Orochimaru looked at Seiryū and merely smiled. "You want to cooperate with me, a shinobi from Takigakure?"
Seiryū nodded with a smile. "You could call it cooperation. We probably don't have any other choice, so we might as well try cooperating with you."
"This is Konoha after all. Even though this is the Chunin Exam, your strength has already gone beyond the scope of the Chunin Exam. If you're discovered, that would be very dangerous."
Orochimaru said calmly, "Are you threatening me?"
Seiryū shrugged. "How would I dare? I'm lowering my head here, aren't I? Conditions can be discussed. Fighting and killing all the time isn't good, don't you think?"
"You're not qualified to discuss conditions with me yet."
"Then there's nothing to discuss?"
Seiryū looked straight at Orochimaru and smiled. "That makes things a little troublesome!"
A flicker passed through Orochimaru's eyes, and he chuckled. "You want to resist? Of course you can. I am rather curious about you too, disciple of two of the Konoha Sannin, Jiraiya and Tsunade."
"No, no, no, I'm thinking of running. Going head-on against you wouldn't be wise. Anyway, I can already tell that your targets should be me and the people from Kiri over there, right?"
Seiryū quickly waved his hand.
Then he said to Orochimaru, "But they've already run off. Aren't you going after them?"
Taking advantage of the gap while they were talking.
As if they had found an opportunity.
Mei and Kisame had already taken the heavily injured Shimaichirō and fled in one direction at full speed.
They did not want to stay in this troublesome place any longer.
Mm, a very wise choice.
It was just that.
Whether they could actually escape was still unknown.
"They can't get away."
Orochimaru also turned his gaze toward the three from Kiri who were fleeing, and licked his lips.
Then he looked back at Seiryū and smiled. "Compared to them, I am more interested in you."
"Although this is a bit like bullying the weak, the shinobi world is like this. It does not care about factors like age. Your teachers should have taught you that, right? Hehe."
For those from Kiri, one clone would be enough.
By comparison.
He was much more interested in Seiryū.
His understanding of Seiryū was actually not that detailed.
He only knew some general things.
He knew that Seiryū had great talent in ninjutsu and had already developed many new techniques.
A research-type shinobi, perhaps?
The same type as the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama, and himself.
He still had not seen Seiryū's new techniques with his own eyes.
He had only heard from others that such a thing existed.
Besides.
It seemed that Seiryū had also guessed his identity?
Then he might as well use this opportunity to see what kind of level the disciple of Jiraiya and Tsunade had reached.
Mm.
And collect some of his flesh and tissue for research while he was at it.
Listening to the conversation, Sasori frowned slightly.
The change in the situation left him feeling a bit baffled.
This disguised expert was not a Konoha shinobi?
Yet he had actually set his sights on a Konoha shinobi?
That made the man's identity worth thinking about.
Seiryū sighed. "Having a big reputation really isn't entirely a good thing. People end up targeting you. There's even a bounty of ten million ryō on my head. My life is truly too hard!"
Damn it.
The other guy probably did not want to kill him, but definitely did have some other purpose for him.
Possibly, perhaps, probably, maybe, he was after him because he was an Uzumaki.
He wanted to obtain his flesh and tissue for research.
That was the judgment Seiryū had made based on Orochimaru's personality.
Beside him, Kakashi's face had already darkened, and his expression had become extremely vigilant. "If we join forces, can we handle him?"
Seiryū said, "There's some chance. It depends on Uncle Duy."
Same as before.
With Might Duy here, it was not a big problem.
Hearing that, Duy stepped in front of Seiryū and Kakashi, and without turning his head said, "Seiryū, Kakashi, you two go first. I'll hold this guy back!"
Staring straight at Orochimaru, Duy took a deep breath and said firmly, "As an elder, and as an adult, I won't let the younger generation under me fall into danger!
"I'll be your opponent instead!"
"This is exactly the moment for me to burn my youth!!"
A resolute look appeared in Duy's eyes.
He regarded the Eight Gates as a technique of protection, something that existed to protect the things he cherished.
And now seemed to be exactly that moment.
The shinobi before him was very strong. With his unclear understanding of his own strength, he felt that he could not possibly be the other side's opponent.
Only by going all out could he hold the other side back.
Only then could he create a chance for Seiryū and Kakashi, these two juniors, to leave safely.
This was the moment for him to completely burn his youth and protect what was important.
"Eight Gates, First Gate, Gate of Opening. Second Gate, Gate of Healing. Third Gate, Gate of Life.
"Seventh Gate, Gate of Shock, open!!"
Almost instantly.
The moment he made up his mind, Might Duy directly opened the Eight Gates all the way to the Seventh Gate.
Having trained in the Eight Gates since childhood, he was already thoroughly familiar with this technique.
The chakra in his body instantly blasted open the gate of the Seventh Gate of Shock.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
The chakra fluctuations around Duy became incomparably powerful, and the skin over his whole body turned crimson.
His short black hair shot upward, and on that crimson skin, thick blood vessels bulged out and pulsed constantly.
At that moment, the pupils in his eyes disappeared, leaving only the whites.
Making Duy look especially terrifying at this moment.
The speed of blood flow in Duy's body increased, and his body began to release heat on its own. Sweat poured out through his pores.
Then the heat on the surface of his body evaporated it, forming blue steam like an aura.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A strange wave of force spread outward from Duy's body as the center, surging wildly and making the tall surrounding trees rustle violently.
Caught off guard and unable to react in time, Kakashi was forced backward by that wave of force.
Only after covering his feet with chakra did he steady himself, his eyes widening as he looked toward Duy. "Th, this is?"
Even without a sensory ninjutsu.
The boiling chakra fluctuations on Duy's body at this moment still made his heart tremble.
The Eight Gates could actually unleash such terrifying power?
Seiryū was not forced back by the wave of force, and only barely stabilized himself, but the corner of his mouth started twitching. "."
What the hell.
What was going on?
Why was he suddenly going full power?
"The Eighth Gate."
Duy still wanted to continue.
He was planning to break open the final Gate of Death.
To open the formation of the Eight Gates and completely burn himself away.
"Hey, hey, this isn't a joke."
Seeing this, cold sweat instantly broke out on Seiryū.
He hurriedly shouted at Duy, afraid that if he was even a little too slow, Duy would open the Eighth Gate directly. "Uncle Duy, stop right now. The final Gate of Death can't be opened! Enough, the Seventh Gate is enough!"
Damn it, if the Seventh Gate wasn't enough, he still wanted to open the Eighth Gate?
This was way too extreme, wasn't it?
Burning his youth and dedicating himself the moment there was any disagreement, how could there be someone this extreme!?
He really wanted Tsunade to come over and take a look.
What real overreacting looked like.
This, what Might Duy was doing right now, was what you called overreacting, damn it!!
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
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