In the world of water mirrors, everything seemed unreal.
Jiraiya and Tsunade stood back-to-back, vigilantly surveying their surroundings. Every crystal-clear water mirror reflected Muryu's face with its ferocious smile—hundreds, thousands of them, densely packed, making one's scalp tingle.
"Damn it! These mirrors can't be broken!" Tsunade panted. She had just thrown a punch at a water mirror, but her fist's force was like a clay ox entering the sea, only creating a ripple before the mirror instantly returned to its original state.
"And the attacks come from every angle!"
Jiraiya already had several new cuts on his body from the water senbon, the blood staining his clothes red.
He tried to attack with Fire Release, but as soon as the flames entered this water-vapor-filled space, their power was greatly reduced.
This was a secret technique similar to space-time ninjutsu, trapping them in a domain completely dominated by the caster.
"Give up," Muryu's mocking voice came from all directions simultaneously. "Your chakra is being constantly absorbed by this space, while I am limitless! Enjoy your final moments of despair!"
He was telling the truth. Both Jiraiya and Tsunade could feel their chakra depleting at an accelerated rate, and their stamina was also being consumed rapidly.
A sense of despair began to spread through their hearts like a vine.
"Calm down, you two."
Just then, Orochimaru's cold and calm voice sounded.
He wasn't attacking randomly like Jiraiya and Tsunade. Instead, he stood in place, his golden, serpentine pupils flashing with a strange light as they rapidly scanned every water mirror.
"Orochimaru, do you have a plan?" Jiraiya asked eagerly. Right now, Orochimaru was their only hope.
"Every jutsu has a core," Orochimaru said without turning around, his voice carrying an analytical coldness. "A large-scale secret technique like this must have a main body as a hub to maintain it. The rest are just chakra projections."
"We all understand the principle, but how do we find it?!" Tsunade shouted anxiously.
"He's moving," Orochimaru's voice was very low. "To maintain the jutsu and attack us from different angles, his main body must be moving at high speed between these mirrors. Although he uses chakra projections to conceal this, as long as he is moving, there will be traces of chakra flow."
Jiraiya and Tsunade exchanged a look, both seeing the astonishment in each other's eyes.
In such a dazzling environment, to distinguish the subtle differences in chakra flow required what terrifying level of insight and mental calculation?
Orochimaru's figure, like a ghost, slipped into the range of the water mirrors.
He didn't waste his efforts attacking the water mirrors like Jiraiya and Tsunade. Instead, he locked his gaze on the countless reflections of Muryu's figure.
He was searching.
Searching for the one and only, the main body.
"The chakra flow in all the mirror images is identical... no, that's not right."
Orochimaru's golden, serpentine pupils narrowed slightly. "One is different."
His sensory abilities were pushed to the limit at this moment.
Among the countless false chakra images, there was one whose chakra flow had an extremely subtle sense of stagnation, different from the others.
That was the trace inevitably produced when chakra flowed from the main body to the various clones during the casting of the jutsu.
Although it was extremely faint, in front of a genius of ninjutsu research like Orochimaru, this flaw was more than enough.
"Found you," a cold smile touched the corner of Orochimaru's mouth.
"Jiraiya! Tsunade!" he suddenly shouted.
"What is it?!" Jiraiya, who was dodging clumsily, shouted back.
"Create chaos!"
Although Jiraiya and Tsunade didn't know what he was planning, out of trust for their comrade, they chose to execute his command without hesitation.
"Alright! Watch this!" Jiraiya roared. He stopped dodging and instead condensed all his chakra into his hands.
Rumble—!
His power erupted in an instant.
Countless pieces of rubble and dirt were swept up in a storm, shooting indiscriminately towards the water mirrors in all directions.
"Ah—!"
Tsunade also let out a sharp cry. She concentrated her monstrous strength in her feet and stomped on the ground.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Crack!
The earth fractured, and a massive shockwave spread out from under her feet.
Two different types of destructive power erupted at the same instant.
The entire space of water mirrors trembled violently.
"Damn brats!" Muryu was greatly alarmed. He had to divert a large amount of chakra to maintain the stability of the water mirrors.
And in that moment of distraction, he gave Orochimaru the perfect opportunity.
Now!
"Found you," Orochimaru suddenly said, his serpentine pupils locking onto a water mirror in front of him to the left.
Now!
This was the moment Orochimaru had been waiting for.
"Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!"
He slammed his hands on the ground, his chakra erupting in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three giant iron gates, carved with the faces of demons, rose from the ground, forcefully tearing apart the space created by the water mirrors in an unreasonable manner.
Crack—crack—
With the forceful insertion of the Triple Rashomon, the spatial structure of the water mirrors instantly collapsed. The surrounding mirrors shattered like glass, revealing the horrified Muryu's main body behind them.
He never dreamed that his secret technique would be broken in such a simple and brutal way.
"Now! Tsunade!"
Jiraiya roared. At the same time, he formed hand seals, and his wild white hair instantly grew long and hard, covering Muryu like countless steel needles.
"Ninja Art: Needle Jizo!"
This was to restrict Muryu's movements, creating a kill opportunity for Tsunade.
"Ooooooh!"
Tsunade let out a roar, and with a mighty stomp, the ground instantly cracked. Her entire body turned into a green afterimage, instantly crossing dozens of meters to appear in front of Muryu.
Her beautiful face was now filled with a cold killing intent.
"Pay the price... for what you've done!"
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
She leaped high, concentrating all her body's strength into her right foot, and brought it down on the terrified Muryu like a battle-ax!
Muryu wanted to dodge, but Jiraiya's white hair had already entangled his limbs. He wanted to defend, but after being heavily injured by the Rashomon gates, he didn't even have the strength to form hand seals.
He could only watch as the foot, wrapped in the aura of death, grew infinitely large in his pupils.
"No—"
BOOM!!!!
A loud bang, as if a meteorite had hit the earth.
The entire forest shook, and dust and smoke shot into the sky. When the dust settled, only a terrifyingly deep crater with a diameter of over ten meters remained.
In the center of the crater, Tsunade slowly retracted her foot.
As for Muryu, not even a complete corpse could be found. He had been completely turned to dust.
"Huff... huff..." Tsunade panted, her chest heaving violently.
"Nice one! Tsunade!"
Jiraiya retracted his hair and rushed over, shouting excitedly, "You were so cool just now!"
"Thump!"
The response he got was an merciless punch from Tsunade.
"Shut up! You're so noisy!"
Tsunade rubbed her fist.
Orochimaru slowly walked over, glanced at the deep crater, then at Tsunade and Jiraiya.
He took out two potions from his robes and threw them over. "Sensei's latest developed military ration pills. They can quickly replenish energy."
Jiraiya caught the potion and chuckled. "Thanks, Orochimaru."
Just as the three of them relaxed their guard slightly and prepared to rest.
Suddenly, the drizzling rain around them stopped.
An indescribable, terrifying pressure that seemed to freeze one's very soul descended from the sky.
The three of them stiffened, the smiles on their faces vanishing instantly. All their muscles tensed subconsciously as they assumed a defensive stance.
A figure, like a ghost, appeared silently on a tree trunk not far away.
He wore a giant respiratory mask, was dressed in the attire of Amegakure, and his eyes were calm and profound, like an ancient well with no bottom.
Just by standing there, he exuded an oppressive sense of a towering mountain.
Hanzo of the Salamander.
"The demigod..." Orochimaru's voice was quite dry.
Hanzo ignored them. He just looked down at the huge crater and the traces of the battle around it. A ripple of emotion flashed in his calm eyes.
"To be able to defeat the Kijin Brothers, whom I personally trained, your strength has indeed exceeded my expectations."
His voice came through the respiratory mask. "It seems Sarutobi Hiruzen's skill in teaching students is not bad."
As soon as his voice fell, his figure vanished from the tree.
In the next second, he was already in front of the three of them.
Extremely fast.
The pupils of the three of them contracted. Without thinking, they all launched their attacks simultaneously.
"Fire Release: Great Flame Bullet!"
"Monstrous Strength Fist!"
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
A fireball, a fist of wind, and venomous snakes attacked Hanzo from three directions with the most tacit cooperation.
However, Hanzo simply drew the scythe from his back at a leisurely pace.
Clang!
A cold light flashed.
The flame was split, the fist's wind was blocked, and the venomous snakes were cut down.
In just one move, the combined attack of the three was easily neutralized by him.
A sense of powerlessness washed over the three of them simultaneously.
However, Hanzo did not continue his attack. Instead, he sheathed his scythe, took a step back, and distanced himself from them.
"Very good perseverance and cooperation," Hanzo's tone held a hint of condescending praise. "Compared to the trash sent to their deaths some time ago, you three are worthy of me remembering your names."
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru were on full alert, cold sweat drenching their backs as they stared intently at him.
Hanzo's gaze swept over the three of them one by one.
"It is Konoha's good fortune to have young ninja like you."
"To show my recognition of the strong, I have decided to bestow a title upon you."
His voice echoed in the silent rainforest, reaching everyone's ears clearly.
"The Sannin of Konoha!"
As his voice fell, Hanzo's figure once again blurred into an afterimage and disappeared deep into the forest, leaving behind only that declaration and the three individuals with complex feelings.
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