Chapter 481: Jiraiya

"Hokage?"

Orochimaru revealed a mocking expression and retorted, "The Ninja Era has long since been ended; does the Hokage still have any meaning?"

As the Leader of the Fire Empire, in a certain sense, he was the one who should be called Hokage.

The Konoha of today is nothing more than a wretched place for a group of exiled outlaws, having long since lost its legitimacy.

However,

Even if the original scheme had succeeded, and he had become the Acting Hokage, then later the Imperial Advisor, and finally the Leader he is now.

Orochimaru felt no pride or complex emotions; what he thought about in his mind was how to utilize the Fire Empire to create greater assets and exchange them for Reward Points.

"It has meaning!"

Namikaze Minato's expression remained unchanged as he said solemnly, "Behind me are the civilians the Hokage must protect, my comrades, the Konoha ninja, as well as my child and my hometown!"

He did not react to Orochimaru's sneer; the conviction in his heart was as unshakable as steel.

"Is that so?"

Orochimaru paused, then performed his signature action, flicking his tongue out like a venomous snake.

It was as if a snake were sniffing a strange scent that had suddenly appeared.

"No wonder I lost to you back then; it wasn't an injustice. It seems that idiot Jiraiya raised a good apprentice."

A black snake tail whipped against the ground,

And the Undead Legion, wreathed in black death energy, launched a charge in all directions.

Orochimaru looked at Namikaze Minato with a complex gaze and smiled, "Truly a very pure will."

Compared to that idiot Jiraiya, Namikaze Minato is much wiser.

Making an idiot full of hot-blooded passion is very simple.

One only needs to use the Will of Fire as a slogan and promote it every day; Jiraiya would be like a fanatical believer, willing to sacrifice himself for it.

But for a smart guy like Namikaze Minato to be willing to believe in the Will of Fire is a very rare thing.

Most smart people,

Would be like Orochimaru and Aizen, completely rejecting outsiders and believing only in themselves.

For someone who can possess both wisdom and a pure will, even Orochimaru would not look down on the other party just because Namikaze Minato's current strength is weaker than his own.

"This farce should end!"

Namikaze Minato's figure remained in place, yet his voice rang out from the seventh inch of the Necrotic Curse Snake's spine.

Slap.

Orochimaru's snake tail swung, tearing that figure in two, only to discover it was merely an afterimage.

Snake scales shattered,

And black blood, containing dense death energy, bloomed like fireworks.

"How is this possible?!"

A phantom of a ghoul, condensed from necrotic aura, emerged, its rotting arms sweeping out to knock away Namikaze Minato, who had landed on the Necrotic Curse Snake's spine.

Orochimaru's gaze was shocked; had 【Necrotic Eye Lv. max】 actually failed?

After the Undead Legion appeared, a massive amount of necrotic aura spread through the entire residential area like mist, and within the mist, black eyeballs vaguely gathered.

They were capable of observing the enemy's movements without any blind spots.

Therefore, even after hearing Namikaze Minato's voice coming from behind, Orochimaru had still confidently launched an attack at the afterimage.

Because he had not captured the trajectory of the opponent's movement.

Not even the fluctuations of space-type skills could hope to hide from a max-level Necrotic Eye.

"Orochimaru, if you leave now..."

Before Namikaze Minato could finish his sentence, his afterimage was shattered by the ghoul's hard arm.

Another snake scale exploded.

Furthermore,

Orochimaru keenly sensed that the wound was covered in poison-type energy, which was actually ignoring the Ziling Zhushu and continuously reducing his HP.

"So that's how it is?"

Orochimaru shook his tail, inserted it into the wound that had lost its scale, and then sent the blood tainted with the deadly poison into his mouth.

【Nether Assassin】.

A very rare profession; after mastering the abilities of a Nether Assassin, one can step into the 【Nether Space】.

A special space that overlaps with the real world but is silent and devoid of the slightest aura of life. Aside from Nether Assassins, even the top-tier perception techniques cannot detect the existence of the Nether Space.

A Nether Assassin is an assassin whose stealth, assassination, and critical strike abilities have all been elevated to the extreme.

The nightmare of countless magic-type and fragile-class professionals!

"I once met a Nether Assassin before; I wanted to turn the other party into my undead lifeform, but they escaped. I didn't expect to run into one again."

His tone could not hide his excitement.

As he spoke, the Necrotic Curse Snake opened its Abyss-like maw, like a python hunting, and swallowed the coiled stone tombstone.

A thick layer of death-energy rock appeared on the snake scales.

Each snake scale had a small tombstone protruding from it, protecting the snake's body like armor.

"Then let's see if you have the strength to do it, rogue ninja, Orochimaru!"

Namikaze Minato's tone was serious; just from the aura Orochimaru was emitting, he knew clearly that the other party had started to get serious.

Although the Nether Assassin's abilities are powerful, they lack killing skills that transcend the limit.

Moreover, what they fear most is a player like Orochimaru, who possesses powerful defensive capabilities.

Clang! The palm-wide Short Blade struck at the Necrotic Curse Snake's most vulnerable abdomen.

Yet it emitted the sound of metal clashing.

Namikaze Minato's hands, gripping the hilt of his blade, were numbed by the vibration; he gritted his teeth, and bursts of Nether energy erupted.

Nether Blade Dance! A dark green radiance clung to the Blade, a deadly Nether poison capable of poisoning even a Tailed Beast to death.

The black Necrotic aura was rapidly corroded by the deadly Nether poison, and it looked as if it were about to shatter the snake scales and sink the poison into the flesh.

Two ghouls bit off their own left arms, which were like Sharp, pointed spears, and threw them at Namikaze Minato.

Retreat,

Namikaze Minato had no choice but to abandon the attack, hide within the Nether Space, and increase the distance between himself and the Necrotic Curse Snake.

"Minato!"

Tsunade was completely shrouded in holy light, her giant golden hammer and chains constantly sweeping away the Undead Legion that rushed toward her.

She struck the Ice Bodhisattva summoned by the Undead Squad Leader 【Tong Mo】 with two hammer blows, smashing both Tong Mo and the Ice Bodhisattva to pieces.

Taking advantage of the gap,

She condensed a Holy Cross within her palm and shot it into Namikaze Minato's chest.

Tong Mo, who had already been smashed into a pulp, was protected by countless undead lives, and under the shroud of the necrotic aura, he recovered to his original state before their eyes.

"Orochimaru, I didn't expect you to dare to come to Konoha!"

An angry shout suddenly erupted.

The Mobile Unit, having already breached the 【Abyss Deep Layer】, finally received word from Konoha.

Because they had been specifically instructed to conceal the news of Hiruzen Sarutobi's death to prevent Uzumaki Naruto from acting impulsively and going berserk.

Therefore, even Jiraiya was unaware of the situation, knowing only that there was an attack by an external enemy.

When he followed the instructions left by Tsunade and found an excuse to send Uzumaki Naruto away before rushing over, he discovered that the person attacking the village was actually Orochimaru.

"Old grudges and new, Orochimaru, do you want to die?"

Jiraiya brought his hands together, interlacing his fingers, and an orange-yellow Prophet Eyeball appeared between his brows.

Several illusory arms appeared behind his back, grabbing at the elemental energy drifting through space and time.

In the blink of an eye, a violently erupting active volcano appeared beneath the feet of the Necrotic Curse Snake, and the violent fire elemental energy surged out like an explosion.

The bottoms of the countless hot springs in the Land of Hot Water were all volcanoes, containing rich fire elemental energy.

The greatest method of the 【Prophet】 is to perceive various attributes within space, Reinforcement, and transform them into their own combat power.

In layman's terms, it is to control the timing and the terrain.

"Foolish Jiraiya, you say you want to kill me, is this all you have?"

The charred Necrotic Curse Snake raised its head and smashed through the volcano summoned by Jiraiya.

As if molting, it shed the scorched and shattered snake scales.

"To be this strong?"

The Konoha ninja in the surrounding area, who could only barely release Ninjutsu and Magic skills and could not even achieve a harassing effect, all revealed expressions of shock.

The Fourth Hokage and Lord Jiraiya had attacked one after another, yet neither had been able to inflict heavy damage on Orochimaru.

"Necromancers are all glass cannons; how can the rogue ninja Orochimaru be this tough?"

(End of chapter)