"Kekeke..."
Yamada Juichi chuckled strangely as he strode through the ruins of rock and stone, slowly approaching Orochimaru, who had fallen amidst the debris.
Orochimaru pushed himself up, his expression solemn.
The opponent's strength was so formidable that it was clearly abnormal. There was only one explanation: Shinjutsu!
However, he wasn't sure yet if the opponent had awakened a Shinjutsu that directly enhanced strength, or if this terrifying power was just a collateral effect brought about by the activation of Shinjutsu. Because some Shinjutsu had reached the conceptual level, depending on how they were used, they often yielded unexpected results.
Just like Eida's 'Charm', its essence was merely a part of the effect of the Shinjutsu 'Omnipotence'.
Coming before Orochimaru, Yamada Juichi grinned: "How is it? Are you satisfied with my taijutsu?"
"Hmph!"
Orochimaru snorted lightly, slowly rising from the ground.
Yamada Juichi looked around at the messy ruins of rocks and said: "Honestly, I didn't expect such an effect either. People like us really shouldn't strike lightly!"
Orochimaru's eyes flickered: "How did you do it? Is it Shinjutsu?"
"Shinjutsu!?" Stunned for a moment, Yamada Juichi laughed: "Of course not, this is just my own power!"
Orochimaru didn't believe it at all and said: "Interesting!"
"Interesting? Seems I haven't hurt you enough yet!" Yamada Juichi looked at Orochimaru with a wicked smile and said: "Wait a bit, and you'll know that facing me is not an interesting thing!"
Saying that, Yamada Juichi strode towards Orochimaru.
Orochimaru wasted no words and quickly went up to meet him.
Bang bang bang...
Soon, the two were fighting together again, like two bulls charging into a china shop, smashing the surrounding mountains into a mess like fragile porcelain.
After learning the magnitude of Yamada Juichi's strength, Orochimaru changed his tactics. Instead of continuing to confront Yamada Juichi head-on, he used his seasoned experience and skills to maneuver with Yamada Juichi in these mountains.
However, the surge in strength also brought an increase in speed. So Yamada Juichi's speed was not slower than Orochimaru who had activated 'Shinjutsu Chakra Mode'. In terms of straight-line bursts, he was even faster than Orochimaru.
But Yamada Juichi was just a wanted criminal after all. Once the situation fell into a stalemate, his mentality began to change, and gradually the situation was controlled by Orochimaru.
And in the repeated maneuvering, Orochimaru constantly used his Shinjutsu 'Absorption' to sense Yamada Juichi's Shinjutsu. Subsequently, he found that when facing Yamada Juichi, the feedback given by his 'Absorption' was somewhat different from when facing Owl or Gen'yūmaru.
Facing Owl and Gen'yūmaru, the feedback given by his Shinjutsu 'Absorption' was very clear and straightforward: an urgent desire to absorb the Shinjutsu from the opponent. This was like a starving person generating a strong appetite upon encountering favorite food.
But when facing Yamada Juichi, the 'Absorption' on him seemed as confused as he was. It was as if he could faintly smell the fragrance of food through a dish cover but couldn't intuitively judge whether what was under the cover was the food he liked.
"Could it be that he hasn't fully awakened yet?"
In an instant, Orochimaru thought of a possibility.
Research Institute.
The nearby mountains collapsed in patches. Such commotion would alarm even the researchers conducting experiments in the underground laboratories.
For a time, alarms sounded one after another.
Amado summoned his assistant and asked: "What's going on?"
The assistant wiped his sweat: "The testing area reported that Orochimaru and Yamada Juichi got heated during the taijutsu test and fought all the way into the mountains."
"Orochimaru?" Amado's expression changed slightly as he asked: "Wasn't today's taijutsu test supposed to be handled by Daemon?"
The assistant replied: "Orochimaru actively requested to replace Daemon."
"What does he want to do?"
This question flashed through Amado's mind.
Just then, Tsunade hurriedly found Amado: "We can't let them continue fighting like this!"
Amado said helplessly: "I'm afraid that's hard to do."
Sasori walked over at this time and said coldly: "If needed, I can try to activate the curse jutsu to control Yamada Juichi!"
Amado shook his head: "They haven't threatened the Research Institute yet. Rashly using the curse jutsu, even if it successfully controls Yamada Juichi, will bury a hidden danger. And if the curse jutsu fails, we will completely lose the leverage to contain Yamada Juichi!"
Now no one knew if the curse jutsu implanted in Yamada Juichi's body was effective, but as long as it wasn't activated, it was a Sword of Damocles hanging over Yamada Juichi's head!
Tsunade questioned: "Are we going to do nothing?"
Amado sighed: "Let's see the situation first!"
Soon, the group used an airship driven by scientific ninja tools to fly high into the sky, overlooking the fierce battle in the distant deep mountains.
"Hiss..."
Seeing the scene of the great battle, even the high-level officials of the Research Institute accustomed to 'Six Paths Level' battles couldn't help but gasp.
The originally lush mountains in the distance had completely changed appearance at this moment, collapsing into ruins composed of piles of rocks.
Two figures shuttled back and forth in the ruins, stirring up sky-filling dust while setting off sonic booms one after another.
"What are they trying to do?"
"Are they really going to fight to the death?"
"Fortunately, they are fighting further and further away, not affecting the Research Institute. Otherwise, the consequences would be unimaginable..."
On the airship, the researchers accompanying the high-level officials of the Research Institute whispered.
Amado was also a bit worried at this time because he knew very well that Yamada Juichi was the sacrifice Shinji needed. If he was beaten to death by Orochimaru inexplicably, things would be troublesome.
And the reason he had such worries was that the situation on the field had changed. From a stalemate between the two sides, it gradually turned into Orochimaru gaining the upper hand, and Orochimaru's advantage was expanding rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
On the battlefield.
Boom!
Accompanied by a roar, Yamada Juichi was sent flying again, smashing fiercely into a pile of rubble.
Orochimaru walked over while panting.
After absorbing Gen'yūmaru's Shinjutsu 'Claw Marks', not only did he gain a Shinjutsu, but his strength, which was in a stagnant state, also changed. Whether it was basic physical qualities like speed and strength, or chakra volume, there was a considerable improvement.
But even so, defeating Yamada Juichi still took him a lot of effort.
Coming to the pile of rubble, Orochimaru lifted Yamada Juichi, whose mouth and nose were bleeding: "Interesting?"
Yamada Juichi raged: "I'm going to kill..."
Orochimaru grabbed Yamada Juichi's neck, exerting force while secretly activating his Shinjutsu 'Absorption'...