At this time, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was accompanying the elite Jōnin squad, also met up with the Anbu ninja who had been following Luffy and Orochimaru. Naturally, he then got a more detailed understanding of what had happened.
"He actually repelled Orochimaru, who was attempting a sneak attack, with just one strike?!"
The Third Hokage knew best the capabilities of Orochimaru, his most unfilial, most taxing, and most regretted disciple. Although Orochimaru had already betrayed the village, and almost all ninja in Konoha now wished to kill him as quickly as possible, in reality, no one dared to even slightly doubt Orochimaru's strength.
He was a master, one of the "Legendary Sannin of Konoha" in the Shinobi World. Anyone facing Orochimaru would have to carefully weigh if they were an opponent. Such a powerful being actually suffered a loss at Luffy's hands.
And it was under the circumstances of a sneak attack, where Luffy reacted immediately. Afterwards, it was said that Luffy resolved the problem with a single strike... Of course, these Anbu ninja didn't perceive it at the first moment, so whether what they said was the truth, or how far it was from the truth, no one was clear.
However, Luffy's strength was completely overwhelming; this was confirmed for Orochimaru at this time. It was said that Orochimaru was beaten into submission, even forced to flee chaotically. The Konoha ninja on this side seemed to have secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Even if they truly harbored resentment towards Orochimaru, to actually fight against such a cunning, resourceful ninja would still leave them more or less uneasy... Now, hearing that Orochimaru had suffered at Luffy's hands, the Konoha ninja secretly felt relieved.
How to put it? With Luffy taking the lead, the pressure they felt when facing Orochimaru was much reduced.
"Don't let your guard down! Who knows if this is Orochimaru's ploy to lure us in?!"
In the end, it was still the Third Hokage, who was even more cautious. He did not wish for his unfilial disciple to add a few more Konoha ninja lives to his hands! He needed everyone to be on edge and not relax; that was the best way to save lives. Orochimaru still had the ability to fight back! "Yes!" The Konoha ninja immediately sharpened their spirits.
Indeed, what they had to face at this moment was Orochimaru, the most powerful traitor who had ever left the village in Konoha's history. The slightest carelessness could lead them into a situation of eternal damnation...
This was a matter concerning their lives; no error could be tolerated. Everyone heard the Third Hokage's warning, and they secretly put away their complacency.
Now, the direction of Luffy and Orochimaru's location had been confirmed, right in the dense forest not far ahead. They needed to speed up. If Luffy alone could restrain Orochimaru, even overpower him, then once the Konoha ninja arrived, wouldn't it be a crushing victory? He could instantly take down this traitor who had been a headache for Konoha for who knows how long?!
Thinking this, coupled with the Hokage's reminder, the Konoha ninja's fighting spirit seemed to become even more resolute.
...
Meanwhile, on Luffy's side, his battle with Orochimaru had already become uninteresting... At least, that was certainly the case for Luffy.
"Do you have any other moves?!"
Luffy merely maintained his "Gear Second" state to deal with the current Orochimaru. After the previous battle, the two had chased each other and arrived at a dense forest. Orochimaru's physical strength was severely depleted,
especially since he wasn't inherently a powerful taijutsu ninja, and his body wasn't even his own. Under such circumstances, Orochimaru could last this long against Luffy.
The reason was actually that Luffy wanted to deeply experience what kind of skills ninja in this world possessed. Orochimaru was completely different from Kakashi and Danzo, whom Luffy had encountered before. At least, they looked completely different to Luffy.
Even compared to all the ninja in the entire Shinobi World, the abilities and ninjutsu Orochimaru possessed were indeed considered unconventional. Luffy, at least in this regard, was very sensitive. Fighting against different, interesting opponents was actually one of Luffy's gains in this world.
But the current Orochimaru was, after all, limited by "his own" body, and many of his powers could not be fully unleashed. Even abilities he had already mastered could not be fully utilized in this tired, crippled, temporary body to their maximum power...
However, Orochimaru knew very well in his heart that even when he was young, with all his strength and skills at their peak, he probably wouldn't have any good way to deal with this outsider.
The power system Luffy commanded was completely different from anything Orochimaru had previously encountered. Even if he wanted to deal with Luffy, he had to do his homework beforehand.
According to Orochimaru's habits, he would have to thoroughly understand the power system Luffy commanded. He would have to thoroughly study this enemy, Luffy, and then act to gain the greatest benefit.
Now, he suddenly had a whim to launch a sneak attack, but instead suffered a loss which was actually quite reasonable. During the battle, Orochimaru was even summing up his gains and losses.
No wonder he could achieve the title of "Konoha Sannin" back then... In short, Orochimaru understood. The power he could exert with his current body was probably completely incapable of fighting Luffy.
Did you see that? Luffy started reducing his power to fight him... Luffy, who initially dealt with Orochimaru in his "Gear Third" and "Gear Fourth" forms, a powerful output state, had now switched to using "Gear Second," a more energy-efficient form.
Orochimaru could also tell that Luffy was completely treating him as a target and sparring partner at this time. He hoped to gain more combat knowledge and experience from him.
This outsider also clearly understood his own strengths and weaknesses. He knew how important it was to first understand the world's power system in this unfamiliar environment.
However... Orochimaru had never expected that someone would actually dare to treat him as a training subject. Although it was said that his mere physical combat ability was no match for Luffy, Orochimaru was never a ninja who was famous in the Shinobi World for his taijutsu.
The various rare and strange methods and tricks he possessed, and even some forbidden jutsus obtained through various methods and extensively researched and understood, could only be used after he had mastered them.
Plus, his own invented and created, or improved ninjutsu, these were the true moves that gave other ninja headaches...
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