Chapter 154 146: Aoda

Orochimaru has always been considered an extremely troublesome opponent with a combat style as slippery as a loach. In fact, Uchiha Gen, having cultivated the Phantom Body Flicker Technique, now has a tendency to develop in this direction as well.

If asked to defeat those Kage-level Experts, he might still lack the means to truly contend with them, but when it comes to maneuvering or escaping, he is also a slippery snake.

Once seven or eight Phantom Clones are released, he can coordinate with Genjutsu to move at high speeds among them without any flaws; for most Kage-level Experts, they wouldn't be able to catch him even if they wanted to.

Even like now, where a batch of Phantom Clones is wiped out by Orochimaru's dense firepower, Uchiha Gen can reform them and continue to wear Orochimaru down.

In the end, it comes down to a battle of attrition.

Before his ocular power gives out, he can keep dragging it out like this, always finding an opportunity to retreat unscathed.

The waning moon fades, and the faint light of dawn pierces through the sky, shining through the dense forest onto Uchiha Gen's face.

Amidst the lush grass, snake corpses lie on the ground, either charred by lightning and fire or chopped into pieces by wind blades and blades.

The scent of blood rises, and the ferocious poisonous insects and beasts in the forest dare not show themselves due to the intense battle throughout the night.

"Orochimaru-sensei, how was that?"

Uchiha Gen looked at Orochimaru, whose clothes were stained with blood in the distance, and grinned.

He had entangled with Orochimaru for a whole night, never engaging in a direct frontal battle, just dragging it out.

If not for the battlefield being limited to this Forest of Death, Uchiha Gen would have had two opportunities midway to escape Orochimaru's pursuit.

"Not bad, you surprise me. In a situation where you are determined to run, unless it is a speed-type Ninja like the Second Hokage, no one should be able to keep up with you."

Orochimaru's tone carried a hint of amazement and praise.

With this survival ability of Uchiha Gen, as long as he is careful enough, it is already hard to find anyone in the entire Ninja World who can kill him.

In terms of strength, he has already touched the threshold of the first tier of the Ninja World.

Even if he belongs to the bottom of that tier, there is no doubt that he is already a well-deserved top expert in the Ninja World, enough to stand in the same ranks as those most powerful existences.

"A speed-type Ninja, huh——"

Uchiha Gen nodded thoughtfully.

If the speed is fast enough, it seems there really is a possibility of catching up to him.

However, counting the current Ninja World, speed-type Ninjas are few and far between.

Sakumo Hatake can barely be considered a speed-type Ninja, and he is not one who can maintain high-speed movement for a long time like the Flying Thunder God.

However, he is a Ninja who also belongs to Konoha, so the two sides will not fall into a situation of meeting on the battlefield.

And besides him, another one should be the Fourth A who has recently risen.

Compared to Sakumo Hatake, the Fourth A is a typical speed Ninja, and he does not rely on the mechanism of space-time Ninjutsu like the Flying Thunder God, but purely on raw stats.

In terms of strength, he should be the same as himself, approaching the Kage-level category, but in terms of abilities, the two sides have some mutual counters.

"You shouldn't need me to remind you which speed-type Ninjas are in the Ninja World, but you must still be careful. Various secret techniques and bloodline limits of Ninjas, as well as conspiracies and calculations, emerge one after another. Just because you have mastered the Phantom Body Flicker Technique and reached this level of strength doesn't mean you can sit back and relax.

Otherwise, Uchiha Kagami wouldn't have disappeared so inexplicably back then."

Orochimaru turned back to look at the rising sun, his tone indifferent.

Unknowingly, Uchiha Gen had already reached this point so quickly.

As his teacher, he no longer needed to worry about him; instead, he could rely on this disciple, who was stepping closer to the pinnacle of the Ninja World, to provide support for himself in many aspects.

"I understand, Orochimaru-sensei."

Uchiha Gen nodded to Orochimaru.

"Then I won't say anything more. Keep this scroll safe. It won't be long before you and I head to the Kumogakure battlefield. Being able to increase your strength even a little bit is a good thing."

With the scroll in hand, Orochimaru waved at Uchiha Gen and then turned to leave.

The latter watched Orochimaru leave, stood in place for a moment, carefully reviewed the night's battle, and then disappeared from the spot.

The battle with Kumogakure was about to start again, and the necessary supplies needed to be prepared once more.

He also needed to bridge the connection between Orochimaru and the Great Elder regarding the meeting, and he himself needed to discuss the relevant arrangements within the clan with the Great Elder.

He already possessed the strength of a top expert in the Ninja World, enough to suppress all dissatisfaction within the clan.

The Uchiha Clan, after all, relies on strength to speak.

Some things could already be implemented.

It just so happened that the situation with the Clan Head had gradually aroused the suspicions of some people in the clan, and it likely wouldn't be able to drag on for too long.

The next day, afternoon, in Ryūchi Cave.

In a pool of water, the waves were churning as if a dragon were turning over. From time to time, huge snake bodies and Uchiha Gen's clones could be seen appearing in the spray.

Not long after.

The clones merged back into one.

Uchiha Gen used Chakra to adhere his feet to the water surface, his three Tomoe slowly rotating in his eyes as he looked at the large head lowered before him.

"Now, can you sign a summoning contract with me?"

"Aoda is willing to follow your will, my lord."

The rounded snake head hung low, and its two green pupils, larger than a person, were filled with respect.

This was a blue-gray giant snake over seventy meters long and nearly four meters thick. It was also the Summoned Beast used in the original timeline after Manda was used by Sasuke to withstand Deidara's self-destruction and killed.

From this, it could basically be determined that Aoda was the powerful giant snake second only to Manda among the summoned snakes in Orochimaru's system.

It was also a giant snake at the top of the food chain in Ryūchi Cave; although its strength would be firmly suppressed by Manda, it was definitely not bad.

Moreover, compared to Manda, who had an unruly personality and would demand a pile of people as sacrifices at every turn, Aoda would be more gentle, and also more loyal and reliable.

"My name is Uchiha Gen, and I am Orochimaru's disciple."

Uchiha Gen said in response upon seeing Aoda's attitude.

"Yes, Lord Gen."

"Hmm."

Uchiha Gen extended his finger, bit it, and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto Aoda's forehead.

Previously, when he summoned snakes from Ryūchi Cave, he relied on his contract with Ryūchi Cave, which allowed him to summon a large number of snakes at once.

But this drop of blood meant that he was signing a contract directly with Aoda. Compared to the contract relying on Ryūchi Cave as a transit station, this would be more reliable, consume less Chakra, and have stronger control.

Aoda could actively request to reverse-summon Uchiha Gen, and the latter could directly refuse if he did not want to accept.

Conversely, when Uchiha Gen summoned Aoda, if the latter refused, he could spend less Chakra to forcibly summon Aoda, without even needing the latter to have time to react.

That was also the type of summoning Sasuke used to trick Manda in the original timeline.