Chapter 148: Eliminating the Semi-Kage (Part 2)
The brothers Aokita and Aokiya saw Takayama Haruno burst out of the smoke, his aura unstable from the intense battle. They immediately seized the opportunity, formed hand signs, and, with perfect synchronization, launched their Ninjutsu without giving Takayama Haruno a chance to catch his breath!
Fire Release: Flame Dragon Soaring Heaven Jutsu!
A massive amount of pure, condensed Chakra was released by the two brothers, spreading into the air in front of them.
The three-dimensional space a few meters ahead of them suddenly twisted and warped like a two-dimensional sheet of paper. The copious Chakra, converted by the hand signs, transformed into violent Fire nature energy.
Awooo! Awooo! Two consecutive, majestic dragon roars suddenly erupted in the clearing.
Two fire dragons, dozens of meters long, engulfed in raging flames and radiating intense heat, materialized from the void, their claws bared and teeth gnashing. Controlled by Aokita and Aokiya, they encircled Takayama Haruno in a 'double-dragon playing with a pearl' formation.
The two massive dragon heads, one from the left and one from the right, opened their maws, ferociously attempting to devour Takayama Haruno.
Boom! A colossal sound followed, and a towering flame wave, seven or eight meters high, erupted. Raging fire surged, sparks flew, and the heaven-piercing blaze seemed intent on burning everything. The air was filled with a thick smell of scorching mixed with the distant scent of blood, a nauseating combination.
Before the crackling sounds of burning ceased, a shhh-shhh-shhh sound suddenly arose.
An incredibly powerful Chakra fluctuation surged from the heaven-reaching orange flames, forcefully registering in Orochimaru's senses.
Orochimaru took a few deep breaths, calming his slightly turbulent breathing caused by the scattered force waves. His dark-golden eyes fixed on the spot where the flames were surging.
Only rolling yellow sand, like an overflowing fountain, was seen pouring out from within the intense flames.
The towering flames were quickly smothered and extinguished by the rapidly accumulating yellow sand, leaving only wisps of smoke.
Takayama Haruno, with minor burns, emerged from the rolling sand. As he finished the final hand sign, his already powerful Chakra fluctuation instantly became even more terrifying.
Wind Release: Sand Forest Spear Rain!
Orochimaru clearly saw the ground for a hundred-meter radius beneath his feet suddenly break apart, forcibly desertified by Takayama Haruno's immense and vigorous Chakra and converted into rolling yellow sand.
Large masses of yellow sand swiftly gathered around Takayama Haruno. In the blink of an eye, hundreds of sharp, lethal spears and lances of sand, resembling javelins, were suspended around him.
Takayama Haruno grinned savagely at the three Konoha ninja. He raised his right hand and lightly waved it forward.
Screech, screech, screech! A sharp series of wind-splitting sounds instantly cut through the air. The hundreds of sand spears completely covered all space for evasion in front of the three, descending like a massive, sky-obscuring curtain.
Summoning Manda
In that critical moment, Orochimaru's blood-stained right hand streaked across the black snake tattoo on his left forearm, then slammed heavily onto the ground.
Boom! The hundreds of sharp spears shot past, ravaging the forest for hundreds of meters. In their wake, not a single towering tree remained standing; they were all snapped and toppled.
As thick smoke and dust filled the air, a hoarse, resonant, and furious voice suddenly reached everyone's ears: "It's been too long since I've seen the light of day, you damnable brat! And the first thing you do is use me as a shield!"
The low, hoarse voice thundered like lightning, causing the leaves within a thousand-meter radius to rustle violently.
Just as the thunderous voice faded, a snake head as massive as a small mountain slowly extended from the smoke and dust-covered ground.
The colossal Manda, towering like a skyscraper, was mottled and bruised, covered in patches of yellow sand and traces of dark-purple blood that were slowly flowing. Orochimaru, clad in his Anbu uniform, stood securely on Manda's head, completely unharmed.
The brothers Aokita and Aokiya were also safely wrapped within Manda's coils, totally unscratched.
Manda's lantern-sized green snake eyes slowly examined Takayama Haruno before asking Orochimaru with a puzzled tone: "A Semi-Kage level Sand Ninja? Orochimaru, since when did you get into a death match with the Sand Ninja again?"
"The Second Great Ninja War has begun. The Sand Ninja are invading Konoha!" Orochimaru replied calmly.
Receiving this unexpected answer from Orochimaru, Manda excitedly flickered his long, dark-purple tongue and drawled: "So you mean this fellow is edible?"
Orochimaru stood atop Manda, noncommittal.
While Orochimaru remained silent, the opposing Takayama Haruno was already enraged and formed hand signs.
Wind Release: Great Sand Hand!
The endless yellow sand, controlled by Takayama Haruno, instantly coalesced into a colossal sand hand, the size of an acre, which ruthlessly slammed toward Manda's massive head.
Manda's green eyes instantly grew utterly cold. Without needing any control from Orochimaru, his terrifying snake tail, which was as thick as dozens of men embracing, suddenly arced in a semicircle, carrying a low, heavy wind pressure as it fiercely struck the colossal sand hand.
Boom! A tremendous sound. The immense, unyielding force contained in Manda's tail smashed the colossal sand hand to smithereens.
The sky within a hundred-meter radius seemed to have changed its weather, pouring down a deluge—which was, of course, a rain of sand.
Manda gently flicked his long, thick tail. He had taken a small loss; a few scales were broken in the violent collision, leaving a trace of dark-purple snake blood.
Orochimaru, aware of Manda's condition, spoke indifferently: "He is a Semi-Kage powerhouse, after all. Even with your years of refinement, your strength is only at the Semi-Kage level. And we still don't know what ultimate elemental technique he has mastered. Don't get arrogant!"
Manda snorted. However, the green eyes watching Takayama Haruno grew solemn, obeying Orochimaru's warning.
The brothers Aokita and Aokiya stood on the towering trees next to Manda, their auras, along with Orochimaru's, converging and pressing down upon Takayama Haruno.
Takayama Haruno laughed heartily. Ignoring the burn wounds on his upper body and the charred clothes clinging to them, he grabbed his tattered shirt and, with his powerful physical strength, instantly tore it off and tossed it aside.
His upper body, covered in rock-solid, immense muscles, exuded a great sense of power, making Takayama Haruno project an air of formidable valor as he faced Orochimaru from afar.
Orochimaru stood atop Manda's head, looking down with a wicked smile: "The battle... has just begun!"
🗒️NOTE:
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
Explore the Finished Work in advance!