Anko Mitarashi, in charge of the Second Exam, immediately put down her red bean soup and looked towards the examination grounds.
"Such a powerful explosion, and you're saying it was caused by a Genin? Which Village's Genin is that strong?"
She called out to two companions, "Something must have happened. Follow me inside to check."
Inside the Hokage Building, the Third Hokage also looked in the direction of the training ground. An ANBU Ninja appeared beside him, "The Root Ninja on duty said that Lord Danzo took most of the Root Ninja out of the Village to perform a mission."
The Third Hokage looked into the distance and said noncommittally, "Understood."
Inside the Forest of Death training ground.
Orochimaru's body was blown to pieces, and even more terrifying was that the oil-like Chakra, when it landed on the skin, would continue to burn. The Second Tsuchikage back then was so disgusted by this move that he had to wrap his entire body in bandages.
Orochimaru didn't know the Second Tsuchikage's thoughts, but he could more or less discern some clues about the oil-like ability. Isn't this Jiraiya's Jutsu?
His bond with Jiraiya was too deep; they had known each other for almost fifty years. The moment the other person so much as twitched his butt, he knew what kind of shit he was about to drop!
His body was blown to pieces, but he wasn't dead; on the contrary, he was quite energetic.
With a "Hmph," his mouth opened wide, and soon, an Orochimaru covered in slime emerged from the shattered remnants of his blasted body.
No hand signs were needed; mimicking a snake's shedding process to transfer all damage, this was the most perfect Body Replacement Technique, the Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique.
After the new body appeared, the original husk was quickly burned to ashes by the flames. He looked at Ino, who was standing still, and licked his lips with his long tongue.
"You used up a lot of Chakra, didn't you? Can you still use that Water Clone again? Hurry and run, little girl. When I catch you, I will torture you to death." Orochimaru gritted his teeth, his face gloomy, as he searched all around.
Ino was hidden nearby using a Hidden Mist Jutsu combined with her Summoning Beast's invisibility. Her voice came out from within the mist.
"Didn't you consume any Chakra? That level of Body Replacement Technique, you must have consumed even more than me, right? It should be you who runs." Ino, relying on her abundant Chakra, endured her mental and physical fatigue and formed hand signs again.
Orochimaru was startled, his peripheral vision looking to both sides.
He saw a large amount of steam rushing into the sky, cold air liquefying, and then the steam and dust in the air condensing into hailstones. These hailstones still contained Ino's Chakra, and as she formed hand signs, the Water Clone condensed again, and the plump exploding clone reappeared.
"Kaa!" Ino shouted loudly.
Fat Ino dodged the two Wind Release Ninjutsu Orochimaru released as a test, and then the two collided again, the violent explosion exactly like it was thirty seconds ago.
Orochimaru expended a large amount of stamina and had to use the "Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique" again, recovering all his injuries. Before he could even catch his breath, he saw Fat Ino, whose size had shrunk, preparing to initiate another explosion from a distance.
"Kaa!"
With a loud "Boom."
"Kaa!"
Orochimaru was again blown to pieces.
He felt as uncomfortable as if he had swallowed a fly. Normally, he was the one who disgusted others with the "Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique," but today, he was disgusted by this infinitely looping Ninjutsu.
After being blown up five times in a row, he finally understood the principle of Steam Impurities Explosion, but he couldn't find a weakness in the Jutsu for a while.
The only solution he could think of was to summon Manda, swallow Fat Ino whole, then release the Summoning Technique and throw this troublesome thing into Ryūchi Cave.
However, he didn't want to do that. Once this troublesome thing entered Ryūchi Cave, there was no telling what kind of trouble it might cause, and he currently needed Ryūchi Cave and didn't want to damage their relationship.
Unable to think of a good solution, the Orochimaru-Style Body Replacement Technique had consumed a large amount of his stamina. Seeing Konoha's Jonin quickly gathering in their direction, he could only follow the thirty-six stratagems, with running being the best!
He ran, and Ino also ran.
Orochimaru possessed a vast number of Ninjutsu and Secret Techniques, and he had a plethora of methods to recover his stamina. Seeing the dense fog here dissipate, he changed his disguise and came back.
He didn't believe that the girl also had his methods. This time, he was going to give her a lesson she would never forget.
Orochimaru searched the vicinity, and the search results greatly surprised him. With his incredibly rich experience, he still couldn't find any trace of the several people. After continuously trying three different Secret Techniques for searching, he didn't see anyone. He was a bit strange, where did those Genin go?
Konoha Village's Jonin were rushing in this direction, and leading the charge was his former disciple, Anko Mitarashi.
Orochimaru pondered for a moment. Now that his plan was ruined, Sasuke wasn't acquired, and he himself was thoroughly beaten by a young girl. He also had his pride, and he really couldn't face his old acquaintance.
Identifying a direction, he quickly left the area.
At this time, Team 7, Team 10, and Karin were hiding inside Ino's Ghost Fortress. This Summoning Beast's invisibility ability was absolutely top-tier; even Orochimaru hadn't expected that they had been hiding in the same spot the entire time, never going anywhere else.
Ino, having used Steam Impurities Explosion repeatedly, was extremely fatigued. Coupled with the immense pressure Orochimaru had put on her, the moment he left, she collapsed weakly to the ground.
"How are you? Are you okay?" Sakura quickly supported her. Karin also seemed to want to help, but her movements were a beat too slow.
"I'm fine, what about you all?" Ino asked back.
Sasuke didn't take that hit, only having his leg stabbed by his own Kunai. He refused Ino's suggestion to treat him with Medical Ninjutsu. Sakura, on the other hand, wasn't injured, but she was deeply shaken by Orochimaru's killing intent, and her mental state was extremely poor. If it weren't for Naruto and Sasuke, she would have collapsed by now.
The problem now was Naruto.
Orochimaru had placed a "Five Elements Seal" on Naruto's stomach, disrupting the "Four Symbols Seal" the Fourth Hokage had placed on him at birth.
More seals weren't necessarily better. With one Five Elements and one Four Symbols, they counteracted each other, and Naruto had completely fallen unconscious, unable to be woken no matter how they called him.
Ino had entered a weakened state she called "Sage Time" after using Steam Impurities Explosion. Only after this weak period ended did she have time to deal with Naruto's situation.
Karin saw Ino's pale face and thought she was injured. She instinctively rolled up her sleeve and placed her hand near Ino's mouth, signaling Ino to bite her to recover from her injuries.
"What are you doing? This is just Chakra overuse. I'm fine, I'll be good after a rest." Ino pushed Karin away, then remembered something and asked, "Are you a reconnaissance Ninja?"
Karin shook her head blankly.
She still doesn't know "Kagura Mind's Eye"?
Thinking about it, that made sense. Any Ninja capable of reconnaissance was a scarce resource in a Ninja Village. If Karin had reconnaissance abilities now, Grass Hidden Village wouldn't treat her so roughly.
Could it be that Orochimaru developed her reconnaissance abilities? It's almost certainly the case.
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