Seeing Manda's injuries becoming more and more serious, Orochimaru began to consider about how to help Mandy deal with Kazuki.
Now, there was only one possibility for Manda to defeat Kazuki: the complete exhaustion of Kazuki's chakra. A ninja with chakra is completely different from a ninja without it. This was Manda's only chance of winning.
As Orochimaru contemplated this, Kazuki suddenly stopped his high-frequency attacks. The thunder and lightning that originally echoed through the training ground dissipated, and Kazuki himself was out of breath.
His chakra was gone!
When Orochimaru saw Kazuki, who seemed to be exhausted, a smile of success finally appeared on his lips.
"To be honest, I'm really surprised that your fighting ability has reached this level. If it were me, I'd never be able to do this. But it's over!"
Orochimaru wasn't going to give Kazuki a chance to rest, so he stretched his neck and lunged at Kazuki with a bite! His movements were bizarre, and his speed was astonishing.
However, in the face of this situation, Kazuki remained calm.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you. I don't want to be bitten by a guy like you," Kazuki said as he suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and dissipated.
The sudden turn of events left Orochimaru stunned in mid-air. His ever-cold eyes filled with shock.
"A substitution? No... his presence is completely gone. Space ninjutsu? Not likely..."
After a long pause, he murmured in his hoarse voice, "Shadow clone?"
"Hahahahahahahahaha, I fought for a long time before I realized I was battling a shadow clone. Orochimaru, even though you've changed your body, your strength hasn't improved. Now, you can't even beat a junior. How laughable!"
Manda sneered. "Damn it, but this brat was ruthless. I almost got my skin peeled off by him. I'm heading back. Don't forget my blood food. If one's missing, don't think about calling me out to help you next time!"
After Manda finished speaking, he disappeared, leaving Orochimaru twisting his neck, dazed in the air. He didn't care about Manda's ridicule. Manda was like that, he respected the strong and mocked the weak.
Orochimaru was defeated—by the shadow clone of a young man! It couldn't be funnier.
"Kazuki Gekko... very good!" Orochimaru returned to his normal form, staring coldly at the spot where Kazuki disappeared.
The next moment, Orochimaru vanished, reappearing in a corner of the training ground.
"Hehehe, after hiding for so long, it's time to come out, isn't it?"
As soon as Orochimaru finished speaking, a ninja wearing an ANBU animal mask emerged from the ground, slashing at Orochimaru with a sword. Orochimaru dodged effortlessly.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
Countless small snakes shot out from Orochimaru's hand, coiling around the ANBU ninja, swallowing him up slowly.
"Aah!"
"Orochimaru, why have you, a traitor, appeared in Konoha?"
"Hehehe, go to hell and find out."
Orochimaru, not in the mood for chatter, dealt with the ANBU swiftly and mercilessly. This insignificant little mouse wasn't worth his time.
The ANBU ninja, who was originally monitoring Naruto, and stumbled upon Orochimaru and Kazuki. When he realized he was tracking Orochimaru and tried to escape, it was too late.
Orochimaru, aware of being followed, had locked him and Kazuki inside the formation. The ANBU thought he hadn't been discovered and hid, waiting for Orochimaru to finish Kazuki so he could escape. But Kazuki fought far better than expected, even pushing Orochimaru, one of the Sannin, to his limits.
Had it not been for Kazuki's shadow clone, Orochimaru might have been defeated!
Before his death, the ANBU had only one thought: Why didn't the real Kazuki Gekko show up? I wouldn't have had to die!
Orochimaru glanced at the ANBU ninja, now lifeless from the snake bites, sneered, and let the snakes devour the rest of his body. He deactivated the formation, turned into mud, and vanished from the ruined training ground!
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+75 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg
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