"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
The instant Sora's figure vanished from his sight, Orochimaru unhesitatingly attacked the empty space before him.
It was a rather powerful attack.
As soon as he raised his hand, over a dozen terrifying pythons shot out from his sleeves, transforming into a mass of ghostly light that tore into the space in front of him.
Screech!
A clear, sharp sword cry rang out.
Following it was a flash of snow-white sword light coming from the moonlight, silently tearing the air, then crashing down upon Orochimaru's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands like withered grass being crushed.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Thump thump thump!
Crack!
In an instant, over a dozen terrifying pythons were swept away by the sword light, chopped into fragments.
A sky-full of blood rain and ferocious snake heads exploded like scattered heavenly flowers, splattering onto the light green grass.
Even then, the sword light did not stop.
That flash of snow-white sword light pierced through the crimson rain of snake fragments and mercilessly struck Orochimaru's forehead.
Squelch!
The blade entered flesh.
Then, it fell vertically along the midline of Orochimaru's body, splitting him alive into two halves.
As blood sprayed, the bisected Orochimaru fell to the ground.
Just then, the exploding crimson blood rain suddenly turned into a large amount of wooden fragments.
Orochimaru, who should have been dead, suddenly emerged from the ground in the distance.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The moment the hand seals formed, Orochimaru spat out a massive tornado.
The wind was extremely fierce, and with the boost of high-pressure Chakra, it contained extremely terrifying power.
Even the bluestones along its path were instantly shredded into dust by the fearsome energy within the tornado.
Wind Release is an intangible attack.
The greater the caster's Chakra Reserves and the more proficient their mastery of the technique, the greater the lethality unleashed.
And Orochimaru, one of Konoha's Sannin, undoubtedly quite proficient with Wind Release.
That wasn't all.
The moment Orochimaru attacked, over a dozen figures also leaped into the field, joining forces to use a combination technique.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
"Fire Release: Flame Whirlwind!"
"Fire Release: Fire Bullet!"
One masked Root's member after another quickly formed hand seals. Immediately, various powerful Wind and Fire Release Ninjutsu ran rampant, sweeping towards Sora's location.
Fire fed by the wind. Abruptly, a terrifying flame tornado traversing heaven and earth formed in the field.
For a moment, a dazzling number of flames, swirling with the fierce wind, formed dancing fire snakes that surged out in all directions, also forming flood-like waves of fire that crashed down upon Sora's head.
And Sora, positioned at the very center of the flame tornado, undoubtedly bore the brunt of the combination technique's most direct energy eruption.
"Boring."
Facing the earth-shaking flame tornado, Sora's expression was far too calm.
A silver light membrane suddenly rose around him, isolating the fire's scorching heat.
His gaze also turned cold as he looked at the Root's Ninjas who had appeared in the field.
Rumble rumble!
Finally,
The terrifying flame tornado underwent a massive explosion, causing a dozens-of-meters-high wave of fire to surge up in the forest, shooting into the sky, illuminating the dark night crimson red, changing the appearance of heaven and earth.
The power of this Ninjutsu had completely surpassed that of normal Ninjas.
Simultaneously, this was also the strength of the Root's elite Ninjas. The weakest were Jonin, the strongest were Elite Jonin. Over forty of them joined forces with Orochimaru to unleash their strongest strike.
In the eyes of many Root's Ninjas, the power of this Ninjutsu had reached the level of a force of nature.
Even the strongest Ninja, before such overwhelming natural power, would have to bow their head and await execution.
The next moment,
Where the terrifying flame tornado passed, everything in the forest was instantly ignited. Trees, soil, bluestones, even the air… everything within sight was burning madly.
Even the Root's Ninjas who had launched the combination attack had to use Water or Earth Release to jointly defend against the scorching heat erupting from the sea of fire.
Some, even with Water Release protection, could still feel a burning sensation on their retinas.
"This strike..."
"That Yuki Sora will be crippled if not dead!"
Behind an earthen wall formed by Earth Release, the sunglasses-wearing Tatsuma coldly observed everything.
This was the pre-arranged plan. The combination Ninjutsu of over forty Root's members was not only perfectly coordinated but also amplified in power using mysterious scrolls.
The lethality unleashed could not only kill Sora, but even take down the 'Strongest Hokage in History', Sarutobi Hiruzen.
Just like the hellish scene unfolding before them. The forest within a hundred-meter radius was devoured by the sea of fire.
At this time, this area became blackened scorched earth.
However,
Just as Tatsuma waited for the sea of fire to die down, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to Sora, a pale, slender hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.
"Not a bad idea, just a bit too slow."
Sora stood behind Tatsuma, his voice cold and calm.
'What?'
'Behind me!??'
The moment Tatsuma heard that voice, his pupils constricted sharply, and his body stiffened suddenly. He never expected the target, who should have been at the center of the flame tornado, to inexplicably appear behind him.
'When?'
'Why didn't I detect it!??'
Tatsuma's scalp went numb.
He was the de facto second-in-command of Root, undoubtedly possessing Elite Jonin, even quasi-Kage level combat power. Moreover, he has his insects' defense line, so how did the other party get behind him!???
"Farewell."
Sora's right hand gripped the back of Tatsuma's neck and gave a gentle twist, snapping the neck of this Root's Elite Jonin alive.
Crack.
A crisp sound rang.
Tatsuma didn't even have time to make a sound before his legs went weak and he knelt on the ground.
The crisp sound echoed eerily across the battlefield.
Many Root's members turned their heads, looking in astonishment as their second leader was twisted to death so casually on the spot.
It was an indescribable feeling, like putting all your strength into a punch only to hit cotton, and then that cotton suddenly turns into a man-eating monster that devours all light in the world.
'Ordinary Ninjutsu doesn't work as expected. Kirigakure's Yuki Sora, truly a monster that even Jiraiya finds troublesome...'
Orochimaru watched his colleague being twisted to death by Sora, but there was not a flicker of emotion in his eyes. He just unhesitatingly bit his finger and slammed it onto the ground.
'If it's monsters, I have them too!'
"Summoning Technique!"
"Manda, come forth!!!"