it was also his fault for underestimating Naruto.
If he had gone all out from the start and used all his trump cards, the situation certainly wouldn't have been as dire as it was now.
Even so, Orochimaru was shocked enough.
After everything, Naruto was just a genin. If word of this spread, it would astonish everyone.
But soon, Orochimaru calmed down. He took a breath, squinted his eyes, looked at Naruto, and said with a strange smile:
"I didn't expect Konoha's Nine-Tails kid to have grown this much. I wonder what kind of wonderful expression Sarutobi-sensei will have when he finds out."
Orochimaru laughed out loud, as if he had just thought of something extremely amusing.
Naruto frowned slightly. Before he could speak, Orochimaru continued:
"However, I won't tell him. I'll wait for you to stand before him yourself and show him your true face. Haha. I'm sure something wonderful will happen then." Orochimaru's eyes flickered with a bewitching light, as if he was imagining what Naruto would do in the future.
Naruto smiled, took a step forward, and said calmly:
"What, do you want to get involved too?"
Orochimaru paused for a moment, then laughed a few times and said with a grin:
"Tsk. I don't want to be your enemy. Besides, what we want to do is the same. Maybe we'll become allies in the future."
Naruto didn't speak.
After saying that, Orochimaru turned his eyes back to Sasuke. He looked at Sasuke with appreciation, as if admiring a perfect work of art. He coughed a few times and said:
"Cough. What a perfect vessel."
But as soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, Naruto's cold snort sounded.
The next moment, Naruto's figure vanished. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Orochimaru.
Orochimaru was startled. His eyes went wide. Before he could react, Naruto kicked out.
A powerful force erupted from Naruto's foot. Even though Orochimaru tried to block, he couldn't resist. He was sent flying and slammed violently into a large tree.
With a loud crack, the tree snapped. Orochimaru's new body was nearly destroyed by Naruto's kick.
Then Orochimaru heard Naruto's cold voice:
"Keep your eyes to yourself. As long as I'm here, I won't allow you to think about Sasuke."
Orochimaru pulled himself up from the broken tree, amazed by Naruto's speed and strength. Hearing Naruto's warning, he froze for a moment. Then it clicked. He looked at Naruto in surprise.
He understood now. Naruto had just saved Sasuke's life.