Yotsuki A felt the silence around him was terrifying. He turned his gaze to the stands and suddenly realized his eyes could clearly perceive the audience's shouts and movements, yet he couldn't hear any sound.
Suddenly, Yotsuki A sensed a strange object—or rather, a layer—around him. It seemed to be air, yet it was fundamentally different. This layer of air was tangible and substantial, forming a massive spherical pocket that completely enveloped him.
Yotsuki A instinctively felt uneasy and realized his breathing was becoming increasingly difficult, while the pressure on his body grew stronger. This spherical space had become a perfect vacuum zone.
Within this zone, after extracting the dust and wood chips from the air, numerous pale yellow, foot-long sand blades were rapidly condensing. They looked like wind blades but possessed far stronger cutting and tearing capabilities, with fine, serrated edges. Like a swarm of bees whose nest had been destroyed, they were poised to strike, trembling and buzzing faintly.
Outside, Orochimaru, supported by the Wind-Style golden snake phantom, had driven the power of the technique to its maximum.
The arena, which had appeared calm and undisturbed, suddenly contained a faint white spherical air mass. Then, a tornado, like a Category 12 hurricane, suddenly erupted above the air mass. It acted like a miniature black hole, sucking in all the surrounding broken wood, grass clippings, and shattered stone, transforming into a terrifying black hurricane tornado over ten meters tall, connecting the earth and the sky.
The momentum of this hurricane tornado grew more astonishing, imposing increasing wind pressure down onto the vacuum zone below. The pressure on Yotsuki A inside intensified, and the number of slender sand blades generated within the vacuum zone increased rapidly.
After about three breaths, the sand blades inside had grown to several dozen, sealing off Yotsuki A's entire body. They continuously carved out long, narrow wounds, but the Lightning Armor managed to heal most of them. In this war of attrition, Yotsuki A's chakra finally gave out.
And just like that, the Vacuum Scythe Weasel Killing Array reached its limit. The ferocious and powerful hurricane tornado, along with the vacuum zone inside, suddenly burst apart. After carving over a hundred grooves, both long and short, shallow and deep, into the arena floor, the jutsu vanished.
All that remained on the battlefield, once the smoke and dust cleared, was the severely injured, fallen figure of the powerful ninja.
Orochimaru only let out a sigh of relief after confirming Yotsuki A's severe injuries with his spiritual power. The golden snake phantom behind him retracted and merged back into Orochimaru's body. Once Orochimaru recovered his chakra, it would reform as the Eight Branches Curse Seal on his chest.
Yūhi Rō looked at the arena, which had been ravaged into a wasteland. His respect for the strength of these two geniuses from their respective villages—Orochimaru and Yotsuki A—grew once more. Excitedly, he announced: "The winner of the first final match, Konoha's Orochimaru!"
As expected, screams and cheers erupted continuously from the stands. Both Konoha villagers and ninja were incredibly excited, shouting Orochimaru's name with wave after wave of deafening sound!
Orochimaru went to Yotsuki A's side, helping the medical ninja lift Yotsuki A's severely injured body onto a stretcher and giving them advice on treatment methods.
This greatly astonished the medical ninja. They hadn't expected the fiercely powerful Orochimaru to also have knowledge of medical Ninjutsu. Combined with Orochimaru's status as the favorite to win the championship, their eyes filled with admiration and respect.
Orochimaru's gesture was also noticed by the Kage and the Konoha spectators. A synchronized round of applause instantly broke out across the arena, all in praise of Orochimaru's sportsmanship.
Setting the Stage for the Final Round
The Konoha security and maintenance ninja first worked to restore the arena, then commenced some performances and entertainment to give the candidates time to rest and heal.
Orochimaru's only significant issue was severe chakra depletion and a superficial wound on his arm. It was not a complicated injury. Without needing the medical squad, Orochimaru had Maji treat him for about ten minutes, and he was done.
Yotsuki A's injuries, however, were more challenging. Even with Orochimaru's guidance, it took the medical squad nearly three hours to finish treating him. Nevertheless, a battle-impaired Yotsuki A predictably lost to Ōnoki. After all, this was partly luck, and luck is a kind of strength.
Yotsuki A himself wasn't too discouraged. He simply said to Orochimaru with a hearty laugh: "Orochimaru, once you've won the championship, let's fight again next time!"
Orochimaru offered a helpless smile, noncommittally nodding.
With three more hours having passed, Orochimaru's condition had returned to its peak. Although powerful trump cards like the Eight Branches Curse Seal could no longer be used, he was still very interested and confident about his fight against Ōnoki.
Looking at the two who had already stood in the center of the arena, Yotsuki Manrō (the Raikage) paid no mind to his student's defeat and instead asked Sarutobi: "Sarutobi, that student of yours is formidable! Now, who do you think will win?"
Yotsuki Manrō's question successfully captured the attention of the other Kage, who all looked toward Sarutobi. The Tsuchikage, Mū, stared intently, hoping to glean some of Orochimaru's strength and final tactics from Sarutobi's words.
Sarutobi thought for a moment, then smiled and said: "I don't even know the full extent of that boy Orochimaru's power myself. However, I believe he is capable of surprising me every time. Perhaps this time will be no exception!"
Hearing Sarutobi's words, Mū, who had been quite confident in his own student, grew a little uneasy. However, he then reminded himself that while Ōnoki's trump card had been revealed, so too had some of Orochimaru's.
With this thought, Mū's confidence returned.
Orochimaru vs. Ōnoki
Orochimaru and Ōnoki had both won one match, making this the final battle that would determine the champion. Even Yūhi Rō was excited. Naturally, he hoped his own village's Orochimaru would win, but Ōnoki's displayed power also moved him.
After a brief pause, Yūhi Rō solemnly announced the start of the final match.
Ōnoki knew the importance of this last fight and immediately held nothing back, rousing an intense chakra fluctuation right from the start.
Orochimaru, however, merely offered a composed smile. He shook his right arm, and five poisonous pythons shot out from his wide, moonlight-white sleeve. They opened their mouths in the air, revealing sharp venomous fangs that gleamed with an ethereal green light.
Undoubtedly, the speed with which Orochimaru launched his Hidden Shadow Snake Hands gave him the immediate advantage.
Ōnoki saw the ferocious, rapidly approaching poisonous pythons and stopped weaving his hand signs. He risked a partial dispersal and waste of chakra by aborting his Ninjutsu release and swiftly dodged to the side.
However, under Orochimaru's control, the five poisonous pythons were as flexible as extended arms. They weaved left and right, blasting small craters into the ground and forcing Ōnoki into a desperate retreat. He had fallen into a disadvantage from the opening moment and was steadily being drawn into Orochimaru's battle rhythm.
🗒️NOTE:
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