Chapter 115

Orochimaru was shocked for a moment, immediately realizing he might have missed an opportunity. But he quickly calmed down and decided to continue searching for traces of Kuchiki Senya.

Months passed, and the subordinates Orochimaru dispatched were spread across every region, yet there was no news of Kuchiki Senya. Just as Orochimaru was about to give up, a secret letter reached his hands.

Orochimaru opened the letter and discovered it was written by Kuchiki Senya. The content was simple, consisting of only a few short lines:

"Thank you for the opportunities and help you once gave me, but I have decided to leave the ninja world to pursue my own dreams. I will not return to the Hidden Leaf Village."

After reading the letter, Orochimaru gave a bitter smile. He realized he had misunderstood Kuchiki Senya’s intentions. It turned out Kuchiki Senya had been doubting his motives and sincerity all along.

"If given another chance, I would still choose to sponsor you," Orochimaru said in a low voice. "You are a young man with talent and potential; you just need more opportunities and challenges to temper yourself."

……

On the other side, Kuchiki Senya had arrived at the mountainous region at the southern tip of Hokkaido. This place was three or four kilometers away from the Hidden Leaf Village. Because it was a remote, small country, the villages were relatively backward. However, the forests here were incredibly lush, and wild animals were extremely abundant.

Kuchiki Senya found a hidden cave, entered it, and injected the Nine-Tails' power into his dantian. Instantly, his dantian erupted with intense light, and a phantom Tailed Beast slowly condensed.

"Is this the power of the Nine-Tails..."

Kuchiki Senya took a deep breath and then pushed his power to the limit. In an instant, the surrounding grass withered and shriveled, the tree branches withered, the ground collapsed, and the mountain rocks shattered.

The Nine-Tails' power was activated, and corrosive energy filled the entire cave. Kuchiki Senya let out a muffled groan and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face was pale, but the fanaticism in his eyes remained intense.

After a long while, he finally returned to normal. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and nodded with a smile: "It seems this is the so-called Nine-Tails power. Although it's a bit troublesome, it's not bad."

He closed his eyes to feel his power. "My strength has reached the peak of the early Kage level; I am only one step away from entering the mid-stage. If I add my Mangekyo Sharingan, I estimate I could rival a Chunin."

Although the Mangekyo Sharingan can increase chakra storage, it is limited after all. If one cannot extract Nine-Tails chakra, the effect of the Mangekyo will also be greatly reduced. Kuchiki Senya himself was a medical ninja proficient in medical ninjutsu. He could infer the increase in chakra volume based on the traces of chakra flow. Therefore, his current chakra reserve was at least double that of an ordinary Kage-level powerhouse.

"…The most important thing for me now is to master Nine-Tails chakra. However, I already possess Sage Mode. Nine-Tails Mode is not urgent."

Sage Mode was a trump card of Otsutsuki Kaguya and belonged to the Six Paths level, but unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Reanimation Jutsu. Moreover, the cost of performing Sage Mode was very high, so Kuchiki Senya did not want to learn this technique for now. Besides that, he currently had no better ninjutsu.

He prepared to go to the Hokage Rock to discuss the matter of the Nine-Tails' power with Tsunade.

……

Kuchiki Senya rushed toward the Hokage Rock, but just as he arrived near it, he sensed something.

"Not good. Could it be that the Hidden Mist Village sent someone to assassinate me again?" Kuchiki Senya frowned. "That shouldn't be. They should have known long ago that I am a rogue ninja; it's unlikely they would risk sending someone to assassinate me."

Kuchiki Senya stopped in his tracks, staring vigilantly at everything around him, but he felt nothing.

"Hmm… could it be an illusion?" Kuchiki Senya frowned. "But illusions are useless; I can sense the enemy's position through chakra."

Suddenly, Kuchiki Senya heard a faint sound, as if something was moving.

Kuchiki Senya held his breath and stared, listening carefully to the movement. A moment later, he suddenly opened his eyes, formed hand seals, and a bolt of lightning struck down.

Boom! The ground exploded, and mud splattered everywhere. A massive shadow appeared before him. It was a giant toad.

"A toad?" Kuchiki Senya was stunned. He remembered that there was no such thing as a toad near the Hidden Leaf. And this toad was clearly much larger than any toad he had seen before.

151. That Legendary Monster

Moreover, its body was wrapped in a thin film, which seemed to isolate all external chakra attacks, which was why it could block Kuchiki Senya's Lightning Style chakra. Furthermore, its size was at least fifty percent larger than a toad of the same build.

"This guy is not simple!"

Just then, a fishy wind blew, and a giant toad appeared before him.

"Such a powerful chakra fluctuation!" Kuchiki Senya's expression changed. This chakra fluctuation even made him feel a sense of fear.

He looked at the strange toad in front of him, and some thoughts flashed through his mind: "Is it it… that's impossible…"

He muttered to himself.

He remembered the story his father had told him before he died.

"That legendary monster… it has really appeared…"

……

Meanwhile, on a hill not far away, several people were hiding in the shadows, looking at the towering ancient tree in the center of the valley.

These people were Neji Hyuga and the others, and standing in front of them was a man in a black robe. The man wore a mask, revealing only a pair of cold eyes. His arms, carried on his back, were scorpion tails covered in sharp blades; this was Sasori.

"Sasori, are you sure that brat is the son of Hashirama Senju?" the masked man asked.

He had a burly and tall stature, his muscles bulging, full of explosive power. If an ordinary person saw him, they would probably be scared to the point of weak knees. He was the leader of the Akatsuki organization—Madara Uchiha.

"That's right. The ocular technique that person uses is very similar to the Senju clan's ocular technique. And his eyes are also very special," Sasori confirmed.

"Hashirama Senju's child. Heh, this matter is getting more and more interesting…" Madara Uchiha’s mouth curled slightly. "I didn't expect to encounter such a bizarre thing in this world."

"Lord Madara Uchiha, what do you intend to do?" the masked man asked. He was the only Jonin in the Akatsuki organization, named Itachi Uchiha. He and Madara Uchiha were brothers, and he was also the one who founded the organization. Itachi Uchiha had always believed that the Uchiha clan was the master of the ninja world, and other ninja clans were only fit to be slaves.

But now, the sealed members of the Uchiha clan had broken their seals, and there were new bloodline descendants. As Itachi's older brother, Madara Uchiha naturally would not sit idly by and watch such things happen.

"Observe for a period of time, then consider how to deal with that brat," Madara Uchiha said indifferently. "Anyway, he can't run away."

"Lord Madara Uchiha, now that the Hidden Leaf has failed, we must get the Nine-Tails as soon as possible, otherwise, if the Senju clan obtains the Nine-Tails' power, I'm afraid there won't be any left for us," Itachi Uchiha advised.

"Don't worry, I won't hand him over to the Senju clan; after all, those guys love eating children," Madara Uchiha shook his head, a cold glint flashing in his eyes. "Leave this task to you."

……

Kuchiki Senya looked at the giant monster in front of him.

He could clearly feel the surging chakra contained within the monster's body.

He did not hesitate, and all his chakra surged out. The lightning turned into a thunderous blade and slashed down fiercely.

"Lightning Style: Swordsman Form."

"Clack!"

A sound of electric current moving rang out, and ripples spread out. As the dust flew, a figure appeared on the spot.

It was a giant spider, pitch black all over, with eight wings.

This giant spider looked at Kuchiki Senya, slowly raised its chelicerae, opened its bloody mouth, and sprayed hundreds of streams of venom. The venom covered the sky and attacked Kuchiki Senya, swallowing him up.

"Venom?" Kuchiki Senya's eyelids twitched. "This kind of highly toxic poison can even dissolve steel; this is really bad."

His expression changed constantly; he dared not resist this level of toxin head-on and could only choose to retreat.

Kuchiki Senya used the Rasengan to push away the venom and then continued to rush into the depths of the forest. The giant toad pursued relentlessly, regardless of its size and speed.

"Damn it," Kuchiki Senya cursed. "I didn't expect this beast's speed to be so fast."

Kuchiki Senya ran wildly all the way and finally got rid of the giant toad's tracking.

"Hoo, hoo~ finally shook off that big monster." Kuchiki Senya exhaled the stifling breath from his chest.

Suddenly, a puff of white smoke rose, and a huge snake head poked out; it was that giant toad.

This giant toad's speed was extremely fast, and in just a few seconds, it approached Kuchiki Senya.

Kuchiki Senya felt a chill in his heart; he didn't expect this giant toad to catch up to him so quickly.

"No, I must leave here immediately." Kuchiki Senya gritted his teeth and took out a scroll from his bosom.

On the scroll was drawn a huge human face, vivid and lifelike, with a strange and unpredictable luster flashing in its eyes, as if it possessed life.

"Sage Art: Wood Style: Wood Human Jutsu!" Kuchiki Senya clasped his hands together and shouted.

Instantly, the entire forest trembled.

Green vines broke through the ground and quickly grew and entangled into a giant tree hundreds of meters high.

"This is… Wood Style: Wood Human Jutsu?!" The giant toad looked at the towering giant tree in front of it in surprise.

Although the Wood Human was huge, it was not clumsy; it jumped lightly, danced in the air, and then launched an attack on the giant toad. Thick palms slapped onto the giant toad's belly one after another.

The giant toad let out an angry roar and opened its mouth to spit venom at the Wood Human.

The Wood Human did not dodge or evade, walking straight toward the venom.

"Boom~" The venom collided with the Wood Human, followed by a violent explosion.

A mushroom cloud rose slowly, and the Wood Human perished in the venom. But the giant toad was also seriously injured, with a streak of bright red blood appearing at the corner of its mouth.

"No way, the strength gap is too big." Kuchiki Senya gave a bitter smile. "If I don't use the Mangekyo Sharingan, I estimate I won't last three moves."

"Hmm? Did that brat run away again?" The giant toad's angry gaze swept across the surroundings, but it could not find Kuchiki Senya's trace.

"It seems I can only catch that brat first." The giant toad's low voice echoed in the swamp.

In a dense forest deep in the swamp, a figure flashed by rapidly. This was a young man with short silver-gray hair, thin eyebrows, and a gentle smile on his face.

This was Kuchiki Senya. He sped all the way and arrived at an open grassland.

"I'll rest here for the night." Kuchiki Senya sat cross-legged on the ground, quietly adjusting his breath to recover from the consumption caused by the battle just now.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked into the distance; a hideous giant toad emerged from the swamp and flew toward his location.

"You caught up so quickly." Kuchiki Senya sighed. "Really troublesome."

152. Then Don't Blame Me for Being Ruthless

He stood up and then performed the Flying Thunder God, instantly leaving the spot.

"Damn bug." The giant toad looked at the place where Kuchiki Senya had left and roared angrily. A cruel light flashed in its eyes. "Since that's the case, don't blame me for being ruthless."

The muddy water of the swamp began to boil, and large areas of the swamp began to squirm. Then, giant snakes crawled out of the muddy water and followed the giant toad toward the direction where Kuchiki Senya had left.

Kuchiki Senya kept weaving through the forest, trying to stall for time and wait for rescue. He knew he was no match for that giant toad, so he could only hope someone would come to his aid; perhaps there was still a chance to survive.