Naruto : Gamer System-Chapter 65 : Orochi-hime Escaped

"Is that how you welcome old friends, Jiraiya?"

Orochimaru, wounded all over from Jiraiya's Sage Art: Super Giant Rasengan, looked utterly miserable.

"Sorry, Orochimaru. Maybe I just haven't seen you show any real enthusiasm in a while," Jiraiya replied. His face bore the red markings of Sage Mode, showing that he had been serious from the start.

Orochimaru struggled to move but realized his body was completely wrecked. "Such terrifying power... It seems you haven't gotten rusty at all. But this kind of damage means nothing to me."

He suddenly opened his mouth wide.

A brand-new Orochimaru emerged from the ruined body.

"To rely on such a forbidden technique... You've really fallen, Orochimaru. Not only do you want to destroy Konoha—you even tried to kill our teacher. I can't forgive you. You'll die here today." Jiraiya's playful demeanor vanished as he stared down Orochimaru with resolve.

"Really? I was just thinking I'd like to kill you too," Orochimaru licked his lips.

"Genjutsu: Bringer of Darkness"

The Second Hokage suddenly cast his technique. Jiraiya and the Third Hokage instantly fell into darkness, unable to see. The First Hokage followed with Wood Style, binding them with tree branches.

"Barrier: Dome of Light!"

Jiraiya quickly responded, creating a barrier that let him track their movements even without sight. He weaved hand signs again:

"Fire Style: Big Flame Bullet!"

The massive flames forced the enemy back and broke the Genjutsu. The illusion lifted as Jiraiya and Hiruzen stared coldly at their reanimated opponents.

"Lord Sarutobi, assist me. Orochimaru is weak after his technique—we must seal one of them now."Jiraiya called out.

Hiruzen nodded and joined Jiraiya.

"Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bullet!"

Jiraiya spewed oil, ignited it with fire, and unleashed a devastating wave of flames.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

The Third Hokage added wind, intensifying the flames.

The Second Hokage quickly responded:

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

The water wall blocked their vision, but Jiraiya burst through the steam with a Giant Rasengan in hand, slamming the Second Hokage into the Four Violet Flames Formation created by the Oto-nin. Half his body burned to ash, but he still began regenerating.

Jiraiya gave him no chance.

"Sealing Jutsu: Five Elements Seal!"

The Second Hokage's eyes dimmed. Jiraiya sealed him within a scroll, reinforcing it with another layer of sealing.

"Damn it!"

Orochimaru watched helplessly. Still weakened from his prior jutsu, he couldn't stop the sealing.

"That was easier than I thought. I only meant to test it."

Jiraiya returned to Hiruzen's side, sealing scroll in hand.

"It's because Orochimaru never mastered this technique. The Edo Tensei was unfinished when created. He can only seal the consciousness, not fully control it. And the bodies he used are too weak to withstand strong ninjutsu. If he had perfected it, even one of them would've been nearly impossible to defeat." Hiruzen analyzed calmly.

"Then we'll take down Orochimaru next." Jiraiya charged toward the First Hokage, ready to repeat the process.

But Orochimaru, now recovered, drew the Kusanagi Blade and clashed with Jiraiya.

"Orochimaru, your taijutsu seems off."

Jiraiya noticed. Orochimaru, once his equal or better in hand-to-hand combat, now relied solely on his blade and agility, falling into a disadvantage.

"Your body can't handle it anymore. That technique comes with too high a price."

Orochimaru ignored the taunt and struck even more fiercely.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

"Wild Lion's Mane Jutsu!"

Jiraiya's hair surged forward in dozens of tendrils, blocking every snake strike.

The two exchanged more than ten fierce moves. Neither could gain the upper hand. Their strengths were too evenly matched, and they knew each other too well.

Elsewhere, the Third Hokage was losing ground. Age had caught up to him. Even at a fraction of his full strength, the First Hokage was overpowering him. Hiruzen's chakra was nearly depleted.

"Wood Style: Nativity of a World of Trees!"

Countless vines surged at Hiruzen. Jiraiya tried to help, but—

"Wood Style: Cutting Technique!"

A hidden ninja suddenly attacked the First Hokage from behind, embedding vines into his own technique to bind him tightly.

This was the opening the Third needed. With his last chakra—

"Sealing Jutsu!"

"What!?" Orochimaru's eyes widened. Where's my 1v1?! Who is this random ninja interfering!?

He was even more stunned when Haruto Itsuki suddenly appeared next to Hiruzen with a Flying Thunder God teleport.

"Lord Third, the battle with the Sand has ended. The scattered enemy forces are under control. The village is safe."

Orochimaru was fuming. What is this, a tag-team tournament now? Konoha's sending wave after wave!

"Oh, by the way..." Orochimaru grinned suddenly. "I sent a little gift to your evacuation shelters."

"What!?" Everyone from Konoha gasped.

"And some... unfortunate news."

Before they could react, Orochimaru's four followers dispelled the Four Violet Flames Formation, then released a thick smoke screen. Taking advantage of the chaos, Orochimaru and his subordinates vanished.

No one pursued.

"Inoichi, report!" Hiruzen contacted their intelligence team.

"Nothing unusual, everything's secure at the shelters."

The tension dropped. Orochimaru had tricked them. As powerful as he was, he couldn't win against the growing number of Konoha shinobi.

Just when they thought the worst was over— A massive explosion echoed from the Chunin Exam arena.

The battle... wasn't over yet.

While Haruto and the others were fighting the big bosses, Naruto, Sasuke, and the others were also fighting the smaller ones.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

As Sasuke spat out a huge fireball, the giant snake in front of him halted briefly and collapsed—only to rise again moments later, thrashing destructively.

"Damn it... Compared to its size, this kind of attack is completely useless." Sasuke looked helplessly at the massive snake. If it were a normal large snake, he might have dealt with it using repeated ninjutsu. But this snake was clearly on a different level.

"It'd be great if the boss was here. With his ninjutsu, he'd definitely be able to kill this thing." Naruto's face was also grim. If Sasuke couldn't do anything, then there was no way he could.

Hearing Naruto mention Haruto, Sasuke frowned. Indeed... I'm falling further and further behind him. Thinking of Haruto's reckless bombardment with five-elemental Jutsu, Sasuke suddenly fell silent, Even among ninjutsu, he was being left in the dust.

Suddenly, a child appeared next to the giant snake. The child was crying, frozen in fear. Although Konoha had done its best to evacuate the villagers, some were inevitably missed—like this child, separated from their parents.

The giant snake locked its eyes on the vulnerable child. Of course, it wouldn't pass up such easy prey. It opened its maw and lunged.

Without hesitation, Naruto appeared in front of the child and pulled them out of harm's way, lightsaber in hand.

"Naruto! Get back!" Sasuke saw Naruto was in danger and rushed toward him, throwing all sorts of hidden weapons. But the snake ignored them and bit down on Naruto.

"NARUTO!" As the serpent swallowed Naruto in a single gulp, Sasuke's eyes turned red with rage. The curse seal on his body activated, spreading dark patterns across his skin.

Just as Sasuke was about to go all out—

BOOM!

The snake's belly swelled unnaturally, and with a loud explosion, it burst open. Dozens of Narutos spilled out.

"Ugh, I was suffocating in there..." One of the Narutos groaned, stretching.

"You idiot... Dead-last! How could you get eaten so easily? Can't you even dodge?"

Seeing Naruto unharmed, the curse marks on Sasuke's body faded. Still, an unexplainable anger surged in his chest, and he scolded Naruto loudly.

"What are you talking about? That was a tactic! I let him eat me. See? I killed it from the inside—easy." Naruto puffed out his chest, clearly proud.

"Stop acting like it was all planned. You only got swallowed because you're reckless."

"Hmph! I'll prove it to you!"

Naruto glanced around, spotted another large snake slithering nearby, and ran straight toward it.

"Come and eat me, big snake!"

Sasuke stared in disbelief. He didn't think Naruto could do something this dumb.

The new snake eyed Naruto, then lunged. Naruto jumped in the moment the snake's mouth opened. Moments later—

BOOM!

Another belly explosion. Naruto crawled out, grinning.

Sasuke watched silently, at a loss for words.

But Naruto seemed to find a new "strategy." Whenever he saw a snake, he ran straight into its mouth. Konoha's efficiency in snake extermination suddenly skyrocketed.

Watching Naruto clean up so quickly, Sasuke activated his curse mark again and gave it his all. Before long, he was covered in injuries.

Meanwhile, as Konoha clashed with the forces of Sunagakure and Otogakure, the delegations from Kirigakure and Kumogakure observed from atop Hokage Rock.

Kirigakure's ninjas stood silently in formation. Zabuza stood at the front, scribbling unknown data in a notebook.

"Haku, what are you doing?" Zabuza's voice was calm, but his tone was sharp.

"I..." Haku looked down and answered softly. "I just want to go help... they're injured."

"You know what'll happen if you go down there? Neither Konoha nor Suna will know whose side you're on. They'll treat you as the enemy. That's what any ninja would do. And we, Kirigakure, might get dragged into this war."

"Even if Konoha has been kind, and those boys are your friends... our identities don't allow us to get involved. Understand?"

"...Yes, Sir Zabuza." Haku quietly stepped back behind him.

"Don't worry, Haku. If those boys are really in danger... I'll save them." Zabuza added quietly.

Haku looked at him in surprise.

"Don't get the wrong idea. I just don't want to owe them a favor."

Elsewhere, Kumogakure's ninjas gathered in a secluded corner to analyze the battle.

"Konoha really is impressive. Even against two villages, they're holding strong. Most of their elite haven't even entered the fight," Kokuryo said with admiration. "They must've known about the Suna-Oto alliance. Their preparations and strength are insane."

"That's not what worries me," Samui said grimly, looking up at the thunderclouds and the colossal lightning figure looming in the sky. "It's that terrifying technique..."

A shadow flickered next to her.

"Sha, what did you see?" Samui asked, turning.

Sha had been scouting. Now he looked pale, almost shaken.

"That technique..." he stammered, "It came from our target—Haruto Itsuki. That power... it's not something a human should possess."

The Kumogakure shinobi behind him scoffed.

"What are you saying, Sha? Were you scared stiff? What kind of jutsu could be that terrifying?"

Samui narrowed her eyes. She trusted Sha's judgment.

"With one strike, he wiped out at least fifty Jōnin from Suna. And he wasn't even going all out... That was just all the targets that were there to hit."

Silence fell over the group.

"...So Raikage-sama was right," Kokuryo muttered. "Konoha is a village of monsters."

Suddenly, two more Kumo-nin ran up, carrying a young girl.

"Samui-sama, look!" they said excitedly."In the chaos, we snatched this girl—she's from the Hyuga clan. With her, we can uncover the secrets of the Byakugan."

Samui hesitated. Before, she would've rejoiced. But now... Konoha's power made her second-guess.

"You two sure know how to fish in troubled waters..." she muttered.

"What should we do, Samui-sama?"

Samui looked at the unconscious girl in their arms. After a moment of thought:

"Take her. We'll leave Konoha for now. Whether we return her, study her, or keep her... we'll decide later."

With that, she turned and led the team away.