"Boom!"
A massive sound circled in the air above.
The backward-flying Orochimaru was caught by Jokichi and stomped into the ground, stepping out a spiderweb-like crack.
Jokichi stepped firmly on Orochimaru's face, his right hand drawing the Sword of Protection, and plunged it toward Orochimaru's neck.
"Stab!"
Orochimaru's body twitched and turned into a puddle of mud.
It was literal mud, not a description.
This guy used the Substitution Jutsu the moment before he flew out.
Jokichi pulled out the sword and looked around, searching for Orochimaru's figure.
Suddenly, the ground shook. A giant python the thickness of a water vat opened its bloody maw and burst from the ground beneath his feet, intending to swallow its prey whole.
A cold glint flashed in Jokichi's eyes. He injected chakra into the long sword, and a halo of cold air expanded. The surrounding hundred meters instantly turned into a frosty world, and the giant python was also frozen into an ice sculpture while maintaining its swallowing posture.
"Crack, crack..."
The top of the giant python's head cracked, then shattered. Orochimaru drilled out of the broken hole covered in slime. Looking at Jokichi who had jumped away to a distance, he chuckled, "You've already grown to this extent. It seems I can't treat you like an ordinary kid!"
Saying that, Orochimaru formed seals with his hands, opened his mouth, and spewed out roaring flames.
Jokichi smiled coldly. With a wave of his long sword, cold air drifted out.
The flames were instantly extinguished. The frost didn't stop, surging and spreading toward Orochimaru.
Orochimaru's expression changed, and he retreated continuously. Then, his figure wrapped around a large tree like a snake and spiraled upward.
The cold air blew past below, cloaking the earth in silvery white.
"I didn't expect it to be this troublesome."
Orochimaru glanced back, knowing his plan was a bit hard to realize.
Jokichi wasn't the fledgling he imagined, but a king who had already grown to soar in the sky and look down upon the earth.
Wanting to capture him before he had fully grown...
Very difficult, very difficult.
"Whoosh!"
Jokichi stepped on the tree branches and chased after him rapidly. The long sword in his hand exuded cold air as he slashed repeatedly.
Orochimaru endured the cold and used the Kusanagi Sword to fight back.
This weapon, which could extend and retract and be controlled telekinetically at will, was also extraordinary. Its sharpness was very painful even when cutting the adamantine-bodied Enma.
However, what surprised Orochimaru was that this divine artifact couldn't cut through the Sword of Protection when slashing at it.
Even though the blade was completely transparent and looked as brittle as ice, it could withstand the heavy slashes of this sharp weapon.
Conversely, the ultra-low temperature cold air emitted from the blade made him not dare to stay in one place for long. A slight misstep and he would be frozen into an ice sculpture, so he could only fight and retreat.
"Clang, clang, clang..."
The two clashed fiercely, their weapons colliding along the way, kicking up dazzling sparks. In the quiet dense forest, the flashing of swords and shadows echoed with crisp sounds.
In terms of swordsmanship, Jokichi was definitely no match for Orochimaru, who had immersed himself in it for decades.
In terms of speed and strength, even with the enhancement of the Giant Bracelet, he was a notch inferior.
In terms of combat experience, he was completely outclassed by his opponent.
However, relying on the cold air emitted by the Sword of Protection, Jokichi managed to keep pressing Orochimaru back, making him feel exceptionally stifled.
"Damn it!"
Orochimaru shouted angrily. With a horizontal sweep of his sword, he forced Jokichi back while raising his left hand.
"Hidden Shadow Many Snakes Hands."
Over a dozen large snakes were instantly summoned from his sleeve. They divided the work and cooperated; some bared their fangs and flicked their tongues to block the enemy's dodging space, some glared to intimidate, and some charged at the enemy's main body.
Facing such an orderly attack, Jokichi showed no fear on his face.
"This has dragged on long enough. Let's end this!"
He held the long sword horizontally in front of him, bringing the index and middle fingers of his left hand together and holding them vertically.
"Lightning Release: Thunderclap."
Chakra flowed from his hand onto the sword, but instead of injecting it inside to emit cold air, it turned into lightning clinging to the surface, crackling loudly.
"Ha!"
Jokichi shouted loudly. The lightning rioted, spreading forward like a spiderweb to form an electric net.
In front of the lightning net, those large snakes were merely prey. They were caught head-on, then their bodies convulsed, emitting the smell of charred meat.
Orochimaru was startled and quickly pulled back to retreat.
The sky full of twisting snake shadows was suddenly cut in half from the middle. Jokichi burst out from within, his long sword pointing straight at Orochimaru.
"Fool!"
Orochimaru wasn't surprised but overjoyed. He aimed the Kusanagi Sword at Jokichi and extended it fiercely, shooting it out.
And Jokichi seemingly didn't react, being pierced through his left waist and abdomen. It was just that...
His momentum remained the same, without weakening in the slightest.
He hadn't failed to react, but had never planned to dodge from the start, intending to trade an injury for a life.
"Splurt!"
Blood gushed like a fountain. Jokichi pushed through the Kusanagi Sword, his momentum undiminished, charging right up to Orochimaru. Then, he fiercely hacked his sword down at Orochimaru's head.
Orochimaru reacted quickly too, tilting his head in time, avoiding the possibility of his head being chopped off.
But, although his head wasn't chopped off...
A bone-deep wound appeared on his body from his shoulder to his waist.
"You damn bastard!"
Orochimaru endured the pain and turned his sword, then slashed horizontally, wanting to cut him in half at the waist.
However, the wound where he was cut suddenly erupted with a massive amount of cold air, which spread over his entire body at a visible rate.
Orochimaru's pupils shrank. He had no choice but to abandon his previous plan, opened his mouth wide, and an arm drilled out from inside, followed by his head, shoulders, and body.
Like shedding skin, Orochimaru escaped by casting off his old skin before his body was frozen, emerging covered in disgusting slime.
As soon as he came out, he quickly retreated, distancing himself from Jokichi. Then, he jumped between the large trees, vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
When facing an opponent with a near-immortal recovery ability who fights you life for life, especially when the strength difference between the two sides isn't large, there's no way to play.
The horizontal slash just now was Orochimaru's last chance. Having lost that chance, he had no possibility of winning.
He would only be forced to retreat again and again by Jokichi, ultimately losing.
Jokichi didn't pursue.
It's very difficult to catch a Kage-level powerhouse who wants to escape.
Especially Orochimaru, who was as cunning as a snake. Catching him would be useless. Even if he killed him, he would revive through experimental subjects with curse marks.
Jokichi unhurriedly pulled out the Kusanagi Sword, the wound healing at a visible rate.
He glanced at his clothes, which had turned into ragged strips, tore them off, and then collected the blood Orochimaru dropped into a container.
Before collecting it, Jokichi deliberately touched the blood with his finger to see if it had the potential to be a material.
After all, Orochimaru's current body wasn't his own, but a body he occupied through the Living Corpse Reincarnation.
However, the prompt sound from the system that appeared in time dispelled his doubts.
Regardless of who the body belonged to before, the current controller was the true owner.
That slash Orochimaru took was quite ruthless. Disregarding the large amount of blood that was wasted, Jokichi still collected a full two bottles from the blood that sprayed out.
Afterward, he took out the Book of Omniscience to check the locations of Naruto and Sakura.
Sakura was carefully hiding nearby, while Naruto had run very far away and was currently hurrying back rapidly.
"It seems Naruto still encountered the giant python attack!"
Jokichi sighed, then created a shadow clone and sent it to find Naruto and Sakura, while he himself took the Book of Omniscience to look for other examinees.