Chapter 116: Orochimaru's Moment of Glory

A brilliant sword light flashed, piercing through the thick white mist, and suddenly slashed toward the head of Biwa Juzo.

As a Mist Ninja proficient with ninja blades, Biwa Juzo instantly swung the Kubikiribocho to counterattack, carving out a sharp whistle.

However, that sword light was fake, and the great blade's strike hit nothing.

Biwa Juzo could only follow the momentum of the blade to avoid being killed by Orochimaru while the opportunity presented itself.

Just like Suikazan Fuguki, Biwa Juzo also felt the terror of the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

When the enemy's line of sight is not restricted by the thick fog, while one can only rely on ears and experience to fight, casting the Hidden Mist Jutsu is digging one's own grave.

Biwa Juzo formed hand seals, wanting to dispel the Hidden Mist Jutsu.

Yet now it was Orochimaru's turn to be unwilling: "I tacitly allowed you to cast the Hidden Mist Jutsu, but you still want to dispel the Ninjutsu—did you ask me first?"

He appeared ghost-like at Biwa Juzo's side, the Kusanagi Sword in his hand striking directly at the opponent's lower abdomen.

Biwa Juzo manipulated the Kubikiribocho to block, and he himself leaped up to actively close in on the great blade.

The two blades of vastly different sizes collided; amidst the scattering sparks, it was Biwa Juzo who was sent flying by Orochimaru.

Seeing that his one sword strike failed to be fatal, Orochimaru's figure twisted and rotated like a striking venomous snake, pursuing the enemy.

The Kusanagi Sword's offensive grew increasingly fierce, and the frequency of attacks became faster and faster, forcing Biwa Juzo into a flustered mess.

The Kubikiribocho was still too clumsy; facing Orochimaru's rapid sword techniques and offensive, Biwa Juzo simply could not cope.

Soon, many wounds appeared on his body, blood soaking through his clothes and eventually flowing to the soles of his feet, merging into the water beneath him.

Biwa Juzo bled incessantly, yet he continued to fight with an unchanging expression.

He could hold on, but his blade could not hold on first.

Every time the two weapons collided, a notch would appear on the Kubikiribocho; by now, the edge of the great blade had been hacked into the shape of a saw blade.

Orochimaru gave a sinister laugh, spotted the timing, raised his hand, and slashed down with all his might.

Clang—!

The blade of the Kubikiribocho was split in two, half of the blade falling into the water with a cross-section as smooth as a mirror; Biwa Juzo was left with only half a broken blade in his hand.

The breaking of the Kubikiribocho was not unexpected; its name was called the Severing Blade.

This was the most useless one among the Seven Swords, offering no help in battle; its only ability was to regenerate by absorbing the iron in the enemy's blood.

Breaking the Kubikiribocho in battle was a daily occurrence, but for it to happen so quickly, so cleanly and neatly—as if it were being cut like tofu—also showed that the sharpness of the Kusanagi Sword far exceeded imagination.

Biwa Juzo carried the broken blade and fled frantically; he had already decided to abandon the fight.

Orochimaru raised the Kusanagi Sword, the tip pointing far toward the fleeing Biwa Juzo: "Extend, Kusanagi Sword!"

Following Orochimaru's words, the Kusanagi Sword instantly extended several dozen meters, directly piercing through Biwa Juzo's head.

The thick fog dispersed completely, and Orochimaru turned his head to look in the direction where the battle was most intense.

Might Duy was suppressing Jinin Akebino with a brutal beating; if not for the influence of the thick fog, the Mist Ninja would have already been beaten into slag.

But with the dispersal of the thick fog, Jinin Akebino had no chance of resistance left, and it looked as if he was about to be beaten to death by Might Duy.

Looking at the other side, Yamanaka Chujiu had already walked in front of Suikazan Fuguki; the two appeared to be staring each other down, but in reality, the Yamanaka Hijutsu had completely controlled the fatty and was launching a final, all-out assault on his mind.

Suikazan Fuguki was finished.

Even though he had not yet had a proper fight, and even though his body was intact, he was already finished.

"One last one remains; where did Kurosuki Raiga go?"

Orochimaru scanned the area twice without finding him, and could not help but wonder: "Has he already escaped while the fog was thick?"

"Raiton: Shizen Raiden!"

Thunder roared suddenly in the sky, and a bolt of lightning appeared without warning, striking Orochimaru.

Lightning flashed, and electric arcs danced across Orochimaru's body, turning him into a pitch-black charred corpse in the blink of an eye.

The pitch-black, reddened corpse fell into the water, floating half-submerged.

At this moment, Kurosuki Raiga surfaced from beneath the water, looked at the charred remains in the water from afar, and said uncertainly: "Is he dead?"

Orochimaru, of course, would not be killed by a bolt of lightning; he surfaced directly beside Kurosuki Raiga, stared at him with golden snake-like pupils, and said with a smile: "You kid are truly ruthless."

"From your position, you should have been able to save Biwa Juzo, yet you watched him die just to make me relax for a moment."

"Paying the price of a comrade's life in exchange for a failed attack."

"Truly cold-blooded and stupid; I find it hard to understand—is this the kind of ninja cultivated by the Blood Mist Village policy?"

"How did Kirigakure become one of the five great ninja villages?"

Kurosuki Raiga did not dare to answer at all; he raised his branch-like twin blades, crossed them in front of his chest, and summoned a mass of lightning from the sky to cover his body, transforming it into a dangerous lightning cloak.

Raiton: Raigeki Yoroi!

Orochimaru waved one hand: "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Dense swarms of venomous snakes surged from his sleeves, all baring long fangs, charging openly toward Kurosuki Raiga.

However, as soon as the snakes got within a foot, they were struck by the electric arcs emitted from the lightning armor, instantly turning into charred strips of meat.

In an instant, hundreds of venomous snakes were electrocuted to death.

If not for the fact that Orochimaru retracted his hand quickly enough, he himself would have been hit hard by the electric arcs.

Kurosuki Raiga laughed wildly: "The Lightning Blades command lightning; with long-range offense and close-range defense, there are no weaknesses—it is the strongest of the Seven Swords!"

Orochimaru agreed: "The power is indeed not bad."

"But to say it is the strongest, that is far from qualified."

"However, it is already worth me getting my hands on it to study it properly."

Kurosuki Raiga sneered: "It's useless, Orochimaru!"

"The Lightning Blades can manipulate the thunder of the sky; with the lightning armor covering me, I am invincible!!"

Orochimaru shook his head: "No, no, no, what you say is unscientific."

"Natural lightning seems endless, but that is only because the amount consumed is not yet enough; now, try this move."

As he spoke, he formed hand seals with both hands, then slapped a massive summoning formation onto the water's surface, from which countless venomous snakes surged out, resembling a great tide of serpents.

Ninja Art: Manda Array!

Countless venomous snakes piled up on the water, eventually completely covering the surface and turning it into a sea of frantically writhing snakes.

Faced with a Snake Army of this scale, the automatic counterattacks of the lightning armor simply could not keep up, and it looked as though Kurosuki Raiga was about to be buried alive by the snakes.

Kurosuki Raiga could no longer care about anything else; he held his lightning blades high and shouted, "Merge!"

After merging with the lightning blades into a lightning form, he quickly formed hand seals and released a torrent of lightning, the dense arcs of electricity taking the shape of lightning snakes to counter-attack the Manda Array in the same manner.

"Lightning Release: Raiton: Retten Raida!"

Thunder rolled in the sky, and falling lightning bolts continuously descended, transforming into lightning snakes.

Orochimaru, full of interest, erupted with chakra and summoned even more venomous snakes.

The seawater was blasted into sprays by the Lightning Release, the snakes were blown into flying dismembered limbs, and blood dyed the ocean red.

But ultimately, Orochimaru was stronger; the number of snakes summoned exploded, converging into a tsunami of snakes that blotted out the sky and sun, pressing toward Kurosuki Raiga with unstoppable force.

Kurosuki Raiga panicked; he squeezed out his last bit of chakra and unleashed his strongest Lightning Release Ninjutsu: "Lightning Release: Raiton: Rairyū no Tatsumaki!"

A lightning tornado enveloped him, colliding head-on with the snake tsunami.

The sea of snakes exploded violently, only to submerge him again the next second.

The thunder struck continuously, yet the snake swarm only coiled larger and larger, and Kurosuki Raiga's lightning armor finally collapsed.

In an instant, the snake swarm devoured his flesh and blood completely.

When the summoning ended, only a skeleton remained on the water's surface, slowly sinking to the bottom.