Orochimaru's finger traced over the kusanagi sword, and blood flowed into her palm.
"Destroy everything here, you say... Hey, did you hear that?"
A Hidden Stone Ninja heard Orochimaru's words and couldn't help but laugh, prompting more mocking laughter from the Hidden Stone Ninja.
"They're even worried about accidentally hurting their comrades!"
"Hahahahaha—!!!"
The Hidden Stone Ninja burst into even louder laughter, as if mocking Orochimaru and her companions for still talking tough despite clearly being on their last legs.
"Is it that funny?"
Jiraiya clenched his fists in anger.
"Shut up!"
Tsunade looked at their detestable faces, so angry she wanted to rush over and punch them to death.
Go ahead and laugh; you won't be laughing for long.
Orochimaru coldly watched the surrounding Hidden Stone Ninja. She had many ways to resolve this crisis, whether by using the Flying Thunder God Technique or reverse Summoning to Ryūchi Cave.
There were also many ways to kill them; she could easily use the poisons she had researched, or Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation could instantly kill them.
She had never used Sage Mode when fighting for Konoha, nor did she plan to; she hadn't encountered an enemy worthy of her entering Sage Mode.
"Summoning Technique!"
Bang—!
From the smoke, the massive Chimera Bug King appeared. Its two scorpion tails coiled around Jiraiya and Tsunade, placing them on its back, and it flapped its wings, taking flight.
"Little Bug, you'd better fly far away."
Orochimaru's voice came from the gradually dissipating smoke. The Chimera Bug King, named "Little Bug" by Orochimaru, nodded, waving its two scorpion tails and giant pincers to swat away the Kunai and shuriken thrown by the Hidden Stone Ninja.
"Quick! Quick! Don't let them escape!"
"Earth Release: Rock Bullet!"
"Earth Release: Rock Spear!"
The Hidden Stone Ninja threw sharp rock spears, and rocks they spat out grew larger in the air, smashing towards Little Bug like solid cannonballs.
"Go back! Go back! How can you leave Orochimaru there!"
Tsunade pounded Little Bug's hard back. She wanted to jump off Little Bug's back, but she needed to be able to survive a fall from such a height!
Based on her understanding of Orochimaru, she believed Orochimaru wouldn't do anything foolish, but she couldn't help but worry.
Tsunade gritted her teeth, about to jump off Little Bug's back, when Jiraiya, seeing this, quickly grabbed her, startled.
Little Bug flapped its wings, nimbly dodging the flying rocks and rock spears. Noticing Tsunade and Jiraiya's movements, its huge pincers clacked together, and it wrapped its scorpion tails around them to prevent them from moving. It spat out sticky nest-building fluid and twisted its body, causing the surrounding flying rocks and rock spears to stick to the fluid and fall to the ground.
It gathered a mouthful of even stickier nest-building fluid, but remembering Orochimaru was still down there, it swallowed the fluid back down.
"Orochimaru, are you sure this thing in your hand can kill them? If it can't, I'm going to act."
Ichikishimahime's patience was nearing its limit. From the moment these people mocked Orochimaru, they were already dead in her eyes.
"You don't need to act, and I don't want you to, even if it's for me."
Orochimaru said in a low voice, waving her hand and throwing the exploding tags she held. The Sealing Technique formulas on the white paper lit up.
"What is that?!"
"Quick! Retreat!"
The Hidden Stone Ninja, seeing the dazzling light emanating from the paper, felt a strong threat.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The already rain-soaked mud, under the influence of Earth Release Chakra, turned into a sticky mud swamp, delaying their escape. Just a few seconds were enough.
"Tsunade! Look over there!"
Jiraiya's eyes widened in shock, his face filled with disbelief.
A dazzling light erupted from the battlefield over there.
"That's what Orochimaru meant..."
Tsunade suddenly remembered the white paper Hyuga Mio had taken out in the Uchiha Clan compound. She understood why Orochimaru had made that expression back then.
"What... what is that?!"
The Konoha Ninja who had come as reinforcements stopped in their tracks, looking at the sudden dazzling light in the distance.
"Is that the battlefield over there?"
"What on earth happened over there?!"
The Konoha Ninja looked on in astonishment at the dazzling light that burst forth.
Boom—!
A deafening explosion, and powerful shockwaves continuously assailed Little Bug, making it difficult to maintain balance as it wobbled and flew away at full speed.
Even the Konoha Ninja, who were far away, felt the terrifying shockwave and had to find cover.
After the explosion, hundreds of Hidden Stone Ninja were all obliterated in the Chakra explosive blast, leaving not even ashes. On the ground, a crater hundreds of meters in diameter remained.
The crater wasn't very deep; Orochimaru had thrown the exploding tags upwards.
The rain briefly stopped, then started again.
Orochimaru's figure appeared at the edge of the crater. She tugged at her hood and looked up, the rain wetting her face, which was paler than usual.
"This... this this this..."
Ichikishimahime's finger trembled as she pointed at the crater, which was still emitting wisps of smoke. She looked at Orochimaru, who was perfectly calm and had clearly anticipated this outcome, and sincerely exclaimed, "As expected of a mad scientist!"
"It can't be helped; they insisted on dying."
Orochimaru looked around, wanting to find a place to sit for a while. The power of the Chakra explosive was within her expectations, even precise. She had conducted hundreds of detonation experiments in the sea near the Mountain Graveyard.
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