Chapter 147: Eliminating the Semi-Kage (Part 1)
Orochimaru saw the slight opening exposed by the scar-faced Semi-Kage's intense emotional fluctuation and immediately drew the Cursed Sword Muramasa from his back.
The demonic claws and ghostly visages constantly emanating from the Muramasa's blade, combined with the astonishing, supremely evil and dominant bloodlust, amplified Orochimaru's imposing aura.
With the Muramasa in hand, Orochimaru moved violently. His body was like a taut bow; he bent his knees and pushed off, causing a shallow crater to explode in the ground. He transformed into a streak of ink-black starlight, flashing and streaking across the space, instantly appearing behind the scar-faced Semi-Kage.
The exotic, wicked Muramasa in his hand cut through the air like a meteor, tracing a stunning, ink-black blade light.
The scar-faced Semi-Kage, the instant he sensed the evil and dominant aura behind him, knew something was wrong. In that moment of extreme peril, his body instinctively shifted a few centimeters to the side, barely dodging a fatal blow.
The ruthless, deadly blade light cut slish! a long, gruesome wound, dozens of centimeters in length, across the Semi-Kage's back. The splattering crimson blood traced a long line in the air.
"Hiss—" The scar-faced man gasped, drawing a sharp breath. He quickly retreated, watching the newly emerged Orochimaru, who had successfully launched a sneak attack, with extreme vigilance.
Orochimaru, Aokita, and Aokiya each stood on a towering tree, forming a pincer formation that subtly encompassed the scar-faced Semi-Kage.
For the moment, Orochimaru wasn't worried about the Semi-Kage escaping. He watched this rare Semi-Kage powerhouse with composure, even wishing for the confrontation to drag on, allowing the blood from the scar-faced man's back wound to flow more freely, making him progressively weaker.
The scar-faced man's face was pale after being successfully ambushed by Orochimaru. The long sword wound on his back was particularly strange; waves of increasingly severe pain surged from it, causing beads of cold sweat to break out on his back.
He subconsciously glanced at Orochimaru's hand, where the ink-black, wicked Muramasa was surrounded by demons and ghosts. The crimson blood remaining on the blade was quickly and entirely sucked up by the cursed sword. Unknowingly, the terrifying bloodlust coiling around the blade strengthened a tiny bit more.
Seeing this, the scar-faced man instantly knew that the black sword in Orochimaru's hand was cursed. A chill ran down his spine, and his heart sank heavily.
He clearly sensed that the aura and Chakra fluctuations emanating from Orochimaru, while technically still at the Jōnin level, were several degrees stronger than those of Aokita and Aokiya.
He finally understood that Orochimaru was the leader of this Konoha squad, hiding among the Chūnin ranks, just waiting for his moment of lapse to launch a successful, bold sneak attack.
The enemy's formidable strength and meticulous, cunning mind felt like a heavy hammer slamming onto the scar-faced man's chest.
He glanced at the Elite Chūnin battle raging in the distance and saw that his Sand Ninja side, which had the numerical advantage, was actually being gradually annihilated. His final thread of hope grew increasingly faint.
The Semi-Kage's Last Stand
Taking a deep breath, the scar-faced man's aura suddenly grew heavy. He controlled the muscles in his back to contract abruptly, temporarily stemming the flow of blood from the long wound. Immediately, the Chakra throughout his body surged and swelled, coiling around him, further increasing his imposing presence.
Orochimaru noted the enemy's changes. He exchanged a look with Aokita and Aokiya, signaling them to prepare for the imminent frenzied attack.
The Semi-Kage Sand Ninja powerhouse, having restabilized his aura, did not immediately charge. Knowing that the mission was likely a failure and his own life was in great peril, he grew detached. He adopted the courtesy of opponents from the Samurai Era, smiling—a look more horrifying and monstrous than crying—and reported his name to Orochimaru: "**I am the Sand Ninja Semi-Kage powerhouse—Takayama Haruno!"
Orochimaru paused. He still held a measure of respect for Semi-Kage level powerhouses and slowly replied: "Konoha Jōnin—Orochimaru!"
Hearing Orochimaru's name, two beams of essence shot out from Takayama Haruno's eyes. His face was filled with extreme astonishment, but he said no more, as if he were looking at a rising star in an enemy nation.
The expression of surprise quickly vanished from Takayama Haruno's face, replaced by thick killing intent in his eyes. He knew that with a fresh sword wound and surrounded by three powerful Jōnin from a major nation, he likely wouldn't be leaving this place alive today.
Concerned for his country's future, he knew clearly that this enemy genius would become his nation's greatest threat.
At that thought, the murderous intent in his heart could not be contained. Takayama Haruno's strong, sturdy, bull-like body charged forward like a fierce tiger.
The surging, powerful Semi-Kage Chakra was fully propelled by Takayama Haruno, merging with his entire body's grave aura and concentrating in his bowl-sized right fist. Following the strategy of 'capturing the king first,' he fiercely slammed his fist toward Orochimaru.
Thick, bloodthirsty killing intent rose in Orochimaru's dark-golden eyes. A wicked smile curled at his lips.
He clearly saw a gauntlet on Takayama Haruno's right hand. Under the activation of Chakra, four sharp knuckles spikes suddenly shot out from the gauntlet. The spikes were clearly not made of ordinary material, flashing with a pale blue Chakra light, which doubled the power of Takayama Haruno's punch. If an ordinary person were hit, their head would likely burst immediately.
Facing the aggressively charging Takayama Haruno, Orochimaru did not retreat but advanced. Materialized killing intent merged with the astonishing bloodlust of the Cursed Sword Muramasa.
The entire figure of Orochimaru was like a demon descended from Hell. He raised the Muramasa and fiercely brought it down on Takayama Haruno.
Clang! A crisp chime was instantly replaced by a grating, teeth-chilling shriek.
The ink-black Muramasa and the sharp spikes constantly clashed and scraped. In just a single breath, the two exchanged five or six collisions in the momentarily suspended air.
Powerful Taijutsu and surging Chakra clashed and collided. The screeching of metal was interspersed with the dull bang, bang, bang of explosions.
Boom! An explosion rang out from the point of their clash, and an invisible wave of powerful force instantly erupted, sweeping through the forest for dozens of meters. Tree trunks snapped, and wood chips flew everywhere.
Two black figures shot out from the smoke and dust, landing on separate towering trees.
Being a Semi-Kage powerhouse, Takayama Haruno's physical strength and Chakra were superior to Orochimaru's by a margin. The distance he flew back was noticeably shorter than Orochimaru's by over ten meters.
Before Takayama Haruno could even stabilize himself, the combined attack of the brothers Aokita and Aokiya had already fiercely arrived.
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