A tornado-like wind, carrying a mournful howl, smashed through tree branches and plowed the earth, sweeping in with a sky full of dust.
This attack was too sudden. There was not a single omen noticed beforehand.
The speed of this attack was too fast. From noticing the anomaly to the tornado striking, the whole process took less than a second. Jokichi didn't even have time to defend; he could only subconsciously jump away to dodge the attack.
However, seeing Naruto and Sakura beside him, Jokichi didn't dodge. Instead, he grabbed their shoulders and threw them out.
"Boom!"
The tornado, carrying immense power, swept Jokichi away, flying backward. The turbulent winds all around him acted like sharp blades, leaving densely packed cuts on his body, blood splattering as if it cost nothing.
But, looking miserable as he did, Jokichi was actually completely fine.
Many of these tiny cuts healed before they fully formed, and the larger wounds healed within a second.
However, being pushed flying by a tornado was very unpleasant.
Enduring the intense pain, Jokichi reached out his hand, and a giant iron fan opened in his grasp. His left hand formed a seal in front of his chest.
"Wind Release: Destructive Disarray Wind."
He swung the iron fan down fiercely. The tornado stopped abruptly, then shattered, forming an even more violent and raging wind that swept like a natural disaster. The forest ahead, covering a radius of a hundred meters, was torn to shreds and flew up.
"Holy crap!"
Jokichi stopped his body against a large tree. Seeing the scene before him, his eyes widened, and the massive power made him swear.
It wasn't that he hadn't seen this level of attack before.
Whether it was Wood Release or other high-level ninjutsu, Jokichi could achieve this kind of destructive power.
But this was just an ordinary B-rank Wind Release, originally just a short-to-mid-range jutsu with its power concentrated within about ten meters.
Yet, when used with the enhancement of the Breath of Wind, it exploded with such power.
This must be a tenfold enhancement!
If a B-rank was like this, what kind of scene would an A-rank or S-rank be?
Unfortunately, Wind Release was rare to begin with, and high-level Wind Release was even rarer. High-level Wind Release that could be used with a fan was exceptionally rare.
The highest-level Wind Release Jokichi possessed that could be used with a fan was this B-rank Destructive Disarray Wind.
"Jokichi, are you okay!"
Sakura and Naruto ran over in a panic.
Although the tornado just now wasn't as strong as the hurricane Jokichi stirred up, it was still powerful and definitely not something a Genin could use.
Jokichi frowned, grabbed the iron fan, and swung it fiercely. The violent hurricane blew the two up, cutting their bodies like a cutting machine.
In the air, Naruto melted into a puddle of mud, while Sakura crashed into a large tree with a "poof" and turned into someone else...
A man wearing a pale yellow robe and a bamboo hat, with a cold and eerie face, looking exactly like the Kusa ninja he clashed with in the classroom, but with a completely different aura.
— Orochimaru!
"How did you figure out I wasn't the real person?"
Orochimaru stood up, leaning on a tree root, his face cold as frost.
Although that strike just now didn't cause him any major injuries, it left him covered in cuts, bright red blood flowing everywhere. He looked quite wretched.
"The traces of deception were too obvious," Jokichi responded indifferently.
When Naruto ran towards him and looked at him, Jokichi felt a chill run through his entire body, like prey being stared at by a snake.
The real Naruto couldn't possibly give him this feeling; it could only be someone disguised using the Transformation Jutsu.
Before entering the Forest of Death, when Orochimaru came out to brush up his presence while Anko was toying with Naruto, Jokichi had felt that cold aura on him. Therefore, he instantly understood the disguised person was Orochimaru.
But if the attacker was Orochimaru, he wouldn't be stupid enough to only change his appearance and not disguise his aura.
Therefore, this Naruto was just a decoy deliberately showing a flaw to attract his attention, aimed at creating an opportunity for the hidden true body.
Nearby, besides this fake Naruto, there was only Sakura.
Of course, the true body could also be hiding nearby...
But Jokichi was confident he could discover anyone except Black Zetsu who was hiding nearby. As for hiding a bit further away, one wouldn't be able to grasp the opportunity to attack the instant the decoy created a flaw.
So, this Sakura was also a fake.
"Hehe... You are truly wonderful, Jokichi-kun."
Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked around his lips, a satisfied smile hanging on his face.
Although Jokichi didn't state the specific reasons, his rich combat experience and intellect allowed him to guess roughly where the problem lay.
His expression grew even more excited.
"Jokichi-kun, you are truly wonderful. I can't hold back from wanting you right now."
"Don't say such easily misunderstood things!"
Jokichi couldn't help but shiver.
Even though he knew Orochimaru didn't mean it that way, his body still couldn't help but feel a chill all over.
"Hehe..." The satisfaction on Orochimaru's face became even more apparent, his long tongue licking his lips.
"Your mind is quite good. Let me see how you are in other aspects!"
After saying that, Orochimaru released his killing intent.
Decades of slaughter on the battlefield had stained him with blood, making his killing intent thick enough to feel tangible.
If the killing intent from Zabuza made people afraid because of his cruel aura, then Orochimaru's killing intent was a colorless black and white, purely thick, a silence and terror piled up from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
However, facing the storm-like invasion of killing intent, Jokichi looked indifferent, not even furrowing his brow.
"Oh!"
Orochimaru was truly surprised this time.
Intellect and strength could still be explained by genius, but as far as he knew, Jokichi had only graduated a few months ago and had only executed one C-rank mission and some D-rank chore missions.
He shouldn't have had the opportunity to be exposed to situations with massive amounts of killing.
Yet, facing his Genjutsu combined with killing intent, he was completely unafraid.
"Innate courage, huh?"
Orochimaru chuckled and charged at Jokichi excitedly. His movement was so fast it left a string of afterimages behind.
Jokichi had his head lowered, his right hand resting on the iron fan.
Orochimaru arrived in front of him in an instant, his right hand making a fist and striking at Jokichi.
Just as the fist was about to hit Jokichi's head, he suddenly raised his head, his left fist smashing into Orochimaru's face a step ahead.
Orochimaru flew backward at several times the speed he came. Jokichi smiled coldly, stored the iron fan into his spatial storage, and followed him with a movement of his body.
While flying backward, Orochimaru felt a bit dazed.
He was testing Jokichi with an examiner's mindset, not expecting Jokichi's reaction, speed, and strength to exceed his expectations. One punch made his nose bleed.
This kind of physical fitness was fundamentally impossible to train at this age. Even a genius like Itachi, at this age, had a physical fitness far inferior to his.
But Jokichi...
As expected of the perfect Sage Body!
Orochimaru recalled the blood sample Kabuto brought him a few years ago. The vitality and activity contained within were even stronger than the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
Moreover, Kabuto had told him a few days ago that Jokichi had awakened Wood Release.
This child's body...
"I definitely want it."
Orochimaru's eyes were full of fervor.
"Want your mom!"
Jokichi appeared above Orochimaru and stomped on his face.