Chapter 7: This One Must Never Be Left Alive
"It won't be that easy to take you down, Ziyun."
Standing behind Ziyun, Orochimaru flicked out his tongue, a sharp glint flashing in his slit pupils.
At this time, Orochimaru had not yet reached his peak. He loved researching techniques and had learned many strange, rare ones.
Using those uncommon techniques, he avoided the ANBU's sightlines, concealed his chakra, and successfully infiltrated this place.
"Orochimaru… another assassin sent by the Hidden Leaf?" Ziyun sighed after seeing the younger Orochimaru, who didn't yet have that chilling aura from later.
Danzo Shimura and Hiruzen Sarutobi were truly the shinobi world's biggest troublemakers.
It wasn't enough for them to torment their own village's geniuses. They always set their sights on other villages' talents too.
If Ziyun remembered correctly, this was already the third time he had run into an assassin sent by the Hidden Leaf.
"You know my name? What an honor." Orochimaru smiled, sounding pleased, while inwardly admiring Ziyun's composure.
So young, yet facing death and still this calm. Truly a rare talent.
Danzo was right. If a genius like this wasn't eliminated early, he would become a threat to the Hidden Leaf.
Right now, Orochimaru wasn't disappointed in the Hidden Leaf. He was fully loyal.
"You're bold, coming in alone. The area is surrounded by Hidden Cloud ANBU. If I shout once, what do you think will happen?"
Silently activating Observation Haki, Ziyun sensed that there were no other Hidden Leaf shinobi nearby besides Orochimaru.
He also noticed something else.
For some reason, his detection range seemed a bit farther than before.
Was that the benefit of real combat?
"You won't shout, Ziyun. You're still young. You don't want to die. Life is precious. As long as you obediently hand over the techniques you've been researching, I can consider sparing you."
As he spoke, Orochimaru increased the pressure of his grip, pressing the cold kunai tightly against Ziyun's neck.
Orochimaru had two goals this time.
First, assassinate Ziyun.
Second, take Ziyun's techniques back.
Those hand-seal-less techniques would greatly boost the Hidden Leaf's combat strength. Otherwise, Orochimaru would have already stabbed through Ziyun's throat.
"Hand over my techniques and you'll spare me? There's no such good deal."
Ziyun knew Orochimaru was probing him.
But Ziyun also had something he needed to ask.
"Orochimaru, have you reached elite jonin level?" Ziyun asked.
The Second Shinobi World War hadn't started yet, so Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya didn't have the title of the Legendary Three yet. Ziyun wasn't sure what level Orochimaru was at.
"Hm?" Orochimaru paused, not understanding why Ziyun asked that.
"Elite jonin… I should be there." Orochimaru answered.
In truth, Orochimaru didn't know for sure either, since he hadn't fought an elite jonin. But his pride made him answer that way.
"Good." A smile curled at the corner of Ziyun's mouth.
In the next instant, his entire body turned into a bolt of lightning.
"Damn it!"
Orochimaru realized Ziyun was resisting and immediately drove the kunai into Ziyun's throat.
But the blade passed through.
He stabbed empty air.
"A technique… could it be something like the Hidden Mist's Hydrification Technique?"
Orochimaru was stunned. This intelligence had never appeared in earlier reports.
But he reacted instantly.
This had to be a new technique developed by Ziyun, and the Hidden Leaf didn't know about it yet.
Unbelievable.
Only ten years old, and new techniques kept appearing one after another.
This level of talent was terrifying.
"I have no obligation to answer you. Thunderbird: Ten Million Volts."
Ziyun appeared in a flash of lightning about ten meters away. He raised his right hand and pointed through the air.
A bolt of lightning shot out with a sharp crackle, rapidly expanding as it surged forward, transforming into a roaring thunderbird that lunged straight at Orochimaru.
After days of training, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit proficiency had reached 52%. Ziyun could now use it smoothly, without the earlier loss of control.
"Hand-seal-less Lightning Release!"
Orochimaru's pupils shrank as he formed hand seals at extreme speed.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A wall of earth burst up from the ground and collided with the thunderbird, but it was blasted through, leaving a huge hole.
"It actually broke through Earth Release. What terrifying power."
Lightning Release had an advantage against Earth Release, but the true strength of a technique depended on the user's chakra quality.
Earlier intelligence said Ziyun had only just graduated as a genin.
Yet his Lightning Release could break an earth wall created by someone at elite jonin level.
That hand-seal-less Lightning Release was, without question, another new technique invented by Ziyun.
It had been less than two months since the Hidden Leaf last tried to gather intelligence on him, yet more and more new techniques were emerging.
His growth speed was horrifying.
This one must never be left alive.
In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Orochimaru's mind.
He decided he had to kill Ziyun here and now, and end it quickly.
If the Hidden Cloud ANBU were drawn in, escaping would not be easy.
At the same time, Ziyun's breathing grew heavier.
He had just released a ten million volt strike, and the stamina drain was significant.
There was no way around it.
A shinobi's body was far too fragile, and Ziyun was only ten. His body was still far from fully developed.
This fight made one thing clear.
He had to defeat Orochimaru and obtain the Uzumaki clan constitution.
"Perfect opening. Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Orochimaru's pupils flashed. He formed hand seals rapidly and hurled a massive shuriken.
In the next moment, it split into more than ten, flying in different directions and completely sealing off Ziyun's routes of escape.
But what Orochimaru didn't expect was this.
Ziyun didn't dodge at all.
The shuriken passed through Ziyun's body and embedded into the wall.
"What a bizarre technique."
Orochimaru's long tongue swept across his lips, his eyes filled with surprise.
It seemed conventional methods were useless against Ziyun's lightning transformation.
"There's movement!"
"Hidden Leaf… the Hidden Leaf sent an assassin!"
"Ziyun is in danger, move to support!"