Naruto: Starting by Marrying Uchiha

"Indeed, it's impossible to hide anything from you, Orochimaru, isn't it?"

Chiyo's voice echoed.

However, it didn't come from the poisoned body lying limp on the ground, but from behind Orochimaru.

Only then did it become clear that the 'Chiyo' on the ground was actually a puppet.

Yet it was indistinguishable from a real person.

"No, you succeeded!"

Orochimaru shook his head slightly.

The puppet had indeed deceived him. If he hadn't noticed a flaw from another angle, he wouldn't have been able to see through it.

The problem was...

How did they know he was lurking in the shadows?

There were definitely no more than a handful of people in Konoha who knew his specific information, and only a few outside the village.

Orochimaru's mind raced, dismissing each suspicion.

However, he quickly pulled his thoughts back.

Even if he guessed who leaked the information, it was of no use now. The most important thing was to solve the predicament in front of him.

"Orochimaru, today you will stay here!"

Another voice interjected.

It was Rasa! At some point, he had appeared at Orochimaru's side.

With this, Pakura in front, Chiyo behind, and Rasa to the side, the three formed an encirclement.

"It seems that when you led a group of Sand ninja away earlier, it was a decoy. So the poison I placed in the water source these past few days must have been neutralized by you, right?"

Even in a dangerous situation, Orochimaru remained calm.

As the 'Cold Lord' among the Sannin, this was not just a descriptor but his way of acting. No matter how great the danger, he could face it with composure.

If he were alone, with his strength and methods, escaping wouldn't be too difficult. The problem was, this time he wasn't alone.

"That's right, your poison was indeed very secretive, but knowing about it in advance made it not too difficult to neutralize. Today, you won't escape, Orochimaru!"

Chiyo tried to influence Orochimaru with her words.

A ninja's mental state greatly affects their combat performance, which is why various wills and ninja ways are so prevalent—they truly can enhance combat power.

"Orochimaru-sama!"

At this moment, Nara Shikaku arrived with reinforcements, including Akimichi Choza and Yamanaka Inoichi.

With their 'Ino-Shika-Cho' combination, as long as they didn't encounter a type that completely countered them, dealing with a Kage-level opponent was definitely not a problem.

In terms of ninja numbers, Konoha was slightly at a disadvantage.

But in training, strength, ninja tools, and jutsu, these ninjas drawn from the Hokage's clans had the upper hand.

It's just that in numbers, experience, and mindset, they were not as good as the Sand ninja.

The Sand ninja had split off a significant portion to control the southwest region, so their main force here was about fifteen hundred.

Konoha had twelve hundred ninjas, with a thousand drawn from clan private forces and two hundred borrowed from the southwest ninja army.

The focus was on higher quality, which is why they dared to attack despite being outnumbered.

The original trump card was the poison Orochimaru had placed in advance, but it seemed to have been neutralized.

With Konoha's reinforcements arriving, a battle of the strong ensued.

Akimichi Choza was the first to act.

"Partial Expansion Jutsu!"

His gigantic palms slammed towards Pakura, with Yamanaka Inoichi and Nara Shikaku following suit.

"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"

Meanwhile, Sarutobi Shinnosuke targeted Chiyo.

Among the Sand ninja's Kage-level opponents, Chiyo's puppet, the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu, had been damaged, significantly weakening her combat power, so targeting her was quite sensible.

At least they didn't have to worry about being overwhelmed.

Sarutobi Shinnosuke and four other Jonin wanted to help, but were blocked by the Sand ninja's Jonin.

Did they really think the Sand ninja's Jonin were just standing around?

(Ebizō was commanding the battle from behind the Sand ninja!)

With each strong opponent having their match, the last ones left were Orochimaru and Rasa.

Orochimaru was the first to strike.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Only by dealing with one opponent to create a breakthrough could they win this battle.

Sand! A large amount of gold dust condensed into a shield to block Orochimaru's attack, then Rasa formed hand seals, causing a large amount of gold dust to condense into spears aimed at Orochimaru.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Spears!"

If struck, they would easily pierce through the target.

"This kind of trick isn't like your style. No need to stall, use whatever backup plan you have!"

Orochimaru's body twisted at an impossible angle, then coldly reminded the opponent that he had seen through their tactics.

Despite the intense battle, there was a sense of 'stalling.'

This meant the opponent had some setup that required time, and they needed to hold them off until then.

"As expected of you!"

Rasa gave Orochimaru a deep look.

Among the Sannin, the other two had obvious weaknesses, but Orochimaru was flawless. Not only was his strength formidable, but his leadership abilities were also impeccable.

That's why they initially tried to hunt down the enemy as soon as possible, but unfortunately, they failed, only managing to force the opponent to retreat from the battlefield for a while. Bang, bang!

Several fireworks exploded in the sky behind the Konoha ninja forces.

This indicated one thing.

A unit of Sand Shinobi had maneuvered behind the Konoha ninja forces.

"Retreat!"

Upon seeing this, Orochimaru immediately seized command and gave the order.

Neither Sarutobi Shinnosuke nor Nara Shikaku found anything wrong with this.

As a renowned Kage-level powerhouse and a disciple of the Hokage, Orochimaru was undoubtedly the right choice for command.

Soon, Konoha sent out the retreat signal.

However, the Sand Shinobi were unwilling to let them retreat so easily and fiercely pursued them.

"Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes!"

Orochimaru unleashed a tidal wave of snakes.

The overwhelming snake tide spread out, lunging towards the surrounding Sand Shinobi, aiming to disrupt their pursuit.

These snakes weren't particularly lethal, but their venom was extremely dangerous. If bitten, one would be severely injured if not killed.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Burial!"

Rasa naturally wouldn't allow the snake tide to spread unchecked and clapped his hands on the ground.

Rustle, rustle!

Countless gold dust surged towards the snake swarm like a vast ocean.

The venomous snakes were swept up in the gold dust and crushed into pulp.

The Kage-level powerhouses on both sides unleashed their ultimate techniques in succession.

After using his ultimate move, Rasa, disregarding the chakra expenditure, unleashed another powerful technique.

"Magnet Release: Gold Dust Tsunami!"

This move was a follow-up to the previous Gold Dust Burial.

Its effect was to control the gold dust to crash into the enemy.

If the previous gold dust surged like waves, now it was like a raging tsunami, threatening to smash any obstacle in its path.

Rumble! Amidst the dull roar, the raging gold dust swept through, flattening everything in its path.

In a one-on-one scenario, there were plenty of ways to avoid such a combination technique.

But using it on the battlefield was a divine move.

Just because your opponent can dodge doesn't mean everyone else can.

An indiscriminate area attack!

Although some Sand Shinobi were affected, their numbers were few, and Rasa could adjust, so there was no need to worry too much.

Orochimaru bit his finger, formed hand seals, and then slapped his right hand on the ground.

"Summoning Jutsu: Triple Rashomon!"

A series of black runes unfolded.

Boom, boom, boom! Three massive demon-faced gates rose from the ground in front of him, blocking the oncoming gold dust wave.

The overwhelming power of the gold dust continuously crashed against the triple demon-faced gates but was firmly held back.

Rashomon! A special summoning technique with incredible defensive power.

It could even block or deflect a Tailed Beast Bomb, an attack comparable to a 'nuclear bomb.'

Apart from the high chakra cost, it had no drawbacks.

With Orochimaru's chakra, using both the Formation of Ten Thousand Snakes and the Triple Rashomon consumed a significant amount.

"Summoning Jutsu!"

Orochimaru used the summoning technique once more.

This time, he summoned a familiar creature.

Bang! A massive cloud of white smoke spread.

A colossal purple serpent appeared on the battlefield.

"Orochimaru, last time I almost got killed because of you. If you don't have three hundred sacrifices this time, I'll swallow you whole!"

Manda, upon appearing, immediately brought up past grievances.

In the last battle, due to Elder Chiyo's sealing technique, he nearly died in the clash between Takashi and Pakura's ultimate techniques. Now, he naturally demanded compensation.

"As long as we break through this time, you can have as many sacrifices as you want!"

Orochimaru promised, as if oblivious to what kind of sacrifices Manda desired.

"Remember your promise!"

Manda's enormous body charged towards the rear.

Its body was its best weapon.

Whether ninja tools or jutsu, it could crush them all directly.

Among the Sand Shinobi, only Rasa was suited to deal with a large summoning creature like Manda.

Pakura and Chiyo were more skilled against 'humans.'

Against such a massive summoning creature, defenses and formations were useless, and the Sand Shinobi couldn't stop it.

If things continued this way, the Konoha ninjas would undoubtedly break through.

But just as the Konoha ninjas saw hope for escape, someone kicked them back into a desperate situation.

(End of Chapter)