Actually, Li Chuan knew that even if he completely destroyed Orochimaru's body now, as long as there were Ninja alive who had been marked with Orochimaru's curse mark, Orochimaru could still be reborn from their bodies.
To completely kill Orochimaru, unless he destroyed this body of his and simultaneously found and destroyed all Ninja who had been marked with the curse mark, leaving none behind.
Or, he could only use the Uzumaki clan's strongest Sealing Technique, the Soul Reaper Seal, to seal his soul within the belly of the Death God of this World.
However, his original goal was not to kill Orochimaru, but merely to first prevent Orochimaru from placing the curse mark on Sasuke, and then to display his strength in front of Orochimaru to facilitate later negotiations.
"Mandara Formation!"
The recovering Orochimaru hunched over and lay on the ground, opening his mouth wider than a crocodile's, and thousands of venomous snakes swam out, quickly piling up into a mountain of snakes, densely surging towards Li Chuan.
Through their previous contact, Orochimaru knew that given the terrifying power the opponent displayed, engaging in taijutsu combat up close would simply be asking for abuse, so he directly summoned a large number of snakes to swarm him.
"Accio!"
Li Chuan waved his wand, first using the Summoning Charm to summon Orochimaru's kusanagi sword, then looked up at the countless venomous snakes on the opposite side, flicking their tongues and slithering towards him, a truly unnerving sight.
This formation, if someone with trypophobia were here, they would probably die on the spot.
Facing Orochimaru's Mandara Formation, he first raised his wand, then put it away and threw it into his mission space.
He could cast the indiscriminate revenging flame, but the nature of the revenging flame was somewhat similar to Amaterasu, which is that as long as there is something to burn, it will keep burning.
Ultimately, it could indeed burn these snakes to death, but it was also possible to burn down the entire forest.
His control over the revenging flame had not yet reached the level of free control like Grindelwald.
Then he raised the kusanagi sword in his hand, thought for a moment, and put it into the cloth bag at his waist, which was made with an Undetectable Extension Charm.
With his current powerful body and reaction ability, holding the incredibly sharp kusanagi sword, as long as he swung it fast enough, it wouldn't be much worse than a lawnmower; he could charge in and spend a bit more time to also kill all these venomous snakes.
But that would get him covered in blood, which was not only disgusting but would also damage his image as a Prince, and it wouldn't look good if the Anbu Ninja who arrived later saw him.
Finally, he decided to still use Ninjutsu.
In the current situation, large-scale Fire Release Ninjutsu would be most effective, but he didn't know it; using Phoenix Sage Fire Technique would also work, as his Chakra reserves were huge in this state anyway.
But then he remembered that after the battle ended, the Anbu Ninja would definitely come to inspect the battleground, so he gave up on that idea again; according to his intelligence in Konoha, he was not skilled in Five Element Ninjutsu.
So he thought for a moment, formed hand signs, and shouted loudly:
"Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Armed Murder!"
As a Ninja monk of the Fire Temple, knowing the Fire Temple's secret Ninjutsu is perfectly normal.
A golden Thousand-Armed Kannon statue enveloped Li Chuan, and countless venomous snakes shot towards him, all blocked by the Thousand-Armed Kannon.
At the same time, the golden hands behind the Kannon turned into streaks of afterimages, instantly smashing all approaching venomous snakes into paste.
"Fudō Myōō!"
Once all the venomous snakes were killed, Li Chuan changed his hand signs, and the golden Thousand-Armed Kannon statue immediately transformed into the red Fudō Myōō; two red fists flew out with a roar, once again causing Orochimaru to shed a layer of skin.
"So you learned the Ninjutsu of the Fire Temple."
The well-informed Orochimaru recognized the Ninjutsu Li Chuan used at a glance, and his brows finally furrowed.
The taijutsu and Ninjutsu Li Chuan displayed now already made him feel a bit troublesome; unless he summoned Manda for help, it would be basically impossible for him to get past Li Chuan to chase Sasuke.
However, if he summoned Manda, things would get complicated, which would be extremely detrimental to his later Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan in collaboration with the Sand Shinobi.
If the Chunin Selection Exams were cancelled because of this, all his previous plans would be ruined.
Moreover, having been delayed here for so long, it was highly probable that the Third Hokage had already received intelligence and dispatched the Anbu Ninja to head this way.
So what he needed to do now was best to retreat first and wait for another opportunity to place the curse mark on Sasuke.
After all, there was still more than a month until the official Chunin Exams tournament.
"I'll remember you, Prince Enkawa of the Land of Fire!"
Orochimaru did not try to get past Li Chuan again to chase towards the tower where Sasuke and the others had fled, but left a sentence and slowly retreated, clearly intending to leave the Forest of Death first.
"Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan."
Seeing this, Li Chuan did not pursue, but smiled and spoke a few words.
Orochimaru's body immediately froze, and his eyes looking at Li Chuan held a kind of disbelief:
"How do you know?"
Currently, besides him and his close confidantes, only the Fourth Kazekage and Danzo knew about the Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan; could this Prince of the Land of Fire in front of him be related to Danzo and the Fourth Kazekage?
The Fourth Kazekage was impossible; the other party was the Prince of the Land of Fire, not the Prince of the Land of Wind, so it could only be Danzo.
"Did Danzo tell you?"
"It's not important, what's important is that I want to make a deal with you; I want to use the spies you've planted in Konoha to help me find out where Konoha's Forbidden Scroll is hidden."
Li Chuan stated his true purpose for doing all this today.
"It seems Danzo didn't tell you; this is interesting."
Orochimaru was so clever; after understanding Li Chuan's purpose, he immediately knew that Li Chuan was definitely not one of Danzo's people either.
Because Danzo, as one of Konoha's higher-ups, knew better than him where Konoha's Forbidden Scroll was kept.
A Prince of the Land of Fire, a Ninja monk of the Fire Temple, knowing about his Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan, and wanting Konoha's Forbidden Scroll, plus strength comparable to a shadow level Ninja.
All this suddenly made Li Chuan a mysterious person and once again piqued Orochimaru's interest.
If before it was because of Li Chuan's suddenly abnormally strong body that made him interested in capturing him for research, now it was because of Li Chuan's identity and purpose.
He didn't believe Li Chuan was just a Prince of the Land of Fire, and even felt that Li Chuan might not be a real Prince, but someone else disguised, just like he planned to disguise as the Kazekage.
"What's in it for me to help you get the Forbidden Scroll? You should know that because of you just now, I lost a very excellent pawn, which makes me somewhat unhappy."
Orochimaru stuck out his long tongue and licked his lips, revealing a very sinister and twisted smile.
And Li Chuan smiled very kindly:
"The benefit, the benefit is that I won't tell the Third Hokage about your Hidden Leaf Village Destruction Plan, and I won't stop you from trying to capture Sasuke again."
"Are you listening to yourself?"
Orochimaru's eyes turned cold.
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