A Sage's Pursuit of Power

In the valley, Orochimaru was directing his subordinates to seal and prepare various precious equipment for relocation.

"They've arrived. Jūgo, go prepare and let those cannon fodder finish their last act."

As Orochimaru issued these ominous orders, he paused momentarily. A foreign chakra had touched the barrier from the southwest direction. "Kimimaro, go check it out."

"Yes." A pale, handsome young man rose and vanished from the room with a Body Flicker Technique.

Kimimaro moved extremely fast, and the valley wasn't very large. In just a few breaths, he arrived at the barrier in the southwest direction.

But what puzzled him was that he saw no intruders. The barrier appeared intact, and the scene showed no signs of trouble.

No, there was something unusual. The only abnormality was a single leaf.

When Kimimaro arrived, the leaf was drifting down from the air. At first, he didn't pay much attention to it. However, upon closer inspection, he noticed the leaf's falling trajectory was very irregular.

It was descending in a steady, symmetrical swaying motion from side to side.

In nature, a leaf falling from the sky would flutter erratically. So, this leaf was clearly problematic.

Kimimaro grew a layer of bone armor for protection and then reached out to catch the leaf.

Indeed, there were words written on it.

Kimimaro's heart stirred, and he immediately returned to hand the leaf to Orochimaru.

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Outside the valley, the team was making final preparations. At this time, each member needed to state their specialties to facilitate the captain's battle arrangements.

It was Aoba's turn:

"I specialize in swordsmanship, with a fighting style that combines sword techniques and Wind Release chakra. I'm skilled in mid-to-short-range combat."

At midnight, the ambush began.

A Root ninja disabled the surrounding barrier, and then the nine members entered one after another.

But the next second, countless shuriken and kunai flew toward them.

"Enemy attack!" someone inside the base shouted.

The ambush quickly turned into a skirmish.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The Anbu ninja specializing in ninjutsu used the Great Fireball Technique to clear a path. Although this technique is notorious for being hard to hit, it's effective for clearing paths and blocking movement.

Hayate and Aoba, as the main attackers, rushed through the path created by the fireball.

They were followed by a Root ninja.

From the outset, he could clearly feel that everyone on their side was holding back.

None of them were fools. Orochimaru had evaded capture for so many years. How could they succeed so easily?

Moreover, Orochimaru's identity was special; although he was a rogue ninja, he was originally the Third Hokage's disciple and had ambiguous ties with Root.

With such a complex background, even if they did capture him, most would need to think carefully.

In reality, at the beginning of the fight, Aoba was the only one who rushed straight into the base like a reckless fool.

What greeted him was a horde of monsters—true monsters, with various distorted and mutated body parts and faces.

These creatures moved quickly, with many limbs transformed into weapon forms. Each had the combat power of a genin.

It appeared that Orochimaru had begun researching cursed seals. However, at this stage, the cursed seals were likely still in their infancy. These monsters were probably failed experimental subjects of the cursed seal.

Orochimaru was indeed ruthless, as cursed seal experiments required hosts with chakra. These monsters were essentially dozens of potential ninja.

In Konoha, this would be an entire class of new recruits. But under Orochimaru, they had all become experimental subjects.

Aoba's body didn't pause for a moment. With his right hand lifted, he brandished his long sword.

The monsters in front of him were about to strike with their hand blades. Yet, in the blink of an eye, Aoba had vanished from sight.

Looking back, the monsters saw him appear behind them. However, their upper bodies turned around, but their lower halves remained in place, causing a complete separation between the top and bottom halves.

So fast... That was their last thought.

As Aoba sprinted at high speed, he swung his long sword in a draw-cutting motion.

Under the moonlight, the sword traced a beautiful arc. At the front of the arc, a gust of wind infused with Wind Release chakra and air formed.

This transformed into a huge semi-circular wind blade, slicing forward.

This was Aoba's unique ninjutsu. By combining Wind Release with sword techniques, he executed various mid-range attacks akin to sword qi.

This attack was fast, simple, and deadly. At least for this period, it was extremely lethal against standard ninjas. However, in the later stages, with everyone piloting giant mechs, such attacks would be less effective.

The dozen or so monsters opposite him couldn't even react in time. They felt a chilling force slicing through their bodies.

Afterward, Aoba's figure broke through the defenses, leaving behind a trail of dismembered limbs and agonized screams.

"So strong!" Hayate remarked from a distance.

He wasn't very familiar with Aoba, but he knew Aoba was renowned for his swordsmanship. He had some thoughts about competing with him in this mission.

But seeing the previous scene, he gave up completely.

It wasn't that he thought Aoba was definitely stronger than himself. It was that he realized Aoba's approach was entirely different from his own.

Konoha's Dance of the Crescent Moon was a sword technique combined with illusions, both glamorous and deadly.

In contrast, Aoba's swordsmanship, in Hayate's view, was extremely simple and almost devoid of techniques.

Aoba's attack pattern seemed to originate from a samurai's iai strike. But by infusing chakra into it, he extended the iai strike into wind blades, greatly expanding the attack range.

Combined with his high-speed movement, this simple technique became extraordinarily lethal.

This was a special sword technique that discarded all extraneous moves, solely focusing on killing. It was entirely different from the Dance of the Crescent Moon.

Aoba charged through like a storm, breaking through the monsters' defenses in a few breaths. The teammates behind him exchanged glances.

They were all just putting on a show, but if Aoba was going all out, it would make them look foolish if they didn't follow.

Nevertheless, as Aoba continued charging ahead, they had no choice but to follow.

But the next second, a massive figure soared into the sky from the darkness. Then, the structure in front of them was swept away by some enormous force.

Amidst countless fragments, under the moonlight, the team vaguely saw a gigantic snake tail.

Along with the snake tail's appearance, Aoba was thrown several meters away. He landed far from the others.

At this moment, Orochimaru stood atop the giant snake, facing the team.