Chapter 618: Leaving a Scar!
As the remaining Scorch Dragon exploded, an intense heat wave spread in every direction! Orochimaru quickly put up a couple of additional defenses, but the heat still pierced through all his defenses and hit him!
His entire body felt the scorching heat! Several burns appeared on him but the injuries weren't serious enough to affect his strength. The heat also moved towards the Wind Domain, but Fujin moved the winds to avoid getting hit.
The trees nearby weren't as lucky. The scorching heat caused every tree in a 500-meter radius to light up! Several trees beyond it were also affected. The ninjas who were within 3 kilometers of the explosion also felt the heatwave.
Thankfully, it was no longer dangerous. Had it been as intense as what Orochimaru had to endure, the future would have completely changed and Fujin would have attracted a lot of trouble!
Regardless, the heat made everyone realize just how crazy the battle was!
Orochimaru breathed a sigh of relief as he thought, 'What a ridiculous techni…'
He immediately stopped thinking about the Scorch Dragon, turned to his left and prepared himself for a battle! Without giving Orochimaru any time to rest, Fujin pushed on the offense.
Despite being over a hundred and fifty meters away from Orochimaru, Fujin reached him in the blink of an eye thanks to the Assassin's Rush jutsu. Orochimaru relaxed on seeing that Fujin wasn't holding a sword and thought, 'Strange, why did he leave the domain he had created? I thought he'd hide inside it until Hiruzen came. Also, doesn't he have any other sword?'
Fujin's strange action made Orochimaru raise his guard even more. However, he didn't have any time to think about it deeply or use a jutsu. To Orochimaru's surprise, Fujin didn't use any jutsu and attacked him with a simple punch!
Orochimaru easily blocked it and attacked back while thinking, 'Does he want to compete against me in Taijutsu to take advantage of the burns on my body? Hmm?'
To Orochimaru's surprise, the speed of Fujin's arms and legs was boosted by small blasts of winds that Fujin was creating. It was an advanced application of the Assassin's Rush jutsu!
His speed caught Orochimaru by surprise as Fujin diverted Orochimaru's attacks successfully and pulled his right fist back. Orochimaru's eyes widened as he finally understood what Fujin was planning!
He immediately flickered backwards, but winds blasted behind Fujin at the same moment! Assisted by wind blasts, Fujin's speed was faster than Orochimaru's flickering speed.
A chakra-concentrated punch, whose speed had been increased several times by wind blasting behind Fujin's elbow, landed on Orochimaru's chest! Like a broken kite, Orochimaru flew for a couple of hundred meters, crashing through several large trees before his speed reduced just enough to not break through the trees.
His body was stuck halfway into a large tree which was already burning due to the heat wave, making it seem like he was being cremated! His chest was a mess as his rib cage had been pulverized. His internal organs were severely damaged as well.
However, that wasn't what worried Orochimaru. What worried him was the fact that he sensed Fujin right above the tree he was stuck in and preparing a Wind jutsu!
He quickly freed his arms from the tree and made a hand seal!
'Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves jutsu'
Fujin used his wide range Vacuum jutsu in order to ensure that Orochimaru wouldn't be able to dodge it. The jutsu hit the tree and the surrounding area, cutting the tree into small pieces and covering the ground in scars! Hundreds of nearby trees were cut into small pieces as well. However, there was a frown on Fujin's face.
Fujin thought, 'Hmm, he escaped? As expected, he had set up a reverse summoning jutsu in advance… Eh? Wait a minute!'
While fighting against Orochimaru, Fujin kept his Space Time Sensing Technique active the entire time. Fujin could easily cover the entire Konoha with his Space Time Technique by now.
However, he had only kept it active in the Forest of Death in order to not be distracted. The reason why he covered the entire Forest of Death was to ensure that he didn't accidentally kill anyone nearby. After all, several ninjas who would become major players later were participating in the Chunin Exams.
Fujin thought, 'Just when Orochimaru's chakra signature disappeared, I sensed a disturbance in Space-Time. Did he set up a Reverse Summoning spot inside the Forest of Death?'
Around 2 kilometers away, Orochimaru's injured figure appeared! Next to him was his Shadow Clone. The clone dispelled immediately to transfer the chakra back to his main body because Orochimaru's chakra reserves were very low.
Orochimaru immediately shed his skin to recover from the deadly injuries. While doing so, he thought, 'I had set up several escape routes in case sensei knew about my plans and set up traps for me. To think that I'd be forced to escape from Fujin!'
Killing intent flashed through his eyes as he quickly analyzed the reason for his defeat. He immediately concluded, 'I underestimated the brat. He's the real deal. With unrivaled control over the wind, never-ending applications of the Wind Vacuum Technique and a strength that is under only Tsunade's, he is very strong.
However, he still isn't at my level. The reason why I lost was simply because I lacked information. If we fight again, I won't suffer repeated blows.'
As Orochimaru was shedding his skin, two groups noticed him. The first one was Kabuto's squad. Kabuto was around fifty meters away from Orochimaru and had detected his sudden appearance.
He observed Orochimaru from a distance and shock appeared on his face as he thought, 'Impossible! Such injuries… Did Fujin defeat Orochimaru-sama? Is he this powerful? Or did the Hokage reinforce him?'
Almost instinctively, Kabuto wanted to go and heal Orochimaru. However, he controlled himself while thinking, 'No, Orochimaru-sama still needs me to be undercover. Besides, Orochimaru-sama will recover in no time. Hmm? What the???'
The second group that saw him was Team Asuma. They were 50 meters away from him as well but were on the other side. Since they were standing on branches, they could easily see the disgusting thing that Orochimaru did.
Ino exclaimed softly in shock and disgust, "What the hell? Did a person crawl out of his mouth? That's so disgusting!"
Choji felt nauseated as well at that sight. Only Shikamaru had a serious expression as he recognized Orochimaru's face! He quickly said in a quiet voice, "Both of you, quickly hide. Don't let him see us!"
Ino and Choji were surprised by how grave Shikamaru's voice was.
Orochimaru had already sensed both groups but didn't pay attention to any of them. He continued thinking, 'Unfortunately, I don't think I'll get another opportunity to fight him before my assault. During the assault, I'll be busy dealing with sensei. Who'll fight him then? Huh?'
Orochimaru suddenly felt a movement behind him. He quickly turned his head to see what was happening. His eyes widened! A massive Wind Dragon was heading towards him, destroying everything in its path! It reached him in the blink of an eye!
However, before it could hit him, Orochimaru disappeared once again! With nothing stopping it, the Wind Dragon continued moving forward through the Forest of Death.
Shikamaru, Choji and Ino's eyes popped out in shock and surprise as the massive Wind Dragon plowed through the area where Orochimaru was! They saw as the Dragon disappeared out of their sight, leaving a trail of destruction behind it!
A massive 12-meter wide and 4-meter deep canal now existed in front of them. As for its length, they couldn't see where it started nor could they imagine where it would end!
As the Wind Dragon moved, every tree and animal in its path was annihilated. A few Genin squads saw it and were terrified. Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened as they saw the Wind Dragon heading in their direction.
They quickly moved a few meters to their left. Thankfully, the Wind Dragon didn't change its direction and continued moving forward. It only stopped after reaching the other end of the Forest of Death!
Renjiro and Hoka, who had the clearest view, were left dumbfounded as they witnessed a new 12 kilometers long channel being formed in the Forest of Death by a single jutsu!
The reason why the Wind Dragon was so powerful was pretty simple. Once Fujin unleashed his chakra to form the Wind Domain, he couldn't take the chakra back. Since Orochimaru had escaped, the Wind Domain had become meaningless. So, Fujin simply used all the remaining chakra in the Wind Domain to create a massive Wind Dragon!
Fujin appeared where Orochimaru had reversed summoned to and thought, 'His chakra signature disappeared again. However, I didn't sense any other disturbance in Space-Time. It looks like he was reverse summoned out of this training ground…'
Fujin let out a long breath. He stretched his body slightly and muttered to himself, 'Now that was a good fight.'