Konoha's Genius is a bit Ordinary?

Orochimaru's laughter went on for a while before he finally stopped, sneering, "Strong? What does 'strong' even mean? My pursuit is the ultimate pinnacle of ninjutsu! Being 'strong' means nothing to me! Jiraiya, you're still as naive as ever. You've never understood me!" He licked his face with his long tongue, eyes sharp. "That's why you'll always lagged behind, and was dead last!"

"Orochimaru!" Jiraiya seemed unexpectedly calm, not angered at all. He was unusually composed, completely different from his usual demeanor, even somewhat solemn.

"Enough talk, Orochimaru! This time won't end like last time!" Tsunade shouted, fury filling her voice.

"Heh, Tsunade, for one of the Legendary Sannin, it's quite a joke that you've developed hemophobia," Orochimaru mocked, holding his ground against both opponents without showing any weakness, even appearing to have the upper hand.

Orochimaru looked at the serious Jiraiya and the furious Tsunade, a smirk forming on his lips. The time had come.

"Be careful!!"

Natsuro suddenly paused, sensing chakra that had suddenly appeared within his perception. He immediately shouted.

"What?!"

Everyone reacted and looked at the crystalline swords emerging from the ground between them, forcing them to dodge. After they evaded, the crystalline swords embedded in the ground quickly transformed into walls, separating them, as if the intent was not to harm but to block.

Meanwhile, Orochimaru and his team walked purposefully to face their chosen opponents—Kimimaro faced Jiraiya, Kabuto approached Tsunade, Naruto, and Shizune, while Orochimaru himself confronted Natsuro.

Natsuro looked at Orochimaru and the surrounding crystals, a trace of disbelief in his eyes. His sensing ability had failed for the first time; he hadn't detected the user of this Crystal Release technique in advance.

As for the Crystal Release itself, he wasn't particularly surprised; although he couldn't remember who used it, he knew of its existence.

"Surprised, aren't you, Natsuro?" Orochimaru taunted, his eyes fixed on him with a sinister smile. "Every user of the Flying Thunder God technique is an excellent sensory ninja. The Second and Fourth Hokage were like that, and people like that foolishly always place great confidence in their sensory abilities."

Orochimaru's pleasure was evident as he savored the shock on Natsuro's face. Now Natsuro could feel the same shock Orochimaru had when he saw him teleport through the barrier with the Flying Thunder God.

"I prepared thoroughly within these three days. Against someone of your level, weaklings are useless. I simply summoned Guren," Orochimaru said.

"So you used special methods to hide her?" Natsuro realized his sensory ability hadn't truly failed; it was merely being targeted.

"Of course. I instructed her not to extract chakra beforehand and even provided her with a barrier to conceal her chakra and presence. Before making a move, there wouldn't be even the slightest disturbance, which prevents most sensory ninjas from detecting her."

Orochimaru's taunting continued, "Indeed, you didn't notice, Natsuro Shindōkawa. This is the limitation of not having a bloodline ability; it's something you can never overcome!"

"No, even with a bloodline, it would be hard to notice," Natsuro retorted. After sensing the area to confirm the Flying Thunder God marks were still present on his allies. He calmly continued, "I can still teleport us all out of here, Orochimaru. You know that better than anyone."

"Of course. Since you could bypass the Four Violet Flames Formation, no other barrier I set would hold you back. So this is a gamble," Orochimaru chuckled evilly.

"I'm betting you won't use the Flying Thunder God because not only do I want to kill you all, but you also want to kill me! Otherwise, you wouldn't have agreed to meet here, right?" Orochimaru said, spreading his hands.

"So this gamble was already won the moment you stepped onto this plain! Natsuro Shindōkawa" Orochimaru smiled as if he had everything under control.

Natsuro looked at Orochimaru. With the Crystal Release, Orochimaru not only separated everyone but also prevented him from quickly sensing his comrades' conditions. Without this separation, he would have undoubtedly used Flying Thunder God to rescue anyone in danger. But now...

Since he could only sense chakra, he couldn't know when to help.

From the beginning, Orochimaru had planned specifically against his Flying Thunder God.

All of this relied on Natsuro wanting to kill Orochimaru. And, indeed, he wanted to finish Orochimaru here!

Natsuro sighed, saying, "Honestly, Orochimaru, after learning about your goals, aside from not agreeing with your experiments on comrades, I somewhat admire you—especially now."

"How shallow. Comrades? Strength is the only eternal truth. On the path to seeking truth, I have no need for comrades. Everything is my research subject, including you, Natsuro Shindōkawa!"

Natsuro's expression tightened. He couldn't deny feeling a hint of Orochimaru's allure as a villain, someone driven purely by the pursuit of power.

But he would never agree with Orochimaru. In the next moment, Natsuro drew his 'Ink' sword.

With nothing left to say, it was time to fight.

At that moment, arcs of electricity began to jump around his body, while invisible wind wrapped around him, forming armor, a technique known as "Wind Release: Armor of the Wind!"

Seeing this, Orochimaru wasted no time. Fire Release was the ideal counter to Wind Release, and he swiftly formed hand signs.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball shot from Orochimaru's mouth, heading straight for Natsuro.

Seeing the enormous fireball, Natsuro merely raised his hand, and a small metal ball floated before him. He flicked it lightly.

In the next instant, the metal ball shot forward, carrying a streak of white light. It pierced through the massive fireball without resistance, dispelling it as it continued toward the stunned Orochimaru.

In Orochimaru's widened eyes, a large hole appeared in his body.

"Secret Technique: Railgun!"

Natsuro felt a bit satisfied. As his control over electricity grew, the power of his Railgun technique had finally shown some decent results. Even the "original" Railgun user would begrudgingly acknowledge this as a proper Railgun, though its power still fell a bit short.

But unfortunately, he saw that despite Orochimaru's surprise and the hole blown into his body, countless small fleshy worms crawled within the wound, quickly healing it.

"Impressive, a jutsu without hand signs!" Orochimaru's head appeared beside his body with a long neck, taunting.

Natsuro didn't hesitate, flashing forward and striking Orochimaru with his sword.

"Clang!"

However, his strike was blocked by another sword. Orochimaru's hands were empty, but he pulled a sword from his mouth to block Natsuro's attack.

This sword was none other than the Kusanagi Sword, a weapon even Natsuro's 'Ink' blade imbued with the Wind Release's cutting nature couldn't cut through. Without protection, ordinary weapons would be cut on contact.

Though the acceleration from Lightning Release still worked, the paralysis effect didn't, as Orochimaru possessed all five chakra natures, rendering paralysis ineffective.

One strike, two strikes.

Countless sword strikes clashed in a matter of seconds. Around them, iron and snakes collided constantly creating sparks, with no sign of a decisive outcome.

In terms of swordsmanship, Natsuro actually held the advantage, evidenced by the fact that his blade had struck Orochimaru multiple times. However, he was unable to deliver a complete cut; Orochimaru's wounds, no larger than a palm, healed almost instantly.

Natsuro was somewhat surprised by this outcome. For someone focused on pursuing the pinnacle of ninjutsu, Orochimaru's sword skills were actually quite decent.

"No wonder you're known as the 'Little White Fang of Konoha.' Your swordsmanship really reminds me of that foolish guy who believed in the Will of Fire," Orochimaru chuckled, clearly referring to White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.

Orochimaru wasn't afraid of the situation. Although his swordsmanship was inferior, he didn't care. "So what if you've cut me a few times? Can you actually kill me?"

Natsuro didn't respond, his eyes flashing, as he sensed that if this went on, his 'Ink' sword might not last. It was already emitting a faint hum of distress.

This was the first time he had encountered something like this. Usually, he was the one cutting through others' weapons, but now it seemed his own was reaching its limit…

Natsuro's movements appeared to slow down slightly.

At that moment, a glint flashed in Orochimaru's eyes—he'd finally found an opening.

In the next instant, Orochimaru flicked Natsuro's sword away, then swung his own with a cold sneer.

"I can make mistakes countless times, but I only need you to slip up once!"

But did Natsuro really make a mistake?

In the next moment, Natsuro's figure disappeared from where he stood, causing Orochimaru's powerful strike to miss.

Fortunately, Orochimaru's body was modified to be extremely flexible, so he wasn't injured by the force of his own missed attack. However…

Orochimaru's eyes widened as he finally realized what had happened. Though his body hadn't turned, his head had twisted around, facing the brilliant light of a descending blade.

The familiar figure was there, wielding that strange long sword, slashing downward. This strike wasn't like the previous minor cuts; this time, Natsuro sliced Orochimaru clean in half.

But Natsuro didn't stop there. He continued to slash, cutting Orochimaru into countless pieces before finally withdrawing.

Natsuro's 'Ink' sword, which he had been using for a long time, had more than one Flying Thunder God mark engraved upon it.

Looking at the pieces scattered on the ground, Natsuro began forming hand signs to perform a Fire Release jutsu he wasn't particularly familiar with.

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

Although his proficiency in Fire Release wasn't high, this jutsu's level and power were significant.

A massive crimson fire dragon, resembling molten lava, burst from Natsuro's mouth, instantly engulfing the pieces of Orochimaru's flesh.

"Will this be enough?" Natsuro wondered as he watched the flames burn. While fire could purify, he doubted Orochimaru would be so easily killed.

Sure enough, as the flames gradually died down, Natsuro saw the massive, charred corpse of a snake. It wasn't Manda, but the sight left him with a strange expression.

"So this is where Sasuke got that technique from, huh?"

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Currently on Chapter 210 - To be or Not to Be the Hokage? That is the Question....