Chapter 44: Tracking and Traps

"Tsk, I was still caught up! But you, Honghuzi, are persistent enough; we are almost at the Leaf Ninja main camp, and you dare to chase us here?!"

"What if we are near the Leaf Ninja main camp? Even if the entire Leaf Ninja main camp poured out right now, it would absolutely not be able to save you!"

Jinchuriki Lao Zi spoke these wild words with a ferocious look, making Uchiha Feiyu twitch the corner of his mouth.

This guy, has his brain been assimilated by that four-tailed Great Ape? Does he really think a jinchuriki is invincible in the world?

"Tsk, what a big mouth... I really have been underestimated!"

A cold, sinister voice rang out by his ear, followed by venomous snakes of all sizes shooting over like flying arrows. Amidst screams, nearly half of the ninja who had followed Lao Zi were bitten by the snakes instantly, their bodies turning blue and purple as they lost their breath.

"Orochimaru! How could you be here?!"

"Damn it, this is a trap!"

"Leaf Ninja, so many Leaf Ninja!"

The Rock Ninja squad was in a panic. Suddenly, the earth trembled, and over a dozen Leaf Ninja emerged from the ground, lunging directly at the Rock Ninja squad.

These ninja had been hiding underground from the very beginning, which was how they deceived the eyes and ears of the Rock Ninja squad. Come to think of it, this was the Rock Ninja's own specialty, yet unexpectedly, the Leaf Ninja had used their own methods against them this time.

"Damn it, we've been played!"

Lao Zi casually strangled two lunging venomous snakes, forming a layer of Lava Style magma on his body to scald all the attacking snakes to death.

However, looking at his poisoned companions, he was secretly alarmed. One must know that because ninja possess chakra, their resistance to poison is much higher than that of ordinary people; the effects of ordinary lethal poisons are greatly reduced on them.

Yet these venomous snakes were far stronger than ordinary ones in both toxicity and speed; they were clearly meticulously cultivated by Orochimaru.

In fact, after Orochimaru obtained the cultivation method for the Silver-scaled Strange Snake, he had already begun to cultivate that king of all poisons. The venomous snakes before them were merely byproducts of that cultivation, yet they were still a cut above ordinary summoned venomous snakes.

Amidst the sounds of "swish, swish, swish," the battlefield was split into several sections, and the remaining five or six Rock Ninja were forced to scatter.

Almost every Rock Ninja had to face the siege of two or three Leaf Ninja. With the individual strength of both sides being about the same, the Rock Ninja soon showed signs of failing.

"Lava Style, Lava Bomb!"

A massive magma fireball smashed toward Uchiha Feiyu. The blade light in Uchiha Feiyu's hand flashed, splitting the magma fireball, but at the same time, the huge fireball turned into a sky full of lava, splashing out and throwing the entire battlefield into chaos.

A Tailed Beast Cloak radiating high-temperature chakra enveloped Lao Zi's entire body, and even a tail formed of chakra extended from behind him. The terrifying chakra aura made even Uchiha Feiyu's heart stall.

"Such terrifying chakra, and this is only one tail... It seems I underestimated the Tailed Beasts. The chakra of these monsters is more than ten times stronger than a Shadow-level!"

Fortunately, the main force dealing with Lao Zi this time was not Uchiha Feiyu. Orochimaru didn't say a word, pressing his hands to the ground. After a burst of huge smoke, a purple snake seventy or eighty meters long appeared on the battlefield.

"Orochimaru, don't forget to give me my sacrifice!"

The giant Manda spoke greedily the moment it appeared, causing the veins on the forehead of Orochimaru, who was standing on Manda's head, to jump:

"After this battle is over, you can eat as many Rock Ninja as you want; I'm only afraid you'll burst from overeating!"

"Roar!!"

With a roar full of irritability, seeing that Orochimaru had even summoned a giant Summoned Beast, Lao Zi no longer suppressed the chakra in his body. The terrifying chakra continuously expanded, transforming into a massive ape.

"Damn Orochimaru, no wonder you called me out... You actually want me to deal with a Tailed Beast!!"

"Stop nagging! Get ready to go!"

While Manda complained incessantly with its mouth, it did not hesitate in its actions, charging directly at the Four-Tails Son Goku. Its snake tail, like a pillar of heaven, swept across on the spot, knocking the just-awakened Four-Tails directly to the ground.

As the signature Summoned Beast of Ryuchi Cave, Manda was cruel and unruly, extremely difficult to tame; its only merit was that it dared to chew on hard bones.

With a loud "Boom—", the battle between the two monsters spread a massive shockwave. The many ninja who had already scattered and were fighting on their own immediately began to flee the attack range of these two giant beasts.

The battle between giant Summoning Techniques like Manda and a Tailed Beast was simply not something ordinary ninja could intervene in. Any aftermath from a collision between the two beasts could severely injure an ordinary ninja.

Seeing Orochimaru draw away the aggro of the Tailed Beast jinchuriki, Uchiha Feiyu finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. Honestly, with his own combat style being almost a complete imitation of White Fang, he really had nowhere to start against a Tailed Beast.

Subsequently, Uchiha Feiyu's gaze swept toward the other ninja who had completely scattered due to the battle between the two monsters, a cold sneer appearing on the corner of his mouth:

"You Rock Ninja bastards, you had a great time chasing me! Why aren't you chasing me now?"

"Since you aren't chasing me anymore, it's my turn to chase you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Uchiha Feiyu turned into a bolt of lightning and charged toward the other Rock Ninja who were in the middle of battle.

As ninja carefully selected by Orochimaru, the Leaf Ninja were also elites with at least Special Jonin level strength. Their prowess was not inferior to the Rock Ninja at all, and they outnumbered their opponents by more than double. Naturally, the Rock Ninja were no match and were only barely holding on.

However, once Uchiha Feiyu charged into the battlefield without any regard for martial virtue, the barely maintained defensive line of the Rock Ninja completely collapsed. Facing the grass-cutting, peerless White Fang sword technique, and with the opponent attacking directly from behind, the already disadvantaged Rock Ninja naturally died on the spot, one by one.

After a short few minutes, Uchiha Feiyu pulled his short blade from the back of the last Rock Ninja and then took away their Soul.

This time scouting the Rock Ninja main camp, the number of ninja Uchiha Feiyu killed was only a little more than last time, not yet reaching 30, but in terms of quality, it was much stronger; at least half were ninja of Special Jonin level or above.

"What should we do next? I can't intervene in the Tailed Beast's battle! If you have any moves to deal with the Tailed Beast, hurry up and use them!"

Watching Manda being beaten up by the Great Ape not far away, Uchiha Feiyu looked around at his companions and said.

Back when he was secretly reporting information to Orochimaru through the snakes of Ryuchi Cave, he had clearly told Orochimaru that a jinchuriki had come to the other side. He truly did not believe Orochimaru would have made no preparations at all.

(End of chapter)